It's one of my favourites

Week 4

Excerpts from "Introduction to the Devout Life" - Francis de Sales (1567-1622)



Francis writes this as a letter to Philothea (One who loves God); an imaginary character, as he urges him/her to consider what is a devout life? This is a concept and term that is not often used in this spiritual generation. It harks back to another age, but does that mean it is irrelevant?

Francis explains in these terms:
"Genuine, living devotion. Philothea, presupposes love of God, and hence it is simply true love of God. Yet it is not always love as such. Inasmuch as divine love adorns the soul, it is called grace which makes us pleasing to his Divine Majesty."

Devotions and disciplines are not readily taught in everyday church much these days. The ingredients of the devout life are actually quite rare in the 21st century western church. Being little talked about and not appearing to be widely practiced does not make them irrelevant. In fact a there is an new movement called New Monasticism developing across the UK that has its origins in these types of devotional practices. There is a new generation of Christians who find strength in practices that come from a previous era. They are not all young, but there seems to something in some of our younger people that wants more!

So what are these devotional practices? Richard Foster describes them as:
The Inward Disciplines: meditation, prayer, fasting, study
The Outward Disciplines: simplicity, solitude, submission, service

We live in a consumer culture so we tend to pick and choose the ones we like, if we do them at all. So what are your favourites? I include myself in this process, I am not sure I know anyone who does all these. But that doesn't mean we can't start. We often chose the things that make us feel good and don't always pursue things that are difficult. We can use our strengths to help. What is your favourite from the list? Can you practice it on regular basis for  a month or even 39 days ( the magic number to cement a habit so they say).  Then chose another and give it  try!! Dare to be different!!

I love this quote from Richard Fosters Celebration of Discipline
"Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people ,but for deep people."

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