On the Mountain

"I want to build a house upon this mountain,

Way up high, where the peaceful waters flow,

To quench my thirsty soul,

Up on the mountain"

The past weekend, I headed to an "outside of the box" moment and went to the Red Plains Monastery in Piedmont, Oklahoma. My search took me there so I could get out of a perceived rut that I was in spiritually. Circumstances invaded my life over the last few weeks that have not provided the kind of intimacy and warmth in my relationships with God and others that I normally sense.
As I spent the weekend among those Benedictine sisters, I was able to remove myself from the flow of life. I went without television, went without texting, went without the Internet. It was refreshing. I even went to bed before 9:00 p.m. much to the surprise of the Sisters! Yet, the serenity of the grounds were much needed.

"You bring me up here on this mountain,

For me to rest and learn and grow.

I see the truth up on the mountain.

And I carry it to the world far below"

The beauty of it all was the rest and the peace that I was able to experience there. I did learn some things about myself and about different ways to grow my relationship with God. I do not know if I will share those here, but I am excited to meditate, study, and apply those things learned from the experience.

I am reminded, too, of Elijah's experience with God in 1 Kings 19 after he had practiced what Pastor Rick Thompson called, "Redneck Apologetics". While on Mount Horeb after fleeing from Mount Carmel, Elijah learns an important lesson--how to listen. He looked for God in big moments--an earthquake, fire, and a windstorm. Yet, as scripture teaches, the LORD was not in any of those things. Finally, the still small voice called out to Elijah and he heard it. Why? Because he finally had moved away from those things which caused him to lose focus, especially his own ego. That is the beginning of the journey from the weekend's experience for me.

"So as I go down to the valley

Knowing that You will go with me

This is my prayer, Lord

Help me to remember what You've shown me

Up on the mountain"

Thoughts on Living A Disciplined Life

When I think of the word "discipline" my mind runs to the notion of, "I have to do this."  I think of drudgery, not delight.  I think of listlessness instead of life.  When my thoughts--when our thoughts--move this way, we begin to restrict God from the very thing he desires to do when live a disciplined life.  Everywhere we look, scripturally, we see that we get a new life when we commence a relationship with Christ.  To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, we become more of who we are when beginning to imitate Christ.

Yet, this paradigm of abiding in Christ, this practice of righteousness, does suggest a practical meaning.  We must become disciplined.  More importantly, if we going to not become castaways in the eyes of the world, we must immerse ourselves in a disciplined lifestyle just as Paul did. Ultimately, we have to live the disciplined life because Jesus did.

"Okay, I know I have to be disciplined," you say, "I know that I have to do certain things for consideration to be disciplined, right?"  Well, yes, Reader, you're right.  However let's not look at these things as a checklist or drudgery.  Let's not even look at the disciplines as, "this is how I get my wings."  Rather, together let us consider a different way of thinking about this practice of righteousness.  Let's look at the practice of righteousness as something that frees up space to invite God into all areas of our lives; Let's look at it as something that will lead us to greater intimacy with God; Let's look at this as a way to come together as believers because we learn our journey is not a solo act.