Week 01 - What Now?

So what are we interacting with in or CG this time around? A book entitled Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster. Ah, yes. I know, I know. I hear you. "Celebration of Discipline?" you say. "Discipline? What the [insert favorite colorful word] is up with that? How is that even relevant to . . . anything?!" Well, true enough. That's what I thought until I picked up the book myself. So why this book? Here's why . . .

Many of us, I believe, are at a point in our experiential journey where we love interacting with ideas - learning and sharing new thoughts about this world, God, and discovering our place in it. However, in our search for truth and self discovery we are often left spiritually empty. Our minds and ideas are ever emerging and transforming - but our lives seem to be transforming at a sufficiently slower, if not imperceptible rate.

We seem to understand that our knowledge, however great, is perpetually insufficient to explain reality, to comprehend our existence. We have come to recognize that we must cling to and be transformed by the One who is Truth itself. Yet, in the midst of this knowledge, we find ourselves lost and unable to experience the reality of God and his transformative power in our lives. We find ourselves restrained, held captive, by the same evil that was present in us years ago.

Of course, there is no magical solution for Christlike transformation. God truly is the one who transforms us in his time. Still, there is a path to follow. A means to arrive at the place where God readily transforms us. The author of our book suggests that this path, this place of transformation, is found within the spiritual disciplines.

Admittedly, just the word 'disciplines' itself sounds dry, dull, and unwelcoming. (I mean really, who has ever found that word exciting?) However, as we will discover, the spiritual disciplines are not cold calculated rules and routines. Rather, in stark contrast, they are deeply genuine expressions of our experience. Expressions that bring us to a place where God transforms, where God makes himself known.

So, if you are like me and feel experientially/spiritually stuck while your mind keeps growing - feel like God is far away and untouched by your existence (and you untouched by his) then I invite you to join us. Join us on our journey towards God as we humbly seek him to transform us, to transform others, to transform existence.