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GETTING IT TOGETHER
March 16, 2003
Spiritual Practices for Faith, Family and Work
Not Enough Time, Too Many Choices
ORDERING YOUR LIFE ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH VALUES
TIME IS FINITE, CHOICES
ARE INFINITE
No matter what we do, we will never be able to add more hours to our day.
Time is finite, but our choices about how we use that time are infinite.
ORDERING YOUR LIFE ACCORDING TO YOUR CORE VALUES
We will be better able to find balance in our lives between faith, family and work
if we are clear about our core faith values and commitments, and try to order our lives in
accordance with them. (see "The Foundation of our Faith" insert from March 9,
2003)
MAKING CHOICES MEANS SAYING YES AND SAYING NO
Saying no to a choice that is before us can be hard.
It helps if our "no" is chosen in the context of a larger, life-affirming
"yes."
Say "yes" to the priorities, commitments and values that you want to live by.
Let go and trust that the rest will fall into place.
Remember the jar with rocks, sand and water!
Don’t forget to put the big rocks in first!
Remember the school bus.
Who do you want driving the bus?
Remember Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
What time is this in my life?
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: Daily Examen or Review of Consciousness
Regular self-examination/self-reflection, in the presence of Christ, can help you
to be more in touch with the choices you are making on a daily basis, and can help you to
begin to order your life in accordance with your core faith values. When what you profess
and the choices you make each day come more into line with one another, you can begin to
regain a sense of balance in your life.
There are many resources available on daily examen or review of
consciousness. On the reverse side of this page is a particularly helpful and accessible
explanation of the process. It comes from Sacred Space, the daily prayer guide on the
website of the Irish Jesuits which you will find at www.sacredspace.ie.
I highly recommend this site, and its more youthful, American version at www.sacredgateway.org. A process for daily examen
can also be found under prayer methods at the Upper Room’s www.methodX.org. These links are available on our church
website www.rwfumc.org.
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