THE ABILITY TO BRING GOD INTO EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE—BROTHER LAWRENCE; to see every area of life, every daily activity, as a potential Divine partnership or collaboration, through which we are more fully formed in Christ, and transformed by His Life living in us.

In all the spiritual practices we are learning to come inside more deeply and rejoin Jesus in His Life and work; make yourself resigned; this topic of spiritual formation has the religious issue around it, because, there is this our part God’s part issue. If we think God does everything, we become inactive participants in Grace. But we are partly responsible for our own spiritual growth! Keep the heart, take off, put on, guard your minds, etc; all actively our part. We partner with God in “working out our salvation” and then Peter tells us to add to this stage, the next, add too kindness knowledge and so on. Press on into the higher stages of spiritual maturity is what Paul implied often in his letters as well. And then John commends people for being at their appropriate stage of spiritual development. Placing different blessings on each.

When we approach formation or our own transformation, we have to look at how God transforms people. And for that we look at the scriptures to see how He has always transformed people. We look for patterns of spiritual growth or transformation. We look at Paul’s journey, Peter’s training etc. And we then can look throughout christian history for the experts in spiritual growth!

The subject itself has religious spirit around it; because anytime the sin nature is given activities which can make one more holy, a better person, or closer to God, we tend to want to strive. But there is a balance here–again, we do our part, and God does His. His Son has of course, done everything which really matters; but we are also asked in scripture to work out and tend to our salvation process. And we know that some part of us is always being renewed, refined, saved. It begins when we realize we are sinners, and who Jesus is, and what He has done, and believe it. But that is just the beginning. All the letters in the New Testament are dealing with what happens afterwards–how we grow up into the fullness of The Head! Spiritual maturation, our ongoing transformation into His Nature is the way of Christianity.

Of course, there is always our tendency to not be led by His Spirit in this process, but to do “for” God. I prayed, i read the Bible, i fed the poor–but I was not changed by Him. I was a Christian, but not His actual disciple. These things eventually, though the same activities, start to flow more out of HIS Nature not ours. Depending on your level of spiritual growth, some areas will still be doing it for rather than with God. Still, we must press into spiritual development; we must grow up into the fullness! This is why the apostles and prophets are “given” to the church–so that the whole organism can grow up into its highest expression. And we labor for this maturation as ministers; but we also must be engaged in this transformation process ourselves–daily. Even Paul had not reached to fullness by the end; and yet, surely, he was further along that most of us, and those he was writing. Deeper into the mysteries and knowledge and love and sufferings of Christ. Where he could write, not I, but Christ. That is what we all should be able to say–not I, but Christ in me. Every good thing springs from His Nature in me.

When every activity we do in life, is a form of communion and partnership with God through Christ, it hardly matters the external activity. It could be study. It could be changing diapers. There is no division. Life is seen as a constant place to meet God.

So we have a vision of the need for spiritual growth; we set our intentions towards it, now we move on to methods. Historically, there are many methods to grow in God. So much of the writings of the church parents are about how to grow in Christ. So we are not poor in resources. But some of us are poor in application–practical ways to apply the lessons of the mentors in the faith. How do we walk out transformation.

The basics given in acts are to meditate on the apostles teaching, break bread together (fellowship with others who are on the Christ journey), and to pray and worship. There are others added in other parts of the New Testament, but these were the basics of the early church–they studied, they prayed, they communed. Now they also obviously ministered but this was overflow. The sacraments given, were study, communion and prayer. Worship is also implied in their daily lives. If we take in only one sacrament, we are not balanced in our growth. The baptist, which i grew up in, took the sacrament of the word seriously, but there were some other sacraments missing in our spiritual diet, which i later had to go run around and find.

So how do we now practically take these three sacraments daily, so that we are giving God room to form us? Well, prayer seems to me the most ongoing practice–one can do alone or with others. It is a constant conversation with Christ in all we do. It is also learning how He is priesting. We overhear as well as speak. He speaks, we listen, then we speak and so on. There is our personal conversation, then there is overhearing Jesus conversation with His Father. I think prayer itself is a way of knowing God. And is really a daily doable activity for us all. And to grow, we must be praying both alone and with others.

Secondly, communion, or breaking bread with others. This requires some coordination and corporateness, so in a sense is more “work”. We have to actually join a community of other people and commune. This requires us to be journeying with at least a few other people spiritually.

Next study or meditation on the apostles teaching. I think this one is also easier for some than others; but it is very doable in our day. We can all stop and study the thoughts of the church leaders.
I add worship because i think it is implied that this is what they were doing in the upper room. Praying, waiting, listening and praising God. The first words they spoke at Pentecost were of praise about the wonders of God. So we need to worship and it comes naturally out of focusing on God. When we start to think about God, we want to worship Him.

I think most of the spiritual practices from the church tradition fall roughly under these four categories of activities: study, prayer, worship and communion. To stay ever mindful of God, we need these four elements in our lives. In our time, it is exciting that the spiritual practices are being recovered and implemented across The Body. But I still think the basics were there at the beginning in terms of how to grow. What they were doing at the start, is what we are still doing if we want to grow up spiritually. The formation movements in our day, really are about recovering these methods of spiritual growth. What worked for Brother Lawrence, what worked for the desert fathers, etc, are the activities which have always worked.

I might add to these four the way of love, as Jesus mentioned this as a crystallization of the entire ten commandments–love your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor. So we see that love was a practice He offered as the way. Again, love seems to be “the Way” of God in that He is Love. So we could look at that as a practice as well. When we love God, and love others we move into a position of communion or partnership with His Being.

Now, at different seasons of growth, we need to emphasize different one’s of these four. Sometimes, we need more study, other times, more prayer, other times more communion and we are led to which we need more of in our spiritual diet by The Holy Spirit.

Dallas Willard wrote again of the active and passive parts of our spiritual growth. We do something, and God does something. We play our part in keeping our hearts, putting on and off His Mind etc; and God does the real formation work. He wrote that the church in some parts had been paralyzed by Grace, and forgot to grow up into maturity. Richard Foster wrote of several obstacles or blocks in the church to spiritual growth: a consumer’s orientation, entertainment instead of worship, and the “sickness of hurry” especially in the American church. How can we start to overcome some of these blocks in practical ways so that we can be growing up into all things in The Head. So that we can, in short take on more of Christ and His Spirituality into our hearts. This is a question i will be exploring over the next year in hopes to find ways to encourage myself and others in the way of Jesus to press onto into more of who He is.

Art is a way of knowing God, as every other activity is!

The pattern! The Spirit hovers, then considers, then delineates, then gathers the narrative, then communicates it, or hits “share”–that’s the pattern of God’s creativity from Genesis, and again at Pentecost! He starts by hovering, then creates light (understanding, clarity), so He can see things clearly, separate them–that’s night, that’s day (or Peter’s version; this is a fulfillment of prophecy, the fact that we are prophesying in your own languages about God, and who Jesus is)–ie then He names and delineates the elements–bifurcates things (just as He asked Adam to name the animals, and later Noah to distinguish the creatures; and even later, Abraham, to put the nations in order through blessing them all!)–then places them in a meaningful narrative-in symbolically proper relationship to one another, and then shares that story with His Creation, as a symbol of who He is, and therefore How He expresses Himself! That’s one of His Ways. Or a pattern of God’s behavior! We are to love and study and come to emulate His Ways. One of His Ways, first revealed in scriptures is His Creative Nature–how and in what order He creates reveals who He is!

We in His Image, imitate His creative process–we, in our studios, hover over, consider, put light on, notice and separate out, the elements, let them dialogue, then delineate and name them, see how they relate to one another; then see the implied narrative, then share the story with others. The creative process itself reveals the Nature of God!

How creativity works, is a way of meditating on who God is! At Pentecost again, He hovers, considers (no telling how long that Spirit hovering over them, before He fills them, took from the heavenly perspective-as time works differently there!) and then enters, fills and empowers the people there to get up and bear witness. To break down scriptures, delineate things, and tell the tale–the true story of Jesus. God is creative, but His Ways are the same forever. So we can study creativity itself as a way of knowing what He is like!

When we create, we hover and consider, we capture elements, and see what they are, and how they relate, and we start to allow them to dialogue into a relationship–and be able to recognize, then translate that story to others in a meaningful way!

When we are in the creative process, we are imitating and participating in a part of who He is. Creativity again is a way of getting to know His Ways. We study the patterns of creativity, starting with God’s, and then in a broken way, looking at our own, as a way of understanding how He truly is. That is the purpose of art–to imitate and get to know and love God. Making art is a way of getting to know God, in short–a medium, as every other activity in life is–through which to commune!

Much like when you are just making still art. At first, we hover, then we see the elements, then we delineate and name and then edit into clear expression–as in Genesis. Still, at first, we are unsure, why this topic or theme or idea or image or fraction of image is capturing us–then we keep hovering, keep going, and start to sense the inner motifs-that there is something gluing them metaphysically to one another internally. And it’s not always just about us either–sometimes its the meaning of other, or spirit led seeing, so we are getting this collage form of prophecy daily! Perhaps that’s the value or meaning of collage–maybe it is a metaphor for daily life. Each type of beauty has a different weight, but they are all in conversation through our spirit and His. When you put the images all in one place, you start to see the tone of conversation they were having all along! And they start to tell us something by how they constellate around one another–what sort of beauty constellation are we perceiving daily? What are the themes, what connects what our eye is drawn to daily. This can be a way, that God reveals the meaning of our days to us, as we move in art dialogue with all we see. In this sense, we discover our days, not invent them. We encounter God in our creative dialoguing with our days!

Christ in us, in each thing we do, or are, becoming–place and space of dialogue; the contours of our becomings, body on body, being on being; skin on stone, bone in moonlight-flashing into sunlight song–the One we meet there. this rant is endless here, in Him.
christ, in the thought of writing or being or doing-in the approach to each syllable of seeing, You, everywhere i turn. what else is there really.
christ, before within behind beyond at the center of it all…
christ, my perception impregnated with His
my imagination, the screen on which He projects His Images
(constantly cleanse my screen!-so my scream of Your becoming in us
can purely pursue on…)
we, beyond lovers–something more like co-seers, co-signers of Your Universe
Your Perception pouring over and through mine-the wet paste of becoming. Us joined like this-
me stupid and fascinating as always
You relentlessly Yourself, lovingly, becoming in and with us, as if, You needed it
Christ, how do you, why would you, when will You–Christ!
And me, well, yes, make Yourself at home again!
What else could i possibly do or be-but a place of welcoming? I gave me
to You long long ago now. We are abide. ing.
until this stage passes–and if You need a thing-even little small-cup of tea a keyhole to peer through,
let me know. Henini. i’m here. i’m receiving You. We are
making something whole together, despite myself, despite the times
because You always wanted love to resonate like this.

A Prayer before ministering prophetically: (this is one i often pray before trying to express something God has placed on my heart for another person)
God of Grace, thank You that You are here, speaking and communicating Yourself to this person, and into this situation. So we want to incarnate this Voice through Your Word and Your words. We thank you that you incarnated Your Word in your people, and that You continue to do so. That You are a God who likes to communicate to us individually, for You love us not just in a generic sense, but in a practical incarnate specific sense. Help us today, to hear Your particular voice, and speak from that. And to speak it of express it with Your exact tone of being. Your holistic orientation to each person astounds us! Open our own creativities so we can express Your whole Word! Not just the information, but the incarnation, the nuances of Your communication! Help us be holistic vessels, expressive vessels of Your ongoing communication to each person, place, and situation. Let us move then, in Your Wisdom, of how to communicate Your knowledge into this person or moment. And, let me not be a distraction from that Word! Thanks that You are here. Help us all to hear and sense, feel and resonate in Your words for us today! We step out together in faith and listen and hear Your words and creative expressions for us today friend! Thanks again, for drawing so near to us, and that You chose to make Yourself known in Jesus on earth, and now through His His Holy Spirit! And now we activate your gift of the prophetic here in this virtual room today–open our spirits to Your Holy Spirit to hear, see and sense what You have to reveal to us today! In and because of Jesus Name–His very Identity which is living and forming in us, Amen!

Seed into
Seed into the eternal in one another, in yourself, and in all you see! Speak into the eternal from your eternal-what goes beyond these dying cages! Seed into the eternal. Speak life into what you see is True in one another, and will always be. I speak to you, Life forever-from what is Life in me! I speak into your forever self–Life and felt Love! I will seed into the eternal, my friend. That’s what we do here. We speak into that place that none of us has been, but we already know–that place that has to be believed to be seen and lived from. So today, I speak into your eternal self–and say YES!!! I see you here, and there friends! We will be! I seed into what is truly you!

God You turn me on!

I found this interview that this lady from Beyond magazine did with me a while back, and i still sort of liked it. It seems down to earth. I must have been very relaxed that day. I think it was up in New Mexico after an arts conference, but don’t exactly recall. Anyways thought I’d post it here. She sent a longer excerpt where i was a bit more poetically, but I liked this part most.

What’s been most interesting to you in life?
I think i was always most interested in the spiritual realm. It just always felt like there was more than what was visibly here! I felt angels and saw things as a kid, which made me never doubt that there was another realm this one rested on or was in continuum with. At times, I would get confused in that realm between the darker parts and the lighter ones, but once i figured out which was which, it was a clear choice to me. It was also obvious that Jesus was at the very center of the higher spiritual realm, and that all spirits recognized this! I’ve never met a spirit that has not heard of Jesus. That was like my evangelism in California–evangelized by angels, you could say.. You would mention Jesus and all the spirits would shift. Those serving Him would perk up or move closer; the others would flee or protest, then flee. There is not question about who Jesus is in the spiritual realm. That made it even more obvious to me that He was who they said He was in the Bible. Since, then our friendship is very close. I don’t ever feel far from Him. I have had to learn lots, and still there is so much of the Father that I have barely touched. But Jesus was never a real question to me-always a reality! That’s why I never understood people not getting Him. Of course, I understand people being frustrated with His Church. But not Him Himself. It’s just so obvious that He is God.

what interested you in school?
Not much…well, really, religion and art were all that captivated me. And there’s an intersection there–the two are both interested in touching the thing behind the thing, if you know what I mean. The ultimate, the absolute, the philosophers of art would call it. I also studied comparative symbols between mystical traditions–that’s what my final thesis was about. Again, because I was interested in how people symbolized the spiritual realm. My dad was a minister, but when I was a kid, he was an anthropologist and would go on cultural digs and bring back artifacts–i think that sort of fascination always captivated my imagination.

In college I studied religions because I wanted to see what other cultures thought about God, or how they framed the spiritual realm. None of the religions does not believe in a spiritual realm. And I felt at least that’s honest. If you don’t believe in a realm beyond what we see, you have a hard time existing I think. And that has to be a starting point. I don’t think I know any artist who doesn’t believe in some other spiritual realm. Perhaps that’s why I’ve always gotten along so well with artists! But also most religious folks know there is more than meets the eye. Now what I discovered was that lots of religions sort of get trapped in lower rungs of spiritual reality, and end up not getting to the highest, or the core that holds the whole together. They worship the tree instead of the One who made the tree, sort of thing. Or they meet a high ranking demon, and see power so worship that demon, or demons. To me that never made sense either. Why would you worship the children and not the father?

what of spiritual practices from other religions?
I get why people use drugs to see other realms, but what I always felt was once there in the other realm, its not very helpful to be on drugs. And its much easier to get there by confession into worship anyways. With Jesus, your entering heaven with and through a friend–so it’s just easier, by Grace, than by effort. Deep meditation and body tricks are just much harder than walking into heaven with a friend. I like that Christianity is centered in friendship basically. And then the walk, is just getting to know your friend better. That just makes sense to me, rather than working so hard at spiritual practices.

How does art fit into spiritual practice or praxis?
Art creates portals of course. Portals into an unseen dimension. There is just no denying that fact. Some stop there, but I always wanted to poke open the portal and see what was on the other side. When I got there, i found Jesus. The Reality of Jesus, not the concept. I still make art because, I think its a place I commune with Him most. And it’s fun for me. He likes me to have fun. I don’t think i use art for my own healing anymore. Not often anyways. Not that I have finished healing, but I think when I was younger the subject matter of lots of my art was my own healing. That’s true with many artist I think. So, for me, I think art now is really about meeting God in the imaginative realm. It’s a tabernacle or place of meeting for me.

what sort of spiritual training have you done?
Well, mostly its been mentors–people who’s life practice and spirituality intersected and interested me. My father firstly, probably, then a series of artist and healers. There was a rabbi artist i lived with for seven years during school, then an art therapist up in boston, then a seminary professor–but I think i’ve learned from those types of teachers who model their teaching by living well, and basically live out the fruits of the Spirit. Training is tricky–everyone has different learning styles. Mine is relational. I think I’ve mainly been trained by The Holy Spirit–not in some uber-religious way, but just been led into the things I’m supposed to learn about God next. I also think I’ve learned lots through reading biographies and autobiographies. I always feel the people who wrote them, and commune with what they have learned. Officially, I got a degree in comparative religion and then studied art therapy at a graduate level, then went on the seminary. But I don’t think most training happens “officially”. And neither did mine–it was, as my spirituality is, relational mostly–pastors, rabbis, artists, people.

what do you want to do when you grow up?
Well, if that ever happens, i think to live well is one part. I love making art, and i really like ministering to people from the supernatural. So i think in a funny way, I’m just combining the passions of my parents. My dad as I said is a minister, and my mom’s an artist. So guess i am sort of an art minister. I really like offering a context for the artistic process, and I like helping people integrate their art and their spirituality. I’ve been doing that for a while, even helped start a community which was intentionally trying to integrate creativity and spirituality. Lately, i have also really liked big brothering or mentoring. But I think i tend to just live out as a model or way more than anything. I love that verse where David said, he had become a portent or a living symbol. I want to do that! I was born on St Patrick’s day, and I always liked how Patrick became a symbol more than anything else. He only wrote two little books, but we still tell crazy stories about his spiritual exploits. I think that’s the sort of thing I will do when I grow up! There’s this funny line in a Thomas Merton interview, where he said he always wanted to be a saint. I’m not sure i would aspire to that-i think it would make me take myself too seriously-but i would like the art of my life to resonate on the earth as a sign of hope which kept people inspired and interested in more of what is here! To live an inspiring life very close and in Him, really. I remember i had this dream where this well known prophet person was going around giving these amazing words to all the people around me, then he came to me, laughed, and just said, be in Him! So i think i will stick with that one.