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Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Imagine Life Without Grace
By Sharon Swing
Related to the Valley Experiences Map from Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story by Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing.
“I need to live a life of amends,” said Tiger Woods in his first interview after the public discovery of marital indiscretions. He stood with hands folded in front of him, still and stoic. His eyes had lost their youthful sparkle, his familiar smile absent. “I turned away from my Buddhist roots.”
I felt my emotions rise, and tears filled my eyes as I watched and listened to this downtrodden man who looked like a much older brother to the victorious champion who walked off a golf course last year. I thought, “This man needs grace – he needs Jesus!” His Buddhist beliefs offer no such undeserved favor. From his perspective he has no prospect of true forgiveness and the love that flows through grace. I thought about what it would it feel like to view the rest of the story of my life as a way to make amends for all of my transgressions, to make up for all of my mistakes. The thought hung on me. What would it be like to feel that I had to work each day of my life to try to climb out of the hole I have dug for myself?
I am painfully aware of the fact that I need forgiveness and grace that is offered through what happened about 2000 years ago on a day we remember as Good Friday. I have accepted gifts of mercy (God withholding the punishment that I deserve) and grace (undeserved favor) I could never earn. I could never make up for what I’ve done wrong. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for what I have done and will do, a debt I could never pay on my own.
Making amends and living differently is only possible for me because of the love I experience from God. The Bible assures me that my transgressions have been – get this -- forgotten. God chooses not to remember what I’ve done wrong! As an additional extravagant gift, God extends his grace and mercy to also offer me the power to live differently as I float in a river of love. The strength he supplies for me to humbly ask for forgiveness and make amends to those whom I have wronged, and the power to live differently comes from the same source that raised Jesus from the dead on Easter.
The future of my story is not about making up for what I’ve done, but it is about being free to live differently, extending and expanding the love I’ve been given in the power of the risen Christ. I, like Tiger, have admitted I have fallen short of God’s standards, and my own. Unlike Tiger, I have humbly accepted a gift I did not deserve from a God who knows I cannot carry the burdens of my sin on my own. That is a choice that changes everything. Like you, Tiger has that same choice available to him.
Ponder This
Scripture
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. Psalm 103:10-13
Where is the god who can compare with you— wiping the slate clean of guilt, turning a blind eye, a deaf ear, to the past sins of your purged and precious people? You don't nurse your anger and don't stay angry long, for mercy is your specialty. That's what you love most. And compassion is on its way to us. You'll stamp out our wrongdoing. You'll sink our sins to the bottom of the ocean. Micah 7:17 MSG
Sharon Swing is an author, retreat leader, speaker, artist and consultant with interests in life story as a spiritual development tool, crafting experiences that give God space to do what he does best, art as a spiritual pathway, and change. With Sibyl Towner, she has co-authored Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story. For more information, visit www.oneLifemaps.com. She is an organization development consultant specializing in planning, meeting facilitation, leadership development and change management. For more information, visit www.swingconsulting.com.
Reprinting and republication of this article is permissible in its entirety, with full attribution, including the paragraph above. Please let us know you’ve found it useful.
Related to the Valley Experiences Map from Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story by Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing.
“I need to live a life of amends,” said Tiger Woods in his first interview after the public discovery of marital indiscretions. He stood with hands folded in front of him, still and stoic. His eyes had lost their youthful sparkle, his familiar smile absent. “I turned away from my Buddhist roots.”
I felt my emotions rise, and tears filled my eyes as I watched and listened to this downtrodden man who looked like a much older brother to the victorious champion who walked off a golf course last year. I thought, “This man needs grace – he needs Jesus!” His Buddhist beliefs offer no such undeserved favor. From his perspective he has no prospect of true forgiveness and the love that flows through grace. I thought about what it would it feel like to view the rest of the story of my life as a way to make amends for all of my transgressions, to make up for all of my mistakes. The thought hung on me. What would it be like to feel that I had to work each day of my life to try to climb out of the hole I have dug for myself?
I am painfully aware of the fact that I need forgiveness and grace that is offered through what happened about 2000 years ago on a day we remember as Good Friday. I have accepted gifts of mercy (God withholding the punishment that I deserve) and grace (undeserved favor) I could never earn. I could never make up for what I’ve done wrong. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for what I have done and will do, a debt I could never pay on my own.
Making amends and living differently is only possible for me because of the love I experience from God. The Bible assures me that my transgressions have been – get this -- forgotten. God chooses not to remember what I’ve done wrong! As an additional extravagant gift, God extends his grace and mercy to also offer me the power to live differently as I float in a river of love. The strength he supplies for me to humbly ask for forgiveness and make amends to those whom I have wronged, and the power to live differently comes from the same source that raised Jesus from the dead on Easter.
The future of my story is not about making up for what I’ve done, but it is about being free to live differently, extending and expanding the love I’ve been given in the power of the risen Christ. I, like Tiger, have admitted I have fallen short of God’s standards, and my own. Unlike Tiger, I have humbly accepted a gift I did not deserve from a God who knows I cannot carry the burdens of my sin on my own. That is a choice that changes everything. Like you, Tiger has that same choice available to him.
Ponder This
- Take some time to imagine what it would feel like to see the story of the rest of your life attempting to compensate for all the ways you had failed.
- Talk to God about your thoughts and emotions.
Scripture
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. Psalm 103:10-13
Where is the god who can compare with you— wiping the slate clean of guilt, turning a blind eye, a deaf ear, to the past sins of your purged and precious people? You don't nurse your anger and don't stay angry long, for mercy is your specialty. That's what you love most. And compassion is on its way to us. You'll stamp out our wrongdoing. You'll sink our sins to the bottom of the ocean. Micah 7:17 MSG
Sharon Swing is an author, retreat leader, speaker, artist and consultant with interests in life story as a spiritual development tool, crafting experiences that give God space to do what he does best, art as a spiritual pathway, and change. With Sibyl Towner, she has co-authored Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story. For more information, visit www.oneLifemaps.com. She is an organization development consultant specializing in planning, meeting facilitation, leadership development and change management. For more information, visit www.swingconsulting.com.
Reprinting and republication of this article is permissible in its entirety, with full attribution, including the paragraph above. Please let us know you’ve found it useful.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
It's Not Too Late! Lent - Part Two
Observing Lent Through Spiritual Practices
by Sibyl Towner with Joan Kelley
Related to the Life-Giving Rhythms Map from Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story by Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing.
Lent is a season of remembering our sinfulness as well as our mortality and our need for God’s daily grace in order to live. But how can we truly enter into the Lenten season with humility and simplicity so that we might receive God’s grace in a new and joyful way? How can we weave the themes of Lent into our daily lives? I think we can do that by seeking out spiritual practices which help us turn from our self centeredness and turn toward grace filled humility.
Questions
Return to the Father’s House (from the Church of the Resurrection)
by Sibyl Towner with Joan Kelley
Related to the Life-Giving Rhythms Map from Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story by Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing.
Lent is a season of remembering our sinfulness as well as our mortality and our need for God’s daily grace in order to live. But how can we truly enter into the Lenten season with humility and simplicity so that we might receive God’s grace in a new and joyful way? How can we weave the themes of Lent into our daily lives? I think we can do that by seeking out spiritual practices which help us turn from our self centeredness and turn toward grace filled humility.
Lent calls us to the discipline of abstaining from things that make us feel significant or that comfort us. Fasting during Lent is a tradition that has been a practice for a very long time. Food is a reminder of our physical needs and our life here and now. Limiting our eating with some form of fasting reminds us there is more to life than food. “Jesus answered, It is written: ‘People do not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4
Some people intentionally forgo some other attachment that is keeping them from a more honest relationship with God. Food is only one option, but what about shopping, work, media? Another practical application of this is a more focused practice of Sabbath where we intentionally rest in order to be reminded that the Lord is the ruler of all – and we are not.
Lent can also call us to a discipline of engagement. We can journey together as a family as we read through the Gospel accounts. Walking ‘The Stations of the Cross’ at a church or retreat center with some friends or family engages us in the story of Jesus’ journey to Calvary, His death, burial and resurrection. When you worship with other believers, pray for those around you and invite God to use you to greet, to listen and to extend his love to someone else. Plan to celebrate the Feast of Passover and invite others to join you.
Emilie Griffin says “Lent is our chance for a fresh start, a new page. We consciously let down our defenses against the grace of God.” So observe Lent with a fresh start right where you are today. Let the resurrection have a deeper meaning in your heart this year.
Scripture
“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you.”-- Psalm 51:10-12 Questions
- What might be a spiritual practice that will pull you closer to God?
- How will I join Jesus on the journey to Jerusalem?
- How can I enter into Lent this week?
Return to the Father’s House (from the Church of the Resurrection)
“Let us pray for a Lenten journey of repentance and growing reverence for God’s word. And let us pray for those far from God, especially that we may invite them into the Lord’s house on Easter. May we all return to the Father’s house.” Amen.
Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing are co-authors of Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story, a visual workbook for small groups, mentoring relationships, workshops, retreats, classes, between spiritual friends, or individually to re-discover the storyline of the life they are authoring with God. More information is available at http://www.onelifemaps.com/.Tuesday, March 9, 2010
It's Not Too Late! Lent - Part One
By Sibyl Towner with Joan Kelley
Related to the Reviewing My Days Map from Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story by Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing.
Maybe you sped right through Advent as you got into the flow of the Christmas rush, but it’s not too late to enter into the experience of Lent.
While Advent reminds us of God’s unimaginable love for us, Lent reminds us of our sin and mortality. It is a time to remember why we are in need of a Savior, and the enormity of the price Jesus paid to rescue us from certain doom.
Dust and ashes symbolize our creaturely mortality and moral culpability. Simply said, we are finite beings who sin. Literally, we need to cry out, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.” Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, reminds us we are dust, and to dust we return. It sets the tone of Lent’s simplicity, sobriety and sorrow.
We spiritually get ready for Good Friday and Easter with Lent helping us to recognize both our belovedness and our sin, and realizing that God’s grace covers it all.
So how do we physically get ready for lent? This year, I placed a piece of purple fabric outside my front door where others enter and draped it on a tile I have on my kitchen counter where I write a verse for the day. I began to read the accounts in each Gospel of the journey to Jerusalem: Luke 18, Mark 10:13, Matthew 19:13, John 11.
I made Lenten readings available on the kitchen table:
I look outside and remember that Lent means springtime. The days are lengthening and showing new signs of life. Even the natural world reminds us of the resurrection. These visual reminders on my outside world force me to look inward for the work that needs to be done there. We naturally don’t want to go there but God accepts us “as is.”
Spend some time lingering on the inward journey of Lent as you prepare outwardly. It’s not too late to experience a meaningful Lenten season!
Scripture
“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.”-- Psalm 51: 1-2
Questions
“O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy; Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ, your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing are co-authors of Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story, a visual workbook for small groups, mentoring relationships, workshops, retreats, classes, between spiritual friends, or individually to re-discover the storyline of the life they are authoring with God. More information is available at http://www.onelifemaps.com./
Related to the Reviewing My Days Map from Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story by Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing.
Maybe you sped right through Advent as you got into the flow of the Christmas rush, but it’s not too late to enter into the experience of Lent.
While Advent reminds us of God’s unimaginable love for us, Lent reminds us of our sin and mortality. It is a time to remember why we are in need of a Savior, and the enormity of the price Jesus paid to rescue us from certain doom.
Dust and ashes symbolize our creaturely mortality and moral culpability. Simply said, we are finite beings who sin. Literally, we need to cry out, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.” Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, reminds us we are dust, and to dust we return. It sets the tone of Lent’s simplicity, sobriety and sorrow.
We spiritually get ready for Good Friday and Easter with Lent helping us to recognize both our belovedness and our sin, and realizing that God’s grace covers it all.
So how do we physically get ready for lent? This year, I placed a piece of purple fabric outside my front door where others enter and draped it on a tile I have on my kitchen counter where I write a verse for the day. I began to read the accounts in each Gospel of the journey to Jerusalem: Luke 18, Mark 10:13, Matthew 19:13, John 11.
I made Lenten readings available on the kitchen table:
- Show Me the Way – Daily Lenten Readings by Henri J.M. Nouwen
- Small Surrenders – a Lenten Journey by Emilie Griffin
- Living the Christian Year – Time to Inhabit the Story of God by Bobby Gross
We placed seven candles on the dining room table and each Sunday we light them all and then week by week blow one more out. The candles are a visual connection back to Advent. A crown of thorns and cross are placed on the coffee table. These are a visual reminder of this season of suffering for my sin. I play the Messiah CD and let the words take me through the Easter season.
I look outside and remember that Lent means springtime. The days are lengthening and showing new signs of life. Even the natural world reminds us of the resurrection. These visual reminders on my outside world force me to look inward for the work that needs to be done there. We naturally don’t want to go there but God accepts us “as is.”
Spend some time lingering on the inward journey of Lent as you prepare outwardly. It’s not too late to experience a meaningful Lenten season!
Scripture
“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.”-- Psalm 51: 1-2
Questions
- How can I enter into Lent this week?
- How will I begin my outward and inward preparation for this Lenten season?
Prayer
Return to the Father’s House (from the Church of the Resurrection)“O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy; Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ, your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing are co-authors of Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story, a visual workbook for small groups, mentoring relationships, workshops, retreats, classes, between spiritual friends, or individually to re-discover the storyline of the life they are authoring with God. More information is available at http://www.onelifemaps.com./
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Define or Refine
by Sharon Swing, Co-Author of Listen to My Life
In the movie, “Because of Winn Dixie,” a young girl says to a new, older companion, “The most important thing you need to know about me is that I don’t have a mama.”
As a viewer, my heart sinks as she says those words that reveal so much about the identity she has assumed. She sees herself as unlovable, unlikeable and somehow at fault for her mom’s decision to leave the family. A choice, not of her own making, has defined her.
She tells herself this story about who she is, and she believes it. More importantly, she lives out of it.
• “I am divorced.”
• “I am a cancer patient.”
• “I am an ex-con.”
• “I am an adult child of an alcoholic.”
• “I am just a housewife.”
• “I am unemployed.”
• “I am a widower.”
• “I am A.D.H.D.”
• “I am a failure.”
These are just a few of the kinds of opinions, events or circumstances that a person can allow to define who they are. They may or may not be accurate descriptions, but they are not appropriate definitions of one’s identity. They may be subplots of a story that serve in some way to refine a person, but they do not define one’s identity.
The stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, are of critical importance, because we make assumptions and decisions based on those stories. If one believes they are a failure, they will seldom believe in themselves enough to even try. If a person defines himself as a cancer patient, they may obscure their view of their what they have to offer the world, even with – and because of - the condition of their illness.
God would never use these descriptions to define who He made someone to be.
Here is what God says is true about you:
• “You are my precious child.” John 1:12
• “You are my friend.” John 15:15
• “You are a saint.” 1 Corinthians 1:2
• “You are a temple of my Holy Spirit.” 1 Cor. 6:19
• “You are worthy of great sacrifice. I have traded the life of my Son to save you and call you my own.” Eph.1:7
• “You were created with great purpose.” Ephesians 2:10
• “You have been set free from sin. Whatever has happened, you get a fresh start.” Romans 8:2
To view ourselves as God defines us is of immeasurable importance. His view frees us to live in grace, extend grace to others, and believe that God is not limited by our conditions. A sense of value and importance is instilled into our lives with the expectation that God intends to live through us, as He made us to be. There is something of God’s character that he wants to express uniquely with us and through us. There is redeeming, healing, loving, encouraging and restoring to do all around us. Have you noticed? He wants you to join Him in what He is up to in the world. It is an open invitation!
It is not that our conditions or circumstances are not important, but we are not to allow ourselves to be defined by them. In fact, God will use our ‘conditions’ not to define us, but to refine us. In his beautiful economy, somehow he can turn hardship and suffering into good. (Romans 8:28) Even when we cannot see it, we can trust that God will make good on his promises.
Reviewing our life stories can help us to discover where we have allowed our circumstances to define us – when God intends to use those same circumstances to refine us. When we walk the path of remembering with God, He is faithful to bring us back to the broken places of our story to replace lies with truth. He ALWAYS has our best interest in mind.
Prayer
Dear Father,
Please help us see ourselves as you see us, and see our circumstances as You see them. Replace and heal the marred views we have of ourselves, of others, and of our circumstances that keep us from welcoming whatever refining you are doing in us so that we can boldly join you in what you are doing in the world. Amen
Scripture
“We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!” 1 Corinthians 13:12 (MSG)
Questions
• How do you define yourself?
• What implications does that have on the choices you make?
• Are any of God’s definitions of you hard to take in? Why?
If you are interested in getting clarity on defining or refining your life story, please consider using as a guide, “Listen To My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story” by Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing.
Sharon Swing is an author, retreat leader, speaker, artist and consultant with interests in life story as a spiritual development tool, crafting experiences that give God space to do what he does best, art as a spiritual pathway, and change. With Sibyl Towner, she has co-authored Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story. For more information, visit http://www.onelifemaps.com/. She is an organization development consultant specializing in planning, meeting facilitation, leadership development and change management. For more information, visit http://www.swingconsulting.com/.
Reprinting and republication of this article is permissible in its entirety, with full attribution, including the paragraph above. Please let us know you’ve found it useful.
In the movie, “Because of Winn Dixie,” a young girl says to a new, older companion, “The most important thing you need to know about me is that I don’t have a mama.”
As a viewer, my heart sinks as she says those words that reveal so much about the identity she has assumed. She sees herself as unlovable, unlikeable and somehow at fault for her mom’s decision to leave the family. A choice, not of her own making, has defined her.
She tells herself this story about who she is, and she believes it. More importantly, she lives out of it.
• “I am divorced.”
• “I am a cancer patient.”
• “I am an ex-con.”
• “I am an adult child of an alcoholic.”
• “I am just a housewife.”
• “I am unemployed.”
• “I am a widower.”
• “I am A.D.H.D.”
• “I am a failure.”
These are just a few of the kinds of opinions, events or circumstances that a person can allow to define who they are. They may or may not be accurate descriptions, but they are not appropriate definitions of one’s identity. They may be subplots of a story that serve in some way to refine a person, but they do not define one’s identity.
The stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, are of critical importance, because we make assumptions and decisions based on those stories. If one believes they are a failure, they will seldom believe in themselves enough to even try. If a person defines himself as a cancer patient, they may obscure their view of their what they have to offer the world, even with – and because of - the condition of their illness.
God would never use these descriptions to define who He made someone to be.
Here is what God says is true about you:
• “You are my precious child.” John 1:12
• “You are my friend.” John 15:15
• “You are a saint.” 1 Corinthians 1:2
• “You are a temple of my Holy Spirit.” 1 Cor. 6:19
• “You are worthy of great sacrifice. I have traded the life of my Son to save you and call you my own.” Eph.1:7
• “You were created with great purpose.” Ephesians 2:10
• “You have been set free from sin. Whatever has happened, you get a fresh start.” Romans 8:2
To view ourselves as God defines us is of immeasurable importance. His view frees us to live in grace, extend grace to others, and believe that God is not limited by our conditions. A sense of value and importance is instilled into our lives with the expectation that God intends to live through us, as He made us to be. There is something of God’s character that he wants to express uniquely with us and through us. There is redeeming, healing, loving, encouraging and restoring to do all around us. Have you noticed? He wants you to join Him in what He is up to in the world. It is an open invitation!
It is not that our conditions or circumstances are not important, but we are not to allow ourselves to be defined by them. In fact, God will use our ‘conditions’ not to define us, but to refine us. In his beautiful economy, somehow he can turn hardship and suffering into good. (Romans 8:28) Even when we cannot see it, we can trust that God will make good on his promises.
Reviewing our life stories can help us to discover where we have allowed our circumstances to define us – when God intends to use those same circumstances to refine us. When we walk the path of remembering with God, He is faithful to bring us back to the broken places of our story to replace lies with truth. He ALWAYS has our best interest in mind.
Prayer
Dear Father,
Please help us see ourselves as you see us, and see our circumstances as You see them. Replace and heal the marred views we have of ourselves, of others, and of our circumstances that keep us from welcoming whatever refining you are doing in us so that we can boldly join you in what you are doing in the world. Amen
Scripture
“We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!” 1 Corinthians 13:12 (MSG)
Questions
• How do you define yourself?
• What implications does that have on the choices you make?
• Are any of God’s definitions of you hard to take in? Why?
If you are interested in getting clarity on defining or refining your life story, please consider using as a guide, “Listen To My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story” by Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing.
Sharon Swing is an author, retreat leader, speaker, artist and consultant with interests in life story as a spiritual development tool, crafting experiences that give God space to do what he does best, art as a spiritual pathway, and change. With Sibyl Towner, she has co-authored Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story. For more information, visit http://www.onelifemaps.com/. She is an organization development consultant specializing in planning, meeting facilitation, leadership development and change management. For more information, visit http://www.swingconsulting.com/.
Reprinting and republication of this article is permissible in its entirety, with full attribution, including the paragraph above. Please let us know you’ve found it useful.
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