Me, Myself, and God

As you know I am a strong believer in a contemplative approach to God for the survival of our souls. Most pastors I have met find it extremely difficult to find silence, solitude and sensitivity with God. The pastorate has become an even more complicated and stressful calling because of a fickled post-modern culture and the demands of parishoners who have been overwhelmed with it's influence.

Just for the record I would like to re-emphasize the need for us in ministry to make sure we are replenishing our souls. We dare not minister from an empty tank.

Here is one pastor's thoughts written recently in Leadership Magazine on this issue:

"Silence is not meant to be a practice for navelgazers and recluses. Silence is the spiritual practice that puts us in a place to hear God, so that we can lead from something other than just strategic and organizational ideas. The great temptation that stalks ministers today is the temptation to put hours and hours into strategic agendas-because preparing agendas feels like doing something. That is easier to do than be silent and listen on the deep levels of the soul, levels where real discernment can happen. For me lack of silence is laziness-laziness in staying close to God." Adele Calhoun, Redeemer Community Church, Boston Massachusetts.

Let me insert one more testimony of a pastor from that same article in Leadership:

"As I write this, I am away from my normal stomping ground in Wisconsin, listening to the crashing surf of the ocean. At this merging point between the familiar world of dry land and that wild other -world at sea, I am reminded that the untamed power of God sometimes smashes into the laps against the world I know-or think I know. At home I engage with people continually, but I have nothing to offer them if I have not engaged with God. In solitude, I learn again that the purpose of ministry is not control, but awe."

Mel Lawrenz, Elmbrook Church, Brookfield, Wisconsin.