Thursday, April 5, 2007

"Holy Leisure"

"Holy Leisure"

It refers to a sense of balance in the life, an ability to be at peace through the activities of the day, an ability to rest and take time to enjoy beauty, an ability to pace ourselves. With our tendency to define people in terms of what they produce, we would do well to cultivate "holy leisure". And if we expect to succeed in the contemplative way, we must pursue "holy leisure" with a determination that is ruthless to our datebooks.

-
Richard J. Foster
Celebration of Discipline
in his chapter on Meditation

How far from this do you think we are in modern Christian culture? Why is this even important?

2 comments:

Mark and Hannah said...

Unemployment really helps with the datebook. But, I don't recomment it.

Okay, I realize your post was serious and I have to haul off and try to make a joke. Hmmmm.

I think we will have to do "Spiritual disciplines" next for SaLT group. It is a wonderfully fascinating (and complex) topic and we would do well to study it!

And, to answer your question...we are so far from "holy leisure" that we run the risk of even knowing what it means, not to mention practicing it....

Zeppie said...

I have never experienced it that I can remember, but it sounds good to me. Any ideas on how to get there? Right now I couldn't be more overwhelmed by the things on my plate. I can't imagine taking things at a leisurely (yes, I stink at spelling) pace. There are several things that would have to be dropped right now to know it.

Sounds like a good next study to me.

Dave