Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Road to Damascus Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

The Necessity of Solitude, Quietness, and Obscurity

7:15 PM
Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people. - Richard Foster

Thoughts:

  • Limited to Western Culture?
  • We might be leading this.
  • Is deeper more important?
    • Is deeper not more intelligent in and of itself?
  • Is it more a matter laziness?
  • Is laziness causing lack of depth?
  • It is not saying we don't need intelligent or gifted people but more of a balance with depth.

Causes of lack of depth:

  • Technology
  • Texting
  • Flexi-space work
  • Convenience

What is depth:

  • Thoughtfulness
  • Wisdom
  • Seeing the big picture
  • Not caught up in the details
  • Don't sweat the small stuff
  • Meaningful relationships
  • Opposite of shallow

Traits of a deep person:

  • Active listener
  • Say meaningful things
  • Slow to speak
  • Can experience a connection with them.
  • May be more open with others
  • Introspective
  • Good self-awareness

Galatians 1: 10-17

  • Paul was self-evaluating
  • Everything Paul was, was undercut, he was new person and needed to bring it all to terms.
  • Paul has an incredible confidence partly because he had taken time to reconcile with himself.
  • We need to spend time with ourselves so we don't sacrifice that relationship just as other relationships require time.

3 lessons from discussion:

  • Instead of speeding up, slow down and re-think
  • Instead of talking more, be quiet and reflect.
  • Instead of seeking a place of power, be still and relax.

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