For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Green
Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt – Week 4 of Essentials Green Online Worship
Dan this week spoke in three Videos for Week 4
A Magical Universe Reflections on G. K Chesterton in Devotional Classics – Dan Wilt
Chesterton focussed on the Glory of the created order. The Universe is magical, the universe is alive and has meaning. This is in contrast by Scientific materialism the belief that the universe consists of carbon and atoms, random and without purpose. Orthodoxy. The Universe is Charged with the Grandeur of God. Children love the life so much they want things to happen again.
Repetition in nature – God has never got tired of making daisies. But we may be that we have sinned and grown old, but God has not.
God is younger than us, he can exalt in monotony and repetition. Repetition expresses the drudgery. As a worship leader we can get bored. Repetition that we go through in order to create those spaces, in order to that liturgy or work of worship, could be every evidence that there is tremendous beautiful life going on among us, rather than simply repetition and deadness. We may have made the bad guy in our contemporary worship anything that is old or has repetition. Our aim for new worship can diminish times when we simply hear the scriptures. A sense of foundation and offer ourselves to God again. Repetition is part of the cosmic order and may hold treasures for us.
Man was always small compared to the nearest tree, therefore compared to the size of the universe we are definitely small.
My thoughts on this… When I was 16, one of my friends shared that when you use a microscope to look at one of God’s creations e.g. a plant, the magnification reveals patterns and as you turn up the magnification the patterns keep going on and on. Yet with a man made object e.g. plastic, the patterns and design are only skin deep. This puts everything in perspective, that God knows us by name yet he created the universe! Wow!
Intro to Spiritual Formation – Dan Wilt
The language of spiritual formation is describing that a soul is on a journey. Talking about discipleship, a journey to the heart of God. Not necessarily a straight line. If it was then that person would rot. Sometimes God shows up in the most unlikely places. Instead of a straight line we might be turning all around, it might look more like a dance or more of a wandering. We are moving towards God in the likeness of Christ. We live our lives in analogue not digital. God is after ur
interior life being larger (or more substantial) than our exterior life. We need to tend well to the garden of our own earts. Souls with a deep sense of identity from God or strength. Our identity should be in Christ. Taking in regularly the scriptures, learning how to pray without ceasing. We are cultivating our own creative expressions. Serving others, food banks, worship. Inviting others to pray for us and praying for others we are entering into the journey of spiritual formation. It takes time, journey, community open us up to be intimate with God and self-disclosed before God. This will allow us to be transformed from the inside out. An intentional activity, an intentional choice o our part to be formed by God.
Movements of the Soul - Reflections on Ignatius of Loyola in Devotional Classics – Dan Wilt
God is not just after a perfect life, rather that our lives are on a general trajectory towards God.
We should not love any created thing for it’s own sake but only in the creator of all things. Consolation when one shares tears inspired by the love of the Lord, whether it be sorrow for sins or by the passion of Christ our Lord. Consolation he calls any increase of faith, hope and charity. Any interior joy that calls and attracts to heavenly things and to he alvation of one’s soul, inspiring it with peace and quiet in Christ our Lord. He calls Desolation all that is contrary to the third rule, darkness of the soul and turmoil of the mind, inclination to low and earthly things, restlessness resulting rom many disturbances and temptations, which leads to loss of faith, loss of hope, loss of love, it is also desolation when a oul find itself completely apathetic, tepid, sad and separated as it were from it’s creator and Lord. . For just as onsolation is contrary from desolation, so the thoughts that that spring from consolation are the opposite from those hat spring from desolation.
The following question was posed to us….
What spiritual formation idea or quote most moved you this week? How will you seek to apply to your daily life as a Christian and as a leader?
For me A couple of statements from Dan Wilt’s Reflections on Ignatius of Loyola in Devotional Classics, moved me the most.
- Ignatius defined Consolation as any increase of faith, hope and charity. Any interior joy that calls and attracts to heavenly things and to he salvation of one’s soul, inspiring it with peace and quiet in
Christ our Lord.
- Desolation is defined as contrary to Consolation, darkness of the soul and turmoil of the mind, inclination to low and earthly things, restlessness resulting from many disturbances and temptations, which leads to loss of faith, loss of
hope, loss of love
With this understanding I know that there have been times in the past when I have been motivated by desolation and it wasn’t pretty.
I realise that I need to consciously plan and action a life long decision to pursue consolation, in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Embracing new life, His ideas not mine, reflecting God’s image and pointing others towards a life overned by God’s consolation..
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