It’s no secret that Leif and I have struggled over the years to connect spiritually through our personal times of devotion. In the early days of our marriage, we tried a laundry list of things that simply didn’t work. We began reading Oswald Chambers together on January 1 one year. By January 18, we couldn’t even find the book. We attempted reading the same passages of scripture for discussion, but also felt a sense of awkward disconnect. We tried reading the same books, listening to the same sermons among other practices and yet it always felt forced, unnatural, anything but, well, organic. Those images of spiritual marital bliss faded into the reality that growing spiritually together as a couple takes time, perseverance and hard work.
Over the last few years, we’ve found something that works. (And when you find something that works when it comes to spiritual disciplines, do it and keep on doing it!) We sit on the couch beside each other in the morning and read whatever we’re reading. I’m currently enjoying Bruce K. Waltke’s commentary on Genesis; Leif is making his way through The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan. As we read, we sometimes hmmm or oooh-ahhhh aloud, signifying we’ve found something special, then we share what we’re reading and our responses. It’s natural. Non-forced. The practice works for us. When we’re done, we each read a prayer aloud from Walter Brueggemann‘s Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth (a book given to us by our special friend Troy Champ). Then we spend time in prayer–for our families, our leaders, our friend, our world, and yes, you!–together aloud.
Brueggemann has a gift to bring hidden thoughts of the soul to light before God. Over the course of the fall, I wanted to share Walter Brueggemann with you every Wednesday. We invite you to join us for “Wednesdays With Walter” as you dive deeper in your own relation with God and prayer life:
You sweep away what we treasure
Our salute to you trembles out:Lord, sovereign, governor, king———political images of us before you, gender specific,———marked by macho.Sometimes we speak the terms glibly, out of habit.Sometimes we speak them with gravity, counting on you.But sometimes we are brought up short to see,———yet again,———that you are not kidding: you are other than us.You will not be mocked.Lord, sovereign, governor, king:In your will you sweep away what we treasure,We watch… and you sweep away a range of our idolatries,———apartheid… but not yet our racism,———military regimes… but not yet our superpower,———heresies… but not yet our self-indulgence.You, you who sweep away and purge,Sweep yet the systems of disobedience all around us,———sweep yet the networks of self-securuing we treasure,———sweep yet our own childhoods that rap us,———sweep yet our little loves that disable us,———sweep yet our little fears that rob us of you,———sweep yet and make new.Do your Friday sweep yet again, and———suit us for your Sunday governance. Amen.
