By Gary Thomas
My Personal Takeaways →Sacred Pathways argues that people connect with God in fundamentally different ways — and that trying to worship through a pathway that doesn’t fit your temperament is both exhausting and unnecessary. Thomas identifies nine temperaments: naturalists, sensates, traditionalists, ascetics, activists, caregivers, enthusiasts, contemplatives, and intellectuals.
The book is liberating: if you’ve always felt guilty for not loving the quiet devotional time that others seem to thrive in, this book may explain why — and point you toward the pathway where you genuinely encounter God. Read this if your spiritual life feels forced or flat. Implement it by taking the assessment, committing to one primary pathway for 90 days, and noticing where you feel most alive in God’s presence. Then design your spiritual practices around that pathway rather than someone else’s.
By Gary Thomas
“I can’t imagine any doctor who graduated from a United States medical school in the past thirty years prescribing penicillin for that ailment. Apparently this doctor knows just one or two medicines and is prescribing the same one for virtually everything.” This experience taught me the folly of using one medicine to treat every malady. It took some time, however, for the spiritual analogy to become clear. Over and over again we give Christians the same spiritual prescription: “You want to grow as a Christian? All you have to do is develop a quiet time and come to church every weekend.”
Sometime in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the “quiet time” became a staple of most discipleship and church training programs. Usually consisting of thirty to sixty minutes, the quiet time was most commonly composed of a short period of personal worship, followed by some intercessory prayer (using a prayer notebook or intercessory prayer list), Bible study (according to a set method), and then a concluding prayer, followed by a commitment to share what we learned with at least one other person that day.
It’s one thing to witness spiritually empty people outside the church; it’s even sadder to see Christians inside the church who suffer this same spiritual emptiness.
Others have labored on but admit that the routine of their devotions has made them seem more like an obligation than a delight. This is because helpful, even delightful, routines can grow stale over time. There are certain foods I really like — but I don’t want to eat them every day. I have certain running routes and workouts that I earnestly look forward to, but I wouldn’t want to run the same route, at the same speed, the same length, every time I run.
Just getting out of our routines can often generate new enthusiasm. One of the most refreshing things that happened to my marriage some years ago was breaking my wrist. It was a serious break, requiring surgery, and it thrust Lisa and me out of our routine. We did most everything together, in part because I needed so much help. Since my exercise was limited to walking, we took near-daily walks. We shopped together. We answered email together (initially, I couldn’t type). For a while, Lisa even helped me get dressed. (OK, you try tying your shoe with one hand!) Being out of our routine, Lisa and I discovered a deeper and newer love. The romance was always there; it had just been buried under the accretions of always doing the same thing.
My discipline of quiet times was (and is) helpful; however, I came to realize it was not sufficient. Other parts of my spiritual being lay dormant.
And why should everybody be expected to love God the same way,
God wants to know the real you, not a caricature of what somebody else wants you to be. He created you with a certain personality and a certain spiritual temperament. God wants your worship, according to the way he made you.
I must admit, there is a limit to the individual approach to spirituality. It is neither wise nor scriptural to pursue God apart from the community of faith. Our individual expressions of faith must be joined to corporate worship with the body of Christ.
Jesus accepted the worship of Peter’s mother-in-law as she served him, but he refused to force Mary, the sister of Martha, to also worship in that way. Mary was allowed to express her worship in the silence of adoration, not in the hustle and bustle of active service.
The focus on spiritual temperaments is an attempt to help us understand how we best relate to God so we can develop new ways of drawing near to him. My search was most influenced by biblical figures, who lived out these temperaments on the pages of Scripture, and second by historical movements within the Christian church.
Scripture tells us that the same God is present from Genesis through Revelation — though people worshiped that one God in many ways: Abraham had a religious bent, building altars everywhere he went. Moses and Elijah revealed an activist’s streak in their various confrontations with forces of evil and in their conversations with God. David celebrated God with an enthusiastic style of worship, while his son Solomon expressed his love for God by offering generous sacrifices. Ezekiel and John described loud and colorful images of God, stunning in sensuous brilliance. Mordecai demonstrated his love for God by caring for others, beginning with the orphaned Esther. Mary of Bethany is the classic contemplative, sitting at Jesus’ feet.
In fact, by worshiping God according to the way he made us, we are affirming his work as Creator.
In the Middle Ages, the Western branch of the church, Roman Catholicism, was steeped in the mystery of sacramental rites; Roman Catholic worship focused on the altar. When Luther theologically broke with Rome, worship was altered considerably. Luther stressed sola scriptura (the sufficiency of Scripture), so he elevated the pulpit to show the importance of preaching the Word.
Calvinists rejected the monastic expression of loving God — a strict separation from society — and opted instead to express love for God by transforming society.
The Anabaptists, on the other hand, sought to express their love for God by stressing the inner reality of the gospel. They became separatists and pacifists, refusing to participate in the affairs of secular government. Instead, they attempted to create a model society that would witness to the unbelieving world by inviting them to come out of the secular society and join the community of faith. Their worship often consisted of sitting quietly before God, waiting for the Spirit to speak through his people. Neither the pulpit nor the altar starred. An Anabaptist church accommodated congregational sharing, believing that God’s Holy Spirit spoke to his people, through his people.
Further to the east, the Orthodox Church maintained its centuries-old tradition of holding a very sensuous worship service, with worshipers touching various items (even occasionally kissing them), listening to bells ring, smelling incense, watching the priests wear elaborate clothing, and worshiping in colorful surroundings. These were tactile-oriented, senses-come-alive services steeped in mystery and awe.
All five players — Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Anabaptists, and Orthodox — were trying to love God, but with unique expressions of that love. Many differences had theological roots, but some were also related to worship preferences.
What is a “sacred pathway”? Put very simply, it describes the way we relate to God, how we draw near to him. Do we have just one pathway? Not necessarily. Most of us, however, will naturally have a certain predisposition for relating to God, which is our predominant spiritual temperament.
Naturalists: Loving God Outdoors
Sensates: Loving God with the Senses
Traditionalists: Loving God through Ritual and Symbol
Traditionalists are fed by what are often termed the historic dimensions of faith: rituals, symbols, sacraments, and sacrifice. These Christians tend to have a disciplined life of faith. Some may be seen by others as legalists, defining their faith largely by matters of conduct. Frequently they enjoy regular attendance at church services, tithing, keeping the Sabbath, and so on.
Dreher was drawn by the ritual of the Orthodox Church, moved by the fact that he was praying prayers that had been prayed by many Christians in earlier centuries. The structure of the services brought more discipline to his personal life. Experiencing the same ritual week after week has deepened his understanding of the faith and his commitment to it.
Ascetics: Loving God in Solitude and Simplicity
Ascetics want nothing more than to be left alone in prayer. Take away the liturgy, the trappings of religion, the noise of the outside world. Let there be nothing to distract them — no pictures, no loud music — and leave them alone to pray in silence and simplicity. Ascetics live a fundamentally internal existence. Even when they are part of a group of people, they might seem to be isolated from the others. Frequently introspective, sometimes to a fault, they are uncomfortable in any environment that keeps them from “listening to the quiet.”
“Every heart needs to be set free from possessions that hold it so tight … and we can’t imagine the freedom we find from the things we leave behind.”
Activists: Loving God through Confrontation
They define worship as standing against evil and calling sinners to repentance. These Christians often view the church as a place to recharge their batteries so they can go back into the world to wage war against injustice. Activists may adopt either social or evangelistic causes, but they find their home in the rough-and-tumble world of confrontation. They are energized more by interaction with others, even in conflict, than by being alone or in small groups.
In his seminal work How Should We Then Live? Francis Schaeffer wrote that “as Christians we are not only to know the right world view … but consciously to act upon that world view so as to influence society in all its parts and facets across the whole spectrum of life, as much as we can to the extent of our individual and collective ability.”
Caregivers: Loving God by Loving Others
Caregivers serve God by serving others. They often claim to see Christ in the poor and needy, and their faith is built up by interacting with other people. Such Christians may view the devotional lives of contemplatives and enthusiasts as selfish. Whereas caring for others might wear many of us down, this activity recharges a caregiver’s batteries.
Mother Teresa said, “God died for you and for me and for that leper and for that person dying of hunger and for that person on the street. It’s not enough to say you love God. You also have to say you love your neighbor. Love, to be true, has to hurt. This requires people giving until it hurts.
Enthusiasts: Loving God with Mystery and Celebration
Contemplatives: Loving God through Adoration
Intellectuals: Loving God with the Mind
Likewise, mature Christians often display many, if not all, of the spiritual temperaments. As I describe each one in detail in later chapters, you’ll notice that I cite Jesus as an example of all of them. Regardless of our predominant spiritual temperament, all of us could learn a great deal from how others are nourished by God and how others meet and love God.
The goal here is not self-actualization or spiritual self-absorption, but to feed our souls so we can know God in a new way, love him with every cell of our being, and then express that love by reaching out to others.
Jesus had used the garden on numerous occasions to meet with his Father, to gain spiritual strength, and to receive his marching orders. Long before Passion Week, the garden of Gethsemane was a sacred space of refuge, refreshment, healing, intimacy, and fellowship — that’s why Jesus went there to prepare for what was about to take place.
The experience of Gethsemane is unique to Jesus. None of us will ever have a moment like that. But in using this sacred space, Jesus leaves an example to follow. When you need to hear from God, when you need to be strengthened by God, when you need to receive your marching orders from God, where do you go? For some of you, it may indeed be a garden, or perhaps a place in a local forest. Others of you may prefer a sanctuary. Still others may find prayer solace with a musical instrument in your hands. But do you have a place, or a moment, where you best meet with God in those times when you most need him? Where is your Gethsemane?
In a healthy Christian life, prayer and ministry go hand in hand. As we build intimacy with God in prayer, he communicates his love for us, but he also gives us our marching orders. In this way, prayer feeds our sense of mission and renews the urgency behind that mission. Likewise, Christian work — whether it is evangelism, administration, teaching, discipleship, or something else — reminds us of our need for God’s strength and thus drives us further into prayer.
Few things would hurt me more than if I heard that my extroverted daughter thought she had to do the same things with me as my introverted daughter does, or vice versa. Each is its own unique relationship, and each one is a cause for joy. What makes us think God is any different?
There is great freedom in how we can meet with and enjoy God. This is by his design and according to his good pleasure.
If you are in a spiritual malaise, it may be that you need a change in your spiritual diet. If you just can’t seem to leave that one particular sin, you may find that the answer is simple: You don’t know how to be nourished according to the way God made you so you’re seeking spiritual “junk food,” in the form of sin or addictions, somewhere else. Finding fulfillment in God is the most powerful antidote to any sin.
According to Jesus, four elements are essential to every true expression of faith: loving God with all our heart (adoration), soul (will), mind (belief), and strength (body). The intellectual is not excused from failing to adore. Neither is the contemplative excused from harboring wrong beliefs about God.
By understanding our spiritual temperaments, we can develop the tools we need to grow spiritually.
That’s my attitude in writing this book. How do we learn to love God, day in and day out, through the seasons of life? How do we keep this love fresh? How do we grow in our adoration and understanding of God? We do it by spending time with him. And once we understand the myriad ways that Christians have cultivated this relationship, we’ll have more ideas than we need to prompt us to walk closer and more constantly by his side.
Where we worship can have a profound impact on the quality of our worship. The naturalist seeks to leave the formal architecture and the padded pews to enter an entirely new “cathedral,” a place that God himself has built: the outdoors. Any place that has some trees or a stream or, at minimum, open skies, can be God’s cathedral.
It should be obvious, though modern conveniences hid the truth from me for a long time, that the Bible is meant to be read outdoors. Many of its illustrations and allusions are based on nature, and it is only in the context of nature that they regain their meaning and force.
When we lock ourselves inside, we leave part of God’s creation, and therefore part of our understanding, outside. Artificial comfort comes to us at a cost.
Many of the Old Testament theophanies, or appearances of God, happened in the wilderness. God met Hagar in the desert, Abraham on a mountain, Jacob at a river crossing, and Moses at a burning bush.
Jesus himself seems to have sought out the beauty of creation. Early in his ministry, he moved from Nazareth to live in Capernaum, which was by the lake (Matthew 4:13). When he called some of his disciples to follow him, he was walking by the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 4:18). Jesus often taught in the countryside,
Unfortunately, we have moved baptism from the river to the blue tub behind the pulpit. We hear the pastor read the Sermon on the Mount as he stands on top of carpeted stairs instead of sitting on a hillside covered with green grass. Worship has moved from Mount Sinai, with all its sights, sounds, and smells, to theatre seating designed to “protect” us from outside distractions.
When God created a paradise for the first man and woman, was it a resort house? A fancy motel? An elaborate palace? No. God chose to walk with Adam and Eve in a garden with plentiful trees and a beautiful river with four river heads.
Seeing God More Clearly: In 1998, seventy-seven-year-old John Glenn returned to space. Almost immediately, he was overwhelmed with the presence of God. “To look out at this kind of creation,” he stated in a news conference from space, “to not believe in God is to me impossible.” Glenn is not alone. Space flight apparently is a rather effective evangelist. Bryan O’Connor, a retired astronaut, said an enhanced faith “is pretty common” for astronauts. “I can tell you I felt a sense of awe out there looking at the Earth that I never had before.”
This shouldn’t surprise us. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands,” declares the psalmist (Psalm 19:1). The apostle Paul writes, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Romans 1:20).
“How Great Thou Art,” celebrates the way creation calls us to God: “When through the woods and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze; Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, How great thou art, how great thou art!”
Learning to Rest: We don’t always need a change; sometimes, we just need a rest, and there is no better place to rest our bodies and our souls than outside. In Psalm 23, David credits God with restoring his soul, but clearly the pastoral setting plays a role. The outdoors cannot replace fellowship with God, but it can be used by God in powerful ways.
In the midst of a busy schedule of ministry, Jesus often sought lonely places to pray and be replenished. He taught his disciples to do the same (Mark 6:30 – 32).
How to Love God Outdoors
I’ve learned that we must first create a space of time, quiet, and isolation before we can truly see God.
Examine the beauty of creation — see the beauty of rocks and their shapes, the beauty of colors and shades, the beauty of individual elements (such as trees), and the beauty of overall composition (such as forests). God’s beauty cannot be revealed through one form but is so vast and infinite it can fill an entire world with wonder.
The Temptations of Naturalists
Spiritual Delusion: Anything “received” on a walk with God should not be considered authoritative but seen as advice that must be tested. The Bible is the only sure guide, and we must guard against seeking an experience that Satan will only too gladly counterfeit in order to lead us astray.
Idolizing Nature: Some naturalists may slip into the heresy of pantheism, which is a worship of nature. Pantheism is a lie. It is not true that God is in all of nature, or that nature is God. It is true, however, that every time I am surrounded by creation, I see that God is. The Bible teaches us that the earth is the Lord’s (Psalm 24:1). Pantheism twists this to say, “The earth is the Lord.”
The distinction between pantheism and true Christian worship can be seen through an analogy of a mother missing a child who has recently left for college. The mother walks into her daughter’s room, taking time to appreciate all that her daughter has left behind. She breathes in her daughter’s pleasant scent; her eyes linger on the posters, the bed, a few clothes left behind. Her daughter isn’t in the room, but the room reminds her that her daughter is. No doubt she feels closer to her daughter here than she would in any other part of the house. A part of her daughter has been left behind — not materially but evidentially — in how her daughter has arranged the furniture, in how she has decorated the walls, in the things she has collected.
As I’ve lived and studied the Christian life, I’ve found that some Christians are moved more by sensuous worship experiences than by anything else. By sensuous I’m referring to the five senses — taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight. When we reduce all Christian worship to mere intellectual assent, we force Christians to worship God in a stunted and muted existence. When we embrace the use of the senses — which God created, after all — we open up entirely new avenues of worship.
This may be a difficult message for Christians who grew up, as I did, equating silence and lack of sensory stimulation with reverence. When we look at Scripture, however, we find that God often appears in a very loud and colorful way.
Biblical accounts of the glory of God in heaven are elaborate affairs and rarely quiet, to say the least. Consider, for example, the experience recounted by Ezekiel. He feels a wind. He sees flashing lightning surrounded by brilliant light, fantastic creatures, and a magnificent and stunning throne of sapphire (Ezekiel 1:4, 5 – 14, 26 – 27). He hears the sound of wings like the roar of rushing waters, and a loud rumbling. Ezekiel is then asked to eat a scroll that tastes sweet. After it is all over, Ezekiel is so overwhelmed — perhaps the sensuous onslaught is so great — he sits down, stunned, for seven days.
When the glory of the Lord returns to the temple, we again read that God’s voice is like the “roar of rushing waters”, and the land becomes radiant with his glory. The sight is so great that Ezekiel falls facedown.
When Jesus appears to John in the book of Revelation, the experience is also a very sensuous one. When Jesus proclaims his name, John describes it as a “loud voice like a trumpet.” Jesus’ head and hair were “white like wool, … and his eyes were like blazing fire.” Jesus’ voice was “like the sound of rushing waters.” Jesus’ face “was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” As anybody who tries to look into the sun knows, such brilliance forces you to turn away, and that’s what happened to John. “I fell at his feet as though dead” (Revelation 1:10, 14 – 17).
Truth — thought — is an essential component of real Christianity. But feeling is also important, for we are told to love God not only with all our mind but with our heart as well.
I need to remember, though, that God created our senses. Enjoyment through the senses was his idea, not Satan’s.
Sound
Psalm 96 begins with, “Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise his name.” Psalms 147, 149, and 150 urge believers to worship God through making music with instruments. Scripture’s admonition to use music in worship shouldn’t surprise us. As our Creator, God knows that language and music together stimulate the brain more than just language on its own.
It’s interesting to note that Luther argued that Scripture was meant to be heard with the ears more than read with the eyes. Our hearts are most transformed and challenged, he thought, when we hear the Word of God. Science has proven the validity of Luther’s insight. When we hear Scripture read, our minds are more active than when we are just reading with our eyes.
Smell
Smell can cement memories.
God commanded Moses to collect offerings of spices to create sweet incense (Exodus 25:6). Aaron was told that he must burn incense every morning (Exodus 30:7). Eli and Solomon both kept the practice of burning incense alive. Detailed instructions for cultivating sweet smells are given in Exodus 30. God prophesies in Malachi that “in every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name” (Malachi 1:11). Incense was one of the offerings presented to the Christ child (Matthew 2:11). John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was burning incense when the angel appeared to him and told him that his wife would conceive and give birth (Luke 1:9 – 13). Incense continues to be offered to God in heaven, along with the prayers of the saints, according to the book of Revelation. Psalm 141:2 mentions that incense symbolizes prayers rising to God.
Negative examples of offering incense also occur in the Bible, but these are connected to idol worship (2 Kings 22:17; Jeremiah 1:16) or offered in the context of a lapsed faith (Isaiah 1:13). The abuse of incense is rejected, not its use.
Basil is right in insisting that God couldn’t care less about our burning incense as a sacrifice for our transgressions. No incense offering today will wipe out a single sin. However, incense is used not to court favor with God but to help the Christian pray. It is a means, not an end.
Touch
One Lenten season, I carried a nail in my pocket, reminding me to pray prayers of intercession and repentance throughout Lent. The sharp edge reminded me of Jesus’ sufferings every time I touched it or bent over and felt it pressing into my leg. Touch communicates, especially to the sensate Christian.
Orthodox worship involves frequent kissing — a cross, an altar, a holy instrument. Touch with our lips is a way to recognize something as precious. It makes both a powerful internal and external statement.
One of my most memorable times of prayer occurred spontaneously. I was a young college student and wanted to offer everything I had to God. Without really thinking about it, I offered God myself by touching various parts of my body. First I touched my fingers and feet, praying that God would consecrate them for his service. “Whenever I reach out, I want to reach out in love. Wherever I travel, I want to do so under Christ’s name.” Next I touched my lips. “Whatever I speak, let it be the truth and something that will bring glory to your kingdom.” I touched my eyes. “Help me to protect my eyes, only letting them see what is helpful for the inner man within, so that my inner eye will not be blind to the sight of the real needs around me.” On and on I went, offering up the various parts of my body for God’s service. Later, my wife pointed out that I had gone through motions similar to blood consecration in Leviticus 8:24, where Moses is described as placing blood on the lobes of the right ears, the thumbs of the right hands, and the big toes of the right feet of Aaron’s sons.
Sight
There were probably very few theological points or arguments Nouwen hadn’t studied several times over. Certainly, he had read the story of the prodigal son innumerable times before. Yet once his soul was captivated by Rembrandt’s work, the truth of that parable pierced Nouwen’s heart with an entirely new passion.
Sight affects us perhaps more than any other sense. As much as a third of our cerebral cortex, which is the highest level of our brain, is devoted to visual processing. Researchers have even found that sight can be used to affect our will, which has a direct bearing on our commitment to live out our faith.
When God inaugurated Israel’s form of worship, he especially gifted and called out two individuals, Bezalel and Oholiab, to do “all kinds of crafts” (Exodus 35:31). These workers created beautiful art forms out of gold, silver, bronze, and wood. They also developed skill in embroidering fine linen and making intricate and fashionable weavings. The sight of the finished temple must have taken the worshipers’ breath away. To God, beauty mattered. The expense involved in the making of the temple was an acceptable sacrifice, and those who used their gifts to build it were held in high esteem and said to be filled with the Spirit of God.
Taste
Taste affects us so greatly that we use it to describe many things. A cultured person, we say, has “good taste.” A crude or vulgar person “lacks taste.” A cranky or vengeful person is “bitter.” Someone very kind is “sweet.” Getting a new job that calls us to relocate can be called “bittersweet.” Two researchers have said, “It seems that the perceptions that we call taste are so powerful, so extensive in their capacity to conjure up clusters of associated feelings, that we freely transfer the language of taste to all other parts of our experience.”
Jesus describes himself as the bread of life. He calls us the salt of the earth. As we study these passages and are reminded of them in everyday life, we can incorporate spiritual awakening into the otherwise routine act of eating. God created taste; it was his idea. If we’re creative, we can find ways to love him through it.
The Temptations of Sensates
Worshiping without Conviction: Senses can deceive, especially when our emotions are sent soaring through music.
Idolizing Beauty: When God’s servants, mere angels, appeared to people in the Bible, even mature prophets were tempted to worship them. Things of great beauty can steal our heart from the only One worthy of true, unadulterated worship.
Worshiping Worship:. The senses can be very misleading, especially if we confuse sensory stimulation with a true commitment of the will. On the other hand, using sensory stimulation as an aid to worship doesn’t necessarily mean the Christian is dependent on it or would be lost without it.
For all our suspicion of religious practices, we must remember that God invented (and at times commanded) much of them.
Abram expressed his faith by building altars. When God appeared to him at Shechem and told him that the Canaanites’ land would one day be his, Abram built an altar to the Lord. When he moved from there and pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai, Abram built another altar to the Lord. He followed the same practice when he moved to Hebron. By doing this, Abram sought to bring form to his faith (Genesis 12:7 – 8; 13:18). When God began to formalize Israel’s religion, he rejected idol worship and commanded that Moses make “an altar of earth” for offerings (Exodus 20:23 – 24). God was reorienting religious practices, not rejecting them. In fact, Aaron and his sons were given elaborate religious rituals to follow, which would “distinguish between the holy and the common” so that reverence for God wouldn’t be lost (Leviticus 10:8 – 11).
“Surely God doesn’t really care about such symbolism.” But he does care — at the very least, he did care very much — for when Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron’s sons, “offered unauthorized fire before the LORD,” God took their lives (Leviticus 10:1 – 2). After this, God gave more specific instructions to Moses about how priests were to come into his presence. God understands that our reaction to symbols often reveals our hearts’ reaction to him. If we’re flippant toward symbols, we’re often flippant toward what the symbols represent.
Ezra was also a traditionalist. He studied the law and taught its decrees, proclaimed fasts, offered sacrifices, mourned over sin, made confessions, and publicly read the law.
Jesus’ custom was to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath (Luke 4:16). (If Jesus saw the need for regular, formal worship, how much more should we!) Peter and John both observed regular, set times of prayer (Acts 3:1). Paul, the champion of receiving salvation by grace through faith, nevertheless observed the religious custom in Philippi of praying by the riverside on the Sabbath (Acts 16:13).
They are ways we use the physical world to express nonphysical (spiritual) truths.
Ritual
Through ritual and ceremonies we people in turn make order out of chaos. In endless space, we create a fixed point to orient ourselves: a sacred space.
What is too vast and shapeless, we deal with in smaller, manageable pieces. We do this for practicality but we also do this for high purpose: to relate safely to the mysterious, to communicate with the transcendent.
Scripture and Ritual Practices:
The Christian Calendar: Advent reminds us that there is a time to wait; Lent, a time to repent and mourn; Easter, a time to celebrate; Pentecost, a time to be empowered and emboldened to go out and minister.
I also like to add more contemporary reminders to my calendar as well, perhaps a reminder of Pascal’s ecstatic experience on November 23, 1664, or Bonhoeffer’s imprisonment and eventual martyrdom on April 9, 1945 — any events that may have particular meaning because a historic figure has influenced my faith. Pastor Robert Morgan has made this easy to do by means of his devotional book titled On This Day: 365 Amazing and Inspiring Stories about Saints, Martyrs, and Heroes.
Prayer of Cleansing Psalm 51 Lord, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy on me.
Choose a hymn or song for the day
The evangelical movement has suffered somewhat from making prayers too informal. New Christians often need more guidance than the popular “just talk to God and tell him what’s on your heart” to learn how to pray properly. Praying according to a rule can school a Christian to pray appropriately — with adoration, thanksgiving, and confession melded together with intercession.
How difficult would it be to set aside five minutes in the morning, five minutes at noon, and five minutes before or after dinner to meet God in prayer? Rituals provide structure for our faith.
Symbol
How many times have you heard a moving sermon, been almost bowled over by a powerful verse, or been given a great new insight, only to lose its effect because you forgot about it so soon after it was given? Symbols can help us overcome one of the great difficulties of the Christian life — namely, the problem of a poor memory.
Every word, even if it impresses him for the moment, goes in at one ear and out at the other. What is to be done about him? It is a great problem of Christian ministry. Symbols help us preserve this “moral memory,” which is so essential to right living.
God endorsed the use of symbols when he spoke to Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.’” Numbers 15:38 – 40
Some Christian traditions have made symbols out of baptism cloths, called the “alb,” which are kept as a memorial of the baptism and used as a covering for the body after death. This is unusually beautiful symbolism — to be buried in clothes proclaiming the hope of baptism.
Christ is frequently symbolized by the chi-rho symbol, which looks like the letter P over the letter X. These are the first two Greek letters in Christ. IHS is also used, the first three Greek letters in the word Jesus.
The Holy Spirit, of course, is frequently symbolized as a dove (reminiscent of the Bible’s metaphor of the Holy Spirit’s settling on Jesus) or with fire (reminiscent of the day of Pentecost when “tongues of fire” rested on the heads of the disciples; Acts 2:3).
Symbols also become dangerous if they become the center (rather than a reminder) of our faith. This happened in Old Testament history. On one such occasion, God commanded Moses to build a bronze snake so that Israel could be healed from a plague of snakebites. Later in history, Israel began worshiping the snake, treating it as a god rather than a symbol (Numbers 21:4 – 8; 2 Kings 18:4). Something good can be perverted, but the perversion is in the use of the symbol, not the symbol itself.
Sacrifice
The notion of sacrifice is also at the heart of why so many traditionalists celebrate Lent. Sadly, we are a culture that celebrates Mardi Gras but rarely gets around to Lent!
Christians may well ask, “Why observe Lent?” God doesn’t need us to give up anything; certainly, he doesn’t “need” my chocolate or roast beef, but sometimes I need to learn to deny myself something in order to truly appreciate what really matters.
That’s what fasting is all about, isn’t it? It doesn’t earn us any extra merit or favors with God, but God can use it to chasten our demanding hearts.
How, then, can you love God as a traditionalist? By incorporating the three elements of this temperament into your daily life: make plentiful use of symbols, develop meaningful rituals, and find areas of sacrifice.
The Temptations of Traditionalists
First Samuel 3:1 tells us that “the boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli,” yet in verse 7, we’re told, “Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.” Samuel was intimately involved in the religious observances of Israel, but he didn’t know the God of Israel personally.
Jesus also warned against empty displays of religion. Religion without substance, says Jesus, is hypocrisy; it makes us “whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27).
Judging Others: Rituals can powerfully enhance an individual’s faith, but they can also destroy corporate faith if used to criticize, measure, or divide.
Deifying Rites: People have a tendency to virtually deify something just because it’s the way it’s always been done, even if they no longer understand why it is done.
John the Baptist immediately comes to mind when we think of the solitary and the ascetic, but Jesus also had these tendencies. Before he launched himself into his public ministry, Jesus spent forty days in solitude and fasting (Matthew 4:1). He taught that prayer should be done in secret (Matthew 6:5 – 6). He assumed that his disciples would eventually fast (Matthew 6:16 – 17). And he returned to solitude at difficult moments in his ministry
Daniel writes of fervent prayer in which he pleads with God, fasts, and sits in sackcloth and ashes (Daniel 9:3). Joel urges the spiritual leaders to wear sackcloth, to mourn, wail, fast, and spend the night watching in prayer, crying out to God. God himself urges Israel to return to him with fasting, weeping, and mourning (Joel 1:13 – 14; 2:12).
To give a more precise definition of this temperament, we can break it down into three worlds: solitude, austerity, and strictness.
Solitude
Even in a crowd or at a party, sometimes I’ll try to “sneak in” a few moments of solitude. Some might argue that in doing this I’m taking myself too seriously, and they may be right. All I know is that it’s in those solitary moments that colors regain their brightness, truth regains its clarity, and reality loses its fog. Without some time alone, I feel like I’ve lost my anchor.
Modern-day “monks” recognize that even if they are married, work in a crowded office, or in a busy church ministry, spending some time apart is essential for a deepening walk with God.
For a young mother or father, or for a child living at home, getting completely away may not be possible; the important thing, however, is, as Pennington terms it, “the sense of apartness.” A family can create a prayer room.
For years I thrived on arriving hours before anyone else came to the office because the quiet and solitude were essential for my faith.
Austerity
Strictness
Ninety-nine percent of communication is in the interpretation. A man who begins giving a portion of his income to the church and its work, carves out time two or three times a week to attend church services, tells people on the street about his God, and reads books about God on a regular basis may appear to the world to be a “religious fanatic.” If, however, the same man were to begin making payments on a diamond ring, spend his weekends going on dates, tell all his coworkers about the lovely woman who has come into his life, and read love letters over and over, the world would simply say he’s “in love.”
Ascetics are “strict” only because they want to reserve a major portion of their lives for their passionate pursuit of God.
“It was because the thing was not demanded that it was done,” Chesterton writes, and in doing so he reminds us of the romantic side to asceticism.
The whole point about Francis of Assisi is that he certainly was ascetical and he certainly was not gloomy. He devoured fasting as a man devours food. He plunged after poverty as men have dug madly for gold. And it is precisely the positive and passionate quality of this part of his personality that is a challenge to the modern mind in the whole problem of the pursuit of pleasure.
True Christian asceticism doesn’t seek suffering or self-denial as an end, but as a means, as a way to love “something else that God might be loved more.”
The ascetics stressed deeds before words. Hard work in developing the inner life was far more important than obtaining a degree, writing a book, or being a skilled speaker.
The legalism of the Pharisees caused them to set impossibly high standards that other people were obligated to follow, while the Pharisees basked in other luxuries. True ascetics are strict with themselves but treat others with supernatural gentleness.
Rather than staying up late, however, ascetics may get up earlier than normal, perhaps one day a week. If we do this on a weekend, we can go back to bed to catch up on lost sleep.
Just as a teenager might shape her day in anticipation of a date or a sporting event, so a Christian can reschedule a day in anticipation of time alone with God.
Being Still: We can appreciate some of the benefits of stillness by adopting it for shorter periods. Our needless chatter often dissipates our energy and scatters our thoughts from a focus on God. Trying to be silent for just a few hours will reveal how distracted we have become. At first, like my friend, we may hate being quiet. If we give it time, however, most of us will not only grow comfortable with silence but fond of it as well.
Fasting: Like stillness, fasting reveals to us how much time and thought is taken up by transitory matters. Fasting can involve much more than food. We can fast from television, radio, movies, or certain types of food, desserts, meats, and the like. The ascetic is willing to give up the “delights and consolations of this world” so that he or she can enjoy the delights and consolations found in God. Renting a video to pass the weekend or turning on the radio to survive a commute can become habit-forming. To make sure these things aren’t controlling us, we may need to give them up for a short period of time.
Working: It’s startling to realize that Jesus was a common laborer for 90 percent of his life. Only a very small amount of his time was spent in a visible public ministry. Unless we want to accuse Jesus of being a poor steward of his time, we must reevaluate our distinction between secular and sacred work. Working hard is acceptable to God; done in the right spirit, it can be part of our worship to God.
Taking Retreats: Although modern ascetics may not live in complete solitude, they will still need to schedule time to be away for several hours, a day, or a week at a time. Being apart from society, ascetics can then focus on drawing nearer to God.
Living Simply: Ascetics will work to create simple living environments. On occasion, they even create rooms that are especially reserved for prayer. Simplicity in dress and lifestyle may also be an important factor. Ascetics will avoid packed schedules and devotional rooms full of figurines.
Enduring Hardship: In a desire to draw near to God and take on God’s character, ascetics embrace hardship rather than fight it.
When sickness, heat, cold, hunger, or tiredness come — and they will — we can either adopt a demanding spirit and stunt our spiritual growth, or we can embrace them, learn from them, and mature in our faith. Our attitude will make all the difference.
The Temptations of Ascetics
Overemphasizing Personal Piety: In the book of Zechariah, the people asked God if they should weep and fast as they had done for so many years. The Lord spoke through Zechariah, “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned … was it really for me that you fasted?’” (Zechariah 7:5).
Jesus spent lengthy periods of prayer in solitude, but these were followed by public times of ministry. Jesus urged his disciples to follow this same pattern — ministry followed by withdrawal and rest (Mark 6:30 – 32).
Our need for spiritual refreshment, then, must be balanced with our obligation to reach out to others.
When I think of Moses, Elijah, Habakkuk, and Peter, I think of men who have challenged me with their courage and leadership yet encouraged me through their weaknesses.
I never want to be patently offensive or stupidly obnoxious, but the fact is, some people have chosen to hate God and his kingdom. If I am going to identify myself with God and his kingdom, I will be hated as well. We can’t expect to faithfully serve God and be liked by his enemies.
The difference is that true Christian activists “live for God and for his love alone.” When our activism is oriented around the love of God, it is as acceptable to God as the contemplative’s prayer. If it is oriented around confrontation for its own sake, we may be feeding a sinfully divisive spirit rather than serving the unifying Holy Spirit.
Walking Prayer: Many activists may find that “walking prayer” is particularly helpful. The evangelist may intercede for a city block by walking around it as he prays silently; the intercessor may walk around a government building while she prays for justice.
The Temptations of Activists
Becoming Judgmental: Where activists often go wrong, however, is making the leap to assume that the holier they become, the less they should be able to tolerate sinners. This is clearly not true.
Ambition and Sex: At its root, ambition is often a fight against powerlessness and for control. The ambitious person is also inherently selfish. This search for control, unimpeded by thoughts of concern for another’s welfare, certainly provides a fertile seedbed for sexual lust, which may find a particularly comfortable home in an ambitious soul.
Elitism and Resentment: “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered,” they said (1 Samuel 30:22). David stepped in. “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us” (verse 23). Notice what David is saying. Paraphrased, it’s this: “You’re forgetting something, men. God, not our own strength, gave us this victory so everyone is going to share.”
Something moved inside me, and I realized, not in an idealized way, but with full understanding, why ancient monks often considered people with disabilities to be especially holy. The lessons they can teach us are profound.
Biblical Examples of Caregivers
Mordecai:
In just two chapters, Mordecai has provided for an orphan and protected a king. Mordecai was not a people pleaser, however, and this removes our suspicions of codependency. We learn in chapter 3 that he incurred the wrath of Haman because he refused to bow down in Haman’s presence. Mordecai served others when it was clearly an expression of serving God. When serving God and serving others came in conflict, Mordecai pleased God.
Once Israel was victorious, Mordecai’s caregiving continued. He established a yearly festival to celebrate God’s protection and intervention. He could easily have established a monument to his own faithfulness, but instead he decreed that the Israelites celebrate by sending presents to one another and by giving gifts to the poor. Rather than thinking of himself, Mordecai invented new ways to care for those in need (Esther 9:20 – 22). At all points, Mordecai was looking after others — first an orphan, then a king, then a nation, then the poor. His epitaph, the last verse in Esther, is fitting: “Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews” (Esther 10:3).
Jesus:
Jesus cared for the sick, the demon-possessed, and the lost; he urged his followers to give to the poor and had great compassion on the multitudes (Matthew 4:23 – 24; 6:2; 9:35 – 36).
Jesus placed his own needs underneath the needs of others. He had a more important mission to accomplish than anyone who has ever lived, yet he still found time to care for the basic needs of a sick, hungry, and unruly crowd.
Nobody is so important or so wise that they can excuse themselves from practical helps. Jesus emphasized compassion in so many of his teachings that it’s no surprise his followers also urge us to love God this way. John tells us that “we know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers” (1 John 3:14). In fact, lack of love for others calls into question whether we love God at all: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?”(1 John 3:17).
Paul joins John in urging Christians to look after others: “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). The writer of Hebrews equates loving others with loving God: “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them” (Hebrews 6:10). Later, this same writer reminds believers that in giving care to strangers, we may actually be entertaining angels (Hebrews 13:2). James says that “pure and faultless” religion is “to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Peter urges us to be hospitable and to use whatever gift God has given us to minister to one another (1 Peter 4:9 – 10).
The city of Sodom is often alluded to in Christian circles as the wicked city, but what really was Sodom’s gravest sin? Listen to Ezekiel: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49).
Activities to consider include:
In his book Conspiracy of Kindness, Steve Sjogren suggests mixing service with evangelism. Imagine the surprise of neighbors when they see you providing cool drinks in rush-hour traffic; providing hot chocolate, coffee, and cookies on a university campus; giving away free popsicles or cups of Gatorade to joggers, cyclists, or families at the local park; raking leaves and mowing lawns in senior citizen communities; providing free kindling and firewood to the needy; and shoveling snow from sidewalks and driveways.
With the Spirit’s inspiration impelling us, there is no limit to the number of opportunities available to those who seek to care for others. Whether we do this as a prelude to evangelism or as a service that demonstrates the love of Jesus to others, it is a powerful picture of the gospel in action.
We have to pass through the pain of sacrifice before we experience the joy of obedience.
The Temptations of Caregivers
Judging: Caregiving is not a license to judge others who serve God in different ways. It is true that all Christians are called to care for others, but there are different ways this obligation can be fulfilled. It is not for us to judge the validity of someone else’s worship.
Paul writes to Timothy, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). If we are truly loving God and not just serving to satisfy our own needs, we will be content to care for those at home first.
I have talked with many other Christians who have heard from God in their sleep. A dream may have provided clear direction, a new insight into an ongoing struggle, or an encouragement or a rebuke, and I have talked with many whose faith has been strengthened by such experiences. That God speaks through dreams is well established in Scripture. God spoke to Jacob, Joseph, Solomon, and Daniel through dreams. Joel prophesied that when the Spirit of God would be poured out on believers, “your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28).
The idea of God speaking through a dream is consistent with the nature of God. He is always pursuing us, speaking to us even while we sleep, giving evidence of his infinite and unlimited nature as opposed to our finite and limited existence.
As soon as we seek dreams for their own sake, we have slipped from true Christianity to circus spirituality. On the other hand, it makes little sense to completely deny the usefulness of something just because it can be abused.
Celebration has a wide background in Scripture. There were three major feasts prescribed in the Old Testament — Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles — and several other religious celebrations. These could be elaborate affairs. The Feast of Tabernacles, for example, involved a seven-day feast in which the Israelites are commanded to rejoice (Deuteronomy 16:13 – 15). Programmed celebration also gave way to individual, spontaneous celebration. David, the man after God’s own heart, danced enthusiastically before the ark of the covenant.
Acts 2 refers to speaking in tongues and foretells of receiving dreams, witnessing signs, and experiencing wonders. Paul and Silas sing hymns while in prison (Acts 16:25), and Paul exhorts the Ephesians to use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs in their worship (Ephesians 5:19). According to the book of Revelation, worship in heaven involves crying out “in a loud voice” and the roar of a great multitude shouting “Hallelujah!”.
It’s also important to point out that celebratory worship must still include reverence. In the midst of a celebration of the ark of the covenant’s return to Israel, those carrying the ark must surely have had light hearts even while carrying a heavy load. Festive music — with tambourines, harps, cymbals, and trumpets — filled the air. David and the Israelites celebrated “with all their might.” In the middle of this joyous celebration, the ark rocked slightly, and Uzzah, forgetting what he was carrying, reached out to touch the ark, and immediately he died (1 Chronicles 13:8 – 10). In the midst of a celebration, it’s easy to forget how fearful and awesome God is. Without reverence, however, celebration degenerates into shallow triviality.
We celebrate God by using the life he has given us to create other things. Whether it’s building a business, writing a poem, painting a picture, or planting a garden, creating something can be a profoundly holy experience. Far more than hobbies, these activities can be powerful expressions of worship. One of the most powerful antidotes to addiction is participating in different activities that lift addicts out of themselves and into positive, constructive acts of creation.
The Temptations of Enthusiasts
Enthusiasts need to be especially careful to remain true to seeking and loving God rather than always searching for new experiences.
Feelings come and go. Enthusiasts shouldn’t apologize for enjoying them, but they should avoid becoming dependent on them.
But I have to admit, I don’t celebrate God one-tenth as much as he deserves to be celebrated. And I have a sinful tendency to lapse into a practical “atheism,” believing in God, but not expecting him to move in supernatural ways. I believe enthusiasts have a precious gift and a special calling, and I hope they will never stop celebrating and never stop believing, even in the darkest night.
They want to enjoy God and learn to love him in ever deeper ways. Contemplatives remind us that God does not seek obedient but dispassionate servants but rather those who experience a passionate love that is so strong it burns all other bonds.
To enter the devotion of contemplatives, Christians must begin by emptying their lives of those things that choke out our desire for God. These may not necessarily be sinful things; too much busyness, on its own, will effectively kill earnest contemplation. In Thirsting for God, I write at length about “cultivating the quiet” and the Christian discipline of submission;
Calling to mind the stations of the cross has historically been a popular method of contemplation. Christians simply pray through the various events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion, perhaps beginning with Gethsemane and moving on from there: the sentence of death given to Jesus. Jesus receiving his cross. Jesus falling. Simon helping Jesus carry the cross. Jesus falling a second time. Women mourning for Jesus. Jesus falling again. Jesus being stripped of his clothing. Jesus being nailed to the cross. Jesus calling out to John and Mary. Jesus dying on the cross. Jesus being taken down from the cross. Jesus being laid in the tomb. As you experience the stations of the cross, at each point you pause and picture the truth of the Scripture in your mind.
The Temptations of Contemplatives
Healthy contemplatives will understand that rich human relationships are a way to enjoy God’s love, just as is solitary and intimate prayer.
We must also be aware of “spiritual gluttony” in which we begin to seek the feelings instead of God.
Contemplatives remind us of a startling fact: There is one thing that each individual Christian can do that nobody else can — give our personal love and affection to God. God can raise up plenty of evangelists, teachers, writers, and witnesses, but only I can give my personal love and affection to God. My spouse, pastor, or coworker can’t do this for me. Only I can give God this love, a love that he wants very much.
I have run into a situation in marriage counseling a number of times. The couple is unhappy. The wife is dissatisfied and the husband cannot see why. He goes into a long recital of all he is doing for her. He is holding down two or three jobs, building a new house, buying her everything. But to all this the wife quietly replies: If only he would stop for a few minutes and give me himself! I sometimes think that God, as he sees us rushing about in all our doing of good, says to himself: If only they would stop for a few minutes and give me themselves!
Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance — for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:5 – 7
In the book of Proverbs, we are told to “cry aloud for understanding” and to “search for it as for hidden treasure” (Proverbs 2:3 – 4). We are told, “Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7).
Jesus himself revealed intellectual tendencies. At twelve years old, he was found discussing the law in the temple (Luke 2:46). Teaching was a large part of his ministry. Though he was forceful in his denunciation of intellectual contrivances that kept people from God, Jesus understood that the mind, as well as the heart, had to be transformed.
Think how much stronger you’d be as a Christian if you picked one topic a year for in-depth study. In just a few years, you could be quite conversant on a number of important truths. It’s clear that the church would be a vastly stronger institution if we applied ourselves with a little more fervor to developing the mind that God has given us.
Intellectuals can aim to broaden their faith by gaining an understanding of the basic disciplines of theological training. These disciplines include church history, biblical studies, systematic theology, ethics, and apologetics. A full seminary education would also include a few other disciplines, but these five comprise a good start toward building an informed Christian mind.
The brutal fact is that … not one person in a hundred has the faintest notion what the church teaches about God or man or society or the person of Jesus Christ. What we believe about God will affect how we serve him, in the same way that what we believe about a person will affect how we treat that person.
Intellectuals may want to become familiar with the major creeds, even if they are not a part of his or her tradition. The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Augsburg Confession, and the Westminster Confession together comprise a good start.
We have as much time as God gives us on this earth to begin handing our minds over, bit by bit, to the truth of God. By the time I die, I want my actions, my thoughts, and my beliefs to all conform to the image of Christ. This won’t happen by accident. Thankfully, we have a great teacher, the Holy Spirit, and a reliable and authoritative group of teachings, the Bible, to help us accomplish this aim.
The Temptations of Intellectuals
Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 2:23 – 25
The mark of a Christian is love and grace, not prideful displays of knowledge.
Someone with a beautiful voice can still be obnoxious if he sings at inappropriate times, and someone with a superior mind can still be offensive if she doesn’t learn the time and place to engage others in proper discourse.
Discovering our strong tendencies and predominant spiritual temperament gives us the information we need to construct a comprehensive plan for spiritual growth.
If we tend our garden, we’ll have plenty of food with which to feed others. If we give our garden just cursory attention, we may have enough to feed just ourselves. If we completely neglect our garden, we’re going to be so hungry we’ll become “consumer” Christians, feeding off of others.
We were made to love God. Like the two gardeners mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, each of us stands before an open plot of land. God will scour heaven and earth to provide us with what we need to plant and maintain a beautiful garden of love, intimacy, and fellowship with him. Not a second of our existence passes without God thinking about how to turn our hearts toward him. Not one single second. The almost unbelievable joy is that you can enjoy a relationship with God that he will have with no one else. And God eagerly, passionately, yearns for that relationship to begin.