Symptoms: Lesson 1

[Francis Calvert]

Looking at the list of symptoms in the work book two that strike me are 1) Doing for God instead of Being with God and 2) Dividing life into Sacred and Secular.
1) I have often in the past thrown myself into “God’s work” I was an Authorised Lay minister in my local Church of England team, I was trained in pastoral care so spent a lot of time visiting the sick and elderly taking them Home communion and in church on Sundays I would lead non-eucharistic services like Morning prayer and also preach the sermon on occasions. it was all doing and not being, my prayer time and Bible study was limited. That is an issue I need to work on. Now because of my disability I cannot “do” very much but I can “Be” with God and spend quality time with him, I guess this is a new season of life as Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time for everything so I could include a “Time for doing and a time for being” I spent my life as a carer so again I saw myself “Doing God’s work” life has been about doing and just “being” That is beginning to change and I hope this course will help me in that regard.

2) There has been a tendency to divide up my life into sacred and secular, this is something that has become evident to me over recent times. I have read a lot about Celtic Christianity and they know of no such distinction. St Benedict too did not see that distinction the rule tells us that we are treat the pots and pans as we would the chalice and communion plate. I need to keep this in mind so I can move forward. It is a lesson I am working on. I am trying with God’s help to re-evaluate my life and see it as all sacred, not part of it is secular. I belong to him and have a place in his world. I am here for a reason. In my current situation I can see this more clearly.

[Brian Ipock]

I really liked your post brother. I can see you’ve reflected on this subject with some honesty and depth. Thanks for sharing!

[Author]

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