a sol cafe manifesto: We ask questions like... "how have I been shaped? And how will I be shaped?"

a sol café manifesto

This is an attempt to capture a bit of what the sol café is all about. It will not capture everything. It won't even come close.

This is not a statement of faith. This is not a statement of vision. It's just a statement.

This is a piece of our manifesto:

We ask questions like... "how have I been shaped? And how will I be shaped?"

This is only a partial answer to a series of questions, but in general, what are some of the ways in which I believe God has and is shaping me? This is a rather technical sort of post - blah, blah blah yes there is all that most important stuff about people and community, but the reality of those things is hidden perhaps by the language of what I'm trying to relate... and yes a latte tastes like mercy...

Well, speaking of formation, the ways in which I trust God has shaped me are found in what the Anglicans call a "rule of life" - sort of a personal benedictine kind of Christian formation. The center of my spiritual formation, from my end, is the practice of "daily offices" - an old monastic tradition of prayer and Scripture reading at various times of the day. I was introduced to it about 23 years ago.

We are essentially formed by God's choice to live and act in us through his Spirit. This is one way that I believe God has done this with me. I open up the floor for others to join in and tell how they believe/trust/suspect that God shapes and forms them, if they even see that as part of whatever is happening...

The goal? purpose? achievable spiritual commodity outcome of a rule of life is to be shaped by the various ways I/we trust that God wants and intends to shape us. So from my liturgical Anglican spirituality, here is an outline from the Book of Common Prayer:

Every Christian man or woman should from time to time frame for himself a RULE OF LIFE in accordance with the precepts of the Gospel and the faith and order of the Church; wherein he may consider the following:

The regularity of his attendance at public worship and especially at the holy Communion.
The practice of private prayer, Bible-reading, and self-discipline.
Bringing the teaching and example of Christ into his everyday life.
The boldness of his spoken witness to his faith in Christ.
His personal service to the Church and the community.
The offering of money according to his means for the support of the work of the Church at home and overseas.

All that being said, I believe I have also been profoundly shaped by God during times of suffering. I don't think the popular Christian culture deals with that experience very well. I think that needs to change.

contributed by Joseph Walker

3 response(s):

steve the z says...: Ya, good stuff, I also love the apostles creed and the Lord's prayer.
joe says...: I am simply the kind of person who finds this sort of stuff helpful. This is my spiritual metabolism - this is a chunk of my spiritual diet.
steve the z says...: How have I been shaped? wether it has been God moving through people or not, I have been significantly impacted by people in my life.

One of them was Shawn V. Today I lost Shawn, my parents called me at work as they found out today. Shawn wasn't just a guy I knew, he was a part of the fabric of my community growing up. There were good times, and tough times but shawn was there thru the long haul. and one of the few that I still would see.

My dad would do business with Shawn, they became freinds as well, it's hard not to like the guy. Wild wispy hair, beard of either one day of growth or a long cold winters worth. Bright blue eyes and a quick laugh. Jack of all trades, master of most. Inverntor, holder of at least one patent. built many houses and garages, and trucked a lot of wheat (which is how Dad and Shawn worked togethor).

Shawn would come to parties with his half sack of beer (sask term for a 6 pack) drink 4 rather quick, give two away and be the life of the party. His one dream was to live to 100, sorry man but that is another project you started and didn't even get half done. another dream was to run in the Boston marathon, he would of I know for sure.

Shawn was a good guy, we would laugh togethor and worry about friends togethor. He made my wife feel welcome to what was a strange town for her, of course he did it by teasing Anika and talking about his dogs with her.

There will never be another Shawn like that one, I miss friends that have gone on without me, I have no regrets, only that he would know how I thought of him.

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	antecedents symbols are powerful and necessary, but don't conf... don't do anything just because "we've always done ... our whole life is an act of prayer all of this could be wrong God leads this church, not us church should not be a barrier to people getting t... we don't get why the world is so screwed up we have more questions than we have answers our whole life is an act of love our whole life is an act of service more manifesto March 2006 April 2006 July 2006 October 2006 January 2007 July 2007 now			a sol café manifesto This is an attempt to capture a bit of what the sol café is all about. It will not capture everything. It won't even come close. This is not a statement of faith. This is not a statement of vision. It's just a statement. This is a piece of our manifesto: We ask questions like... "how have I been shaped? And how will I be shaped?" This is only a partial answer to a series of questions, but in general, what are some of the ways in which I believe God has and is shaping me? This is a rather technical sort of post - blah, blah blah yes there is all that most important stuff about people and community, but the reality of those things is hidden perhaps by the language of what I'm trying to relate... and yes a latte tastes like mercy... Well, speaking of formation, the ways in which I trust God has shaped me are found in what the Anglicans call a "rule of life" - sort of a personal benedictine kind of Christian formation. The center of my spiritual formation, from my end, is the practice of "daily offices" - an old monastic tradition of prayer and Scripture reading at various times of the day. I was introduced to it about 23 years ago. We are essentially formed by God's choice to live and act in us through his Spirit. This is one way that I believe God has done this with me. I open up the floor for others to join in and tell how they believe/trust/suspect that God shapes and forms them, if they even see that as part of whatever is happening... The goal? purpose? achievable spiritual commodity outcome of a rule of life is to be shaped by the various ways I/we trust that God wants and intends to shape us. So from my liturgical Anglican spirituality, here is an outline from the Book of Common Prayer: Every Christian man or woman should from time to time frame for himself a RULE OF LIFE in accordance with the precepts of the Gospel and the faith and order of the Church; wherein he may consider the following: The regularity of his attendance at public worship and especially at the holy Communion. The practice of private prayer, Bible-reading, and self-discipline. Bringing the teaching and example of Christ into his everyday life. The boldness of his spoken witness to his faith in Christ. His personal service to the Church and the community. The offering of money according to his means for the support of the work of the Church at home and overseas. All that being said, I believe I have also been profoundly shaped by God during times of suffering. I don't think the popular Christian culture deals with that experience very well. I think that needs to change. contributed by Joseph Walker 3 response(s): steve the z says... Ya, good stuff, I also love the apostles creed and the Lord's prayer. joe says... I am simply the kind of person who finds this sort of stuff helpful. This is my spiritual metabolism - this is a chunk of my spiritual diet. steve the z says... How have I been shaped? wether it has been God moving through people or not, I have been significantly impacted by people in my life. One of them was Shawn V. Today I lost Shawn, my parents called me at work as they found out today. Shawn wasn't just a guy I knew, he was a part of the fabric of my community growing up. There were good times, and tough times but shawn was there thru the long haul. and one of the few that I still would see. My dad would do business with Shawn, they became freinds as well, it's hard not to like the guy. Wild wispy hair, beard of either one day of growth or a long cold winters worth. Bright blue eyes and a quick laugh. Jack of all trades, master of most. Inverntor, holder of at least one patent. built many houses and garages, and trucked a lot of wheat (which is how Dad and Shawn worked togethor). Shawn would come to parties with his half sack of beer (sask term for a 6 pack) drink 4 rather quick, give two away and be the life of the party. His one dream was to live to 100, sorry man but that is another project you started and didn't even get half done. another dream was to run in the Boston marathon, he would of I know for sure. Shawn was a good guy, we would laugh togethor and worry about friends togethor. He made my wife feel welcome to what was a strange town for her, of course he did it by teasing Anika and talking about his dogs with her. There will never be another Shawn like that one, I miss friends that have gone on without me, I have no regrets, only that he would know how I thought of him. Post a Comment Links to this post: <$BlogBacklinkTitle$> <$BlogBacklinkSnippet$> posted by <$BlogBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$> Create a Link more manifesto March 2006 April 2006 July 2006 October 2006 January 2007 July 2007 [back to the manifesto main page]