Referring to the story of the marble
and the lion: (p.16)
“Spiritual formation is the careful
attentiveness to the work of God, our Master sculptor, as we
submit to the gradual chipping away
of all that is not of God, until the inner lion is revealed.”
What does this mean to you?
“Absurd
living is a way of life in which we remain deaf to the voice that speaks to us in our
silence…we may feel unfulfilled and wonder
if being busy but bored, involved yet lonely, is a symptom of an absurd life:
the life in which we no longer hear the voice of the One who created us and who
calls us to a new life.”
Think of a time you had a hard time
“hearing the voice of God”. What might keep
you
from hearing this voice?
Do you feel a need to fill in moments of silence with something
useful or effective? Do you have trouble
with silence? Why? Is it fear?
Why would someone be afraid to hear
the voice of God?
“The
problem…is not how to make the spiritual life happen, but to see where it
actually is
happening…Our task is to recognize that,
indeed, it is God who is acting, and we are involved already in the spiritual
life.” (p.20)
“If you imagine yourself as a beautiful but
unformed block of marble, what
would
God need to chip away to reveal the lion inside of you? (p. 24)
Take few moments and silently
meditate on Isaiah 51:1-2:
“Listen to me, you who pursue
righteousness and who seek the Lord.
Look to the rock
from which you were cut
And
to the quarry from which you were hewn;”
