Soil for Our Souls

S.O.S. - Booklet Available

2008-05-20T15:02:36-07:00

S.O.S. Soil for Our Souls
The Way of Jesus - A Spiritual Path for Today

New Booklet Available

I have combined the 6 U.N.I.T.E.D. themes into a booklet format. Also included are "Rich Soil for Our Souls to Flourish," which introduces the whole project; and "The Long Emergency," my sermon which started it all.

The document is available in two formats:

A. The pages have been re-sequenced for a booklet format.
They must be printed and then photocopied, one-sided to two-sided, collated, and folded in half.
Click here to open an Adobe PDF version of this file.

B. The pages are in numerical sequence, formatted as two columns per page of paper.
This format makes for easier reading and photocopying without the need to print in the booklet format.
Click here to open an Adobe PDF version of this file.

Dedicating Time, Talent and Treasure in Gratitude to God

2008-05-09T16:10:04-07:00

S.O.S. Soil for Our Souls
The Way of Jesus - A Spiritual Path for Today
Dedicating time, talent and treasure in gratitude to God

This is the last of six themes exploring ways to enrich the soil in which our souls may grow in health, maturity, wisdom, sustainability, and completion.

Clicking the Dedicating time, talent and treasure in gratitude to God link under the U.N.I.T.E.D. heading in the left-hand side bar will open a page with links to resources about all things dedicating.

Engaged in Spiritual Friendships and Study

2008-05-01T17:15:10-07:00

S.O.S. Soil for Our Souls
The Way of Jesus - A Spiritual Path for Today
Engaged in spiritual friendships and study

This is the fifth of six themes exploring ways to enrich the soil in which our souls may grow in health, maturity, wisdom, sustainability, and completion.

Clicking the Engaged in spiritual friendships and study link under the U.N.I.T.E.D. heading in the left-hand side bar will open a page with links to resources about all things friendship and study.

Testifying about God's love through service and hospitality

2008-04-24T15:31:43-07:00

S.O.S. Soil for Our Souls
The Way of Jesus - A Spiritual Path for Today
Testifying about God's love through service and hospitality

This is the fourth of six themes exploring ways to enrich the soil in which our souls may grow in health, maturity, wisdom, sustainability, and completion.

Clicking the Testifying about God's love through service and hospitality link under the U.N.I.T.E.D. heading in the left-hand side bar will open a page with links to resources about all things service and hospitality.

Inspired by daily reading and memorization of Scripture

2008-04-10T13:30:32-07:00

S.O.S. Soil for Our Souls
The Way of Jesus - A Spiritual Path for Today
Inspired by daily reading and memorizing of Scripture

This is the third of six themes exploring ways to enrich the soil in which our souls may grow in health, maturity, wisdom, sustainability, and completion.

Clicking the Inspired by daily reading and memorizing of Scripture link under the U.N.I.T.E.D. heading in the left-hand side bar will open a page with links to resources about all things reading and memorizing of Scripture.

Nourished Through Weekly Rest and Worship

2008-04-03T12:59:09-07:00

S.O.S. Soil for Our Souls
The Way of Jesus - A Spiritual Path for Today
Nourished through weekly rest and worship

This is the second of six themes exploring ways to enrich the soil in which our souls may grow in health, maturity, wisdom, sustainability, and completion.

Clicking the Nourished through weekly rest and worship link under the U.N.I.T.E.D. heading in the left-hand side bar will open a page with links to resources about all things rest and worship.

Uplifted in Daily Prayer

2008-03-31T13:17:56-07:00

S.O.S. Soil for Our Souls
The Way of Jesus - A Spiritual Path for Today
Uplifted in daily prayer

This is the first of six themes exploring ways to enrich the soil in which our souls may grow in health, maturity, wisdom, sustainability and completion.

Clicking the Uplifted in daily prayer link under the U.N.I.T.E.D. heading in the left-hand side bar will open a page with links to resources about all things prayer.

S.O.S. - Soil for Our Souls

2008-03-05T12:23:00-08:00

Rich Soil for Our Souls to Flourish

Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this note.

It was you who formed my inward parts;
I praise you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139

And yet it is also true ...

   I realize I don't have what it takes to do what is right.
   I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good,
   but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but
   then I do it anyway. My "decisions" don't result in actions.
   Romans 7 (from "The Message")

Jesus used many soil and seed images to describe how, in spite of our inability to be perfect, we might nonetheless practice ways of living so that our God-given souls might flourish in health, maturity, wisdom, sustainability, and completion.

One of the ones I like best is the description of a farmer who prepares the soil, scatters the seed, and then sleeps while the seed grows all by itself. (Mark 4:26-29)

Because we live in a culture that is frantic about results, and at the same time has pretty much lost contact with how plants and other wild things grow, we think we will either grow to become spiritually mature and healthy by doing everything, or by doing nothing - not giving any time, thought, or intention to nurturing our soul. Both alternatives are a mistake.

Our job is to prepare the soil and scatter the seed. It is NOT our job to create the seed, nor to grow the seed. We do need to do some of the work, but not all of the work. In fact, Jesus goes so far as to suggest it is best if take a rest while God is doing God's part.

For the next year, we will focus our attention on becoming good soil in which the seed of our soul can take root and flourish to health, maturity and completion.

As a starting point, we'll use ancient teachings from the Christian past to learn about how to tend the roots of our soul so that it might produce abundant fruit in our life.

The Way of Jesus - A Spiritual Path for Today

Over the past 1,900 years, the followers of Jesus have found the following practices have stood the test of time as being the best way to provide the good soil in which our souls might flourish. They called it, "The Way:"

Uplifted in daily prayer;
Nourished through weekly rest and worship;
Inspired by daily reading and memorizing of scripture;
Testifying about God's love through service, and hospitality;
Engaged in spiritual friendships and study;
Dedicating time, talent and treasure in gratitude to God.
(Thanks to Richard Bott, Saint Andrew's-Haney United Church, for the acronym: U.N.I.T.E.D.)

Exactly what we do and how we do each of these six practices is something we'll need to explore. But that we need to do them is not.

And so I invite everyone who is interested to be part of an "S.O.S. - Soil for Our Souls" process with me. This process can include everything from getting together for coffee, email, phone calls, visits, or forming a group who would like to get together. We'll take a look at each of the six practices and clarify what it means to do those today. For example, no one can memorize the whole Bible, so where should a person begin? What would be the first top 10 passages to memorize?

My vision is that by this time next year, we will have developed some, clear, simple, easy to follow, suggestions for what to do and how to do it for each of the above 6 practices. And that we will have begun to intentionally talk together and support each other to nurture our souls to greater health, maturity, wisdom, sustainability, and completion.

I look forward to growing with you all.

David Ewart,
Minister.
www.davidewart.ca