The Frank Sinatra Way of Spiritual Formation

Peter Fitch, St. Croix VineyardSunday, October 26, 2014

Doobey, doobey, do ♫♫

Frank Sinatra

Hidden gold?

• At least in this . . .Do—put yourself in position to Be—come something better than you are so

that you canDo—more things in your own life and Be—formed more and more into your true self

so that youDo—better things with greater quality

Jesus

• Gave away His ministry to 12, to 70, to all of us

• First He worked on helping His friends become like Him (Sermon on the Mount)

• He was living out of Isaiah 42:1-4 (according to Matthew 12) . . .empowered by the Spirit, bringing about justice, not drawing attention to Himself, concerned for individuals and for the whole world, incredibly gentle and incredibly strong, making things right

Luke 10:38-42

38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”

Luke 10:38-42

41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Wisdom beneath the surface

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the door sill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep.

The Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks (quoted in Inward/Outward, Saturday, October 25, 2014)

Preaching from Reader’s Digest

• A successful guy was quoted as saying that his dad had told him that half the world dreamed all day and the other half were lost in their activities

• He determined to spend the first hour of every day dreaming and the rest of the day putting his dreams into action

Richard Rohr

• Center for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico

• Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (the first half of life is for getting rid of the false ego and becoming who you really are; the second is for living out of who you actually are)

In Prayer

• United Church Renewal Group—experience of leaders

• My fledgling attempt

At Work

• A chemical process gumming up the works• Inventing new techniques to include people at

SSU• “Reflecting” rather than “Reacting” in

meetings

At War

• Now I Call Him Brother by Alec Smith (son of Ian Smith, former Prime Minister of Rhodesia)

• Nelson Mandela in South Africa—a walking example of the quality of forgiveness that has grown out of deep solitude

Our Discernment Groups

In your neighborhood . . .

• Ask for help in becoming the best version of yourself that is possible

• Also be prepared to offer help in situations that present themselves when you sense that you are being called into them

The Way Forward for SCV

• We are struggling a little• We are pushing forward once again• But it’s a good time to “wait on God” for

wisdom about how each one of us can help to make our community strong once more

• We do this so that we can be here for more people in the years to come