March 4, 2013

This week a group of leaders will gather for three days of retreat together. We’ll exegete the term “spiritual leadership” and assess our own life in reference to that calling. One of the primary ways we lean into becoming leaders who reflect the Spirit’s priorities is through the means of grace known affectionately as the spiritual disciplines. The main practices we will discuss surround the Scriptures, prayer, and reflection. Our focus will be on how we can receive from God through the gifts of His Holy Word, His tender voice, and His abundant life. “True, whole prayer is nothing but love” writes St. Augustine…spiritual leaders embody and emulate the love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Richard Foster, in his marvelous book simply titled “Prayer: Finding The Heart’s True Home,” articulates the invitation of God to come close, draw near, and follow Him…

“Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to him. He grieves that we have forgotten him. He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence. And he is inviting you – and me – to come home, to come home to where we belong, to come home to that for which we were created. His arms are stretched out wide to receive us. His heart is enlarged to take us in. For too long we have been in a far country: a country of noise and hurry and crowds, a country of climb and push and shove, a country of frustration and fear and intimidation. And he welcomes us home: home to serenity and peace and joy, home to friendship and fellowship and openness, home to intimacy and acceptance and affirmation” (p. 1).

Spiritual leaders know how to follow God’s invitation home…where love reigns. Nothing but love, pure love.