Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash
Beginning the Strategy: An Invitation to Spiritual Formation
When we first learn to dance, the steps are awkward. With practice, dancing becomes natural, moving with the music. Spiritual formation is movement: awakening to light, cleansing, grounding, learning rhythms, discovering fullness, engaging in meaningful work, resting, and rebirth. These eight patterns are integrated into creation; they are reflected in nature, Scripture, and the lives of those who learn spirituality. Welcome to the dance, you’ve been here all along. 8 Moves is about noticing the moves God has made and is making, and how we can move in response to the rhythms of life.
This journey begins with questions, not answers. It starts with paying attention to what’s already around you and within you.
Natural Theology-First Cause: Everything that begins has a cause. The universe began. What does it mean that “beginning” itself requires a Beginner? Why is there something rather than nothing?
Four Verses & Journal Q’s
1. Origin — “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 ESV) Where do I sense that life—my life—has an intentional beginning rather than random chance?
2. Word — “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1 ESV) What voice or message is shaping my thinking and my life right now?
3. Cohesion — “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17 ESV) What keeps my life from falling apart—and what happens when that center doesn’t hold?
4. Being — “For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.'” (Acts 17:28 ESV) Where do I feel most truly alive—and what does that reveal about the source of life itself?