How are you?

06/13/21 • 43 min

Guelph Vineyard Church

Previous Episode

The Notorious "Should" of Gratitude. Ugh.

Who doesn't want to be more grateful? We all intrinsically know that living from a place of gratitude is a best-practice for living your best life. But how do we do that? Have you ever felt the burden of feeling like you should be more grateful in a situation that just honestly kind of sucks? Perhaps a well meaning friend gives advice about how you should see the circumstance you're struggling through, or maybe you encounter a scripture verse like this one: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18, and it feels more like a gut-punch than healing ointment.

Practicing gratitude is the 2nd movement of the examen prayer practice we've been exploring lately, and we're going to take a good, honest look at the gift and burden of attempting thanksgiving in all circumstances.

Next Episode

Be specific!

Do you know the phrase "The devil is in the details"? It feels like an old proverb (it's not) that helpfully points out that what may seem like a good idea on the surface can lose its lustre the more you descend into the specifics. They're intimidating, the details that is. They're also conveniently easy to ignore.... for a little while. But unchecked, they can wreak havoc and ruin even the best "big idea". All this is why we must inviteGod into the details of our actual life. Not just invite Him into the moments of our choosing... but into all of it. The wins, the losses, the catastrophes and triumphs. The Examen prayer calls these details "Desolations and Consolations". It assumes that the older and less popular expression coined by French author Gustave Flaubert: 'Le bon Dieu est dans le détail' trans: 'The Good Lord is in the detail'. - is a deeper and literal truth. We're going to talk about the assumption that the Lord has something to say about every little thing (and the big stuff too).