Soul Alignment

Here I sit on Sunday June 29th up at some friends lake house, its before 6am. The sun is breaking through the clouds, the bird’s voices are competing with one another, the breeze is light, and there is a bit of fog hovering over the still water. There is no sign of cell phones, not a sound of cars, and the lack of noise is deafening. There is something divine about this time of day.

I’m amazed at how much pondering and reviewing of my week I can do when there is stillness externally, stillness all around me. There seems to be some correlation with the state of my soul when there is stillness around me. It seems to soften, relax, and bring my soul to a calm place, a destination its been longing for.

I’ve heard it said before that “busyness is a disease”, and often times I feel this disease and see this disease all around me. This often drives within me the desire to move to another culture, or relocate to the wilderness of Alaska or something, perhaps a similar “into the wild” desire.

I’m also amazed at the lifestyle of Jesus, one who in his early thirties had grown to an incredibly popular status, while he didn’t have email and voicemails to return, he did have the constant pressure of people, the constant attention of people, and the pace of a culture trying to thrive within the Roman Empire. Yet Jesus lived out of a centered place.

When I think of the discipline of solitude, or all disciplines for that matter I think the word discipline within its self throws me off. I go back to places in my past of countless hours in the principles office, or receiving rightful discipline from my parents. Its taken me some time to get over the mere semantics of this gift, the gift of disciplines.

One of my closest friends in Axis is a welder and recently he was instructing me on the ins and outs of welding. He told me “the most critical element within welding is alignment. If you don’t line the piece up, then the finished product will be off. Some may not notice, but I would know so that’s why you do the meticulous work of making sure you have alignment first.”

This conversation has helped me see disciplines in a new light, they have opened me eyes to see that they are a gift and they do produce alignment within my soul. Disciplines are not the destination, however they are the vehicle that help me arrive at the destination, that being the presence of God; enjoying time and conversation with the Father.
Getting aligned vertically with the Father is key, it’s a necessity to live a life of love, to live a life of joy, to live a life on mission. It’s the key! To get aligned daily with the Father.

Its about 6:30, my coffee has turned cold, but my heart is burning. I feel so close to you Father, your presence is here, I breathe you in, I’m excited for the day and thankful that this morning you invited me to “lie down in green pastures”, and you lead me “beside still waters”.

How about you? Have you been able to sneak away today? Can you carve out time to be alone? Are you afraid of the silence?

Lets chat……