by Phillip Kroh
This week, I have been reflecting on some of the different Christian practices I have been learning about in class compared to those that I incorrectly perceived as universal beforehand. This has been particularly important to me because most of the practices that I was exposed to as a child and teenager did not resonate with me spiritually, they did not fully nurture my personal relationship with Christ.
When I found how to grow my faith the last couple of years, it was through personal, usually solitary experimentation with meditation and philosophy. Nothing like what I had ever been exposed to in Church. One of my concerns going into seminary was that my spiritual disciplines and types of worship that lifted me up and made me feel as if I was being transformed by Christ were not ‘acceptable’. But what I have now found is that practices similar to my own are practiced, just elsewhere.
This Sunday I will be teaching about and leading discussion on a way of looking at different types of spiritual practices that connect us to God and Christ. I personally believe that because each of us are unique, each of our relationships with God are unique including how we best resonate or connect. For some it is the music that most often moves them, others the sermon, Bible study, something else personal, original, or unique. As you go into the weekend, I may ask for you to consider what types or parts of worship do you most enjoy? Which practices, rituals, or something else entirely have had a role in your relationship with God?