The Lectio Letter - Issue #70 - A Deeper Christian Maturity - Part 2

“Becoming like Jesus is as much as about having a relaxed and joyful heart as it is about believing and doing the right thing, as much about proper energy (or motivation) as about proper truth.”

― Ronald Rolheiser

“One of our deepest struggles in life is dealing with the unconscious anxiety inside of us that pressures us to try to give ourselves significance and immortality. There is always the inchoate gnawing: do something to guarantee that something of your life will last. It is this propensity that tempts us to try to find meaning and significance through success and accumulation. But in the end it does not work, irrespective of how great our successes have been.”

― Ronald Rolheiser

“Nikos Kazantzakis shares a conversation he once had with an old monk named Father Makários. Sitting with the saintly old man, Kazantzakis asked him: “Do you still wrestle with the devil, Father Makários?” The old monk reflected for a while and then replied: “Not any longer, my child. I have grown old now, and he has grown old with me. He doesn’t have the strength.… I wrestle with God.” “With God!” exclaimed the astonished young writer. “And you hope to win?” “I hope to lose, my child,” replied the old ascetic.”

― Ronald Rolheiser

Welcome to Issue #70 of the Lectio Letter. This members-only newsletter is filled with music, film and food suggestions, links, and an article written by yours truly.

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Introduction

Kloof Corner, Cape Town by Tim Johnson from Unsplash

Last time we began a series with a free article, exploring how we search for pathways towards Christian maturity.

I argued that often, it is when we are reading those from other times and other traditions that we get ‘woken up’ by language and perspectives that remind us of the deep truths that Christianity contains. When we get used to the way people who look, believe and act like us talk, fresh language helps us reconnect to what is most important.

As I mention in the article below, there are plenty of examples of “saints” in most of our traditions, but not many explanations of the pathways and signposts towards a kind of life that seems to effortlessly sing the goodness of God.

This article is the second in a four-part series which will unpack ten signposts towards Christian maturity from a writer outside of my own tradition, and I suspect outside of the tradition many reading this email identify with.

The first three are;

1. Live in gratitude and thank your Creator by enjoying your life.

2. Be willing to carry an increasing amount of life's complexities with empathy.

3. Transform jealousy, anger, bitterness and hatred rather than giving them back in kind.

I hope the unpacking of those first three points in the article below helps renew your imagination for a life of continually deepening discipleship in the way of Jesus.