Celebration of Discipline– Richard Foster

This quote is from the final chapter of Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (my devotional reading for the month).  It gives a great overview of the areas covered, so I thought I’d post it.  While other writings I’ve read in the past may round out the subjects a bit more, Foster’s holistic viewing of all the disciplines working together make none of them burdensome.  God gives us so many creative options to help us keep our hearts open our hearts to Him!

Foster includes other sub-topics within these areas, the “consecration of the imagination” being one of them under the area of “Meditation”.  It’d like that topic covered separately as a discipline, for it leads to all sorts of creative expressions of meditation through the art, but a great start.  There are other resources around to expand on creativity and imagination, however, if you want to delve deeper.

In Foster’s words:

“…meditation heightens our spiritual sensitivity which, in turn, leads us into prayer.  Very soon we discover that prayer involves fasting as an accompanying means.  Informed by these three Disciplines, we can effectively move into study which gives us discernment about ourselves and the world in which we live.

Through simplicity we live with others in integrity.  Solitude allows us to be genuinely present to people when we are with them.  Through submission we live with others without manipulation, and through service we are a blessing to them.

Confession frees us from ourselves and releases us to worship. Worship opens the door to guidance. All the Disciplines freely exercised bring forth the doxology of celebration.”

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, (Closing paragraph p 201 )