SOULFUL STUDY of WOMEN'S HEALTH: Reflection for Lent

2/6/08

Reflection for Lent

A Different Kind of Fasting
Fast from judging others… Feast on Christ dwelling in each
Fast from seeing differences…Feast on the Spirit in all life
Fast from apparent darkness... Feast on the reality of light
Fast from thoughts of illness…Feast on the healing power of God
Fast from words that pollute…Feast on phrases that support or confirm
Fast from discontent…Feast on gratitude
Fast from anger…Feast on patience
Fast from worry…Feast on trust in God’s Providence
Fast from complaining…Feast on appreciation
Fast from hostility…Feast on non-violence
Fast from bitterness…Feast on forgiveness
Fast from self-concern…Feast on compassion for others
Fast from discouragement…Feast on hope
Fast from lethargy…Feast on enthusiasm
Fast from idle gossip…Feast on prayerful silence
Fast from suspiciousness…Feast on Truthful Relationships
Fast from the shadows of injustice…Feast on the Son of Justice
(Taken from Western Seminary weekly bulletin, Feb. 6, 2008)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: This is a great way to "fast". I will heed the words and apply it to my daily journey. And not just for this time of Lent - but for all year long. I am blessed to call you friend.; February 9, 2008 at 10:51 PM

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Relating

Discussion questions:

Where do you meet your friends?
How do you stay in touch?
Do you have childhood friends?
How do you nurture your friendship?
Do you have too many friends?
Do you expect your friends to encourage you?
Or do you prefer to encourage them?
Do you pray for your friends?
Do you just have e-mail friends?
What do you do with a difficult friendship that draws too much?
How do you balance your friends and your family?
How do you balance your marriage with your friends?
How do you set priorities?
How do you balance emotional support?

Scripture for memory - Philippians 4: 4-8

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understand, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Notes from Feb. 17th SSWH

Boundaries

No Boundaries
• We do for others what they can and should do for themselves.
• We demand that others conform to our way of thinking
• We consistently try to argue others out of their opinions or feelings
• We take responsibility for the feelings or decisions of others
• We try to control the behavior or responses of others (even when it is for their own good!)

Healthy Behaviors
➢ Agree to disagree and then move on
➢ Clearly communicate our own position while allowing others to do the same
➢ Take responsibility for our own ideas and decisions
➢ Welcome how others differ from us, seeking to learn from them
➢ Say no and set limit when appropriate
➢ Take care of our own needs whenever possible, without coercing others to take care of us

From: Herrington, Creech, & Taylor. The Leader’s Journey San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass, 2003 Pages. 72-75

Ways to increase anxiety:

· All-or-nothing thinking: You see things in black-and-white categories. (If your performance falls short of perfect, you are a failure)

· Overgeneralization: You see a single, negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.

· Mental filter: You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively, so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like a drop of ink that discolors a whole beaker of water.

· Disqualifying the positive: You reject positive experiences by insisting that they don’t count for some reason or another.

· Jumping to conclusions: You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion.

· Mind reading: You make assumptions about someone else’s thought without bothering to find out what he or she is thinking.

· Fortune telling: You anticipate that things will turn out badly, and you feel convinced that your prediction is a fact.

· Magnification or minimizing: You exaggerate the importance of negative things or inappropriately shrink positive things.

· Emotional reasoning: You assume that your emotions reflect how things really are (“I feel it, therefore it must be true”).

· Should statements: You try to motivate yourself with “should” and “shouldn’t”; the emotional consequence of this is guilt.

· Labeling and mislabeling: Instead of describing your error, you attach a negative label to yourself. If someone else rubs you the wrong way, you attach a negative label to him. You use labeling language that is emotionally loaded.

· Personalization: You take things personally. You see yourself as the cause of things that in fact you are not primarily responsible for. You interpret things personally that may have nothing to do with you.

Truth: Romans 12:2 “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.

2 Corinthian 10:5 “Take every thought captive…”

From: Burns, D. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, New York: Harper Collins, 1999.
Copied from: Herrington, Creech, & Taylor. The Leader’s Journey San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass, 2003 Pages. 72-75

SOULFUL STUDY of WOMEN'S HEALTH

2/6/08

Reflection for Lent

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Scripture for memory - Philippians 4: 4-8

Notes from Feb. 17th SSWH

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