#comtemplate

        One of the topics that kept getting kicked         around was, “How can we utilize this time         of quarantine & lockdown etc., so that we         come out on the other side stronger?

        Better? Wiser? Smarter?

        So do you have any ideas? You know here         we are in a period of enforced stillness,         who would have ever thought you could         do such a thing in New York City?

        The city that never sleeps is now forced         to be still, it's the whole thing, lockdown         all of the whole thing is going to be just         wasted if we come out on the other side         having not changed a bit.

        Spiritually grown.

        Grown is in our relationships, personally         just give me some of your thoughts on it;         this has come up in my ladies' Bible Study         I'm sure it's come up in the minds of a lot         of other peoples' mind:

        “What do we do with this time? So that         we come out on the other side stronger,         better, wiser.”

TK:  I think that's a very wise thing to pick up on,         “being still,” there's been plenty of things         written about the fact that we are the least         contemplative culture in history.

        People have no time.

        I mean I read from Jonathan Edwards & I do         know that Edwards spent a lot of time riding         on his horse from place to place.

        It would take him an hour to get to you know         to go see a a parishioner, & on the way he         would think & pray.

        And actually one of the funny things is that         what he would do is when he would get an         idea he would take notes.

        And he would pin them to his coat because         it was the only thing he could do, & so some         times he would arrive at parishioner's place         with little [notes stuck on his coat]..

        He look like a pin cushion.

        But that's because he had         time to think & we do not.

4.1] Get Disciplined To Focus on GOD

And I do think that what we have to do is:

We have to cultivate contemplative habits.

[a]  It does mean praying more, but I mean really [b]  learning how to pray, it does mean maybe [c]   praying morning & evening, [d]  it does mean reading the Psalms, [e]  it does mean perhaps journaling.

        When I'm reading the Bible, I find because of         my temperament or maybe the way in which         I learned things.

        If I write down my thoughts, I remember them         better & they become more clear. It's not really         journaling.

        It's not really a diary. It's just writing out what         I am reading & very often it's easier for me to         meditate on it & pray it back to GOD, if I have         written it down.

————————————————————-         So I do not know what your contemplative         habits are going to be, but we are the least         contemplative, busiest, most mobile, run-         ning around group of people I know! ————————————————————-

And the big danger is where I still on our cell phones at home, & if you just allow & our zoom calls, so you could be just as dominated.

You really do need solitude.

You do need to get into your prayer closet & this is the time to do it because we don't have commutes

We actually can make time for that right now & I do think therefore being still in order to meet GOD would be a wonderful slogan for this time. [10:24] 

KK:  It might fall on deaf ears, if you're talking         to parents who are trying to work at home         & have a couple of kids underfoot.

TK:  True, they do go to bed though.

KK:  Well they do go to bed, & there is such a thing         as trading off morning and evening [yup] that         sort of thing. So ok, well that's good advice.

        I read a book, I mean the book title years ago         called, “Don't Waste Your Sorrows.”

TK:  Right

KK:  Bye Paul E. Billheimer, I think. It's funny and         never read the book, never read the content         because the title was so challenging.

        I didn't feel, I felt like I didn't really

TK:  In some ways it's a good book, but actually the

KK:  Title says it all, right, so here we are in a time         of sorrow & confusion, and everything's up..         upsidedown

TK:  Don't waste your shut down.

KK:  Yeah don't waste your shut down. Don't waste         your confinement / quarantine, get something         out of it! Don't just grit your teeth & say,

        “When is this gonna be over?” [mummbling]

        But find ways to use what you've been given.

TK:  I agree.

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