Sunday, August 31, 2014

Sabbath Snapshot : sa-TEAs-faction

If John Ortberg has a new book out, son Buddy, is gonna buy it and then I'm gonna read it. Thus, his newest, Soul Keeping, was part of my weekend read.
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; Psalm 62:5, NIV
I am an Ortberg fan thus the rating of 5 stars for this short book with LOTS of valuable soul keeping ideas. Plus, Ortberg had a way of weaving in visits to "Box Canyon" to visit his mentor, Dallas Willard. Throughout the book the author honored Willard's life with many of his stories and quotes---a festschrift of sorts, as Willard died in 2013.
Tidbits that "touched" me---some all the way down to my soul...some Dotsy paraphrases and some direct quotes.

  • Most important thing in life is not what you do, but who you become....that's what you take into eternity, (Dallas Willard, p. 23)
  • World replaced soul with self but not the same. The more we focus (obsess) on self, the more we neglect our soul. (p.46)
  • Self is a stand-alone, a do-it-yourself unit, while the soul reminds us that we were not made for ourselves. (p. 47)
  • There's lots of self-talk these days. The difference between talking to self and talking to your soul, is that the soul exists in the presence of God. (p. 92)
  • Soul keeping is NOT about perfection---it's about holding on to God because the soul was made to be connected to Him. (p. 104)
  • The soul is seen when it reaches out in love. The Bible's word for this is blessing (p. 153)

Ortberg is a master weaver and these gleanings are but a part of a well spun tale, full of stories as well as truth. His own admissions as well as those of Willard and others.

Two ideas I continue to mull are the equation, soul freedom = embracing God's overall design &  my place in it." Similar to "Red Sea Rule" of acceptance. The other idea is the "daily" commission of idolatry.......anytime one meets his/her needs with anything that distances the soul from God. that distancing is a sin of the soul.

Though this entry sounds a tad pedantic, even to me, the book does not read this way. It's a delightful book full of wit, quips and even some personal self-deprecating Ortberg stories.