An integrated life...

Those who know me well will know that in the last 2 or 3 years I've seen some pretty big changes in my life, especially as regards to the way in which I practice my faith. Rob's recent blog entry about priorities really got me thinking about one of the things that has really changed for me.

In my former life priorities were clear. God came first and faith was the top priority. You did things because God said so - and such reasoning led me to many places I was not comfortable. God said gay relationships were wrong and Christianity was the only way - who was I to argue.

Needless to say, I see things very differently now. God has kind of evaporated, but the Spirit remains permeating and pervading everything. There is no longer any need to consciously "put God first". God simply is and as I live well and live deeply, I live in and through the Spirit, and by the way its all metaphor so I feel free to play around with these ideas.

Some people say that your spouse should be more important than your kids. I don't have kids, so for me this is purely hypothetical for me. However, having worked in family therapy, I know a strong parental relationship is essential in a 2-parent family - otherwise kids just run circles around the parents and all boundaries, limits and relationships break down. Caring for your kids means developing a strong relationship with your spouse that enables you to parent together. Its not like one comes first, but they're held in balance.

Again, some people seem to separate 'ministry or kingdom work' from 'normal work'. Similar to my concept of God - my concept of ministry/kingdom work is so merged to the concept of work and activities that the two don't separate for me. My PhD work (trying to decipher the best way to treat children with ADHD) is my ministry and my kingdom work. Whatever voluntary work I take up is also kingdom work (although I seldom volunteer for any overtly Christian activities). Likewise my hobbies are part of my kingdom life - restoring, rebuilding and renewing my own life and often providing the opportunity to engage positively in friendships and often in the wider community I find myself a part of.

I guess that's what I'm aiming towards - an integrated life where everything is held in balance and savoured deeply. This for me is the way of the spirit. In the words I heard in my first Quaker meeting, 'Spirituality is not a notion, but a way.'