"Whereas in the past my Christianity was focused on work and effort and striving, I can honestly say that the center from which my spiritual life flows today is the time I set aside daily to be silent in the presence of God, emptying my mind as best I can of words and thoughts, and simply inviting God to fill that open space. Every time I do this I feel as if I fall into a well of love -- a love that centers me, calms me, and heals me on deeper levels than my conscious mind understands.
Paradoxically, it is out of this quiet resting that I hear God's call to compassionate action in the world, but it is a very gentle thing. In it is none of the trauma and anxiety I experienced in the past. This is a radically different way to do ministry. It's ministry that flows out of fullness and joy and gratitude for life -- what Frederick Buechner describes as that point where "your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." It's the kind of ministry -- the kind of life -- I believe God calls all of us to, but it has to be grounded in a true, daily experience of God's love."
Nice Girls Don't Change the World by Lynne Hybels, pp. 42-43 (Zondervan).
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At about that same time he climbed a mountain to pray. He was there all night in prayer before God. The next day he summoned his disciples; from them he selected twelve he designated as apostles:
Luke 6:12-13 (The Message)
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