S E L E C T I O N S: A Journey Toward Spiritual Formation

SELECTIONS: A Journey Toward Spiritual Formation The opening words of the Prologue are as good a beginning toward a description of the book as any: What began as a contemplative practice soon became a time of self examination, and then an ongoing reading of the New Testament, followed by an aroused intellectual curiosity that led to research into scriptural exegesis, and finally, after years of repetition and reflection, to a satisfying experience of internalization. Somewhere along the way I realized I was working on my own personal spiritual formation. This is how my alternative New Testament Lectionary came into being. My "uncommon lectionary" is an invitation to a spiritual pilgrimage through salient selections of New Testament passages. For those involved in or interested in the Christian Movement there is no better place to dig deeper. The New Testament text is provided so one does not have to fumble around to find one's own copy. After describing the evolution of the process, the book is divided into the seasons of the Christian Year. Each week correlates a Gospel Reading and an Epistle Reading. There is background material for each section, setting the stage for the specific season. The reader is guided through the reading in a lectio divina style, with variations to keep it from becoming too repetitious. Unique to the book are some "gentle challenges" in each week's reading to help the reader press beneath the surface. These vary with each season, ranging from an invitation to record several "I Believe" statements about a particular passage to creating three handwritten, free-flowing "Lenten Pages" During Holy Week one may be asked to practice one hour of "Sacred Silence" Pentecost challenges the reader to compose a Haiku based on the passages for the week. Missiontide presses for an essay of no less than three, no more than five sentences on each passage relative to the question