Gordon MacDonald. How to organize your inner world. G. Macdonald - How to organize your inner world

24.04.2019

G. Macdonald

How to organize your inner world

About the book

Is there such a thing as the inner life of a person - a unique world, a mysterious garden blooming in the soul of each of us?

Scripture, the experience of great saints and works outstanding minds modern times tell us that man is endowed with a unique inner life, that it can be put in order and managed. When chaos and anxiety is created in a person's soul, then his inner strength disappear into nothing and he is deprived of the opportunity to fully spiritually grow. But if there is a constant "tuning" of the inner world and its state is regulated, then the soul opens and grows, a person grows in Christ himself and helps others do it.

Foreword

A very difficult topic is raised in this book, it concerns that side of a person's life, which is difficult to talk about even with very close people. Mr. MacDonald calls this inner peace. What is this - inner peace? According to the author's definition, this is the place where spiritual energy comes from, capable of renewing a person and changing his life. This is the place where we communicate with God. Someone calls this place a heart, someone a spiritual center, G. MacDonald himself considered it appropriate to compare it with a garden, and, speaking of it perfect condition, he uses the word "order". By analogy, the rest of life is called the outside world - this is our work, and communication with loved ones, friends, acquaintances, our interests, and much more, to which we give such great importance.

Expanding this topic, G. MacDonald divides people into called and driven. Driven people act under the compulsion of circumstances, they direct all their strengths and abilities to achieve the greatest possible success in the outside world. These people never have time to stop and comprehend what is happening, and most of them have a poor idea of what the inner world is and what effect it has on their lives. Such people can be found in different strata of society: there are many of them among leaders of various ranks, among ordinary employees, they can be scientists, athletes, housewives, church ministers, etc.

Notice that believers are no exception! And although their actions are conditioned by good intentions, such Christians direct all their efforts to the outside world, striving to achieve the greatest possible success in their field. And it is not surprising, because the outside world is so real, it requires from us our time, ability, strength, and the inner world does not know how to loudly shout about itself, this subtle spiritual substance can be neglected for a long time, which ultimately can lead a person to exhaustion physical and moral strength.

Unlike the driven ones, the called-up people are able to correctly orient themselves in what is happening, because they put their inner world in the first place. From here they draw spiritual energy, here they rest and, most importantly, communicate with God.

Hunted people, as H. MacDonald describes them, represent a very unattractive sight, but for them all is not lost yet - they only need to understand themselves and begin to put their inner world in order. And this process is not easy. This can take most of your life. G. MacDonald calls the inner world "one of the greatest battlefields of our century." In other words, there is a struggle ahead - a struggle with oneself, one's habits, established views on life, on one's environment, on faith and much more. And to cope with such a struggle is possible only with the help of God.

Thus, for believers, driven people, the path to victory will be much shorter, because unbelievers still have to take a step of great importance - to accept God, His love, to know His mercy, and then - only then! - you can count on winning.

Yes, the path is difficult, but living in direct contact with God is such a wonderful prospect that no amount of effort seems too great. To achieve this goal, it is worth sacrificing our prestige in the outside world, our false criteria, and our perceived success.

Chapter 2 View from the Bridge

My inner world will be put in order only if I monitor its condition on a daily basis.

My close friend served as an officer aboard a nuclear-powered submarine with the United States Navy. He told me about an incident that happened one day while a submarine was on duty in the Mediterranean. Above, on the surface, many ships passed, and the submarine had to make many desperate maneuvers to avoid possible collisions.

In the absence of the captain, my friend was the duty officer responsible for the operational control of the submarine's maneuvering. The unusual number of maneuvers seemed to disturb the captain, and he suddenly appeared on the bridge asking, "Is everything all right?" "Yes, sir!" - answered my friend.

The captain took a quick glance around and moved back into the hatch. Leaving the bridge, he said: "It seems to me, too, that everything is in order."

This simple, familiar scene of communication between a naval commander and one of his trusted officers gave me visual representation about how order should be organized in our inner world. A potential collision hazard lurked all around the submarine.

Any vigilant captain should have been alerted by this. But this danger was outside. Inside the submarine, there was a calm place where absolute control over the situation on the ship could be exercised. And that's where the captain headed.

There was no sign of panic at this command post. A well-trained crew of sailors did their job, clearly performing well-thought-out actions. Therefore, when the commander appeared on the bridge, he made sure that everything was in order. He came to Right place and got the proper answer.

This is how the captain organized his sub. The necessary actions were practiced a thousand times when there was no danger, so when it was time to act in a dangerous situation, the captain did not need to panic. He could foresee the excellent actions of the people on the bridge. When everything is in order there, the sub is safe regardless of the situation above. “It also seems to me that everything is fine,” the captain says in this case.

But if preparation for crisis situations is not given due attention, if the necessary actions are not practiced in advance in practice, then misfortunes will occur. The ships collide and sink, causing enormous damage. The same happens in human life when there is disorganization on the "bridge" of the inner world. The accidents that occur then can be termed words such as devastation, crash, or explosion.

It's one thing for a person to make a mistake or even fail. In such cases, we get our best lessons understanding how to act in a similar situation, and strengthening the character. But it's another matter to see how human beings are destroyed right before our eyes due to the lack of sources of internal support in difficult circumstances.

The Wall Street Journal recently released a series of articles entitled "Administrator Crisis." In one story, the protagonist was Gerald H. Maxwell, a young entrepreneur who founded a successful company that used a complex modern technology... For some time he was considered an administrative and financial genius. But only for a while. This was followed by a collapse, a collapse like a sinkhole.

“This day will forever be remembered by Gerald X. Maxwell. And the family will never forget it. For them it was the day he started crying in his room, the day his overwhelming self-confidence ran out and he became depressed, the day when his world - and theirs too - fell into ruins. "

Maxwell was fired! Everything fell apart, he was unable to control the situation.

“For the first time in his life, Maxwell failed, and she shocked him. The knowledge of his defeat led him to an emotional breakdown, undermined the bond Maxwell had with his wife and four sons, and pushed him to the brink ...” When it all collapsed, they were so bad, but I'm terribly ashamed "- recalls Mr. Maxwell. He pauses, sighs, then continues:" The Bible says: ask, and it will be given to you. Well, many times I have asked for death. "

Most of us did not ask for death like Maxwell. But most of us were under such pressure from the outside world that we wondered if some kind of death was imminent. At such moments, we wonder about the reliability of our reserves - can we go further, is it worth it to persist, isn’t it time to "run as fast as we can." In short, we are not sure if we have enough spiritual, psychic or physical strength to keep up with the pace we were trying to keep.

In cases like this, we must do what the captain of the submarine I was talking about did. When things got complicated upstairs, he headed to the bridge to see if everything was in order. He knew that the answer could only be obtained there, nowhere else. If everything is in order there, then you can safely return to yourself. A ship is capable of handling a stormy environment if all is well on the bridge.

One of my favorite Bible stories tells of how one evening the disciples were caught in a terrible storm on the Sea of Galilee. Soon they were seized with terror, and they lost all their composure. They were men who had been fishing in the sea for years, had their own equipment, and had experienced similar storms before. But for some reason, this time they were unable to control the situation. Jesus was sleeping peacefully in the stern of the boat, and they ran to Him, angry that He did not seem to be bothered by the real threat hanging over their lives. Perhaps we should give them credit at least for knowing where to run.

After Christ calmed the storm, He asked them a question that was central to their personal spiritual growth and development as leaders: "Where is your faith?" He might ask, in the language I use, "Why is the work on the bridge of your inner world so badly organized?" Unfortunately, many people, faced with personal conflicts and difficulties, are in no hurry to go to the bridge of life, but try to run faster, protest more decisively, collect more data and acquire higher qualifications. We live in an age when, it seems, subconsciously attention is paid to every cubic centimeter of life, except for our inner world - the only place where we can draw strength to boldly meet and even defeat any external storm.

The biblical writers believed in the principle of addressing the bridge; they knew and taught that first of all we must develop and maintain inner peace. This is one of the reasons why their work has crossed the boundaries of all times and cultures. Because they wrote down what they received from the Creator, Who created us so that we would work most effectively in the direction from the inner world to the outside.

In one simple phrase, the author conveyed to us the most amazing discovery. What I call the "bridge" he calls the "heart". He sees the heart as a source and believes that energy, an understanding of the essence of things and a force that does not yield to an external storm, but overcomes it, can flow from it. Keep your heart, he says, and it will become an inexhaustible source of life from which you and others can drink.

But what does it mean to “keep” the heart? First, the author is definitely concerned that the heart is protected from outside influences that could jeopardize its integrity. In addition, the author is concerned with the strength and development of the heart, in order to increase its ability to bring order to a person's life.

But even behind these possible lessons learned from the metaphor is the fact that keeping and protecting the heart, the "bridge" of human life, is a definite and responsible choice that a man or woman must make. We must make a choice - to keep the heart. One cannot rely on his health and productivity as a matter of course, he must be constantly protected and supported. Once again, we must remember how the captain of the submarine acted when he felt that something unusual was happening: he immediately went to the bridge. Why? Because he knew that in this place everything could be found to meet face to face with danger.

In the New Testament, Paul made a similar remark when he exhorted Christians: "And do not conform to this [external] age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12: 2).

JB Phillips interpreted Paul's words as follows: "Don't let the world squeeze you into its shape."

The apostle formulated an ageless truth. He aimed to get done right choice... Are we going to put our inner world in order so that it influences the outer world? Or will we neglect our inner world and thereby allow the outer sphere to shape us? We have to make this choice every day in our lives.

This is an amazing thought. And that is, in a way, the intuition that the fired executive neglected in the Wall Street Journal article. Proof? Its failure when the world began to press on him with crushing force. He had no inner strength in reserve, there was no order in his personal world.

Mary Slessor, young single woman, left Scotland at the turn of the century to travel to a part of Africa that was full of disease and indescribable dangers. But she had an indomitable spirit and held on when men and women weaker could not stand it, fled and never returned. One day, especially after hard day she tried to sleep in a squalid jungle hut. She wrote that night: “I don’t care too much about my bed these days, and it’s not surprising that I didn’t sleep much while lying on thin layer scattered dirty twigs, covered with dirty straw bedding, among many rats and insects, with three women and a baby three days old by her side and more than a dozen goats, sheep and cows outside. But in my own heart, that night was so calm. "(Emphasis added.) This is the state we should strive for when we put things in order in our personal world. Whether you call it a" bridge "in sailors' parlance or" heart " , in the language of the Bible, the essence of the question remains the same: there must be a calm place where everything is ordered, a place where energy comes from, which helps to overcome the storm and not be afraid of it. important principle when we come to the conviction that the development and preservation of a strong inner peace is the only most important function of our existence. Then at the moment when troubles arise and tension builds up, we can ask ourselves: "Is everything okay?" And finding that it is so, let us say from the bottom of our hearts: "It also seems to me that everything is in order."

Chapter 7 Returning Time

Memo for the disorganized:

My inner world will be put in order if I begin to eliminate "time leaks" and allocate productive time, taking into account my capabilities, limitations and priorities.

The young pastor and I decided to continue our conversation in a few days. In the meantime, I began to collect my thoughts to see again what I had learned over the past few years; what helped me begin to harmonize my life in this area; what conclusions did I come from my failures, and what did I learn from conversations with others, just like this young man who was about to come and talk to me.

The more I looked at the lessons learned, the more I realized how important it is to gain control of time as early as possible in my life. Putting my thoughts down on paper, I found that there are only a few basic principles, but until you master them, the matter of time will always be a big and potentially daunting problem. What I have written in preparation for the next conversation, I decided to head it this way: "MacDonald's Laws of Wasted Time."

McDonald's lost time laws Law 1: I waste time when I go about my weaknesses Since at the beginning of my work I was not able to clearly define the essence of my mission and was not ruthless enough to my weaknesses, I soon found that I usually spend an inordinate amount of time on things for which I do not have special abilities, while tasks that I am able to perform flawlessly and efficiently without attention.

I know many Christian leaders who honestly admit that they spent up to 80% of their time doing what they were not the best at. For example, my greatest gift is preaching and teaching, and I’m a fairly good administrator, but this is certainly not the best arrow in my pastor’s quiver.

So why did I, when I was younger, spend almost 75% of the time I had at my disposal trying to do administrative duties and devote comparatively little time to the necessary scholarship and preparation of good sermons? Because the wasted time is always directed towards the corresponding weakness of the person. I knew I could do a good sermon with minimal preparation, and I didn’t use my ability to full force... This is what happens when a person underestimates a problem and does not take drastic action.

In the end, I decided to take drastic measures. Several empathetic people helped me see the true state of affairs and showed that I was apparently wasting my abilities. With their help, I made the decision to hand over the management of our congregation to a competent pastor-administrator. It wasn't easy at first, because I still wanted to have my say on every decision, to express my opinion on every issue. I had to retreat and leave everything in his hands. But it worked! And when I was able to fully rely on our pastor administrator (which turned out to be easy to do), I was able to direct great amount energy for what, according to the will of God, I, most likely, do well.

I can almost hear someone say, "It's great to have the money to hire someone to do something I'm not good at." Perhaps my notes will only help us understand why we feel overwhelmed when time seems to slip away from us. But I must add that the help will be more tangible if we can actually find creative ways to share our tasks with others. First, we must sit down and think: what can each of us do better than others? This is applicable in the home, in the office, in the church.

Law 2: I'm wasting time influenced by the people who dominate my life Famous " spiritual law“states that“ God loves us and He has a plan for our lives. ”A person who does not own their time finds that the same can be said about people who can influence our lives.

People who fall under this law find out that because they themselves have not set the budget for their time, others invade their lives and determine the schedule and priorities for them. As a young pastor, I found that because my time was not well organized, I was at the mercy of anyone who had the fancy to visit me, invite me for coffee, or want me to attend a committee meeting. My calendar was disorganized and I couldn't say no. And then, as a young man, I really wanted to please people.

Due to a lack of organization, not only was I deprived of the opportunity to use my time to the best advantage for myself, but my family often suffered from this, in vain expecting those lovely watch that I should have given to her. And so it went on: active people disposed of my time better than I did because I didn't take the lead and dispose of my time before they did it for me.

Law 3: I'm wasting my time by giving in to all urgent requests Charles Hummel puts it best in a small, classic pamphlet: We are all ruled by the tyranny of urgency. Those of us in leadership responsibilities — in business, in the home, or in the church — are constantly surrounded by events that call for immediate attention.

One summer, while our second pastor and I - both - were on vacation, the priest in charge of Christian education answered a call from a church member who wanted me to conduct his funeral. distant relative... When he was told that I had left for a month, he asked about my deputy and was disappointed to learn that he had also left. He was offered to have some other pastor conduct the service, but he refused, saying, "No, I will not suit anyone lower than number two."

People with this mindset create urgent, stressful situations for leaders. Everyone wants to attract the attention of the first person. Every committee and board wants a top-level person in meetings, even if they're not always going to listen to his opinion. Most people would like to get immediate feedback from the main leader in case of difficulty.

One Saturday afternoon in our house there was a phone call... When I answered, the other end of the line sounded alarmed. female voice... “I urgently need to meet with you,” the woman said. I asked her name and immediately realized that I had never met her before and that she hardly attended our church.

"For what reason should we meet right now?" I asked. It was important question, one of several I've learned to ask. If this had happened many years ago, when I was young, I would have immediately responded to her request, given the urgent need, and, canceling all cases, would have made an appointment in ten minutes in my office.

“My marriage is falling apart,” she replied.

Then I asked: "When did you realize that it was falling apart?" She replied, "Last Tuesday."

I asked the following question: "How long do you think the disintegration process has been going on?" Her next line was unforgettable: "Oh, this has been going on for five years."

I was able to suppress my genuine reaction and say, “Since you have seen yourself heading for a breakup for almost five years and since you have known since last Tuesday that this is going to happen, why is it so important for you to meet me right now? this is".

She replied, "I have free time this afternoon, and I just thought it would be nice to meet you."

Act number three would generally mean that I would succumb to her desire to see me immediately. But by this point in my life, most of my time has been allocated, so I said, “I can't understand why you think you have an urgent problem. Now I’m going to be very frank with you. Tomorrow morning I have to read a sermon, and frankly, my head is completely occupied with this responsibility.Since you have been living with your problem for several years and since you have had several days to think about your situation, I would like to invite you to call me on Monday morning and we can make an appointment for a meeting when my mind is at its best. I want to be able to give you maximum attention. But this afternoon it is impossible to do that. How do you find my proposal? " She thought it was a terrific idea and understood why I proposed such a plan. Both she and I ended the conversation quite satisfied. She - knowing that after all she will talk to me; I - because I saved time for the most important thing that Saturday. The seemingly urgent matter did not break my time budget. Not everything that screams out loud is the most urgent.

Elton Trublad writes in his spiritual autobiography It Is Still Day: “A public figure, although in many cases he needs to be available, must learn to hide. I wrote a chapter at a train station in Cincinnati. It was a kind of hiding place because no one knew who the man with the pad was and therefore no one approached me for the wonderful five hours before the next train left for Richmond. We have to use all the time we have, because even in best case it is never lacking. "(Emphasis added.) Law 4: I'm wasting my time by investing in something that gets public approval In other words, we tend to give up our unrecorded time to things that can bring the quickest and greatest praise.

When my wife and I were newlyweds, we found that we could receive many invitations to banquets and meetings. different kinds if they knew how to sing solo or duet. It would be nice to hear the applause and gain popularity. But concerts were not our vocation. They were preaching and pastoral care. Unfortunately, there was little need for young preachers, and we were tempted to do exactly what was expected of us.

We had to make a decisive choice. Are we using our time on what others expect of us the most, or are we going to a serious matter and turn our attention to what is most important: learning to be a preacher and counselor? Fortunately, we decided to avoid temptation and chose the second path. It paid off.

We had to make such a choice more than once throughout married life... And more than once I have made the wrong choice. There was a time when it seemed that for the good of the cause you need to fly across the country to speak at a banquet. And the time was not used in the best way. The old admonition "preaching is something I would cross the country to read but not cross the street to hear for" is too true to be pleasant. It was once so flattering to be at the main table of the politicians' prayer breakfast or to be interviewed for a Christian radio program, but similar use time was not productive.

Thus, the laws of wasted time return again and again to haunt the disorganized person, until he decides to take the initiative into his own hands, before another person or another event does it for him.

How to return time Collecting material for future meeting with the young pastor, I looked back on my own experience, trying to identify the principles that, when implemented, brought some order to my inner world. And when I seriously thought about the path that I had taken, I came to the conclusion that I was able to successfully master the time in three ways.

I need to know my rhythms maximum efficiency A careful study of my work habits led me to an important discovery. There are different tasks that I do best at certain times and under certain circumstances. For example, in the early days of the week, I am ineffectively working on my Sunday sermon. A two-hour job on Monday gives almost nothing, while one hour on Thursday or Friday is almost priceless. I just concentrate better. On the other hand, my best contact with people is at the beginning of the week, before the tension of the upcoming sermon has taken hold of me. I tend to be less effective in my relationships with people at the end of the week, when I’m fully occupied with the upcoming Sunday pulpit work.

I can go further in my observations, to smaller details. It is better for me to do my desk work early in the morning, when I have enough undisturbed privacy. And my best "time for people" is in the afternoon, when I feel alert and perceptive.

Learning about my rhythms taught me to put off writing at the end of the week and schedule time for people and committee work in the first half of the week, if possible. Thus, my time budget reflects and uses the rhythms of my life.

I also noticed that I am a morning person ("lark"). I get up early and feel a little anxious if I didn't go to bed on time the previous night. Therefore, it is important for me to adhere to the set sleep time. We used this principle in the lives of our sons when they were children. I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to us before that it would be wise for adults to use certain time for sleep. And when I finally realized this, I tried to go to bed at the same time every night.

After reading special article on this point, I started experimenting to determine the amount of sleep I needed. During the experiment, the author advised to set the alarm clock for a specific time and get up at that time for three days in a row. Then set the alarm ten minutes early for the next three days. Thus, by moving the alarm clock every three days ten minutes earlier, a person will eventually come to the point of natural fatigue, when during the next day he will not feel sufficiently rested. I tried to do it, found out that I could get up much earlier than I expected, and this added almost two whole - very valuable - hours to my day.

So there are weekly rhythms, daily and yearly. For example, I found out that in certain months I can experience pathological emotional fatigue, when some part of me would like to escape from people and from responsibility. It was necessary to deal with this.

On the other hand, there were periods of the year when I needed to be comparatively stronger as a Christian leader, because many around me were too tired and too stressed. That time was February and March when we all in New England grapple with the aftermath long winter and are prone to irritability and criticism. I learned to prepare myself to be extra, special support for other people in times like these. And when spring comes and people feel reborn, then I can afford to relive my own time of weakness.

I also found out that summer months for me - beautiful time for additional reading and my spiritual preparation for next year. And from January to March, inclusive, for the reasons I just mentioned, I plan to spend most of the time with people, as my list of people in need of advice grows dramatically. All my books have been read in summer time; there is no way to do it in winter.

Knowing my rhythms, I’m not surprised when I feel exhausted internally after a period of intense speaking and teaching. I cannot live day after day outside the emotional boundaries, there comes a moment when I have to sink slightly below the emotional norm in order to regain the wasted strength. Therefore, it is prudent not to make important decisions on Monday, after a day with several sermons preached. And if day after day I am under intense stress during summer vacations, it is wise for me to plan a short time rest when it's over.

There was a time when I had not yet learned to notice my personal rhythms. I remember how the day came when everything seemed to be crumbling before our eyes. Before that, I had performed the rite twice during the week at a very sad funeral; I haven't had enough rest for ten days. At the same time, I read a book that upset me and did not support my spiritual pursuits at all. The time I spent with my family was constantly interrupted by extraneous affairs for several days, and some of my work was on the verge of collapse. So it was no surprise that on a Saturday afternoon, in the middle of my little personal crisis, I suddenly burst into tears. Tears flowed and I was unable to stop for almost three hours.

Although there was nothing like a real wreck in the classical sense, I learned from this painful experience how important it is to constantly monitor the load and stress and know when and how I perform certain tasks. the best way... I didn’t want it to happen again, and it didn’t happen again. I was too intimidated by this experience to allow myself to fall into such emotional debt someday. I had to learn better than before, to calculate my time.

I can now appreciate an excerpt from a letter that William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, received one day on a long trip from his wife. She wrote: “Your notes for Tuesday arrived safely, I was glad to hear about the continued success of your work, but it’s a pity that you are so exhausted; I fear the consequences of all this excitement and tension, detrimental to your health, and although I did not want to interfere with your useful work, I want to warn you against an unreasonable waste of your strength.

Remember that long life filled with constant, consistent, holy labor will bear twice as much fruit as a life shortened and destroyed by convulsive and wasteful efforts; be careful and save your strength where effort is not necessary. "

I must have the right criteria to choose how to use my time Many years ago, my father shared with me wise thought... He said that one of the greatest tests of the human character is the moment of choice, when, among all the possibilities encountered in life path, you need to choose something, and refuse something. "Your choice," he told me, "will not be to separate the good from the bad, but to choose the very best from all kinds of good." He was absolutely right. I really had to learn (sometimes with a heavy heart) to say no to what I really wanted to do in order to say yes to the very best.

Following this advice meant sometimes having to give up meals and sporting events Saturday night to feel spiritually refreshed and (physically on Sunday morning, or to give up some performances when I really really wanted to say yes.

Sometimes I find it difficult to make that choice simply because I enjoy getting approval from people. When a person learns to say "no" to something good, he risks acquiring enemies and critics for himself: and who needs to have more of them than there is? So it's hard for me to say no.

I have found that most people whose lives involve some form of leadership experience the same problem. But if we are faced with the need to manage our time, we will have to muster the courage to say a firm but polite "no" to opportunities that are good, but not the best.

It is required, as in the times of our Lord's ministry, the essence of our mission. What are we called to do? What is the best way to manage your time? What is necessary, without which we cannot go forward? Everything else should be considered negotiable: reasonable, but not necessary.

G. Macdonald

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: sinkhole syndrome

Chapter 2. View from the bridge

Chapter 3. Sector 1. Motivation

Chapter 4. Tragic story successful bummer

How do people get hunted down?

For a hunted man, not all is lost

Chapter 5. Being a Called Person

The Summoned Man

John - an example of a called person

Called people are aware of their subordination.

Called people know exactly who they are.

Called People Have Unshakable Confidence in Their Purpose

Called people are faithful to their vocation to the end

Peace and joy

Finding a calling

Chapter 6. Sector 2. Has anyone seen my time? I put it somewhere!

Disorder symptoms

Time budgeting

Lord of time

Chapter 7. Returning time

McDonald's lost time laws

Law 1: I waste time when I go about my weaknesses

Law 2: I'm wasting time influenced by the people who dominate my life

Law 3: I'm wasting my time by giving in to all urgent requests

Law 4: I'm wasting my time by investing in something that gets public approval

How to return time

I must have the right criteria to choose how to use my time

I seize and manage time by budgeting ahead of time

Chapter 8. When the best loses

The cost of mental weakness

It's dangerous to be too fast at the start

The need to discipline our mind

Chapter 9. Regret about the never read book

Get yourself into growth mode

Objective 1: the mind must be taught to think in a Christian way

Objective 2: the mind must be taught to see and appreciate the revelations that God wrote in creation

Objective 3: the mind must be trained to be able to extract information, find ideas, delve into the essence of things and thus serve the people of their society

How to organize the mind to make it evolve

We grow as listeners

We Grow Through Reading

We grow through systematic practice

Chapter 10. Sector 4. Spiritual Strength

Quick way

Garden cultivation

Privileges that we can lose

What is required for this?

Chapter 11. External "props" are not needed

Silence and solitude

Listen to god

Journaling is a way to listen to God

How to keep a diary

Chapter 12. Everything must be "introduced" into your heart

Chapter 13. Watch divine eyes

Why is it difficult for us to pray

Worship of God and prayer of prayer are a tacit acknowledgment of weakness

Sometimes it seems that prayer has nothing to do with the actual outcome.

Conversation with God

Worship

Confession

Prayer petition

Chapter 14. Sector 5. Rest, which is higher than leisure

We need rest

The meaning of the Sabbath rest

Loop closure

Return to eternal truths

Defining your task

You need to find time to rest

Epilogue. Spinning wheel

G. Macdonald

How to organize your inner world

About the book

Is there such a thing as the inner life of a person - a unique world, a mysterious garden blooming in the soul of each of us?

Holy Scripture, the experience of great saints and the works of the outstanding minds of our time tell us that a person is endowed with a unique inner life, that it can be put in order and managed. When chaos and anxiety is created in a person's soul, then his inner strength disappears and he is deprived of the opportunity to fully spiritually grow. But if there is a constant "tuning" of the inner world and its state is regulated, then the soul opens up and grows, a person grows in Christ himself and helps others do it.

Foreword

A very difficult topic is raised in this book, it concerns that side of a person's life, which is difficult to talk about even with very close people. Mr. MacDonald calls this inner peace. What is this - inner peace? According to the author's definition, this is the place where spiritual energy comes from, capable of renewing a person and changing his life. This is the place where we communicate with God. Someone calls this place a heart, someone a spiritual center, G. MacDonald himself considered it appropriate to compare it with a garden, and speaking of its ideal state, he uses the word “order”. By analogy, the rest of life is called the outside world - this is our work, and communication with loved ones, friends, acquaintances, our interests, and much more, to which we attach such great importance.

Introduction

Memo for the disorganized:

"I'm so disorganized!"

"I can't get my affairs in order!"

" My spiritual world in complete disarray! "

"My personal life has failed!"

I have heard such speeches many times: in a conversation at breakfast; in the study, meeting people like a pastor, in the living room of his home.

These words, however, are not always spoken by people whose lives are falling apart, or those who are on the brink of disaster. They can be said by men and women who appear to be very successful and promising. At first, upon hearing such self-disclosures, I was shocked. Now, many years later, I know for sure that the inability to organize oneself is a universal human problem.

In the West, a huge number of books are published to help organize our work, our calendar, our production program, our research and our careers, but few of them directly address the question of internal, or spiritual, organization. And this is precisely the area where the problem is most acute.

Successful people I met and who were very worried about their inability to organize themselves usually talked about their personal side of life (as a rule, their social life is pretty well established). Indeed, it is in the area of our personal life that we know ourselves best: it is here that self-assessment is made, here the main decisions are made, motives, guidelines and commitments are chosen, here we communicate with our God. I call it the inner world, and I like to use the word order when speaking of its ideal state.

I know something about the disorganization of the inner world, because, like many others, I have been struggling with it all my life. And tidying up my inner world was one of my greatest battles.

Since all my life I have lived according to Christian doctrine, Jesus Christ was never a stranger to me. That doesn't mean oh ...

Fast backward navigation: Ctrl + ←, forward Ctrl + →

I have heard such speeches many times: in a conversation at breakfast; in the study, meeting people like a pastor, in the living room of his home.

I know something about the disorganization of the inner world, because, like many others, I have been struggling with it all my life. And tidying up my inner world was one of my greatest battles.

Since all my life I have lived according to Christian doctrine, Jesus Christ was never a stranger to me. This does not mean, however, that I have always understood His divine authority. Of course, I tried to follow Him, but too often I went far behind.

It was very difficult to understand what He had in mind when He spoke about His “abiding in me” and my “abiding in Him”, because I am one of those who does not easily come to consecration. It was not easy for me to comprehend how and for what purpose Christ wants to “dwell” (John 15: 4) in my inner world. Quite frankly, I was often upset when I saw people for whom this issue of "staying" was perfectly understandable and who seemed to be able to translate it into action.

Slowly, and at times painfully, I came to the discovery that the problem of organizing the inner world, where Christ prefers to live, is at the same time a problem of the whole life and every day. Something within us (the Bible calls it sin) resists both His stay and the order that results from that stay. Sin prefers disorder, when false motives and assessments can hide in the far corner and appear on the surface in a moment of carelessness.

You must admit that disorder is always the subject of constant attention. As a child, I lived in a house where the bedrooms did not have carpets on the floor. Often times I watched the dust balls under my bed, spellbound. Where did they come from? It was a mystery to me. It seemed that some mysterious force came at night and scattered these balls of dust on the floor while I slept.

Now I find dust balls in my inner world every day. I'm not sure I know how they got there. But I must constantly be on the alert and ahead of their appearance, daily putting things in order in my inner world.

Let me say absolutely clearly that the way of ordering the inner world I wholly base on the principle of the constant dwelling of Christ, who is incomprehensible, but definitely enters our life thanks to our personal invitation and dedication to Him. This is the centerpiece of our life! We must make a personal choice and make a decision to follow Him, otherwise what is said in this book for the most part will turn into nonsense. Bring order to personal life a person means asking Him to control all aspects of this life.

For me, the search for internal organization was a solo struggle because, frankly, I found an almost universal reluctance to be sincere and practical about these matters. Many sermons on this topic are delivered in high, uplifting expressions, which moves the listener emotionally, but is not able to move him to anything concrete. More than once I read a book or listened to how to organize spiritual life, agreed with every word, and later realized that the proposed path was evasive and uncertain. This is not easy for people like me who need clear, measurable ways to respond to Christ's offer to live in us.

Although for the most part this struggle was one-on-one, I found help when I needed it. Naturally, there was help from Holy Scripture and the instructions that I took in the framework Christian tradition... I also received support from my wife Gail (whose inner world is surprisingly well organized), from a number of mentors who surrounded me with early years and from a multitude of men and women whom I will never meet in this life, because they have already died. But I met them in their biographies, and I was pleased to discover that many of them also struggled with the problem of ordering their inner world.

When I began to make some public comments about the ordering of my inner world, I was struck by the immediate response from many people: pastors, lay people, men and women in various leadership positions. "Your fight is my fight," they said, "give me whatever advice you can."

The inner world can be divided into five sectors.

The first deals with what makes us act this way and not otherwise - with our motives (impulses). It is important to understand here whether we are acting under compulsion, haunted by the winds of our time, forced to adapt or compete, or whether we are called people who receive the grace-filled call of Christ when He promises to change us.

The second sector of our inner world deals with the problem of time. What do we do with the limited amount of time allotted to us in this life? How do we allocate time for our own growth and service to others? Answering these questions will provide us with the key to understanding our vitality as an individual.

The third sector is intellectual: what are we doing with our mind, this wonderful part of our personality, capable of perceiving and processing the truth about creation?

The fourth sector of our inner world is the sector of the spirit. I am not inclined to use special theological terms when I speak about this special, very personal space, where we communicate with the Father, otherwise no one else will be able to appreciate or understand what I am talking about, therefore I call the sphere of the spirit the garden of our inner the world.

Finally, there is a sector that attracts us to rest, to the Sabbath. This peace is fundamentally different from the entertainment that so often surrounds us in the visible world. And he is so wonderful that I think he should be recognized as an extremely important source of spiritual organization.

Among the many biographies I have studied is the biography of Charles Kauman, a pioneer missionary in Japan and Korea. His life was a wonderful proof of how valuable his calling can be to a person. In his declining years, he lost his health and was forced to retire early. The fact that he could no longer actively preach and lead the work of his fellow missionaries depressed him terribly. One of his friends said the following about him:

“Nothing impressed me more than the peace of mind of Brother Kauman. I never saw him angry, although I happened to see him offended to tears, quietly flowing down his cheeks. He was sensitive, gentle in spirit, but his secrets and the cross became his crown. "

Kauman was a man with an orderly inner world. His life was organized not only in the sphere of social relations, it was ordered internally.

This is all my book is about. I will not hesitate to turn to the practical side of the issue, to the extent that I know the practice. I will talk a lot about mine personal experience, but not because I consider myself a role model, but because I see myself as a comrade in the struggle of those for whom this issue is important.

When necessary, I looked to the Bible for examples and additional experiences to gain insight. But I must add that I was not too keen on theological argumentation. I wrote, assuming that a person, anxious to put his inner world in order, had already taken a step, choosing for himself a life of obedience to God, and had an idea of the Christian way of life.

If you, the reader, agree with my interpretation of this subject, you may come to the same conclusion that I did, namely that many of the methods we use today to teach and preach to one another seem to be in serious inconsistency with spiritual reality. So I think that some of the issues that I tried to raise in my book are where life really boils. To be honest, I don’t think we are well versed in these matters. And I would be glad if some thoughts coming from my soul and borrowed from other thinkers and writers would help start a dialogue with several interested people.

Few authors write books alone. I certainly am not one of them. In bringing my thoughts together, I not only had the help of many authors who stimulated my thoughts, but also the close and caring support of my wife Gail (an invaluable gift to me from God), who read all versions of these chapters, made countless comments in the margins, and made me to seek more high degree realism and practical orientation.

All those who believe that their inner life needs a higher organization, join me - let us think together! Perhaps, as a result, a deeper experience of communication with God will appear and we will understand where our place is in serving Him.

Time budgeting

The central principle of organizing personal time is simple: time must be allocated!

Most of us have long learned to apply this principle to money. When we found that we barely had enough money to get everything we wanted, we thought it prudent to sit down and think about our financial priorities.

When it comes to money, the priorities are clear. Because my wife and I are committed to God's plan of ministry, tithing and offerings have always been our first financial priority. Then - the necessary expenses: food, home, household items, books (we both insist that books belong to the item of necessary expenses), etc., in order of importance, and we have learned to plan all this in advance.

Only after we had allocated a certain amount of money for what was needed did we decide to turn to that part of the budget where we can dispose of at our own discretion, that is, to what is more a desire than a necessity. Here you can discuss lunch at your favorite restaurant, a useful household appliance, or a particularly attractive winter coat.

If people don't understand the difference between what is a necessity and what is freely available in their financial life, they usually end up with debt, which is the financial version of disorganization.

If the amount of money is limited, the person distributes it. And when there is a time limit, the same principle applies. A disorganized person should allocate their time with a perspective. This means that he must distinguish between the necessary deeds - which he is obliged to do, and free - which he would like to do.

These are the very questions I raised when my young pastor friend decided to talk about his unproductiveness. He was SURPRISED to hear that I myself am constantly struggling with similar problems.

"Gordon," he said, "you don't come across as someone who gets out of control someday."

I objected, "Sometimes I ask myself if I ever controlled him at all." All these symptoms of disorganized life were sooner or later my symptoms, but I made the decision (not once, in fact) that I would not live like this for a moment more.

From the book History of Faith and Religious Ideas. Volume 3. From Mohammed to the Reformation by Eliade Mircea

§ 284. Compilation of the Mishna Talking about the first war of the Jews with the Romans (66-73), during which Titus destroyed the Temple, we cited one episode that had significant consequences for Judaism: how the famous Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai was carried out of besieged Jerusalem in a coffin and

From the book Comparative Theology. Book 4 the author USSR Internal Predictor

Compilation of the text of the Koran The third "righteous" Caliph Uthman is remembered primarily for the approval of a single text of the Koran. Muhammad preached orally. The revelations behind him were recorded by different people, first of all - the personal scribes of the Prophet Zayd ibn Thabit and Ubayy ibn Kaab, Abu

From the book Hasidic traditions by Buber Martin

OUT OF TIME Rabbi Shneur Zalman told his Hasidim: “I was walking down the street one evening and saw something indecent. I was saddened that I had not saved my eyes. I turned to face the wall and wept bitterly, and when I turned away from the wall, I saw that it had long been dark, and I

From the book of Liturgy the author (Taushev) Averky

Composing a church service for a given day Each church service consists of combining the "unchangeable" parts of the service that are inherent in it every day, with the "changeable" parts of the service, the content of which depends on which day of the week and what date

From the book Book about the Koran, its origin and mythology the author Klimovich Lucian Ippolitovich

Chapter II. COMPOSITION, STUDY AND TRANSLATIONS OF THE QURAN

From the book The Experienced Pastor author Taylor Charles W.

From the book Mind for God: Why There Are So Many Believers Among the Smart by Keller Timothy

From the book The People of Muhammad. Anthology of Spiritual Treasures of Islamic Civilization by Schroeder Eric

From the book Comparative Theology. Book 4 the author Team of authors

The Garden of Death and the Compilation of the Quran When Khalid arrived at his camp, the Caliph sent him orders to attack the false prophet Musaylima in Yamamah. This man, after the death of Muhammad, announced that Jabrail appeared to him and called him to be a prophet for all countries of the earth. Musaylim's own powers

From the book The Secret of the Mummy. Stories about mummies. Volume II the author Sherman Alexander

From the book What is anathema the author Team of authors

From book Methodical instructions on the organization of the work of the diocesan press service author E Zhukovskaya E

Compilation of the Rite of Orthodoxy, additions and changes in it, printed and handwritten rites In the original Church of Christ, excommunication took place without any special rites. It was accomplished, so to speak, by the deed itself. The bishop with the clergy or the Council drew up the definition by which

From the book Letters (issues 1-8) the author Theophan the Recluse

Compilation of press releases and information messages for the website While interacting with journalists, one should remember that the press service: should not unleash a storm of news on the press; you need to understand what is news for journalists in the true sense of this

From the author's book

288. New approval of the compiled akathists and encouragement to compose prayers with an indication of the program. Advice regarding the unbelieving son. Grace of God, be with you! Received your books. I am grateful. I mentioned in passing the writing of prayers. And if your soul lies

From the author's book

1086. Dispersed fears. Author's fatigue and rest. The beginning of work on the compilation of the 2nd volume of Philosophy Christ is Risen! My dear N-lai V-vich! Your two letters gave me complete answers to what I wanted to know. Thank you! I wrote to you, because at this time we have

From the author's book

1166. More about the censorship of the Gospel History. Compilation of the life of St. Great. Panteleimon and about his other works. On the results of the Kiev Cathedral. The need for an explanation of church books. Grace of God, be with you! My kindest N-lai V-vich! What is happening with my Gospel story ?!

“Bob Ludwig, a lover of stargazing, spends an evening out of town from time to time, where he can point his telescope at the darkening sky. He must definitely leave the city, as street lights make it difficult to see the stars. And once the city is left behind, the sky becomes much clearer. "

“Somewhere I read a quote from John Wesley about life in the outside world:" Although I am always in a hurry, I never do anything in a hurry because I never take on more work than I can handle in peace of mind. "

“We see Gandhi among the poorest people in Indian cities, where death and disease flourish. He touches them, speaks a word of hope, gives affectionate smile... But a day later, the same man in palaces and government buildings is negotiating with the very smart people of its time. And the question arises: how did he manage to bridge the gap between the two extremes, communicating with such by different people and in such different circumstances? How Gandhi was able to maintain an inner sense of order, his inherent humility and the basis of his wisdom and common sense? How did he avoid losing his own personality and spirit of conviction as he moved within these enormous extremes? Where did emotional and spiritual strength come from? Perhaps we will find the beginning of the answer to these questions when we learn that Gandhi, having cut himself off from public affairs, often returned to his modest home, where, according to Indian custom sitting on the floor, doing a simple job - spinning the wool from which his clothes were made. It seems that the spinning wheel has always been at the center of his life. What was he trying to prove by this? Was it just part of the plan for a certain look? Was this a purely political attempt to identify with the masses, whose loyalty belonged to him? I would guess it was much more than that. Gandhi's spinning wheel was his center of gravity. He was a great champion of equality in life. And when he returned from big public affairs, working with the spinning wheel restored in him the proper sense of proportion so that he would not mistakenly swell with pride caused by the applause of the people. When he moved from meeting kings and government leaders to working with a spinning wheel, this helped him to save correct representation about yourself and your activities. The spinning wheel has always served Gandhi as a reminder of who he really was and what surrounded him in life. By doing this regular exercise, he resisted all the forces of his outer world that tried to distort his essence. "

“The world and the church need truly rested Christians: Christians who regularly replenish their spiritual resources through true Sabbath rest, not just entertainment or free time. When godly rest is possible, you will see how steadfast and resilient Christians can really be. "

“General George Patton demanded that his subordinates knew and could clearly explain what the current task was exactly. "What is your task?" He often asked. It was the most important information with which a soldier could go into battle. "

“The strangest thing is that fatigue is inherent in people living in a society focused on leisure. We do have what is called the entertainment industry, and it is one of the most profitable in the economy. Whole companies, organizations and retail chains are involved in providing goods that people use to pursue fun and enjoyment. In all likelihood, we now have more time for leisure than we ever had before. Five-day work week- a relatively recent innovation in history; we left the farm, where there was always more work; we can forget about work, if we want, and rush to the entertainment of our free time. Then why are there so many tired people today, exhausted mentally and physically? "

“From our earliest years, we are taught unobtrusively that the only way to achieve anything is through action. And prayer appears to be a form of inaction. A person with a disorganized inner world does not believe that prayer can accomplish anything. "

“Bridget Herman, characterizes the saints. "Their holiness was the result of the habit of coordinating with God even the smallest actions." "Let inner prayer be your last action before you fall asleep and your first action when you wake up," wrote Thomas Kelly.

“Fourth, I believe that listening to our critics contributes to our growth. And this is not an easy task for any of us. Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, had a good method to deal with any criticism directed at him. No matter how unfair the criticism might seem, he always brought it to God in prayer and said: "Lord, please show me the grain of truth hidden in this criticism." Of course, it may turn out that there is little truth here, but it is always worth looking and thinking. "

“Hopkins writes:“ Self-deprecation for Charles Simeon consisted not in belittling the gifts given to him by God, not in pretending to be an insignificant person, not in exaggerating his sins, which he was very well aware of, but in the fact that he consciously brought himself into the immediate closeness to God, meditating on His greatness and glory, praising the mercy of His forgiveness and the miracle of His love. This is what humiliated him - not so much his own sinfulness as the incredible love of God. "

“Brother Lawrence was a cook at the monastery. He learned to give meaning to almost every one of his actions during the day. Pay attention to his ability to see not only the meaning, but also the purpose, the purpose of his work: “I turn my little omelet in the pan for the love of God. When it is cooked, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the floor and worship my God, who gave me this grace, allowing me to cook it, after which I rise happier than the king. If I have nothing else to do, just a selected straw for the love of God is enough. People are looking for ways to learn to love God. They hope to achieve this, I do not know how many different actions... They try to be in His presence in many ways. Not a shorter and more direct path if you do everything for the love of God, use every deed that is destined to do in life to show Him this love, and constantly keep His presence in yourself, communicating with Him in your heart? This is not difficult. You just need to get down to it sincerely and simply. "

“The unintelligent Christian does not realize this, but he is dangerously immersed in the culture that surrounds him. Since his mind is untrained and unfilled, he lacks the ability to ask the world to test difficult questions... The problem for the modern Christian in secular society is that one must learn to ask prophetic questions before there is an opportunity to give an answer centered on Christianity. "

“The other day I was caught by a man and asked if we could meet on such and such a day for an early breakfast. "How early?" I asked. "You get up early," he said, "why not at six?" I looked at my calendar and said, “Sorry, I already have an appointment for this hour; what if we meet at seven? " He agreed to seven o'clock pretty quickly, but looked a little surprised that there might be something planned on my calendar for something like this. early hour... I did have an appointment at six o'clock that morning. In fact, it started even earlier. It was a meeting with God. "

“I don’t care too much about my bed these days, and it’s not surprising that I didn’t sleep much, lying on a thin layer of scattered, dirty branches covered with dirty straw mat, among many rats and insects, with three women and a baby three days old nearby and more than a dozen goats, sheep and cows outside. But in my own heart, this night was so calm. "

“Fred Mitchell, the leader of world missions, used to have a motto on his desk that said,“ Beware of the futility of busy life. ” He, too, was aware of the possible death, which can become inevitable if you neglect the inner world. "

“Since we tend to think in this way, there is a temptation to pay disproportionate attention to our social life at the expense of our inner life. More plans, more meetings, more study, more connections, more business activity until all this with an exorbitant weight falls on your life, and it begins to hesitate, being on the verge of death. Fatigue, disappointment, setbacks, frustration - all of this becomes frighteningly possible. The abandoned inner world is no longer able to withstand the load. "

“He screams shrilly, demanding our attention and action. As a result, our inner world is neglected, because it does not know how to scream as loudly. It can be successfully ignored for a long time before it allows a sinkhole like a sinkhole to occur. "

“And then we will see ourselves living in two very different worlds... It is easier to deal with our external, or public, world. It is much more measurable, visible and open. Our outside world is made up of work, free time, acquisitions, and the multitude of acquaintances that form the social environment. This is the part of our existence that is easiest to assess in terms of success, popularity, wealth and beauty. But our inner world is of a more spiritual nature. This is where choices are made and grades are determined, and a place for solitude and reflection can be found. This is a place for worship and confession, a quiet place where the moral and spiritual filth of times should not penetrate. "

“Something within us (the Bible calls it sin) resists both His stay and the order that results from that stay. Sin prefers disorder, when false motives and assessments can hide in the far corner and appear on the surface in a moment of carelessness. "

“And although their actions are conditioned by good intentions, such Christians direct all their efforts to the outside world, striving to achieve the greatest possible success in their field. And it is not surprising, because the outside world is so real, it requires from us our time, ability, strength, and the inner world does not know how to loudly shout about itself, this subtle spiritual substance can be neglected for a long time, which ultimately can lead a person to exhaustion physical and moral strength. "

“Revealing this topic, G. MacDonald divides people into called and driven. Driven people act under the compulsion of circumstances, they direct all their strengths and abilities to achieve the greatest possible success in the outside world. These people never have time to stop and comprehend what is happening, and most of them have a poor idea of what the inner world is and what effect it has on their lives. "

“When chaos and anxiety is created in a person’s soul, then his inner strength goes to waste and he is deprived of the opportunity to fully develop spiritually.”