Justin Baeder at Radical Congruency has been writing a bit on something he calls PoMonasticism (PoMo is shorthand for post-modern). He and others are wondering what sort of spiritual disciplines are vital to a walk with Jesus in these post-modern times. The monastic orders of the past created a spiritual community set apart from the world and dedicated to the disciplines of prayer, hearing of the word, meditation and service. What might we learn from such orders today? If withdrawing from the world permanently is perhaps not the best approach to walking with God, it is equally true that our post-modern total-cultural-immersion is just as ill-considered, in that the carnival atmosphere of our lives keeps us from meeting with God, even for a few minutes in the day.
In a recent post that he calls What I Need from PoMonasticism Justin has come up with a very concrete list of the spiritual practices that he personally wants to follow. I like what he says, and in my own experience I know that I fall into sin and a general spiritual fog when I fail to meet daily with God in prayer and meditation in the Word. What about you? What sort of spiritual structure do you need to maintain in your life to keep living in the way of Jesus?
