It’s been about two months since Joel and I moved into our first home together—into what we have all now affectionately deemed “the Kedesh house.” It’s certainly not what I would have pictured a year ago. To be quite honest, I was excited about the idea theoretically, but when we actually started considering it as a real possibility, I wasn’t too sure. I was concerned—Won’t we need to establish our own identity as a new family? Will we have enough privacy? Don’t our jobs engage us in enough outgoing ministry already? What if we all end up hating each other? Can we afford it? These and other concerns rose to the surface as we talked together, but as we took the idea to our trusted advisors, we couldn’t help but dwell in the realm of possibility: what if this year of life together—a year of intentional community for the purpose of reaching out and reaching in—what if this year of life together was what God wanted to use to deeply shape our souls for the rest of our lives?
I work in the Department of Spiritual Formation at Bryan College, so I’m in the business of soul-shaping. Spiritual formation isn’t a new way of saying “campus ministry.” It’s actually far more holistic and—for Bryan—far more closely tied to the academic curriculum. Spiritual formation has to do with the process by which we invite the Spirit to transform our interior life in such a way that it becomes like the interior life of Christ. And the outflow of an interior life that is shaped like Christ’s is a person who sees their own story as part of God’s greater story for the world—a person who lives in ways that inspire others around them toward the reality of God’s Kingdom in our world here and now.
All of us in this community are Bryan grads, and we’ve all been exposed to spiritual formation during our time at Bryan. We tasted something really good there, something really authentic. And now we want to pursue spiritual formation on our own.
I wonder how we will nurture spiritual maturity in each other and inspire each other toward Kingdom living. I wonder how we will pray with each other and carry each other’s burdens. I wonder how we will “meet and dwell with Jesus and his Father in the disciplines for the spiritual life.” I wonder how we will open each other’s eyes to people in our community who need the outstretched hand of healing and compassion that Jesus would offer. I wonder how we will let each other uproot pride, selfishness, and petty needs from dark places in our hearts that have long evaded tending. I wonder how we will invite the Holy Spirit to do his work among us and through us this year.
The deepest ache of the soul is the spiritual longing for connection and belonging. To be human is to have been designed for intimate relationship with the Divine. In spite of the messages of Western culture, personal fulfillment lies in connection, not autonomy. Spirituality is the discovery of the fundamental connection that exists between us and God - a connection that properly aligns us to others, the world, and our deepest self.
--David G. Benner
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