Peter Scazzero

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Moses, David, Paul, and Jesus all, according to McNeal (2011), walked intimately with the Father. The Bible indicates that God also invites us to close relationship with Himself (John 10:1-18). Many, however, do not experience closeness with God in their lives. The difficulty, Anderson (2015) suggests, is “because God cannot be seen or heard, at least with our physical senses” (p. 2). Consequently, developing a rich spiritual life with God requires a little different approach than building a relationship with a spouse or friends that we can see and hear. Peter Scazzero (2006) recommends developing a “rule of life” (p. 196) that is both helpful and unhelpful.
Building one’s life around certain principles or rules, according to Scazzero (2006), …show more content…
200). Some questions the author proposes to help discern what might bring one closer to God are, “what kinds of spiritual practices bring you closer to God? Which drive you away from him?...What kinds of activities bring me joy and delight? What truly replenishes me?” (pp. 200, 203). The categories offered by Scazzero are prayer, rest, work, and relationships (pp. 199-200). To be able to connect intimately with God in prayer, to be able to rest when I need to, to work hard toward a goal that I am passionate about, and to have healthy relationships in my life are all goals that I long for and strive. Unfortunately, Roman Catholic monastic practices have done little to contribute positively toward those goals. I see no reason to keep practicing same things repeatedly and expecting different results. Neither will I take matters into my own hands as Abraham and Sarah and produce an “Ishmael.” I will continue to ask, seek, and knock (Matthew 7:7-12) and move forward as God leads. I am, as Scazzero terms it, “waiting in the confusing in-between” (pp. 145-146), but I am also waiting expectantly, watching for God and his movement. Consequently, I am still searching through trial and error to discover those things that genuinely draw me closer to
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