Engaging Church

Yesterday we posted part one of our interview with Mark Buchanan. Here’s part two in which he discusses his new book, Spiritual Rhythm: Being With Jesus Every Season of Your Soul. (Read a sample.)

EC: How can we help others who are in a different season then we may be ourselves?

MB: I think the idea of seasons of the heart is akin to the idea of love languages: just by being aware of them makes us more sensitive to others. For me, going through a deep and prolonged winter of the heart has made me safe for more people in my church. It made me a better pastor. By thinking of spiritual formation in seasonal language, I am now able to discern a person’s season and help them steward it best. Even more, I am able to help them find Christ in the thick of it.

Mark Buchanan is a pastor and award-winning author who lives and speaks on the West Coast of Canada. His writing has been published in numerous periodicals, including Christianity Today, Leadership Journal, and Discipleship Magazine. He is the author of five books including Your God Is Too Safe and his new book Spiritual Rhythm: Being With Jesus Every Season of Your Soul.

Here’s the first half of our interview with Mark on Spiritual Rhythm. The second half can be found here.

EC: What does spiritual rhythm mean?

MB: I distinguish between rhythm and balance. Balance is what most people seek, but I think it’s is a myth. Balance in life is something that, even if we can attain it, is not worth the effort. It’s like standing a kayak: it’s fragile, inert, and a misuse of the kayak.

Rhythm is what we seek when we paddle the kayak. Balance flows out of rhythm as a natural by-product of it. Balance is not the point of life any more than it’s the point of kayaking, but it’s what happens without our even having to think about it when we get our  rhythm right.

In a spiritual sense, rhythm is comprised of our pace of life and our ways of engagement in any given season. A good rhythm is what serves us best that season. In winter, we move at a different pace than, say, in spring. We engage life and God differently. That difference is defined by rhythm.