Jan 5, 2011

Spending time with Basil

In a previous post, I talked about journaling with the masters. Part of my time journaling with the masters was spent Basil's writings. His writings are fantastic and I gleaned a lot of wisdom from his writings.

Basil was a bishop in Caesarea in the 4th Century AD. He is celebrated by the orthodox church on the 1st of January, which traditionally is said to be the day he died (more about his life can be found here). I think that it is apt that Basil is celebrated at the first of every year because what he wrote about the Christian life would be great for building a New Years resolution.

What I learned from Basil was to find solitude, reject the world's ways, and practice self-control. Basil taught that we will not be able to really focus on God's word if we cannot find solitude. We need to find quiet from time to time so that we can focus on spending time with God and his word. Second, Christians are not to live according to the world's ways. The world has many things to offer, but it cannot offer us the life the God does. Third, we need to have self-control for the times that we do interact with the world. It is inevitable to have to involve yourself with the world, but being self-controlled can keep us from taking the necessities and abusing them.

These three things stuck with me from reading Basil, I hope that they can help you in this new year. I would also encourage you to find a wise person who has gone before to mentor you. They don't have to be living, you can find a good book and learn from those who have gone before. Just find a wise person, listen to what they have to say and apply it.

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