I have been clearing out piles of paper in preparation for packing up and moving house and have found another interesting letter from a friend (the same one as gave me the article about Fasting and Feasting in Lent) that I thought I would share.

All this uncertainty about jobs has made me evaluate what I achieved so far in my personal, professional and spiritual life. Sitting on the floor of my study this morning with the Spiritual Gifts Analysis has given me so much to think about regarding what I want my spiritual life to be (like when I have to tick "occasionally" rather than "almost always") and what my role in the life of my local church and the wider Church should be. After much hunting, I've found an Internet version (the definite advantage being that this does the sums for you!) and would welcome your thoughts on the questionnaire itself and on your own answers.

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.
1 Corinthians 1:1a-b

I am honoured and delighted to be able to present to you the final Carnival of Beauty of 2006...

Bernadine of Girl Talk Weekly has her Carnival of Beauty debut with Times of Refreshing, discussing the need of solitude in a big family. (She is the youngest of eight children!)

Barbara has some Stray Thoughts on the Beauty of Solitude and shares some of the blessings she has been given through the enforced solitude of her husband working away from home.

Fellow British blogger Susanna invites you to join her at Through a Glass as she sits half way up the stairs and enjoys her Solitude.

Here at A Woman who Fears the Lord, I've shared some of what I learned when for the first time I purposefully tried to practise the spiritual discipline of solitude in Keep Silence Before Him.

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
Psalm 62:1

I have been noticing just how much I fill up life with noise and activities. I wake up to the radio and listen to it on my way to work. Work itself is full of bustle and conversations. When I get home, even without realising it, I sing away to myself. Even sometimes when I am outwardly quiet, I find my mind whirling around like a dervish that I don't notice the silence.

I decided to spend some time this year working on the discipline of solitude. Jesus himself spent forty days in solitude as preparation for his ministry (Luke 4:1-15). It was also his own practice to spend time in prayer alone throughout his ministry (Luke 5:16).

Charles Spurgeon said:

I have been able to spend some time trying to build on this discipline. I went to a beautiful isolated beach, armed only with my Bible, a flask of tea and some gloves. (It looks beautiful but is still Scotland!) Thankfully, there was no-one else there as I sat and read and prayed.

It was wonderful to really have a conversation with God without all the distractions of everything at home. I really felt Satan trying to attack, to drag me away from fellowship and many things I had said or done in the past were brought up. However, I was able to spend such a wonderful time in prayer though, asking for forgiveness for the many sins in my life. Now when these are dragged up, I am able to say, "I've been forgiven for that. There is no more to be said on the matter."

The feeling of being uncontactable for those few hours was also so refreshing. There was so little to distract me from that small, still voice of God. That memory of the closeness with God is still giving me strength as I live in our busy world and I look forward to purposefully spending more time in solitude in the future.

If you would be interested in developing this discipline in your own spiritual life, I really recommend Silence and Solitude..."For The Purpose Of Godliness" by Don Whitney. You can also read about others' experiences of solitude in this week's Carnival of Beauty.

But the LORD is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him
Habakkuk 1:20

What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?

Work is so busy, but I hate when I get to the end of the day and realise that I was too busy to think of God. Again and again, I am reminded of the Lord's gentle yet firm words to Martha in Luke 10.

I need to try to come back to the Lord's feet throughout the day, almost to realign myself with God, to remind myself where my motivation comes from and to whose glory I do this. In one article from the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity I've read about living out a Christian faith in the workplace, this is described as "'on-the-run-spirituality', a rhythm of work that keeps us alert to God in our work."

Connecting with God in the Fast Lane by John Parminter reminds us that we cannot survive in our strength, but that we know a God who came as a man and understands our experiences and in whom is found immeasurable power and blessings.

Parminter offers some simple approaches that could easily be incorporated into dashing around work to 'practise the presence of God.'

I need to be more purposeful about resting and trusting in God throughout my day and in dedicating all my conversations and interactions with patients and colleagues to him, for I do it all to "glorify God and enjoy him forever."

But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."
Luke 10:41-42

In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

I am busy ALL the time. At work, I am permanently rushing around seeing patients, arranging and reviewing tests, writing letters, doing paperwork. Even in the quiet moments, I am poised ready to run at the first sound of my bleeper going off. At home, I work, study, read, do housework, write all the time to the background of music or a radio programme. Although I live on my own, I am permanently surrounded by noise, busyness and thoughts. I am never still. Even now, as I write this, I'm on a train on my daily communte, keen not to waste time.

So I am intrigued about the spiritual disciplines of quietness, solitude and silence. Would I manage to be still for an hour, never mind a whole day?

With the help of the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, I am going to take time over the next year to try the tasks it suggests. I have days off next month, so I might even try to go away for a night to give it a go without all the distractions of normal life. Sallie has allowed me to host the Carnival of Beauty in December on the Beauty of Solitude, so I'll hopefully be able to share some of what I have learnt then.

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 46:10