Over the last couple of months I’ve made a number of promises that I would write some things that have been on my heart of late … and I haven’t. It’s been an interesting dynamic to try and assess internally; the idea that I have things to say, but that it feels as though the Lord would just prefer I was quiet for a little while.

So you know what?  I’ve decided to give myself permission to respond to the promptings of the Spirit and to not yield to the odd demands that blogging creates within a person .. demands I never expected to experience. Here’s what I mean:

When I started the Wind Farm as a virtual gateway to what I still hope will evolve into a local intentional community of believers gathered around neomonastic values and principles, I never expected that I would begin to feel a "virtual pressure" to have to blog regularly, otherwise people might get disgruntled and decide to go read someone else’s blog!

It sounds crazy, but it’s true. This is genuinely something I’ve begun to realise has crept up on me over the last year or so .. and frankly, I don’t like it. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not for one moment suggesting that you or anyone else reading the Wind Farm has ever actually applied any pressure to me to keep writing new stuff or they’ll go look elsewhere. But someway, somehow, that weird pressure genuinely begins to show itself as you establish an online presence that draws people as readers.

Frankly, for all the supposed good of our ever-expanding and developing 21st century communications technologies, I genuinely believe we are far too connected. We are so connected, that it’s become the norm that when someone emails us, they expect an instant and detailed response, and then get offended when that response takes a few days, or God forbid, even a week! Or they get frustrated when they can’t reach you on their first attempt at a call to your mobile phone.

Let me give you a personal picture of what I mean …

In my household and ministry office/studio, besides the two TVs and the four iPods, we have three mobile phones (soon to be four), a home phone, a studio phone, a fax machine, wired and wireless broadband internet, five computers, and collectively, twelve email addresses between us!  And I wonder why it is often so hard to maintain a life of quietness, rhythm, balance, order and peace??  It’s because it actually is hard to maintain a life of quietness, rhythm, balance, order and peace with that many avenues of access and distraction from other people and sources!!  Is there any wonder men and women have fled the craziness of contemporary society across the centuries in order to achieve the one goal their hearts long for .. that of finding God and hanging on to Him with everything they have and are??

Now, before you go asking, are you about to announce that you’re closing down the Wind Farm … the answer is:  no I’m not.

But I am most definitely going to allow myself to flow with the seasonal rhythms of God in my life and ministry. He never changes, but how He uses us ebbs and flows like the natural seasons of a year. And I believe we must give ourselves permission to go with that flow as and when it comes. Otherwise, like an overworked field, there’ll be nothing good left in the ground from which to grow fruit!

So, forgive me if I’m a little quieter than usual at the moment. It’s not because I’m lazy. It’s not because I’m distracted. It’s simply because it’s time to be quiet for a short while.

In the meantime, you might want to check out a fantastic prayer resource I’ve recently found online. It’s a brilliant new, contemporary Breviary (prayer book) from the folks at Missio Dei in the United States.

If you like what you read online, do what I did, and support them by buying either the downloadable version of the Breviary or a hard copy. I’ve bought both.

Here’s the LINK … enjoy!

Oh, and shortly, I’ll post a link for you to download tomorrow’s Breathing Space liturgy and some added extras for your personal and/or group use.

Grace and peace,

Kerry