At Kleipot (pronounced clay-pot) we’re focusing on two things this year.  Loving God and loving others.  It’s our dream to intentionally follow Jesus on the journey of becoming God-lovers and other-lovers.  In order to journey on this road we’re organzing our days, weeks, months and year around seven invitations.  Jesus urged his followes to take His yoke upon them.  These seven invitations are the yoke we’re taking on.  The invitations are not a goal in itself but a means towards Jesus.  Nouwen once described disciplines as making room for God.  He used the illustration of a two-year-old boy in his playpen, his toys are scattered everywhere.  As he notices The toy he wants to play with he frantically moves everything out of the way – this is a classic picture of making room.  In other words the invitations are a beckoning towards the person of Jesus.  They’re not rules but more a way to regulate or facilitate spaces for experiencing God.  During this week I’ll blog about the seven invitations:

Number 1:  In this invitation of examination one evaluates whether God is truly number one.  This can be done in a few ways.  Personally I daily pray through the Shema and ask myself some pertinent questions.  A great example of this is the morning prayer from the Northumbria Community:

Call: Who is it that you seek?

Response: We seek the Lord our God.

Call: Do you seek Him with all your heart?

Response: Amen, Lord, have mercy.

Call: Do you seek Him with all your soul?

Response: Amen, Lord, have mercy.

Call: Do you seek Him with all your mind?

Response: Amen, Lord, have mercy.

Call: Do you seek Him with all your strength?

Response: Amen, Christ, have mercy.

One can also pray through the Lord’s prayer or conclude each day with the prayer of examen.  This invitation is to ask God to evaluate with us our ways and to show anything that’s not on the path towards life.  Every invitation will be represented by a symbol in order to make accountability easier and to help us remember.  For example a friend can ask me : "How is it going with the number 1 invitation?"

"But seek first his kingdom and His righteousness."  – Jesus.