This week in our pilgrimage, we will examine what it means to be a child at rest, calm and content in God’s arms. If only that is where we could stay, but we must also wrestle with what it means to be weaned, to forgo instant comfort in order to grow and mature. Our journey through life should not be about comfort and ease, but of flourishing as we leave behind our childish ways and as we strive to know God fully. In a weird twist of spiritual wisdom, we must mature while we maintain the heart of a child.

WEEK FOUR VIDEO: A Child at Rest

Consider these questions:

• What does this idiom “sleeping like a baby” mean? How does that relate to our faith?
• Has caring for a newborn shaped your perspective on life and faith? If so, how?
• How does imagery around an infant paint a picture of spiritual life’s joys and struggles?

ICEBREAKER: What is something that you would have a difficult time giving up, even if it meant a better and/or healthier life?

WEEK FOUR DISCUSSION GUIDE:

WEEK FOUR DAILY DEVOTIONAL:

WEEK FOUR SOUNDTRACK

WEEK FOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: LECTIO DIVINA

WEEK FOUR ARTISTIC EXPRESSION:
With this week’s focus on moving from a child to adulthood, while finding comfort with their parent. Draw, color, paint, or sculpt a picture of a child with their parent in three forms. First, imagine yourself as a young child and how they would express that image. Next recreate the same work in a more ‘mature’ expression, as if you were a teenager or young adult. Finally, recreate this image, in your current mode of artistic expression. Compare and consider how these expressions have evolved, and relate that to your relationship to God.