A To-Be List

Here are some highlights of an article by Philip Yancey, "My To-Be List: What I learned from a 50-year spiritual checkup":

When I turned 50 this year, I underwent a complete physical checkup. ...I scheduled a spiritual checkup as well. I went on a silent retreat led by a wise spiritual director. In those days of silence and solitude, I paid attention to what might need to change in order to keep my soul in shape. ...Here is a mere sampling, a portion of a spiritual action plan for my next 50 years.

Come to God with your own troubles, as well as the world's. I need to find a better balance between the need for personal serenity and a proper concern about global hunger, injustice, and environmental issues....

Question your doubts as much as your faith...

Do not attempt this journey alone. Find companions who see you as a pilgrim, even a straggler, and not as a guide...

Allow the good—natural beauty, your health, encouraging words—to penetrate as deeply as the bad. Why does it take about 17 encouraging letters from readers to overcome the effect of one that is caustic and critical?...

For your own sake, simplify. Eliminate whatever distracts you from God...

Find what Eric Liddell found: something that allows you to feel God's pleasure...

Always "err," as God does, on the side of freedom, mercy, and compassion.
I continue to marvel at the humility of a sovereign God who descends to live inside us, his flawed creatures....Do I show that same humble, noncoercive attitude toward people of whom I disapprove?

Don't be ashamed. "I am not ashamed of the gospel," Paul told the Romans...

Remember, those Christians who peeve you so much—God chose them too...

Forgive, daily, those who caused the wounds that keep you from wholeness. Increasingly, I find that our wounds are the very things God uses in his service. By harboring blame for those who caused them, I slow the act of redemption that can give the wounds worth and value, and ultimately healing.

My spiritual checkup offers one clear advantage over my physical checkup. From my doctor, I learned that no matter what I do my body will continue to deteriorate. At best, a good diet and exercise routine will slow that deterioration. Spiritually, however, I can look forward to growth, renewed vigor, and improved health—as long as I continue to listen, and then act on what I hear God saying.