The breakfast is held at 7:30 am on the first or second Saturday of each month. Almost 40 guys showed up, the majority were in their 60s, 70s, and 80s.
I took the opportunity to survey this unique group about their spiritual disciplines.
They tended to be strongest in their prayer lives. Nine described their prayer lives as being at least relatively "consistent". Most reported spending 10 to 15 minutes daily in prayer.
Two of the oldest men pray an average of 2 hours each day!
(That's a good use of the retirement years, right?)
Not surprising to me was the relative weakness in daily Bible reading. Fewer claimed consistency in personal study of Scripture and fewer were able to report a particular number of minutes per day spent in the Bible.
I have a growing interest in promoting the benefits of personal time in the Bible. I think it is crucial to spiritual health.
But the really steep drop off was when I asked about fasting. Only one claimed to do any sort of fasting, and that was only "occasionally".
This did not surprise me. Fasting is the one spiritual discipline which seems almost universally neglected by modern American Christians.
Why is that?
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