The Importance of Practice

If there is one thing I have learned in life it is this: spiritual growth is directly related to one's practice!  The concept of practice is something I learned from my Buddhist brothers and sisters.  Practice is the training a person needs to grow and improve.  You don't train, you don't get better -- you don't improve.

A practice does not have to be a herculean effort, it just needs to be able to be accomplish-able without grinding you down.  The danger is that most of us start out with a goal that is too big -- for example, let's say you have a goal to enter and to finish the Ironman Triathalon in Hawaii.  Now if you haven't been training by swimming, biking and running the kind of distances required by this lofty physical event, you'd better not enter it.  Maybe you have just set your sights too high. Instead, how about a local event that offers lesser distances than the 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles biking and 26.2 miles of running?  Locally, lesser distances are usually offered. But even if you choose to enter locally, you've got to train before you enter the game!

Now let's compare this with our spirituality (or in my tradition, my Christian "practice"). Most of us begin the our practice without thinking about training and preparation.  We set a goal too high. Then we give up feeling like a failure. So, how does one properly do spiritual training -- to begin a "practice"?

For me, my spiritual training (just like my physical training) is regular, planned, and incremental. I know that if I am going to either grow or be sustained in my faith, I need to train on those things that will help me on my spiritual journey without burning me out. Just like you can over-train physically, you can over-practice spiritually.

In my case, I have four basic spiritual "practices:" 1) daily reading of scripture, 2) prayer for my friends and family, 3) thanksgiving to God for what I have, and 4) time sitting alone in silence in order to listen for God. (I also must admit that I have scratch paper and a pen nearby! -- for both my thoughts and God's!).

This practice generally takes 20-30 minutes and then I often supplement this by listening to my ipod when I take my morning one-hour walk (it contains a mixture of contemporary praise music and Gregorian chant).

This is what I feel maintains my spirituality, my connection with God -- just like that one-hour of physical exercise six days a week maintains my physical health and aerobic capacity to do other things in my life that I like to do (such as cycling, skiing, snowshoeing and kayaking).

So that's it in a nutshell; that's my practice.  And now I encourage you to develop your own spiritual practice.  Start out slow (remember, you don't get in condition to run a marathon by starting out running big distances) -- start slow, build up!

BLESSINGS!

Keep a Holy Lent

I have been thinking a lot lately about spiritual growth (especially now that this is Lent). In the Anglican liturgy parishioners are encouraged to grow spiritually during these forty daysl with these words:

“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance…”

So it's about SELF-EXAMINATION, REPENTENCE, and ACTS (prayer, fasting, self-denial, reading the Bible, and meditating on it). 

But HOW do we do that in the world of worry, fear, stress, and over-whelming commitments? How do we keep a Holy Lent or Holy Anything?

Let me be bold and make a prescription for you (like a physician does).  For when we have a physical ailment, we seek a prescription.   And here is a prescription for our spiritual illnesses -- a way in which you can begin to live a calmer, more centered, and healthier life.

1. MEDITATION. Each morning spend no less than 10 minutes quietly sitting in a comfortable chair before you begin your day. (Do NOT listen to the daily news before you do this!)  During this time, center yourself. Receive God’s blessing. Be a Light to others this day. Think positively. Be thankful.  Ask God to help you get rid of things like discouragement and irritation in your life and replace them with graciousness and patience.

2. WORSHIP. Devote time each week to more extensively give God thanks and praise for your life.  For some of you it will be church.  For others it may be centering yourself and being open to God's Spirit for 20 or more minutes.  Examine yourself, your calendar and your checkbook (where you have spent your time and money this past week). Ask God's help to remove envy, blame, judgment from your life; the things that rob you of life and joy.

3. STUDY. Commit yourself to a time of deep spiritual reading each week.  Turn off the television -- quietly read and meditate on what you have read.  List the three things that are most important to and then arrange your time and finances accordingly.

4. SELF-DENIAL. Identify your addictions.  We ALL have one or more addictions to something. For example, alcohol, drugs, spending, gambling, eating, smoking, pornography, work, and so forth.  Identify and get a handle on your addictions.  Use prayer, self-help, and/or organized group to help you.  It is diffcult, if not impossible, to get rid of an deep addiction all by yourself.  Get help! (Remember: it takes 5-6 weeks to begin to get rid of a bad habit and an equal time to imprint a new and more positive one).

In the name of God, I invite you to a full and abundant life and to be the person God created YOU to be (and not someone else -- but that's a topic for another posting!).

Blessings!

What Ever Happened to Civil Discussion?

I don't know about you, but I am getting weary of not only mean politics, but also mean theology.  But let's just look at theological discussion for now.  Jim Wallis and Brian McClaren have been called "Marxists" for being so bold as to say there is a "social gospel;" that Jesus came to right things like poverty, unjust social systems, and illness.  Did these guys ever go to Sunday school?

Today, Brian McClaren, who calls himself an "evangelical," was inerviewed on National Public Radio concerning some parts of today's on-going Christian arguments.  It is worth listening to or reading.  There is even a lengthy excerpt from his new book, A New Kind of Christianity, which has caused more rancor -- not from McClaren -- but from his opponents and detractors,  (See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125165061&ps=cprs.

One of the issues is the ancient (and somewhat tired, I must admit) discussion about who is going to hell and who isn't.  About 60 percent of Christian traditionalist (though fewer in number each year) today say that anyone who is not a Christian is going to suffer eternal damnation in hell.  Younger folks, under age 35, even young evangelicals in that age range) have a much different take on it.  They have grown up in a religously pluralist world.  They know of, or have friends who are, Buddhist, Hindu, Jew, or Muslim.  Nearly two-thirds of them believe that their non-Christian friends are going to be damned eternally to hell.

Of course, when you get right down to it, what kind of global community would this be if everyone thought this way?  The days of tribalism must pass and we all need to understand truly that not only are we all  genetically related, we are all "the neighbor" who is to be loved as strongly as one is to love God and the neighbor to whom we should practice the almost universal "Golden Rule."

David Campbell, a professor at Notre Dame and co-author of American Grace: How Religion Is Reshaping Our Civic and Political Lives found that "a young evangelical, Roman Catholic [or] mainline Protestant growing up in America today, if he goes to college, his roommate might be Hindu.  His roommate might be Muslim. His roommate might be Buddhist or atheist. So, suddenly the 'other' is sleeping across the room.  And, it's really hard to condemn someone to eternal damnation on the basis of their religion when you know them well and have come to love them."

I am being to understand why most young people tell me they are "spiritual" and not "religious."  Who would want to be called "religious" when that can mean eternally condeming your friends to hell?  And who would want to be "religious" when all you hear is acrimony and condemnation between Christians themselves?  After all, if Christians can't get along with each other how might we expect them to act in the world?

As for me, maybe I will start calling myself "spiritual" and not Anglican or Christian.  Better yet, maybe I should just call myself a struggling disciple of that Palestinian carpenter who tried show us how to live with one another!

Wilderness Growth

Isn't it strange that four of the enduring religions of the world (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism) all have leaders who experienced life-changing events while retreating from the world? In the Christian tradition, Mark's Gospel tells of a wandering Jewish rabbi encountering a Jewish prophet at a river. The rabbi asks to be baptized as a sign of repentance and purification. The prophet agrees but knows who it is that is standing before him. He tries to reverse the situation: "You should be baptizing me, not me you!" But the rabbi is insistent and John baptizes Jesus in the River Jordan. As he is being baptized, God's Spirit annoints him and he is given God's blessing, "You are my son of whom I am well-pleased!" After this powerful event, the Spirit of God drives Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days of prayer, fasting, testing, and being ministered to by angels. When Jesus emerges from his wilderness experience, he begins his ministry with power and great might.

We get part of the message, but not all of it. It seems to me that Christians have missed the major point of this narrative; that is, personal transformation happens in places of wilderness! We need to leave behind (at least for awhile) the addictive culture in which we live. We need silence when all we hear everyday is "blah, blah, blah, blah!" -- distracting voices, tunes and other noises. We must leave those things we have created (like houses and cities) and take a long look at God’s natural creation. Our tradition and our “saints” tell us to go to the wilderness and listen, but we cannot. Our schedules are too crowded and there are too many demands on our time. Ultimately, we are simply too busy to grow emotionally or spiritually.

Many of you know I recently had a great wilderness experience. A few weeks ago, I participated in a "One Year to Live" men’s retreat. It lasted only 44 hours yet the experience was powerful, reflective, and peaceful -- yet it was moving and productive. There was silence, prayer, small group discussion, spiritual/sacramental activities and an invitation for everyone to create a life-mission. It was great!

Looking back in my life, it was exactly these kinds of “wilderness” experiences that helped me grow my faith. It was my time on a mission in Vancouver nearly twenty years ago, Cursillo, the Alpha Course "weekend away," and now this men's retreat. God must be patient. God shows us the way and we quickly forget to tell others how to get there!

Brothers and sisters, if you want to grow in faith, go to the wilderness. Jesus did it, and it really worked!