Practice and discipline

One of the most heavily-watched athletic events is the Olympics. Whether it is the precision and grace of figure-skating, the power and physical mastery of gymnastics or the endurance and strength of the marathon, every event highlights the hard work and dedication necessary for humans to achieve their full potentials. Each athlete may begin with certain innate abilities but these remain merely a latent possibility until that athlete submits himself or herself to a systematic and rigorous training program. This training program is more than simply strength and endurance training. Integral to the discipline of the body is discipline of the mind.

This fact was brought home to me in an essay that a student once wrote in an English composition class I taught. She was a state-ranked cross-country runner, and her essay described the thought processes that went on in a typical run. Constantly she had to gauge not only her own energy reserves, but also she had to monitor the movements of the other runners. Instead of focusing upon the pain and weariness of her legs and the rest of her body, she trained herself to focus on what she could do and to feel beyond the present moment. Her essay impressed me with its careful detailing of the complex psychology of running. More importantly, it reinforced the idea that athletic achievement requires integrated mental and physical discipline.

In the same way that most human beings are born with the capacity to walk but require specialized training and development in order to become dancers or professional athletes, so also the spiritual capacities latent in every person need to be developed and disciplined. They need to be practiced. Just as baseball or football players in their spring training engage in a series of drills, agility exercises and weight training, so those who want to follow in the way of Jesus must engage in those spiritual drills and agility training of the heart that are necessary to become proficient as a player on Jesus’ “team.”

Using the analogy of sports, religion can be thought of as belonging to the realm of the team and sport in general, while spirituality relates more to the realm of the individual athlete, and his or her training and development as a player on any given team. In a related blog on the Journey to the Heart of God webpage, I spoke about the derivation of the word “religion” from its Latin origins meaning to “rebind.”  The basic meaning of religion is that human social force that seeks to repair what is broken, to reweave what is frayed, to reconnect what is disconnected, to reintegrate what is disintegrated. Spirituality serves as the personal and individual application of this social tendency towards collective cooperation, order and harmony. A popular political slogan expresses this notion succinctly: “Think globally, act locally.” Spirituality acts at the local level of the individual person. Its methods, ideas, and perspective on the world arise out of the global perspective of religion.

It may seem strange to speak of spirituality as having a “perspective,” but it does. Spirituality works to align the thoughts, words and actions of persons with that which is of ultimate value, significance and meaning to them. Religion is the container and bearer of meaning and value. Because of their more global perspective, religions articulate particular worldviews about what is of value in the world, and how to live according to those values. Religions also articulate how those values can be attained, and how they govern the actions of individuals and societies.  Spirituality serves as the way to cultivate those values in the conduct and behavior of individuals, especially as they relate to other individuals.

Christian spirituality involves the transformation of human persons through the experiential presence of the love of God as taught and lived by Jesus and mediated by the Holy Spirit. The notion of “transformation” implies the change or adaptation of something from one form or state to another. Sometimes transformation can involve a simple change of status, such as when a student graduates from one grade to another or at the completion of a course of study. Another kind of transformation has to do with a change in appearance, such as when a house is redecorated and repainted, or when a person has a “makeover” of their hairstyle and personal appearance. The work of transformation of persons by the work of the Holy Spirit refers to an inner change of attitude, belief and commitment that results in an outer change of behavior and habit.

This work of spiritual transformation can be both sudden and gradual. In fact, it is usually a combination of both. In the example of a person graduating from a course of study, the moment of commencement represents a sharp change in status – one moment a student, the next a graduate, an alumna or alumnus. But much work and study has gone on in order to achieve that moment. Knowledge has been gained bit by bit, and skills have been acquired gradually. Yet the work of education is not over. Skills and knowledge must be applied and assimilated into the practical demands of jobs and employment. The transformation from student to graduate is, in a sense, instantaneous, whereas the transformation of the person from their life before being a student to their life as an employed person is long, progressive and ongoing.

The same is true in the spiritual life. A person may have a sudden, life-changing experience that forever alters their direction and priorities. But in order for this change to have lasting effects, the person must find ways of acting that are in accord with this new direction. They must also redirect their thoughts and attitudes along lines in concert with this new direction. What they need to do is to adopt a set of practices that serve to reinforce their new life and to help establish the change as permanent.

Jesus was a practicing Jew in first-century Palestine. The Jewish spiritual practices for which we have evidence that he practiced include prayer, study of the Scriptures of his time, acts of charity, and the observance of religious rituals and festivals.  In addition, Jesus spent time alone in the natural world, engaged in fasting, urged repentance, performed works of mercy and justice as well as works of love and compassion. He engaged in acts of forgiveness and reconciliation, and worked to establish a new form of community among his disciples and followers.

These practices are discussed in greater detail on the Journey to the Heart of God webpages for this week.

(Image sources: Olympic skaters from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/10/25/2008311694.jpg;  http://www.active.com/Assets/Running/Profile+of+woman+jogging.jpg;