1
Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant
satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not
for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep
people.
2
Neither should we think of the Spiritual Disciplines as some dull
drudgery aimed at exterminating laugher form the face of the earth. Joy is the
keynote of all the Disciplines. The purpose of the Disciplines is liberation
from the stifling slavery to self-interest and fear. When the inner spirit is
liberated from all that weighs it down, it can hardly be described as dull
drudgery.
4
In our enthusiasm to practice the Disciplines, we may fail to practice
discipline. The life that is pleasing to God is not a series of religious
duties. We have only one thing to do, namely, to experience a life of relationship
and intimacy with God, “the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or
shadow due to change” (James 1:17)
4-5
Or ordinary method of dealing with ingrained sin is to launch a frontal
attack. We rely on our willpower and determination. Whatever may be the issue
for us – anger, fear, bitterness, gluttony, pride, lust, substance abuse – we determine
never to do it again, fight against it, set our will against it. But the
struggle is all in vain, and we find ourselves once again morally bankrupt or,
worse yet, so proud of our external righteousness that “whitened sepulchers” is
a mild description of our condition. In his excellent little book entitled
Freedom from Sinful Thoughts Heini Arnold writes, “We…want to make it quite
clear that we cannot free and purify our won heart by exerting our own ‘will’”.
In Colossians Paul lists some of the outward forms that people use to
control sin: “touch not, taste not, handle not.” He then adds that these things
“have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship” (Col. 2:20-23). “will worship” –
what a telling phrase, and how descriptive of so much of our lives! The moment
we feel we can succeed and attain victory over sin by the strength of our will
alone is the is the moment we are worshipping the will. Isn’t it ironic that
Paul looks at our most strenuous efforts in the spiritual walk and calls them
idolatry, “will worship”?
6-7
When we despair of gaining inner transformation through human powers of
will and determination, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to
be graciously received. The needed change within us is God’s work, not
ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside.
We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the kingdom of God; it is a
grace that is given.
In the book of Romans the apostle Paul goes to great lengths to show
that righteousness is a gift of God. He uses the term thirty-five times in this
epistle an each time insists that righteousness is unattained and unattainable
through human effort. One of the clearest statements is Romans 5:17, “…those
who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness [shall] reign
in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” This teaching, of course, is found
not only in Romans but throughout Scripture and stands as one of the
cornerstones of the Christian faith.
The moment we grasp this breathtaking insight we are in danger of an
error in the opposite direction. We are tempted to believe that there is nothing
we can do. If all human strivings end in moral bankruptcy ( and having tried
it, we know it is so), and if righteousness is a gracious gift from god (as the
Bible clearly states), then is it not logical to conclude that we must wait for
God to come and transform us? Strangely enough, the answer is no. The analysis
is correct – human striving is insufficient and righteousness is a gift from
God – but the conclusion is faulty. Happily there is something we can do. We do
not need to be hung on the horns of the dilemma of either human works or
idleness. God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of
receiving his grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so
that he can transform us.
The apostle Paul says, “he who sows to his own flesh will from the
flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap
eternal life” (Gal 6:8). Paul’s analogy is instructive. A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right
conditions form the growing of grain. He cultivates the ground, he plants
the seed, he waters the plants, and then the natural forces of the earth take
over and up comes the grain. This is the way it is with the Spiritual
Disciplines – they are a way of sowing to the Spirit. The Disciplines are God’s way of getting us into the ground; they put
us where he can work within us and transform us. By themselves the Spiritual
Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something
can be done. They are God’s means of grace. The inner righteousness we seek is
not something that is poured on our heads. God has ordained the Disciplines of
the spiritual life as the means by which we place ourselves where he can bless
us.
8-9
We do more than receive a gift, yet we know the changes are real. We
know they are real because we discover that the spirit of compassion we once
found so hard to exhibit is now easy. In fact to be full of bitterness would be
the hard thing Diving Love has slipped into our inner spirit and taken over our
habit patterns. In the unguarded moments there is a spontaneous flow from the
inner sanctuary of our lives of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22, 23). There is no longer the
tiring need to hide our inner selves from others. We do not have to work hard
at being good and kind; we are good and kind. To refrain from being good and
kind would be the hard work because goodness and kindness are part of our
nature. Just as the natural motions of our lives once produced mire and dirt,
now they produce “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom
14:17). Shakespeare observes that “The quality of mercy is not strained” – nor are
any of the virtues once they have taken over the personality.
10
When the Disciplines degenerate into law, they are used to manipulate
and control people. We take explicit commands and use them to imprison others.
Such a deterioration of the Spiritual Disciplines results in pride and fear.
Pride takes over because we come to believe that we are the right kind of
people. Fear takes over because we dread losing control.
If we are to progress in the spiritual walk so that the Disciplines are
a blessing and not a curse, we must come to the place in our lives where we can
lay down the everlasting burden of always needing to manage others. This drive,
more than any single thing, will lead us to turn the Spiritual Disciplines into
laws. Once we have made a law, we have an “externalism” by which we judge who
is measuring up and who is not. Without laws the Disciplines are primarily an
internal work, and it is impossible to control an internal work. When we
genuinely believe that inner transformation is God’s work and not ours, we can
put to rest our passion to set others straight.
We must beware of how quickly we can latch onto this word or that word
and turn it into a law. The moment we do so we qualify for Jesus’ stern
pronouncement against the Pharisees. “They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear,
and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with
their finger” (Matt 23:4). In these matters we need the words of the apostle
Paul embedded in our minds: “We deal not in the letter but in the Spirit. The
letter of the Law leads to the death of the soul; the Spirit of God alone can
give life to the soul (2 Cor 3:6, Phillips).
17
Christian meditation, very simply, is the ability to hear God’s voice
and obey his word. It is that simple.
20
What happens in meditation is that we create the emotional and
spiritual space which allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in the
heart. The wonderful verse “I stand at the door and knock…” was originally
penned for believers, not Christ need to know how very much he longs to eat
with us, to commune with us. He desires a perpetual Eucharistic feast in the
inner sanctuary of the heart. Meditation opens the door and, although we are
engaging in specific meditation exercises at specific times, the aim is to
bring this living reality into all of our life. It is a portable sanctuary that
is brought into all we are and do.
22-23
Perhaps the most common misconception of all is to view meditation as a
religious form of psychological manipulation. It may have value in dropping our
blood pressure or in relieving tension. It may even provide us with meaningful
insights by helping us get in touch with our subconscious mind. But the idea of
actual contact and communion with God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sounds
unscientific and faintly unreasonable. If you feel that we live in a purely
physical universe, you will view meditation as a good way to obtain a consistent
alpha brain-wave pattern. But if you believe that we live in a universe created
by the infinite-personal God who delights in our communion with him, you will
see meditation as communication between the Lover and the one beloved.
These two concepts of meditation are complete opposites. The one
confines us to a totally human experience; the other catapults us into a
divine-human encounter. The one talks about of the exploration of the
subconscious; the other speaks of “resting in him whom we have found, who loves
us, who is near to us, who comes to us to draw us to himself.” Both may sound
religious and even use religious jargon, but the former can ultimately find no
place for spiritual reality.
How then do we come to believe in a world of the spirit? Is it by blind
faith? Not at all. The inner reality of the spiritual world is available to all
who are willing to search for it. Often I have discovered that those who so
freely debunk the spiritual world have never taken ten minutes to investigate
whether or not such a world really exists.
Let me suggest we take an experiential attitude toward spiritual
realities. Like any other scientific endeavor, we form a hypothesis and
experiment with it to see if it is true or not. If our first experiment fails,
we do not despair or label the whole business fraudulent. We reexamine our
procedure, perhaps adjust our hypothesis, and try again. We should at least
have the honesty to persevere int this work to the same degree we would in any
field of science.
24
That is why meditation is so threatening to us. It boldly calls us to
enter into the living presence of God for ourselves. It tells us that God is
speaking in the continuous present and wants to address us. Jesus and the New
Testament writers clearly state that this is not just for the religious professionals
– the priests - but for everyone. All
who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord are the universal priesthood of God and as
such can enter the Holy of Holies and converse with the living God.
26
It is impossible to learn how to meditate from a book. We learn to
meditate by meditating.
33
Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the
Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into
perpetual communion with the Father. Meditation introduces us to the inner
life, fasting is an accompanying means, study transforms our minds, but it is
the Discipline of prayer that brings us into the deepest and highest work of
the human spirit. Real prayer is life creating and life changing. “Prayer –
secret, fervent, believing prayer – lies at the roof of all personal godliness”,
writes William Carey.
37
Perhaps the most astonishing characteristics of Jesus’ praying is that
when he prayed for others he never concluded by saying “If it be thy will.” Nor
did the apostles or prophets when they were praying for others. They obviously
believed that they knew what the will of God was before they prayed the prayer
of faith. They were so immersed in the milieu of the Holy Spirit that when they
encountered a specific situation, they knew what should be done. Their praying
was so positive that it often took the form of a direct, authoritative command:
“Walk”, “Be well”, “Stand up.” I saw that when praying for others there was
evidently no room for indecisive, tentative, half-hoping, “If it be thy will”
prayers.
40-41
Jesus taught us to pray for daily bread. Have you ever noticed that
children ask for lunch in utter confidence that it will be provided. They have
no need to stash away today’s sandwiches for fear none will be available
tomorrow. As far as they are concerned, there is an endless supply of sandwiches.
Children do not find it difficult or complicated to talk to their parents, nor
do they feel embarrassed to bring the simplest need to their attention. Neither
should we hesitate to bring the simplest requests confidently to the Father.
Source: Celebration Of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard J. Foster (1998)
The 6 Phases of Faith
