Each Spiritual Discipline I have practiced so far is supposed to target some inward struggle. The purpose of each discipline is to lead to a renewed sense of freedom because of the release of that struggle. The discipline of solitude is supposed to target the inward focus of self. Being alone will take the focus off ourselves so that we are accustomed to hearing God's Word and feeling God's presence better.
Pulling away into a place of solitude is ultimately going to prepare us for the times of spiritual dryness and other times of trial. Solitude is a demonstration of "mortification" which is a fancy term for dying to self to be raised again in Christ. If we encounter a dry time where we feel that God is not present, we often feel lonely or abandoned. This is a form of self-centeredness, because we blame God and not our ignorance. But if we often practice the discipline of being alone, then we know what it feels like to still feel God in the silence. Practicing silence takes the focus off of ourselves and the world moving around us, and places it solely on God's presence. This stealing away for a time and being with God helps prepare us to engage other people. It creates a ready spirit in us so that we are able to fully do ministry. It is refreshing. And it prepares us for dry seasons. And it prepares us for suffering. Solitude is a method of mortification that leads us closer to living a life like Christ.
As an introvert, I am not unfamiliar with having to take alone time to be refreshed. The only way I can feel energized is to steal away for a time. So it was definitely possible and easy for me to practice solitude this week. However, in class we introverts were challenged to take this one step further beyond just alone time. Perhaps thinking less about taking alone time to relax, and more taking alone time to be with God. Or maybe even doing something else all together. I chose something else all together.
I am a very outgoing introvert. I love people and interacting with them. I am also very, very chatty. I love laughing and having a good time with people. I realize that much of my day is spent talking so that I get attention. I definitely retreat to be alone, but for the rest of the day, I am completely self-centered. So I decided to go an entire day without talking. I wanted God to be exalted by my speech and my interaction with people. And I really need to dial down my senseless conversation in order for that to happen.
I made a few ramifications before the day started. I decided that I would talk when spoken to so that I would not appear rude or have to tell everyone about my practice. I decided I would contribute to my group project at our meeting. I decided I would speak in class if called on. I told my professors and the few people I interact with most so that they would not make it more difficult on me. Even when I did have to talk, I decided I would speak limited and thoughtfully so as to still exalt God.
What I found is that with those three in mind, I still talked more than I did not. The professor who knew I was not talking still called on me. People said hi to me every direction I turned. One of my roommates still chatted at me non-stop because she doesn't like silence. I work in food service and still had to be polite and conversational to the customers. There was no way to go about my daily life and not interact with people. I did sit around the lunch table and not contribute to the conversation. But that experience did not really have any spiritual awakenings. I did like sitting back and observing instead of feeling like words were my responsibility. I think what I learned from that experience is that perhaps my daily interaction is a little more significant than I had initially realized. I did get an education in how to chew my words carefully before saying them, but I think I learned that it is okay that I talk a lot. This practice of this discipline led me to maybe consider that I do not have to change anything.
So even though I did not achieve any spiritual awakenings through my mortification, I would not call it useless. I think learning about this discipline and studying it has led me to consider taking alone time to exalt God and be refreshed by His presence. I know that I need that alone time anyway to be energized, and who better to energize me than the Creator? It was good to learn and practice solitude. I think it would be interesting to continue to practice this one and let it become a natural part of my introvertedness.
Thank you for reading :)
Blessings,
Alyssa
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The Spiritual Discipline of Simplicty
Now look at that! There is a discipline that I unknowingly named by blog after! Needless to say, since it is already a concept I feel strongly about, I loved learning about this discipline.
Simplicity as Foster describes, "escapes us because we have no unity or focus around which our lives are oriented." "Simplicity is the only thing that sufficiently reorients our lives so that possessions can be genuinely enjoyed without destroying us."
Simplicity starts with an inward change of lifestyle. If the inward desire for a less cluttered life is absent, then it will look and feel like a legalistic work. Any sort of outward expression of a simple lifestyle has to be motivated by an inner feeling of freedom. Freedom is the feeling of enjoying what we have been given. It is the opposite of shame, which is what we feel when our lives are not ordered correctly. Shame separates us from God. So, to combat that shame, one would practice simplicity Simplicity causes me to put God first always. Simplicity shows me that when the right first thing is first, everything else fits into place. The inward focus of simplicity causes me to orient all of my life around God. When I orient all my life and possessions around God first, I begin to start seeing those things as His. And when I truly attest that all of my possessions are God's, I become much more thankful for all that He has given to me. When I am grateful for all that I have been given, then I find that I trust God for His full sustainability I no longer have to worry about hoarding more and more stuff because I trust God will provide. When I start to trust in God's provision, I begin to share things with others. And giving away to others is an outward sign of simplicity.
Do you see how that outward discipline of simplicity stemmed from a long line of inward transformation? It has to be inward first. And that inward has to be a sense of freedom.
One of the things that stands out to me about simplicity is that it might be one of the most counter-cultural. A lot of these other disciplines are being taught by the Church and practiced by it's members. In America, simplicity is not taught nor practiced correctly. Americans are consumers and proud of it. Christians are not immune to that consumerism. There are dozens of passages in scripture that talk about riches and wealth and none of them talk about storing up material possessions for ourselves on earth. In fact, they all make claim that wealthy people are not healthy Christians. I have heard only a handful of sermons on wealth in my life, and I disagreed with almost all of them. I have heard some about how we must all give away everything we own and live on the streets. I have heard several with the underlying message that storing wealth is okay as long as you tithe a decent amount. But the most common message on wealth is the ever famous prosperity gospel. But I have not heard one good sermon on the spiritual damage that a disoriented life can have even the most well-meaning Christian. This makes the message of simplicity all the more urgent.
Consumerism is a barrier to my spiritual life that I have committed to overcoming. I cannot put a date and time on when I decided to live like that, but it has definitely been a couple of years. I think over time I just became aware of all of the negative influence I saw in people. I witnessed greed and selfishness from money and stuff well up in people, and I ended up not even wanting to be around them. So I have committed to eliminating all the clutter in my life that other get so hung up on. I have spent a lot of time developing an inner spirit of freedom that creates my outward lifestyle of simplicity. I agreed with everything Foster said and everything we discussed in class, and for this blog I even put on my own opinions in. I am so grateful that I get to put my own personal experience from previous years into this blog.
I have a very basic cell-phone and a very basic laptop. I have had the same car since I turned sixteen. I have a closet full of (cute) clothes that I buy on clearance. I live in a modest home. My life is very free of hoarding and cluttering of possessions. I do not hang onto any of my possessions in an unhealthy way. I do not obsess over the "new." I do not marvel at the latest and greatest piece of technology. I do not read gossipy fashion magazines that keep me up on the latest style. I ignore ads on tv that tempt me into a consumeristic lifestyle I work very, very hard to avoid the temptation of wealth and enjoy my freedom in Christ. I am not sharing this arrogantly, I am sharing that to explain that I had trouble coming up with a practice this week. for the sake of this assignment, I struggled to come up with a practice that would be new or tangible. I already do several things on a regular basis to ensure that I have rightly ordered loves. Instead of writing about all of the things I do on a regular basis or blabbing about how I created an inner spirit of simplicity, I just want to reiterate that there are several ways to do simplicity. The one I found this week may be different from my classmates, but I just spent time reflecting on what I have changed over the past few years, and what has worked and what has not. I also spent a lot of time reflecting on previous disciplines and how those most definitely have a place in my life as simplicity.
The result of that reflection is complicated. Only because life is complicated. There are a lot of layers to simplicity and the life that I am living. One thing that I reflected that I could do differently is give more. Sure I do not store up a lot for myself, but what am I doing for others? That is a discipline I would like to add to my life. I also decided there are several other disciplines I want to do regularly to keep God at the center. Meditation, fasting, and prayer are just a few that I am continuing to do now. These are things that I will be more able to measure in the future, but for this week, simplicity has taught me to often reflect on how things have gone thus far. It is okay to stop and reorient so that the reorientation will continue to go smoothly.
I am grateful for the conversation on simplicity this week. This is something I will continue to be passionate about.
Thank you for reading.
Blessings,
Alyssa
Simplicity as Foster describes, "escapes us because we have no unity or focus around which our lives are oriented." "Simplicity is the only thing that sufficiently reorients our lives so that possessions can be genuinely enjoyed without destroying us."
Simplicity starts with an inward change of lifestyle. If the inward desire for a less cluttered life is absent, then it will look and feel like a legalistic work. Any sort of outward expression of a simple lifestyle has to be motivated by an inner feeling of freedom. Freedom is the feeling of enjoying what we have been given. It is the opposite of shame, which is what we feel when our lives are not ordered correctly. Shame separates us from God. So, to combat that shame, one would practice simplicity Simplicity causes me to put God first always. Simplicity shows me that when the right first thing is first, everything else fits into place. The inward focus of simplicity causes me to orient all of my life around God. When I orient all my life and possessions around God first, I begin to start seeing those things as His. And when I truly attest that all of my possessions are God's, I become much more thankful for all that He has given to me. When I am grateful for all that I have been given, then I find that I trust God for His full sustainability I no longer have to worry about hoarding more and more stuff because I trust God will provide. When I start to trust in God's provision, I begin to share things with others. And giving away to others is an outward sign of simplicity.
Do you see how that outward discipline of simplicity stemmed from a long line of inward transformation? It has to be inward first. And that inward has to be a sense of freedom.
One of the things that stands out to me about simplicity is that it might be one of the most counter-cultural. A lot of these other disciplines are being taught by the Church and practiced by it's members. In America, simplicity is not taught nor practiced correctly. Americans are consumers and proud of it. Christians are not immune to that consumerism. There are dozens of passages in scripture that talk about riches and wealth and none of them talk about storing up material possessions for ourselves on earth. In fact, they all make claim that wealthy people are not healthy Christians. I have heard only a handful of sermons on wealth in my life, and I disagreed with almost all of them. I have heard some about how we must all give away everything we own and live on the streets. I have heard several with the underlying message that storing wealth is okay as long as you tithe a decent amount. But the most common message on wealth is the ever famous prosperity gospel. But I have not heard one good sermon on the spiritual damage that a disoriented life can have even the most well-meaning Christian. This makes the message of simplicity all the more urgent.
Consumerism is a barrier to my spiritual life that I have committed to overcoming. I cannot put a date and time on when I decided to live like that, but it has definitely been a couple of years. I think over time I just became aware of all of the negative influence I saw in people. I witnessed greed and selfishness from money and stuff well up in people, and I ended up not even wanting to be around them. So I have committed to eliminating all the clutter in my life that other get so hung up on. I have spent a lot of time developing an inner spirit of freedom that creates my outward lifestyle of simplicity. I agreed with everything Foster said and everything we discussed in class, and for this blog I even put on my own opinions in. I am so grateful that I get to put my own personal experience from previous years into this blog.
I have a very basic cell-phone and a very basic laptop. I have had the same car since I turned sixteen. I have a closet full of (cute) clothes that I buy on clearance. I live in a modest home. My life is very free of hoarding and cluttering of possessions. I do not hang onto any of my possessions in an unhealthy way. I do not obsess over the "new." I do not marvel at the latest and greatest piece of technology. I do not read gossipy fashion magazines that keep me up on the latest style. I ignore ads on tv that tempt me into a consumeristic lifestyle I work very, very hard to avoid the temptation of wealth and enjoy my freedom in Christ. I am not sharing this arrogantly, I am sharing that to explain that I had trouble coming up with a practice this week. for the sake of this assignment, I struggled to come up with a practice that would be new or tangible. I already do several things on a regular basis to ensure that I have rightly ordered loves. Instead of writing about all of the things I do on a regular basis or blabbing about how I created an inner spirit of simplicity, I just want to reiterate that there are several ways to do simplicity. The one I found this week may be different from my classmates, but I just spent time reflecting on what I have changed over the past few years, and what has worked and what has not. I also spent a lot of time reflecting on previous disciplines and how those most definitely have a place in my life as simplicity.
The result of that reflection is complicated. Only because life is complicated. There are a lot of layers to simplicity and the life that I am living. One thing that I reflected that I could do differently is give more. Sure I do not store up a lot for myself, but what am I doing for others? That is a discipline I would like to add to my life. I also decided there are several other disciplines I want to do regularly to keep God at the center. Meditation, fasting, and prayer are just a few that I am continuing to do now. These are things that I will be more able to measure in the future, but for this week, simplicity has taught me to often reflect on how things have gone thus far. It is okay to stop and reorient so that the reorientation will continue to go smoothly.
I am grateful for the conversation on simplicity this week. This is something I will continue to be passionate about.
Thank you for reading.
Blessings,
Alyssa
Saturday, November 10, 2012
The Spiritual Discipline of Study
"Study is a specific kind of experience in which through careful attention to reality the mind is enabled to move in a specific direction." - Foster, 63
Study is a relativity straightforward spiritual discipline. It sounds as simple as reading scripture or other theological or biblical books. As a bible student, I do this on a regular basis, so I was hoping that I would find out that the discipline of study would be different than just that. Because I know my schoolwork never feels like a spiritual discipline. I must confess, I also had a small hope that maybe that meant that I already practice this discipline daily. Maybe that meant I could cop out of this one!
Instead, I realized that study is a unique five step process. The first step is repetition. To use the example of my practice this week, I repeatedly read 1 Corinthians 13. I read it three times every morning for a week. The idea behind repetition is the hope that it would creates a habit. Habits are when our minds are trained to head in that direction with out provoking. The hope is that I would reflect on the words of 1 Corinthians 13 all day.
The second step is concentration. This is where I bring focus to my continuous reading of the same passage. It is easy to breeze over familiar words, especially with an already familiar passage like 1 Cor. 13, but this second step ensures that each time I read, I am focused on meaning.
The third step is comprehension Comprehension occurs when I understand what I am reading, as well as why it is important that I know what is being said. This is the sort of interpretation and application part of reading scripture. Each morning I read this passage, I spent time thinking about what stood out and how I could carry it with me for the rest of the day. I made sure to apply the passage every day, in a new way. This prevented study from going stale.
The fourth step is reflection. This is an activity that is the natural result of comprehension. This is really what makes it valuable for life. Taking time to reflect is what gives this discipline value. Reflection is how we invest, apply, and connect to our day to day life.
The fifth step is perhaps the most important. It is humility. The discipline of study requires a teachable spirit and mold-ability. To truly study might mean change. And we need to be amiable to change. We must always be willing to recognize that we need deeper knowledge. Deep knowledge and application is what will lead to understanding in our lives.
So this sounds really great. Like a super easy and beneficial five-step process to becoming more holy. Awesome.
Problem is... I totally bombed this one.
Earlier today, I started to get really discouraged because I was not finding any benefit in the discipline of study. It occurred to me that perhaps it was my motivation, or lack thereof, that was hindering me from this experience. I missed the class lecture where we discussed this discipline. Usually, our class conversation leads me to feel really convicted about the discipline being discussed. It can get lively. The class is a room full of students who are fired up about spiritual matters, and the conversation is usually sparked with passion. I missed the passion for the discipline of study. And I could not summon the conviction on my own. I did not know what to expect with this practice, so I did not expect anything. There was nothing about study that I felt personally invested in. So just like I learned with holy expectancy, I didn't expect God, so I didn't meet God. And it showed in my attitude towards my daily practice of reading 1 Cor. 13.
I have given all of the other disciplines an honest try, and even started to like ones I did not think I would. And here was study, one that I thought would totally work for me, and I could not make a go of it. The lesson learned here is a complete attitude check. I now understand that there cannot be anything forced about spiritual matters. I still had to give this discipline a try for the sake of the assignment, but I have to admit that if it were not for the matter of a grade, I should have abstained this week. My heart and mind were not open to what this discipline would or should have taught. This is a very good discipline, but I will share from experience that none of these are good without proper motives and a prepared heart. Expectancy is an important key for spiritual disciplines, and they should not be tried without it. And this is my honest post about what has not worked for me.
Until next time,
Alyssa :)
(Don't worry, this has not discouraged me from honestly trying for the next four weeks!)
Study is a relativity straightforward spiritual discipline. It sounds as simple as reading scripture or other theological or biblical books. As a bible student, I do this on a regular basis, so I was hoping that I would find out that the discipline of study would be different than just that. Because I know my schoolwork never feels like a spiritual discipline. I must confess, I also had a small hope that maybe that meant that I already practice this discipline daily. Maybe that meant I could cop out of this one!
Instead, I realized that study is a unique five step process. The first step is repetition. To use the example of my practice this week, I repeatedly read 1 Corinthians 13. I read it three times every morning for a week. The idea behind repetition is the hope that it would creates a habit. Habits are when our minds are trained to head in that direction with out provoking. The hope is that I would reflect on the words of 1 Corinthians 13 all day.
The second step is concentration. This is where I bring focus to my continuous reading of the same passage. It is easy to breeze over familiar words, especially with an already familiar passage like 1 Cor. 13, but this second step ensures that each time I read, I am focused on meaning.
The third step is comprehension Comprehension occurs when I understand what I am reading, as well as why it is important that I know what is being said. This is the sort of interpretation and application part of reading scripture. Each morning I read this passage, I spent time thinking about what stood out and how I could carry it with me for the rest of the day. I made sure to apply the passage every day, in a new way. This prevented study from going stale.
The fourth step is reflection. This is an activity that is the natural result of comprehension. This is really what makes it valuable for life. Taking time to reflect is what gives this discipline value. Reflection is how we invest, apply, and connect to our day to day life.
The fifth step is perhaps the most important. It is humility. The discipline of study requires a teachable spirit and mold-ability. To truly study might mean change. And we need to be amiable to change. We must always be willing to recognize that we need deeper knowledge. Deep knowledge and application is what will lead to understanding in our lives.
So this sounds really great. Like a super easy and beneficial five-step process to becoming more holy. Awesome.
Problem is... I totally bombed this one.
Earlier today, I started to get really discouraged because I was not finding any benefit in the discipline of study. It occurred to me that perhaps it was my motivation, or lack thereof, that was hindering me from this experience. I missed the class lecture where we discussed this discipline. Usually, our class conversation leads me to feel really convicted about the discipline being discussed. It can get lively. The class is a room full of students who are fired up about spiritual matters, and the conversation is usually sparked with passion. I missed the passion for the discipline of study. And I could not summon the conviction on my own. I did not know what to expect with this practice, so I did not expect anything. There was nothing about study that I felt personally invested in. So just like I learned with holy expectancy, I didn't expect God, so I didn't meet God. And it showed in my attitude towards my daily practice of reading 1 Cor. 13.
I have given all of the other disciplines an honest try, and even started to like ones I did not think I would. And here was study, one that I thought would totally work for me, and I could not make a go of it. The lesson learned here is a complete attitude check. I now understand that there cannot be anything forced about spiritual matters. I still had to give this discipline a try for the sake of the assignment, but I have to admit that if it were not for the matter of a grade, I should have abstained this week. My heart and mind were not open to what this discipline would or should have taught. This is a very good discipline, but I will share from experience that none of these are good without proper motives and a prepared heart. Expectancy is an important key for spiritual disciplines, and they should not be tried without it. And this is my honest post about what has not worked for me.
Until next time,
Alyssa :)
(Don't worry, this has not discouraged me from honestly trying for the next four weeks!)
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