Yet Lie Still and Sink Beneath

From today's Daily Strength for Daily Needs:
"Be not troubled; for if troubles abound, and there be tossing, and storms and tempests, and no peace, nor anything visible left to support; yet lie still, and sink beneath, till a secret hope stir, which will stay the heart in the midst of all these; until the Lord administer comfort, who knows how and what relief to give the weary traveller, that knows not where it is, nor the way to look, nor where to expect a path."

Exercise is Medicine

I have been going to Paul, my physical therapist for a problem that started a month ago. Paul is a great physical therapist. "Exercise is medicine:" he says. "If you don't do the exercises, I can't help you."

Yesterday I discovered that I have been sitting down wrong. Standing up too. You would think that I know how to sit down and stand up - but one develops these bad habits, sometimes the result of an injury, and ones whole body begins to adapt to it. It throws things off, and causes weaknesses and pain in unexpected places. Everything shifts a little, until doing it wrong feels right - and doing it right feels wrong.

You see where I am headed with this, right?

The only way to change this is 1) to have someone point it out to you, someone who knows how your body ought to be working, and show you how to do it differently, and 2) decide that you are going to change the pattern, and then practice, practice, practice. At first it feels wierd, and you have to concentrate. (I am doing 3 sets of 10 - sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up. Watch in the mirror .. are my knees straight? are my feet straight ahead? Where is my weight? ) Over time the new habit becomes more natural and the pains and disability the old habit caused begin to go away. (I know this because Paul has helped me change other bad body mechanics habits.)

#1 above is the equivalent of spiritual direction. You rarely can recognize these patterns yourself - you just know that you have weakness and pain somewhere and don't generally know why. A spiritual director is one who has learned to recogize the workings of the soul and has learned some exercises for it.

#2 above is the equivalent of repentance (change your mind and your direction) and spiritual discipline.
Now I know I sit down and stand up wrong. Just knowing that doesn't change it. I need to exercise. So here I go - another set of 10. So simple... but gets the job done.

God Works in Stuff

One reason we don’t understand spiritual practices very well is that we often think of human beings as bodies who have a soul ... that is, the real me is somehow inside this body, not integrally connected with it. This is dualist Greek philosophy, not Hebrew thought! The Biblical view is that human beings are embodied spirits. God, who created the natural world and was Himself incarnated in Jesus - works in real stuff – blood and hormones and neurons, not in some magical, disembodied way.

Because we are human – embodied spirits - our training takes place through practice. We are creatures of habit, and our brains, our emotions, our impulses, our responses are conditioned. That is the process by which we are transformed.

It’s a long process, and I really don’t think there are shortcuts.

Changing Your Brain

In recent years, neuroscience has demonstrated why spiritual practices work. (Note: I like to refer to "spiritual practices" rather than "spiritual disciplines. Anyone can practice! Discipline sounds like ... pushups. I really hate pushups.)
As Daniel Siegel, author of Emotional Intelligence wrote in his book Mindsight: "How we focus our attention shapes the structure of our brain."  Think about that one for a while. The practices you engage in every day change the physical structure of your brain.

What I Learned at Harvard

I recently went to the Harvard Medical School Coaching conference, thanks to my generous friend Patty. (I now have a certificate with the Harvard crest on it...).

Here is what I discovered ... much of what is current in coaching circles are things that we followers of Jesus should already know. Meditation ... gratitude...mindfulness ... positivity... having a mission bigger than yourself ... community... all these are practices that the Christian community has known for centuries. I came away feeling that while Christians have been chasing management and programs, business has been discovering the value of investing in human beings.

So I am going to be posting a series of reflections on the practices of our life with God ... by which I mean a life that is truly and fully human. More about that later!

My Top Picks: Reading on Spiritual Formation

Gordon Smith, On the Way: A Guide to Christian Spirituality. 

This brief volume is theologically and practically rich – one of my most recommended books!  (Regent College Publishing, available on Amazon, but unfortunately, not on Kindle.)

Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rythyms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation , IVP

Barton provides an accessible introduction to essential spiritual practices and how to develop a “rule of life.” At under 200 pages, this is an easy read.

Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart

Many of the books we read are compilations and summaries. Nouwen is an “original source” who fundamentally influenced the discussion of spiritual transformation in our generation. In this small volume, he draws on the Desert Fathers in inviting us to the practices of Solitude, Silence, and Prayer.

James C. Wilhoit  Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community.

This excellent book is a corrective to some of the more individualized views of spiritual transformation. This is a more substantive book proposing a “curriculum for Christlikeness, grounded in the gospel and the grace that makes it available.”

Dallas Willard: The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives

This book is sure to become a classic for the Christian life.  Indispensible introduction to the place of spiritual disciplines in the Christian life. This is a book you should have in your library and reread periodically.

N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters.

If you are looking for a solid theological perspective, read this!!  Few books expound the “telos” , the goal of our transformation and why it matters to God and to the world.  (“We are designed to be, in the end, fully renewed,  image-bearing human beings.”)  Wright is one of the few leading theologians who can write for the general public in an engaging way. It will challenge you!   

A Prayer for Caregivers

O Lord of love

Let thy blessing be upon us and fill us with thy love.

Deliver us from all unkindness;

From offense given or taken;

From unrighteous anger and an impatient spirit;

From a hard and unforgiving temper;

And from evil-speaking;

From an unquiet and discontented spirit;

From gloominess and despondency;

From fears and misgivings,

From doubts of thy boundless love,

And from forgetfulness of thy tender mercies; deliver us, O lord,

And fill us with the fullness of Thy love;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord

Amen.