Faith Venture

Rich Dixon wrote on Jon Swanson’s blog:

Recently I listened as a manager analyzed a struggling player. “He’s too focused on results.” Wait. He’s a big-league ballplayer, paid handsomely to perform. How can focusing on results be a bad thing? Turns out, results-focused athletes take shortcuts and develop bad habits. They stop doing the things that made them successful in the first place. In sports, the best way to succeed is to focus relentlessly on proper principles and great habits. Do those, and results follow.

My decades of meditation practice has taught the same thing. Sometimes in our spiritual development practice, we begin to focus on results. Did God give the answer we demanded? Why didn’t I have a “God experience” every day?

The reality lies in the practice. It’s coming to our chair daily. Perhaps it’s reading a passage from the Bible or from a spiritual writer like Henri Nouwen or Augustine or similar. Then sitting quietly in prayer and meditation. The entire practice can be a brief as 15 minutes. We can get up 15 minutes earlier for a bit of quiet time.

It’s just a system. Rise, fix a coffee or tea, sit, spend time with God. If someone is in need, focus your thoughts on them for a bit while sitting in the presence of God. God knows. But there’s something about aligning with the Spirit that brings peace and understanding…eventually.

Instant results are a lie. The practice is everything.

This entry was posted on August 18, 2025 at 4:27 am and is filed under Disciplines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.