Archive for the ‘Disciplines’ Category

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Finding a Rhythm For Spiritual Practice

March 16, 2015

Every community has a rhythm. A rhythm to rising from sleep, praying, eating, working, studying, eating, relaxing, and sleep.

As an outsider, you notice the rhythm. If you are of a sympathetic nature, you find yourself adapting your natural rhythms to those of the community. If you are more self-centered, you try to impose your rhythm or at least complain about the community’s.

Last week, I was with a small team working and growing at the Tijuana Christian Mission. The orphanage at Soler in Tijuana has its rhythm to which I just sort slipped into.

This is the home of the older children–junior and senior high–served by the mission. They rise before 5 am. Martha, the founder of the orphanage who is in her 70s, is up with them. She leads a Bible study at 5:40 for about a half hour. They eat and are in vans on the way to various schools by 7.

I slipped gently into their routine, since my normal rhythm is to rise around 5:30, study, mediatate and pray. Then have a small breakfast. 

My adjustments were small. Breakfast was prepared for me by Karla and Alma. It was much larger than I’m accustomed to. It was not extravagent. Healthy and prepared by loving hands. And there was no place for a motning run. But work replaced that.

I recently heard Nancy Ortberg talk about the rhythm of spiritual practice. As someone trained as a percussionist, I immediately adopted that metaphor. 

Have you found a rhythm to your practice? Is it a hard-driving on-beat like The Beatles? Moving like a Mozart sonata? Or discordant like a work by John Cage?

In this case, I prefer Mozart.

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You’re Late

March 5, 2015

Let’s take a look at some personal disciplines that will help you become successful however you define it. And personal disciplines spill over into spiritual disciplines.

Here is a story from a business book I once read. It seems a young man had a promising professional/managerial job. But he seemed to be going nowhere. He wasn’t really motivated. The bosses seemed to forget about him when thinking about people with promotion potential.

Problem was, he was always late. He was late to work. Late to meetings. Late with reports. He was always frazzled, disorganized, fuzzy thinking.

Then one day he faced up to his problem and decided to change. He set the alarm to get up 15 minutes earlier. He got to work early and organized his day. He arrived early at meetings and was prepared for the discussion.

His demeanor grew calmer. He became more organized and confident.

It worked so well that he started getting up an hour earlier so that he could read things that filled his mind spiritually and intellectually.

He began to be the executive that no one would have ever imagined just a few short years before.

It all began when he decided to not be late all the time.

Changing just one bad habit can change your life.

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Being the Church Not Necessarily Being At Church

February 24, 2015

For those of my readers who belong to a church, do you know the people who seem to always be in the building whenever the doors are open?

Some people have been so dedicated, or something, to their church that they feel they must be involved in everything. Committee meetings, choir practice, kitchen duty, fold bulletins.

There is a value to some of that. But, at some point you have to pause and ask why you feel the need to be away from the family that much. Or, maybe like me, you just feel a need to serve. That makes it difficult for me to say the “N” word–NO. I’m learning. I’ve been pushing things off on others in one form or another for years. I call it developing leaders.

When we were called to be the church, we were not called to be at the church at all times. The spiritual discipline of service should not be skewed into service within the four walls of your building. In fact, it’s hard to be the church when you are at the church building.

Being the church calls outside. To meet with those along the way. Heal, teach, help, listen. Do as Jesus did as he walked the land. He is master; we are disciple. We are called to practice as the master practiced.

Our congregation offers many ways for people to be the church locally, regionally, internationally. But even that should not be a limit. Wherever we go, there  we are the church.

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To Go or To Be

February 24, 2015

“All I want out of church is to go every Sunday and hear a good sermon.”

The man approached me rather assertively. He wasn’t happy with the missions and service–the request for people to do ministry that I lead–since it was a burden for him.

There are two types of people in church, I guess. Those who want to “be fed.” And those who want to feed.

We know that Jesus had the custom of going to the synagogue. But I can’t find one instruction where Jesus told us that the purpose of spiritual life was going and sitting.

Rather his stories were about prayer, having a heart set on God, and relations with other people.

I guess it’s an old story, but it just came home to me again. 

Do we just go to church? Or, are we the church?

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A Call To Men To Be Clear

February 23, 2015

Adam should have spoken up. He didn’t. We’re all screwed.

That is the problem statement of “Men of Courage” by Larry Crabb and others. Men are too often silent when they should speak up.

I had the privilege of working as part of a small team of local men who had an idea for a men’s conference. Call to Convergence was held this past weekend. We had no clue how many men would show, but we picked 75 as a good target number. 70 registered. It was a good weekend.

Our principle speaker used that book as the starting point of his talks. Men are called to speak up, to share. Maybe not sharing every emotion like women seem to be wired to do. But, as one person said after the Friday night talks, it’s all about transparency. Not hiding.

The solution part of the book calls men to mentoring. We are called to intentionally find someone who could use a mentor and take action. Invite someone for breakfast or lunch. Ask. Listen. Guide. Help them on their journey.

By the way, we live in a small county. Population of about 56,000. To have 70 people come out in the snow was a great blessing. We all felt that the event wasn’t about us, but about God. And God blessed the gathering.

Men asked about what to do during the year until we have the second one. Always a great sign when people ask for action steps.

Reading the Bible

By the way, you might want to re-read the story of Adam, Eve, the serpent, and the metaphorical tree.

When we read the Bible (or anything, really), often we let past memory guide us and fill in the blanks, so to speak. Did you realize that Adam was present during the whole episode? Not my memory either. When I read it later after learning about the story, my memory took over and I didn’t read the passage clearly.

The passage clearly implies that Adam was right there. It doesn’t say that Eve went to him sometime later. It says she turned to him and offered him the fruit. Adam heard the whole conversation. Surely he knew better. But he didn’t speak up.

Two lessons:
Speak up when you see someone going off the path.
When you read the Bible, clear your mind and read what it really says.

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Praying Your Way Out

February 19, 2015

There is one God, the Father,

From whom are all things, and we to him;

And one Lord, Jesus the Messiah,

Through whom are all things, and we through him.

–1 Cor 8:6 (The sh’ma rewritten by Paul)

One of the guys at last night’s Bible study asked about the situation when you aren’t as “on fire” in the spirit as you had been for a while.

There was a survey of 17,000 followers of Jesus where they asked that question. Did you ever feel away from the spirit, and, if so, what did you do to get back? More than 3,000 said yes. Reading the Bible daily and praying were the path back into the spirit.

We call those spiritual disciplines or spiritual practices. They are a means through which you can rekindle the fire of the spirit. They also should become so habitual that they form your character.

Paul, good Jewish boy and eventually Pharisee, no doubt prayed the Sh’ma every day. “Hear O Israel, The Lord, the Lord our God is one. And you shall love The Lord….”

Paul, after his meeting with the risen Jesus, “rethought” his Jewish teaching in light of the coming of the Messiah. Recorded in 1 Corinthians is a new prayer with which to begin each day. A new Sh’ma.

There was a man who lived in 19th Century Russia. He lost everything he had including wife and kids. All that was left was his Bible and a teaching from a priest quoting Paul, “You should pray without ceasing.” The priest taught him the “Jesus Prayer,”

Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

You can say that prayer with breath. Inhale Jesus Christ, son of God; Exhale have mercy on me, a sinner.

This peasant’s story is recorded in The Way of a Pilgrim. He tried to live praying without ceasing. And people kept coming into his life at just the right moment with just the right assistance.

The Jesus Prayer is powerful. I am now trying to memorize the “new sh’ma” and incorporate it into my life. It helps maintain focus when all around is chaos.

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To Lent or Not To Lent

February 18, 2015

My mind was full of competing thoughts. All were bouncing freely through the brain. There are now three partially written meditations cluttering my computer–and my brain.

Then I noticed that it is Ash Wednesday.

I completely missed Fat Tuesday–Mardi Gras!

Oh, but that is OK. I don’t have to store up all the bad things in order to make it through 40 days of fasting. Among the traditions of my youth, observing Lent was not one that was observed. Most of the kids in my village did. Most were Lutheran, descendents of German-speaking Alsatians who came to America in the 1840s. We (the Methodists) sort of wondered about those Lutherans. Mom said to never marry one.

Mostly when we talked about ritual, we used the term “empty ritual.” This feeling was only strengthened when stories went around about what various people in town gave up for Lent. My favorite was the guy who gave up watermelon every year. Of course, we wouldn’t see any watermelon for another six months! Talk about empty.

We also didn’t have church and get ashes. Didn’t have a clue about that.

Someone just tried to define a ritual as something we do to change God, while a practice is something we do to work on ourselves. But I know many who gain great spiritual comfort from the traditions of ritual. That is not a bad thing.

It is good to set aside time to reflect on Easter. That is the single day/single act that sets us aside from all others. The day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. He was alive. He was hope in person.

It was good to be reminded. I need reminders.

If you give up something, do it wisely and reverently. I have a friend who gives up fried food, desserts, and (hardest of all) beer every year for Lent. He loses 15 pounds. But then comes Easter 😉 But he does it out of reverence for the season. He’s 85. Has been doing this for at least 20 years. It reminds him of why we have Lent.

What will we do in remembrance?

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More on Lying, Fudging, Pressure on Media

February 12, 2015

I’m still in Orlando as I write this. Had an interesting conversation with a reader at lunch on Wednesday about the Brian Williams affair.

The first disclosure is that I am a member of “the media.” So, even though there are not as many marbles at stake in what I’ve done compared to TV news, the principles apply.

So, it seems that this TV anchor guy made a trip to Iraq to do some “on the spot” coverage. Usually these guys fly in, stay at the Hilton, get filmed at a safe spot where there is desert behind them, then immediately leave. In this case, Williams was actually flying somewhere in a helicopter was shot down. Somehow he became “confused” and thought that actually he was on that copter, not the trailing one where he actually was.

Second disclosure–I’ve never been in a battle. Came close to being a Navy pilot, but not close enough to claim anything. So, maybe the “spin doctors” who have been dredged up to blame psychological trauma for this lapse of memory are correct. But somehow I don’t believe it.

Pressure

In my little niche of media, a salesman would frequently come to me and beg, “Gary, if you could just run a friendly story about this company, they will buy an x-month advertising package with us.” I’d just say, “Let me talk to them and see if they have anything worthwhile to say.”

This might be worth $40,000. (By the way, they almost never bought. They were happy with free publicity.)

Imagine that you are the top salesperson or executive of the TV news operation. A dramatic story of being shot down would attract hundreds of thousands of viewers. That translates into higher advertising revenue. See where I’m going? Much of the media works that way.

So, what if Williams had that much pressure from somewhere. That is at least as credible a story as PTSD or something.

Dave suggested a scenario something like this at lunch. I thought, something to consider.

Even so, there had to be many people who knew the simple truth. Yet, the network perpetuated the story for years. Maybe it’s Williams, or maybe it’s someone else. There are still ethics involved.

it would have been just as unethical for me to promote a product just for advertising dollars to readers who depend on my for objective reporting as for NBC. It’s just as unethical when you decide to deceive someone.

I will not attempt to claim 100% ethics in every situation–that would, of course, be a lie. But I hope that I’m close to 100% and apologize when I’m not.

Jesus set the bar so high for us, that those of us who follow him had best get that 100% or know the reason why and ask forgiveness.

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Developing Trust From Others

February 5, 2015

Trust. One simple word scrawled on the page. I carry a small notebook almost everywhere I go. When ideas come from whatever source, I make a note. If they are worth saving, I take a picture with my iPhone and the Evernote app and save the page to Evernote.

For some reason I thought I should write about trust.

Trust, in itself, is not a spiritual discipline. It is the result or byproduct of living with-God and practicing spiritual formation.

Having the trust of your colleagues is crucial to an effective leader. Think about leaders with whom you have served–those you trusted and those you didn’t. Are you like me and still shudder when the mere thought of one of those latter leaders pops into consciousness.

Trust is a belief in the reliability of someone. Have you ever heard the phrase, “How you act speaks so loudly that I can hear what you say”? It’s when what you do and what you say are congruent.

In the Bible, trust is used exclusively in regard to God. God is the one who can be believed to be reliable beyond all others.

About 70 leaders in our church gathered last Saturday to study from “Crucial Conversations” a book written to help people not escalate problems when a conversation turns serious. I guess I thought then that it would be hard to have a crucial conversation with someone whom you don’t trust. At that point, it’s too late and you’ve lost.

What am I saying? When I teach spiritual practices, does my life reflect that I actually do them? When have I promised and not followed through?

The Acts 2 church grew because people were attracted to the way they lived. Would anyone be attracted to my church or fellowship because of the way I (we) live?

As my meditation on this word ends this morning, I’ve concluded that this isn’t one of those bullet point sort of lessons. I can’t give five easy steps to earn trust. All I can say is to look back at the end of every day and reflect on when you were congruent and when you weren’t. Then resolve to do more of the first tomorrow.

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Lure of Lifestyle or Spiritual Discipline of Simplicity

February 4, 2015

One thing about living most of my life in the same small city, I have seen many people grow from stage to stage in life. I remember when a bunch of guys were in their 30s and 40s. They were posturing for importance. Living an upscale and hard-driving lifestyle. Now they are 60s and 70s. They, for the most part, have come to see what’s really important in life—relationships, service, being comfortable in who they are.

Lure of Lifestyle

My friend Jim Pinto, who has turned his attention from automation (since he doesn’t write for me anymore) to thoughts on how to live, reminds us to focus on what’s important. In Lure of Lifestyle, he says, “Now, I don’t feel particularly miserly, but I really don’t understand the rationale of the luxury lifestyle. In fact, I remember the remark of a guy who ignored the champagne at a fancy reception and asked for a beer. “Hey!” he said, “I’m rich enough to drink what I want, not what looks good.”

These days, when I see somebody posturing beyond their means, I remember a Texas cattleman’s wisecrack: “Big hat, no cattle!” This was the name of a song by Randy Newman.”

Fits a Career

I think this fits a career, too. Most of the time I’ve been in leadership (I wish I had been this good all the time), the important question became, “How can I help you?” After defining roles and hiring the best people (I’ve missed a few times, much to my downfall—one guy turned out to be quite the political manipulator), that is the best approach to management.

Spiritual discipline

One of the basic twelve spiritual disciplines outlined by Richard Foster in “Celebration of Discipline” is simplicity or the simple lifestyle.

While there are many products that improve our lives, we can easily acquire a huge pile of junk. Stuff we use for a few days and then gather dust. Stuff that’s cheaply made and don’t last but somehow stays around.

We’ve got to have the huge pickup truck, not to haul things but solely to impress people. Or the Aspen vacation that we can’t afford but that will impress everyone back home.

Practicing the simplicity discipline, we buy what we need. We invest in experiences, not in things to impress. We focus on what’s important in life—not on what we think will impress people who are usually too busy trying to impress other people to notice you’re trying to impress them.

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