Faith Venture

“This is my simple religion: 

There is no need for temples; 

no need for complicated philosophy. 

Our own brain, our own heart is our temple 

And the philosophy is kindness.”

I picked up this quote from the current Dalai Lama somewhere. There are echoes of the Apostle Paul drawing a picture of our body as the new temple, so we should take care of it in every way.

In this era in the world, we can all use a little kindness. Try expressing a little today by word or deed.

The driver bringing me home from a late flight from California to Chicago asks, “Do you know who you’re voting for?”

Questions beginning with a verb are easy. They are yes or no.

“Yes,” I answer. That’s easy. (No, I’m not telling you who.)

But…

“Who?” he asks bluntly.

I think, “Great. I don’t want a 10 pm discussion after a long day and a 5-hour flight.” But I tell him. Then I ask a leading question. It didn’t take much. He was talkative.

I heard a phrase recently—when someone disagrees with you, get curious. Ask questions.

Most (all?) people want to talk about themselves. Ask what they think. Why they think it. What are their fears. What are their hopes.

That can calm argumentativeness. Agreement and understanding may be beyond reach. But détente—maybe.

It starts with tiredness and dehydration. The throat begins to feel sore. Sinuses are dry.

In the fall perhaps it’s ragweed. In the spring, myriad possibilities.

The pollen finds a welcome home.

The body’s physical systems become out of sync.

Practicing disciplines of hydration, nutrition, exercise, the body’s rhythms will be restored.

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It starts with a comment, spoken or read. From acquaintance or news source.

Distraction or tiredness allows the thought entry into the mind.

Soon our thoughts dwell on fear of others, uncertainty of future life, doubt of others.

Our minds and souls are captured.

We must gather our inner forces. Remember to live with intention.

Practicing disciplines of study, prayer, worship, gathering with guides, and our emotional and spiritual rhythms will be restored.

We think that we will study spiritual writing. We think about that for a month or two. We make a list:

• Buy a Bible
• Buy a study guide
• Look for a class
• Scroll through YouTube searching for a compatible teacher

We think that we really should begin with prayer and meditation. We heard that we should have a special chair or perhaps a prayer cushion. Maybe we need an aromatherapy candle. Maybe we should buy a cross. We think. We make a list:

• Set aside a space
• Tell ourselves to awaken 30 minutes earlier
• Determine the kind of chair of pillow
• Tell ourselves what time slot we’ll pray

Do we ever study? Do we ever pray and meditate?

No.

We think about it. Thinking about these things gives us great pleasure. People ask. We say that yes, we have decided to study and pray. We feel spiritual.

Or…

We pull a copy of the Bible from the shelf. Blow off the dust. Open to a Gospel. And start reading. We let our imagination and curiosity loose. We have questions and find someone to discuss those.

Or…

We pause in the early morning even for just a moment. We close our eyes. We regulate our breathing—slow down, in/out,  in rhythm. We turn our thoughts toward God. Recognizing that the thoughts will drift, we gently return to God. It may only be five minutes. Or even two. But, we did it. And it feels better.

Someday could be today.

A little at a time over time. A consistent approach.

Physical fitness and health link to emotional fitness and health link to spiritual fitness and health.

Sure, genes and traumatic incidents play a significant role in physical and emotional illnesses. But for as much as we can control, we can work on all of these intertwined parts of our whole life.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and his team call it the “Positive Corner of the Internet.” Their newsletter is filled with evaluation of studies and nutritional guides designed to help us improve our physical selves. 

Today’s issue reported three studies that all showed how consistency of even small improvements in diet and exercise significantly impact health and well being.

I add that the same approach to spiritual fitness works. Say you are starting from no spiritual discipline. Just getting out of bed five minutes earlier to read half of a chapter of a Gospel or to take those moments to focus on God done regularly leads to noticeable improvements in how you feel during the day. Soon you will find that five minutes expand to a half-hour. Perhaps half reading something that feeds the mind and soul and then meditating on that for the other fifteen minutes.

Make a subtle change in what and how you eat by cutting portion size

Park you car in the employee parking lot or supermarket lot such that you walk more

Rise early to spend just a few minutes of reading and meditation

Those three small disciplines at whatever stage of life you are in will improve your life.

Pogo, a cartoon character from long ago, announced to his friends, “We have met the enemy, and they are us.”

We know the spiritual disciplines or practices that help us open up to God: meditation, prayer, study, worship, service.

The gap between knowing and doing can sometimes be easily stepped over and we proceed. Sometimes the gap is a chasm we cannot cross. Only to discover that the creator of that chasm is us.

We didn’t find that chair in the morning to sit and pray and meditate. We think we are not spiritual enough, and besides, we’d rather get another half-hour of sleep.

We set out that book to study and never opened it. We tell ourselves we are not smart enough to understand. It’ll be too hard. We’re too tired to think. We look at the book and then notice our phone. We pick the phone up first because it’s entertaining and easy. Then our entire study time just got sucked into the drain of nonsense.

We didn’t even bother to open a door for a mother struggling with a package and an infant or for someone handicapped struggling with a non-handicapped accessible door. We think that someone else will help. It’s not my job. Or like someone I was mentoring long ago, “I don’t care.”

There’s a word Jesus uses in the story of Martha and Mary. The Greek word of course can be translated with any one of a number of English words. I saw in one translation the word distracted.

That resonates. We allow ourselves (remember the story “the toy is broken” where we dodge responsibility) to be distracted by many things.

The opposite is focus. Sometime I sit before the laptop and find that I must take a deep breath and mentally bring myself into focus on the task. Or the same when I must repair something. It is my job to find that way to bring myself into focus on what is important at that moment. When something in you suggests an easy way out, tell it to take a rest, I have something important to do.