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Archive for the ‘Spirituality’ Category

Spiritual Formation, Not Growth

November 24, 2025

We live in an era where every message encourages continual personal growth. Can I lift heavier weights? Score more followers on social media? Increase income year-over-year? Live a happier life? Go on more exotic vacations? More. More.

This focus on ourselves easily leads us into the lands of a narcissistic life. Not necessarily clinical diagnosis of narcissism personality disorder. But into that realm of self-absorption that turns off everyone in our path.

Spiritual formation, however, is my passion. Curiosity. Diving more deeply into spiritual reading. Consistent meditation and prayer.

Lest this interior focus take me (and you) too deeply into ourselves, we must remember the advice from the concluding chapters of Paul’s exploration of spiritual formation—his Letter to the Romans.

Let love be genuine;
hate what is evil;
hold fast to what is good;
love one another with mutual affection;
outdo one another in showing honor.
Do not lag in zeal;
be ardent in spirit;
serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope;
be patient in affliction;
persevere in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints;
pursue hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another;
do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly;
do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Whew. If we can resemble the person described here, Jesus would certainly call us his disciple. Couple inward spiritual strength with outward acts that Jesus taught.

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Posted in Attitude, Growth, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

Pleasure or Enjoyment

January 6, 2025

I have written about happiness guru Arthur Brooks before. He wrote a bestseller with Oprah.

From his recent newsletter:

In his 1990 book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi argues that enjoyment gives you a sense of effort, forward movement, and accomplishment. Or, as two psychologists wrote in 2021, during enjoyment, one “commits oneself to savoring the situation and engaging in the task to have positive feelings of joy and fun.”

Enjoyment is better than pleasure because it is more conscious and permanent. As Csikszentmihalyi points out, everyone gets pleasure from eating when they’re hungry, but it takes some knowledge and cultivation to enjoy food. After you finish lunch, the pleasure is gone, and in fact, the idea of eating is no longer appealing because your physical need has been satisfied. Meanwhile, the memory of a meal enjoyed with friends transcends the immediate experience and can bring good feelings long after it is over.

Or consider—did you just gulp a beer or savor a glass of fine wine?

Advertisements for 60 years and then social media influencers on steroids have pushed the idea of momentary pleasure at us. Have we the strength to push back?

Consider spiritual discipline. Do we partake of a burst of pleasure at putting down someone of a different faith practice on social media? Or do we obtain the pleasure of perhaps a half-hour reading a spiritual text with contemplation?

Posted in Attitude, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

Empty Yourself

June 14, 2024

Have you ever met someone so full of themselves that there is no room left for empathy?

Perhaps it is that person in the mirror in the morning?

The world revolves around them, they think. For some that is a deeply seated feeling where they just feel and know that others are merely accessories. They exist to serve us, bolster our esteem, bring us things, console us.

A jar is only useful when it is empty. Think of the potentials of an empty jar. It can save lives by ferrying water. It can bring grain to the hungry. It can be a tool to help us share from our bounty to someone in need.

We can only be useful (and healthy) through the emptying of our selfish thoughts and cravings. Empty, we now can feel empathy for another so that we may reach out in love to serve where needed. A kind word, a meal, a ride to the doctor.

We empty ourselves before meditation in order to allow room for the entrance of the Holy Spirit. Filled with the spirit—or even just a half-tank—we have the energy for service and caring and love.

Posted in Awareness, Spirituality, Wisdom | Leave a Comment »

Pen-and-Ink Theologians

April 8, 2024

I was a “straight-A” student in philosophy and theology at university. But my heart was never really in it. I still read philosophy and theology. I have subscribed to theology journals for short bursts to see what the discussions are.

But all this theorizing and arguing in the abstract for all its apparent depth seems shallow.

I saw a comment on Ryan Holliday’s Daily Stoic blog about the Stoics not being “pen-and-ink philosophers.” Philosophy to them meant finding the best way of living.

The so-called “desert fathers” of early Christianity were much the same. Perhaps that’s why I am drawn to studying their lives. They fled to the deserts of Egypt and Syria and other places to escape the theological waves of controversies and persecutions of the 300s to the 600s.

No “pen-and-ink theologians”, they tried to live out a spiritual life. They didn’t want to argue. They wanted to find God.

They were seekers. And not ashamed of it. And those of us today whose desert may be a bench in the park and who are seeking God need not be apologetic. We’re not in search of all the answers of the theologians. We’re in search of God.

Posted in discernment, Spirituality | 1 Comment »

After Christmas, So What?

December 26, 2023

This morning a young boy was trying out his new scooter for the first time. At first hesitant. Unsure of balance. Within five minutes joyfully pushing along the sidewalk at speed.

Christmas gift. Joyous.

An early (the first) theory about spiritual life applying to Jesus explained the complete difference between spiritual and physical life. Everything physical (called the flesh in Biblical translations) is bad, dirty, evil. Everything spiritual is pure, light, good.

And never the twain shall meet.

A substantial chunk of the first writing about Jesus emphasized his physical side. He gestated within a woman. Was born, a baby, had to be fed and cleaned, and rocked to quiet. He had to learn to walk and speak the language (most likely more than one). No story of him in ministry even suggests that he was something other than a male human being.

Ah, but another chunk of writing tries to explain how Jesus was so uniquely filled spiritually. Writers have great difficulty trying to explain spiritual things. But several letters and other writings took great pain to try to explain how Jesus was so completely filled with the spirit of God.

(Later a bunch of smart theologian types came up with the theory of the Trinity to try to explain spiritual things in human terms. It remains a hard concept to understand for many people. I understand that difficulty and sympathize.)

These writers carefully and logically disputed the Gnostic view of life. (I’ve simplified so that I don’t have to write an essay.)

After Christmas we have a life of a real man. And he taught and showed how we can each have a part of that. He wanted everyone, not just the chosen few, to have a better life. Paul tried to define that life as the fruit of the spirit—found in chapter 5 of the Epistle to the Galatians: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

We will all shortly be considering how to live in 2024. Rather than some list of “resolutions” that we’ll never follow, we could say “I want to be the kind of person who lives that life.”

Posted in Christianity, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

Put Christ Back in Christian

November 27, 2023

I had a few minutes to browse on Facebook the other day and saw a cartoon.

The older couple sit side-by-side on a couch. He says, “We need to put CHRIST back in CHRISTmas.” She replies, “I’d settle for putting CHRIST back in CHRISTian.”

I showed it to my wife. She just said, “Well, that’s so you.”

Perhaps the description is annoyed. Or disappointed. Or even despair. That’s what I feel when people grab media headlines portraying themselves as christian when simultaneously exhibiting no signs of the spirit of Jesus.

That has become so pervasive (not among a majority of people, but among a majority of headline seekers) that I prefer not to refer to myself as Christian identifying with them. I prefer to describe myself as what I try to be—a follower of Jesus.

Ignatius of Loyola developed a spiritual practice of The Examen. I don’t practice it exactly every night, but most nights I ask myself how have I been a good follower and where have I missed an opportunity and fallen short. And I always fall short somewhere. Which gives me room to be better the next day.

This is a good practice for those of us who profess to be followers to perform. Doing it honestly with self-awareness keeps us humble and striving to be better at following. And if enough people do that, maybe it could be a movement. And maybe we could put Christ back in Christian.

Posted in Awareness, Disciplines, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

Brother Lawrence Shows His Relationship With God

November 2, 2023

What you are speaks so loudly it drowns out what you say.

Psychologists who study these things tell us that our children learn more from what we do and how we act than what we tell them.

We get passed aggressively while driving. The car gets around us. We notice a couple of bumperstickers proclaiming “Jesus Saves” and “Follow Me to Church.” We think, “If that’s Christian, I don’t want any part of it.”

I’m reading an early 18^th century book on the life of Brother Lawrence. He was a monk in the late 17^th century renowned for his walk with God. The book is Practice of the Presence of God.

As Brother Lawrence had found such an advantage in walking in the presence of God, it was natural for him to recommend it earnestly to others; but his example was a stronger inducement than any arguments he could propose. His very countenance was edifying, such a sweet and calm devotion appearing in it as could not but effect the beholders.

Reflecting upon such spiritual examples convicts me of my social shortcomings. When did I say something unkind? When did I fail to ask and then listen? When did I grab something at the buffet before someone else could get it? When did I ignore someone when I could have said a kind word?

Posted in Disciplines, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

In The Spirit and Doing Good

August 21, 2023

An ancient observation, about 4,600 years old:

One of complete virtue is not conscious of being virtuous.

One of whole virtue does not need to do anything in order to be virtuous.

This is similar to what the Apostle Paul tried to explain many times as he taught about those living in the spirit of God as followers of Jesus and those who tried to avoid God’s anger by obeying each and every one of the 600+ laws of the Hebrew tradition.

If we are truly living in the spirit, living a life with-God, we just naturally live good (maybe not exactly perfect but good) lives. We are kind, empathetic, helpful, virtuous. We have peace and joy and hope. We don’t even realize it. We just are.

Yet, so many read Paul in order to find more rules (laws) to add to the 600+ Jewish laws. They unfortunately miss the point.

So many of us miss the point. Missing out on the sort of life that God wishes for us.

Self-awareness begins the journey. Focus and attention—not on ourselves but first on God then on others. Or, maybe first on others then we realize the God part comes along. We can change, otherwise Paul wouldn’t have written all those letters to guide us.

Posted in Awareness, Disciplines, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

Why Do We Seek?

August 14, 2023

The topic of today’s fitness newsletter was the editor’s observation of the varying goals people have written to him about fitness and nutrition. He asked, Why do you work out? Why an hour a day on a fitness bike, or lift weights, or go out and run daily?

A friend told him once when asked why he spent an hour a day on the exercise bike, “To be lean and mean.” Really? “Well, actually to look good to women.”

That may sound trivial, but not really. It was motivational to get him up and exercising every day.

We grow from those first motivations into more mature and sustainable habits.

I ask you, “Why seek a spiritual life?”

I think I was influenced by the Zen movement of the 50s. The Beatniks. I was more influenced there than by the later Hippie movement. The goal was enlightenment. We weren’t taught the Christian mystics way back then, only Zen Buddhism. Now my library is filled with the writings of Christian mystics.

But, is that really why? A famous Zen master once said, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” Much of Eastern wisdom traditions I have read have less to do with enlightenment and more to do with living a full life.

Jesus never said the ultimate goal was a mystical enlightenment. I think his “biographers” (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) only recorded a two or three mystical experiences. He didn’t talk about dying and going to heaven. He talked about how we could live a better life, now, in the “Kingdom of Heaven” now. It is near us, he said. Around us.

I had some inner drive for contemplation and enlightenment. Maybe I’ve had some enlightenment experiences. But, in the end, it was to calm my inner emotions driving anger and anxiety and low self esteem.

Think about your question. What are you seeking? Really? Once uncovered, then you can grow from it. And become a better human for it.

Posted in Living, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

Let Jesus Do The Talking

August 10, 2023

During a tour of the sites Louise Penny popularized in her detective novels featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, the tour guide gave us identifying wrist bands saying What Would Gamache Do? This brought back memories from years ago when the popular fashion accessory was a rubber wrist band emblazoned with WWJD (what would Jesus do).

Jon Swanson gave me an idea today when he wrote about how sometimes we decide what Jesus would say (and do). That resonated with much of my thinking.

My wish is that we who identify either as Christians or as Jesus-followers would actually read, digest, infuse his actual words and deeds instead of making up stuff or taking at surface-value what others have said about him.

Rather than What Would Jesus Do, perhaps better is What Did Jesus Do and Say and how do we incorporate that into our every day lives?

I like the word infuse. I approach spiritual disciplines with the idea of infusing Jesus’ teachings into my very being reflected in the way I behave.