Oh look, more to say.

What has surprised me is how easily I am caught off guard with the truths in the books I've been reading. It's almost as though these things (celebration, or gratitude) that I thought I had figured out were an illusion, like the depth of water--I have so much more to reach in for than I thought.

Or you could think of it like the bike ride I took earlier today: a year ago for cycling class I could easily go 30 miles at the end of the semester, so I thought a nice, short bike ride would be nothing. I realized 5 minutes in that I was definitely out of shape, even though I had felt good before starting. But once I got going... feeeeeel the burrrrrnnnn. ;)

And yet, I know that if I dedicate myself to getting out and exercising a few times a week, that 30 miles isn't impossible to achieve again. Just like these disciplines. Sure, there have been times of joyful celebration that were more genuine than I can express, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm there now. I have some work to do when it comes to gratitude.

And, as for some of these other disciplines I've yet to encounter, I know that those will be learning new skills altogether.

My mom is learning to golf, and even though it's awkward for her to get started (and trying to remember the right positions and the correct way to swing) I know that if she sticks with it she can really enjoy this new skill to the fullest. And, overall, she's enjoying the learning process too. It's true that going to bed tired and exhausted can sometimes be an incredibly refreshing feeling.

So. Those are just a few of my thoughts as I get into these disciplines this week. I'm enjoying it, even though it can be tiring and I don't always like having to confront the truth about my ignorance or neglect. But CS Lewis says something wise in Mere Christianity that I thought was really true. He said:

"People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, 'If you keep a lot of rules I'll reward you, and if you don't I'll do the other thing.' I do not think that is the best way at looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowing turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other."

(Later, in the same chapter)
"One last point. Remember that, as I said, the right direction leads not only to peace but to knowledge. When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping."
[pp 86-87]


The point here, with its relationship to the spritual discplines, is pretty self-explanatory. It's a process-- a "straightening out," as Lewis calls it, of a central part of the self which has gotten bent up through sin. And this process is also recognizable in 2nd Peter 1:3-8: (line breaks to emphasize each significant phrase)

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness

through our knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises

so that through them you may participate in the divine nature

and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your FAITH goodness;

and to GOODNESS, knowledge;

and to KNOWLEDGE, self-control;

and to SELF-CONTROL, perseverance;

and to PERSEVERANCE, godliness;

and to GODLINESS, brotherly kindess;

and to BROTHERLY KINDESS,

LOVE."

(NIV)


Processes. A constant straightening out; innumerable decisions. Step-by-step journeys that lead us one way or another.


But are our lives are creating who we are more than we create our lives?

Betsy