Avoiding Fiery Pants (and other practices)

This week's spiritual disciplines were a little unusual at first glance, but I hope you'll agree that they are very useful disciplines to consider, if not try them out in your life!

First up is Fixed-Hour Prayer.

The whole point of this discipline is to stop and refocus on God throughout the day. Fixed hour prayer is a reminder that Jesus is with you, every step of the way, and that God created time and is in every minute of the day. Fixed hour prayer is a way to keep remembering that life is about more deadlines and papers, practices and jobs; there's something (someone) more important. The quote in our book states:

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing. A schedule defends us from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.

-Annie Dillard

If you've ever gone through the day and wondered what you did with it, if you've ever gone a while without praying because you just forgot (and now you maybe feel a bit distant from God), if you want a bit of extra strength to get you through the days, fixed-hour prayer can be a great way for you to structure yourself and your life. And despite Ms. Dillard's comment about defending from whim, I don't think fixed-hour prayer is opposite spontaneity and whimsical attitudes. It can go hand in hand with the breath prayer. It can go hand in hand with a spontaneous, unplanned day. Fixed-hour prayer isn't about plodding through the day, never letting something new and unexpected whirl you around. It's just a way of remembering that within the whirling, God is right there with you. So take a moment to talk to Him, and see if that doesn't make the whirling even better.

But this whole idea of needing a way to stop the busy-ness around you and refocus on God isn't a new thing. I was surprised to read that the ancient Jewish tradition included fixed hour prayer- I've typically always associated it with the slightly newer Islamic faith (though since they have the same faith root, it shouldn't be a big surprise to me). As a devout ancient Jew, Jesus Himself likely followed the practice of praying at the temple at noon and 3:00; His disciples also prayed at fixed times (Acts 3:1, 10:3, 9, 30). Early Christian believers were encouraged to pray the Lord's Prayer 3 times a day. St. Benedict is known for his 8 prayer times each day, and Benedictines continue the tradition today that was started 1,600 years ago. If you decide to go whole-hog, Benedict's focus on the "sanctification of time" includes:

• night prayer- vigils
• waking-up prayer- lauds
• prayers for beginning work- prime
• giving-thanks prayer in mid-morning- terce
• noon-day prayer of commitment- sext
• mid-afternoon prayer- none
• evening prayer of stillness- vespers
• going-to-sleep prayer of trust- compline

It might be hard to suddenly introduce 8 new times of prayer into your day- or it might not, depending on how good you are with a timer or the alarm function of your phone. Some of you might already have a set time that you pray- in the morning or before you go to bed, before you eat, or maybe you pray every day before you start a particularly hard task. To incorporate this discipline, maybe you just add in one or two times throughout the day that you stop and pray, then evaluate it after a week; maybe you decide you like this new focus and add in another time of fixed-hour prayer.


Our two links in this post are both links to the Islamic fixed-prayer tradition. In the first, we listened to the full Islamic Call to Prayer, which is played/called from the minaret of the mosque 5 times a day. In the second link (Saudia Arabian Call to Prayer), we see what that looks like: a woman doing a TV special is brought to her guide's roof in order to hear and see the call, and the beauty of it brings her to tears (even though she's not Muslim). And I can see why: EVERYTHING stops. No one questions why the shops are closing, no one jostles or fights- the beautiful singing just brings everyday life to a standstill as the people remember their god and their faith. And even those Muslims who can't get to a mosque (though we don't see it in the video) will stop at the prescribed times in order to face Mecca and pray; their entire faith community is united in worship, all across the world, 5 times a day. Their relationship with their god trumps money, social activities, and every other concern. God is truly first. Can you say that about your life?



Our second discipline is where we get our post title: Truth-Telling. We've all been taught since we were little kids that lying is bad. We probably all have funny stories that brought that lesson home to us. But this discipline is so much more than that. This truth telling is about how we spin, distort, rationalize, gossip, and lie to ourselves.

Do you find yourself giving partial explanations that make it look like a failing wasn't really your fault? Do you try to make yourself look better, take credit, or skew a story so that you come out on top? Do you follow through on your promises and commitments? Do you ever "suck up" to someone to get what you want? Do you make sure that everything you say about someone or to someone is true? Did you verify it, to make sure you aren't spreading lies (even unintentionally)? Do you exaggerate a story to make it more sensational/news-worthy? Do you tell yourself you have more time to complete a task, even though deep down you know that you don't- and your work (and potentially other people) will suffer for it? Do you rationalize behavior, activities, relationships, grudges or obsessions? Do you have to justify things in your life? Do you ever tell yourself that you're worthless, not good enough, or unlovable (or on the flip side, that you're perfect, couldn't possibly screw up, and that you always make great decisions)?

It's a rare person who can answer all of those questions with a "no." In fact, I'd venture to say that someone who said they don't now and never have done any of that is still right in the thick of lying to himself. We all do these things to some extent, though we may not struggle with every facet, and it's amazing the lengths to which we humans will go to stretch and manipulate the truth (even when it doesn't make us feel one iota better). And always, ALWAYS, there is a rupture relationship to pay the price. It might be that your credit-grabbing, exaggeration, or failure to follow through means that someone else is hurt or loses faith in you, or it might be that your truth-stretching, rationalization, or self-lies shatter your sense of your own worth and integrity. Either way, God is right there in the lie- and He doesn't miss a trick. He knows the sense of disappointment or betrayal of the other person, and He feels how your diminishing integrity and self-love create a gap in your ability to connect with Him. He feels them, even when you've yet to recognize the difference.

So what can we do to help ourselves tell the truth? The book has a couple of reflection questions (italicized questions are added by me) and then a couple of exercises (and of course, prayerful reflection and communication with God is always an answer):

1. How do you live out God's reality about the goodness of telling the truth? (Do you see why it's worthwhile? How does that show up in your life? What are you telling Him when you lie about how things really happened?)
2. When do you use a sliding scale of honesty, exaggeration, or partial truths to get what you want? (When are you most tempted to skew the truth? What tempts you- acceptance, admiration, avoiding punishment?)
3.  How has someone's honesty or lack thereof affected you?
4. When has it cost you to be honest? What was that like for you?

Exercises:
1. Take some uninterrupted time to assess your honesty. Think back over the past week. When/where have you been tempted to stretch the truth, take advantage of a privilege, break a commitment, or gossip? What do you see about yourself? Where is it hardest for you to tell the truth? (Write a prayer of confession in your journal, or tell it to a friend, asking her to pray for you).
2. Practice one of these habits for the coming week: not exaggerating, not gossiping, not rationalizing. What is that like for you?
3. What lies to do you tend to tell yourself? What tapes do you play in your head? Talk to God about what this is like, and then look at Psalm 139 (or look up The Father's Love Letter) and see what God has to say about His view of you. Does that change anything for you?


5 minutes of God Time: A dulcimer version of "Here I am, Lord" (here's a version with lyrics, sung by Bobby San Juan)

The discipline that doesn't hurt

As we did last year, we started our first Sunday in Lent (at least, the first Lenten Sunday that we weren't helping with JAM Time) by exploring some spiritual disciplines. I know they sound rather intense, since we typically think of "discipline" as either a negative consequence to an action or as a grueling tour de force whereby we forgo every pleasure in order force ourselves into better shape than we were when we started. Maybe you think of Rocky music playing in the background- beating up a half a cow in a meat locker, running up the steps of the Philly courthouse, etc. in order to beat his opponent. THAT takes discipline. The kind of disciplines we're talking about aren't quite that demanding.

The whole goal of attempting a spiritual discipline is to bring your focus more squarely on God, and in doing so, deepen your relationship with Him. It makes for an ongoing improvement in your life, rather than an intensely painful means to an end. An in addition to being not-so-painful, there are disciplines to suit just about any preference; the book we're using (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun) lists 62 options. We're covering a few of them, but there are a lot more that remain to be discovered. I'd completely recommend borrowing the book from Pastor Rich, or getting one for your own reference. I'm sure there's more to be said on each discipline than is covered in the book, but it's a great starting point to help you figure out just where to go.

So our first discipline this year is a repeat of last year- gratitude. You may not have everything you've ever desired (and Thank GOD for that!), you may not be exactly where you want to be, but all of us have some pretty amazing gifts sitting right in front of our faces. I showed you guys the quote that changed my perspective:



Not that God's just waiting to take things away from you, but thinking through this quote/question can really help you identify those little things that we often take for granted. Maybe you pray daily in thanksgiving for your family or friends, but what about some of those "standard" blessings we covered when we talked about India- for having running water and a hot shower? What about for the fact that you have easy transportation around town? The fact that you can read? Or that you have clothes and a coat to wear in the winter? When's the last time you thanked God for sending Jesus? For the ability to approach an all-powerful, glorious God and (through Jesus) be one of His children? We talk about growing our faith, but we also need to stop and be grateful for the fact that we have that gift of knowledge and relationship!

So what are some ways you can practice gratitude? The book has some suggestions: write a thank you letter to those who have touched your life, keep a gratitude journal, have a thank you party for those you'd like to acknowledge, stop comparing yourself to others, create a gratitude scrapbook. My suggestions are to use a breath prayer to refocus you when you get in a slump (look, another spiritual discipline!), thank God whenever you recognize something you like, love, or wouldn't want to be without, make a special time each day to pray in thanksgiving, take the time to say THANK YOU to those around you (holding a door for you, getting you your coffee/meal, letting you borrow the car), and make gratitude a habit, not just something for Lent. Lent is always a good start, but each of us, no matter our age or point in life, can easily slip into comparison, regret, and the "gimmies." Don't let yourself turn into a gratitude toddler. Find a way to make gratitude a part of your life- you won't regret it!


Our second discipline of the day was.... MEMORIZATION! For much of history, literacy rates were very, VERY low. It was very expensive to make a book, and only the upper classes and scholars even had access to the education it took to be able to read. So when people wanted to share information or stories, they had to be memorized.

Now, we have extensive access to books (I'm writing this across the street from a really big library, and there's a bookshelf behind me filled with different topics) and we have almost universal, instant access to the internet; some of you might even be reading this on your smartphones. When I have a question about a scripture passage, I can search for a biblical book, a phrase, or a close approximation to the verse I have in my head and end up with the right passage in less than a minute; I will probably even be given a list of suggested, similar verses. This is a huge benefit to me- and I use it often. But what happens if I don't have access to it? Either because the internet crashes (say it ain't so!), I'm restricted from using the internet (either by force or service range limitations), or I'm having a conversation with someone who desperately needs advice, but it's not appropriate to stop the talk to look up the scripture passage I'm thinking of? Even the beauty of the internet has an end to its reach.

But even within the ever-expanding limits of internet service and availability, there are still reasons to memorize scripture. First, it's for your benefit. If you're memorizing something, it's on the forefront of your mind. You're focusing. And in that focusing, you're getting to know God (and His will) better. Second, it's easier for you to recognize when someone else is misquoting scripture if you've got it memorized. Misquoting has been known to happen, whether intentionally or not. And if you know what a verse is meant to be, you'll know when what you hear/read isn't right. And finally, memorizing scripture gives your arguments, comments, and beliefs authority. Now, I'll grant that scripture doesn't hold authority if you're challenging a U.S. law, but when trying to figure out moral questions and spiritual conundrums, it definitely holds weight. I met a man the week after we discussed this, and I have to say, I was fully impressed by his knowledge of scripture. We discussed faith as he gave me a ride from the dealership to the church (my car needed some recalls fixed), and when he was able to point to specific passages, quoting them to me, it made me think about how often I give advice and thoughts based on things I know to be in the bible, but would have to take time to search them out online, if anyone were to ask me where to read it. I can't quote you a passage word for word, I can only summarize.

So perhaps you won't end up like the religiously-oppressed, young Christian woman we discussed (who prepared herself for her inevitable jail sentence by memorizing scripture and challenging her bodily comforts) and perhaps you will always have internet access. But perhaps you'll also see some real value in scripture memorization for your own faith journey and for the journey of those around you. If I didn't see the value before, I certainly have after my unexpected discussion during a short car ride; even if birthdays and anniversaries are beyond me, I'm going to try to memorize one verse a week (or if that's too much, at least one verse a month). Maybe you'll join me?


5 Minutes of God Time: Who am I by Casting Crowns