Faith & Life Inspirational Message

As I have often acknowledged, the foundation of a spiritual journey is anchored in some kind of discipline.   Too often discipline gets a bad rap, as if it is some kind of punishment.   For some folks hearing the word, discipline, conjures up running laps!   This is unfortunate.   Discipline is the dailiness of activity that leads to growth and development.   One of my disciplines is using the lectionary for some spiritual reading each day.                This discipline enables me to do a little reading that hopefully feeds my soul and nurtures my spirit.   It is not a guarantee.   But without a discipline I can virtually guarantee that we won’t get very far in the spiritual journey.   It is like training for the marathon.   It is stupid to think you can wake up one weekend, decide to go somewhere and run a marathon.   Twenty-six miles is too far to go on a lark!  ...

Sometimes I may not be fair to religion when I separate it from spirituality.   To me they are quite related, but are not the same.   I am certainly not against religion.   After all, I tell people I teach it!   However, I also find that I am more at home in the arena of spirituality---the spiritual.   This is not the place for an extended essay defining both and arguing why I think they are not the same.             Suffice it to say, religion for me (and most folks I know) is first and foremost in some doctrines.  For example, people are quick to tell me they do believe in God---or don’t believe in God.  Obviously for those who believe, there often is more they believe in, and it may well be the case that their beliefs inform their actions.  Spirituality for me is first and foremost experience.  I know this can sound wishy-washy.  But spirituality is about experience of the Ho...

I like reading a variety of things that help me on my daily spiritual trek through life.   Help comes from many and, sometimes, odd venues.   Daily newspapers, magazines, preparation for classes and even notes on the wall have provided inspiration over the years.   I am thankful for the myriad of revelational sources.   But among the lot, no doubt the biblical text still ranks right up there as very important. I am not one who thinks every verse in the Christian Bible is significant.   I am ok thinking that the Bible, as a whole, is inspired.   But it is difficult for me to think every sentence or word is divinely inspired.   That would require an extensive discussion, of course, on what “inspiration” means, how it happens, etc.   I actually don’t have too much interest in that discussion and, certainly, have no interest in pursuing in here.   Suffice it here to acknowledge that inspiration means to help, encourage, to light up your life. ...

One of the things I have come to value is the daily lectionary.   A lectionary is a schedule of readings used by many Christian traditions.   It is a useful tool for anyone looking to engage in some kind of daily or regular worship and reflection.   As a young Quaker, I had never heard the word, lectionary.   We never used that, although I was aware of a few people using the Upper Room devotional booklet, which was a similar idea.             I first encountered the lectionary with my Catholic and Episcopal friends I made when I went to college.   The lectionary always had some readings from the Bible, including readings from the Psalms.   Sometimes, these Biblical readings were augmented by a reading from a figure from Christian history or some more contemporary author.   The lectionary moved one through the liturgical year.   I realized the lectionary helped me avoid simply picking out ...

I try to follow the daily lectionary---daily reading---even though I don’t always mention it.   I find the lectionary to be an available, designated group of readings that help me focus for some time.   I know how important discipline is in a variety of aspects of life.   Discipline is part of my spiritual regimen, although I don’t do as well as I want to do.   Clearly, discipline plays a role in other areas, such as physical exercise, eating, etc.             The lectionary makes it a little easier for me to engage some practice.   The lectionary I follow is the one from the Benedictine monastic tradition.   I like the fact that monks around the world are doing the same readings from the Psalms that I am doing.   And they are also hearing the same passages from the Old and New Testament that I read.   It is not the same thing as being there with them, but when I can’t be with them, I like ...

A recent reading from the daily lectionary brought me to a familiar Psalm, Psalm 36.   The familiar words come in the middle of that Psalm.   The line I connected with is really a confessional, laudatory line.   The Psalmist says to God, “ How precious is your steadfast love, O God!”   Since most of us do not have the ability to read the Psalms in their original Hebrew, perhaps the best we can do is read a couple English translations.   A different translation of the passage just quoted goes like this: “How precious is your kindness, O God!” Clearly the first passage uses the English phrase, steadfast love, to capture a Hebrew word.   And the second passage uses the word, kindness.   In both cases the Psalmist is praising a divine attribute that characterizes God and God’s action in the world.   The Psalmist is confessing that this divine love or kindness is precious.   For some reason I very much like the idea of precious.   ...

Last evening as I was doing the readings from the Benedictine lectionary for the Evening Prayer (called Compline), I was struck by one line.   It comes at the end of Psalm 16.   The Psalmist speaks to God, “You show me the path of life.” (16:11)   I appreciate the matter-of-factness in these words to God.   It is not a petition to God.   The Psalmist is not asking God to be shown the path of life.                When I read it closely, however, I see there are two possibilities.   One way to read this passage is to understand the Psalmist saying, in effect, “You have shown me the path…thank you.”   This would show me the Psalmist now knows the path and needs no more instruction or revelation.   The job now is to get on with it.   In some sense it now becomes an issue of obedience.   I know the path and now I have to walk it!        ...

The evening prayer in my lectionary last night had a selection from a very short Psalm near the end of the Psalter.   Because I don’t live with the Psalms with the same depth as my monk friends, I still feel like I have often encountered a particular Psalm for the very first time.   I know I have read Psalm 131 before, but it felt like I had engaged it for the very first time.             As I often do, I compared two different translations of the Psalm.   The Jerusalem Bible begins by the Psalmist saying, “ Lord, I do not puff myself up or stare about…”   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) puts it similarly; “O  Lord , my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high…”   In this case I prefer the first option.   It seems to warn against feeling pride when it comes to spiritual things.               It makes me think o...

Everyone knows there are good days and there are bad days.   Sometimes we hear people say, “life has its ups and downs.”   We probably learn this lesson pretty early in life.   Actually, I think little kids experience the reality of life’s ups and downs even before they have language to explain it.   But they know it deep in the core of their beings.             I am also sure that most of us conclude early on that there is not much we can do about those “downs” in life.   Of course, some of those less than desirable periods are of our own making.   We do stupid things and pay the price.   But there are other “downers” in life that come our way and we are no more than sitting ducks for malady.   We get sick and sometimes suffer.   I know no person who gets up and says, “boy I hope I get really sick today!”   But clearly not a day goes by when someone in the world does not experien...

Sometimes I wonder if I would make it as a monk!   Actually I don’t really wonder, because I am fairly sure I would blow it.   There is so much about being a monk that I find attractive.   But I fear that I idealize what being a monk means.   And that is funny, since I have been to any number of monasteries and convents and actually know quite a few monks and nuns.                If I am honest, what really attracts me is not being a monk, but it is the way of life that monks and nuns undertake.   That attraction is deepened by the fact that a group of them undertake that life together in community.   And they do that life together with such intentionality.   I am sure that intentionality is a big piece of the attraction for me and it is probably why I know I would blow it!   That is because intentionality has to be married to discipline to be effective.     ...

I enjoy the various opportunities that come my way.   I am grateful for the rather wide-ranging reading I am able to do.   But I also appreciate the daily discipline of using the lectionary to guide some devotional time coupled with reflection time.   As I have mentioned in the past, I use the daily lectionary (fixed readings) from my Benedictine monastic friends.   I like the fact that I am reading the same scripture in the mornings that monks across the land are reading.                 The lectionary keeps my rhythm in place and manages a focus for me that I don’t have to give thought.   As with all discipline, the only issue is whether I do it.   The planning is done for me.   The question is my execution.   A discipline is not meant to be onerous or rigid.   I am convinced most effective disciplines are the ones we choose to take on and live in daily lives.  ...