Jesse A. Schroeder

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I've had a few conversations this past week with folks about "spiritual disciplines," and questions like "What did you read today?" or "How do you practice the disciplines?" have come up. I absolutely love the spiritual disciplines - fasting, meditation, prayer, solitude, etc.- and I have taught a freshmen class about them for four years. But while thinking about these questions and reading a few different books, something really struck me.

First a quote from a book that came highly recommended, but I have found to be rather disappointing:

"We must come to see ourselves as living in two very different worlds. Out outer, or public, word is easier to deal with....consists of work, play, possessions....But our inner world is more spiritual in nature. Here is a center in which choices and values can be determined, where soliutde and reflection might be pursued. It is a place for conducting worship and confession, a spot where the moral and spiritual pollution of the times need not penetrate."(pg 12)

I have not read the rest of the book, but I would guess that the author will continue by explaining if individuals will practice discipline in their "inner" "spiritual" world then things will be properly aligned in their "outer" "public" world. And there is some truth to that approach. However, it misses a significant and profound truth of human life: We are physical and spiritual beings, together. There can be no division, and in fact to create one does more damage than good. Our spiritual life is informed by our daily "public" life, and vice versa. We cannot think that we can create "a spot where...the times need not penetrate," but rather the very opposite - the times of our daily life must penetrate our inner life if we are to be genuine, whole spiritual creatures.

Thomas Merton speaks of this brilliantly in Contemplative Prayer over the course of several chapters, and he concludes by stating the following:

"The unhappy result of this exaggerated division has been a great deal of confusion on both sides. But at the present time it is once again becoming clear that the problem is a false one and that the true vocation of the monks...is not to fight for contemplation against action, but to restore the ancient, harmonious and organic balance between the two. Both are necessary. Martha and Mary are sisters...neither can approach the throne of God without the other."

It is easy to approach the spiritual disciplines like we approach physical exercise, as just one activity to accomplish and then move on with the rest of the day. But, as Oswald Chambers says, "Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life." To make a division between our spiritual and our public life only leads to frustration, then separation from "the world," and further isolation within our "safe" and "spiritual" circles.

Every moment of the day, whether in prayer, reading, worship, work, conversation, driving, or watching television is a spiritual exercise, drawing the believer closer to God and dwelling in his Presence. Thus spiritual discipline is not a "once-in-a-while" activity, but it is a disciplined and balanced life.