Spiritual Disciplines

"God has made me as bread for his chosen ones, and if it is necessary for me to be ground in the teeth of lions in order to feed His children, then blessed be the name of the Lord."
~St. Ignatius, Early Christian Martyr

I started a new book a few days ago entitled The Sacred Way by Tony Jones. It describes in detail the spiritual disciplines practiced by the saints during the early years of the Christian faith... mainly ones practiced by the Desert Fathers and Mothers and by monks. This book is so rich in content that I hardly know where to begin with this series of posts. So, I guess i'll start where it does... with spirituality.

What do we think of when we hear the word spirituality? Is being "spiritual" something that happens automatically upon salvation, or is it a process or practice that we must discipline ourselves in order to achieve? Seventh century mystic, Brother Lawrence's definition of spirituality: "the practice of the presence of God." I like the emphasis on practice... it implies that being spiritual is not something that just happens to us, but something that we must work towards and sacrifice for. Tony Jones offers this definition, "the goal of Christian spirituality is to be enlivened by God's Spirit." I also like his definition because it shows God's action through the process. God's Spirit must enliven us... He is the one that gives us His Spirit and defines our spirituality, by His love and grace, not by our own works or deeds. I hope these definitions make sense and coincide in the minds of others as they do mine, although intellectually, I realize they seem to be oxymorons.

So how do we reach this spirituality? There are many specific disciplines outlined throughout this book that are proving to be interesting and beneficial in my own spiritual life. The ones discussed are: silence/solitude, sacred reading, The Jesus Prayer, centering prayer, meditation, The Ignatian Examen, Icons, Spiritual Direction, The Daily Office, The Labyrinth, Stations of the Cross, pilgrimage, fasting, the sign of the cross & other bodily prayers, sabbath, and service. As I study these and practice some of them I plan to blog what i've learned and my reactions to these practices.

I hope this seems as interesting to some of you as it does to me & I hope you enjoy the next few blogs. These disciplines led the saints of old to follow Jesus so wholeheartedly and sacrificially that they made statements like the one at the beginning of this blog and I know that this kind of devotion is what we need today and with God... we can all arrive there.

In Him,
Shannon