Nouwen: Discipline, Discipleship

Nouwen: Discipline, Discipleship

“Discipline is the other side of discipleship. Discipleship without discipline is like waiting to run in the marathon without ever practicing. Discipline without discipleship is like always practicing for the marathon but never participating...Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and where we can respond freely to God's guidance.” Henri Nouwen, Henri Nouwen Society, Daily Meditation: Creating Space for God, February 27, 2018

favorite CS Lewis haunt at Oxford

favorite CS Lewis haunt at Oxford

I think Nouwen is telling us that God is asking us simply to spend time with God. For some, this is reading and studying the Bible and other sacred material, especially writings from others who describe spending time with God. With some, this is sitting in quiet and silence, not necessarily waiting for an answer from God but hoping to quiet down the board of trustees in our heads who are telling us about what we have done in the past, good and bad, and making loud outcries for our next journey and agenda for the future. It is difficult for our minds to live in the present moment.

C S Lewis and others write that God meets us in the present moment. For many, being outdoors in Nature connects us to God in the present moment.  Of course, all the multitude of spiritual disciplines, praying, fasting, serving, meditating, confessing, worshiping, are ways to put ourselves in a place where we are open to God’s presence in the present moment. There is not only one way. There are an immeasurable number of powerful spiritual tools that can move our minds and our bodies to a place where we are positioned to connect to the Christ within ourselves so that we can also connect with the Christ in our neighbor.

 We are called to share our experience with other spiritual friends as we learn every day new ways to stay connected and centered to our true selves, each other, and God.

Joanna   joannaseibert.com