A Disciplined Life

Key to being a contemplative is adopting some kind of spiritual discipline. This is an idea that
fascinates me, and has attracted me for a long time. The reason it has attracted me for a long
time, I think, is because I have never quite come to where I would really like to be in this respect.
I have this idealized image of what my life could be like, and it includes a sense of my going
through my days following a soothing, predictable rhythm that instills in me a sense of
centeredness and peace. And, in fact, the academic life can create something of a predictable
rhythm that approximates what I am looking for: the weekly rhythm of classes, office hours, and
regularly scheduled meetings. Yet there is something about the frenetic pace of it all that keeps
an edge of perpetual anxiety in my life instead of the peace I seek.

Others often perceive me as a person who seems reasonably at peace, at least relative to many
others! I think I am perceived this way because part of the spiritual discipline I have adopted for
myself is to try not to talk very much about feeling stressed or busy, but to shift attention instead
to something good, meaningful, or exciting going on. So when I run into colleagues in the
photocopy room and we chat, what I will share is a recent good interaction with a student, or an
enlightening moment in the classroom, or my relief at having just finished a draft of a paper I am
working on, etc. I'm not doing this to mislead people into thinking I'm more at peace and on top
of things than I usually feel -- I do this because I think it is far more important to share with each
other the substance of what our lives are all about than merely to vent our chronic restless
dissatisfaction. Our culture is already too much a culture of complaint. I don't hold it against
people to complain -- human beings may in fact be problem-seeking and problem-solving beings.
I just prefer to keep trying to focus attention on the positive side of that tendency (what it is like
when problems are solved) instead of the negative side (a listing of the currently pending
problems).

So the idea of a disciplined life is more than having a good, healthy rhythm to life that keeps you
reasonably healthy, happy, growing, and engaged in meaningful activity and relationships.
Spiritual disciplines also keep you oriented within those rhythms in positive, helpful ways.

There is so much that is troubling in our world today that it is too easy to feel discouraged. We
often feel powerless to effect positive change. We don't know how to begin; and besides, we are
too busy.

And yet, we can question the forces that keep us too busy. We actually have more choice and
more power in our lives than we are led to believe -- we can make choices within our lives to
focus our attention more clearly on what we really care about. This is what the idea of a
disciplined life is really all about -- your chosing how to spend your time, how to structure your
days, to ensure that you are focusing most effectively on what really matters to you. And as your
vision of how you would like your life to be clarifies, then you keep asking the question, "how
can I make this possible?" instead of measuring, over and over again, how large the gap is
between where you are and where you would like to be.

As Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
 A Disciplined Life
David Brooks, an occasional guest columnist in the AJC, made this observation (12/5/06):
A generation ago, the gods of education fashion ordained that children should be liberated from
desks-in-a-row pedagogy (teaching, jj) to follow their “natural” inclinations. In those days,
human beings were commonly divided between their natural selves, assumed to be free and
wonderful, and their socially constructed selves, assumed to be inhibited and repressed.
But now, thanks to bitter experience and scientific research, we know that the best environments
don’t liberate students. We have rediscovered that the most nurturing environments are highly
structured. Children flourish in homes that are organized, in families where attachments are
stable, among people who plan for the future and within cultures that celebrate work. Many of
today’s most effective anti-poverty institutions are incredibly intrusive, even authoritarian.
Wow! What an admission, especially by a columnist for the flagship of liberal journalism, the
New York Times. I would only add in the first line of the second paragraph: “thanks to bitter
experience and scientific research and the teaching of the Bible, we know …”. But you’ll never
read that in the NYT.
But sure enough, what Mr. Brooks is espousing is a Biblical principle, one that runs against the
grain of unfettered personal liberty. Our society has come to see any limits whatsoever as an
infringement of our “rights” and guaranteed to produce bondage, futility and misery. Utopia is
the land of “do what I want to do, say what I want to say.” Utopia is also an imaginary land
bordering on Mordor (for you Lord of the Rings fans). Some observations:
1) Little things matter. What is wrong with students dressed in gang logos, slouching in their
desks, looking out the window instead of paying attention to the teacher? Answer: Everything.
Is a parent an overbearing ogre to make a child eat everything on his plate, keep her room neat,
say “sir” or “ma’am” or “please,” or comb their hair? Do these things really matter? Yes, they
do. No, failure in these areas is not a felony, but the difference is between an atmosphere of
discipline and attention to detail and slovenly, “couldn’t care less” apathy.
2) Big things are accomplished only by learning to do little things well. David killed Goliath
only after practicing on lions and bears. Jesus said, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful
also in much …” (Lk 16:10).
Typically, humans don’t handle freedom and flexibility well. They inevitably lead to laziness
and indolence. They invite “self” to the forefront, and self is incredibly demanding. Self-denial is
what Jesus (and boot camp) stresses (Mt 16:24-25), and we begin to instill this principle when
we hold our children accountable for the “little” things.
Further, what is wrong with applauding after a baptism, holding our hands up (and/or swaying)
during prayer, or wearing jeans to worship? “Does the Bible say you can’t?” Perhaps not, but
that isn’t the only question to consider. The deeper question is: Is there a consistency of nature
between our behavior (which may be a matter of judgment) and commands/principles that are of
similar nature? Do my actions demonstrate discipline that prepares me to make the right choice
when things get serious? Our society has lost this sense of “ought” as it is connected to a
disciplined life that operates according to well-defined rules. Let us hope and pray that the
church does not grow similarly soft.