Missio Dei Communities

Chris and Kevin asked me to reflect on how I came to the practice of spiritual disciplines.  The time spent reflecting on that has been very fruitful.  But I thought I would start out with my story.  We all have a story that God uses to shape who we are.  Here’s mine…

I grew up in a home that was very disciplined. I remember my dad never missing work or church, even if he was sick. He was always under control (although one look could let me know that could change if it needed to).  So even though I rebelled against that discipline in my teens the scripture that reads ‘train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it’ proved itself true as I turned from all the rebellion and looked for truth.

I started with an austere diet to train my body and mind, practiced Zen meditation for 4 hours a day as well as a day and a half of silence and fasting, learned Hindu meditation, and finally joined a cult where we studied daily, practiced chanting, and lived a simple life of hard work.

One of the best pieces of advice I received after becoming a follower of Jesus was to not throw out the good that I had learned in my other experiences.  I was challenged to learn how to take those disciplines and apply them to the Christian life.  I used that to start immediately studying scripture and through that I began to learn connections between studying, prayer, meditation, fasting, worship, and simplicity in living out my calling to follow Christ and bear witness to His resurrection.

I sought out a spiritual director for help in  the disciplines, eventually becoming trained and certified to be a spiritual director.  Through spiritual direction I learned how Christian meditation seeks to fill us with the presence of Christ rather than emptying our mind as in Buddhism.  I learned many methods of prayer, the purpose of fasting, and what a life of simplicity brings.

I have had the joy of teaching spiritual disciplines and providing spiritual direction to others, and witnessing their growth. God has not only awed me by revealing what He can do through a broken vessel like me, He has revealed how even in dark times He is working in us a good work for later use. ‘Good and upright is the Lord, therefore He instructs sinners in His way.’ Psalm 25:8