Discipline

It seems as if we have removed external discipline from the menu.  No physical aggression, no emotional harm, no "micro-aggression" that might cause even the slightest discomfort.

So we are left with self-discipline, and for training others (like children or students), hope (which is not a strategy).

Perhaps some of us who are trying to find a way to navigate this culture as Christians should stop trying to impose discipline on others, and do a better job of disciplining ourselves.  Perhaps the fruit of a life of the Spirit may create some space in our culture for our anachronistic beliefs.

One of the ways that I am learning about discipline is by embarking on a workout program.  Actually, my wife and I are six weeks into P90X.  I am more flexible than I have ever been in my life, and my average weight in the morning has dropped about 4-5 pounds.  But the real lesson is in telling our bodies that we are going to do this painful thing, without giving our lazy bodies an option or an out.

That's discipline.

Those of you who know me personally know our family lives in a large log home we built ourselves.  It is unfinished but it has been our home since we started building in 2008.

The next lot over is another log home, built with love and care by an enterprising professional as a weekend retreat.  It took a lot longer to erect, and is still not liveable. 

A couple of lots away is a mostly empty lot, with some preliminary work done, but no structure.  The owners have come for weekends, but never stayed.

We stayed.  We sold our city home and gave ourselves no option.  We have a house.

The secret of discipline seems to be commitment, not giving ourselves an option.

I am investigating the Spiritual Disciplines.  The bases for my research are four authors: Dallas Willard ("The Spirit of the Disciplines" which I have not yet read), James Bryan Smith ("Good and Beautiful God"), Richard J. Foster ("Celebration of Discipline") and John Eldredge ("Desire/Waking the Dead" to start).  I own the latter three works and am going to do a (re)read-through, with a weekly report on what I am learning. 

There are others learning about self-discipline through the scientific method.  "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg, and "Hooked" by Nir Eyal are two books on manipulating our own behaviour in order to remove old habits and create new ones.  I will be exploring those books in parallel.

I invite you to come along.  If you would like these posts delivered via email, sign up here.  I have also created a private Facebook group for further discussion, which will be open to email subscribers only.

My next post will be about "Meditation", from Richard J. Foster's Celebration of Discipline.  I will also include a signup for Faithful Workouts, a free program of workouts and diet plans from a Christian perspective.  I will be alternating between spiritual disciplines and habit formation from neuroscience, partially based on feedback from you.  So please sign up, and I'll see you in the comments below, or in the Facebook group.

Shalom,

Dave Block
North Creek