I learned from coaching and teaching martial arts that people love to practice what they are good at and hate to practice what they are not good at. No surprise there, we hate to fail and we love to feel comfortable. That’s why they refer to it as “your comfort zone”. It is just easier to remain in that comfort zone, to just stay the way you are, to be that way. Whatever that way is.
We are the same way at our work. We will do what we are good at all day long, but let the boss ask us to do something new or different and we often think and even say, “that’s not in my job description”. And, every job I have ever had has a phrase in the description: “and other duties as assigned”. Every boss’ trump card. So, we do what we are told, but we don’t like it and we don’t enjoy it and we gripe about it the whole time.
Now, let’s move to our spiritual life. I know, I went from preachin’ to meddlin’ again. We engage in spiritual practices: prayer, lectio divina, witnessing, doing good deeds, missions, and so much more. I have taught classes on those practices. But what is the job description? Love God with all your heart, mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself. Notice that there is not that dreaded phrase “and other duties as assigned.” And, that’s it, the entire job description. How we each do the job us up to us.
Are you shocked? Most of us are by this notion that we can do the job of spirituality any way we like. Why should we be? We were created for this, to Love! Like other jobs we have, we should do what is easy for us, what we are good at…….Love. All of those practices are not ends in themselves, but means or tools to the single end: Love! However I am a Christian (or Muslim or Jew) is how I am. In Christ, I learn that I am good enough just the way I am and, what is more, I learn that I was created to be loving and wonderful and caring.
I am part of a lay monastic group. We meet via teleconferencing on a monthly basis. It is a wonderful spiritual family. I love these people and love the Abbey we are all part of and appreciate the family itself. Every month we discuss what we are reading, discuss what we are doing, discuss how we worship, even when we worship. That is good stuff, don’t get me wrong, I need it and I think my friends need it too. But it dawned on me today: why are we working so hard at doing what is natural within us? What would happen if we had an entire worship where we just chatted about who we are and how we practice loving God, each other and ourselves?
I read a quote about a seeker who went to the great guru and asked how to become enlightened. He was told to meditate exactly one way every day. Twenty years later, he sees the guru again and says, “I am not enlightened”. The guru says, “oh my that was not the right way for you.” Upset, the seeker goes back to his cave and does the only thing he can, he meditates. At that moment, when all is lost, he discovers that he is indeed enlightened. It was only when, in despair, he gave up trying and became what he sought.
I am not saying we don’t need spiritual discipline. I get up early every day to practice my own disciplines. But I am figuring out that how I do it is good enough. I am figuring out that being what I was created to be will come naturally if I stop trying to be good enough, smart enough, loving enough and just BE!
TMM