“For as the body is not supplied from its own nature with meat, drink, and clothing, so the soul cannot attain to everlasting life from its own nature, but from the Divine nature; from His Spirit, from His light...””
Discovering The Rhythm of God
As you begin to discover a rhythm in your spiritual life, an inner space develops where God and man commune. This is the means through which we train our heart to turn to Him. One Desert Father, Abba Diadochos, explained these practices using the analogy of turning to the warmth of the sun:
“A person who is in the open air of winter, lacking any other help, awaits the rising of the sun so as to warm himself; and when the sun has dawned, he turns himself entirely towards it. But when the sun rises, only the front part of his body will be warmed, whereas his backside will be completely devoid of the sun’s warmth, since the sun has not yet reached the middle of the sky. Precisely the same thing happens to those who are at the beginning of their spiritual progress: Their hearts are sweetly warmed in part, by the warmth of the Holy Spirit, and thus their minds thereby begin to bear the fruits of spiritual thoughts; such being the case, however, considerable portions of their intellect remain with carnal thoughts, since all of these parts have not yet been illuminated with a profound mystical consciousness of holy Grace. Many people lack the ability to comprehend this precise circumstance, for which reason they have wrongly come to believe that it is possible for Grace and sin-that is, the Spirit of Truth, and the spirit of error-to be simultaneously concealed together in the minds of strugglers”.
Spiritual disciples help you to warm your backside, as it were (according to Abba Diadochos). They help to erect an inner expectation and hope that God will be with us. They are important for clearing the weeds of the inner life. As was said regarding one Desert Mother: “Just as, therefore, men prune unfruitful branches from trees with many branches, so also Amma Syncletica would remove the thorny outgrowths of her mind (inappropriate thoughts) with prayer and fasting.”
The goal is not to accomplish something by practicing a certain discipline. The goal is to carve out space within the inner life to find rest before the Father. Amma Macrina taught that man was “a little world in himself.” That little world can be filled with all the chaotic energy of anger, lust, offense, and betrayal. Those dis-integrating emotions tend to spiral us towards a carnality that cannibalizes itself. We then exist from one emotional moment to the next and the in-between spaces become a blur.
However, as with the men and women in scripture (Psalm 119:164, Joshua 1:8, Psalm 27:8), the daily rhythm of seeking the Father’s heart can carve out a place where His glorious, peaceful, illuminating light begins to make you truly human; the image He always intended for you.
Blessings,
Joshua Hoffert
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Leave me a comment below and tell me…
What aspects of the spiritual life do you have questions about? Or, put another way, what questions do you have about spiritual disciplines in general?
What kind of impact do you think adding a routine of spiritual exercise could have on your life?