practice(s) Make Perfect
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, wrote that it was possible for one “to be perfect in this lifetime.” In our culture of performance and achievement, we often mistake Wesley’s words to mean that by hard work and a determined will, we can arrive at a place where we no longer commit sin in our thoughts, words, or deeds. Nothing could be further from his point, however. Wesley never believed that perfection was about always getting it right, rather he taught that through the means of grace we can find God’s perfect love alive within us, even while we continue to make mistakes and cause harm. Perfection, in the Christian sense, has more to do with being whole than being correct.
In the spirit of Wesleyan perfection, we will be learning and observing several of the traditional spiritual practices, also called disciplines, that bring us into the presence of God and an experience of grace. Each month our focus will turn to one practice that we can incorporate into our life as Christ’s disciples. There will be suggested activities for all ages that can be done individually or with others in community. We know that we can never be perfect. But we believe we can be made perfect in love. We hope you’ll join us in the journey!
Many people hear the word ‘solitude’ and confuse it with the word ‘loneliness.’ Jesus never calls us toward loneliness, but rather by his teaching and example he calls us to times of solitude so that we might encounter God’s presence and be prepared to develop deeper community with our brothers and sisters.
“’Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free.” So begins the first verse of a Shaker hymn written in the mid-1800’s. It’s interesting that the writer ties simplicity to freedom. For many people, freedom is the notion that we can do whatever we choose without hindrance. We think of freedom of speech to mean we can say whatever we want without consequence. This month we are invited to seek out a simpler way of life.
Much of our modern American culture can be defined with one word: ‘excess.’ Everywhere we look we find people working, eating, or exercising in excess. This month we are invited to fast from things that may be a hindrance to our relationship with God. In the process of emptying ourselves, we create a larger space for God to fill with His presence.
We’ve all heard the phrase “You are what you eat.” It’s a simple way of stating that if you eat healthy foods, you will be a healthy person. And the opposite is true, too. The same goes for what our minds consume. Scientists refer to this concept as “neuroplasticity,” which means that our brains are malleable. We continue to shape our minds and create neural connections as we live, and the form our minds take largely depends on what we feed it.Paul gives us a great approach to how we can transform our minds in his letter to the Philippians: “Whatever is true, whatever is admirable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
It seems like every family has that one debate or argument that never gets resolved. Maybe it’s about how to properly load the dishwasher, or which of the kids always received the lightest punishments, or whose idea it was to get the dog that destroyed the dining room drapes and who had been against it. For the disciples, the argument that pops up over and over was who would be the greatest among them. Jesus’ answer was always something along the lines of, “Whoever wants to be greatest must become the servant of all.”
The practice of prayer is the main avenue for connecting with God. It is how we create space for conversation with the Creator so that we can express to God the deepest joys, wounds, and yearnings of our heart and hear from God words of celebration, comfort, and correction. As a means of grace, it’s also true that prayer is often where we experience the greatest transformation; the place where God works to change hearts and minds to better resemble God’s own nature.
Christian meditation is a refusal of the life of chaos and an embrace of the life of quiet. Silence, contemplation, and awareness enable us to be mindful of the presence of the Spirit of God in any and every time and place. In contrast to prayer, which is typically a time of speaking and asking, meditation invites us to listen and receive. Rather than pouring out the contents of our heart, we seek to be filled by the Holy Spirit. Mother Teresa spoke of this practice once in an interview: “I don’t say anything. I just listen. And God doesn’t say anything. God listens. And if you can’t understand that, I can’t explain it to you.”
Anytime you are aware and focused on God’s presence is a time of worship. Too often we think of worship as an event we attend, or we limit it to the act of singing and praying. But whenever we show up in mind, body, or spirit and experience the reality of life, worship can happen.
Of all the spiritual practices available to us the practice of confession may be the most daunting, especially if we consider bringing it from our own private prayer out into the openness of community. For many of us, it’s hard enough to honestly confess our sins to God, but the thought of confessing our sins to a brother or sister in Christ, let alone to the one we may have sinned against—this seems like an impossible task! The good news is God does know the real you, and God loves you no more and no less because of it. And so, if God can fully love a sinner, maybe we can trust that our neighbors have that capacity as well.
