The kindness of the Lord has not ended, His mercies are not spent. They are renewed every morning — Ample is Your grace! Lamentations 3:22 (TJSB)
Drastically Unattainable – The Practice Series – Part 1
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6
One of the reasons why I don’t like making resolutions around New Years is because they insinuate an instant change.
“From now on, I will never eat cake, lie, gossip, or watch scary movies. I will read the Bible every day, pray for an hour, and exercise like a Navy Seal.”
*insert your version of unrealistic and drastically unattainable NY resolutions.*
I always fail in my resolutions, usually by the first or second day, somewhere between cake and exercise (the eating of one and the delay of the other).
We do the same thing with Christianity. We read the scriptures and come across words like:
always
leave behind
turn around
always (there are a lot of ‘always’s’)
And we think that it’s an instant change: a transition that can take place in a moment. “I’m never going to indulge in that again, go there again, do that again. I will always be thankful, at peace, and pray without ceasing.”
*insert your version of unrealistic and drastically unattainable ideas around Christian living.*
There’s a word I’m rediscovering that is changing all of this for me:
Practice.
Christian living (or Jesus following, or spirituality, or whatever language you use) is a practice, not a standard.
And not the kind of “practice makes perfect” practice. But ritual, sacredness, and grace. The daily practice of beginning again, starting over, picking up where you left off. The practice of being awake and aware in your spirit and life rather than hurtling through the “do’s and dont’s” trying to be a ‘good Christian.’ (whatever the heck that is…).
‘Pray without ceasing' now means daily engagement in spiritual awareness.
Practicing prayer is about being open, and listening, more than it is about always saying words to God.
‘Turn away from evil deeds’ now means to be aware, day to day, of the choices I make – how will they impact others? How will they impact me? – rather than desperately trying to flee temptation.
It’s more about living with intention and discipline, rather than on autopilot and by lists.
And yeah, I get it wrong. I stuff up. Sometimes the practice is easy, and there is a sense of flow to it. Other days it's hard, and I feel like I bump into sharp objects and hard thoughts all around me. But the thing about practice is that each day is a new opportunity to begin again (well, each moment really); to build on the success of yesterday, or learn from its mishaps and mistakes. It all belongs in practice.
“The kindness of the Lord has not ended, His mercies are not spent. They are renewed every morning…” yeah?
For me, it’s practice over resolution every single time. That’s something I’m becoming more and more resolute about.
This week, we’ll add a small daily practice at the bottom of each post. Join in if you want to, and let us know how you go! Email us at talktous@pktfuel.com
PRACTICE
Re-evaluate your resolutions and turn them into practices. Perhaps you’ll need to inject some reality into them, give them time, space and grace to grow with you. Rather than making a grand promise to drastically do something huge in your life, think: What can I do daily? Start as small and as simple as you need to.
Go to Part 2 – We Can be Transformed »
Written by Liz Milani. Find me:
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