In the book Celebration of Disciplines, spiritual disciplines are means of receiving God’s grace and living through his love and presence. They liberate people from the slavery of self-interest and fear. The process of celebrating the disciplines is a practical manual on consecration through the Holy Spirit, which introduces us to the classical disciplines of spiritual life. The author Foster Richard, a poetic scholar and evangelist of transformation, uses both video vignettes and paper-ink work to provide a methodology for explaining the process of spiritual growth. The book is separated into three spiritual movements; inward which consist of meditation, prayer, fasting and study, outward which includes simplicity, solitude, submission and services, and last is corporate which consists of confession, worship, guidance and celebration. It contains examples that demonstrate how the disciplines can be applied in daily life. Through reading and participating in the disciplines, one gains experience, below is a description of several disciplines and a reflection of the experience obtained.
Prayer
When people pray, they tend to wonder if prayer is listening or speaking. According to Foster (1998), prayer is a journey in which apart from simple listening, there is conversation and communion with God, along a path that leads to being transformed and inspired by his love. It is a head-over- heels love relationship that God desires to have with us (Foster, 1998, p. 33). Through prayer, one develops love for others and hence intercedes for them to have more than we can offer them. In the bible study, Foster provide an insight on the secret of forming a close relationship in Christ is through abiding him. The process of abiding is prayer which involves conversation, communion and consuming love.
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It is through prayer that one gains the joy of abiding in God’s presence. Prayer hurls one onto the edge of spiritual life. Hence this makes it the central discipline because it leads one into the everlasting communion with God. Through the different form of prayers one obtains a better connection with God and people around them.
Fasting
Different people have various ways of describing fasting, others think it is a time for losing weight. However, Foster (1998) defines fasting as the voluntary denial of normal actions for the sake of an intense spiritual activity. He adds that more than other spiritual disciplines, fasting reveals what controls us which is a good thing especially for anyone that longs to be transformed in Christ’s image. Moreover, he clarifies that fasting is not about losing weight but more of radical dieting and the desire for God. Besides, as in the book, it should not be an attempt to draw attention to oneself as great spiritually and instead one should conceal themselves and concentrate on God and what controls us (Foster, 1998, p.55).
In the fasting experience, the use of hunger pains is useful as a reminder of the purpose of fasting. It helps us learn that we do not live by bread alone but by God’s word. It is like an opportunity to feast on God rather than food, media and other things that control us. Hence one learns to suffer happily as they feast on God. Fasting makes us sensitive to life and not obsessed with our consumption mentality. The discipline of fasting is learnt through both failures and successes while it provides an experimental awareness for those who desire communion with God.
Study
Every human has a spirit, which takes a form from experiences and choices that one makes. We are formed by the sermon, when we read or listen to the scripture. Moreover, other factors like work environment, watching televisions, conversing with other people also influence our spirits. According to Richard, “study is a specific experience, which through careful attention to reality, the mind is transformed towards a particular direction” (Foster, 1998, p.63). Additionally, he points out that through the four steps of study; repetition, concentration, comprehension and reflection, one studies a book the same way they would study nature. Abiding to the word of God is the most imperative form of study and the source of transformation.
Study of scriptures or the bible enables one to keep Christ in mind. In the Christian discipline of study we learn who God is, what He is like and how He works with his offspring. Besides, as an important aspect to Christians, study discipline should be a norm in the church. Its function is to help one know a life of God and Jesus through the illumination of scripture by the Holy Spirit. In reading the bible, application of the four steps of study is vital to create a deeper understanding. However, study discipline not only involves the study of the bible but also human experience, nature and devotional masters (saints) who become our counselors.
Simplicity
The reality of simplicity is a life of joy wit less concern about material possessions which helps one in seeking the righteous kingdom of God. Foster states that, simplicity is achieved by seeking the kingdom of God first, then everything else follows. He adds that, “everything hinges upon maintaining first thing as first and nothing must come before the kingdom of God, even if it’s the desire for a simple life” (Foster, 1998, p.86). When one practices simplicity, they get a deeper experience of the kingdom of God.
Simplicity is a reality that comes from focusing on the God’s kingdom. Within us there is a mix of individualities fighting for dominance and attention, thus we sometimes feel distracted and overcommitted. But, if we experience life under the divine mediator we enter into a balance in life and obtain freedom from anxiety. The discipline of simplicity is an inward reality that results into an outward life style that is defined by controlling principles that bring us back to Christ. Seeking the kingdom of God first before anything else is desiring for an adjustment of our will with his. Moreover, trusting that God has our best interest at heart is the key to simplicity.
Solitude
Putting aside all our activities and having a moment of silence with God alone is what solitude entails. According to Foster (1998), “we enter into solitude, not in order to be away from people but to hear the divine whisper of God better” (Foster, 1998, p.97). However, the discipline of solitude goes beyond silence and time alone, to the edifice of beginning a spiritual life. Foster acknowledges that, when we are silent and alone to hear God’s asserting voice, it becomes easier not to fall into the influence of other people’s opinions. As prayer is the central discipline of engagement, solitude is the central discipline of abstinence.
Most people might think that entering into solitude is a time to be away from others and recharge our batteries. But in solitude we are not really alone, it’s a moment to discover that God wants to be our friend. It begins with a deep trust that Jesus is present and he is a true friend with our best interest at heart. However, solitude is not a smooth journey as it sounds, it involves many struggles against the compulsion of our egoism and the encounter with God in the furnace of transformation. The furnace of transformation is solitude, where God offers himself as the constituent of a new self. Solitude and silence teaches one to love others and let go of our compelling loyalties, die for ourselves and come back to life in God.
Service
In the story of Mother Teresa, a woman who dedicated herself into serving the poor, Foster (1998) states that “true service comes from a relationship with divine Other deep inside, the whispered promptings of divine urgings” (p. 128). He explains that, true servants of God are able to hear his whispers and see the eyes of those they serve, as the eyes of Christ. More than any other discipline, service brings the grace of humility in a person’s life.
When one worries about the time lost in helping others, they are usually taking the importance of their own occupation too seriously. But in reflecting the actions of Jesus when he washed his disciples’ feet, he helped them resolve the issue of greatness amongst them. In the discipline of service, the grace of God helps us to move beyond our egoism into serving others. We also learn the difference between self-righteous services and true service. Where in true service, we have to go beyond the feeling of wanting a reward as in self-righteous service and do it from the divine urgings deep inside of us.
Confession
The act of confessing draws us back to the divine mystery at the heart of God where there is the desire to forgive and give. We confess after sinning, since God hates sin because it not only violates his commandments but also destroys peace and destructs the way things are meant to be. According to Foster, the core of sin is to quit believing in God and destroying the sacred trust that he has our best interests at heart. Sin turns us away from God’s presence, we lose the intimate fellowship with Him and also our relationship with others. The discipline of confession removes us from our hiding place and we experience a restoration of our relationship with Christ.
In the teachings, we get the notion that at some point God’s people had sinned and he was so angry with them, that he sent his begotten son to die on the cross for us so that our sins could be forgiven. What Jesus accomplished on the cross makes confession possible and in confession God heals our iniquities and distresses of the past and we become new again in his presence.
Worship
Worship is the preliminary to our response of the love will receive from God, it is the greatest thing that we can do. Foster (1998) begins his chapter of worship with emphasis on a quote from Archbishop William Temple, that to worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, feeding the mind with imagination by the beauty of God, to open our hearts to God’s love and to devote the will to the purpose of God. He compliments Temple’s description of worship by saying that, “in worship, a person becomes keenly aware of the presence of the resurrected Christ and responds to his approaches of love (Foster, 1998, p.158).
When worshipping, God touches our hearts and affects every aspect of our bodies with his holiness. However, human beings are finite creatures with different aspects hence we have different forms of liturgical expressions for worship. This depends on our preferences but in the end, there is no choice not use religious liturgy in worship. One of the best ‘vessels’ for worshiping is through music as a form of liturgical expression. There are also others like rituals, silent adoration of God’s greatness and goodness, but in all we celebrate the goodness of God and learn to do all things in his glory.
The result of practicing Christian spiritual disciplines is that we become more open to God and his grace in our path to spiritual growth. We mature spiritually in our thoughts, behaviors, interactions with other people and emotionally. As we journey towards his kingdom, our association with him develops into an apprenticeship and eventually an everlasting friendship.
Reference
Foster, R. (1998). Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth . San Francisco: Harper Collins.
