I’m still learning what it means to find freedom in discipline. There is discipline that can evoke freedom, and then there is just strict, dry discipline. There is discipline on one side, and spontaneity on the other. I don’t think I’ll ever get a good balance of freedom through discipline this side of heaven, but I know that the continual training in godliness is the goal, not perfection. Much like a violin player that disciplines herself for years will eventually be able to have the freedom to play incredibly complex works with ease – almost as a form of meditation.
The other day I heard a great quote – that “absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.” — Simone Weil. It takes focus and discipline to stay centered on a single action or thought in our world today. Millions are diagnosed (and misdiagnosed) with Attention Deficit Disorder each year – and now they are proving that for every hour a toddler spends in front of a television set his chances of developing symptoms of ADD increase 10%. No surprise there!
Truly look around at your world. Think about the hundreds of items grasping for your attention – even as you read this. Advertisements on web pages, TV, radio, clocks, phones, in-boxes, billboards…Twitter, email, Facebook…events coming up, Christmas cards to respond to, projects to plan, light bulbs to change out…on and on it goes.
So what is prayer in this lifestyle? Could it be that your earliest experiences in prayer might be of some practical help here? Closing your eyes and holding your palms together fingers extended is the way most Christian children are taught to pray. In fact, Buddhists and other faiths meditate in similar form. Recent research has discovered that we focus and meditate best when our most sensitive nerve endings are a “closed circuit.” Your finger tips for example are filled with some of the most sensitive nerve endings on your body – its your fingers that allow you to engage your world in the most tactile way. So holding your palms and fingertips together is sort of your way of saying to the world’s distractions, “I’m taking a break,” and begin training your mind and soul to dive deeply into God’s presence.
“So when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray…” (Matthew 6:6)
Jesus was pretty clear that God is not held behind locked doors or in special places for special people. Yet in his teaching on prayer, he specifically states that some places and positions are better for pray at than others. I think that the human body is affected by the posture in which we pray. The brain is active in different places when we smile and lift our open hands up to the sky than when we are crouched in the fetal position over a cup of coffee and a computer screen. The earliest Christians often prayed facing East (orient), because they wanted to “orient” themselves toward where they knew Jesus was going to return from. Try bowing in your prayers. Try facing east. Try lifting up your hands. Try prayer-walking. Let your whole body in on what your mind thought it could keep to itself with regards to your prayers. See your prayers transform.
If you are looking for “unmixed attention” when you pray, maybe it has less to do with your ADD diagnosis, and more to do with the simple fact that we are being bombarded with things seeking our attention – and yet God is not in those things – he is in the still small voice that so often gets crowded out by the whirlwind of our lives. Listen. Close your eyes. And close your circuits off from the outside world. Meditate and see where God shows up.
I’m still learning what it means to find freedom in discipline. There is discipline that can have freedom, and then there is just strict discipline. There is discipline on one side, and spontaneity on the other. I don’t think I’ll ever get a good balance of freedom through discipline this side of heaven, but I know that the continual training in godliness is the goal, not perfection. I am happy to have a wife that seeks rhythms and discipline in her life – she agrees that through discipline there is freedom. Much like a violin player that disciplines herself for years will eventually be able to have the freedom to play incredibly complex works with ease – almost as a form of meditation.
The other day I heard a great quote – that “absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.” – Simone Weil. It takes focus and discipline to stay centered on a single action or thought in our world today. Millions are diagnosed (and misdiagnosed) with Attention Deficit Disorder each year – and now they are proving that for every half-an-hour a toddler spends in front of a television set his chances of developing symptoms of ADD increase 10%. No surprise there!
Truly look around at your world. Think about the hundreds of items grasping for your attention – even as you read this. Advertisements on web pages, TV, radio, billboards…Twitter, email, Facebook…events coming up, Christmas cards to respond to, projects to plan, light bulbs to change out…on and on it goes.
So what is prayer in this lifestyle? Could it be that your earliest experiences in prayer might be of some practical help here? Closing your eyes and holding your palms together fingers extended is the way most Christian children are taught to pray. In fact, Buddhists and other faiths meditate in similar form. Recent research has discovered that we focus and meditate best when our most sensitive nerve endings are a “closed circuit.” Your finger tips for example are filled with some of the most sensitive nerve endings on your body – its your fingers that allow you to engage your world in the most tactile way. So holding your palms and fingertips together is sort of your way of saying to the world’s distractions, “I’m taking a break,” and begin training your mind and soul to dive deeply into God’s presence.
“So when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray…” (Matthew 6:6)
Jesus was pretty clear that God is not held behind locked doors or in special places for special people. Yet in his teaching on prayer, he specifically states that some places are better to pray at than others. I think that the human body is affected by the posture in which we pray. The brain is active in different places when we smile and lift our open hands up to the sky than when we are crouched in the fetal position over a cup of coffee and a computer screen. If you are looking for “unmixed attention” when you pray, maybe it has less to do with your ADD diagnosis, and more to do with the simple fact that we are being bombarded with things seeking our attention – and yet God is not in those things – he is in the still small voice that so often gets crowded out by the whirlwind of our lives. Listen. Close your eyes. And close your circuits off from the outside world. Meditate and see where God shows up.
Jay Abels, and 
Rachael are discussing. 
Jay Abels 11:33 pm on January 28, 2010 Permalink
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were just some guarantees and a system that always worked, when you did it right. But, we would loose the excitement of seeing God work and experiencing growth.
Rachael 12:07 pm on January 29, 2010 Permalink
These are great, Mark! I can tell you from me and Stephen’s experience the last year and a half in a more traditional church that all of these same concepts apply
Our church would be much more authentic, spiritual and more successful if everyone was able to remember these things…
Mark 12:22 pm on January 29, 2010 Permalink
Rachael — Thanks for the input! Very truly, people are people, no matter how or where they meet. I agree with you that if we can trust each other enough to take off our masks, we can experience the healing that God intends for us. I appreciate you guys for your willingness to be real with those in the church, and out of it.
Jay — Ha, its true. So quickly and easily do I reduce “EVERYTHING” down to “five unmovable principles” or “three easy to follow steps.” Pour, mix, serve. Voila!~ “Church!” Not so fast… your comment is a good reminder that not even these 5 principles are a guarantee that God’s Spirit will take ahold of a group! Good thoughts.
Jay 8:34 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink
I remember the first time I dug up a little plot and planted some vegetable seeds. They just didn’t grow according to my time schedule. I managed to pull up a few little carrots trying to speed their growth. Now it is funny, until I think about maybe having uprooted some young Christians who have just sprouted. He gives the increase, but not on our timeline.
Mark G Willis 9:27 am on February 12, 2010 Permalink
Very sobering Jay – regarding the gardening metaphor – I think you might find this OLD video of Frog and Toad interesting!
http://godgrown.net/blog/2007/10/03/frog-toad-and-organic-growth/