The Celebration of Discipline. Parts 1 & 2

Two lines jumped out at me from the very first page of the book.

The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.

In fact, the disciplines are best exercised in the midst of our normal daily activities.

I would love to be thought of as a deep person. I would love for that to be the case as witnessed by those who see me in my "normal daily activities." I think the ability to be deep in the midst of our everyday lives ties directly into the concept he talks about in Chapter 2 on Meditation, Otium Sanctum: " holy leisure" p 20. If I am guilty of idolatry in any area of my life it is in relation to my schedule. If I am not doing, if I am not running from one meeting or program to the next, if I am not "stressed out," then I must be doing something wrong. Foster's answer to my predicament is to "pursure holy leisure with a a determination that is ruthless to my datebook." Ouch!!

What will people think of me if I am not constantly moving? What if I exhibited peace instead of stress? What if my schedule reflected balance? Ssomeone might accuse me of being deep.

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A great tool that I have found for guided contemplative prayer is Sacred Space. It is a daily prayer site run by Irish Jesuits. I have found it really helpful in the process Foster describes as, "emptying the mind in order to fill it"