By Jeffrey A. Beer Jr. –
It has been said that to measure the amount of happiness in your life, measure the amount of discipline. This might seem rather paradoxical, as the word discipline is sometimes a burdensome one which conjures up images of stern fathers or rigorous exercise routines. However, the second reading this Sunday from the book of Hebrews has God’s discipline as its primary focus. It encourages us, “Do not disdain the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines.” It goes on to say, “Endure your trials as discipline.” To grow in faith takes discipline. It takes discipline to remember to pray each morning, and each night. It takes discipline to get out of bed on a rainy Sunday morning. It takes discipline to resist gossiping about a friend, or cheating on the test we forgot to study for.
For the most part, we are aware of the way God wants us to live our lives. We have been promised that the more we follow Jesus, the happier we will be. But to follow him takes tremendous discipline every minute of every day. This discipline, then, is not a burden when we realize that as difficult as living a Christian life can seem sometimes, it is worth it. As the second reading says, “At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” To be a disciplined Christian means constantly pushing ourselves to be better, to do better, to grow in faith, love and character. And sometimes, it means putting aside our own wants and needs, and forcing ourselves to put others first.
In the Gospel of Luke this Sunday, Jesus is asked if only a few people will be saved. He responds by saying, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter, but will not be strong enough.” Christ encourages us to strive for something more- to exercise our “spiritual muscles,” so to speak.
How do we do this? Just like learning an instrument, or a foreign language, or a new sport takes practice, it also takes practice to live a Christian life. Expert piano players and professional athletes all have tremendous self discipline. They spent hours and hours practicing and honing their skills. But even a concert pianist didn’t start by trying to play Beethoven. He would’ve started by learning to read music, and count out rhythms, and learning the notes on the keyboard. Next he would have learned simple songs like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” And then he would’ve moved on to something harder. And then something harder. To become an expert piano player, he would have to constantly push and stretch himself, and could never say, “Ok, I think I’ll stop practicing. I’m good enough now.” We know it takes discipline to become an expert pianist, but shouldn’t we be just as willing to put the practice time into our faith?
We too have to start with the basics. And when they become as second nature as a keyboardist playing a scale, we have to push ourselves to do more. To be a disciplined Christian means to consider what we need to do better, and then to start trying to do it. We won’t always be successful on our first try. But we keep practicing until we can move on to the next thing. It might be something as simple as remembering to pray before going to sleep. Or perhaps it is treating our parents or siblings better. If this idea of discipline seems exhausting to you, then remember that the amount of discipline in our lives is directly proportional to the amount of happiness in our lives. And as the “Imitation of Mary” says, “On the path of virtue, not to move forward is to go back; not to gain is to lose.”
