13. 05.
The disciplined person is the person who can do what needs to be done when it needs to be done… most of us can get the ball into the hoop eventually, but we can’t do it when it is needed. Likewise, a person who is under the Discipline of silence is a person who can say what needs to be said when it needs to be said… if we speak when we should be silent, we miss the mark.
Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline
I chose to focus on speech when it comes to the Discipline of silence because that is an area of particular struggle for me. I find myself talking when I know I should be silent, and often get myself into a situation I could have easily avoided by simply remaining quiet. Keeping out of trouble is just one benefit of remaining silent. Another benefit is simply being disciplined. A disciplined person in one area often becomes disciplined in other areas of life more easily, especially if a person is disciplined in speech.
What a marvelous companion is one who listens and shows genuine interest in other people’s lives. Solitude requires me to hear before being heard and an attitude of gratefulness for every opportunity to be silent before God and others.
29. 04.
This discipline is a massive kick in the ass of Western Civilization. I will quote from several places in Richard J. Foster’s chapter on Simplicity:
Simplicity is freedom… simplicity brings joy and balance…
Contemporary culture lacks both the inward reality and the outward life-style of simplicity… We are trapped in a maze of competing attachments…
We crave things we neither need or enjoy… The mass media have convinced us that to be out of step with fashion is to be out of step with reality…
Covetousness we call ambition. Hoarding we call prudence. Greed we call industry.
I am surely not the best person to be telling others to live a more simplistic life, and that is not at all my intention. This discipline is most definitely one I struggle with most. I do not blame my career or the culture I live in, rather I tend to use those things as excuses for a lack of discipline in this area. I enjoy owning the latest in computer technology and knowing all there is to know about the Web industry. I don’t think those things are negative, however, if my time is only dedicated to these things for the purpose of making my own life better and easier, I have missed the point of hard work.
God has given us gifts, and all of us are capable of using those gifts to fill our lives with more stuff. However, God intends for those gifts to be used for helping others and bringing glory to God.
May God give you-and me-the courage, the wisdom, the strength always to hold the kingdom of God as the number-one priority of our lives. To do so is to live in simplicity
Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline
26. 04.
As Richard J. Foster writes in his book, Celebration of Discipline, study involves four steps:
- Repetition.
Ingrained habits of thought can be formed by repetition alone, thus changing behavior. - Concentration.
The brains natural ability to store and focus on information is enhanced when, with singleness of purpose, we center our attention upon a desired object of study. - Comprehension.
When we not only repeatedly focus the mind in a particular direction centering our attention of the subject, but understand what we are studying, we reach a new level. - Reflection.
In reflection we come to understand not only our subject matter, but ourselves.
One other thing that is important when practicing the discipline of study is humility. In order to make good and proper use of knowledge, I must approach the subject with a humble spirit. I cannot be teachable and arrogant at the same time.
William Knelsen