Reflections on Discipline

"Endure your trials as the discipline of God who deals with you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" "If we respected our earthly fathers who corrected us, should we not all the more submit to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined us as seemed right to them, to prepare us for the short span of mortal life; but God does so for our true profit, that we may share his holiness. At the time it is administered, all discipline seems a cause for grief and not for joy, but later it brings forth the fruit of peace and justice to those who are trained in its school." (Hebrews 12)

Our parents used to discipline us kids and say that they were "only doing it for our own good" and that some day they would thank us for it. Of course we didn't understand what they meant at the time and argued and cried at their apparent cruelty.

And that's where we find ourselves today as adults trying to grapple with the life our Father in heaven has given us. At this point we know well that "life is not fair," we just wish it was more fair than it is.

I think it's harder for us adults to accept discipline from God (or the concept of it) because we have the power and freedom to change or sustain many things in our lives, from where we live, to how we live, to how we spend our money, and how we define happiness. The challenge is to truely surrender to God's will in our lives and accept that the pain, frustration, loneliness, or desolation we may be feeling is a loving gift from God - - his gift of discipline. When we are able to look in the mirror and face our true selves we know we are week and can't do it alone. We need him to sustain us.

So like little children we eventually come back around and realize how much our Father loves us. His discipline is given not out of cruelty or hatred, but out of love.

If you look at all of the leading characters in the Bible, they all experienced this kind of tough love from God - - from Adam and Eve to Job, Moses, and Issac - - right down the line to the Son of God, Jesus himself. What more poignant form of surrender is there than to say, "Father, if it is your will, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done (Luke 22:42)?"

In the world we live in today, this kind of obedience and discipline is not often rewarded, however. We can feel like we are missing out on something if we don't stay out late with friends or have one more drink, etc. to go along with the group and be accepted by our peers. Those are the tough choices we have to make. Loving God is about tough love whether we like it our not. But our faith gives us hope in eternal life. To paraphrase Paul, my current sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that is to come.

"Do not grow despondent or abandon the struggle." "Let us lay aside every encumbrance of sin which clings to us and persevere in running the race which lies ahead; let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who inspires and perfects our faith."

Reflections on God and Suffering

Chapter One

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, "God is not a hypothesis derived from logical assumptions, but an immediate insight, self-evident as light. He is not something to be sought in the darkness with the light of reason. He is the light."

I'm struck by this quote because it is as true for the God of Issac, Abraham, and Jacob as it is for the Son of Man, Jesus, for Christians. But for atheists, this light is not apparent. They see the world through a lens defined only by the forces of nature and their own free will, not by the grace of a loving God.

Heschel contines, "More decisive than the origin of the Bible in God, is the presence of God in the Bible." I think this sentence speaks volumes about how the Spirit of God moves in the reading of scripture. Whether or not you understand what you're readig, the Spirit of God is still there.

This is similar to what St. Ignatius Loyola experienced while reading the Bible as an injured soldier convalescing from a war injury. Lying there is his hospital bed, he noticed how light his heart became after reading scripture as compared to the stories of battle conquests he had formerly revered. He noticed the power the words had on him eventhough he was not a practicing Christian. Inherent to the words was the Spirit living within them. The experience changed his life and led to his development of the Spiritual Exercises.

Chapter Two

Gretchen Jackson says, "Grief is the pain we all pay for love." By it's very nature love includes suffering. To truely love someone or something is to give a part of yourself, or to 'give a piece of your heart' as Janis Joplin would say. However painful, we all long for that connection: to be known and understood in both our joy and our suffering. It's the intimate connection we crave. It's what makes us fully human.