Training to become our Strongest Self

Lord of Life strengthen us in Spirit, body, and soul: With our mind, heart, and will in your loving control; So we can heal our world, and make your children whole.

"Who are you training to become?" This is a phrase I have written on the squat rack in my home gym, and at the top of my training log. Because what we practice is what we become, and how we train shapes who we will be. So, who are you training to become? This entire instructional manual, which unpacks my core training principles, is an attempt to help us all train in such a way that we become who and what we want to be: That we train to become our strongest self, our wisest self, our best self.

So, since this blog is a summary of my entire training program, we need to start by defining "training". Depending on where you look, you can find many definitions for training. Training can refer to "developing a particular skill or type of behavior through practice and instruction". In a purely physical sense training often refers to "preparing oneself through diet and exercise in order to be fit". Or in its most general sense, training can be "to grow in a particular direction or into a required shape". All of these overlapping definitions share my idea of training: Training is "activity with intensity directed toward a purpose". 

Creating Goals to become your Best Self

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.12-14)

I originally wrote this as part of a training manual for how to integrate physical training with the rest of our lives. But I realized this section deals with ideas and practices that will help us attain excellence in any part of our lives. Because most of us want to be the best version of ourselves. But we often lack the tools to develop goals and plans to help us get there. And "failing to plan is planning to fail". To attain our best self, our strongest self, and our wisest self, we have to intend to become this, imagine what it might look like to be this, and plan the best way to get from where we are, to where we want to be. The material found here is helpful for this. And although most of the examples used here come from physical training, the underlying substance applies to becoming great in any endeavor.

Weekly World Scripture Readings

From childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through the faithfulness which is in Christ Jesus. Every Scripture that is God-inspired is also useful for teaching, for correction, for restoration, and for training in justice, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. [2Timothy 3.15-17]

This schedule of readings is designed to take the reader through the entire New Testament once per year, and the Old Testament (including the Hebrew Bible along with Christian Deuterocanonical literature) once every two years. This is a “weekly” reading plan instead of a “daily” reading plan, because with my schedule I often have no time to read for a day or two, and then a couple of hours for reading on another day. So, a weekly quota of reading works better for me. Also, I have arranged readings by theme or topic, instead of using Biblical order (which would put all of the Gospels in the first half of the year, while also disconnecting historical literature while reading through the Old Testament).

For instance, the New Testament readings start with John's Gospel and letters, which were chosen to begin the year because John intentionally echoes the creation narratives of Genesis. Then we read Luke’s Gospel and Acts, which tells the most well researched story of the early Jesus movement. Then we read most of Paul’s letters from earliest to latest, which give us an “inside account” of some of the stories in Acts. Then we read Mark and the letters of Peter, because of Mark’s traditional connection with Peter as the one who wrote his version of the Gospel. This is followed by Matthew’s Gospel and the writings and debates of the early Jewish Christian movement. We end with the writings of Paul commissioning the second generation of Church leaders, and then the final Victory of Christ over all evil in the book of Revelation.

For the Old Testament, odd-numbered years take us through the Torah, followed by Historical Literature, ordered from the oldest events depicted in the text, to the newest events (even though some books were written decades or centuries after the events they depict). In even-numbered years we read through the Psalms, Wisdom literature, and the Hebrew Prophets (ordered roughly from oldest written to newest). The New Testament readings average about 150 verses per week (usually 4-8 chapters) which is around 15-30 minutes read time. Old Testament readings average about 250-300 verses per week (usually 8-15 chapters) which is around 30-60 minutes read time.

In addition, after the Old Testament readings, there are optional readings from the major Scriptures of the world's largest and longest lasting Religions. Although some may find this odd to add to a Biblical reading plan, the study of the great Spiritual Paths of the world has deepened my walk with Jesus immeasurably. These texts help us gain basic fluency in the ways other cultures have pursued spiritual and ethical growth, and will help us understand the ideas and ideals of the Bible better by comparison and contrast with them. And in the words of the second century Church Father, Justin Martyr, we may even find “seeds of the Word” which Christ has planted in other Spiritual Paths to draw us to him.

Odd-numbered years will take us through foundational texts for Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Even-numbered years will take us through the basic texts of Taoism, Islam, and Sikhism. These World Scripture readings are chosen to be 15-30 minutes in length. In total, for Biblical readings and World Scriptures, the weekly read time will be 1-2 hours, and may be divided up throughout the week, or read all at one time. I often will read Scripture three times per week: One day for the New Testament and Vital Verses. Another day for the Old Testament readings of the week. And a final day for World Scripture readings. 

Finally, each week includes Scripture passages to meditate on and memorize which can be repeated aloud in about 30 seconds. Meditation here refers to focusing on Christ's presence in us by repeating a Divine Name, Prayer, or Scripture, over and over. These Scripture passages have been adapted to give us a focal point for meditation each week of the year. Using breathing prayer, we can use these as "arrow prayers" like the Jesus Prayer used in Orthodox Spirituality. Start by finding a meditative bodily position, whether seated or walking. Then repeat the Scriptural passage over and over as you breathe slowly. You may also use Prayer Beads or a Rosary to help you focus and keep track of your repetitions. The goal is to "treasure" these Truths, and store them deep within our self, so we become what we pray.

Regarding Scriptural Translations: I prefer Bible translations that include the entire Canon of Scripture, including the books which Jesus and Paul quoted, but Protestants have hidden away. Thus, I usually use the New Revised Standard Version [NRSV], the Common English Bible [CEB], or the New American Bible Revised Edition [NABRE]. For Hindu and Buddhist Scriptures, I am quite fond of Eknath Easwaran’s editions of the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Dhammapada. In addition, if you want a readable modern compendium of the main Vedic texts, read Wendy Doniger's "Rig Veda" from Penguin Classics. Although translations abound for Chinese Scriptures, for the Confucian Analects (Lun Yu), I have found the translations by Edward Slingerland and Nicholas Tamblyn to be helpful. For the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing), I find the Penguin Classics translation helpful, and the paraphrase of Stephen Mitchell inspiring. Given how short the Tao readings are, it may be helpful to read both versions side-by-side. For the Quran, I often switch between the Oxford World Classics edition and Itani’s Quran in Modern English. And finally, for the Sikh tradition a very helpful, modern, and concise abridgment of the massive Guru Granth Sahib can be found in “Hymns of the Sikh Gurus” by Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh.

The strangest thing about Stranger Things

We did a marathon of the newest half season of Stranger Things over the last couple of nights. As a spiritual guide, I think the strangest thing about Stranger Things is their ability to reimagine evil as demonic, predatory, grotesque, and cruel, while taking into account our newest understandings of trauma, in a way that is robustly super-natural as well as meta-scientific.  We have allowed people to reimagine wicked demons and evil spirits for an age of quantum physics. 

However, this is not the truly strange part. 

So-called Empty Rituals

In the Episcopal Church we have a bunch of rituals, such as standing, sitting, bowing, crossing, eating little white wafers, and everyone drinking from the same fancy metal cup. But every group of people who gathers together on a regular basis develops rituals: Handshakes and high fives. Nicknames and catch phrases. Ways of entering and exiting and walking and sitting. All the way up to songs and chants, flames and incense, pictures and clothing, symbols and fancy hats, statues and architectural styles. Humans are ritual beings and we can’t stop creating rituals even if we tried (and we’ve tried, oh boy we’ve tried). 

Should Holy Communion be open or closed?

One of the hottest debates of the Episcopal General Convention this year is the subject of “Open” versus “Closed” Communion. The battle lines have been drawn. On one side are those who want communion open to “all people” as “God’s people”. They feel that closed communion is “theological insider baseball” used as an excuse for “gatekeeping” by a hierarchy which implicitly denies God’s Love for all. On the other side are those who fear lack of adequate preparation for reception of the sacrament for those who are not baptized into the Covenant People of the Church. For these people, it isn’t gatekeeping, but maintaining the vital link between the “sacrament of new birth” into the Covenant Family in Baptism, and the “family meal” which is served in the Eucharist. 

Let's explore this issue, shall we...

The Ethics of Lesser Evils and Greater Goods

As an ethics teacher and pastor I have noticed that many people reflexively think most choices are a stark contrast between “good versus evil”. In reality, very few choices are that clear cut.

A Prayer for Juneteenth

I wrote this as a private devotion as I reflected on Juneteenth. Perhaps it might help you or your faith community. 

Is Love stronger than hate?

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion." (Jeremiah 31.3)

Jesus said: "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." (John 12.32)

Some have wondered what will win in the end: God's Love or human sin and hatred. Hate from a finite being is by definition, finite hate. Love from an infinite Being is by definition, infinite Love. The quantitative and qualitative difference between finite and infinite is by definition, infinite. Therefore God’s Love is infinitely more powerful and persuasive than even the greatest amount of finite hate, and that infinite Love will not give up or let down until it has, after ages of ages, transformed all finite hate into infinite Love. 

Why you matter

Life can be difficult, and we all have days when we wonder who we are, why we are here, and if any of this matters. And when I have days like this, here is something that reminds me why I matter. Perhaps this insight might help you on days like this, and help remind you why you matter. And it starts with God:

Where Freedom and Determinism Meet

It was God who created humankind in the beginning, and he left them in the power of their own free choice. If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose. Before each person are life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given. (Sirach 15.14-17)

So every now and then I see some supposed scientific reason why free will does not exist. This week it is quantum mechanics that supposedly rules out free will (although I’ve more frequently seen quantum mechanics cited as a reason why freedom is an irreducible aspect of the universe). However, let’s say for argument’s sake that there is a way of conceiving the universe as a completely closed system such that, if we know all inputs, we can accurately predict all outputs. In principle, this means all things are determined and there is no free will (no freedom at all in a strong sense). So what are we to make out of these mutually incompatible conclusions that quantum physics can be enlisted to support EITHER determinacy OR indeterminacy?

Another Prayer for Pride Month

A Prayer for my friends and family who celebrate Pride Month:

De Chardin on the necessity of evil in a finite creation

For three decades I have actively pondered and written on the problem of evil and sin. We could sum it up this way: If God is so good, how come life is often so bad? This problem has no one single answer, and is addressed in several overlapping perspectives. But today I was again reading some of the writings of the scientist-theologian Teilhard De Chardin, and he helped me describe yet another perspective that has been bubbling up inside my prayer and meditation for a decade or more. Over 100 years ago, he wrote this:

“We often represent God to ourselves as being able to draw from non-being a world without sorrows, faults, dangers--a world in which there is no damage, no breakage. This is a conceptual fantasy, and makes it impossible to solve the problem of evil. No, we have to accept that in spite of his power God cannot obtain a creature united to himself without necessarily engaging in a struggle with some evil.” (Teilhard De Chardin, Christianity and Evolution: Reflections on Science and Religion, location 360)

In this, and the rest of the essay after this, I hear him saying the following:

Where should we pray?

With all the troubling news that happens on a regular basis, we are inundated with people telling us they are offering their “thoughts and prayers” for these situations. And we are also asked to pray for these events and the people involved in them. But where exactly should we offer these prayers?

Proems and Poetry

I am singularly non-spectacular in the poetry I write, and spectacularly obscure and meandering in the prose I write (hence the name of this nearly 20 year old blog: nate's INCOHERENT babble). Thus it was recently that I realized I often combine the two mediocre art forms I enjoy— prose and poetry— into one meta-mediocre art form: The proem. 

The proem is a poem that is far too didactic and expositional to be enjoyable, with far too little connective tissue and logical linkages and tedious footnoting to be taken seriously as an essay. Thus, a proem is a merger of two insignificant art forms into one truly trivial art form.

So, I have created a new category of blog: Poetry and Proems. Enjoy, if you enjoy that kind of thing.

Mark Nine Twenty Four

A Proem...

A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

Recently a good friend of mine asked me a great question. He is a person of considerable spiritual depth and commitment to Christ, yet he has never been part of Evangelicalism. And he asked: 

What do [Evangelicals] mean by accepting Jesus as one’s “personal” Lord? Or having a “personal” relationship with Jesus? Like do they mean some sort of "warming-of-the-heart" kind of experience? Or is it some rejection of [the idea that Christ must be] mediated through the Church as an institution?

As someone who came to faith in Christ in the Evangelical world of the early 1990's, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I have a "personal relationship with Christ" which began when I "accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior". I have a definite time when Jesus became real to me, and I can pinpoint when I prayed a "sinner's prayer" to receive Jesus. And I have "witnessed" to thousands of people the lifesaving power of Jesus, known in his death and resurrection. I have shared the "four spiritual laws". I have asked people "who is on the throne" of their life. So, I began my response as follows:

On the meaning of Kenosis

What does it mean for God to be incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ? To get at this, let's begin with a thought experiment. Try to differentiate between what makes your self “you” and the powers that your self wields. You have a self consciousness of “I, me, my”. Your self also wields powers like physical extension and movement, knowledge and speech. You could be yourself while diminishing in power: If you lost some limbs or lost some memories, you would not cease to be yourself. You would still have a continuous experience of “I, me, my” animating your powers and experiencing your experiences. 

In a similar way, the Divine Self empties its powers to become incarnate... 

John Seven Twenty Four

“Do not judge by appearances...”

Let not popularity or power beguile you 

Do not look at self promotion or propaganda

Don’t be fooled by masks or makeup 

Or the sly salesmanship of snake oil sellers

Confusion is their strategy

False promises their bait

For they whisper what you want to hear in one ear

While their fingers pick your pockets

“But judge with right judgment.”

There is a standard we stand or fall before

There is a justice to which we are accountable

There is a Love who wants the best for all her children

There is eternal Beauty, Truth, and Goodness

That calls us home

And our judgments must point in that direction

Or they will direct us to destruction 

(A Meditation on John 7:24) 

On reading while walking

This is probably old hat to many people, or just not needed for your lifestyle. But if this helps, here’s a life hack: I love reading, and the experience of seeing and digesting the written word. Audio books or podcasts or lectures are nice, but don’t really do the same thing for me. But the problem with reading is that it is very sedentary.