Rev. Jane-Elizabeth Brakhage Presents
'Spiritual Discipline'
Rev. Jane-Elizabeth Brakhage, Missouri West Conference UMC
(a good friend of Rev. Michael Lee Burgess, shared with permission).
The Spiritual Discipline Of Study
The next Spiritual Discipline that we will look at is study. The first thing that we
must do is distinguish between devotional reading and study. Devotional reading is
getting a short meditation or thought for the day. Study according to Richard Foster
is "analytical" (The Celebration of Discipline, p. 64). The purpose of study is to
change our thought habits so that they conform more to God's. We weed out those thought
habits that are contrary to God's ways and replace them with habits that are in line
with God's.
There are four steps to study.
"The first step is repetition" (p. 64). In computer
jargon there is a saying, garbage in garbage out (GIGO). If we put garbage into our minds,
we will get garbage out. Repetition helps train the mind in beneficial thought habits.
Foster states that "it is not even important that the person believe what he or she is
repeating, only that it be repeated. The inner mind is thus trained and will eventually
respond by modifying behavior to conform" to the repeated thought (p. 65).
Psychology has known this for years. "This is why the issue of television programming
is so important. With innumerable murders being portrayed each evening on prime time TV,
the repetition alone trains the inner mind in destructive thought" habits (p. 65). It is
on this principal that psychologists will have their patients repeat positive affirmations
about themselves so that soon the patient will modify their behavior to match the affirmation.
"The second step is concentration". This is difficult. Think about how many times during
a day you are trying to do two or more things at once. Sometimes it is having the TV or
radio on while you are doing something else. I am playing a CD while typing this. Our
brains constantly receive "thousands of stimuli, each one of which is stored in its memory
banks while it focuses on only a few" (p. 65). This inability to focus on one thing
dissipates our energy. When we concentrate "on what is being studied, learning is
vastly increased" (p. 65).
"The third step of study is comprehension". Foster says that "comprehension focuses on
the knowledge of the truth" (p. 66). Sometimes we may have to read something over and
over again before we finally come to a comprehension of what it is that we are reading.
"The fourth step of study is reflection". This is the step where we sit and think about
what we have and the implications for our lives. Foster writes that "in reflection we come
to understand not only our subject matter, but ourselves" (p. 66).
When we think of study, we first think of books, but there are other things for us to
study as well. And the study of books is not as easy as we may think. Foster talks
about there being three intrinsic and three extrinsic rules to studying books. The
three intrinsic rules are understanding the book, interpreting the book, and evaluating
the book. Understanding the book is looking for what the author is saying.
Interpreting the book looks for what the author meant. And evaluating the book
looks at the question of whether the author was right or wrong. We often jump to
evaluating before we have thoroughly understood or interpreted the book.
To assist the intrinsic rules, we need the extrinsic rules of experience, other books,
and live discussion. Experience is pretty obvious. John Wesley knew that we always
bring our experiences of life with us when we study something. Whatever we read will
be in light of what we know about life.
Other books could include dictionaries, encyclopedias, and commentaries. Other books
could also include other writings. One example that Foster uses is that "people will
find it exceedingly difficult to understand the New Testament books of Romans or
Hebrews. . .without a grounding in the literature of the Old Testament" (p. 68).
Live discussion can be very helpful. I have found, and Foster agrees, that we learn
more about a book when we talk about it with others. Other people will read the same
book as we do and come up with different insights and conclusions. Sharing these
helps everyone grow.
So what are some of the books we can study? The first one is the Bible.
John Wesley called himself a man of one book which did not mean that he only read one book.
He read many books. But the Bible was the most important book he read.
When you study the Bible you can approach it several ways. You could take
"a major book of the Bible, like Genesis or Jeremiah, and read it straight through.
Notice the flow of the book. Note areas of difficulty and return to them later.
Jot down thoughts and impressions. Sometimes it is wise to combine the study of
the Bible with the study of some great, devotional classic" (p. 71).
Or you might try a smaller book of the Bible "and read it through each day for a month.
More than any single effort this will put the structure of the book into your mind" (p. 71).
Foster suggests that you keep a journal of what you learn.
Some of the Christian classics that you might want to consider are The Confessions of
St. Augustine, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, The Practice of the Presence
of God by Brother Lawrence, The Little Flowers of St. Francis by Brother Ugolino,
The journal of George Fox, Journal of John Wesley, A Serious Call to a Devout and
Holy Life by William Law and Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (p. 72).
But books are not the only things to study. We can study nature and observe those around
us as well as ourselves. When we observe relationships watch "how much of our speech is
aimed at justifying our actions" (p. 74). If we make "ourselves . . .the
principal [subject] of study we will be delivered from a haughty spirit" (p. 74).
"Remember, we are not trying to condemn or judge anyone; we are only trying to learn.
If we do find a judging spirit within ourselves, we observe that and learn" (p. 75).
One of the things that Foster has found helpful is to schedule a two or three
day study retreat. Now we all have busy schedules, as does Foster. He has found
"the most difficult problem is not finding time but convincing myself that this is
important enough to set aside the time" (p. 70). We will always find the time to
do the things that we want to do.
Until next time, may the peace and grace of Christ be with you always.
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