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By Rob Des Cotes
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:36
Perhaps the spiritual life is like rocket science after all.
Its goals are just as far-reaching and, with every failed attempt, the reasons for
quitting seem just as compelling. If you've ever seen the movie October Sky you'll remember the homemade rockets that, for a few seconds, carried the hopes of being propelled all the way to outer space only to peter out and fizzle a few hundred meters off the ground. Sound familiar?
What is it that motivated rocket scientists to persevere in spite of so many setbacks if it wasn't the certain faith that, one way or another, outer space was within reach. How many times must we too go back to the drawing board before we see the results we hope for in our spiritual life? A new insight often grips us with fresh motivation and a commitment to aspire to what it indicates possible. We suddenly find it easy to envision
change and, with that fresh wind, we feel the incentive to try new ways or to adopt new practices. Perhaps we've read Brother Lawrence's The Practice of the Presence of God. We've tasted something of how simple the spiritual life can be, and it's inspired us to cultivate such attentiveness in our day.
Or perhaps, in a sudden epiphany, we've come to recognize once again how every person is uniquely loved by God, and we immediately want to start including that insight in all our encounters. Maybe we've come to a deeper appreciation of prayer, of its essential relationship to progress in the spiritual life, and we feel a renewed dedication to making more for time for it in our week.
In these and many other initiatives we usually begin strong as we zealously set out in the direction of transformation. Visionary courage becomes the fuel that puts our faith into motion. And, with our rocket launched, we watch with hope as it reaches out towards its goals. But what happens once the immediate enthusiasm has gone, when our rocket peters out and lands unceremoniously back on the ground?
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Discouragement (lit. loss of heart) is the fizzling of visionary courage that first accompanied our resolve. Rather than staying the course and keeping to our inspired path, we feel frustrated by our apparent failure and are tempted to give up. How we respond to this experience determines much of our future course. Perhaps we feel more hesitant to ever make such resolutions again lest we risk failure. Or perhaps we begin to rationalize our setback in a way that makes genuine enthusiasm less possible. I guess I'm not cut out for this. Surely this practice is not meditations for spiritual direction necessary for everyone. Maybe I was being too idealistic. Others have more time for this stuff than God can expect from me. But what if the experience of frustration, far from being grounds for quitting, were actually an essential part of the journey.
What greater distance could we travel if our first resolve was to never let go of our initial hopes? Discouragement would then be just a temporary, but necessary state that we only have to bear with until the next updraft. Experience teaches us that if we hold on to our first hope, courage will likely return and once again fuel our faith into action. Like rocket science, perseverance will pay off and, sooner or later, our spiritual hopes will break free from the forces of gravity that keep them earthbound.
We must not break the strings nor throw out the lute when we find
a discord; we must bend our ear to find where the disorder comes
from, and then gently tighten or relax the string as required.
St. Frances de Sales
Rob Des Cotes is a spiritual director and pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He teaches Contemplative Traditions at Trinity Western University, as well as courses on spirituality and the arts at Carey Theological College and Columbia Bible College. Rob also directs Imago Dei (MB), a network of faith communities that encourages the practice of prayer and a transforming relationship with God. Rob is a regular contributor to canadianchristianity.com
To obtain 'Higher than I' go to: www.clementspublishing.com
March 13/2008
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The phrase "works righteousness" usually refers to trying to earn credit for righteousness from God through our works. Is this what you see in this article rather than it dealing with the loss of long-term hope? What is our relationship to "pressing on" and how is this often deterred by premature discouragement? These are important questions for spiritual direction as we deal with ourselves, in relationship to God. I'd be interested in how we can better address the "work" of our spiritual life without uneccessarily raising the spectre of "works righteousness."