On Faithful Living and Dying

After the recent loss of my paternal grandmother, I find myself thinking about what constitutes a life well-lived, and a death well-died.  When we're looking back at a life, especially a very long life, what "counts"?  What do we focus on as the essence of a person's existence?  Are we permitted to include not only virtues, but vices and flaws as well?  Do we look at the uncorrupted years of youth?  Or middle-adulthood, when one's career was in full swing?  Or do we fixate on the last days and the manner of death?  Does dying well make up for a life lived poorly?  Does dying poorly trump a life lived well?

I suppose the most fitting response to the question "What counts?" is yet another question: "For whom?"  The individual herself?  Those of us left behind?  God?  And I've come to believe that it's never too early to ask these questions.  What is it that is most meaningful in my life?  In what ways is my life meaningful to others?  Am I spending my time and energy doing what I really feel called to do?  How do I hope my loved ones will respond to my absence?

As always, it's easier to ask the probing questions than to answer them... especially since these are questions that only we can answer for ourselves.  But as a community of faith, we are graced with individuals in our lives who can help us to discern our gifts and passions, our fears and our growing edges.  We are called to be resources for each other, to be mirrors of God's image, to inspire and to be inspired.  And if one thing is certain, it is that we cannot do these things alone.

On Spiritual Disciplines

One of the most important documents within United Methodist tradition is the Book of Discipline.  The title can be rather offputting, as the term "discipline" has acquired a slightly negative connotation.  We typically think of it in the context of being disciplined by someone else, and - pray tell - who among us has fond childhood memories of being punished or chastised?  While the word can be used to indicate punishment, it is more closely related to the idea of training behaviors through instruction and exercise.  In this sense, a discipline is something that helps us achieve a particular way of life.

Some of us take on disciplines related to our physical health.  We exercise our bodies, we are careful about what foods we ingest, or we make sure that we get regular checkups from our physicians.  Some of us have disciplines that help us to be more balanced emotionally or socially: honoring a regular time to be with friends, setting aside time to simply be alone, being attentive to our thoughts so that we don't fixate on the negative, etc.  And as a faith community, we can help hold each other accountable for personal goals like these - the early Methodists certainly did!  But the Christian tradition also has a long history of attending to the spiritual disciplines.

From the monastic rule of silence to the practice of saying grace before mealtimes, Christians have placed significant value in the idea of regular spiritual practices.  Whether taking nature walks to clear the mind and commune with God, or writing music or poetry or pure thought, or abstaining from particular foods or substances for religious reasons, spiritual disciplines can help bring us closer to God, closer to each other, and closer to being the people we feel called to be.  The beauty of it all is that by voluntarily binding ourselves to these disciplines, we are made free to be and to become.  By submitting to these habitual practices, we are empowered.  I encourage you to consider the role of spiritual disciplines in your life - those which you already have, or those which you may wish to take on.  Healthy disciples make healthy congregations, which in turn can bring healing to a broken world.