06.21.08

Discipline is what helps people flourish over a lifetime of effort. Without discipline there is no freedom. The undisciplined ballerina can never be free to be a ballerina. Without discipline we cannot flourish. With discipline we are free. With discipline we flourish. Discipline is what a disciple does: a disciple of jazz, a disciple of cinematography. Discipline is a defining feature of a mature human being.

Today I am grateful...

• that this headache I woke with is slowing leaving
• that I rarely have headaches anymore. As a young person I had them often.
• that acupressure on my sinuses brings some relief
• that at this moment there isn't a drop of drama in my life
• for the availability of food, water and shelter--and prayers for those that have little of none of these things

We need the grace of God. We need friends willing to walk with us as we climb out of the valley of slavery to self and bad ingrained habits and into the fields of joy and freedom and renewed vigor. Discipline is a mechanism that helps us rightly order our lives under God’s sovereign grace in the company of kindred souls so that we can become all that we are meant to become.

With discipline I learn to be centered, not distracted; diligent, not lazy; healthy, not unhealthy. With it I learn to develop a good rhythm for my life and work instead of allowing myself to be yanked around by every demanding appetite that crawls into my belly. With discipline I can learn how to be faithful to the vision God has given me for my life. I can remember that it will take my entire life to fulfill that vision—not this weekend, not this year. I can even be excited that my life’s calling extends into eternity where things more fabulous than anything I can yet imagine await my attention and the work of my hands. ~Diary of an Arts Pastor