31 January 2010
Discipline
02/06/10 10:09 AM Filed in: From the Pastor
"Discipline is such a dirty word.
It creates pictures
of pain and self-denial.
Freedom on the other hand
makes me think of
birds soaring in joyous flight,
children running on the beach
without a care in the world.
Yet freedom WITHOUT discipline
is not freedom at all.
It's permissiveness which leads to
the bondage of self-indulgence.
The bird soaring in flight
is not 'free' from the laws of nature
but free to enjoy the disciplines
of flight based on those very laws.
We are not 'free' from the rhythm of life,
rather we are free through the rhythm of life
to experience life to the very fullest.
The disciplines of work and rest, worship and play,
are not a hair shirt to chafe us,
but a way of life which leads to perfect freedom:
Freedom from unbridled ambition;
Freedom from self-centered restlessness;
Freedom from spiritual deadness.
Freedom from guilt.
Discipline - freedom indeed."
It creates pictures
of pain and self-denial.
Freedom on the other hand
makes me think of
birds soaring in joyous flight,
children running on the beach
without a care in the world.
Yet freedom WITHOUT discipline
is not freedom at all.
It's permissiveness which leads to
the bondage of self-indulgence.
The bird soaring in flight
is not 'free' from the laws of nature
but free to enjoy the disciplines
of flight based on those very laws.
We are not 'free' from the rhythm of life,
rather we are free through the rhythm of life
to experience life to the very fullest.
The disciplines of work and rest, worship and play,
are not a hair shirt to chafe us,
but a way of life which leads to perfect freedom:
Freedom from unbridled ambition;
Freedom from self-centered restlessness;
Freedom from spiritual deadness.
Freedom from guilt.
Discipline - freedom indeed."