From the time we're born till the day we die our reality is changing
for an infant reality is mother's breast and a crib
for a toddler it's his room, his family, a TV set, some toys
for a young child it's the neighborhood and school
for a teenager it's learning to drive, friends, exploring life and puberty
for a young adult it's college or career
for a newlywed it's spouse
for the young family it's raising children
for the old family it's dealing with teenagers and college
for the old adult it's retirement and grandchildren
We are born into a life of change
And these changes don't just occur with age
they occur in everyday events and circumstances
things like finances, health, companions, employment, birth's and deaths
any change in environment and/or relationships
So how do we deal with all this change?
Well, we draw maps!
At each stage we draw a map to deal with our problems
and often our proficiency at dealing with each reality is reflective of
the nature of our map
babies cry when hungry, teenagers talk endlessly on the phone, college
students study and party
but the real problems come in when we refuse to modify or redraw our maps
in fact, many stop drawing once they become young adults,
some even as teenagers
they become "set in their ways"
and when we do redraw, we often draw just what is required to resolve
the issue that initiated the redraw
So, what we do is develop models, or maps to deal with the reality
that's in view
Unfortunately reality changes with our view,
today isn't the same as yesterday
and tomorrow is different than today and yesterday
What causes us to change our maps?
You might think education
actually education and information tends to do little for us in this regard
education seldom leads to change,
instead it often reinforces our latest map
as we tend to educate in areas that "support" our map
more frequently it is pain that causes us to change
or more exactly, "the discipline of life"
What is discipline?
Instruction? Training? Chastisement?
A set of rules? Punishment and correction? Habits?
Discipline is all of these things and none of these things
It is the force that leverages problems upon us
and motivates us to draw and redraw our map
Discipline is reinforcement to those things that work
and aggravation to those that don't
Discipline is the limits within which our maps agree with reality
We are at peace when we are well within the limits and in distress when
we venture far outside the limits
In every sense of the word,
discipline IS the boundary of the "greater reality"
From our view discipline is "learning how to deal with reality"
In essence it is our model, our "world view", our map
As there are various disciplines for various views of reality,
sciences for example,
there can of course be only one true discipline for the "greater reality"
and while our models, our maps, our views may work in some circumstances
they can never work in all as that would require
an absolute knowledge of the "greater reality"
and a perfect understanding of ALL disciplines
Is God this "greater reality"?
I'll only answer that one way,
eventually we are all confronted with reality
as children, teenagers, adults, eventually in death
and when our map doesn't work,
reality inflicts pain because we are outside the "discipline of life"
Now how does discipline apply to the non-believe?
He is forced to rely on his own education, he studies a discipline
and it can be easily seen that education doesn't really change anything
Education tends to cement and reinforce the current map
as we tend to ignore the pain the problems of reality present in favor
of what soothes the ego
In fact that is often the motive behind education, the learning of an
"attractive discipline"
And so education often fails to encourage change, instead it tends to
reinforce stagnation
and generates a narrowing mindset as the education gets deeper into a
single discipline
Change requires a transforming force NOT an elaborating force
What is this transforming force?
It starts with a three-fold mindset
The recognition of a changing view of reality
coupled with the willingness to adjust oneself
combined with the realization of our own limitations versus our
aspirations
In other words,
I know I need to change
I want to change
Yet I can't seem to change
{7:14} For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. {7:15} For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. {7:16} If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. {7:17} Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. {7:18} For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. {7:19} For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. {7:20} Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. {7:21} I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. {7:22} For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: {7:23} But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. {7:24} O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? {7:25} I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 7:14-25
For the believer, this transforming force is Jesus Christ?
The believer relies on the map-maker, Jesus Christ
This is why Jesus said, "I am the truth, the life, and the way"
His map is the one that contains the "greater reality"
The believer that "heeds" His voice follows Him
that man is "Made His disciple"!
Do you have things confronting you in your life?
Considering redrawing your map?
Let Jesus help!
He is the transforming force
the discipline God desires us to have
or we can refuse and learn from the hard knocks of life
How sad it is to see the stubbornness of those who have
locked themselves into a reality that refuses discipline
the chaos of their life leaves them with no stability
How much sadder to see the stubbornness of those who have
locked themselves into a discipline that refuses to see the changing
nature of their reality
The regimen of their life yields them stagnation
Eventually their stubbornness destroys their life
This is a great paradox that can only be resolved in one way
How blessed are those who adjust themselves
to the ever changing realities of their life
and find an anchor in the "greater reality"
{16:22} Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. {16:23} But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. {16:24} Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. {16:25} For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. {16:26} For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 16:22-26
The road of life is a hard journey alone
but when one walks with the Discipline of the Greater Reality
one walks in real life
for the reality he had, he's lost willingly
and the reality he's gained has been given to him
thus he finds he is never alone
![[pulsating cross]](astar2.gif)
