Advice Before Beginning Spiritual Work
I am compiling information about what we like to call spiritual disciplines. The following is a sober warning to beware about thinking we’re accomplishing too much in the spiritual life.
From a letter C. S. Lewis sent to Arthur Greeves, 15 June, 1930:
“Another fine thing in The Princess and Curdie [by George MacDonald] is where Curdie, in a dream, keeps on dreaming that he has waked up and then finding that he is still in bed. This means the same as the passage where Adam says to Lilith ‘Unless you unclose your hand you will never die and therefore never wake. You may think you have died and even that you have risen again: but both will be a dream.’
“This has a terrible meaning, specially for imaginitive people. We read of spiritual efforts, and imagination makes us believe that, because we enjoy the idea of doing them, we have done them. I am apalled to see how much of the change which I thought I had undergone lately was only imaginary. The real work seems still to be done. It is so fatally easy to confuse an aesthetic appreciation with the spiritual life with the life itself–to dream that you have waked, washed, and dressed, and then to find yourself still in bed.”
What are the things that I have tighty clasped in my hands? Are there ideas and expectaions that I cherish outside of His Love and will for me? How can I learn to give Him all the faith He’s given to me and open up my hands?
Maybe that’s why I love to pray with my hands open and palms up. Once I tried a Tai Chi class but I only lasted about 5 minutes because I kept placing my palms up and this didn’t fly with the instructor. She would come over and sweetly turn my palms over. I think we both realized this just wasn’t for me.
I think C. S. Lewis is so cute here, ‘the real work seems still to be done…’ such a funny way to put it because the ‘real’ work is letting go, trusting, giving over the outcome to Him.
Curdie is dreaming that he will get up and save the princess. When he does really wake up, he saves many people but not the princess, she’s been safe and sound all along. Sometimes all of our ’spiritual efforts’ as Lewis put it, have a completely different purpose than we thought. Actually I think of our spiritual efforts are pretty useless. It’s that ‘unclosing of our hands’ that God is waiting for, that complete willingness to trust in Him even when the thread of His leading is taking us on a difficult unexpected path.
Eph. 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
I love the paradox here… we are not saved through our works but we are God’s workmanship created to do good works and all it takes to be His little good work doer is really unclose our hands to ourselves and our death grip on our wants and desires and trust in His grace, the free undeserved gift of Love and Life He continually offers.
That’s worth waking up for
cindyred60
October 8, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Wow – this is a great quote (and thoughts) from C.S. Lewis and from your first commenter.
I’m afraid I’m guilty of just that very thing often. Thinking that I’ve “done” more or have accomplished much more in my spiritual life than I really have. I WANT to grow in grace by faith, but then I have a hard time letting go of worrying about self and things around me.
I’ve been thinking a lot about these things the past several days as we’ve seen our country and the world around us crumble and fall in so many different ways that will be far reaching and long lasting, I think.
I deeply believe (and hope) that our focus as Christians will be shown to others more strongly than ever before. To God be the glory, in all things.
Dee
Dee Andrews
October 10, 2008 at 5:43 pm
I think the temptation to think more of our accomplishments is entirely normal. I think, too, the temptation to attribute these so-called accomplishments to our own efforts is also very normal, very (to use a Pauline expression) “of the flesh.”
I think, though, there’s an equal and opposite temptation: To think that we “do” nothing.
The power to open our hand rests in our own volition; God, at least as far as I can tell, does not pry our fingers from our palms.
This may be the same kind of paradox as Ironside’s door: We may, on this side of eternity, say accurately that we do this by our own power. On the other side, we may see the Holy Spirit behind the doing of every thing.
Ray
October 14, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Some good comments here. Agreeing with Ray and others that it’s not helpful to regard what we do as ‘nothing’. God certainly does not regard it as nothing: when done to honour him, and with the values of his Kingdom, it becomes treasure in heaven. It strikes me that Cindy’s quote from Eph 2:4-10 concludes with the thought that we are *God’s workmanship* created in Christ Jesus *to do good works*. God in Christ is the gracious sovereign initiator, and yet the works are what we do, and in Christ we become doers of good.
My view is that the idea that what we do is worthless is grounded more in Greek thought than well infomred theology.
Great discussion.
Dave Groenenboom, Brisbane
http://davidgroenenboom.com
davidgroenenboom
October 22, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Maybe the trouble lies in the “concern” with regard to our works their value…maybe it would be good to treat them as we treat our trials and failures…at the end of the day putting them into Gods hands knowing the “the day will declare whether they are gold or garbage” Tomorrow is another day…or not.
P.S. Good to see ya back!…see? I told you Federal prison ain’t so bad:):):)
Vic…
Vic
December 3, 2008 at 4:39 pm