Routines

Chris Craig is on vacation. Today’s column was originally published on LakelandLocal.com

I can still remember the first time I tried to walk all the way around Lake Hollingsworth. All I could keep my eyes on was the other side of the lake and how far it was from where I was. What I found I had to do was break the walk into smaller increments of distance as the whole lake just seemed so daunting. As with any major journey, seeing the short steps and building a routine eventually gave me the results I wanted.

My intention was not to simply to get myself around Lake Hollingsworth though. My purpose was lasting weight loss, endurance and health.

The same can be said about community action and personal spiritual growth. Sometimes we keep our eyes so focused on our intended destination or outcome that we forget to really live on the path we are currently walking. Just like we exercise routines build physical endurance and health we also need to build routines for spiritual growth and social action.

The Apostle Paul used many acrobatic metaphors when he spoke about spiritual growth. Words like: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.” (2 Tim. 4:7) Exercise metaphors “… let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” (Heb 12:1) Or “I press on toward the goal… for which God has called me…” (Philippians 3:14) Paul uses these physical images to drive home the point that a spiritual walk is about building routines that promote personal and community life change.

One of the proven attributes of a good routine is that it is able to sustain the miles. Whether you wake up driven and motivated ready to take on the world or wake up –on the wrong side of the bed, a routine should sustain you.

Japanese Priest, Shunryu Suzuki once said “Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.”

The question is, what routines for spiritual care and community care have you established in your life? A well rounded, healthy life is about maintaining steady breath. We inhale with personal, emotional and spiritual care and we exhale by reaching out and touching the lives of our community.

The inhale of weekly routine begins with a couple days of–stolen time. In the early hours of the morning, I peel myself out of bed and journal, read, pray or walk. I call it –stolen time—because no one in their right mind should be up at those early hours! I think of them as– stolen hours– because my life so often feels like every other hour of the day is taken up by someone else’s ideas of what I should be doing with my time.

Lately my weekly exhale in regard to community care, has been to spend some hours on the weekend speaking or teach at a church. Or I might visit a shut-in or church member in the hospital.

If you have not built these type of routines in your life, remember “The first steps to the million mile journey begins with the first step.” (Tao Ti Chang). You might want to start a routine of walking Lake Hollingsworth at the beginning of your day, or taking an afternoon to walk through the Polk Art Museum. Maybe personal healing time for you means finding family time to throw a ball with your children or planning a special weekly date for you and your significant other. Personal spiritual routines are about finding –life giving activities. Whether that means coffee with an open minded friend or quite devotional time between you and God. Personal spiritual routines are simply about finding time to be mindful, finding a time to just –be.

And then when you feel empowered and nourished you might give back to your community by volunteering at a shelter, reaching out to a depressed friend or visiting shut-ins from your neighborhood or church.

This Saturday my plan is to be recharged by a group of friends over coffee and breakfast at Mitchell’s. Then walk downtown– and instead of giving a dollar to a homeless man– I’m going to stop and hear their story.

What is in your personal and communal routine going to involve today?