18. Spiritual Exercises

The heart of a spiritual life are the continuous actions we take to connect to the Spirit, also known as exercises.  Intellectual activity (such as prayer, Scripture reading or meditation) by itself, whether belief or analysis does not impress the Divine.  The human race is known to say one thing, but to be committed to another.  The human heart reveals itself in what it commits to through continuous actions.

The thief is not one who associates with thieves, or who talks like a thief, or who talks about doing the actions of a thief.  The saint is not the one who talks like a saint, or who lauds the saints, but is one who does the actions of the Divine on earth.  The Spirit is not interested in the superficial, but in the inner character of a person.  And that can only be revealed through actions.

A single action isn’t enough to declare character, as well (although a single action, like someone dying for another, might dramatically represent a person’s character).  Human are not born evil, but they are born weak and inexperienced.  Activity makes us strong and teaches us life lessons.  Even so, a single action may confirm a life in the spirit world, a connection to the Divine, but it is ongoing action over time that transforms us and conforms us to the nature of the Divine.

For these reasons and more, spiritual exercises are the heart of the spiritual life.  Through repeated action, we receive strength through discipline and become new people, people of the Spirit.