Real life disciples: rhythm and routine

I was a middle school teacher back in the day – 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science. It was my first job fresh out of college. I’m dating myself here sharing this, but this time of year always brings me back.

My classroom was on the third floor, right above the playground where all the students would line up coming in from morning recess. On the first day of the new school year, I would rig some speakers out of my classroom windows, and blare over the playground the Soul II Soul classic “Back to Life, Back to Reality.” It got a good laugh every year, but also some moans and groans from the students.

I can’t tell you though how much I love this time of year. As a parent of older teens and young adults, the summer months can be a small form of torture for me. There are sleepovers and game nights almost every day, to all hours of the night. And, then the next morning when all the kids are sleeping in (to all hours of the day), I have to get up and go to work. By August, I am just plain tired. So, when the school year comes back around, I find some joy in the return to rhythm and routine. Back to reality.

This all rings true for me for what real discipleship is like. When it comes to faith and spiritual things, people many times can tend to focus on the big things – big spiritual experiences, big acts of service, extraordinary commitments that often aren’t sustainable, etc. But, in my experience over the years, real discipleship gets its traction in the little, everyday things.

It’s the stuff you do consistently, over time that gets momentum. You could say that the real measuring stick for a disciple is honesty and consistency. A good analogy might be going on a diet. If my aim is to lose weight, the real key would be to consistently stick to what my new diet is, and to be completely honest with myself and others over the course of the diet. I wouldn’t be that successful to just say that I was on a diet, but then every chance I had when no one else was looking, cheat and eat stuff I shouldn’t be eating. Honesty and consistency are key.

The same is true with discipleship. Think about the root word of disciple – discipline. Real discipleship requires the disciplines of a disciple. The daily habits, if you will. You won’t really make much progress if you just say that you want to be a disciple. It actually requires some effort; the daily work of patterning your life after that of Christ.

I worked for the past 10 years or so in Denver for the Augustine Institute where we developed and launched the youth ministry resource, YDisciple. One of the sessions we developed was called H.A.B.I.T.S. – The Disciplines of a Disciple. The acronym was a simple way to speak about the daily disciplines that are characteristic of disciples: Holy hour, Accountability, Bible, Invest, Tell and Sacraments.

The rhythm and routine of a new school year are a great time to incorporate some new disciplines in our lives. How is God inviting me to grow this year? How is He moving in my heart and drawing me toward Him? What are some daily disciplines that I can start doing, with honesty and consistency, over the next couple months to respond to that movement?

That kind of response won’t just happen by accident or on its own. It requires some intentionality and planning. We periodically need to take time to reflect on how God is inviting me to grow toward Him. You don’t need to overwhelm yourself. Start with one thing. Pick one discipline that isn’t really a part of your life and just start doing it. There are tons of resources on the internet for every one of them.

And, many parishes are offering access to these kinds of disciplines through various programs and classes. If you can’t find something at your own parish, contact us at the chancery and we will point you to some resources at a parish near you or to something online.

As we begin this new school year, let’s embrace the new rhythm and routine of back-to-school time to jump start our own commitment to discipleship!

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