Holy Habits: A Message from Dean Thompson
Dear Cathedral Family & Friends,
In our culture, “discipline” is a word that most often connotes punishment or correction of error. That’s unfortunate, because in its original meaning discipline refers to commitment to a pursuit or practice, most fully realized in what the ancient monastics called a “rule of life.” For those monastics, their daily rule—their discipline—included prayer, study, work, and rest. A regular discipline provided the monks’ lives with structure and balance.
Contemporary society long ago lost much of its structure and balance, and these past two years of pandemic have upended what little we had left. The pandemic has laid upon many of us an existential soupy malaise. I hear story after story from people who say, “I’m so tired, and I don’t know why” or “These days it takes me forever to accomplish even the simplest task” and, of course, “I never used to watch television, but I now vegetate in front of the T.V. nightly, binging on Netflix.”
We’ve traded a frenetic pre-pandemic existence for a drowsy, lethargic COVID one. Neither is ideal, and neither is healthy. What can we do? Our monastic forebearers would encourage us to adopt some discipline to restore our structure and balance.
As a personal anecdote, for me this discipline has taken the form of playing guitar. For decades, I was a plodding guitar strummer, barely able to fret five chords and plunk out a simple tune. But early in the pandemic, I picked up my guitar and stumbled into the daily discipline of practicing. Almost despite myself, two years later I’m a fairly-decent guitarist. My discipline is such that I feel the loss if I miss a day of playing. The guitar brings me joy in a world where joy is sometimes elusive.
In modern-day spiritual parlance, we might call a rule of life the adoption of “holy habits,” regular activities and practices that nurture and further our relationship with God. As we enter the season of Lent, I encourage each of us to take on a holy habit. It might be guitar; it might be some artistic expression; it might be a daily walk in God’s creation; it might be the regular study of Holy Scripture. Whatever holy habit you adopt, it will restore balance and structure to your life, which is the first step toward spiritual health—as well as health of other kinds.
As a final, but most important note, I’ll offer this: If you are fully vaccinated and otherwise healthy, I hope one holy habit will be a return to in-person worship. As COVID numbers continue to fall in Houston, this Lent is the ideal time to rejoin the worship and community life of your Cathedral. Participating in church has been for many a casualty of the pandemic, but it’s one that can easily be restored with the discipline of a holy habit. Our Lenten worship and our Robert C. Stuart Lenten Series will most definitely restore balance and nourish the soul.
Grace and peace,
The Very Reverend Barkley Thompson, Dean
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