Getting There

"The disciple is one who has the new name written all over him" -- Oswald.

"Muscle memory." My second son, Carter, throws discus, and he uses this phrase to describe the relationship between practice and competition. If you repeat the process of spinning and releasing with the correct form enough times, then when you step into the ring for competition -- with mind racing and stomach churning -- your muscles will remember what to do instinctively. They will perform what they have been trained to do. Creating those memories, however, takes hours and hours of practice -- not a practice here and a practice there but three hours a day, five days a week for weeks and weeks on end.

The parallel I'm attempting to draw between today's Oswald and throwing practice isn't so much about discipline and the Christian life (although I'm pretty sure a case for that parallel could be made) but about time spent abiding with God and muscle/mind/behavior memory. By the end of May when he went to Nationals, Carter was virtually pickled in throwing technique. He may have spent more time with his discus than his textbooks. The index finger of his throwing hand was deeply calloused. His calf and shoulder muscles sculpted. The tendons in his wrist inflamed. He didn't just wear a t-shirt that said "thrower;" the word was engraved all over his body.

If I make a practice of abiding with God, then his name will be engraved all over my life -- not just in spiritual spots. I won't need to worry about performing because my mind/my lips/my body will respond instinctively and in a manner consistent with the love in which they have been steeped.