Practicing Virtues - Temperance (Update)

Almost two months ago, I published a post on temperance, where I committed to practicing that virtue, and also to give an update about my experiences.

You can view the original post here.

So, how has it been?

Good and bad, to be honest.

As I said in my last post, New Year's Resolutions August Update, my body and mind seemed to rebel against resolutions and commitments right after I made them.

In observing myself, however, I have learned a few things.

Right after I started I was mildly temperate, fluctuating between abstinence and indulgence, at least when it came to eating.

I was heavily distraught by the ebb and flow of my behavior, and thought myself, at one point, utterly incapable of any substantial change in this regard.

I continued to observe myself, and I realized that I needed to go deeper into my problems. It's not just about making a commitment, sit back, and observe how the changes come naturally.

It is not as if behavioral change comes naturally, mysteriously fed by the powerful force of commitments.

I forgot something I mentioned earlier in this blog: maturity doesn't come naturally. It comes with a fight.

Every opportunity that present itself in life is an opportunity to fight or fly, to deal with them with the mind of Christ, or with the mind of the world (Philippians 2:5).

I remembered something that I discovered almost a year ago, where I felt I grew faster than before; that is, that growth has to be intentional, and that every task is an opportunity to ask yourself, "How would Christ do this?"

This simple, and even cliched question, forces you to observe your actions and how they mirror the image of Christ or not.

I started to ask this question more frequently, and the changes it has brought to my life are remarkable!

If we truly believe, that we, as sons and daughters of God, have the mentality of Christ, then we can trust in the subtle guidance of the Spirit when we submit ourselves, and our tasks, to Him.

How would Christ deal with my job? Would He take extra minutes when He has a break?

Would He clean halfheartedly this garbage can? Would He shout back insults to the rude customer?

How would Christ deal with this meal choice? Would He stuff himself with unhealthy food to satisfy His stomach?

Would Christ leave His clothes on the floor because it is more convenient to do so?

These difficult questions, easier ignored, has helped me in making small changes in my behavior. I feel more temperate than before. I feel more in control of the choices I make mostly because, well, I'm giving myself the opportunity to make them.

And that is the key to practicing virtues: giving yourself the opportunity to make constant choices in your life, instead of allowing the old behavioral autopilot of our lives.

For if we are faithful with little, we will be faithful with much.

Practicing Virtues - Temperance

As I was praying one Saturday afternoon, hoping to receive something from God to help me, I heard Him say "practice the virtue of temperance".

I heard those words clearly in my mind, especially the word "practice".

"Practice?" I thought, with a bit of disbelief. "That sounds so Pharisaical" was my first thought.

After all, I thought the whole thing about the pharisees' self righteousness came from their focus on virtues, to the point that God became paradoxically secondary to them. My focus is Christ and my relationship with Him, not virtues.

But I feel this view is myopic, and a focus on God shouldn't necessarily mean an unfocus on virtues. God and virtues are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they should go, by necessity, hand in hand.

Practice also denotes a sense that we will become holy by our own will and force, another mistake of the pharisees. This is something we also want to avoid.

But this is not necessarily so. Practice doesn't exclude grace. What we need more of is not idle grace, but intentional grace.

This is where practice comes from. If we seek God's grace in every step of our practice, knowing full well that we are depended on Him for every godly action, then we can be sure of avoiding the yeast of the pharisees.

All relationships need to be intentional. They don't simply "grow naturally", though some might give the impression that they do.

At the centerpiece of every relationship is love, and real love is intentional.

When Jesus tells us to love our enemies He is also calling us away from this vulgarization and degradation of love, where we water it down to good and happy feelings.

He is calling us into intentional love. He is calling us into real love, not infatuation.

Love is always a choice.

You can't be intentional without planning any actions, and you can't perfect actions without practice.

And so it is, that practice, and indeed, the practice of virtues, is a necessity if we wish to grow in our loving relationship with God.

But enough of that! Let's talk about temperance.

Temperance is defined as moderation in thoughts, actions and feelings. Restrain, self-control. These are all words that come to mind when we think of temperance.

Titus 2: 11-12 tells us "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age" (ESV).

How do we practice temperance? Good ol' self denial is a good way.

Whenever an opportunity comes to satisfy a desire, we can intentionally delay its gratification, or deny it altogether.

Fasting. Having one serving during dinner. Avoiding the snooze button the next morning. No coffee for one week. These are all great ways we can practice temperance in our lives.

I have been trying to work on temperance this week, and I intend to do so for the next month, in many ways.

I'm controlling with more diligence what I eat. Ever since I started practicing this I seem less and less preoccupied with food.

One example of this is how I control my time of eating while I work in the mornings.

I usually wake up with hunger. When I got to my job at 5 am I grabbed something to eat as soon as I got there.

Now I wait until 8 am to eat my breakfast.

Another way is to avoid oversleeping. I overslept a lot last week. This week, I'm trying to wake up earlier and spend the time I slept in prayer.

I feel much better now! So much more balanced! The effort is worth it.

What is your opinion on practicing virtues? Does it lead to Pharisaical self-righteousness? How do you practice temperance in your life?

Early Rising

       It is 4 am. My phone's alarm blasts off insistently. My eyes reluctantly open, as I struggle to get off the gluing bed.

I'm at my job a few minutes before 5 am. The morning sun is still way off, nowhere to be seen. "What are you doing here Jose?!" asks my manager surprised. "You are off today!"

I'm very confused. I go and see the schedule, and indeed, I'm off today. An odd synergy of gladness and anger is brewing inside me.

I see my new schedule, and it shows that I only work afternoons. I return home, glad that I can continue resting. 

"Yay! No more waking up early! Goodbye 4 am!"

Well, as we say in my country for good news that prove to be false, "great joy of donkey!" Because the next week, the opposite, dreaded news are received: I work only mornings now.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!"

That was all I could say.

I love mornings. Unfortunately I almost always sleep through them. I guess you could say I'm a night owl. 

Waking up at 4 am for a night owl is quite possibly a form of corporal punishment, a horrendous practice that is asked of us only in special, extraordinary circumstances.

I felt however, the need and desire to embrace this new change. Perhaps there is a blessing here. I love mornings after all, and experiencing every early morning might be a good thing.

I slowly started to adjust my internal clock by gradually waking up earlier and earlier on my days off. Slowly but surely, my body is adjusting to the change. Nowadays I usually wake up at 6 am.

We tend to see early rising as a form of virtue, productivity and diligence. 

I don't think early rising is good in and of itself, nor a religious practice by which we gain spiritual growth. But it can be an open door for many blessings.

We are told in Mark 1:35 that Jesus rose very early in the morning, while it was still dark, and went to a desolate place to pray.

Early rising makes sense in a society where life starts in the morning. If there is any virtue in early rising is simply this: time of solitude with God before our activities begin.

If our early rising is not accompanied by this time of solitude, then it is devoid of its most sacred potential.

It is the most essential and therefore important part of our day. It is our first date with our Creator. It shouldn't be negotiated, nor should there be a commandment of it either.

It should come first as a practice, then a necessity, to finally arrive at the precious moment of grace: a fulfillment of a desire.

So, if this is not part of our routine, why not make it so? Why not try to wake up one hour earlier than we are accustomed, and dedicate that hour in solitude with God?

Imagine our days if we start them out with God!

This has been the great blessing in disguise for me. It is not experiencing every sunrise while birds tweet away. It is not seeing the calming view of a world asleep and slowly rising, even though these blessings are still appreciated.

It is simply spending time with my Father, before my activities begin.