Habits

Some automatic functions develop as habits, many of which we are not even aware. Tapping our toes or swinging a leg while seated can serve to focus some of our kinetic energy and allow us to concentrate more deeply.  Humming or whistling might be a habit so engrained that we don’t know what people are talking about when they comment on it. To become conscious of these automatic habits, we often need to work our way backwards to even see them at work.

Last Thursday, my right big toe was bruised and gashed by the door at the steeple entrance. I was baffled by it. How did it happen that my foot was underneath the door in the first place? I had to unravel my automatic habit to understand what happened. Evidently as I enter the door in the morning wheeling my computer bag in, I turn slightly and hold the door open with my right foot. Normally, this would not be a problem, but the day before the weather stripping for the door had disintegrated to the point the door would not close. The door people removed it, intending to return at another time to put a new one in place. The next morning when I followed my automatic habit of catching the door with my right foot, there was nothing at the bottom to catch and the door swung back over my foot, injuring my toe, not horribly but a bit painfully. Now I think about my action every time I come through the door to avoid a repeat performance.

What difference does this make in a spiritual sense? A lot. Certain habits over time can deepen my spirit. Others make no sense over time. Every once in a while, I need to pause and unravel them so that I can see which ones deepen my spirit, which ones keep me shallow and which ones have no purpose at all.

Saying a blessing before eating could have evolved into a seemingly empty habit, but it can, with more intention, remind me of whose I am and my place in God’s creation.

What are some automatic actions or habits that deepen your spirit? Which ones keep it shallow?

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.