tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001212361881658125.post9102305355705229635..comments2024-03-09T08:49:51.461-05:00Comments on Downtown Monks: LENT FOR TROUBLED TIMESFr Alberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02195307683109646666noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001212361881658125.post-62030715742435803922010-02-23T22:25:54.595-05:002010-02-23T22:25:54.595-05:00"Lent is an opportunity to "add to the u..."Lent is an opportunity to "add to the usual measure of our service," not just by bodily mortification, but by drawing closer to God in prayer, by trying to root out bad habits, and by practicing virtues."<br /><br />This quote from your blog echoes to a quote that I have been using as a bookmark in my copy of The Pilgrim Road. "Bad habits and compulsions cannot be conquered by determined resolutions or promising ourselves that we won't go on doing this or that. They cannot be rooted out - for what would fill that vacuum? They must be replaced - with their opposites. The secret is to substitute the positive for the negative - the I will for the I won't"<br /><br />Again we see that we cannot simply renounce our shortcomings - our bad habits must be replaced. In order to be able to sustain a new good habit, we must do more than renounce the bad habit and vow to do better. If one is going to quit smoking or cut down on caffeine, one must be prepared to drink tea or chew gum - lest one fall into the problem of the rebound habit... e.g., eating chips instead of carrots or gum when you need a smoke. But it is, in fact, not so easy. One must know what triggers the vice in order to replace it with a counteracting virtue (or good habit). As many (if not most) alcoholics will tell you, their souls are wounded and they drink to fill that void. Once they know this they can begin the ascent to sobriety and replace the bottle with prayer. <br /><br />Renouncing the bad habit is the final step - only once a life has been transformed and you are fully integrated into the new life, the new routine, and fully detached from the old ways, can a person truly renounce a vice and vow or resolve not to return to it. <br /><br />We are so like Pavlov's experiment! Each step in sanctification is a process of finding the root of the vice - that thing (all those things) that keeps us from a truly God centered life - and finding what triggers us to make bad choices, and then changing our behavior at the root. When do I want to "eat chocolate"? Why? Is it a nervous habit? Am I just drawn in by the convenience of it? First find the trigger - why do I do (or not do, in the case of the good that I should be doing) "that"? Then replace the response with something that is good for the soul. <br /><br />I thank you for reminding me of this and saying it in a new way. <br /><br />Peace & Joy!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com