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In this first lecture of the Disciples of Christ Retreat collection, Thurman discusses the dynamics of commitment. We are given life, but what is it that we shall give our lives to? Thurman insists that this is a question we all must eventually answer. What we stake our lives on determines the quality of our lives. Thurman says that it takes a great challenge to lift us up from the monotonous ruts we find ourselves in. Commitment to a single end energizes our lives and sparks growth in us. Such…

This is a continuation of the second lecture in the Disciples of Christ Retreat collection. Here, Thurman discusses the possibility of self-deception in religious experience. Even in the private world of the inner life, one must seek out validation. With faith and commitment comes a measure of risk, and thus the mind does not want to be mistaken. Thurman says that pride and arrogance are especially perilous in terms of the movement of the living God. Humility is the proper response to God's…

Thurman continues his discussion on the dynamics of commitment in this second lecture of the Disciples of Christ Retreat collection. Thurman begins with a number of readings that allude to the ways in which we often find our hearts and minds divided, and how commitment at our very center might bring unity and wholeness to our lives. In resonance with the first lecture, Thurman says that there can be no sense of self if we cannot experience our minds as our own minds. We must have confidence in…

This is the final few minutes of the third lecture in this collection. Thurman says that commitment must be fed by the "living stuff of my living days," by outer life experiences and encounters, as opposed to solely quiet prayer and meditation. Furthermore, Thurman says that one can fail again and again in their commitments and still find renewal if the commitment is felt to be genuine and of God.

In this third lecture from the Disciples of Christ Retreat, Thurman discusses the conflict and strife that arises in the dynamics of commitment. To yield our inner authority to God is to give up initiative over our own lives; we belong to God, and not simply our own interests and urges. However, Thurman says, that deep down we know that God might lead us into places we did not plan, and perhaps would not have preferred. Thus, religious experience involves both a yielding of our lives to God, as…

In this fourth lecture from the Disciples of Christ Retreat, Thurman focuses in on two themes of the inner life. Firstly, one must keep open the door of thy heart, even if other people close their hearts to you. Thurman says that this is our ultimate responsibility, for love can bypass all hate and resistance, and it is impossible to prevent another from loving you. The experience of love is energizing and transformative. Lastly, Thurman loops back to the theme of this collection, "All that a…

This initial lecture in the Disciplines of the Spirit series is a discussion about the development of patience through the discipline of growth. Thurman describes discipline as the training, development, response to, and often responsibility for something. The spirit is disciplined, trained, cultivated, and fashioned by many things. One of these things is the experience of growth. Growth is characteristic of life and as our body continues to develop, so does our mind and spirit. In our initial…

In this second installment of Disciplines of the Spirit, Thurman builds upon the concept of growth introduced in part 1 of the series. Here Thurman describes growth as the ability to accept what is fact and to handle change, whether the change is gradual or radical. Our desire to resist change for fear of being without a familiar structure requires us to grow in wisdom as we navigate the anxiety associated with the search for stability having lost all that is familiar to us. Our ability to…

In this third installment of Disciplines of the Spirit, Thurman is lecturing about personal stability. In this lecture, personal stability is defined as the experience through which an individual passes when he thinks he has that which is of most importance to him. An additional definition of personal stability used in this lecture is private morale, which is the belief in one’s cause, whatever it may be. At times personal stability rests on the instability of others which has and continues to…

In this fourth lecture of Disciplines of the Spirit, Howard Thurman discusses commitment and its significance. Deep within every man, there is a profound sense regarding the meaning of life itself. Those that believe that life is dynamic and essentially unfinished tend to also be of the mindset that there are always alternatives and options to be considered. In these instances, commitment becomes the experience through which a man passes when, deep within himself, he selects values and proceeds…