To pray like a persistent child

Oftentimes, we conceptualize the teaching of discipline as the person being obedient and staying put. Yet, it is fascinating how the parables encourage us to be persistent, “makulit” even, when we pray.

Maybe we can find insight here: we teach “discipline” up to the moment when a person develops one’s own moral compass tempered by one’s own strengths, then fortified by virtues lived by role models.

Such is the paradox of our lives: as children, we grow wise with age then become adults. Then as adults, we grow wiser when we realize that children have natural inclinations to be good. Maybe, to be an adult is to be an enlightened child.

Luke 18:1-8. “… because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.”

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Living multiple fragmented lives makes us prone to hypocrisy

It is not anymore an exaggeration to say that we live multidimensional lives. We have various roles – personas even – that we play. In the physical (traditional) world, we could be a child, a parent, a friend, a professional, a follower, a leader.

Even in the digital world, we can cultivate various personas. We have different social media profiles. A Facebook highlight reel, a Twitter stan account, an Instagram curator account, a TikTok trendy influencer account, heck, even an anonymous Reddit account.

Given these multiple (multidimensional?) channels (worlds?) we live in, can we still manage to live an authentic and integrated life? This may be the grandest challenge of the Gen Z and the succeeding generation

Luke 12:1-7. Beware of hypocrisy

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Inauthenticity is a vicious cycle of a sin

Managing appearances without aligning what is underneath it turns the appearance into a malicious illusion; designed to betray what should have been good faith.

Maybe this is why Dante’s inferno places traitors (and, if we think of it, by extension – hypocrites) in the lowest level of hell. Betrayal directly tramples on supposedly faithful relationships.

The challenge with inauthenticity is that it deceptively creeps into us like molds on bread; it is what happens when we don’t pay the effort to be consistent. The convenience of BS-ing something out of thin air can tempt an intellectual to neglect the discipline of experiencing, understanding, and assessing.

Luke 11:42-46. But alas for you Pharisees, because you pay your tithe of mint and rue and all sorts of garden herbs and neglect justice and the love of God! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others.

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Some parallels between seeking insight and training muscles

Muscles do not magically grow after lifting weights. We need to rest and recover. Too much could tear the muscles and break them down.

Insights and signs do not always automatically become obvious after inquiring. We need to rest and recover. Too much focus can make us too near-sighted, failing to see a different angle.

Flourishing is not about being always happy and feeling pleasure all the time. Oftentimes, it is a dance between challenging one’s limits but finding time to recover. It is in recovery that we let or help things happen after pouring everything we could. Rest or recovery without training or attempting to exceed one’s initial limits is not rest nor recovery at all; it is a kind of laziness that wastes our talents and potential.

Luke 11:29-32. There is something greater than the prophets here

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Consistency is about excellencism, not perfectionism

It is way easier to remember the peaks and lows. This may be why people can tend towards perfectionism.

But what matters more is consistency. It may be more boring, but it is the principle that lies authentic excellencism.

Luke 11:27-28. More blessed still are those who hear the word of God and keep it!

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