No, it's not a line from an acting class, it's a reminder to myself that even as I study for the test, I need to be keeping my eye on the goal: becoming equipped for service, and maturing my character. I have to keep resisting the temptation to turn the test into the goal.
This seems to be the right time in my life for me to be studying the spiritual disciplines. In the past, I was too intimidated and defensive to even want to read about them, much less practice them. And now I find myself delighted when I see change in myself. For example, at the beginning of the quarter Steve challenged us to listen with an expectant heart to the proclaimed word, whether it was a sermon, a kinship teaching, or whatever. And in the most amazing 'coincidence', I find that everyone around me is suddenly preaching better!
I just came upon a great quote by Thomas Merton, excerpted from Thoughts in Solitude. He wrote: The fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
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