Does this have to be specifically Christian? The answer is no. But for the many people who apply to do this course as a major or minor the theme of discipline is applied to study, academic and experiential as viewed by Richard Foster. These disciplines are not meant to become rigid rules but rather ways of deepening one’s relationship with God.
As
individuals we soon discovered the disciplined life was not a natural way of
living, this is because our early patterns of how we communicate with each
other, how we listen to each other are very varied according to our early
experiences in the family. This understanding comes from a developmental model
of sociology and psychology.
As we each found it takes a lot of work and perseverance to revisit these areas of our lives so as to let go of old habits and ideas so as to learn new roles, and new ways of perceiving information. It is a discipline to prayer and reflection, to give time to keeping a journal about your own thoughts and actions. It is a discipline to change and this can be painful for some and less painful for others. Importantly through these disciplines of prayer, service, solitude, silence, listening, effective ways of communicating we learn to unpick some of the ineffective practices that can lead to harm to others and self. The ways in which we engaged with this theme are as follows:
