at 03/02/10 4:13PM
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Many of us have been heard to say when considering the more uncomfortable prayer postures and ancient practices such as fasting that, "These things don't please God, its all about whats in your heart." After all we are saved by grace through faith.
Even if we were to consent that axiom, that we do not impress God with our asceticism, we fail to realize that what we do effects what we think and, therefore, what is in our hearts.
I once knew a Ph.D student in the basement of Yale Divinity School who would dress in a suit every day that he went to study in the library. Feeling that was awefully formal, another Ph.D student asked him why. He replied something like, "I dress up to remind myself that I am at work and I take my studying more seriously when I do."
Spiritual disciplines are no different. I have visited an Orthodox Church recently and they have many ancient gestures that are intended to show reverence to God. One gesture is called "matania" where, after making the sign of the cross (which symbolizes the presence of the Trinity), they then bend at the waist and touch the floor. Perhaps more biblical is their prostrations. At a certain point in their morning prayer liturgy they drop to their knees, plant their palms on the floor and touch their foreheads to the ground.
Even if we assume that there is no special merit in this practice to God, I have to say that the bodily gesture itself sends signals to my brain. My body says to my brain something like, "This must be pretty important to you if you are going through all this trouble." And my heart responds, "Yes, it is that important to me." And, when my main prayer time is spent flat on my back under the covers with a pillow under my head, my body tells me, "This is not a matter or great serious to you, is it?" And then I hear my thoughts say, "But God doesn't care!" Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we shouldn't keep praying while we get in bed, but I think it is bad for the heart to let that be the time of main prayer. This isn't a law I'm stating, only a generally rule for most of us. If some people find they are unable to stay focused and fervant any other way, thats fine. I have the feeling for most of us lying in such a way is anything but conducive to focus. Instead, we ought to do as Scripture encourages us:
Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
What you choose to do with your body affects what you are thinking about and in turn influences "what is in your heart." So, even if what God desires is "all in your heart," perhaps the good news is that we can directly impact our hearts by the efforts we make with our bodies. Bodily efforts, even if they don't impress God, do make an impression on our own hearts. I call this good news, of course, because many of us who have wanted to grow spiritually have floundered around thinking that we are simply waiting for God to do something to our hearts, since it is only what is in our hearts that counts. Of course this axiom is not explicitly endorsed in Churches of Christ, but rather renounced, but I cannot help but feel that our surrounding culture has had its subtle influence on all our thinking to a degree. Do not doubt it, what we do with our bodies effects the heart that God sees.
But our bodies are directed by our minds, so we must first decide it would be a good idea to adopt certain bodily practices for the sake of our minds. It is, of course, for this reason that I am encouraging us to consider "spiritual disciplines."
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23
at 02/13/10 9:54PM
In the last few posts I have highlighted our cultural hunger for greater spirituality in religion and our discontentment with a "salvation" that does not imply transformation. Rather, "Sanctification" (the process of becoming holy) is what some now call "spiritual formation." And the end product of this sanctification is being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, both in his life and then culminating in the resurrection body. As mentioned, we have not often heard a lot of preaching on the topic of how to become sanctified in the sense of achieving a kind of spiritual maturity where we are ready to do the right thing whenever and whereever the demons attacks us. In the history of the church, there have been certain practices dubbed "spiritual disciplines" that have been found to lead to this kind of sanctification. As promised, this is my attempt to delve into the theory of these disciplines. In practice, I confess that I am a novice. In fact, I find myself starting over with my spiritual walk with a new and refreshing outlook.
What is a discipline? In modern times the term "discipline" often has a negative conotation, like a spanking or a punishment. The word can certainly take that sense, but it can be used more broadly to speak of all efforts necessary in achieving and maintaining an ordered way of life. They speak of "discipline" this way in the military. Without using the word "discipline," the NT does use a military illustration of the concept in Christian living:
Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer. 2 Timothy 2:3-4
In the above illustration the soldier does something to ensure that he will maintain his orderly way of life before his way of life is threatened. That is, he chooses not to get involved with civilian affairs. Though he might like to, or do so innocently, he realizes that the gravity of the distraction would likely lead to a scenario where the two involvements conflict. So, he "disciplines" himself by choosing what he thinks will help him to be a better soldier over what he might prefer. Remember, these are things that the soldier does before he ever gets in a battle so that when he does so he can fight with the proper focus. Obviously, where I am headed with this is that there are pre-emptive actions one can engage in to prepare ourselves to fight the good fight before we are in the heat of battle.
The illustration of athletic "training" is also invoked by Paul, only for spiritual living:
Train yourself in godliness, for while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NRSV)
The body. The use of the body is key for understanding spiritual disciplines. In the past, I have often thought of spiritual warfare as simply a matter of whether or not I will spontaneously choose, in the moment, to trust in God enough to reject the temptation to sin. Random opportunities come up to manifest rage, engage in generosity, covet my neighbor's possesions, etc, and I either do or don't choose to out of the sheer depth of my character.
As it turns out, there is more involved to how we behave as human beings. As human beings, we have long complicated histories of established ways of thinking and patterns of behavior. If we choose to wait until we are thrown in the lake to either sink or swim, we will usually sink. So why not practice swimming before I am thrown in the lake? So, also, our mental and physiological responses to unplanned external situations can be prepared for, in anticipation of the increase that comes from God, by bodily effort. From the way Paul talks, we often assume that the body is essentially our enemy in spiritual living, as if spiritual living is completely to ignore the signals we get from our body and to be liberated from its influences. As if the body is a lion that lives to devour and serves no useful function. For example:
But I punish my body and enslave it... 1 Corinthians 9:27
But notice here that the end result of Paul punishing (or "buffeting" or "beating") his body is that he may "enslave it." Rather than the body being like a lion, it is more like a wild horse that, though it puts up a good fight, can eventually be brought into submission and made highly useful. So, also, many of the spiritual disciplines are practices that are engaged in during non-war time that are designed to establish patterns of behavior, changed thinking, and new rhthyms that establish focus for the unpredictable times when the demons do attack. In such a way, the body becomes a resource for the spiritual walk. Here is a simple example:
The LORD said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and not follow he lust of your own heart and your eyes. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God. Numbers 15:37-40
As human beings, we often relate to the expression, "Out of sight, out of mind." I, probably more than most, get half way down the road before I realize that I forgot something. And I forgot while in my house because it was not visible between me and the door at the time I left. At work when I am told to do more than three things I write them down and try to put the note somewhere where I will bump into it while coming to do other things. And when I want a co-worker to know something I leave them a note in the place they are likely to unexpectedly find it. As human beings, our senses include the use of our eyes which then trigger inward thoughts. We can impact what we think about by putting stategically putting obstacles in our path in various ways throughout the day. The Lord's Supper and the concept of a daily Bible reading are a couple of disciplines we already use. Prayer can be a spirituial discipline, but it depents how you go about it.
Spiritual disciplines are usually activities engaged in not as a means to an end but as an end themselves. If you pray with the intent of asking for your grandmother's surgery to go well tomorrow, that is a means to an end. Lord willing, he will grant your petition sometime later. If, however, you determine that it is appropriate for you to spend five minutes in thanksgiving to God for you to foster the corresponding gratefulness and joy that is due God, this is a discipline. It is an activity you engage in to become more receptive to God's Spirit and keep you grounded in his presense. This will in turn lead to greater readiness and preparedness to do God's will as you are called to do it or resist the temptation to despair or doubt God's love when Satan attacks.
Training yourself to be content with discomfort. A revolution in my thinking occured in the past month or so. Somehow I used to believe that it is universally valid to engage in pleasurable activities that are not wrong and to always avoid discomfort as long as I was not obligated to endure it. This kind of innocent hedonism has trained my mind and body to believe that I should get what I want whenever I want it. Whether it is food, communcation, travel, music, recreation, etc. Since its not wrong, I am entitled to engage in it. So I have reinforced my need for instant gratification by indulging in my wants as they manifest themselves. How foolish could I have been?
How can I expect to be content with food and clothing (1 Timothy 6:8) and endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ (2 Tim 2:3) if I train my mind and body to get everything it wants when it wants it? It is for this reason that Bible states this principle:
Whoever loves pleasure will suffer want... Prov 21:17
I should train myself not to love pleasure. I should engage in activities that will allow me to practice being content with less. The concept of self-denial and suffering is prominent in the NT not only because it helps us imitate Jesus and Jesus suffered, but because the willingness to accept suffering and share in the suffering of others causes us to become like Christ. Hebrews 5:8 says that "he learned obedience by the things which he suffered." Suffering is not the enemy at all. Suffering can be our dear friend, because by choosing the hard road and practicing self-denial even when it might not be matter of sin is training me to say "No!" to my own will or selfish ambition and prepare me to subject myself to whatever uncomfortable act God may require of me. This is God's desire for us.
For the grace of God has appeared to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly... Titus 2:11-12
Fasting is one such exercise that the early church practiced. Solitude and quiet. Secracy in giving. And nothing helps you to treasure heaven and forces you to put your faith in God like selling possessions and giving away wealth. Fixed hour prayer is a practice that developed in Judaism (Daniel 6:10) based on Psalm 119:164 and continued straight through the early church (Acts 3:1), the first of which were Jews. In the centuries that followed the church continued to practice fixed hour prayer but it waned in popularity after the Reformation, after which time many of the disciplines were lumped together with the extremes of Medival monastic practices of the Roman church. And, so, the baby was thrown out with the bath water.
It is one thing to go help an individual who is poor to try to make huge impact in their life, and quite another thing to force yourself to do something to help the individual because by the time you are through you will have become a little bit more comfortable around poor people, taking away the mystery, and will have become a little more sensitized to the needs of the poor. That is a spiritual discpline. Having begun to think about so many traditional "good deeds" this way gives me all the more motivation to do them since I now realize that they help me grow personally and get to the next notch, rather than simply thinking of them in terms of whether or not it would be a sin if I did or did not engage in the activity. Thinking of good deeds purely in terms of their necessity to stay forgiven by God or go to heaven is so spiritually depleting. But knowing that when I choose to do something I might not prefer to do that more is happening than meets the eye, that is empowering.
Having said that, it is important to realize that the practice of spiritual disciplines does not mean you are holy, they merely provide you with the opportunity to become holy if you do them with the right heart. Jesus was not critical of the Pharisees because they wore phylacteries or the fringes commanded in the Law. He was upset with them because they wore them for show, making them "broad" and "long" for others to see (Matt 23:5). In their proper use, they were visual aids for the sake of the individual as a tool for focus. If we convince ourselves that we are better than others because we engage in them, they are not having their intended effect. And if we do them in order to convince ourselves and others that we are holy, they are not really spiritual disciplines. Rather, spiritiual disciplines are ancient tools for introspection, focus, and establishing positive patterns of behavior to aid the believer in her every day walk. The more we can do to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and domesticating our bodies for the use of the Lord, the more prepared we are to field any attack the demons try to slip in.
But how can we find the time? Solitude is perhaps the first discipline we need to engage in. Away from TV, computer, cell phone, iPod, what have you. To slow down and make space for God is the very first sacrifice. But our greatest example, Christ the Lord, sought deserted places as if they had the only well in Israel. Solitude has been described by some in the early church as God's refining furnace, where we confront God and Satan.
The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Calhoun lists some 50 spiritual disciplines found helpful in the history of the church. I cannot guarentee I will write about all of them, since I have experience now with only a precious few. Please forgive the typos, I am told that my username lights up on friend's lists whenever I re-edit my posts.
at 02/06/10 10:09PM
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Its true that terminology is not biblical per se, like the term "Trinity." But, like the term "trinity," the terms capture certain biblical concepts pretty well.
The word "spiritual" (pneumatikos) occors dozens of times in the New Testament, usually by Paul (e.g. 1 Cor 3:1). This is most often in contrast to the "carnal" (sarkikos) or "fleshly" (e.g. 1 Cor 3:3). Or, again, in 1 Corinthians 2:13 Paul speaks of "those who are spiritual." The goal is that believers go from being carnally-minded in their infancy to being spiritually-minded (Romans 8:5-6).
To be "spiritual" in this sense does not just mean to be open to the supernatural realm or open to the influence of spirits in general. In the biblical sense, being "spiritual" means being oriented towards or tuned in to the Holy Spirit of God. Since God is characterized by love and various other virtues, then those who are receptive to his Spirit will bear that characteristic fruit (1 John 4:7; Gal 5:21-23; James 3:17).
But one important teaching that is distinctively Christian about spirituality in the New Testament is that Jesus, too, partook of the Holy Spirit in his ministry and his example of spirituality is the ultimate goal of our own. God has in mind that we be "conformed (summorphos) to the image of his Son." We cannot speak of "spirituality" in an ambiguous way as Christians as if there is no standard or direction that "spirituality" it to take us that we can know in advance.
Paul writes, "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you" (Rom 8:11).
This transition from being "carnal" to "spiritual" is a dynamic process. We are constantly being formed or "morphed" from the old man to the new. For this reason, Paul writes:
"And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed (metamorphoomai) into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of you minds..." (Rom 12:2).
"My little children, from whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you" (Galatians 4:19).
This process begins with, is driven by, and ends with the gracious working of the Holy Spirit as seen in 2 Cor 3:18 and Rom 8:11. But to add one more:
"He saved us, not because of any works of rightousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5).
There are many definitions of "spiritual formation" floating around, but I would like to offer one brief definition here since I will be using the phrase off and on in future posts. So here it goes:
Spiritual formation is all of the processes by which the Holy Spirit conforms an individual to the image of Jesus Christ.
In the next post I hope to address the idea of "spiritual disciplines," which essentially covers those things which an individual does to become more receptive to the Holy Spirit's working.
at 02/01/10 8:08PM
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I am not well versed in the "emergent" church. Its association with postmodernism and sweeping ecumenicism is a bit scary, but at its heart there is a desire to get moving and engage in missional activity that seeks to transform the community of believers and the communities in which they dwell. McLaren's article does much to explain the context for why those of us in the 21st century, in and outside churches, are growing tired of superficiality in religion and seek something deeper that will come in and change our lives. Maybe this section of McLaren's article will be as insightful to you as it was me:
....If Christianity isn't the quest for (or defense of) the perfect belief system ("the church of the last detail"), then what's left? In the emerging culture, I believe it will be "Christianity as a way of life," or "Christianity as a path of spiritual formation."
The switch suggests a change in the questions people are asking. Instead of "How can I be right in my belief so I can go to heaven?" the new question seems to be, "How can we live life to the full so God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven?"
Instead of "If you were to die tonight, do you know for certain that you would spend eternity with God in heaven?" the new question seems to be, "If you live for another thirty years, what kind of person will you become?"
I'm not certain any postmodern churches exist quite yet. But even in modern churches we can feel a rising tension, a fomenting discontent: why aren't we making bettter disciples? Why aren't people becoming more holy, joyful, peaceful, content, and Christ-like?
Why, in a Chrstian subculture served by 24-hour Christian radio-TV, bathed in books and periodicals of unparralleled quality and quantity, instructed by a state-of-the-art seminary system, and inspred by a state-of-the-heart worship music industry...why are so few of our good Christian people good Christians?
Why is Prozac needed by so man? Why are the most biblically-knowledgeable so often so mean-spirited? Why are our pastors dejected so often? Why do our speakers (both human and electronic) have to blare so loudly to get a response, and even then, why is the response so shallow and temporary?
That discontent may be the ending point for many of us, but it is the starting point for our brothers and sisters of the emerging culture. If Christianity doesn't bear fruit in a way or rhthym or pattern of life that yields Christ-likeness in real measure, they aren't interested. Being "saved" is suspect if people aren't being transformed.....
McLaren, Brian. "Emerging Values: The next generation is redefining spiritual formation, community and mission." Leadership. Summer 2003, Volume XXIV, Number 3. pp. 22-23
I find this article insightful because what it says is that the surrounding culture can see right through us. We can throw our evidence at them to try to compel them to become Christians, and even throw in a brow-beating or two. However, if we cannot show them that what our church offers is real transformation, they will not allow us to beguile or manipulate them into buying what we are trying to sell. If they don't see real love and real change, they know its all just smoke and mirrors. If we are going to win them, and satisfy our own discontents, we are going to have to tap into the riches of the great heritage of spirituality we have in the history of the church and biblical tradition. Its time.
Disclaimer: It is not my intention with this extract to endorse the philosophy of the "Emergent Church" as a whole or any postmodern compromise of truth, but merely to illustrate the recognizeable emptiness of any claim to religious truth (especially "the" truth) that does not demonstrate its power through transformed living. It goes without saying that we should be faithful to the gospel in every way.
at 01/22/10 6:04PM
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He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; (1 Cor 1:30)
Ever since Luther, Protestant churches have emphasized that salvation is the forgiveness of sins that comes on the basis of grace which, in turn, allows that we may go to heaven at the judgment day. That is, salvation has been equated with justification and future redemption.
Justification is an important New Testament theme and its basis is firmly rooted in the blood of Christ and the faith of the believer. Justification means that we can breath a deep sigh of relief because Christ carried our burden of sin for us, making us righteous (2 Cor 5:21). We are guilty but he has born the full burden of eternal consequences. This gives us freedom to function in our walk with God knowing that though we run the risk of sinning in the future, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:2).
Redemption is an important emphasis of the New Testament. Christ shed "his own blood, thus securing eternal redemption" (Heb 9:12). And, the believer has great hope knowing she is by the Holy Spirit "sealed for the day of redemption" (Eph 4:30). Without this hope, we would be quickly beaten down in our striving against sin. Future redemption is a great motivator for the believer.
But is justification and redemption the full New Testament picture of what constitutes God's salvation for the believer? Is the believer merely trying to hang onto the grace of God's justification until God comes on the day of redemption? We think not. But he gives greater grace. God has a work to unfold in us between baptism and death called sanctification (lit "to make holy"). Here are some helpful texts:
For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy....For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. (Lev 11:44-45)
so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification. (Rom 6:19)
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. (Rom 6:21-22)
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thes 2:13-14)
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from unchastity; that each one of you know how to take a wife for himself in holiness (1 Thes 4:3-4)
May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thes 5:23)
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Rom 8:29-30)
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:17-18)
God desires to make us holy. Not just by cleansing our track record. Not just by giving us a squeaky clean resurrection body. God wants to make us holy now.
God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son, and to fill us with his glory. To participate in God's holiness (sanctity) is to participate in his glory. This cannot be broken down into a simple two point schema of justification and future redemption. Rather, in between those two points is an extraordinarily complicated and individualized plan for each one of us filled with highs and lows, joy and trial through which God progressively molds us and chisels us into the image of his Son.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that God expects each of us to reach "9" right before he turns us into a "10" on the day of redemption. What he desires is our progress and willing participation in the process of our glorification through becoming "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). In the early Greek church, they called this the process of "deification" (theosis) which culminates when God perfects the process in our resurrection in "spiritual bodies" (1 Cor 15:44).
Incorporating this idea into our understanding of what it means to partake of salvation is critical for understanding and bridging the relationship between salvation as justification and salvation as future redemption. These two senses of salvation would seem only arbitrarily connected if we did not understand justification as the beginning of the removing of sin and corruption from our lives and the filling of our hearts with the Spirit of God. A holistic deliverance from sin (i.e. salvation) is progressive.
In Leviticus 21:8, God says, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy. The work of sanctification that God performs is a gracious decision on his part, without which we could not achieve sanctification. If sanctification is deliverance from sin in our lives, it follows that a form of God's wrath is to leave us in our sins. Paul says as much about those to whom "gave them up to degrading passions" (Rom 1:26; 8:6). Sanctification is to be saved from God's wrath in that sense, as part of the fuller picture of salvation. Justification is only the beginning of a process that culminates in our resurrection. God makes meaningful our resurrection and conformity to the image of Christ by asking us to participate in his gracious sanctifying process now in the present by engaging and following the leading of his Spirit, as Christ did. Jesus, too, "learned obedience by the things which he suffered" (Heb 5:9). How could we ever hope to become like Christ if we were not expected to be...like Christ?
This is our responsibility. The question is, of course, how we go about doing it. In the past I have not observed much time in the pulpit spent on the "how to" of this aspect of Christian living. It is often assumed that the responsibility of preachers and teaches is to identity what right and wrong is, but the responsibility of the listeners to go home and "just do it." Not that some preachers don't have helpful tips every now and again, and not that we do not have a personal responsibility to find what works for us, but me thinks that God desires for our leaders to give us a little more direction than that. Most of us find that "just do it" fails in the areas where we struggle the most, because the battle is a complicated one. What we lack is the spiritual discipline and preparation to proceed in all these areas that we are expected to act. And, arguably, the Bible does give us tips on the "how to" of sanctification. The greater the degree of our sanctification, the more ready we stand to do whatever God asks of us.
Some of the practices the Bible describes to aid believers in the process of sanctification and which we observe Jesus and the holy men of old practicing have been dubbed by some in the church "spiritual disciplines." I would like to spend some time in future posts mapping out some of the theory of these disciplines which aid believers in making themselves available and receptive to the holy Spirit of God.
Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14-15)
Very good! Posture is so important and was actually one of my daily lenten reflections recently.
Good thoughts.
Thanks for your thoughts and time to present this to us. Yes I agree, bodily efforts can make an impression on our own hearts.
Josh, what you've expressed here also underscores the "media war" that Christians engage in today (or, sadly, fail to engage in). One of the greatest frustrations I have had in talking to many Christians our age is that they have become apologists for R-rated films, M-rated games, and music with "Parental Warning" labels on the cover. The argument should sound familiar: "I'm fine in watching that movie. It doesn't really affect me. Just because the people in the movie swear doesn't mean I'm going to start swearing." Western culture has decided that the heart is largely immutable - that prayer posture is irrelevant, that media consumption is irrelevant, and that one's own consciousness holds no power over "the heart." As Christians, we mustn't fall into such a philosophical trap. The heart is mutable and must be brought into subjection to Christ.
Caleb, that is a great point. On the flip side, you can't allow your body and brain to enjoy less than wholesome activities without taking your mind and heart along for the ride. We make an impression on them in that way, too. I am simply not mature enough to own a TV, I'm afraid. But I know others can watch judiciously.
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