"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2 NRSV

I have a friend who plays violin for a local orchestra. She is amazing. Even though she is not a professional musician, you couldn't tell it from listening to her play. She can pick up her violin, draw the bow across the strings, and out comes lovely, beautiful, soul-inspiring music. To earn money to live on, she works full-time as a copy-editor for a publishing house; but, to express her soul she plays her violin. I know she's a good editor, but she's an even better violinist. The way she plays makes the entire enterprise look effortless, and yet I know that is simply not the case.

As is true for nearly everything in life, the key to success in playing any musical instrument is tenacious, unending, never failing practice. Skill is important, and so is interest. But without a devotion which calls forth a self-giving persistence in practice, no musician can ever be anything more than mediocre. When it comes to music, that's me. I love to listen to classical music, and I enjoy fiddling with my violin. But I am cursed with only marginal talent, and, I'm sorry to say, a total lack of devotion to the discipline of practice when it comes to actually learning and playing the violin. Oh, I can lay hold of the bow, draw it across the strings, and make a pleasant note sing forth, but the practice needed to put that note together with hundreds more and generate a pleasing melody is, I fear, no longer within my grasp. And, sadly, that's entirely because I lack the time and the will to devote hours upon hours to the hard work of practice. For me to ever be able to stand and play anything more complex than "Mary Had a Little Lamb," I would have to make time, and be consistent and persistent, in practice. And, sadly, I simply don't have the will to do this. It may just be that I'm lazy or that I have too many other distractions in life (and both possibilities are true), but no matter how one cuts it, the simple fact is that I don't practice because I don't want to.

The same is true with the Christian life. When we find ourselves complaining about the poor quality of our spiritual lives or about our poor understanding of the Faith or of the Holy Scriptures, in truth we really have only one person to blame: ourselves. Excellence in anything, from playing the violin to learning a foreign language to comprehension of the deep theological topics of the Christian life, comes only through hard, determined, persistent study. When we fail to practice our faith, to devote ourselves - our time, our talents, our gifts, and our service - to our relationship with Jesus, is it any wonder that we find our spiritual lives floundering in the metaphorical toilet? And, when our spiritual lives go to pot, so does everything else around us. From our physical to our mental and emotional lives, every aspect of our being is impacted by the quality of our Christian walk. If we're not walking with Jesus, if we're not studying Scripture, gathering together for worship and prayer, and partaking of the Means of Grace, we only have ourselves to blame.

As the Scripture quoted earlier says, "Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith."

In truth, it's all a matter of perseverance. Are we going to be persistent in faith, in attending to the spiritual disciplines, or are we going to stumble and fail to be the kind of people that Jesus wants us to be?

Persistence in the faith, perseverance in the face of trial and tribulation, devotion to practicing what we preach - none of this should be difficult for us as Christians. If we truly are Christians, if we truly have faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and if we truly have the Holy Spirit of God residing within us, then it truly is not we who do any of these things, but God working within us. We are called to cooperate with God's Grace, apply it in our Christian living, and remain open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We are called to be ready and willing to act when and as God directs, and to be active in our faith each and every day. But, for some reason, we often find ourselves failing to be attentive to the Spiritual Life that Jesus wants us to live. We become weary in our study of the Scripture, in our prayers, in our giving, in our service, and in our attendance at divine worship. We slack off in partaking of the Means of Grace and thus compound our problem by starving our souls of the spiritual food which we need to act in faith. In other words, due to a whole host of conflicting priorities, but most especially due to the power of sin in our lives, we fall to the temptation to be lazy and unwilling to devote the time and cooperative effort which the Christian life requires. We coast along, living a life of spiritual mediocrity, depending upon past professions of faith, and not realizing that a faith which is not active is faith which is dead.

Perseverance in the faith involves being present in worship, partaking of the Sacraments, study of Scripture, prayer and fasting, Christian fellowship, service to God and others, and giving. These Disciplines - these "Methods" - are central to the Methodist interpretation of the Christian life. Being persistent in these disciplines - being diligent in one's practice of one's faith - is the only way in which we can persevere in our Faith and in our life with Christ.

Hello - my name is Melinda, and I am a quilter. I have what some might term a rather serious fabric "habit", possibly even an addiction. In order to be inspired, add to my quilt photo collection and to possibly find that "must have" perfect fabric, I recently attended a local quilt show. While wandering the aisles gazing at beautiful quilts and looking in vendor booths, I rounded a corner and saw what quilters call a "quilt angel". She had drawn a crowd of viewers while standing by a particular quilt in her assigned area and was enthusiastically describing and showing off the back of the quilt she happened to be standing by. In case you who don't know, "quilt angels" stand guard over the quilts at quilt shows and wear white gloves, which allows them to touch the quilts and show them off to interested passers-by. This particular quilt angel was quite excited about her work, which brought a smile to my face as I walked by. In fact, I noticed there were lots of smiling faces on those listening or walking by that area. Her enthusiasm was contagious. I continued on my way and soon came back around on another row, stopping to admire another quilt. Lo and behold, here came that same enthusiastic quilt angel, asking if I wanted to see the back of the quilt I was admiring. Next, she very much wanted to show me another quilt, so together we walked back to the place where I had first spotted her. You see, the quilt she now wanted me to see was her own, and very first quilt, and she happened to be just 9 years old. She told me, with GREAT enthusiasm, how much she loved sewing and quilting, and I could easily see the beginnings of a life long passionate love affair with fabric. How wonderful, how exciting to see my passion for quilting replicated in the next generation.

I believe I heard God speaking to me that day through the example and words of an enthusiastic 9 year old girl. What might happen if I exhibited that kind of unbridled enthusiasm in my Christian faith? What if I more readily shared the good news of Jesus with a lost and stumbling world? What if I wholeheartedly "Let go and let God"? Excited, infectious, contagious faith, wherever it is found, can transform the world. Why not here, why not now, why not in our very own Emmaus/Chrysalis community?

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power." Ephesians 6:10NIV