Horseback riding is not a mode of transportation from one physical locale to another. It is a mode of transportation from one spiritual state to another. So are the classic spiritual disciplines.
by Gary David Stratton
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As I write this article, I am watching my daughter take a riding lesson at the Equestrian Center in Burbank, CA. The Equestrian Center is, uh, shall we say, “oddly out of place” in urban Los Angeles. On my right, traffic on the Golden State Freeway zooms by at 65+ miles per hour. On my left, horses plod around a riding circle at, well, a lot less than 65 mph. What gives?
Why would anyone invest so much time and money striving to master such an outdated mode of transportation? It takes years to painstakingly advance through learning to walk, trot, canter, gallop, jump, dressage, etc. Then, once you achieve riding excellence, your top speed is still only a fraction of that of the traffic whizzing by on the freeway. My daughter shovels “stuff” to earn her lessons, but most riders shell out enough cash to cover monthly payments on a luxury car. I mean, if your goal is to get from Pasadena to Hollywood, then this horseback riding thing is a total waste of time. Just buy a Jag and get on with it.
Yet if you think of horseback riding as something designed to get you somewhere on your busy schedule, then you are missing the entire point.
Horseback riding is not a mode of transportation from one physical locale to another. It is a mode of transportation from one spiritual state to another.
Riding cleanses the rider of the soul-deadening effects of modern life and “re-centers” their soul in a calmer, deeper place. My actress-singer daughter says it’s “rejuvenating.” Seeing the light and energy in her eyes after each time she rides, I believe her.
Spiritual Disciplines
At first glance, striving to master 2,000-year-old spiritual disciplines seems even more irrelevant than learning to ride a horse. I mean, at least horseback riding might help you land a role or inspire a screenplay. What earthly good does it do to invest the time and energy it takes to master practices like prayer, meditation, fasting, Torah-study, or Psalm-singing? Sure, prayer comes in handy when you’re facing an audition, pitch meeting, or financing appointment. But this kind of “spiritual discipline” is practiced by everyone in Hollywood (even the staunchest atheists). It carries about as much utilitarian value as wearing your lucky pair of socks.
Yet, if you think of the spiritual disciplines only as something to get you somewhere in your career, you’re probably missing their most significant benefit. Spiritual disciplines don’t carry you from failure to success. They keep you alive spiritually in the continually shifting landscape of success and failure that is Hollywood.
The Soul-Deadening Worlds of Power
Actor/Comedienne/Writer Susan Isaacs (Parks and Recreation) once asked a crowd of aspiring entertainment industry students, “Would you accept God’s call to Hollywood if you knew that you would only have three successful years out of a thirty-year career?” Few raised their hands. Then she shocked them by revealing that this is about average for those who ‘make it’ in Tinseltown. Spiritual disciplines are how someone survives and even thrives, not only in the three years when they’re hot but the other twenty-seven when they’re not.
Hollywood is not the only place you need the resiliency provided by spiritual disciplines. The competitive nature of all power centers–the Ivy League, Wall Street, Washington, D.C., etc.–nearly always creates soul-deadening cultures. Former Yale Professor Henri Nouwen warned, “Our society is… a dangerous network of domination and manipulation in which we can easily get entangled and lose our soul.” [1]
Dave Schmelzer, principal at Blue Ocean, Inc. in Cambridge, MA, asserts the overarching characteristic of his Ivy League community is what he calls “Grim drivenness.” Dave adds, “These are the brightest and most talented people in the world, and the very drivenness that got them this far in a highly competitive environment prevents them from ever really enjoying the fruit of their success. There is always another rung to climb on the ladder of success.” [2]
Yokes that Bring Our Souls Rest
Spiritual disciplines counteract this soul-deadening effect by nourishing the practitioner’s soul and re-centering the filmmaker, professor, stockbroker, and/or congressman in a calmer, deeper place. Prayer, meditation, solitude, silence, community, and service deepen our connection to others and God. Nearly everyone working in a pressure-filled environment can benefit from practicing them—from Gwynneth Paltrow’s yoga to Jim Carrey’s mantra meditation.
However, spiritual discipline plays a particularly meaningful role in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The earliest Rabbis referred to them as their yoke—the teachings and spiritual practices used to guide their students into a deeper relationship with God.[3] Like learning to ride a horse, Torah study—the principal spiritual discipline in rabbinic education—demanded the utmost commitment to move from one level of expertise to the next. Yet, the promise of a life centered in the life of God and made the effort worthwhile. (See, Rabbinic Higher Education.)
Connecting to the Life of God
Jesus of Nazareth built upon this rabbinic tradition to shape his own version of spiritual formation. Jesus told his first followers, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). He taught his disciples to pray, study, build community, and serve not to earn religious brownie points but to form a deep attachment to God—to ‘rest’ in him. Like vines on a branch, Jesus promised his followers that if they would focus on staying connected to the life of God, then the energy of God would flow into them and bear fruit in everything they do (John 15:1-8). The spiritual disciplines are one of the critical means by which we maintain that connection. (See, With Prayer in the School of Christ.)
USC philosophy professor, Dallas Willard, has worked tirelessly to describe how Christian spiritual formation can and should help us maintain our connection to the life and the love of God in the Academy, Hollywood, and beyond. He states:
“God’s desire for us is that we should live in him. He sends us the Way to himself. That shows us, in his heart of hearts, what God is really like–indeed, what reality is really like. In its deepest nature and meaning, our universe is a community of boundless and totally competent love.”
Personalizing the Process
Like horseback riding, staying connected to the life and love of God is not a one-size-fits-all process. It has taken Micaiah years to find the right stable, the right trainer, the right horse (the crankiest, but “best” in the stable), and the right sub-disciplines to learn to ride in a way that maximizes the ‘gladness’ riding brings her soul.
The same is true for those seeking to cultivate a relationship with God. The disciplines that help one person are often torture for another. Some sit quietly in a beautiful sanctuary; others take long walks in a park. Some best connect to God among books in a quiet library; others in the pulsating beats of a raucous worship service.
The point of spiritual discipline is not to perform a cookie-cutter religious ritual to make God like you better, but rather to find those pathways that best help you connect to the God who loves you unconditionally.
This website explores key spiritual concepts and disciplines that have proven helpful to various leaders in Hollywood, the Ivy League, and beyond for living a soul-nourishing life in a soul-deadening world. Our hope is that we can help you create your own individualized set of spiritual disciplines that help you stay connected to the life and love of God, even in the most pressurized situations.
Of course, there is another way: the way of giving in to a soul-deadness. Will we? Or will we follow my daughter’s example and embrace an “outdated” approach to life, that in the end, is the only one capable of transporting us where we really want to go—to the very heart of God.
Let’s ride!
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Part of ongoing series Finding God in Hollywood and Beyond: Soul-Nourishing Practices in a Soul-Deadening World
See also: Emmy Magazine Article Featuring Emmy-winning Producer Kurt Schemper, Director Korey Scott Pollard, and Gary David Stratton
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Spiritual formation book recommendations:
The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence
Sacred Rhythms, by Ruth Haley Barton
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, by Adele Alberg Calhoun
The Organic God, by Margaret Feinberg
The Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster
Invitation to a Journey, by Robert Mulholland
The Way of the Heart, by Henri Nouwen
The Life You’ve Always Wanted, by John Ortberg
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, by Peter Scazzero
The Good and Beautiful Life, by James Bryan Smith
Sacred Pathways, by Gary Thomas
The Spirit of the Disciplines, by Dallas Willard
[1] The Way of the Heart (New York: Random House, 1981), p. 9.
[2] At least in the Ivy League it is possible to get tenure!
[3] M. Maher (1975). ‘Take my yoke upon you’ (Matt. xi. 29). New Testament Studies, 22, pp 97-103
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Wow, a fur lined cinch strap on an english saddle, that is one fancy outfit. I grew up around horses and I never saw a horse with a cap like that around the ears. Is that to deaden loud sounds so the horse doesnt spook? Being around a freeway that is probably a good idea.
Anyway, I am happy for you and your daughter. My family had horses and it was some of the very best memories of my youth. I think an equal part of Micaiah's experience is cleaning stalls. I also worked at a dude ranch for a couple summers and cleaned stalls for 30 horses. Being involved that intimately with the animals is as precious as the riding. As Christians, we often like to fellowship with each other, but it is when we clean up after each other that the bonding really starts to happen.
I don't remember too many spiritual lessons from riding though. However, as a guy, I was very respectful of a horses withers when trotting and riding bareback. Oh yah, you know that will recenter your soul real fast.
lol
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