Edna, not much for religion, finds herself in dire trouble. Her business closes down. She is in serious financial trouble. Edna is so desperate she decides to ask God for help.

Edna begins to pray: "God, please help me. I've lost my business, and if I don't get some money, I'm going to lose my house. Please let me win the lotto."

Lotto night comes, and somebody else wins; so, Edna again prays." She says, "God, please let me win the lotto! I've lost my business and my house, and I'm going to lose my car."

Lotto night comes, and Edna still does not win. Once again, she prays, "My God, why have you forsaken me? I've lost my business, my house, and my car. I don't often ask you for help, and I've always been a good person. Please let me win the lotto this one time, so I can get my life back in order."

Suddenly, there is a blinding flash of light, as the sky opens. Edna hears the voice of God: "Edna, how about meeting me halfway on this? Buy a ticket."

The humorous tale above teaches us the practicality of living a spiritual path. In doing this practical spirituality, we need to accept the joys and challenges, being cautious not to seek a shortcut.

A reading of a biography of Thomas Merton shows us a man who took no shortcuts to living spiritually. Indeed, in many ways his spiritual journey was difficult, in some ways disappointing. Late in life he commented, while people admired him, he would not wish his life on anyone.

Yet, the dogged loyalty of Merton to the Path, and his practical and down-to-earth spirituality has appealed to and inspired many of us to be true to our spiritual aspirations. Merton has guided us to find joy in the Way, and no magical tricks to bypass the demands of patient loyalty and stubborn persistence.

"[M]any people who have a few natural gifts and a little ingenuity tend to imagine that they can quite easily learn, by their own cleverness, to master the methods - one might say the "tricks" - of the spiritual life.

"They may even appear to succeed to some extent. But certain systems of spirituality ... place great stress on a severe, no-nonsense style of direction that makes short work of this kind of confidence."

*Thomas Merton. Contemplative Prayer.

I believe such a no-nonsense approach was - and is - the Jesus Way of spirituality. This does not mean the Spirit is a cruel taskmaster. However, neither is the Divine an indulgent parent.

Jesus knew, as we need to know, there is no shortcut to the evolving of the human being. A cursory reading of the four canonical Gospels demonstrates the demands of following the Christ Path.

We, therefore, Merton says, must begin as beginners. This humble beginning is the only beginning for one who wants to grow up and deep in Grace:

One cannot begin to face the real difficulties of the life of prayer and meditation unless one is first perfectly content to be a beginner and really experience himself as one who knows little or nothing and has a desperate need to learn the bare rudiments. Those who think they "know" from the beginning will never, in fact, come to know anything.

St. John of the Cross writes, then, of those who sometimes fall away from the demands of the Way. The person begins to enjoy the benefits of spiritual Life. Sooner or later, these cease. The person becomes embittered and angry. This St. John calls "spiritual wrath."

There are some who become angry with themselves at this point, thinking that their loss of joy is a result of something they have done or failed to do. They will fuss and fret and do all they can to recover this [spiritual] consolation. They will strive to become saints in a day. They will makes all kinds of resolutions to be more spiritual, but the greater the resolution, the greater is the fall.

*St. John of the Cross. The Dark Night of the Soul.

To keep growing up in the Divine, we have to keep returning to a beginner attitude. No one is ever an expert on the spiritual life.

Likewise, on the Path, we have to be purged of relying too much on ourselves. We do our part, but that is all we can do. We cannot manage Spirit, we can only make way for Spirit to work in and through us the grace of Love.

1) Do you ever find yourself trying too hard to "succeed" in your spiritual pursuits? If so, how do you manifest this over-reliance on yourself?

2) What is meant by our having to keep returning to a beginner attitude as we live the spiritual Path? What are qualities of a beginner attitude that are applicable to your spiritual life?

3) What are some shortcuts persons are tempted to take in growing up spiritually?

4) Have you ever tried a gimmick to shortcut your spiritual experience? Explain.

5) Do you know someone whom you admire for being persistent in living the spiritual life, without taking shortcuts? What about the person impresses you spiritually?

*Works cited are from Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith, Editors. Devotional Classics.

*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, with friends and under a vow of simplicity. Brian is an ecumenical-interspiritual leader, who chooses not to identify with any group, and renounces all titles of sacredness that some would apply to him, but seeks to be open to how Christ manifests in the diversity of Christian denominations and varied religious-spiritual traditions. He affirms that all spiritual paths lead ultimately back to Jesus Christ. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.

*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.

*Contact the above email to book Brian for preaching, Spiritual Direction, retreats, workshops, animal blessing services, house blessings, or other spiritual requests. You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.