Asceticism

asceticism – noun
1. the manner of life, practices, or principles of an ascetic.
2. the doctrine that a person can attain a high spiritual and moral state by practicing self-denial, self-mortification, and the like.
3. rigorous self-denial; extreme abstinence; austerity.

austerity - noun, plural -ties.
1. austere quality; severity of manner, life, etc.; sternness.
2. Usually, austerities. ascetic practices: austerities of monastery life.
3. strict economy.

In one of my classes we have recently been taking a closer look at theology and within that we have touched a little on asceticism. For some reason I have a fascination with this topic and have since been digging a little deeper and thinking a little harder on the subject.

Essentially when I think of the word ascetism I think of monks, and I think of Mother Teresa. I was sitting in class one day and I was really struggling with this. I have a great deal of respect for all the work Mother Teresa did, and this post is in no way trying to question her reasons for sacrificng the way she did in order to help the less fortunate than herslef. However, I think back to the story about how she would sift through a box of donated shoes, take out the worst pair, and put them on her own feet in order to give the better pairs to the more needy than herself. This decision resulted in her feet being deformed for part of her life.

And it makes me wonder. Where do we draw the line? Again, the work that Mother Teresa did was nothing less than admirable. Making sacrifices in order to better serve those around us is something we should all be trying to do more often. But at the same time, is turning to asceticism and "self-denial and self-moritifcaiton" really what God has in mind for the body of Christ? I think in our ministry and service we should also keep in mind that Christ dwells in us, and therefore I believe it is just as important to respect our own bodies as it is to respect others.

And also, "doctrine that a person can attain a high spiritual and moral state by practicing self-denial, self-mortification." Ok.....? Part of me really isn't sure what to do with that, or where to even start. There's clearly two extremes facing our society today. Where's the balance between self-satisfcation/self-seeking and self-moritifcation?

Which also brings me to Matthew 16:24 which says, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.'" I personally think what Jesus meant by "deny themselves" is, "deny your selfish desires for the things of this world" (example: earthly wealth, material possessions, etc.) I don't necessarily think Jesus was saying "deny and completely disregard your well-being, and don't try to care of yourselves or your health."

Something I feel the Church doesn't really talk much about is standing in awe of Creation. And I'm not just talking about the mountains, trees, skies, and earth in general. Don't get me wrong, God said all of those things were, "good." But I'm talking about what God declared, "very good."

Us. You. Me. Humans. Our bodies.

So yes, in order to be a disciple I need to deny myself and pick up the cross and follow Jesus. And yes, that may mean in the process getting a few splinters, a few blisters, and a few cuts and scrapes! But I'm also not going to totally disregard taking care of the body God has created for me. It means finding the healthy balance of serving others, and taking care of ourselves.

Basically, I see nothing wrong with a healthy amount of self-denial....it's this "rigorous self-denial and self-mortification" that I'm questioning.

I'd definitely appreciate anyone's thoughts on this topic!