Meaningful Activity is Hard, Even in the Spiritual Life

While listening to a recent episode of Cal Newport’s Deep Questions podcast, I heard Cal speak about the importance of deliberate practice (it may have been on this episode, but I’m not totally sure). He noted that the pursuit of any meaningful activity is hard. Thinking is hard. Concentration is hard. Writing is cognitively demanding. Reading a book can be a challenge, especially if your attention span has been trained by social media algorithms. Watching a full length feature film could be difficult if you only watch selections from TikTok or YouTube Shorts.

Cal made a connection to a book called Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. This book published in 2008 and was a national bestseller. I read it in 2010.

Csikszentmihalyi had studied the mental states of those who became completed absorbed in a challenging but doable task, which he labeled a flow state. Those experiencing a flow state exhibit high levels of concentration, are clear on the goal, may experience a changed relationship to time (speeding up/slowing down), find the activity rewarding and even easy at the time, are completely present in the moment (losing self-consciousness), and have a feeling of mastery. Professional athletes were cited as clear examples.

In basketball, this is the player with the hot hand, and in baseball, this is the pitcher or batter who is “locked in.”

This concept was popularized and idealized. If you wanted to be happy, if you wanted to find satisfaction, you needed to engage in activities where you could get in the zone, where you could easily experience flow.

Csikszentmihalyi did find that different types of people can enter flow states more easily. But this does not mean that experiencing flow is easy or that flow states can be readily induced. Finding flow requires mastery, extensive practice, and experience. It may be easier when coupled with natural ability, but it often takes time to develop the neural pathways that make it possible.

Flow states are nice and they can be had. But they can be elusive or difficult to achieve.

Deliberate practice differs in that it can be done even when it is hard. The discomfort is the very thing that makes the effort meaningful and rewarding, and, eventually, is the very thing that can move the practitioner from being an amateur to adequate to good to excellent. “Getting better can be painful sometimes,” as Newport observes.

As I reflected on this concept, I thought about my own experiences with the spiritual disciplines. I thought about the feedback I have heard from those seeking to grow as disciples of Jesus. I have often heard people say that they find it hard to read their Bible, or that they become frustrated when they become distracted in prayer. I have heard people grouse when they become irritable while fasting, or sleepy while practicing Christian meditation. I’ve heard people say they like the concept of the service, but then find it difficult to selflessly and gladly help others in practice. When you are on a tight budget, cheerful giving can be a tall task, and when you have an abundance of possessions, simplicity can seem impossible. Any spiritual discipline requires discipline, and discipline is hard.

Jesus described his way as an easy yoke. He said that the weary can come to him and find rest. But he also said that following him would require the taking up of a cross daily, and that being his disciple would require losing one’s life before it could be regained and found. Being renewed day by day can be simultaneously joyous and difficult. Growth involves growing pains. But growing pains don’t last forever. God’s objective is to bring us to maturity, to bring the work of sanctification to completion.

My message is this: if you encounter difficulty when seeking God, accept it. Don’t quit. Don’t be discouraged. Be deliberate. Be intentional. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Pray. Learn. Grow. The discomfort is part of the journey. If it helps, refer to spiritual disciplines as spiritual practices. Then, practice. Deliberately.

As you go along, you’ll find nourishment. God will sustain you. God will feed you. God’s grace is in abundant supply. You can ask for it. God is generous in giving it. And as you walk the path of faith and metaphorically flex spiritual muscle, some things that at first seemed impossible will become easier over time.

Meaningful activity is hard, even in the spiritual life. And sometimes, it is the difficulty that deepens the meaning, that enriches the reward, that sweetens the experience, and that increases the gratitude and wonder concerning what God is doing, will do, and has done.