Before anything was even announced, but with certain awareness it was coming, he leapt to the heart of the ring with his arms raised and began to dance in celebration. The bell had rung for the seventh round, and he was ready to go if he had to, but his opponent – the heavyweight boxing champion of the world – had spat out his mouth guard, signaling his forfeit. It was the twenty-fifth of February 1964, and by a technical knock-out, the 8-to-1 underdog Cassius Clay – soon to publicly change his name to Muhammad Ali – had just defeated the unbeatable Sonny Liston, claiming the championship title to shake up the world from that ring in Miami Beach.
But how'd he get there? Ten years earlier, Cassius had been a somewhat scrawny 12-year-old kid growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, when in October 1954, his brand-new bicycle got stolen. Overwhelmed with indignant rage, Cassius ran across the street to the community center and, told there was a police officer in the basement gym, he went down to report the crime, unable to hold his tongue from making threats against the unknown thief. Officer Joe Martin – who happened to run a boxing program – encouraged him to sign up to put some skill behind that passion.1 Later, Cassius saw Martin's program featured on local TV, and – eager for televised fame – Cassius joined. Just 85 pounds, he was loud, obnoxious, unruly, and arrogant.2 Martin himself, looking back, said that little Cassius was “just ordinary,” but that he was quick and “easily the hardest worker of any kid I ever taught..., willing to make the sacrifices to achieve something worthwhile.”3 Soon, Cassius started training under both Martin and also with Fred Stoner at a different community center across town, “six days a week.”4 The routine was grueling, with young Cassius running miles each day (sometimes backwards, in army boots, while shadow boxing), doing sit-ups until he felt he'd fall apart, strengthening his midsection with a medicine ball, jumping rope until his legs were exhausted, not to mention the usual boxing exercises. Replacing his soda habit with garlic water, he'd even challenge his own school bus to a race each morning, running alongside it.5
Building on his existing speed and adding muscle and finesse, often training until midnight, Cassius pushed himself through a transformation. It didn't take long until he was winning amateur fights, boxing in the Golden Gloves, and by 1960 he was ready to go to the Summer Olympics in Rome – though his severe fear of flying nearly kept him at bay. There, as Joe Martin observed, “he'd go up to people and shake hands with them, but he had his mind on training. … When I watched him train, he was one of the hardest trainers I'd ever seen.”6 Once he took home the gold medal, he felt ready to go pro. His new set of wealthy backers decided he needed an elite trainer, so they sent him to a boxing camp in California run by former light-heavyweight champ Archie Moore. Cassius didn't thrive there, thinking he needed something faster-paced and more social,7 while Archie felt “the boy needed a good spanking, but I wasn't sure who could give it to him.”8 So in December 1960, 18-year-old Cassius moved to Florida to train with Angelo Dundee. Even when observers thought Cassius was all bark and no bite, Angelo felt that Cassius' fervor would overcome his flaws, given time. “Training him was a whole different ballgame from most fighters,” Angelo said. “You didn't have to push. It was like jet propulsion. … I directed him, and made him feel that he was the innovator.”9 A few years later, Cassius was poised to face Sonny Liston, but even then, Cassius trained for endurance with sparring matches lasting a full fifteen rounds, and also studied footage of all Liston's fights, assessing him for weaknesses. Only then was Cassius ready.
It was through immense training that, in his own style and building on his natural drives, Cassius went from a 12-year-old kid complaining about a bike to a 22-year-old heavyweight champion, a legend of boxing – a sport that's been around for thousands of years. And while the Apostle Paul seems to favor running more than boxing as his go-to sport, he uses them both to explain the Christian life. “I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26). To be a Christian, in Paul's eyes, is to be a spiritual athlete. And that means St. Paul approached the spiritual life in much the same way Cassius Clay approached boxing – and Paul suggests we do the same, because we're on the track, we're in the ring, whether we like it or not.
Paul mentions that, just like an athletic competition, the spiritual life has rules: “An athlete isn't crowned unless he competes according to the rules” (2 Timothy 2:5). And Paul really emphasizes the importance of training. “Train yourself for godliness,” Paul tells Timothy (1 Timothy 4:7). The word for 'train' Paul uses there is the word for working out in a gym. One modern philosopher writing on athletics explains how “athletic training... allows the athlete to become more fully his or her body, and to become habituated to the appropriate athletic skills.”10 And in much the same way, Paul might say, a Christian needs a training process to become more fully his or her whole soul, and to become habituated to the appropriate soul-skills, or habits.
When I talk about 'habits' here, I'm not just talking about patterns of behavior. I'm talking about inner principles that make those patterns of behavior easier and more natural, and which can be created, shaped, or hindered by patterns of behavior. Habits are these principles that form inside us as ways for our experiences and choices to give shape to our raw potential.11 When Cassius Clay worked on his jab, he was habituating his muscles away from certain ways they were used to moving, in order to habituate them to new ways of moving, so that it'd be easier and more feasible to do that when it counted. Much the same, we're all already habituated to a lot of ways of moving, inside and out. When we have an opinion, that's our mind being habituated to think about that thing a certain way – that's a habit. When we usually have certain emotional responses to certain triggers – say, getting really mad when someone cuts you off in traffic – that shows a habit's at work. Habits give shape to the powers that are in us. When a habit improves a power in us, making it work deftly and reasonably, than we say that habit is a continent or even a virtuous one; while when a habit corrupts a power in us, making it work poorly and unreasonably, then we say that habit is an incontinent or even a vicious one.12
We've been talking all this year about what we were made for, which is to complete our great human journey by reaching the heavenly vision whereby, seeing God as he truly is, we can become like him by sharing his blessed life. Since no power that's naturally in us is up to the task, God has to perfect our nature by grace, making us born again. And when God gives us grace, that forms habits in the soul. God installs theological virtues like faith, hope, and love, and moral virtues like prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit – all of which are habits, inner principles that dispose us to acting in certain ways but don't force us to act those ways. God empowers us and disposes us to believe, hope, love, and act virtuously through what he gives us, right from the very start, and he invites us to actively cooperate in such a way that he roots those habits more deeply and broadly in our lives, so that it changes the way we behave until we're living his life in us.
The trouble is, even when we're saved, it doesn't just dynamite all the good and bad habits we already had. We have plenty of habits, some of which – the bad ones – are at war in us with the habits God created by grace. So God gives you a habit of faith that disposes you to believe in his truth, but you might have already had a habit to doubt, and that's still there. God gives you a habit of temperance that disposes you to shepherd your desires reasonably toward true good, but you might have already had a habit of intemperance that aims your desires less reasonably toward a lesser good, say, a stronger taste for cheese than is healthy for you. God gives you a habit of justice that disposes you to do right by everybody, but you might have already had a habit of injustice that disposes you to favor yourself by a selfish double standard. And the thing is, our bad habits usually feel pretty good to us – so natural, we might identify with them and wonder if we could really be ourselves without them.13
You see how this can be a problem! Vicious or incontinent habits, and the behaviors they lead to, can actually be a real problem for a Christian – and not just because they might discredit your witness. Paul talks about making a shipwreck of your faith (1 Timothy 1:19). Paul talks about his own diligent concern not to “be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Peter says that God has “called us to his own glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3) – that's what we're being called to. If our goal is nothing less than to be transformed to be like God, who has revealed himself in Christ, and if the Bible has a lot to say about the kind of person who can see God, then if we go through life saying we believe but failing to let Jesus actually make us that kind of person – that's risky business. If we remain content to keep bad habits and act out of them, then we might end up losing the fight. Jesus says that only when a disciple is “fully trained” can he be just like his teacher (Luke 6:40).
The author of Hebrews tells us that, for the race we're to run, we have to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” (Hebrews 12:1). Paul says that “the grace of God has appeared..., training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions” (Titus 2:12). God's grace showed up to take those weights of bad habits off of you, to train you how to renounce them, how to give them up – give up that habit of doubt, that habit of selfishness, that habit of self-justification, that habit of intemperance, and so on, and so on, giving up every habit that doesn't make you a better person, a more Christ-like person. Paul says that, just as “every athlete exercises self-control in all things” (1 Corinthians 9:25), so “the grace of God has appeared..., training us... to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:12). Peter adds: “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love – for if these things are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. … Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these things, you will never fail, for in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8, 10-11).
So what we need to do is let the grace of God train us in self-control and godliness, the things that flower fully in love. We need to let God's grace and our every effort work together to make our virtues full and our vices gone, and in that way find entrance to the eternal kingdom where we can see God as he is. That means we need to train our lives, like Cassius Clay as he sought to remake himself into a heavyweight champion. We need to recover from the bad habits that corrupt our inward powers and dispose us toward acting in ungodly and unfruitful ways, and increase good habits that improve our inward powers and dispose us toward acting in godly and fruitful ways. But as any new year's resolution has taught us, sheer willpower doesn't cut muster for this.14
First, we've got to figure out what current unfruitful behavior we want to change, what bad habit might be operating in us – and that's not always easy, because it's hard to look at ourselves, and a lot of us may find we're comfortable in our weaknesses and corruptions, we're scared to change.15 But when you know you need change and you've figured out what needs to change, give some thought to what might usually trigger the behavior you need to stop. For instance, if the behavior is lashing out defensively when you get criticized, what might be going on behind that, and what conditions prompt that?16 Third, when you meet those same cues in those same contexts, what new behavior do you want to do instead, and what kind of habit would make it come more naturally?17 Instead of self-justifying or angry lashing out, what do you want to do instead when you face criticism? Hopefully, something humble, peaceable, fair-minded – and that means working on the virtuous habit of fortitude. Fourth, decide what would help you feel a sense of reward as you begin to do that new behavior. It's best if it's an intrinsic reward, like a sense of satisfaction and happiness when you're good to others, but if it's got to be an extrinsic reward – say, a favorite cookie every time you take criticism in stride – that's at least a good idea to start with.18 From this, lay out a reasonable and flexible plan, picture yourself succeeding and believe in that hope, and get started with the simplest first step you can to practice.19
After taking the first step toward crowding out the old habit by strengthening the good habit God's grace put in you, the next thing to do is build endurance. Hebrews says to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1), and Paul says, “I pummel my body and enslave it” for the sake of his self-control and endurance (1 Corinthians 9:27). Stick with it, don't lose resolve. Cassius Clay had to build stamina in and out of the ring, with 15-round sparring matches before facing Sonny Liston; and the same is true for us when we're working on training our lives and souls. Build endurance in virtue. Invest time and energy in seeking virtue.
You'll also want to build skillfulness in deliberately pursuing virtue. “I do not run aimlessly,” says Paul, and “I do not box as one beating the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26). Running aimlessly and boxing the air are activities, sure, but don't demand the finesse of actually staying on course, actually landing the punch. Take it from Cassius Clay, take it from Paul: those things take skill. So do all good habits. The more you do good, the more kinds of good you do, the stronger your inclination toward goodness grows.20 The more often you forgive, the more kinds of things you practice forgiving, you get better at forgiving, find it easier to forgive, find yourself able to forgive bigger and bigger things – and so your forgiveness comes to look more like God's forgiveness, your goodness comes to look more like God's goodness, your love comes to look more like God's love.
On the way to that, it's best to have mentorship and friendship. Jesus emphasized that “everyone, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40) – which presumes that, to become fully trained, you'll need a teacher! If Cassius Clay had come up with his own training regimen at home, but never gotten input from Joe Martin or Fred Stoner or Archie Moore or Angelo Dundee, I doubt he would've ever become a champion. And if we come up with our own spiritual regimen but have no soul-trainer, we're likely to fall short. Obviously, Christ and the Holy Spirit are our ultimate teachers and trainers – but God gives us many other models of excellence, as well as people still living on earth who can mentor us and direct us. Just the same, you're going to need friends to encourage you, assist you, and challenge you. Cassius Clay had to spar against Joe Martin's other students, then other amateurs, then other professionals, as an essential part of his training. And we need a cheering crowd and sparring partners of the soul. Hebrews tells us that past champions of the life of faith make up a “great cloud of witnesses” watching our contest, cheering us on and helping from the sidelines (Hebrews 12:1). And here on earth, we have other Christians to co-train with. That spiritual friendship is essential.21 So as you go, as you train, as you fight the good fight, remember that you're not alone. And not only do you have those mentors and friends, but – to paraphrase one early Christian – it may be you who's got to throw the punch, but it's Christ who lands the punch.22 Ultimately, it's “God who gives us the victory” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Finally, keep your eyes on the prize. From the very outset, Cassius Clay knew he wanted the champion title – he pictured himself getting it, even when he was barely a beginner. Why should we have any less focus on our prize, which is the richness of holiness, which is eternal life, which is beholding God? “Bodily training is of some value,” Paul says – all the work Cassius Clay put in was of some value – “but godliness is of value in every way” (1 Timothy 4:8). Physical athletes exercise, train, and compete for “a perishable wreath,” a title and trophy that don't last, but those who train in the godliness of holy love and the other virtues are competing for an “imperishable” prize (1 Corinthians 9:25). That's why godliness “holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). Consider the prize we're after – it's no participation trophy; it's for victors, for champs, be you heavyweight or flyweight – “so run that you may obtain it!” (1 Corinthians 9:24).
That's what Lent is all about, with this extra prayer and fasting and almsgiving being a chance to disrupt old bad habits and remind us to pursue the prize while there's still time, and to take seriously the fight we're in for, “for to this end we toil and strive” (1 Timothy 4:10). One of Cassius Clay's early sparring partners, who also went on to become a heavyweight champion, said of him in those early days: “He wanted to box, and he wanted to be great, and that's what his life was all about.”23 May it be said to each of us, in the end: “You wanted to love, and you wanted to be godly and virtuous and holy, and that's what your life was all about.” In Jesus' name. Amen.
1 Jack Rummel, Muhammad Ali: Heavyweight Champion (Chelsea House Publishers, 2005), 10-11.
2 Anthony O. Edmonds, Muhammad Ali: A Biography (ABC-CLIO, 2006), 18.
3 Joe Martin, quoted in Thomas Hauser, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (Simon & Schuster, 1991), 19.
4 Muhammad Ali, quoted in Thomas Hauser, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (Simon & Schuster, 1991), 19.
5 Jack Rummel, Muhammad Ali: Heavyweight Champion (Chelsea House Pubhlishers, 2005), 12-13; Anthony O. Edmonds, Muhammad Ali: A Biography (ABC-CLIO, 2006), 19-20.
6 Joe Martin, quoted in Thomas Hauser, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (Simon & Schuster, 1991), 26.
7 Jack Rummel, Muhammad Ali: Heavyweight Champion (Chelsea House Publishers, 2005), 25.
8 Archie Moore, quoted in Thomas Hauser, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (Simon & Schuster, 1991), 34.
9 Angelo Dundee, quoted in Thomas Hauser, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (Simon & Schuster, 1991), 36.
10 Daniel A. Dombrowski, Contemporary Athletics and Ancient Greek Ideals (University of Chicago Press, 2009), 127.
11 Ezra Sullivan, Heroic Habits: Discovering the Soul's Potential for Greatness (TAN Books, 2021), 181.
12 Ezra Sullivan, Heroic Habits: Discovering the Soul's Potential for Greatness (TAN Books, 2021), 165-169.
13 Ezra Sullivan, Heroic Habits: Discovering the Soul's Potential for Greatness (TAN Books, 2021), 188.
14 Ezra Sullivan, Habits and Holiness: Ethics, Theology, and Biopsychology (Catholic University of Americ Press, 2021), 462-463.
15 Ezra Sullivan, Habits and Holiness: Ethics, Theology, and Biopsychology (Catholic University of Americ Press, 2021), 525-527.
16 Ezra Sullivan, Habits and Holiness: Ethics, Theology, and Biopsychology (Catholic University of Americ Press, 2021), 448.
17 Ezra Sullivan, Habits and Holiness: Ethics, Theology, and Biopsychology (Catholic University of Americ Press, 2021), 445, 464.
18 Ezra Sullivan, Habits and Holiness: Ethics, Theology, and Biopsychology (Catholic University of Americ Press, 2021), 446-447.
19 Ezra Sullivan, Habits and Holiness: Ethics, Theology, and Biopsychology (Catholic University of Americ Press, 2021), 450-454.
20 Ezra Sullivan, Heroic Habits: Discovering the Soul's Potential for Greatness (TAN Books, 2021), 184.
21 Ezra Sullivan, Habits and Holiness: Ethics, Theology, and Biopsychology (Catholic University of America Press, 2021), 511-513.
22 Ambrose of Milan, Letter 49, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 26:256.
23 Jimmy Ellis, quoted in Thomas Hauser, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (Simon & Schuster, 1991), 20.
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