The Discipline of Becoming

Inspired by Ephesians 4:22-24 and  harnessing neuroplasticity through disciplined practice to rewire our brain and transform our character. 


*[sparse jazz piano notes, modal progression]*

Dig it, man—
The old self like a threadbare coat,
Worn out with bad habits and old roads.
These pathways in my brain—concrete-hard 
From the repetition of yesterday's mistakes.

*[finger snaps, bass note]*

The square world says, "That's just how you are,"
But the Book says, "Put off... put on..."
And the mad scientists with their neuroplasticity
Are finally catching up to ancient wisdom.

The mind rewires itself, daddy-o,
Not in one ecstatic moment of revelation
But in the cool discipline of daily practice,
In the monotonous miracle of habit.

*[saxophone riff, low and questioning]*

Aristotle knew it when he rapped,
"Excellence ain't no single act, cats—
It's the habit, the constant becoming,
The daily dying to who you were."

*[brushes on snare drum, light and persistent]*

The old neural pathways—rigid and deep—
Demand their familiar fix,
But I'm laying down new tracks now,
Moment by moment, choice by choice.

*[piano chords, dissonant then resolving]*

To be made new in the image of the Creator—
Not just a heavenly wish, but a biological fact.
The brain changes, man, it really changes
When we put our minds on higher things.

*[bass solo, walking steadily forward]*

The obstacle is the way, dig?
Achievement ain't adding more,
It's stripping away the old self,
Breaking the chains of ingrained patterns.

*[quiet, contemplative moment]*

The Melon Cave knows—
This intersection of ancient text and modern science,
Where spiritual transformation meets neural networks,
Where discipline becomes freedom becomes love.

*[full ensemble, modal resolution]*

So I practice the discipline of improving discipline,
A jazz improvisation on fixed chord changes,
A paradox of structure and freedom—
Becoming who I was always meant to be.

*[fade to finger snaps and whispered refrain]*

"Put off the old... put on the new...
Put off the old... put on the new..."