Allowing Grace to Perfect Nature - Spiritual Direction

The ever popular notion that one discovers their true identity in and/or by Nature tantamount to navigating a very slippery slope. Maybe the best way to come at this is to simply say that in Nature there is an instinctual level of communication yet the reality of human existence does not take form until something else takes place; meaning and our ability to symbolize our experiences rather than simply respond to it.

The Word and thus, naming reveals the mystery of reality. Mystery in this sense is not so much as unknown but unfathomable, something like love, there is so much more to be appreciated. So something other than communication happens here and language is our way of bringing meaning to our existence. Stumbling blocks akin to slippery slopes are often examples of our fallen relationship with another, a teacher or model where, by a knee jerk tendency in naming something, we explain it away rather than to find a way to rest in the tension of the mystery of naming something so to grant access to its wonder bringing us into a deeper relationship. 

Therefore the idea or image that some have that Nature is a mother to us just does not work - a sister, yes, but not a mother. G.K. Chesterton observed:

The main point of Christianity was this: that Nature is not our mother: Nature is our sister. We can be proud of her beauty, since we have the same father; but she has no authority over us; we have to admire, but not to imitate. This gives to the typically Christian pleasure in this earth a strange touch of lightness that is almost frivolity. Nature was a solemn mother to the worshipers of Isis and Cybele. Nature was a solemn mother to Wordsworth or to Emerson. But Nature is not solemn to Francis of Assisi or to George Herbert. To St. Francis, Nature is a sister, and even a younger sister: a little, dancing sister, to be laughed at as well as loved. - Orthodoxy, pg. 168-169

In the wisdom of St Thomas Aquinas:  "Since grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it, natural reason must be subject to faith, just as the natural tendency of the will is guided by charity."

This is so important when we discern certain orientations as they brush up against matters of faith and of being human. Again it is necessary to rest in the mystery of naming something to find how Grace is working in our nature. Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Caritas in Veritate:

“One aspect of the contemporary technological mindset is the tendency to consider the problems and emotions of the interior life from a purely psychological point of view, ... In this way man’s interiority is emptied of its meaning and gradually our awareness of the human soul’s ontological depths, as probed by the saints, is lost. The question of development is closely bound up with our understanding of the human soul, insofar as we often reduce the self to the psyche and confuse the soul’s health with emotional well-being. These over-simplifications stem from a profound failure to understand the spiritual life, and they obscure the fact that the development of individuals and peoples depends partly on the resolution of problems of a spiritual nature.”

To contemplate on this spiritual nature that Benedict refers to we must accept the challenge to heighten our religious sensibilities. This doesn't necessarily mean a more complex study like I love to meander through, but one can take a page out of The Story of a Soul from the mystical heart of St. Thérèse's Little Way, where she explains that Jesus does not demand great actions from us but simply surrender and gratitude, the keys to human freedom. Contrary to any notion (or rather myth) of freedom in Nature, where in reality we are reduced to reciprocal-response creatures, St. Thérèse's Little Way illuminates a relational model of being where we are predisposed for the other and God. Here, freedom in Christ, a surrender and gratitude brings an openness and willingness to journey with God exploring the numerous and varied voices operating on us and to reach beyond those 'other' voices to discover the portal that leads to Christ, who is our fulfillment. With our Baptism in the Holy Spirit we find our being in Christ so to relax into (graciously surrendering the controls to God) into an imitation of Him whose self-donating nature allows us to reach out to our sisters and brothers in a state of meaning, purpose and solidarity. 

Without God, the Transcendent Other however, and to the degree we reject or even neglect God, we are swayed toward an atheism of indifference and relativism, oblivious to God and are at risk of becoming oblivious to the values sustaining life. Caught in something resembling a soap opera or grade-B movie, our life without the breaking-in of something-larger-than-we-are is emptied of any inner peace and our relationships become frail and often filled with resentment. Our soul becomes parched and very quickly, emptied of our sense of worthiness - our lives becoming mere shadows of a self not able to substantiate between a real or a virtual existence.

Nature is perfected in Grace, so too the human nature must be perfected through on-going spiritual formation. This unfathomable mystery of formation is actually found in its simple signposts directing us toward becoming fully human. The signposts of spiritual formation are: induction, habits, and time. So breaking free from the soap opera life of a tit-for-tat existence we are led by others into something over time. Hence, Grace perfecting nature.

Formation needs to be nourished by a diet of study and piety that fuses into apostolic action. Like most diets spiritual formation is a struggle where temptations that are distracting and demeaning blind us from our goal. So it is important to remember our need to go beyond reason to where we surrender to faith that sustain us. 

Fidelity, fidelity, fidelity is the key to spiritual formation. A great source to help stay true to God's meaning and presence in one's journey is a spiritual director. They can help one stay focused in Christ always mindful that the journey is relational. The service of spiritual direction fosters a spaciousness, a width and breath in order to build up our nature in the communion of Christ.

Allowing Grace to perfect nature. 

Self-respect is a gift received

A spin on St Francis' make me a channel of your peace - make me an invitation of giving

William Hurlbut writes of St Francis in his article St. Francis, Christian Love, and the Biotechnological Future :

For Francis there was never any "escape from the desperations of natural life, but in a transformation in his spiritual understanding of the interwoven meaning of suffering and love. He came to see that the whole of creation, and each of its varied creatures in their distinct strengths and struggles, reflected and revealed the perfection of the Creator. If all things are from one Father, then all are kin and worthy of solicitude and appreciation. It was not nature in the abstract that he loved but every differentiated being in its particularity and individuality. Likewise, he loved not humanity in the abstract so much as individual human beings. He described this love as courtesy, a tender affection and concern for others as precious and unique, as creatures beloved of God; and his courtesy was born not of magnanimity or largesse (with their implicit sense of superiority) but of genuine humility of heart. He became the “little brother” (the Order of Friars Minor is the official name of his followers), placing himself in a position of neediness before others. Not so much a giver of gifts as a “giver of giving,” Francis provided the invitation to give by putting himself in circumstances that drew forth the generosity of others — and with it, their self-respect."

Here is a concept we should spend our entire life working toward: A "giver of giving" - being an invitation to give by drawing forth the generosity of others - and with it their self-respect. So "self-respect" is not something we muster up from within our selves through autonomous self-will or individualism... self-respect is rather a gift received. Imagine that.

Art of Praying

from The Art of Praying
Fr. Romano Guardini  

The basic meaning of the word recollected is "to be unified, gathered together." A glance at our life will show how much we lack this aptitude. We should have a fixed center which, like the hub of a wheel, governs our movements and from which all our actions go out and to which they return; a standard also, or a code by which we distinguish the important from the unimportant, the end from the means, and which puts actions and experience into their proper order; something stable, unaffected by change and yet capable of development, which makes it clear to us who we are and how matters stand with us. We lack this; we, the men of today lack it more than did those who lived in earlier ages. 

This becomes evident in our attempts to pray. Spiritual teachers speak of distractions that state in which man lacks poise and unity, that state in which thoughts flit from object to object, in which feelings are vague and unfocused and the will ineffective. Man in this state is not really a person who speaks or who can be spoken to, but merely an uncoordinated bundle of thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Recollectedness means that he who prays gathers himself together, directs his attention to what he is doing, draws in all thought--a painstaking task--so as to dedicate himself to prayer as a unified whole. This is the state in which he may, when the call comes to him, answer in the words of Moses, "Here I am."

The distractions in prayer come from the disjointedness of life. Some may claim that there seem to be more distractions today because there is a greater amount of information flowing in constantly. We cannot be focused on any issue for more than a few minutes at a time IF we allow ourselves to react to all of that information. And who can argue this claim. However the symptom of this carving-to-overdose on any and everything is our sense of emptiness -  a lack of ontological density. From my mentor Gil Bailie:

Lack of ontological density means a self that is insubstantial and it is seeking in self-defeating ways some way of substantiating itself. There are 2 ways of substantiating the self: 1) that way that perfectly parallels the cultural system that generates false transcendence; and 2) the experience of true transcendence.

However one understands the breakdown in the sense of being centered, of having a focus for one's life, the remedy abides somewhere in the mystery knowing that there is something greater here - in the very mystery of faith. Faith is a gathering up of all the me's into something larger than a self.

“Faith is the finding of a ‘You’ that upholds me and, amid all the unfulfilled…hope of human encounters, gives me the promise of an indestructible love that not only longs for eternity but also guarantees it. Christian faith lives on the discovery that not only is there such a thing as objective meaning but that this meaning knows me and loves me, that I can entrust myself to it like [a] child.” Pope Benedict XVI

To truly practice the Art of Praying in today's fast-paced, distracted and scandalized culture we may want to allow less of the world to intrude into our thoughts and instead hone in on and become participants in all things of beauty, truth and goodness.  

Getting to the Truth - beyond the corpses - learning to read scandal

This short scene in the movie, LINCOLN is a glimpse into scandal. A new book on scandal, Beneath the Veil of the Strange Verses Reading Scandalous Texts by Jeremiah L. Alberg defines scandal: "as those events, scenes, and representations to which we are attracted at the same moment that we are repelled. The scandalous is that which excites without satisfying, seduces without delivering, and promises without fulfilling. In one word it summarizes René Girard's analysis of mimetic desire as the doomed-to-be-frustrated reaching for the skanalon, the object of scandal." (Link here to an excerpt from René Girard's I See Satan Fall Like Lightning.)

Alberg notes that we are confronted with a stark choice: "either turn away from scandal completely or become enthralled and thus trapped by it." 

When watching the movie I thought this scene cuts to the truth of scandal and thus do we turn away from the corpses or get enthralled and trapped in the tragic. Or, as Alberg says, do we allow scandal to open us up to journey beyond the tragic and death to a deeper truth?

[Lincoln rides slowly on the frontline outside of Petersburg, Virginia, saddened by the sight of all the dead and wounded soldiers; later he meets Grant at his headquarters in in Petersburg; they sit outside on the porch]

Abraham Lincoln: Once he surrenders, send his boys back to their homes, their farms, their shops.

Ulysses S. Grant: Yes sir, as we discussed.

Abraham Lincoln: Liberality all around, not punishment, I don't want that. And the leaders, Jeff and the rest of 'em, if they escape, leave the country while my back's turned, that wouldn't upset me none. When peace comes it mustn't just be hangings.

Ulysses S. Grant: By outward appearance, you're ten years older than you were a year ago.

[Lincoln, looking very tired, nods his head]

Abraham Lincoln: Some weariness has bit at my bones.

[he pauses for a moment, thinking]

Abraham Lincoln: I never seen the like of it before. What I seen today. Never seen the like of it before.

Ulysses S. Grant: You always knew that, what this was going to be. Intimate, and ugly. You must've needed to see it close when you decided to come down here.

[Lincoln stands, puts his hat on and shakes Grant's hand]

Abraham Lincoln: We've made it possible for one another to do terrible things.

Ulysses S. Grant: We have won the war. Now you have to lead us out of it.

The Opportunity of the Day (if not a lifetime) - Interpreting Wrath & Love in a Way that Opens Our Hearts to a Future of Hope

With the glorious resurrection and forgiveness of Easter upon us and with Pope Francis' exclamation of the meaning of God's Love in his Easter speech it seems a great time to throw out a challenge for the day (if not a lifetime). First let us soak up the Easter meaning in the words of Pope Francis:

What a joy it is for me to announce this message: Christ is risen! I would like it to go out to every house and every family, ...

Most of all, I would like it to enter every heart, for it is there that God wants to sow this Good News: Jesus is risen, there is hope for you, you are no longer in the power of sin, of evil! Love has triumphed, mercy has been victorious! The mercy of God always triumphs!

What does it mean that Jesus is risen? It means that the love of God is stronger than evil and death itself; it means that the love of God can transform our lives and let those desert places in our hearts bloom. The love God can do this!

This same love for which the Son of God became man and followed the way of humility and self-giving to the very end, down to hell – to the abyss of separation from God – this same merciful love has flooded with light the dead body of Jesus, has transfigured it, has made it pass into eternal life. Jesus did not return to his former life, to earthly life, but entered into the glorious life of God and he entered there with our humanity, opening us to a future of hope.

What a great way of describing the Transformative effect of the Risen Lord and how His Forgiveness is the way of opportunities, the way of "opening us to a future of hope." The idea of this opportunity to re-imagine God's Love comes after watching Evan Almighty, a warm & fuzzy modern day version of the story of the flood and Noah building the ARK.

So first let us get re-acclimated to the story - Gen 6:9-9:17  ...

Now "opening us to a future of hope," watch the clip from the movie where Al Mighty masterfully creates a safe space within the heart of downcast Joan Baxter so she has an opportunity to wrestle with a different version of love.

Al says, "...lot of people didn't get the point of the story. They think it is about God's wrath and anger... They love it when God gets angry... "

Joan asks, "Well, what is the story about, the ARK?"

Al Mighty responds, "... well, I think it is a love story, about believing in each other, ... everyone entered the ARK side-by-side." 

He then continues, "...sounds like an opportunity. Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, do you think that God gives them patience or does He give them the opportunity to be patient? If one prays for courage does God give them courage or the opportunity to be courageous? If someone prays for the family to be closer do you think God actually wants them to have warm fuzzy feelings or does He give them opportunities to love each other?" 

Now let us ponder the opportunity: If the story of the ARK is NOT about God's wrath and anger but rather it is a love story then could it be that wherever we interpret God's wrath in scripture that we are actually projecting our own violence in place of, or to avoid, God's Love?

As I understand Pope Francis' Easter message as saying that we first need to allow a safe space to be created in our hearts to bloom so that our eyes may be opened so as to witness just who it is we are wrestling with.  Instead of reading the flood story as representing God's wrath and anger; what if we read Gen 6:11-12:  "Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence," ... full of violence: the earth was flooded with OUR resentment, wrath & anger; OUR violence. ... Humm, so are we not like the disciples on the road to Emmaus as we reflect on Pope Francis' message? What does it mean that Jesus is risen? ... it means that the love of God can transform our lives and let those desert places in our hearts bloom!

The Emmaus Road Story sheds the light of Easter on a way of reading the texts of the Old Testament - Jesus as Interpreter. What we get from the disciples' encounter along the road to Emmaus is that the teaching of Christ is being passed from those who are being forgiven to those who are being forgiven. God so loved us that He give us an opportunity to approach the flood narrative in Genesis (and all of Scripture) through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

You know that just a few days ago on Good Friday, we have Jesus left alone yet still faithful to the God of life, not giving in to the flood of voices shouting, "Away with him! Away with him!" Are not these voices the desperate cries of those stuck in the abyss of separation from God, as Pope Francis referred to in his Easter message?

* Let us look deeper, isn't Jesus swept up in the flood of our violence? In fact, isn't he the victim of it? For three days, at least. But, no! The cross and tomb are really his ARK! Being sealed up in the tomb has really been his ARK of salvation. For in three days, Jesus emerges as the only one to truly survive the flood of violence. And this time God's act of salvation will be the one to finally change history - which is to say, Jesus' imitation of God's self-emptying Love, the empty tomb, opens us to a future of hope. This hope is not some 'me-and-Jesus' myth of pop-Christianity rather, Jesus Christ is risen to begin life, to begin creation, AGAIN! By this Gift of being forgiven, we are presented the opportunity to start anew. He does so as the One who can help us go beyond the floods of violence so we may reach the shore of forgiveness - a spaciousness in the heart, a place where there is no rivalry suggesting that the true purpose of forgiveness is the creation of a new WE - not just a new me, but a new us. Now THAT is an ARK of salvation.

Just as 'Al Mighty' called Evan Baxter (Noah) out of the rising tide of violence, so too with Jesus' help, we can survive the scandal and dictatorship of today's relativism that cause so many to be swept up into the abyss of separation from God. Increasingly, the scandal of relativism, like floods of violence, get people all worked up easily sweeping them into the abyss, but do not despair, there are the remnant who resist and stay faithful.

Going back to the opportunity laid out before us, pause and reflect on the rising conflict(s) in your own life - at home; at work; even now in our nation. Be aware how easy is it to get swept up with the chorus singing; Crucify him, crucify him.

At one point in the movie Evan was abandoned: just like Noah and just like Jesus, we too can expect that lonely feeling as we try to remain faithful when so many are caught up in the violence of our culture's relativism when God's Love is proclaimed.

This same love for which the Son of God became man and followed the way of humility and self-giving to the very end, down to hell – to the abyss of separation from God – this same merciful love has flooded with light the dead body of Jesus, has transfigured it, has made it pass into eternal life. Jesus did not return to his former life, to earthly life, but entered into the glorious life of God and he entered there with our humanity, opening us to a future of hope.

* See Pastor Paul J. Nuechterlein and his sermon on Surviving the Floods of Violence.