Before I start this post, you can see that I have settled on a total of 6 posts for this book. I have already, and will continue to pass over sections of the book which were good, but didn't apply as much to my life. Enjoy.
Openness to the World.
When I was in University, I had a friend who tried to convince me that the only way that we could understand and really accept people was that we needed to experience what they do. The conversation was specifically to do with consuming illegal drugs, but it can be expanded to issues such as premarital sex.
If you can't tell, I don't believe this at all. I think that we must model Christ in our actions, for when He went into the world he did not partake of the world, he just brought Himself and His unending love.
For me though, the issue has rarely been the draw of the world to do what they are doing - for I so often enclose myself in my cloister of friends that are all Christians - instead it has been to understand how to be
... "openness" to the world means involvement in the affairs of people outside the cloister, identification with them in their desires, problems, struggles, dangers; it means vital concern about a world of total war, genocide, race riots, social injustice, misery, poverty, violence, lust, every kind of disorder. All this is wicked and ungodly.
I struggle with this idea. How do I strike balance between living in the world but not of the world? I feel it is where God places me. Outside of divine inspiration I will never be able to understand the prostitute on East Hastings.
The following is how Merton describes being open to the world:
a) .. being "open to the world" means being aware of and responsive to the real situation of people in the world, the critical problems of the world.
b) Being "open to the world" means being more accessible to people of flesh and blood who are brought by God , in one way or other, to our doorstep.
c) Does openness to the world mean going out of the cloister more freely? .... In the contemplative life, action exists for the sake of contemplation and vice versa. The openness of the contemplative is justified insofar as it enables him to be a better contemplative and to share with others the fruit of his contemplation.
Aware. Accessible. To Go. Simple eh? It is so easy to cloister ourselves and put our blinders on and forget that there is a hurting world around us. I am getting tired tonight, and really want to finish this post, so I will not leave you with my words, but with Mertons.
The real purpose of openness is to renew life in the Spirit, life in love.
If we face in a courageous spirit of faith, the Holy Spirit will take care of the rest.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Contemplation in a World of Action - 3 of ???
Discipline and Renewal. For years I have studied different expressions of discipline, and further on Merton discusses the importance of it. Early in my own personal renewal I found Richard Foster's book "Celebration of Discipline" as a wonderful introduction to the idea of discipline, and how much farther it reached then just reading your bible and praying.
While I have some progress in the practicing of spiritual disciplines, I found this section of the book still quite challenging and through provoking. Even how he describes discipline has made me reconsider what my intentions are in acting out spiritual disciplines.
The purpose of discipline is then not only to help us "turn on" and understand the inner dimensions of existence, but to transform us in Christ in such a way that we completely transcend our routine existence.
Transcendence of our routine existence. Powerful words! And through these words there is much expectation we have, and while we can try harder at them in order to move past a routine existence, it ultimately comes down to the grace of God to work in our lives. We cannot change by our own strength, we can only really hinder His work in our lives.
The ones who wait for the Lord must have oil in their lamps and the lamps must be trimmed. That is what discipline is all about. It implies the cultivation of certain inner conditions of awareness, of openness, of readiness for the new and the unexpected.
To be honest, I don't often expect much from God. The new and unexpected seem like wonderful concepts, but so often I am more than happy to just live in my comfortable life and not want anything new. I heard a story about girl who was on a worship team, and this man tells of how she always seemed to connect with God when she worshiped, and he wondered about this. Eventually he asked her and she said that she asked God to reveal himself in a new way each time. For why would you want a painter to only ever give you the same paintings you have seen before; why not ask him for a new masterpiece.
It is a continual challenge for me, to push the sides of the box that I put God in. I doubt my ability to take God out of the box I put Him in. I feel as though there will always be some bounds I put on Him; but by His grace and mercy I do pray that I will be able to allow the box to stretch.
For the discipline of prayer is not a matter of forcing the issue and getting what you want, but of learning the ways of the spirit and of grace, and of being ready and open to respond to the unpredictable working of a God whose ways are "not our ways."
Prayer. It is the cornerstone of what many consider discipline to be, as it seems that only when we are disciplined do we pray. I have so much I want to say, but I am going to resist. In my summer reading I have read Richard Fosters "Prayer" which has provided a lot more insight into the discipline of prayer. So for now I will leave this saying that while prayer is something we must 'work' at, it is also something that we make much more complicated than it needs to be.
And so the question of what is it all good for? Why do we worry ourselves about discipline and renewing ourselves. For me, I have learned over the past year how important goals are for me, and with discipline we so often get the goal mixed up. Merton makes two statement which really challenge how I describe the goals now:
The real function of disciple is not to provide us with maps but to sharpen our own sense of direction so that when we really get going we can travel without maps.
... without discipline our quest, which seeks typically to explore regions of faith, of love, of experience and of existence beyond the limits of ordinary routine, can never lead to anything serious.
As a child I wanted to move into our basement. I wanted to seclude myself in there so that I could be a mad scientist and have my own lab. My parents - wisely - thought that this was a bad idea and moved on with their life, but for me I have always had similar feelings. I have felt that there is an importance of drawing away for my own self improvement; but through the below passage and several other comments and questions made during the past year I have found that this is so not the case. The solitude that I see is not for myself in the sense that it makes me better for myself; instead the solitude that truly fulfills me will be the solitude that gives me the strength and resources to give and pour out.
Discipline means solitude of some sort, not in the sense of selfish withdrawal but in the sense of an emptiness that no longer cherishes the comfort of various social "idols" and is not slavishly dependent on the approval of others. In such solitude one learns not to seek love but to give it. One's great need is now no longer to be loved, understood, accepted, pardoned, but to love, to pardon, and to accept others just as they are, in order to help them transcend themselves in love.
When it all boils down and we look at how we should be reacting I think that Merton sums it up so well by saying: Our discipline should lead us to discover not how right we are but how wrong we are.
As I ask one of my friends (and he thus asks me), "What are you going to do about it?". I am going to keep focusing on my actions and my pouring out. My life, at least currently, has a lot of solitude built into it and so the withdrawal from the crowds to practice discipline is not that hard, but what I find difficult is determining what I am going to invest myself into in the fall.
Last night I was talking with a close friend and during the conversation the question came up about where I was going to invest my time in September when ministries start up again. One of the actions I felt from my small group this year was to mentor someone, as well as an urge to start - or help start - a small group. Outside of these I do feel the need to invest in myself and in my physical activity in whatever way that looks. And then there are numerous other ministries which I feel I could help with.
Lord,
Thank you for blessing me with solitude. It is such a great gift to have! As Merton describes, let the disciplines you have lead me to allow me to discover how wrong I am. Out of the time I do spend in solitude and discipline, lead me into the areas in which you have designed for me to work in; and allow me the strength and courage to say no to the other things which would push in.
You son,
A
While I have some progress in the practicing of spiritual disciplines, I found this section of the book still quite challenging and through provoking. Even how he describes discipline has made me reconsider what my intentions are in acting out spiritual disciplines.
The purpose of discipline is then not only to help us "turn on" and understand the inner dimensions of existence, but to transform us in Christ in such a way that we completely transcend our routine existence.
Transcendence of our routine existence. Powerful words! And through these words there is much expectation we have, and while we can try harder at them in order to move past a routine existence, it ultimately comes down to the grace of God to work in our lives. We cannot change by our own strength, we can only really hinder His work in our lives.
The ones who wait for the Lord must have oil in their lamps and the lamps must be trimmed. That is what discipline is all about. It implies the cultivation of certain inner conditions of awareness, of openness, of readiness for the new and the unexpected.
To be honest, I don't often expect much from God. The new and unexpected seem like wonderful concepts, but so often I am more than happy to just live in my comfortable life and not want anything new. I heard a story about girl who was on a worship team, and this man tells of how she always seemed to connect with God when she worshiped, and he wondered about this. Eventually he asked her and she said that she asked God to reveal himself in a new way each time. For why would you want a painter to only ever give you the same paintings you have seen before; why not ask him for a new masterpiece.
It is a continual challenge for me, to push the sides of the box that I put God in. I doubt my ability to take God out of the box I put Him in. I feel as though there will always be some bounds I put on Him; but by His grace and mercy I do pray that I will be able to allow the box to stretch.
For the discipline of prayer is not a matter of forcing the issue and getting what you want, but of learning the ways of the spirit and of grace, and of being ready and open to respond to the unpredictable working of a God whose ways are "not our ways."
Prayer. It is the cornerstone of what many consider discipline to be, as it seems that only when we are disciplined do we pray. I have so much I want to say, but I am going to resist. In my summer reading I have read Richard Fosters "Prayer" which has provided a lot more insight into the discipline of prayer. So for now I will leave this saying that while prayer is something we must 'work' at, it is also something that we make much more complicated than it needs to be.
And so the question of what is it all good for? Why do we worry ourselves about discipline and renewing ourselves. For me, I have learned over the past year how important goals are for me, and with discipline we so often get the goal mixed up. Merton makes two statement which really challenge how I describe the goals now:
The real function of disciple is not to provide us with maps but to sharpen our own sense of direction so that when we really get going we can travel without maps.
... without discipline our quest, which seeks typically to explore regions of faith, of love, of experience and of existence beyond the limits of ordinary routine, can never lead to anything serious.
As a child I wanted to move into our basement. I wanted to seclude myself in there so that I could be a mad scientist and have my own lab. My parents - wisely - thought that this was a bad idea and moved on with their life, but for me I have always had similar feelings. I have felt that there is an importance of drawing away for my own self improvement; but through the below passage and several other comments and questions made during the past year I have found that this is so not the case. The solitude that I see is not for myself in the sense that it makes me better for myself; instead the solitude that truly fulfills me will be the solitude that gives me the strength and resources to give and pour out.
Discipline means solitude of some sort, not in the sense of selfish withdrawal but in the sense of an emptiness that no longer cherishes the comfort of various social "idols" and is not slavishly dependent on the approval of others. In such solitude one learns not to seek love but to give it. One's great need is now no longer to be loved, understood, accepted, pardoned, but to love, to pardon, and to accept others just as they are, in order to help them transcend themselves in love.
When it all boils down and we look at how we should be reacting I think that Merton sums it up so well by saying: Our discipline should lead us to discover not how right we are but how wrong we are.
As I ask one of my friends (and he thus asks me), "What are you going to do about it?". I am going to keep focusing on my actions and my pouring out. My life, at least currently, has a lot of solitude built into it and so the withdrawal from the crowds to practice discipline is not that hard, but what I find difficult is determining what I am going to invest myself into in the fall.
Last night I was talking with a close friend and during the conversation the question came up about where I was going to invest my time in September when ministries start up again. One of the actions I felt from my small group this year was to mentor someone, as well as an urge to start - or help start - a small group. Outside of these I do feel the need to invest in myself and in my physical activity in whatever way that looks. And then there are numerous other ministries which I feel I could help with.
Lord,
Thank you for blessing me with solitude. It is such a great gift to have! As Merton describes, let the disciplines you have lead me to allow me to discover how wrong I am. Out of the time I do spend in solitude and discipline, lead me into the areas in which you have designed for me to work in; and allow me the strength and courage to say no to the other things which would push in.
You son,
A
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Contemplation in a World of Action - 2 of ???
Tonight - or more accurately this morning - I decided to use the caffeinated energy that I have to continue my posts on Mertons "Contemplation in a World of Action". As the book continues it explores the idea of Vocation. To many of us we relate to the world with our vocation. Vocation is what we do, it is who we are, it is where most of our energy is expelled, and it is where we feel the most away from God. So maybe the last one is more me. I know some people who feel close to God or feel like they are doing Gods work while at work, but for me I find it as a place where I am isolated many time from Him.
In the past I have attempted to bring Christ into my workplace - but in that I have often found myself taking advantage of work in the sense that I don't accomplish all that I could if I wasn't listening to the podcast, or doing what have you. It has gotten better as I have moved into a job in which I can bring Christ more into my workplace, and it is also great in how I can listen to music while working - but I still find that I feel my job isolates me more from God than brings me closer to Him.
For Merton - and monks in general - this is not the case. Vocation for them is what helps bring them closer to God. Brother Lawrence is a perfect example of this. For years and years he washed dishes, and in the simplest job he drew close with God and experienced Him in new and revolutionary ways.
So how are we as Christians to react in this age? What is a Godly view of vocation?
What I have outlined in my own honesty is that I am like the young monks (novices) that Merton talks about. There is an eventual identity crisis which many people reach. My life has been - and continues to be - a seeking [of] truth in themselves, seeking to experience themselves as real and authentic human beings. They come seeking identity, and an experience of identity which is largely denied them or frustrated in the world.
We are continually looking for the simple answer to life. Everything will make sense or will fit in place when we understand what our life is meant to be. While it appears that we - as modern men [and women] - are willing to seek out this simple answer or a black and white formula is not what will bring us true joy and peace. In an age when science has discovered the utility of an "uncertainty principle" to correct the errors and false perspectives engendered by logical certitude of classical physics, there is also felt to be a need for a more existential spirituality in which uncertainties and hesitations are to some extent accounted for and in which everything is not immediately and forever settled by good resolutions and categorical affirmations that see all things in black and white.
This identity crisis that we live our lives in, this life in which we battle the want for order and formulaic truth and the acceptance of uncertainty, our society has brought us to a place in which we rely on self-help books in which in 5 simple steps we can create a strong enough character, and that character will solve all of our issues. And while society stresses the importance of helping ourselves it discourages us from being alone. Oh how ironic.
Critics have also noted the American fear of loneliness. Individual identity is sacrificed in an effort to stay close to the herd, to be no different from others in thought, feeling, or action. To stand aside, to be alone, is to assert a personal identity which refuses to be submerged. Society will not tolerate this. Innumerable social features are designed to prevent it: stadiums to accommodate thousands at sport events, open doors of private rooms and offices, club cars on trains, shared room in colleges and boarding houses, countless clubs, organizations, associations, societies, canned music (for silence is unbearable) piped into hospitals, railway cars, and supermarkets.
Yet, one of the surest signs of the resolution of the identity crisis is an increased capacity for being alone, for being responsible for oneself. The gradual process that will end in perfect identity involves an awareness of the fact that there are decisions in life and aspects of life's struggle that a person must face alone.
We are constantly pulled away from alone-ness in society. We are told that we need to extrovert ourselves, that to be a 'loner' is wrong and that a life alone is not a life at all. And yet we need this alone-ness. We need to pull away as Christ did to find ourselves, to find our identity, and through that we will find our vocation; for our true vocation is where the deep yearnings of our heart meet a deep need in the world. In this however we also learn how much we differ from each other, and how isolated we truly are. Merton summarizes this in a paradox:
the more richly a person lives, the more lonely, in a sense, he becomes. And as a person, in this formative isolation, becomes more able to appreciate the moods and feelings of others, he also becomes more able to have meaningful relationships with them.
And since we are continually encouraged to make our lives easier, and not more difficult we all too often try to evade this by running with the heard, and at all costs staying away from loneliness and solitude. Sometimes we will even run to each other and try to explore our identities together, but in such we are still leaving behind the solitude and loneliness which we need to truly live the rich lives we feel drawn towards. So we settle for what we can, rarely what is best designed for us, and simply what is most easily attainable.
Pulling this back, how do we live in the way in which God intends for us to live? Has He not made each one of us purely unique, and in that should we not honor Him by seeking this out? The question has moved from being about vocation to being about identity; that is where our vocations will pour out of.
Solitude, loneliness, silence, alone. The good and pure water that these words should evoke in our souls has been poisoned by a world which sees them as everything which is wrong. And yet, the world still doesn't realize - or more accurately don't know - that these are the things which will bring healing. I am terrified by these words still. It goes against everything I have been looking for in life. I have spent years striving to find a wife so that when I come home I won't be alone; and the Lord blesses me with daily solitude and aloneness, and I disregard these gifts. I look for ways to fill up my time with movies and music; and I miss the still soft voice of God.
Jesus,
Your life is a model of how I should live. You so often pulled yourself away from those around you in order to seek and preserve your identity. The importance of silence and solitude is so evident and yet I long for noise and busyness. Forgive me for the errors in my ways, for not accepting the gifts of aloneness and solitude that you have given me in my life. If this gifts lasts months, years, or until I die please be graceful and continually bring me back to this place I am at - a place that recognizes how sacred and perfect these gifts are.
While my heart pulls me away from these truths, may Your life and actions be evidence of the light. Darken the worlds cries and bring light to your truth. Bring me to a realization of joy when the world tells me to wallow in my aloneness. Bring peace to my soul when the lies surrounding my loneliness want to bring anxiety. And provide wisdom to me when the noises of the world must be pushed aside so that you can bless me with silence and solitude.
Your follower,
Andrew
In the past I have attempted to bring Christ into my workplace - but in that I have often found myself taking advantage of work in the sense that I don't accomplish all that I could if I wasn't listening to the podcast, or doing what have you. It has gotten better as I have moved into a job in which I can bring Christ more into my workplace, and it is also great in how I can listen to music while working - but I still find that I feel my job isolates me more from God than brings me closer to Him.
For Merton - and monks in general - this is not the case. Vocation for them is what helps bring them closer to God. Brother Lawrence is a perfect example of this. For years and years he washed dishes, and in the simplest job he drew close with God and experienced Him in new and revolutionary ways.
So how are we as Christians to react in this age? What is a Godly view of vocation?
What I have outlined in my own honesty is that I am like the young monks (novices) that Merton talks about. There is an eventual identity crisis which many people reach. My life has been - and continues to be - a seeking [of] truth in themselves, seeking to experience themselves as real and authentic human beings. They come seeking identity, and an experience of identity which is largely denied them or frustrated in the world.
We are continually looking for the simple answer to life. Everything will make sense or will fit in place when we understand what our life is meant to be. While it appears that we - as modern men [and women] - are willing to seek out this simple answer or a black and white formula is not what will bring us true joy and peace. In an age when science has discovered the utility of an "uncertainty principle" to correct the errors and false perspectives engendered by logical certitude of classical physics, there is also felt to be a need for a more existential spirituality in which uncertainties and hesitations are to some extent accounted for and in which everything is not immediately and forever settled by good resolutions and categorical affirmations that see all things in black and white.
This identity crisis that we live our lives in, this life in which we battle the want for order and formulaic truth and the acceptance of uncertainty, our society has brought us to a place in which we rely on self-help books in which in 5 simple steps we can create a strong enough character, and that character will solve all of our issues. And while society stresses the importance of helping ourselves it discourages us from being alone. Oh how ironic.
Critics have also noted the American fear of loneliness. Individual identity is sacrificed in an effort to stay close to the herd, to be no different from others in thought, feeling, or action. To stand aside, to be alone, is to assert a personal identity which refuses to be submerged. Society will not tolerate this. Innumerable social features are designed to prevent it: stadiums to accommodate thousands at sport events, open doors of private rooms and offices, club cars on trains, shared room in colleges and boarding houses, countless clubs, organizations, associations, societies, canned music (for silence is unbearable) piped into hospitals, railway cars, and supermarkets.
Yet, one of the surest signs of the resolution of the identity crisis is an increased capacity for being alone, for being responsible for oneself. The gradual process that will end in perfect identity involves an awareness of the fact that there are decisions in life and aspects of life's struggle that a person must face alone.
We are constantly pulled away from alone-ness in society. We are told that we need to extrovert ourselves, that to be a 'loner' is wrong and that a life alone is not a life at all. And yet we need this alone-ness. We need to pull away as Christ did to find ourselves, to find our identity, and through that we will find our vocation; for our true vocation is where the deep yearnings of our heart meet a deep need in the world. In this however we also learn how much we differ from each other, and how isolated we truly are. Merton summarizes this in a paradox:
the more richly a person lives, the more lonely, in a sense, he becomes. And as a person, in this formative isolation, becomes more able to appreciate the moods and feelings of others, he also becomes more able to have meaningful relationships with them.
And since we are continually encouraged to make our lives easier, and not more difficult we all too often try to evade this by running with the heard, and at all costs staying away from loneliness and solitude. Sometimes we will even run to each other and try to explore our identities together, but in such we are still leaving behind the solitude and loneliness which we need to truly live the rich lives we feel drawn towards. So we settle for what we can, rarely what is best designed for us, and simply what is most easily attainable.
Pulling this back, how do we live in the way in which God intends for us to live? Has He not made each one of us purely unique, and in that should we not honor Him by seeking this out? The question has moved from being about vocation to being about identity; that is where our vocations will pour out of.
Solitude, loneliness, silence, alone. The good and pure water that these words should evoke in our souls has been poisoned by a world which sees them as everything which is wrong. And yet, the world still doesn't realize - or more accurately don't know - that these are the things which will bring healing. I am terrified by these words still. It goes against everything I have been looking for in life. I have spent years striving to find a wife so that when I come home I won't be alone; and the Lord blesses me with daily solitude and aloneness, and I disregard these gifts. I look for ways to fill up my time with movies and music; and I miss the still soft voice of God.
Jesus,
Your life is a model of how I should live. You so often pulled yourself away from those around you in order to seek and preserve your identity. The importance of silence and solitude is so evident and yet I long for noise and busyness. Forgive me for the errors in my ways, for not accepting the gifts of aloneness and solitude that you have given me in my life. If this gifts lasts months, years, or until I die please be graceful and continually bring me back to this place I am at - a place that recognizes how sacred and perfect these gifts are.
While my heart pulls me away from these truths, may Your life and actions be evidence of the light. Darken the worlds cries and bring light to your truth. Bring me to a realization of joy when the world tells me to wallow in my aloneness. Bring peace to my soul when the lies surrounding my loneliness want to bring anxiety. And provide wisdom to me when the noises of the world must be pushed aside so that you can bless me with silence and solitude.
Your follower,
Andrew
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