Author Archives: Paul Mitchell

The Final Freedom

Viktor Frankl named “the last of the human freedoms” as the ability “to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances… to choose one’s own way.” (Man’s Search For Meaning)

And, of course, he has serious authority.  This assertion was made as he reflected on his time in four different concentration camps.

His point is universally important and applicable: how we face the day is a deeply moral and creative act.  

Every moment offers us the possibility to change the story to be more constructive, more loving, more curious.

The Silent Request

I am rereading the remarkable Religious Potential of the Child, and was stopped short by this sentence which begins the third chapter.

“The adult who accepts the silent request of the child: “Help me to come closer to God by myself,” must choose the way to give the child the help [he or she] asks for.” (page 33)

Whoa!

And, I wonder if this is actually the silent request of all to show up in a given faith community.  

What would it mean to prioritize attentiveness to this longing?  How would the church change?

I think we would become like a network of spiritual directors, with individuals becoming deeply curious about the silent request of their neighbor and responding with excellence to it.

Free Will

In college, I recall discussing “human free will” as a sort of a given, an endowment that we are born with, like our bones and muscles.

The mystics and behavioral economists, though, show us that this is hardly the case.  The freedom of our will is only a potential within us and something that, with grace and intentional work, we can slowly actualize.  

That is, so much of what I think are “my actions” are only reflexive reactions, based on my mental and physical makeup, my past conditioning, my environment.  I have been programmed, by nature and by nurture, to do certain things.  The path to freedom, then, consists in accepting the (occasionally brutal) grace of seeing the particulars of this reality, and accepting this “learning to see” as a daily process and discipline.  

Then, when we are able to love in ways that do not compute, we can know that we are on the path of freedom.

Turning Two

Sorin Starts a School is turning two!  

It’s been a pretty fun two years, making connections with communities for whom the book is a gift and receiving the news of its Moonbeam award.

To celebrate, we’ve made a curriculum guide for Sorin Starts a School in order to make it easier for educators at Catholic schools and parishes to plan lessons that lead to the heart of our tradition and to the charism of the Congregation of Holy Cross.  

Here is the link to download the guide. Please share it with your educator friends!

And below is an intro video for the guide.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjfcCnoSG6s?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=900&h=507%5D

The Hypocrite’s Preamble

I recently heard someone deeply committed to the mitigation of climate change begin an interview with the following.

“Regarding climate change and the alignment of my actions with what I know I should do, I want to acknowledge that I am and have been a hypocrite. And I also think that in the West we are largely all hypocrites. Now, with that acknowledged, lets focus on how we can do better together.”

Whoa!

I think this “hypocrite preamble” is immensely helpful. Many fears hold us back from acting as we ought, and chief among them is being outed as a hypocrite… fear of the voice (from within or without) saying:

“Well who are you to do something and speak up! You are at fault for x, y, and z!”

But! If I have already acknowledged this, privately and publicly, I am freed from that fear and able to move forward.

And this works for all sorts of things where we try to hide from the fact that we are not perfect. Of course I am not perfect at (insert anything I do). Saying this out loud helps me be less reactive about this reality and to respond with compassion and growth.

(This is one more reason I love and appreciate the Penitential Rite at the beginning of the liturgy.)

What’s Working?

No life is free of constraints.  Time is limited.  Environment is limiting.

It is not a worthwhile use of this limited time to fixate passively on these limitations and blame our problems on them… because someone with our same constraints is thriving despite them.

Getting curious about what is working for that person or group just may get us unstuck and back on the road where we want to go.

Each Day, Fresh Eyes

Our sons love this sunflower (below) that has sprung up just outside the fence of a community garden near our home.

Each day, they ask to check up on this flower (both to and from school) so they can see if it has changed.

I bored quickly of this game, until I realized that, once again, they were teaching me how to love.

They are ready, every day, to see this flower with fresh eyes.  

Similarly, we simply cannot love (a partner, a child, a plant) if we do not approach them with the same openness and freedom.  We are able to love only that which we can constantly discover anew.

The Examen Book Turns One

The Examen Book is turning one!  It’s a wonder how fast these kids grow up.  And what a way to celebrate the year… … a Loyola press webinar roundtable this week on the Examen prayer with three formidable interlocutors – Becky Eldridge, Jim Manney, and Fr. Mark Thibodeaux, SJ.  Here is the recording.  If youContinue reading “The Examen Book Turns One”

A Different Way Home

While riding home on our bike after dropping his brother off at school, our younger son turned to me and asked: “Can we take a different way home?”

I am programmed to optimize for efficiency (“Must find quickest route possible!”), often to the detriment of my quality of life. Our son was opting for something else, a new adventure.

Productive routines and healthy habits are great, as far as they go. But routines also limit what we experience and see. It can be enlightening to take a different way home.

The adventure our son eventually chose was to go give his mama a hug at work. Not a bad choice considering our true home is in the heart of a God who is love.