on accompaniment, attentiveness, and contribution
Katie Broussard and I are wrapping up the third full year at Corde Press, sharing stories of our Catholic tradition with depth and delight.
I wanted to share with you the newsletter we sent out last week: Year in Review, and a Gift for You! (The coupon code expires this Friday.)
Advent blessings, friends. Thanks for being part of our journey.
I love the current pediatrician office that cares for our sons. The doctors are fine, but what really is exemplary is the front desk staff. They are attentive amid (occasional) chaos, curious even when fatigued, and actually solve a remarkable number of problems without bringing families into the office to see a doctor. In an important way, the folks answering the phones are leading the practice.
I’ve heard that, while playing in an orchestra, one might “lead from any chair.” That is, whether I am the conductor, violin soloist, second oboe, or the guy playing that huge drum, I am able, through my actions, to lead.
What would the church be like if we realized any of us could lead from any chair? This is, in part, what I think Pope Francis is asking us to consider during the current Synod on Synodality. (Check out the questions 40% of the way down the page of the Synod Survey of our diocese.)
A few weeks ago, I saw Elmo (and friends) sing a song called, “I Wonder, What If, Let’s Try!”
I find this concise strategy (as well as the levity of dancing furry monsters) to be a most helpful way to reframe a problem I may be gripping too tightly.
We don’t actually see the things that we cling to. Not really. Our fear of losing these things blinds us from seeing and experiencing them in their fullness.
To truly give thanks for something (and to delight in it), then, let’s pray for the grace to be free from clinging, from fear.
When we use a label to comprehend a person, we trade encounter for ease. That is, we substitute lazy thinking for actually approaching the reality of a person.
This is true (whether we admit it or not) even for the labels that we give ourselves a pass on.
It is true that, as we communicate, it is extremely difficult to avoid labels entirely. If and when we do use them, though, let’s be dissatisfied with them, and use this dissatisfaction to tip us toward curious encounter.
When we react, we respond impulsively. We might experience a momentary catharsis, but also, in all likelihood, we make the situation worse.
We respond from our generosity. We perceptively consider what is needed and can shepherd a positive outcome.
With both reactions and responses, though, the process started with someone or something outside of ourselves. The alternative is to initiate.
This takes courage, to begin something new. With initiative, courage, and endurance, though, we can do the important things. We can weave people together to serve the common good.
The See, Judge, Act method developed by Cardinal Joseph Cardijn and employed by the Latin American Bishops roots in Thomas Aquinas’ description of the virtue of prudence.
But so often, today, we stop at the first two steps. We see and we judge. We comment instead of contribute and create.
Action requires risk, and so vulnerability.
Let’s pray for the courage to see, judge, and act.
This week (16 November) we recall the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador. One of the Jesuits, Ignacio Ellacuría, was a philosopher and theologian, and part of his legacy was to offer a three-fold approach to engage the times that one lives in. It is:
(1) To realize the weight of reality (hacerse cargo)
(2) To shoulder the weight of reality (cargar con)
(3) To take charge of the weight of reality (encargarse de)
Even the first takes major guts. With all three, a disciple can transform reality, and be transformed by the courageous work.
Psychologist William James once observed that “a great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” The alternative to this, learning to see the world as it is, is difficult work. But if we are to change our culture to serve the common good, it is the only place toContinue reading “Rearranging Our Prejudices”
Anthony de Mello, SJ once ostentatiously declared in a spoken retreat that he was going to write a book entitled, “I’m an ass and you’re an ass!”*
The point he was making was that it is profoundly liberating to experience one’s own capacity to be petty, selfish, mean, or worse. This realization frees us from our moral superiority before others and opens a world of connection.
And how right he is! Acknowledging oneself as no better than the person we judge frees us from nasty narratives that divide us.
*The retreat has actually been turned into the audiobook of Awareness.
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