Attentiveness – Page 5

The MGI

St. Ignatius wrote in annotation 22 of the Spiritual Exercises that “every good Christian ought to be more eager to put a good interpretation on a neighbor’s statement than to condemn it.”

What is on offer here is to habituate the MGI – the most generous interpretation – which holds the door open for curiosity, learning.

This is difficult. Our brains are wired to scan the world for threats in order to keep ourselves safe. It is possible, though, that true safety may be arrived at only when a big group of us are able to default to the MGI.

Courageous or “Morally Superior”?

When we find polarization in our world (and we all do all of the time), do we engage it such that we might solve the underlying problem? Or do we engage in order to feel morally superior?

This outstanding video frames the question brilliantly.

Attachments

Attachments to the things that do not satisfy are like this.

Every day is a new opportunity to ask for the grace to let go of the bars and simply walk away.

Speed Reading a Poem

It’s a ridiculous idea, right?

The whole point of a poem is to slow down, savor the beauty of the words, and allow the meaning to emerge.

And yet, are we not often guilty of “speed reading” the best part of our lives? The people we have been given to love. The wonder of the natural world. The delightful complexity of our interior lives and our walk with God.

Let’s pray for the grace to read slowly.

The Adjacent Possible

The easy problems are all taken. That leaves the hard ones.

What an opportunity!

So, yes, the solution to the hard problem you have taken on is not immediately in sight.

But what is the next move? And once you move there, what can you see now that you could not see before?

Clarity may come once you move into the possibility adjacent to your current position.

You Can’t Make Old Friends

Have you heard “You Can’t Make Old Friends” lately? The journey that the first two lines can take us on is worth the click.

Maybe I love the song because an old friend of mine loves it, but I think there is something more.

I think it represents one of the gentlest memento mori moments around, reminding us to consider what is most valuable to us and that we do not get forever to cultivate and delight in those relationships.

Time-bound

We move back to the United States this coming week.

Some weeks ago, a friend asked why we were leaving Germany. I told him that our tour was only two years, and those years are wrapping up.

“Ah,” he said, “so you knew from the beginning that it was all time-bound.”

I liked how he put that, and have thought about it the days since. It is true of our time in Germany, and it is true of our time on the earth.

We know from the beginning that our whole lives are time-bound. We don’t get forever here.

While I can appreciate this intellectually, I don’t feel that I really comprehend and internalize it until I am confronted with the pain of it.

Such a moment happened this week, when I was told of the death of a friend and mentor. Fr. Tom McDermott, CSC had just shy of 74 years to teach those who had the privilege of learning from him that liberating reality that the truth will make you strange. This week, I am internalizing the loss of him and will write more next week appreciating the remarkable human that he was.

Required Reading

The Ministry for the Future is a “climate fiction” novel that compellingly “plays forward” climate change. (The book was published in 2020, and the plot begins in 2025.)

The action centers around the “Ministry for the Future,” a global organization that advocates for future generations.

It is an ultimately hopeful book, that is also heart-breaking and life-changing.

Every human being should be offered a copy and encouraged to read it.

The Keynote Listener

We have all been to events with a keynote speaker. A recognized expert in a subject is given time to inform or inspire.

It is a known meeting structure. The speaker has the microphone. We sit and listen.

Last week, I talked to a group that does things differently. They organize gatherings around a keynote listener. (Very cool!)

The keynote listener is a recognized expert in creating a gathering in which other people feel comfortable sharing their experience and wisdom. The keynote listener listens at this gathering, and then at the end of the meeting, synthesizes and summarizes so that the whole group can benefit from the wisdom of the group.

Are you a part of a group that could benefit from a keynote listener?

Cynicism is a Choice

And it’s a bad choice.

Clear-eyed and truth-seeking, yes, but not cynical.

Cynicism accepts and reifies the worst parts of the status quo. It paralyzes us and wastes our energy by focusing on things we cannot control.

And it subtly lets us off the hook. (“Look at those people over there who are the problem. Nothing I can do about it.”) The cynic barricades themselves on the moral high ground and feels superior while contributing little.

The cynical mindset forgets that we are all capable of evil and all caught up in a system where it is often hard to do good.

The alternative is to be people with hope to bring – to see the world as it is, and, from there, to love and lead.

Opportunity and hope are everywhere, but cynical eyes cannot see them.