May 2008
Blending Life and Labor in Christian Community
by
Susan Muto, Ph.D.
Dean, Epiphany Academy of Formative Spirituality
1 Samuel 3:1-10
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" and ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, "Samuel!" Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
The spiritual life is seldom lifted to the plane of the extraordinary. It is lived for the most part amidst the common ways of everyday existence, with ordinary people who do ordinary things. It is like the life of Jesus in Nazareth. Together with the people of his time, he went to the temple for worship; he attended wedding feasts; he walked the dusty roads around the Sea of Galilee; he went out in fishing boats.
These are ordinary events yet they bear symbolic significance because of the way Jesus lived them. He never lost an opportunity to respond to the will of the Father as manifested in the here and now situation. When his parents found him in the temple, he reminded them gently that he had to fulfill the mission ordained for him by his heavenly Father. At Cana he showed gentleness toward his mother and did as he was asked, though the time of his public witnessing had not yet come. When the crowds of wounded people followed him on each walk, he did not push them away, as some of the disciples were inclined to do. He chose instead to feed them with fish and bread and to nourish their souls with the living water of his word.
Following Jesus' example, we, too, must strive to hear and obey the Father's will in the common people and events he sends our way.
Alone and in silence, I present the whole of my being to God. To say, "Here I am," is to place at his disposal the unique creation he has made. It is to give God this body of mine, with its weaknesses and strengths; this intellect, with its confusion and clarity; this heart, with its hardness and pliability.
To say, "Here I am," is to offer Christ the talents he has entrusted to me, using them to their fullest potential. It is to follow him wherever he leads, to stand ready in all situations to be his servant. To prepare myself for such a commitment, I have to find frequent occasions when I stand peacefully and quietly before the Lord-alone and at the same time at one with him. In this aloneness, I try gently to quiet the many voices that besiege me in the pressures of daily life; I want to listen only to God's voice in the depths of my being. Outer silence may be sought to foster inner stillness, but it is not necessary.
The closer I grow to God, the more I am able to be with him in all circumstances. Whenever the Beloved calls, I am able to say, "Here I am."
Slowly I may come to realize that action has to be rooted in the fertile soil of presence to the Eternal and not merely in the shifting sands of this or that period of the day. When what I do is an expression of who I am, I may be able at every moment to hear and respond to the invitations of the Spirit in many different situations. Isaiah could go forth to serve because he had first been subservient to God. His spiritual self and his mission were rooted in the same divine source. His life and labor were in perfect harmony and God made him a prophet.
To foster this consonance with the Mystery, Holy Scripture stresses the importance of keeping the Sabbath. If one is a doer six days a week, then at least a day ought to be set aside to be with God for worship and praise. The Sabbath symbolizes the need to free ourselves from the pressures of work so that we can regain the perspective of worship. True action emerges from quiet presence to the Divine, who is the source and origin of our life.
Whether building a church or serving its members, the people of God must worship and work with great care. What we do ought to be an expression of who we are. As God's children, made in the Divine Likeness, we cooperate at every moment in the unfolding of creation. There is to be no split between life and labor, being and doing, recollection and action. The "Mary" in us is the ground out of which the "Martha" emerges.
The art of spiritual living is to integrate contemplation and action, prayer and participation, professions of faith and expressions of fidelity. Living an integrated life in the world depends on our being integrated within ourselves. We need to become reservoirs of spiritual strength that overflow into the world. We ought to minister from our abundance, not from our want. Since all that we have to give comes from God, there is no cause to boast. The fruits of Christian living may be hidden from the eyes of a worldly person, but they are beheld in minute detail and blessed by God.
Meet St. Isaac of Syria, a monk of the seventh century who left the wilderness, under obedience, to become ordained as the bishop of Nineveh but returned to desert silence at the end of his life. It is said of St. Isaac that whether in solitude or in community he continued to be a spring of pure and living water to which many came to quench their thirst for God.
REVERE SILENCE, BUT DO NOT EXCLUDE MERCY
Our Lord commanded us to be merciful, that we might have likeness to our Father in heaven, because the merciful draw near to God. When we, monks, revere silence, we do not exclude mercy but strive, as far as we can, to withdraw from vain cares and turmoil. It is not our aim to go against our duty (towards our neighbors), but we practice silence in order to keep our thoughts on God which, more than all else, can restore us to our purity and bring us nearer to God. If it should happen that for a certain time the brethren have urgent need of us, we must not neglect this need. So let us constantly urge ourselves to be inwardly merciful to every rational creature. For so we are taught by the Lord, and it is this, and not something empty, that characterizes our silence. And it is needful not merely to preserve this inner mercy of ours, but, when circumstances demand, not to neglect to give proof of one's love outwardly as well.
Is there a passage from the Bible that complements this reading
for you?
A word of prayer from Father Adrian van Kaam, C.S.Sp., Ph.D., (1920-2007), co-founder of the Epiphany Association.
O make us enter
This sparkling center,
The diamond of divinity
Mirrored in our inmost being,
Moonlight in a spotless lake.
-The Roots of Christian Joy
Source Text: Early Fathers from the Philokalia. Translated by E. Kadloubovsky and G. E. H. Palmer (London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 1954), 223.
* * *
The poetry for this section can be found in Adrian van Kaam's The Roots of Christian Joy. Denville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1985. For further reading, see also Susan Muto, Pathways of Spiritual Living. Petersham, MA: St. Bede's, 1988. Both books are available from the Epiphany Association.
The Power of Paradoxical Reality
"…nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37).
Three scriptural paradoxes defy reason but are perfectly understandable in the light of faith.1. Renunciation of self is the key to liberation.2. Resolve, rooted in obedience, enables us to continue to pursue Christian excellence against all odds.3. Renewal gives us the wisdom to return to the spiritual masters who preceded us while following the scriptural counsel to make all things new (cf. Revelation 21:5).
Renunciation of Self
The renunciation/liberation paradox reminds us of the freedom to which we are called as the children of God (cf. Galatians 3:26). Consider in the light of this promise the fully human consternation Mary felt when the Angel Gabriel announced the miracle of her motherhood. She replies in sheer wonder, "How can this be since I am a virgin?" (Luke 1:34). Mary's response to this revelation, her fiat, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38), manifests not only the sheer bravery of her consent but also the liberating release of this bold act of self-renunciation and total self-abandonment to the Mystery. Only after renouncing her own will does the angel leave her. Her freedom now rests on her total obedience to God's word.
In joyfully saying no to her own will and yes to the Father's will for her, Mary is our model for following the example set by Jesus: "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:42).
Resolve Rooted in Obedience
The link between resolve and obedience follows upon the freely offered renunciation of our own willfulness. The word "obedience" literally means "to listen to." When we listen to the word of God as well as to the legitimate guardians of our faith tradition, we are able in our own humble way to proclaim the catechetical doctrines of our faith and to pass them on to future generations.
Such resolve makes it possible for us to accept the crosses that come our way and to seek their meaning; to taste and savor in the bitter pill of persecution the goodness of the Lord (cf. Psalm 34:8); and to witness to the practice of perseverance. This unflappable virtue teaches us not to grow slack in our commitments and to stay on the path to Christian perfection in accordance with the pace of grace we receive. As Jesus said: "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account" (Matthew 5:11).
Renewal as Return and as Making
New Renewal relies on this combination of renunciation and resolution, of liberation and "determined determination." There ought never to be a moment when we are not intent upon renewing our personal lives and the life of the Church in Christ's name. To "do whatever he tells [us]" (John 2:5) means that we have to renounce our best intentions to live the Gospel in every detail of our lives. To do whatever he tells us means that we have to resolve with courage and creativity to follow his way for us. In other words, renunciation plus resolution equals renewal.
This is the prescription that heals selfish sensuality, enables us to cooperate with others while not compromising our beliefs, and brings us to new thresholds of faith, hope, and love.
Beyond the corridors of earthly power are the portals of renunciation, resolve, and renewal we have been invited by Christ to enter.
These three directives remind us that we must operate out of the center of our humility in the firm conviction that if we do what Christ tells us, with resolute hearts and obedient spirits, we, too, will be agents of renewal in the present age and for all times to come.
-Reflection by Susan Muto, Ph.D., Editor
Gracious living Lord
Loving even me,
You called me into being
To praise and sing to thee.But the edges they are cracking!
I turn to look for you
Blood and shame-so broken"Forgive them they know not what they do."
We forecast, "Sky's will be clear
but with flaming carnage too,"
And broadcast it all in morbid cheer
Send in those defunct replacements
Keep salvation over hereI love the falling water,
rent Upon the children's laughter
Your gentle touch is lent
You share a patient ear
We live your will-a Testament
In dark light and spring green.Help me, O Lord, to heed your call
In everything today:
The angry shout
The silent tear
Intention's hesitate
Overcome some foolish fear.
Your speak to every one of us,
"My peace I bring to you."Guy Semmes, Class of 2008
For the poor in spirit are happier and more constant in the midst of want because they have placed their all in nothingness, and in all things they thus find freedom of heart.
-Saint John of the Cross
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