Invictus

This week I watched a wonderful movie, Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as the captain of the South African rugby team.  This is a powerful story, beautifully told.  According to the film, one of Mandela's sources of inspiration during his 27 years in prison was the short poem Invicutus by the English poet William Ernest Henley.  I hear this poem as a call to courage and to be true to one's  self.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

The Perfectionist

I'm beginning to wonder, is there any greater obstacle to embracing life as a sacred adventure than the perfectionist within?

The perfectionist is confident for a season, setting out on the journey with an almost arrogant certainty, but at the first hint of his weakness or failure he laments, “I can’t do it.  I’m not able.  I’m not worthy or gifted or smart or committed or tenacious.  Look, look at my pathetic track record!”

It is the perfectionist in her perfectionism who is the problem, not her gifts or track record or unworthiness.  At the first hint of her weakness, she is doomed.  If only she could draw back, playfully of course, and welcome her own failures:  “Of course I’m not able or worthy or gifted or smart,” she might say laughingly.  “I will rejoice all the more in my weaknesses, for in my weaknesses another is made strong!”

When he loses nerve (because he sees his failure or weakness), the perfectionist is quickly overwhelmed.  He hears the stories of those doing good work and he is buried by his sense of inadequacy, becomes more despairing because of his weakness, pulls back more fervently into the ruts of functioning in which he feels most proficient, or finds ways to judge those who are more 'successful.'   If only he can learn to laugh at himself and act upon that which his clearest and most prayerful thinking compels him to do.  Laugh and act, silly perfectionist!

How might the journey look different if the perfectionist can learn the way of surrender to the empowering Spirit rather than the way of willfulness (i.e., trying harder)?

The Jesus Prayer

All of us need some 'tools' along the sacred journey--the hiking boots that guard against the cold, the compass that guides our direction, the map that keeps us on the way.  One of the 'tools' that I've found to be very helpful at various times is "The Jesus Prayer."  This simple prayer is ancient.  It comes from the Eastern Orthodox Church.  While much of our praying tends to be directed 'out'--we bring our praise and petition to God out there (and appropriately so), the Jesus Prayer is directed 'in.'  It is a descending down into the presence of Christ within us.  The purpose of this prayer is to help us embrace and rest in the one who is the source of life. 

This last Sunday I spoke about our 'programs for happiness,' a phrase I've borrowed from Thomas Keating.  Our programs for happiness are the many ways we attempt to meet our needs for security, affection and control.   In a sense, we all become addicted to our programs for happiness and our tendency is to try harder and harder to get our needs met.  Last Sunday I described this as 'willful' living.  An alternative to 'willful' living is 'surrendered' living.  Here, rather than trying harder and harder (even using religious means) to meet our deepest needs, we surrender to the source of life, Christ himself abiding in and with us. The Jesus Prayer is a simple tool to help us surrender to Christ, the source of life.

The actual practice of "The Jesus Prayer" is uncomplicated.  I might suggest that you begin by assuming a comfortable posture in a reasonably quiet place.  You may wish to close your eyes in order to shut out distractions.  Then, in rhythm with your breathing, whisper these words:

Lord Jesus Christ

Son of God

Have Mercy on Me

A Sinner

Repeat these words over and over again, and as you do, allow yourself to descend into the presence of Christ with you.  As you continue, you may want to simplify the prayer even more, returning to the single word, "Jesus."  If you should become distracted, your mind flitting from thing to thing, just return very gently to the prayer.  

You will no-doubt recognize that this prayer is taken from the prayer of the tax collector in Jesus' beautiful parable about the tax collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14.  This is not a 'worm prayer,' where we crawl before God like worthless worms.  It is rather a humble prayer in which we open our hearts and lives to unconditional love.

One of the beauties of "The Jesus Prayer" is that it can be offered any time, day or night.  (I suggest that you keep your eyes open if you're driving the car, though.)  When you become aware that you're anxious, or for some reason you're not thinking clearly, you can return to this prayer, offer it over and over under your breath, and 'sink' into the presence of Christ.  This is what I like to call a 'recess prayer.'  In the many recesses during the day, those moments when you're walking from the car to the grocery store, when you've finished one item on the 'to-do' list and are preparing for the next, or during the drive to or from work, you can employ the Jesus Prayer as part of your communion with God.

The Jesus Prayer is a wonderful tool for the sacred adventure.  I'd love for you to give it a try and then share your experience with the rest of us.

One quick note about this blog:  I originally indicated that it would be my intention to write and send this blog on Monday.  I'm finding that almost impossible, so from here on (until I change my mind!) I'll make every effort to write on Tuesday.  

Question of the Week

How would you describe adventurous living?  How do you distinguish adventurous living from reckless living?  Please log on and share your thoughts.

Thinking.... Now There's a Thought

I've long been amazed at what can happen when groups can enter that creative space called 'brainstorming.'  On many occasions, I've been part of groups that get stuck with a decision or an idea.  Somehow, the group begins to brainstorm.  One idea begets another.  Group members become free to lob out their ideas, regardless of how silly they might be.  Very often laughter is part of the process; it becomes playful, creative and, very often, effective.

I believe there's a sort of a 'personal brainstorming' that's a required discipline for folks who would live adventurously.  The personal space--I like the word 'solitude'--helps me to step outside of the expectations of others, the noise of the crowd, the 'tyranny of the urgent,' to think, really think, about my life, my direction, my deep longings, what I really want.  I like the story about the journalist whose editor required her to do a human interest piece.  Uncertain what to do, she sought out people who would be willing to answer three questions.  Her first question was, "What do you want?"  Folks would often give casual, surface kinds of answers.  She then asked her second question: "What do you want?"  Responses often became more thoughtful, more genuine.  She would then ask, for the third time, "What do you want?"  She reported that her threefold repetition of the question often had the effect of helping people get in touch with their deep longings and their creative ideas for their lives.

I wonder what might happen if a few of us could create space in our lives to think prayerfully about them.  Perhaps we would become more aware of a sense of calling, vocation, life goals that are worthy of our best efforts.  Perhaps we would find the strength to pursue those dreams, even when the desire for comfort, approval or even the expectations of others would pull us back.  If, as I believe, God is a generative God, creating possibility, inspiring creativity and imagination, creating space for prayerful thought might just be one of the most important things you or I could do this week, or any other.

An Open Future

One of my pet peeves is when I hear people say of one who has died, "It must have been her time."   I understand that there is some comfort in that thought.  After all, if I believe that God has numbered my days, or the days of my loved ones, so that even the day and the time of death is pre-determined, something of the fear-factor of life is diminished.  I can make my decisions, even risky ones, and say, "Well, I guess if it's my time, it's my time." 

What troubles me about the 'it must have been her time' mindset is that it assumes that the future is already determined, set in stone and nothing will change it.  Again, I understand how that thought can bring comfort.  The problem, in my view, is that this mindset robs us of one of the richest and most beautiful gifts of Christian spirituality, namely, that we are partners with God in shaping the future.  This is seen again and again in the stories of the Bible.  One of my favorites is the story of Jonah, where Jonah reluctantly agrees to go preach the message of God's judgment of the people of Nineveh.  When the inhabitants of that great city repent of their evil ways, we are told that "God changed his mind (!!!)" about the judgment God had announced.  The pagan people of Nineveh turned their lives toward God in such a way that they changed the future!

I believe that the future is open, and that gives a great sense of meaning and responsibility for how I live out my days.  I believe that we can face the future with hope.  Jesus proclaimed that the time of God's reign has drawn near.  His resurrection signals to us that the power of life has swallowed up the power of death.  God's renewal power is let loose in the world, even now, even in this moment as I write, and you read.   In very broad strokes, it seems to me, we can say that God's work of renewal will win the day.  We can imagine that day even now.  Indeed, I believe we must imagine that day even now.   The book of Revelation says that on that day God will say, "Behold, I make all things new"--the completion of God's renewal project!

That said, I believe that the the hopeful future  is only painted in broad strokes.  Much is left to be determined.  We are partners with God in the shaping of the future.  Our decisions really matter.  If we wish, we can, individually and collectively, resist the power of renewal all the way to the grave.  We can hasten our death or prolong it by the choices we make.  We can live before we die, or not.  The most horrific events in human history do not happen because God has willed them (think of the Holocaust, the contemporary tragedy in Darfur), but because humans, individually and collectively, resist God's renewing power unto the worst imaginable ends.  On the other hand, we can partner with God, give ourselves to God's resurrection power, join ourselves to God's healing project, and contribute to the beauty which God is begetting in the creation.  Such, it seems to me, is the calling of the sacred adventure.

Ten Things.... Adventurous People

I'm working on a list of ten things I think adventurous people must be able to do.  Here's a first draft.  I'd love to hear your 'ten things' as well.

1.  Laugh at yourself.
2.  Love deeply
3.  Risk failing
4.  Be decisive
5. Change your mind
6.  Disappoint others (by being true to yourself)
7.  Imagine a better world
8.  Live prayerfully
9.  Work hard
10.  Let go