Faith Venture

Learn how to meditate on paper. Drawing and writing are forms of meditation. –Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Meditation comes to us in many forms. Today many, at the behest of their therapists, are using iPhone or Android apps that are essentially guided meditations leading toward mindfulness. And, hopefully, calm.

The Hebrew Bible, especially in the Psalms, tells us about meditating on God’s word. An excellent starting point.

Some traditions teach focusing on breath and totally emptying the mind in order to sit in perfect tranquility until God’s voice breaks through the “cloud of unknowing” and we receive some enlightenment.

Zen koans are an amazing way to “blow your mind” as you sit contemplating a totally nonsense phrase–“what is the sound of one hand clapping” or “if a tree falls in the forest with no one around, does it make a noise”?

Merton suggests at times sitting with a notebook. The size I find most handy to carry around it the approximately 5.5″ x 8.5″ Moleskin-type. Some people carry smaller ones that fit in a pocket–useful if you are on a walk. Some like the 8.5″ x 11″ (A4) size for the freedom that additional space gives.

Stealing a thought from a section of a book, Drawing Like Da Vinci, don’t worry about making a perfect drawing. You’ll learn from sketching and observation how to approximate shapes and combinations.

A part of my daily meditation is sitting down with this laptop, attempting to clear my mind, filtering through a hundred thoughts to focus on one–which often morphs during the writing. Then I type. I try to be the Enneagram 5–observer/investigator that is my dominant response to life (thank you mom and dad). But at times the frustrations and angst of a type 4 (my very strong wing) creep in and I have the ability to get other people’s emotion stirred.

Sit with a notebook, make sketches of your thoughts, jot notes of thoughts that visit, you’ll arrive at new insights and perhaps even new directions for your life.

Christ is counting on you.

I went on a weekend spiritual retreat about 25 years ago. It was called a Walk to Emmaus. It was a life-altering event.

In order to keep the spirit that was ignited within you alive, the organization encouraged small groups. Going through my library the other day looking for something, I found the “Order of Reunion” card they gave us as guide to small groups. It is a small, wallet-sized tri-fold heavy paper. It proclaims in bold letters on that top page the saying I quoted above.

It’s laying on my desk. Staring up at me. I return the stare. “What does that really mean?” I ask.

Your teammates on an athletic team count on you to fulfill your role. Your family counts on you to fulfill your role. Your boss counts on you to show up and crank out the work.

But Jesus? What could he possibly need from me?

Bury myself in the busy-ness of church work? Stand on a street corner forcing pamphlets upon people passing by?

Perhaps spiritual growth–becoming part of the Kingdom of God? Living differently. Helping others.

I constantly remember how there were plagues throughout human history. And how the Christians of Rome added to their numbers by how they lived and served during a couple of those plagues (we now say pandemic) in Rome. And how people were impressed by their manner of living. And how they said, “I want what they’re having.”

And where did that go?

Maybe Christ is counting on me. And you. And you…

I KEEP six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small—
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!

She sends’em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes—
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!

From The Elephant Child–Rudyard Kipling

We don’t ask why enough.

There is a problem-solving technique within Lean Manufacturing, which can be called Lean Thinking. It is called Five Why’s. By the time you arrive at an answer to the fifth why, you should have arrived at the real problem. You can fix the root cause and not just a symptom.

This applies to us like the little one in the poem with ten million questions. How I love the curiosity of the little ones!

How I wish I could ask even more questions!

I don’t ask why enough. I need this reminder taped to my computer screen and notebook.

Thought from a biologist, “Violence, sexism, and general nastiness are biological since they represent one subset of a possible range of behaviors. But peacefulness, equality, and kindness are just as biological–and we may see their influence increase if we can create social structures that permit them to flourish.”

Kudos to a few of my friends who try to bring civility and thoughtfulness to social media.

But, I think as humans we still have much to learn to just get along.

So instead of loving what you think is peace, love other men and love God most of all. And instead of hating the people you think are carmakers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed–but hate these things in yourself, not in another.

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Yesterday I looked at Thich Nhat Hahn, a respected Asian spiritual teacher. Today, the words of Christian contemplative and writer Thomas Merton.

We can find wisdom if we seek it. From people of all races, traditions, geographies.

The wisdom is that peace must start within us. In that place within where we meet God. Not when we merely say “yes” to a statement about God, but when we say “yes” to the invisible, infinite God Himself.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” To work for peace, you must have a peaceful heart. When you do, you are a child of God. But many who work for peace are not at peace. They still have anger and frustration, and their work is not really peaceful. We cannot say that they are touching the kingdom of God. To preserve peace, our hearts must be at peace with the world, with our brothers and our sisters. 

Thich Nhat Hanh

The work of spiritual formation manifests itself from inside out.

Although service is identified as a spiritual discipline, working for others must not take the place of working on oneself. People being served, as well as fellow workers can sense those who serve as a means of building self importance or sense of seeking praise or those who are condescending.

Those who work for peace without finding it within paradoxically bring strife to a peace movement.

When you first come to peace within, that peace radiates. It affects and infects those around.

While sitting in meditation this morning, the word of the day came to me. Responsible.

There is responsible speech. Certainly the Apostle James nailed the concept better than anyone of responsible speech. Just as the small rudder steers the big ship, the small muscle of the tongue causes more trouble than the major muscles of the back, chest, and legs combined.

Visit social media for a short while. Don’t read the meanings. Read the tone of voice. Is that the tone of Jesus you hear? Or the tone of tearing down other people? Responsible speech builds up.

We all say things we wish later we hadn’t. Some days I think I remember every time I did that when I’m feeling down. But for some people, this is a way of life.

Being responsible also means doing what you say you’ll do or doing what is expected of you.

It is your job to take out the trash. Then do it. That’s being responsible. You say you’ll have the report done by Monday. Do it. You say you’ll be there by 10. Be there by 10. That’s all being responsible.

Don’t we love being around people who are responsible in what they say and do? Maybe that’s a practice for us.

Humility contains in itself the answer to all the great problems of the life of the soul. –Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Wisdom literature such as Proverbs in the Hebrew Scriptures or James in the Christian Bible advise us about the danger of pride and the benefits of humility.

But I cannot recall a single list of things to do in order to rid ourselves of pride and acquire humility.

Learning must not do it. Think of the preachers and priests who have stumbled due to pride and yet have been unable to find that humility that precedes repentance. Certainly they have committed every verse relating to pride and humility to memory. Yet…

Does it take a life event? Yet, not that only, but further an event sufficiently traumatic that one is forced to confront oneself honestly? Or, did some people acquire humility early as part of childhood development? Or, is there a path of spiritual discipline that leads us toward it?

It must be an attitude we can acquire. Merton continues in that paragraph, “It is the only key to faith, with which the spiritual life begins: for faith and humility are inseparable.”

Perhaps it is because some fervently desire to know God and the path toward faith leads also to humility.

Much to meditate on here.

We have discerned a safety problem with our high school soccer referees and the schools who prepare the field of play.

Kind of like that song from The Sound of Music, “It starts at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”

You show up early for a game. You park by backing into your parking space (just in case you need a speedy exit). You check to assure your appearance is presentable. Introducing yourself to the coaches and site administrator, you then warm up by walking/jogging around the field of play making sure the goals are fastened, the flags are in place, and that there is nothing dangerous about the pitch.

If you find a problem, there is time to deal with it.

I have interviewed several CEOs of manufacturing companies. They tell me that developing a safety mindset begins at home. When they teach safety, they don’t start with watching out for fork lifts driving around. They start at home. How did you use the knife to cut fruit for breakfast? Have you used anti-slip mats in the shower? Do you fasten your safety belt in the vehicle? Do you drive safely to work? Now you are in a mindset to carry over those safe habits to the workplace.

Same for those of us working on spiritual development. Do we show up early? Do we fill our minds first thing with uplifting and educational reading? Do we take time for prayer/meditation/contemplation? Do we eat a healthy breakfast with the protein, carbs, and fats to start our body with energy for the day?

Spirit, mind, body. They all work together in a healthy, spiritually developing human. Starting right gets us on the right path for the day.

Social distancing. The mantra of the entire world for the past six months, and probably also for the next six months. Maintain six feet of distance from people you don’t know, unless masked and even then… Just in case they might be carrying the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Distancing applies also to those of us concerned with spiritual formation.

Not the “stay away from other people” distancing. No, this is the “stay away from emotional entanglement” distancing.

For example, one might see a situation that makes them mad. That’s a reaction. It’s understandable. But allowing that emotion to live, and grow, and fester until it shapes our life turns it into our new god. It rules our life. It reflects in our face. It infects our relationships.

Learning how to step back in order to gain a new perspective on the situation. Learning to see ourselves from outside our body. Learning to deal with our negative emotions by gently easing them along. These lead us onto the path of spiritual maturity.

These lessons are practical. When I learned them (although maybe still not a master), I both learned how obnoxious a youth sports coach and parent I was and also how to deal with it and grow up.

Social distancing will help keep us healthy throughout this pandemic. Distancing from situations that cause perpetual angst in our hearts will keep us spiritually healthy throughout life.