A HEART FILLED WITH SONG

‘Sing to the Lord a new song,

Sing to the Lord all the whole earth.~

Sing to the Lord and bless his name,

Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.’ 

(Ps.96.1f)

I love singing, always have. When I was a child it was suggested my parents put me forward for a St. Alban’s School Choral Scholarship, but nothing came of it. So I was very pleased to discover that Decca have just published ‘Light for the World’, a recording of the Poor Clares of Arundel, one of whom I know: https://umusic.app.box.com/s/zlk5iac6lhgfgaqxa5z6q3jigibkjvhy.  I hope, as the producers say, that this music which ‘goes back to the very roots of mindfulness’ will draw people to God.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-World-Clare-Sisters-Arundel/dp/B08DQL8HNF

Plainsong, and other monastic-based chant, can have that effect just as certain other types of music can be of help in worship as it lifts the soul with the voice of song.  At times I find those words of Psalm 96 - Sing to the Lord a new song - carried on the modern monastic chant I learnt when I was a Franciscan, echoing in my heart,  Music can fill the heart even when the heart is the only instrument available for music - singing is meant to aid worship, not be its focus, something the writer of Psalm 56 knew:

My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed,
I will sing and make melody.
Wake up, my spirit, awake lute and harp,
I myself will waken the dawn.

In this time of pandemic, when congregational singing is not permitted, it seems important to remember that even though we cannot communally chant our prayer and praise, the heart can still sing - the voice only magnifies what is there.  Is that one of the great lessons we might learn from this time of crisis?  That our lips express what is in our heart (the centre of our being), and our heart can still sing for joy even when our lips cannot? For surely a church filled with people whose hearts are singing with wonder and thanksgiving will be a place where God is manifest.

ALL CREATION SINGS YOUR PRAISE

Sitting in the gardens of the 16th century hotel in which we stayed one March day, the song of the birds filled me with joy and I immediately thought of those words from Eucharistic Prayer III - 'Lord, you are holy indeed, and all creation rightly gives you praise.'  That morning it felt as if the birds could not contain themselves for the joy they felt and I was reminded that this chorus is sung every day, yet how often I'm not aware of it.  But that morning I was and recalled what St Augustine said: "And I said to all those things that stand about the gates of my senses: 'Tell me something about my God, you who are not he. Tell me something about him.' And they cried out in a loud voice, 'He made us.'"   

The way that nature is filled with joy is something of which the psalmist was aware. He frequently allows his soul to sing::

Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever—

he issued a decree that will never pass away. (148.3f)

The saints also allow themselves to express their thankfulness; St Francis sang his great Canticle of Creation:

Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures,

especially Sir Brother Sun,

who is the day and through whom you give us light.

And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour;

and bears a likeness of you, Most High One.

Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars:

in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

It's easy to go around with the ear and eye of our heart closed to the way the wonders of creation is not only a sacrament of the glory of God but that that glory exults and cannot keep silence.  Priests, in particular, need to be aware of this ways in which God's glory cries out, but many people realise this and write about it, not least in poetry.  But many don't cultivate a heart which can listen for this divine song of creation, preferring to listen to songs coming out of their ipods, blind to the beauty around them.   Cultivating a silent heart that can hear this song is the way in which it can become open to this awareness.  Not just outward silence, 'tho that can help, but silence of the mind so that it's not constantly distracted, silence of the soul so that it's not distracted from being open to God and silence of the spirit which stills the heart.  Each morning we need to open ourselves, open our hearts, to this joyful praise that nature is expressing so that our hearts, too, can sing for joy like the sons and daughters of God.

MINDFULNESS AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE HEART

According to much Christian teaching the heart is the centre of our being, the focus of our thoughts and feelings which is the locus of the soul.  This challenges a culture which has made the mind – the place of our reasoning faculties – the centre.  Much spiritual teaching has long been concerned with creating a ‘right – clean – heart’ for the heart can become corrupted and so needs to be re-fashioned, re-focussed.  I need to make sure that my heart is focused in God, the source of all goodness, and underlined the need to live a recollected life, a life where the heart, the habitation of the soul, comes alive. 

MINDFULNESS

The recent interest in ‘Mindfulness’, those practices which NHS online says can improve mental well-being, by ‘paying more attention to the present moment, to thoughts and feelings and to the world around you’, has connected with many people estranged from Faith.  Echoing Christian teaching ‘Mindfulness’ is the ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or over-whelmed by what’s going on around us. 

From its use in prisons and schools its benefits are becoming more widely realised.  Yet it draws on practices older than Christianity which, unfortunately, became generally forgotten at the Reformation.  Christianity has taught these practices as aspects of contemplative prayer, practices which encourage us to enter the caverns of the heart as we let go of our thoughts and feelings and descend to our soul.  Unfortunately, our Faith became caught by notions of ‘onwards and upwards’ rather than ‘stillness and descent’, yet the great mystics of the Church always knew that this was the better way.

This ‘prayer of the heart’ is one of the simplest ways in which we can open ourselves to that ‘ground of our being’ which lies beneath the surface of our lives.  It’s a way of praying which is intended to cultivate that interior silence which can calm the raging seas of life and we can overcome the fear of our own hidden depths.  It requires of us nothing more than developing a deep inner stillness and silence as we seek to focus into our desire for God.  At a time when people are beginning to waken to the importance of their inner world the Church needs to re-discover its treasury of contemplative prayer where we can find the most important ‘fresh expressions’ of our Faith which speak to the actual needs people have. 

St Paul recognised the importance of Mindfulness when he prayed that ‘with the eyes of your heart enlightened you may know what is the hope to which (God) has called you.’  The 3^rd century Desert Mothers and Fathers taught that we need to focus into a word which we can gently repeat beneath our breath, which is often spoken of as Centring Prayer; Lectio Divina, taught by the Benedictines, allows words of scripture to enter the heart, and in the 17^th century Brother Laurence taught the importance of living in the Present Moment.  In fact, these practices might be more rightly called ‘heartfulness’ for as St Theophan the Recluse, a 19^th century Russian monk, reminds us:

‘To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord, ever present .. within you.’

That reflects a far older teaching that if we gaze deep within our heart, we shall find there the ladder that leads to heaven. (St Isaac the Syrian)

THE HEART OF CHRIST

This reminds us that we need to give far greater attention to the heart.  We need to re-discover the importance of the Heart of Christ, the Sacred Heart of Jesus for His Heart reveals what our heart might be like.  ‘The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and of great kindness’ says the psalmist (145.8) and reveals aspects of the Heart of God which it can be so hard to incarnate in our lives.  Can I be merciful, compassionate and kind?   If that’s the nature of God’s Heart, and if we were created in the image and likeness of God, then this helps to identify what being human is all about. 

We resonate to these human qualities which pierce beneath the shell that we can build around us and invite us to fix our heart upon them.  Yet they’re only emanations of the nature of the invisible and unknowable God whose nature must be greater than these describe.   To fix the heart on the Heart of God involves deepening our desire to reflect the Sacred Heart which doesn’t just call us to devotion to its physicality, any more than devotion to Christ is about tribal loyalty.  Rather, devotion to the Sacred Heart slowly opens us to the fullness of divine life.  I want my heart, my life, to be like His.  That’s what makes the saints so attractive, for they are people whose lives reveal something of the attractive beauty of God. 

God gently invites us to ‘fix our heart’ on His, to be awakened by and to Divine beauty.  To cleanse our heart that it might shine with the beauty in which it was created.   To recollect this call, hear its echoes and resonances.  This fixing of the heart means I’m being drawn out of my-self into the Sacred Heart.   Yet the heart can be distracted, can become enslaved to another who will lead me away from the Light of Love and needs cleansing, liberating and renewing in the image and likeness of the Sacred Heart.

THE HEART OF THE OTHER

This drawing into the Heart of Christ opens my heart to want to encounter the heart of the other.  In fact, what I have found, like so many others, is that encountering the heart of the other – of all Creation – I find my–self profoundly moved out of that ‘self’ as I gaze on the other.  From the simplest leaf, tiniest insect or most fragile butterfly, to the grandest mountain, vastness of ocean or celestial panoply my heart is moved and drawn more deeply into desiring at-oneness with that ‘other’.  And in allowing my heart to be moved in this way I notice how my own sense of humanity is nourished and affirmed.  I am more ‘me’ as I allow myself to be embraced by the Other.  This seems connected to the way the early Franciscan, St Bonaventure, noted that the very universe is a kind of ladder for ascending to God (cf. ‘The Soul’s Journey into God’) only this is a ladder which takes us into the wonder of the Divine.

BEING AND BELONGING

St Francis of Assisi knew that at heart, we are intimately connected with the heart of all that is.   He taught that we are sisters and brothers with the whole of creation.  The reverence I feel when contemplating the stars connects me to them, for I am made of the same stuff; the fact that I am moved in my depths when I gaze on the animal world should remind me to reverence it - and if it doesn’t, then there is something wrong with my humanity.   If I am not moved it suggests that my heart is closed and needs awakening so that it can be fixed on wonder, love and praise.  I find my sense of belonging widens from the particular (this family, place, nation) to a greater sense of belonging as a creature in creation.  This seems to be what Jesus recognised as he reached out beyond the confines of family (“who is my mother...”) and Paul taught (“circumcision is nothing ... what matters is a new creation”) and calls us to have a heart large enough to embrace the whole.  Slowly the heart needs to break free of its constraints so that it can sing the song of freedom. 

This is what being a Christian is all about - realising myself as a new creation whose heart is fixed on mercy, compassion and love for all things.  I need to be ‘mindful’ of this calling – to recollect this attention in the depths of my heart so that I’m not given to distraction.  And when – inevitably – I am, to collect my attention to its roots in the Heart of God.  This needs to be my well-spring.  And even though I may have a particular love, it is that Sacred Heart of Christ which is to enable all my loving.  As I gaze on His Heart so mine can be warmed.  It can also be challenged to grow beyond the limits of the self; challenged to be renewed (“a new heart create for me, O God...”) and refreshed. 

THE HEART AND DIVISION

This deep and often unconscious yearning for union – at-oneness – which is endemic to our being as a part of Creation will inevitably find the notion of separation a threat and a challenge and it’s experience deeply disturbing.  Yet, at a deeper level, our union cannot be broken – I remain your brother or sister and a brother or sister to the whole of creation whether that is recognised or not.  That recognition was the great gift of St Francis and other saints and their insights need to be recalled at times when we experience brokenness.  The eye of our heart needs to be fixed on the Heart of God which enfolds the whole of creation as we pray: “may you be well; may you be happy; may you know the compassion of Christ.”

MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION

At a time when people are beginning to awaken to the importance of their inner world the Church needs to re-discover its treasury of contemplative prayer.  Here we can find the most important ‘fresh expressions’ of our Faith which speak to the actual needs people have.  If we want to re-connect with them then why not begin by organising a contemplative prayer group – call it ‘Mindfulness and Meditation’ if you like, but let’s do something!  

A SINGING HEART

It’s easy to sink into gloom and moroseness, especially in the dark days at the end of the year. Yet we are surrounded (even in London Zone 4) with trees that sing for joy. Walking past the small, ancient meadow which clings to the slopes of the hill close to where we live I suddenly ‘saw’ the trees glowing with the yellowness of late autumn – and my heart sang for joy. The man walking in front of me had his eyes glued to his iPhone – maybe he was watching something that lightened his heart, but so often we simply don’t ‘see’ what creation offers to change our hearts.

The psalmist knows this and often tells of the way the whole world sings for joy:

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad;

let the sea and all within it thunder praise.

Let the land and all it bears rejoice.

Then will all the trees of the wood shout for joy

at the presence of the LORD. (Ps.96. 12f)

When I see the heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars which you arranged,

what is man that you should keep him in mind,

the son of man that you care for him? (Ps.8. 4f)

              It’s easy to let ourselves be drawn into despondency, sadness and despair yet we are surrounded by a world which cries out that beauty, wonder and mystery surround us. The Psalms, in particular, will direct our attention to the glory and majesty that is ours as part of a good creation, yet we can forget or ignore this source of well-being. The waters that feed our heart can be fresh or they can be brackish, pure or toxic. Just as we are becoming aware of the dangers to our bodies of feeding off unhealthy food, so we need to be aware that what we look at can nourish or poison us.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
    and let them say among the nations, “The Lord is king!”

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    let the field exult, and everything in it.

Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
    before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever. (1 Chronicles 16. 31f)

WISDOM OF THE SUFI

‘God created man not by a word, which comes from Divine Wisdom, which itself comes from Divine Power, but by hand-shaping, which comes from Divine Love. Into the clay shaped by His hands, God breathed His spirit (sic) and the new-created being, Adam (in Hebrew: earth-made), came into life. Through the breath of God something was planted deep within the clay: man’s soul and the seeds of his future awakening. Upon this hidden entry within, an imprint was impressed, a memory of that experience at the beginning of time, an experience of the closest intimacy between man and God, a memory of sheer fulfilment.’ 

(Sara Sviri, The Taste of Hidden Things, The Golden Sufi Center Publishing, 1997. p.199)

Go you, sweep out the dwelling-room of your heart, prepare it to be the abode and home of the Beloved: when you go out He will come in. Within you, when you are free from self, He will show His Beauty. (Mahmûd Shabistarî, quoted by Bhatnagar, p. 118.)

The Sufi Meditation of the Heart

‘Emptying the mind, we create an inner space where we can become aware of the presence of the Beloved. He is always here but the mind, the emotions, and the outer world veil us from Him. He is the silent emptiness, and in order to experience Him we need to become silent. In meditation we give ourself back to Him, returning from the world of forms to the limitless ocean of love within the heart.

He reveals Himself to those who love Him, and it is always an act of grace. The work of the lover is to be waiting, always listening for His call. "Catching the divine hint" is an important Sufi practice in which we learn to be continually attentive to our Beloved in order to serve Him. But only too easily does the clamour of the world deafen us and the noise of our own mind distract us. In order to hear the guidance that comes from within, we need to attune ourself to the frequency of the heart and be sensitive to the still, small voice of the Self. We need to learn to focus our attention on the inner world and cultivate stillness. Shiblî tells a story of going to see the Sufi master, Nûrî, and seeing him sitting in meditation so motionless that not even one hair moved. He asked Nûrî, "From whom did you learn such deep meditation?" Nûrî replied, "I learned it from a cat waiting by a mouse hole. The cat was much stiller than I."

Meditation both takes us into the onenesss of love and prepares us for this experience. T.S. Eliot wisely remarked, "human kind cannot bear very much reality," and the tremendous experience of the eternal emptiness that lies beyond the mind and the ego can be terrifying. We are conditioned by the basic belief that we exist as an individual, separate entity. The ego is the center of our conscious awareness. In meditation we begin to glimpse a deeper truth, that the ego is an illusion and the outer world as insubstantial as a dream. In Shakespeare's words, "We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

(This article was published in the book: The Experience of Meditation ed. by Jonathan Shear, 2006)

ABIDING IN CHRIST (1)

Listening to a directee talk of their recent pilgrimage to Walsingham and the way they were touched by the altar of the Annunciation and Holy House caused me to realise the way in which both of these speak powerfully of God’s invitation into an ever deepening relationship; with Him.

            The Annunciation reminds us that God is constantly and graciously calling us to say ‘yes’ to his invitation that we should give birth to the image of him within us. The movement, then, from that altar at Walsingham into the Holy House is a symbolic movement into the inner room where the Divine presence of Jesus and Mary dwell. The House is our Heart and we enter it through an ever-open door to give attention to him who is enthroned there. Teresa of Avila, of course, expounds this journey in her book The Interior Castle where she writes that the entrance into this ‘Castle’ or ‘Mansion’ is through interior prayer (meditation) and how the person who responds to God’s invitation into the Castle by needs to be cleansed of sin and practice humility. In the same way, the entrance into the Basilica of the Incarnation in Bethlehem is through a low door which requires the pilgrim to bend low in order to pass through. One moves further into the Castle through deepening prayer and a growth of loving desire for God, something of which the pilgrim seeking God in the Holy House will be deeply aware. There are further rooms which are accessed by an increase of this love until ‘betrothal’ occurs in the final room, or Mansion.

            All this is symbolic of the way the Heart is to be that Interior Castle in which God abides in Christ. If we give real attention to the Heart then that Divine Love will gradually melt our defences and draw us more deeply into union with the One who is always present to us. The Heart is, if you like, the locus of God’s hospitality.

‘O come to my Heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my Heart for Thee.’

______________________________________________________

https://www.walsinghamanglican.org.uk/

SOLITUDE AND SILENCE

There are times I've heard people say they crave being ‘left alone’ and long for ‘a bit of silence’. And that’s understandable.  But being left alone so that one can enjoy a bit of peace and quiet is only OK, for most people, for so long. Then it’s back to wanting a bit of distraction, especially when there’s nothing much to do. Which may be why the kind of solitude and silence of a monastery can be rather intimidating. Because, as brothers and sisters of the Society of St Francis or the monks and nuns of Mucknall, Burnham Abbey, Fairacres etc. can tell you, silence and solitude also provides the place to encounter self and to work towards that inner conversion – the ‘conversion of the heart’ – which lies at the centre of religious faith. Having helpful spiritual experiences is one thing but this way of conversion where the old ‘self’ can die and a new self be born is quite another!  

            Yet this ‘new birth’ is the essence of the Christian story. The trouble is we live in a society which has become overly-attracted by the sensual and gives little attention to the internal. So it’s hardly surprising that the church seems to be giving most of its attention to this external world: ‘growth’ movements often seem to be about numbers and ‘Church Planting’ can sometimes lack sensitivity. We may recognise the need to be 'reaching out' but are we 'reaching in'? Is the growth of violence among young people in part due to having ignored their spiritual needs? At the very time when western society is gradually awakening to the effects of excessive consumption and the need to develop a profoundly deeper awareness of the relationship between humanity and the planet many in the church are looking west and embracing some of the suspect forms of American evangelism rather than looking east and re-discovering the riches of Christian, Sufi and Buddhist spirituality. Jesus, the Buddha and all the great teachers of spiritual wisdom – Teresa of Avila, Aelred of Rievaulx, Julian of Norwich and all those who see and can speak into the heart – have realised the need for periods of solitude and inner silence. But does the church? Does it really? Because, if it did, it might put the same kind of resources into developing what people really, in their hearts, need.

CAN IT BE TRUE ... ?

O come all ye faithful – and not so faithful

who enter walls made holy by prayer 

and praise. What draws us to these places, 

from our world of the known 

into the unknown? Warm memories 

of childhood security? Snatched recollections 

of hymns and carols sung to tunes stored 

safely in half-remembered recesses of the 

mind? A desire to touch the hem of mystery?

Or the need to connect with our hidden self 

– ignored for so long yet never leaving us.

‘God, you have made us for yourself 

and our heart are restless until they find their rest in Thee.’

Just the memory of a sentimental childhood tale?  But, suppose it were true?

Suppose divine love had entered our flesh.

Imagine we had been brought into being by the overflowing of love.

Dare - for a moment - to be open to the possibility that all 

that is most noble in our humanity

is but a dim reflection of a Great Beauty?

Suppose it were true that we had a great dignity, were

temples of wonder to that which we call – God.

Suppose, just for a moment, that we were not just 

dust, but dust destined for glory?  That God had entered

the centre of our being.

That, hidden within us, we had the ability to do great things - to be

godlike.  Then, maybe, we would reflect, just for a moment

and marvel at our self;

rejoice in and give thanks for that mystery, 

pause before the wonder of our being

and have the courage to say, “Father…”

Suppose, not just for this moment in time, but for all time

it were true ...

BROKEN

Does anyone else agree that 'Broken', which ended its run on the BBC on Tuesday night (July 4th), is amongst the best programmes dealing with social and personal issues from a profoundly Christian basis?  It also appears to be a story with equally profound spiritual roots - the heart of our relationship with God in Christ and the way that affects life.  It is a real expression of the saying of St. Jean Marie Vianney, Patron of Parish Clergy: 'The Priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus'.

I know the writer professes to be an atheist - but can hardly believe that's true.  His Catholic upbringing has clearly made an indelible mark on his attitude to life.  I've rarely seen such a moving and powerful portrayal of the Christian Faith in action - and all rooted in the dynamic of the Eucharist. Might it be required viewing by theological students and bishops?  It might make an excellent Lent Course for 2018.  Thanks, Jimmy McGovern - this is a real FRESH EXPRESSION!

23rd Anniversary of Priesting and the Heart of our Faith

Today is the twenty-third anniversary of my ordination to the Priesthood in Birmingham Cathedral, a day for which I give thanks.  It seemed very appropriate that the Gospel (1) for today’s Mass, the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, included this statement by Jesus:

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matt.10:37)

It is known as one of the ‘hard-sayings’ of Jesus because, at first sight, it seems both overly-demanding and exclusive.  Yet, on further reflection, it is also one of the most beautiful and inspiring.  For it is a forceful reminder that our gaze be directed to the Heart of Christ, from which every human heart takes its shape and form yet which can become so misshapen.  It is easy for us to be misled by those we love – even the most wonderful of human lovers has their faults – and we need to have our own heart, the centre of our being, constantly re-focussed and re-made.  And we who are Christians find that the Heart of Jesus has no flaws and longs to re-fashion us in Christ’s image and likeness.  So we need to love the Heart of Jesus with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength. (Mt.12:30)   

And, as if offering a further reflection on the Gospel, today’s Office of Readings includes the Homily Pope Paul VI during his visit to the Philippines in 1970 (2):

“I must bear witness to his name: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt.16:16).  He reveals the invisible God; he is the firstborn of all creation, the foundation of everything created.  He is the Teacher of mankind, and its Redeemer.  He was born, he died and he rose again for us.  He is the centre of history and of the world; he is the one who knows us and who loves us; he is the companion and the friend of our life.  He is the man of sorrows and of hope.  It is he who will come and who one day will be our judge and - we hope - the everlasting fullness of our existence, our happiness.  I could never finish speaking about him: he is the light and the truth; indeed, he is ‘the way, the truth and the life’ (In.14:6).  He is the bread and the spring of living water to satisfy our hunger and our thirst.  He is our shepherd, our guide, our model, our comfort, our brother.  Like us, and more than us, he has been little, poor, humiliated; he has been a worker; he has known misfortune and been patient.  For our sake he spoke, worked miracles and founded a new kingdom where the poor are happy, where peace is the principle for living together, where the pure of heart and those who mourn are raised up and comforted, where those who hunger and thirst after justice have their fill, where sinners can be forgiven, where all are brothers.

Jesus Christ: you have heard him spoken of; indeed the greater part of you are already his: you are Christians.  So, to you Christians I repeat his name, to everyone I proclaim him: Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega; he is the king of the new world; he is the secret of history; he is the key to our destiny.  He is the mediator, the bridge, between heaven and earth.  He is more perfectly than anyone else the Son of Man, because he is the Son of God, eternal and infinite.  He is the son of Mary, blessed among all women, his mother according to the flesh, and our mother through the sharing in the Spirit of his Mystical Body.

Jesus Christ is our constant preaching; it is his name that we proclaim to the ends of the earth (cf. Rom 10:18) and throughout all ages (Rom.9 5).  Remember this and ponder on it: the Pope has come here among you and has proclaimed Jesus Christ!”

____________________________________________________

(1)  Revised Common Lectionary

(2)  Homily of the late Holy Father, Paul VI, at Mass at the ‘Quezon Circle, Manila, The Philippines, on Sunday, 29 November 1970

IN THE DESERT OF THE HEART LET THE HEALING FOUNTAIN START

Just back from the London Spirituality Centre’s Network Day which was expertly led by Julie Dunstan on the theme of ‘Happy are those who mourn - Loss, Lamentation and Laughter’.  Towards the end she posed a question concerning the relationship between spirituality, psychotherapy and social action. 

Reflecting on this matter I realise the fundamental importance of our Lord’s summary of the Law in the words of the Shema – ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” (Lk. 10:27)  These words, of course, have been understood to show that love of God, neighbour and self are inter-connected.  Whatever spiritual practices we are drawn to, this dynamic must be present for them to be authentic.  In a similar way social action must be rooted in this love.

It is, then, the ‘heart’ that is fundamental and what is contained in the heart – how it ‘inclines’ and on what it is fixed.  Yet the heart is full of contradictions, of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and it has always been the realm of religion to remind us of the need to ‘Know thyself’ and that all true spirituality is rooted in this quest which must not be separated from the desire for the Other through whose empathetic gaze we are redeemed and made whole.  All this is also rooted in true humility which, as the ‘Principles’ of the First Order of the Society of St. Francis state:

Humility is the recognition of the truth about God and ourselves, the recognition of our own insufficiency and dependence, seeing that we have nothing which we have not received. It is the mother of all Christian virtues. As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux has said, No spiritual house can stand for a moment save on the foundation of humility. (Day 25)

As the First Epistle of St. John points out: ‘If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.’  To understand the value of an-other (in whatever way one wants to understand that term) one need only reflect on the fact that it is the Other who helps me understand myself, my desires, impulses, sins, failings, desires and so on and how these draw or drive me and how they can help in my redemption.  I need my brother (sister/an-other) if I am to be whole.

For me, therefore, the desire to develop a spiritual life is intimately connected with my own wholeness which, in turn, can only be realised in communion with an-other.  And all this is focussed in the ‘heart-space’.  Indeed, the ‘work’ of spirituality is as simple as desiring for it to be emptied of everything apart from that love for an-other, to be a desert place of encounter, my solitary cell which welcomes the other for it is being swept clean to make space to welcome that Divine guest in whose loving, empathetic gaze I am made whole.

RIOTS and a change of heart

Last week, in light of the events that were taking place on some of our streets in some of our cities I posed the question ‘Why?’ on ‘Facebook’. Why did a significant minority of young (and, it seems, not always so young) people take to the streets in a frenzy of violence and looting.

Why did the police, at times, seem almost powerless to stop them? Why did parts of our cities become something akin to war zones with gangs seemingly in control? In the face of such outrageous behaviour we are left with that simple question: why? And, from the responses I received to that question it is clear these events have generated strong reactions – reactions which I find myself sharing. I am aware that I have responded vigorously to scenes of looting, burning and terror on the streets: ‘Why can’t the police use more force?’ ‘Let’s bring the army in!’ ‘Punish not just the children (for that, it would seem, is what many are) but the parents!’ ‘Have we ‘spared the rod and spoilt the child’?’

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!

And then I have wondered at the wider picture. We live in a society that has become detached from faith in God and become obsessed by materialism. We are swamped by advertising that appeals to our envy, that makes us want more things that many can’t (and might never) afford. The very wealthy get richer whilst others suffer or are faced by deep cuts and a lack of prospects. And violence, whether to persons or property, seems increasingly accepted as part of our TV, music, computer and internet-fed culture. Like many, I am left confused and uncertain as to how all this might be changed, and whether we even have the desire to change it.

And if I dig a bit deeper I find myself wondering with concern if, as someone wrote: ‘Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.’ (Robert E. Howard, ‘Beyond the Black River’). But one thing is clear. We all have opinions as to the causes of these events and the solutions. And, as far as opinions are concerned, I take note of a quote from Abraham Lincoln: ‘Public opinion, though often formed upon a wrong basis, yet generally has a strong underlying sense of justice’

So I try to take a step back from the welter of opinions I am subject to and remember that, if I want to understand how best (and we can only do our best, whatever our response, it will never be perfect) to respond I need, as a person of faith, to stand in the desire of God.

Now it’s clear that societies have always struggled with lawlessness. In Matthew's gospel he reflected on the situation his community faced in the mid-1st cent. and wrote: ‘because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.’ (Matt. 24:12-14)

The maintenance of law and order was (and, of course, still is) the mark of a secure society. Whether that society was civilised is another matter – I am sure there was law and order in Nazi Germany – and the breakdown of law and order was seen as heralding the end-times. That’s a theme we find both in the Old and New Testaments and is the stuff of fundamentalists – and to be avoided! So I find myself reflecting on the question – apart from the law, what holds us together? What are the essential elements of a civilised society? Well, clearly they are multifarious. At present we might be aware of the importance of law and order but think further and one might recognise that justice, rather than vengeance, is essential. For Christians and Jews the ‘Ten Commandments’ might seem basic, for they cover respect for persons and property. But we might also recall that these are dependent on the lynchpin of belief in, and respect for, the ultimate authority of God.

But we also know that once you introduce Laws people will find a way to break them. So I also recall that when Jesus was asked his opinion as to what Law was most important, he observed that “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt. 22: 37-40)  Just before that Jesus had reflected on the causes of some of the problems in his society and said this: “out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person…” (Matt. 15: 19/20)

The crisis that erupted in our midst last week is, I believe, one that comes from the heart. That is my opinion and I am ready for it to be challenged!  But what I have learnt over the years is that we are governed by what the heart is set upon, both individually and as a society.  Each of us is filled with a mixture of emotions, desires, feelings, passions which are the most powerful forces we experience inside of us. And under the power of these we can perform the most heroic acts or do the most violent things. So each of us needs to ask the question, on what is my heart set?  The acquisition of more and more ‘stuff’; the desire to satisfy our base cravings; the lure of riches or celebrity: none of these will, in the end, satisfy our deepest desires for these can only be satisfied by God, the source of all good. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

That’s why this is the first and greatest commandment and its dependent on the belief of God as the greatest good. That which will fulfil the deepest desires of our heat. So I might ask myself – what, in my life, does that for me? What to I seek to fulfil my deepest needs? The latest computer game, holiday in Florida or acquisition of an i-phone might satisfy us to an extent but do they satisfy our deeper hunger?  On what is the heart set? To seek the good of others; to value ourselves and delight in our inner beauty and fundamental goodness: to be open to love and be loved – these are the means whereby we will satisfy our deepest needs.

But, so often, these are not what we are told we need. Satisfying the self comes before the needs of others; beauty is to be found at a price and we are lured by the temptation to condemn the other. The enemy of the good is always present, whether we call that the devil or evil or Satan, the ancient name for that which opposes and obstructs the call to goodness. To God.

The lawlessness which erupted on the streets of our towns and cities last week is always present and no revision of our laws or increase in the number of police on our streets, no longer prison sentences or re-introduction of the death penalty will, in the end, prevent it erupting again. Only a change of heart for us as individuals and as a society will do that. That’s called conversion and its something basic to our faith and something that needs to happen every day. On what is my heart set? To what does it incline? To the goodness of God or self-satisfaction? There is no doubt that when the heart is set on its own gratification then it can easily be led astray. But a heart inclined to God will always find itself recalled to seek fulfilment in reaching out to the Other with that same mercy, love and justice it seeks.

There is a restlessness in society. There will always be. But that restlessness, as St. Augustine reminded us, is because God has made us to live in union with Him and the restlessness in us is, in the end, wont be satisfied by ‘stuff’ or status, by power or achievement, but by at-one-ness with Him.