Falling Upward
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
By Richard Rohr
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011
Richard Rohr’s newest book unpacks a simple, and yet profoundly important, idea: that the goals and purpose of the spiritual life evolve over the lifespan; in other words, what is important and necessary in the first half of life might actually impede our spiritual calling in the second half. While even a cursory knowledge of developmental psychology can make this idea seem like mere common sense — after all, isn’t it rather obvious that the keys to happiness for a twenty-year-old and a sixty-year-old are in almost all cases going to be radically different? — the real meat of the issue involves the fact that conventional, Sunday-morning Christianity has very little to offer for mentoring those in the second half of life. Institutionally speaking, Christianity is almost entirely geared toward first-half-of-life issues (creating a spiritual identity, finding one’s place in the world, and adopting a code of conduct appropriate for that identity and place) and leaves those wrestling with the second-half-of-life issues (finding meaning, giving back to others, learning to let go of the limitations that identity/place entail) to basically fend for themselves.
So Falling Upward addresses this blind spot. (more…)
A Chat with a Methodist Minister
Image via Wikipedia
The other day at the Abbey Store I struck up a conversation with a Methodist minister who was making a short retreat at the Monastery. We chatted up books and authors and it became apparent that we had a similar interest in contemplative spirituality.
“So tell me,” I asked him, “What is it like to advocate for contemplative spirituality in your congregation?”
He smiled ruefully. “It’s not easy,” he said.
“Are people afraid of it?” I wondered, mindful of the small but vocal presence of bloggers and other folks on line who are actually hostile to Christian mysticism and contemplation, usually because they mistakenly believe that Christian mysticism isn’t really Christian.
“No, that’s not it. It’s more that people are just too busy.”
I nodded sympathetically. “Gotta get to the soccer game, no time for meditation, or lectio divina, or a disciplined daily prayer life.”
“And it’s not that people are opposed to putting energy and effort into their faith. They just find silence too difficult — too threatening, it feels too much like doing nothing, wasting time, being impractical.”
“Which, of course, it is. Contemplation is wasting time with God.”
“And it totally goes against the grain of our culture.”
“Indeed — the monastery is the original counterculture.”
And so it went. It was a nice conversation, we clucked and commiserated with one another but didn’t really solve anything. I’ve known a number of people over the years express their frustration because they find their local church to be uncongenial to contemplation and mysticism. But it’s interesting to see that same frustration from the other side of the altar.
What’s the takeaway here: perhaps this: if you are interested in silent prayer, and mysticism, and contemplation, and meditation, take the time to share that interest with your pastor, minister, or priest.
What’s the worst that can happen: okay, maybe he or she is downright hostile to the idea and you’ll get a lecture warning you that you are treading on dangerous ground. Yes, I know such people exist (several of them are the bloggers I mentioned above). If you do get such a chilly response, that could be a signal to find a different church (!), or if family responsibilities mean staying at that church, you’ll know you need to be discreet — but at least you will have tried.
But in reality, that kind of unfriendly response is, for most of us, not likely to happen. What is more likely is that either a) your pastor will admit that this kind of thing is not something he or she is very interested in, but will wish you well on your own spiritual journey, or b) your pastor will thank you for sharing, and will offer some insight into his or her own efforts to find contemplative silence in the mist of the external busy-ness that characterizes much of institutional Christianity as it exists today. It could be the beginning of a very nice spiritual friendship, and at the very least, the two of you could pray for one another.
And who knows? Maybe you and your pastor could work together to set up a small contemplative prayer meeting one night each week in your church. Nothing supports a spiritual practice like getting support from others.
The Spirituality of the Budget Crisis
David Brooks over at the New York Times wrote an interesting opinion piece on the current budget crisis and how it relates to our fear of death and our faith in science and medical technology to delay death. Here’s a few provocative snippets:
This fiscal crisis is about many things, but one of them is our inability to face death — our willingness to spend our nation into bankruptcy to extend life for a few more sickly months. … As Daniel Callahan and Sherwin B. Nuland point out in an essay in The New Republic called The Quagmire, our health care spending and innovation are not leading us toward a limitless extension of a good life. … “We have arrived at a moment,” Callahan and Nuland conclude, “where we are making little headway in defeating various kinds of diseases. Instead, our main achievements today consist of devising ways to marginally extend the lives of the very sick.”
As the parent of a seriously ill child, I agree with everything he’s saying, and yet I have no idea how we parse out quality of life and making the decision to let go (and let hospice). It’s my understanding that Americans wait too long to enter (or enter their loved ones) into hospice care. It seems that we do a great job at fighting disease (even if we’re bankrupting ourselves in the process), but a pretty lousy job at welcoming the dying process.
What would it look like if we made our healthcare decisions (both individually and as a society) based on something other than the fear of death?
You can read Brooks’ article here: Death and Budgets
Something I wrote for Amazon.com
It's not really THAT big...
Amazon.com offers authors the chance to write something personal about their book(s) to appear on Amazon’s website. This morning I finally wrote such a statement for The Big Book of Christian Mysticism. I thought I may as well post it here, so readers of this blog could enjoy it as well. The following text should be published within the next few days on The Big Book of Christian Mysticism‘s page under the heading “From the Author.”
When I was eighteen years old, a friend of mine loaned me a copy of Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness. Like many folks raised in a mainstream Christian context, I had no idea that Christianity had such a rich and storied history of men and women who experienced profound, life-changing mystical encounters with God — nor did I have any sense that such a tradition could remain relevant, even today. But Underhill’s book opened the door to that wondrous spiritual world for me, and I have been an enthusiastic seeker of the mysteries ever since. I’ve come to believe that mysticism is Christianity’s “best kept secret,” and that a renewed understanding of, and appreciation for, Christian mysticism can help Christians find greater meaning and joy in their faith, and help non-Christians to see the wisdom tradition that began with Jesus of Nazareth in a new light.
Given how important Underhill’s book has been to my own spiritual life, I discerned a desire to write an introduction to Christian mysticism for the third millennium. While my book can never replace or supplant hers, my hope is that it can help introduce its readers to the splendor and beauty of Christian mysticism, just as Underhill’s book made that introduction for me. So on a very personal level, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism is my way of saying “thank you” to Underhill — and beyond her, to God, who Christians believe is the source of all true mystical experience.
Evelyn Underhill was a brilliant scholar who spent years researching the history and literature of mysticism. Her pioneering work led to further studies by such renowned academics as Bernard McGinn, Harvey Egan, Andrew Louth, and the late Grace Jantzen. My book is designed to serve as a complement to such important researchers and theorists. The Big Book of Christian Mysticism bridges the gap between the “ivory tower” of scholarly studies of mysticism, and the everyday experience of ordinary Christians, for whom mysticism is not a topic for bookish research, but rather an invitation to a deeper experience of God. Because I assume that my readers may not know anything about mysticism (or, for that matter, anything about Christianity!), it can be an ideal introductory book.
My spiritual journey, like that of many seekers in our time, has been marked by a variety of twists and turns. I was raised a Lutheran Christian, moving to the Episcopal/Anglican communion as a young adult. But I was also drawn to the wisdom of other traditions, including Buddhism and Neopaganism. Eventually I spent about seven years outside of Christianity, exploring Wicca, shamanism, Goddess spirituality, Celtic Druidism, Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, among other spiritual paths. But the Christian contemplative path called me back, and in my 40s I entered the Catholic Church, placing myself under the spiritual guidance of Cistercian monks and Benedictine wisdom. What all this means is that I’ve been able to ponder the meaning of Christian mysticism for people both inside and outside the institutional expression of Christianity (the church). With this in mind, I endeavored to write The Big Book of Christian Mysticism both for Christians who might be new to the topic of mysticism, but also for people outside of the Christian tradition, who may or may not be students of the mysteries, but who are unfamiliar with how mysticism has been uniquely experienced and expressed within the lineage of those who follow Jesus of Nazareth.
The book that first inspired me...
Mysticism is a wonderful “location” of spiritual experience, particularly for those who are more drawn to what unites all people, rather than what separates us. All through history, Christian mystics have been at the forefront of interfaith dialogue: the great conversation between people of different religions. Unlike how some Christians too often approach “others” merely as targets for conversion, the great mystics and contemplatives of the Christian faith, especially in the recent past and present, see mysticism as the bridge that enables fruitful and positive interaction across religious boundaries. Thus, Thomas Merton explored Buddhism, and Henri Le Saux became so immersed in Vedanta that he even took a new religious name as Swami Abhishiktananda. More recently, contemplatives like Cynthia Bourgeault, Tilden Edwards, Mary Margaret Funk, and Paul Knitter have been leaders on the frontier where Christian spirituality engages with the wisdom of other traditions. The Big Book of Christian Mysticism is not an interfaith book per se: it really is intended to serve as an introduction to the distinctively Christian expression of mysticism. But it is written as a contribution to an understanding of spirituality that is both deep (as in deeply-rooted in the Christian path) and inclusive (open to the wisdom of others). It is my hope that readers who do not identify as Christians will nevertheless find in this book a lovely expression of a particular stream of spirituality. Meanwhile, those readers who do identify as Christians will find themselves called to a deeper, richer, more intimate, and hopefully transformational dimension of their faith.
One final word: I’m rather embarrassed by the book’s title. Here’s the inside story. My editor came up with the idea of calling this work the “big book” because, in early conversations before I actually started writing it, we envisioned a tome rather like Underhill’s: 500+ pages long, providing more information about mysticism than you’ll ever need. But as I wrote the book, I began to question whether my goal of writing an accessible introduction to Christian mysticism would really be served by making this book so long that it could seem intimidating. My editor agreed, and eventually the book ended up being about half the length we originally thought it would be. Which I’m perfectly happy with — except neither he nor I thought to revise the title. Oops! I’ve had a few readers scratch their heads over how “little” this “Big Book” is. Thankfully, only a couple of snarky reviewers have attacked the title, and then there’s Richard Rohr, who very kindly told me he thought the title was “whimsical.” Maybe in a future edition we can drop “The Big Book of” and just call this work Christian Mysticism: A Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. But for now, it is what it is. I humbly hope you’ll order yourself a copy. Just don’t be surprised at how “normal-sized” this so-called “Big Book” is!
The Jewel and the Setting
Image from the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue Website (monasticdialog.com)
In response to my post yesterday of Annemarie S. Kidder writing on the relationship between postmodernity and the rediscovery of mysticism, one commenter writes:
Her insights resonate with me, both in words and practice. What I wonder though, is what kind of church this individual movement will form. How will the creeds be written or will creeds be simply experienced in similar ways? How will be able to share with the youth from our own inward experiences? I understand where we are, but I feel our commitment to sharing this way with the younger folks around us. Ideas?
Great questions. One of the basic functions of any kind of religious organization is to pass on the wisdom of the faith community to the next generation. This is why Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Church Camp, and ministries like Campus Crusade for Christ or the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (as well as Life Teen or Catalyst) have always been so essential to the life of the church: they’re all about shaping children and youth to be the Christians (and Christian leaders) of the future.
So how do we pass on the wisdom of our faith, if that wisdom is experiential rather than dogmatic in nature? It’s one thing to have a prescribed set of teachings in written form (the Bible, the Catechism, the “Four Spiritual Laws”) to give to the next generation to read and digest. But once we train our focus on what goes on inside of us, the waters of subjectivity and individuality rapidly get pretty deep indeed. After all, one of the reasons why many Christians have historically been uncomfortable with mysticism is because of the idea that subjective religious experience is subversive of Christian doctrine — and, therefore, subversive of good order. “Mysticism begins with mist, is centered on the ‘I’ and ends in schism” as the old saying goes, linguistically horrendous but accurate in describing the traditional evangelical pushback against interior experience.
I certainly can’t claim to have all the answers here. But I think we lose our way if we approach the mysticism vis-à-vis dogma question as an either/or matter. If we set up a dogfight where the only way for doctrine to survive is to crush mysticism — or the only way for mysticism to be accepted is to reject dogma — then I think both experience and tradition lose. I don’t want to be part of a religious community that is so invested in protecting its teachings that it attacks its adherents for experiencing the presence of God. But neither do I want to be lost in a consensual fantasy-world where spirituality is nothing more than feelings and impressions and that I am the only person who gets to comment on what happens in and to my body and mind. A spirituality where only experience matters may seem superficially attractive to our lone ranger society, but the long term ramifications of such boundless, solipsistic subjectivism could easily undermine community and ethics to the point where Christianity as a means of fostering love among people effectively ceases to exist.
Okay, I’m being a bit dramatic here. But my point is the both hyper-dogmatism and hyper-experientialism fail to work as meaningful, effective models for religion. I believe the point behind religion has always been to both foster personal relationship with the Divine and to create a communal forum where such relationships can be nurtured (and, if need be, challenged). To make a tomato plant grow you don’t just water it — you also fasten it to a stake to give it support. Likewise, religious teaching — at its best — is designed both to foster and support internal experience; but sometimes this support, like the tomato’s stake, functions as a challenge, a limitation, a boundary. Likewise, just as the ongoing collective wisdom of our faith community can both nourish us and provide us with structure as we seek our own experiential contact with God, so too the enlivening experience of each new generation of God-seekers will shape the tradition anew, hopefully in creative ways that will bring blessings to those to come. In other words, spirituality at its best means that tradition shapes experience, but experience shapes tradition. And on and on it goes.
My favorite analogy here is that of the jewel and the setting. Mysticism is the jewel; dogma, doctrine and tradition (of any religion, not just Christianity) is the setting. A setting without a jewel is meaningless. But a jewel without a setting is soon lost. We need both. And (to return to Kidder’s comments) if our postmodern age marks a period in which experience has gained ascendency over doctrine, so much the better — for the jewel really is, in itself, more valuable than the setting. But the jewel needs the setting, just as the setting is incomplete without the jewel. So we who are engaged in the conversation about mysticism’s ongoing relevance for Christians in the third millennium need to remember this, and not be too quick to dismiss what is valuable about the tradition, the stories, ancient teachings and wisdom, collected lore and discourse, of our faith community.
Quote for the Day
People in the postmodern era have lost confidence in the idea of perpetual progress advanced by the sciences and technology. They have become distrustful of and disenchanted with authority, which includes that of the church. They value experience over against outside authority, a faith based on experience over against one that is ecclesiastically pre-formulated, and a plurality of voices that are of equal value over against a singular voice that makes all final decisions. Authenticity, being true to one’s self, is more important than giving assent; personal narrative in the context of community is more important than subscribing to creedal statements. Traditional formulations of the Christian faith and the “correct” answers to faith questions, as in catechesis, have come to be ranked as having lesser importance than one’s own personal creed and a first-hand knowledge of the Christian faith. The experience of worship, the celebration of the sacraments, spiritual practices, prayer, meditation, and the use of the arts all contribute to allowing for an encounter with the divine. As a result, people of the postmodern era have rediscovered the writings of the mystics and their way of praying and speaking with God, their attitudes toward the divine, their fundamental awareness of God’s activity and their response to it.
— Annemarie S. Kidder, Introduction to Karl Rahner’s
The Mystical Way in Everyday Life
A Brief Julian of Norwich Bibliography
A Facebook friend has asked me to draw up a list of recommended books on Julian of Norwich. While I have done this previously (see my page on Julian), it had been a while since I had updated it, and there are some worthwhile new books available. So it seemed worth revisiting. Here, then, is my updated list. Happy reading!
A Brief Julian of Norwich Bibliography
Editions of Julian’s book, translated into modern English:
- Julian of Norwich, Revelation of Love, tr. John Skinner (the translation I use the most. Accessible, accurate, and ideal for devotional reading)
- Julian of Norwich, The Revelation of Divine Love in Sixteen Showings, tr. M.L. del Mastro (an older translation, but still warm and accessible)
- Julian of Norwich, Showing of Love, tr. Julia Bolton Holloway (an attempt to integrate the textual variations of all the ancient manuscripts into one single narrative. Interesting, but perhaps not as useful for devotional reading)
- Julian of Norwich, A Lesson of Love: The Revelations of Julian of Norwich, tr. Fr. John-Julian OJN (an attempt to render Julian’s words as poetry).
- Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, tr. Elizabeth Spearing with introduction and notes by A. C. Spearing
- Julian of Norwich, Showings, tr. Edmund Colledge OSA and James Walsh SJ (The Classics of Western Spirituality edition)
- Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, tr. Clifton Wolters
- Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, edited by Halcyon Backhouse and Rhona Pipe
Editions of Julian’s book, in middle English (Julian in her original words is not as daunting as you might think. Certainly there is no better way to study Julian, and some would say that even for devotional reading the original text is the way to go):
- Julian of Norwich, The Showings of Julian of Norwich, ed. Denise Baker (Norton Critical Edition)
- Julian of Norwich, A Book of Showings to the Anchoress Julian of Norwich, ed. Edmund Colledge OSA and James Walsh SJ (Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies)
- Julian of Norwich, The Shewings of Julian of Norwich, edited by Georgia Ronan Crampton (TEAMS Middle English Text Series)
- Julian of Norwich, A Revelation of Love, ed. Marion Glasscoe
- Julian of Norwich, Showing of Love: Extant Texts and Translation, ed. Sr. Anna Maria Reynolds CP and Julia Bolton Holloway
- Julian of Norwich, The Writings of Julian of Norwich, ed. Nicholas Watson and Jacqueline Jenkins (this book, like this Colledge and Walsh edition, includes both the “short” and “long” texts of Julian’s writings. This is a beautiful edition with extensive notes — ideal for those reading Julian in Middle English for the first time)
Books about Julian (popular/devotional):
- Ritamary Bradley, Julian’s Way: A Practical Commentary on Julian of Norwich
- C. Hugh Hildesley, Journeying with Julian (accessible and informative)
- Fr. John-Julian, OJN, The Complete Julian of Norwich (title is a bit of a misnomer as the text of Julian’s writings included is not complete, but this is still a lovely volume with accessible introductory information)
- John-Julian, OJN and Frederick S. Roden, AOJN, Love’s Trinity: A Companion to Julian of Norwich (this does contain the complete long text, with Roden’s commentary after each chapter)
- Robert Llewelyn, All Shall Be Well: The Spirituality of Julian of Norwich for Today (also published in the UK as With Pity Not With Blame. Probably my favorite devotional book on Julian — also discusses The Cloud of Unknowing)
- Robert Llewelyn, ed., Julian: Woman of Our Day
- Paul Molinari, Julian of Norwich: The Teaching of a 14th Century English Mystic
- Ambrose Tinsley, OSB, A Neighbour Kind and Known: The Spirituality of Julian of Norwich
- Sheila Upjohn, In Search of Julian of Norwich
- Sheila Upjohn, Why Julian Now? A Voyage of Discovery
Books about Julian (academic/scholarly):
- Christopher Abbott, Julian of Norwich: Autobiography and Theology
- Denise Nowakowski Baker, Julian of Norwich’s Showings: From Vision to Book
- Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt, Julian of Norwich and the Mystical Body Politic of Christ
- Kerrie Hide, Gifted Origins to Graced Fulfillment: The Soteriology of Julian of Norwich
- Grace Jantzen, Julian of Norwich: Mystic and Theologian
- Kenneth Leech, Julian Reconsidered
- Kevin J. Magill, Julian of Norwich: Mystic or Visionary?
- Jane Maynard, Transfiguring Loss: Julian of Norwich as a Guide for Survivors of Traumatic Grief
- Sandra J. McEntire, ed., Julian of Norwich: A Book of Essays
- Joan M. Nuth, Wisdom’s Daughter: The Theology of Julian of Norwich
- Margaret Ann Palliser, Christ Our Mother of Mercy: Divine Mercy and Compassion in the Theology of the Shewings of Julian of Norwich
- Brant Pelphrey, Julian of Norwich: Christ Our Mother (The Way of the Christian Mystics, volume 7)
- Brant Pelphrey, Love was His Meaning: The Theology and Mysticism of Julian of Norwich
- Denys Turner, Julian of Norwich, Theologian
Image of Julian of Norwich Stained Glass from Norwich Cathedral by Ian-S. Used by permission.
Silence: Doorway to Contemplation and Interfaith Friendship
I’ve just had a new article published on the website of Atlanta’s Interfaith Community Institute. It’s called “Silence: Doorway to Contemplation and Interfaith Friendship.”
In Psalm 46, God is quoted as saying, “Be still and know that I am God.” God, the Ultimate Mystery, is greater than human language, thought, or ideas. For this reason, language always seems to conceal God as much as it reveals God.
While not, therefore, replacing the heritage of theological and mystical language that testifies to God, silence opens a doorway to encountering the presence of God (the Ultimate Mystery) at a level beyond anything that could ever be expressed in words.
In this article I tell the story of my own relationship with silence, and how the practice of intentional silence has helped me not only to grow spiritually but also to embrace the promise of positive interfaith relationships. I may not understand all there is to know about my friends from other faiths, and certainly our friendships are vulnerable to the fact that our beliefs are often quite different from each other — but in silence we can find a way to be present to one another, to pray together, and to enjoy each other.
To read the entire article, follow this link: Silence: Doorway to Contemplation and Interfaith Friendship.
Reminder: Ken Wilber Class starts July 21!
Are you interested in learning more about Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory? If so, register for the upcoming class through Evening at Emory called “A Brief History of Everything.” This class will read Wilber’s book of the same title, generally regarded as his most accessible and succinct statement of Integral Theory, his sweeping vision of how science and spirituality (both eastern and western) come together to explain not only the way things are, but also (and especially) the way things are likely to evolve in the future. It’s a wonderful, if imperfect, book and theory, and this class will explore both the beauty and the problems of Wilber’s ideas.
For more information and to register for the class, follow this link: http://cll.emory.edu/classes.cfm?cla=2150000696&pt=3
Jesus was a healer. Are you?
A friend of mine from my church sent me a link to this video. It’s an inspiring story about a church-run health clinic for low income folks. This is something I think every church ought to prayerfully consider: how can a ministry like this be established in your neighborhood?
Or, go directly to the Church Health Center’s Website.
My latest Day1 Post
For the “Key Bloggers” feed at www.day1.org, I’ve written a short piece on “Why the Wild Goose Festival Matters.” Please go check it out:
Quote for the Day
…the words of the Lord are like acts wrought in us, and so they must have produced some effect in those who were already prepared to put away from them everything corporeal and to leave the soul in a state of pure spirituality, so that it might be joined with Uncreated Spirit in this celestial union. For it is quite certain that, when we empty ourselves of all that is creature and rid ourselves of it for the love of God, that same Lord will fill our souls with Himself.
— Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle
Dana Greene speaks on Evelyn Underhill
Here are a couple of videos, courtesy of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, featuring Dana Greene speaking about Evelyn Underhill.
