Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way

Ascending Mt. Zion

A funny thing. Every day, at least twice and sometimes more, I go up and down the local Mt. Zion Road. It is a mile long drive up and then down the other side. But it is not really a mountain... just a hill.

Mt Zion - in the Bible it is the mountain of God. It is symbolically - the place where God dwells. It is the place where the presence of the Lord is to be found.

The mountain!

It has always attracted us, those who are interested in the spiritual journey.

It has been a metaphor to understand the Christian life.

Moses met God on the mountain.

After his failure and flight from Queen Jezebel, Elijah ran to the wilderness and encountered God on the mountain.

Jesus went up to the mountain for his transfiguration meeting with his Father

John of the Cross called one of his great texts - The Ascent of Mt. Carmel. 

If this metaphor of the mountain is still useful for the Christian journey (and I believe it is), than what lessons can we draw from it?

I can only answer as one who has NEVER climbed a real, literal, actual, mountain in his life. I have a friend whose son is quite the wilderness explorer and seasoned climber of rugged terrains. I have read the stories of those who have and I reflect on the meaning they coax forth in their writings. I also bring a sanctified use of common sense to this task.

I offer these five suggestions.

First - the journey is hard, very hard indeed. This is not a pleasurable stroll over the grassy hills of the Shire (The Lord of the Rings). All that is good is costly. The mountain is an apt metaphor for the spiritual journey for that journey which, while it is of greatest worth, costs the traveller something. Growth, ascent, and upward progress is demanding.

Second - the journey is dangerous. Psychologically, emotionally, relationally, intellectually, spiritually - all roads do not lead to God. Some lead to the precipice. Others lead to futile dead ends. On some roads, those who wander are easily lost. When I think of the mountain, I think of the Company of the Nine, in The Lord of the Rings, making its way through the lands of Rohan and toward the land of Saruman.  

Third - the journey itself shapes you... toughens you... firms you up... stretches you... prepares you... changes you into who you are meant to become. This journey demands that you push yourself beyond your normal limits. It tests your resolve and forces you to make decisions that strengthen that determination. It equips you for the harder climbs yet to come (that right now, well they would be impossible).

Fourth - the journey strips you. We go through life accumulating, endlessly, possessively... As we accumulate (stuff, things, possessions, garbage, baggage, trappings, burdens) we slow down and we settle down. At first it is to only make camp. Then it is to enlarge the tent... then to improve the dwelling... winterize it... until eventually we are building storage sheds out back. The journey has been forsaken and we have become settlers. 

We need the strong journey theology of Hebrews 11:13-16 as a corrective, to remind us that faith is always a movement, a pilgrimage, a way-making that requires the heart of the questor. This mountain expedition strips us of the needless accoutrements that have bound us. So we learn to let go of the superfluities and the trifles, packing lighter and lighter and becoming lean and fit.

Finally (although much more could be said) - this journey requires a guide. A seasoned explorer who has traversed the mountain and mapped out the way. One recent image I encountered was the spiritual director as mountain climbing guide. The less experienced climber (the directee, the mentee) is tethered to the lead climber. While the tetheree must still do all the hard work of climbing, she or he is guided by the one to whom they are tethered. They benefit from all the experience of knowing the sure ways.

In recent years, I have tethered myself to Ignatius of Loyola. For he knows better than most before or after him, the mysteries of the mountain of God. He knows better than most, the way of ascent. And Ignatius has left reliable maps for this journey. What is more, Ignatius was himself tethered to Christ. So in a beautiful way, I am tethered even more strongly to Christ by means of being bound to my guide.

 

******

Journal sometime very soon on these reflections:

 Are you a settler or a climber?

 How is your climb of late?

 To whom are you tethered for good guidance? 

Brian K. Rice  
Evangelials on the Ignatian Way  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typeapd.com

Spiritual Psychology

Here is an attempt to provide a short description of spirituality.

Spirituality is the relational experience of the presence of God, the work of God and the Word of God as they are manifested in particular ways to each individual.

PRESENCE ...  WORK ... WORD

With that said, the themes of spirituality often have overlap with the matters usually relegated to psychology. In the past, these themes were of interest to those who had "care of the soul" long before psychology emerged as a discipline in the humanities departments of universities.

Here are some of those themes (not listed in any order of importance):

The longings and desires of the heart
Brokenness, pain, hurt
Loneliness and alienation
Anxiety, fear, worry, insecurity
Depression, despair, hopelessness
Love, joy, peace
Hope and trust
Shame and guilt
Sexuality and intimacy
Purpose, meaning, significance
Friendship
Forgiveness and unforgiveness
Sin and evil
Temptation
Grace and mercy
Doubt and faith

This list could go on, but this is the "raw material" of the "interior" experience. This is the "stuff" of the existential psychologists, who often sound close to those who tend to the soul.

I call this spiritual psychology because it has to do with our inner world from the vantage point of spirituality (i.e. a worldview of the person that is rooted in the Scriptures of Old and New Testaments).

The Presence, Work and Word of God is brought to bear on these themes of spiritual psychology and as a result, the transformation of life progresses and the renewal of the image of Christ advances.

Ignatius was a spiritual psychologist who was centuries ahead of his time. Some of the great worth of Ignatius for us today is that psychology has triumphed over faith and the therapeutic has triumphed over the spiritual. The dualisms of modernity resulted in psychology being "desacralized" and divorced from spirituality.

For Ignatius they were bound together in an integrated whole. For our postmodern time which rejects these schizophrenic divisions of life, Ignatius has not only walked in a way that is worthy of being rediscovered, but he has mapped out what that journey is like. 
 

Brian K. Rice  
Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Theology and Spirituality: Converging Disciplines

While these are two seperate disciplines and fields of inquiry, I believe the bonds between them should be many and strong.

THEOLOGY:
Theology is our attempt to love God with all of our mind. To think well about God. To understand the mysteries of our faith. To have an enlightened understanding of the truth that God has revealed to us. For evangelicals, all theology must be rigorously grounded in and emerge out of study and dialogue with the Scriptures.

Then, the theologian seeks to converse with other theologians (dead and living) through careful study of the best writings. 

Ideally, the theologian "theologizes" in a concrete context that is both a community of faith and a missional setting. Theology is always at the service of church and mission.

Even more ideally, the theologian "theologizes" as one whose heart is on fire and who not only thinks about God with reason, but who worships Christ with love and obedience. 

Such theologians are able to provide a theology of spirituality and a spiritual theology.

In the end, the theologian must be a mystic, one who encounters the Presence of God. As this happens, a spiritual theology begins to emerge that is personal, communal and missional.

SPIRITUALITY:
This is the way of spiritual formation, of practicting the spiritual disciplines, of prayer, worship, meditation, and discernment. 

Spirituality is the practice of the presence of God, the experience of God, the pursuit of God, the finding of God, the enjoyment of God, the being with God in love and friendship.

Spirituality, devoid of sound theology is in danger of deception and dissipation.

Spirituality, with its focus on the experiential nature of faith, needs the interpretive guidance of theology. For experience is never SELF-INTERPRETING and experience must always be interpreted.

The only question is how will one interpret, discern and integrate the experiences one has?

In an age of growing plurality and relativism, there are growing number of ecclectic and syncretistic spiritualities being presented as legitimate offerings for followers of Christ. And some of these spiritualities promote a "god" that seems quite far removed from the God of the Scriptures.

And those writing spirituality ALWAYS have a theological framework out of which they both practice and promote their spirituality. Some frameworks are decidedly unorthodox and at major variance with the historical Christian faith.

At its best spirituality is framed, bounded and kept with the wisdom of centuries, gained from the past masters who have walked further than we have walked, thought more wisely than we have thought and delved more deeply than we have.

My own growth in the spiritual life of friendship with Christ has been immeasureably enriched by the great themes that matter most as those themes provide the contours of relationship with Christ.

I wish that all those interested in the spiritual life of friendshi with Jesus would set aside frequent time to read and ponder the writings of good theologians.

**********

I have found the Ignatian Way to be a robust blend of spirituality and theology.

I have found Philip Sheldrake, a former Jesuit, to be one of the wisest guides on the interplay of theology, spirituality and church history. For the study of spirituality, there is no one I recommend more highly than Sheldrake.  (See the book above.)

Lately I have found Karl Rahner to be a spiritual theologian, a mystical theologian, an Ignatian theologian, a theologian of prayer, a theologian of the Christian life and a theologian in the service of the church and mission. I have also found him to be a spiritual director and teacher of prayer, with few like him. Unfortunately, Rahner is so deep as to be inaccessible to the typical reader. Still, I have a few books of his in the side bar bibliography.
 

Brian K. Rice  
Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typeapd.com

 

When Practical Christian Living Replaces Spirituality...

Which it has!
It definitely has! 

This is some of the "soul sickness" of our North American religious culture that has been the motivation for many of us to look outside our "evangelical sub-culture world" to find help.

The evangelical movement of North America has developed in a context of pragmatism, a strong success orientation, the preference for quick and fast solutions to complex problems, our obsession with how-to formulas and programs for desired results and basically, a check-list approach to life and faith.

The result of all this is that what is most interesting to us and what "sells" the best is preaching and teaching, books and articles, seminars and conferences that provide this type of "religious product."

How to raise your strong willed child...

How to share your faith with your neighbor...

How to develop a healthy sex life...

How to manage your money...

How to deal with your anger...

How to be more loving...

How to tie a tie for church... (just kidding, kind of...)

This is the stuff we love and look for. And when we find it, we expect it to be presented in simple, applicable and proved formulas that I can apply with a little effort. Even many (most) of our works on explicitly spiritual matters has this pragmatic, practical, how-to approach to it.

Now, I am not dissing or dismissing practical instruction on these kinds of matters.

Instead, I am promoting a way of spiritual formation (nurturing a life of intimacy with Christ) that will actually transform you into the kind of person who can authentically do and be the kind of person the "how-to" approaches promote and promise.

Spirituality and spiritual formation are the practices and processes and perspectives that:

guide us in becoming like Christ,

connect us with the life of  God,

facilitate an encounter with God,

move us in the "imitation of Christ" (Thomas a Kempis),

help us practice the presence of God (Brother Lawrence),

help us find God in all things (Ignatius),

stir us to a greater love, worship and enjoyment of God,

and lead us into the actual knowing of (and not just knowing about) Father, Son and Spirit (J. I. Packer).

This is the work of spiritual formation. As one does this work, a spiritual life of friendship with Christ grows which makes possible an authentic missional engagement with the world.

That the evangelical world is increasingly interested in spiritual formation is encouraging.

I, for one, have found the way of Ignatius of Loyola to be among the best for this journey.

Brian K. Rice  
Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Glittering Images

Glittering Images is the first novel in the Starbridge series by Susan Howatch. It is a story of spirituality, of sin, brokenness, corruption, deception, love, forgiveness and redemption. It is a story of Anglican clergy and thier "glittering images."

A glittering image is sometimes known in spiritual formation circles as the "false self." The glittering image / false self is the persona we wear and project to others. It is the fabricated image of ourselves which we have constructed for our own purposes. We want to believe this about our "self", and we want others to believe this about our "self."

It is a construct that takes enormous energy to build and maintain. It is a ruse that keeps us stuck at a primitive place on the spiritual journey. It is an idol that gives us security and identity.

While all people have a glittering image, it may surprise you to know that Christians have some of the most complex and subtle glittering images. Followers of Christ have a need to present themselves in a certain way, to be seen as mature, strong, deep and fruitful. Among the worse are those of us in professional ministry. 

The pressure on pastors and those in other of the varied positions of vocational ministry is constant and strong. This pressure come from outside (the expectations of others) and from within (our own need to look good, to be good, to be needed, to be valued, to be successful, etc.). So the "full time ministry profesisonals" often create quite elaborate glittering fronts that our "followers" see and admire. Unfortunately, it is not the real, authentic, legitimate "you" and this lack of integrity will not be maintained. In the end, it will come crashing down.

It comes crashing down in pride, money, sex, and power (the big four). 

It requires gifted spiritual direction to name and reject the glittering image and allow Christ to show us our true, redeemed, beloved "self" and then to live fully in to and out of that new creation in Christ.

This novel was about spiritual direction given to the central character of the story. As one who gives direction to others, I was both intrigued by the form or way of direction provided, as well as the grace received by the one to whom the direction was given.

This is a novel and it is well written. I think it would be mainly of interest to those who are directors and for some in Christian ministry. 

But for all of us - the idea of the "glittering image" is a useful way to understand what sin has done to us.

*******

If you were to sit with an important question or two . . .

1.  What is the "glittering image" you present to the world around you? 

2.  What is the "true self" that you are afraid to show to others?

3.  Do you want to search out the answers to those questions?

4.  And how will you even begin to answer these questions without substantial skills and guidance in the journey "below the waterline" to self-awareness?

p.s.  Glamorous Powers is next... And it is about the brokenness of those who give spiritual direction.

Brian K. Rice  
Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com