Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way

The Spirituality of Obedience

 

 

 What Future Are You Opting For?

Vocation, identity, grace and obedience.

 

I am more than a little baffled at our capacity to hear the truth, to affirm something we read in the Bible, to nod our heads at a good sermon and teaching . . . and then do DO NOTHING IN RESPONSE TO WHAT WE HAVE JUST HEARD!  (The shouting was intentional.)

Maybe baffled isn't the right word.

I guess it isn't baffling at all.

It's probably the expected, natural, default response of the fallen heart.

It takes quite a bit of faith and courage, of trust and surrender to actually walk with God, follow Jesus and keep in step with the Spirit.

Ignatian spirituality has as its constant refrain, "What is Jesus asking of you?"

At every step through the Ignatian Exercises, the need is for discernment of the way Christ is setting forth and then for the willing response of trust and obedience to that way.

A corrollary of this is that God will not give more light to those who have already received light and done nothing with it.

Jesus cuts to the quick when he says,
 

"Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I say?"
(Luke 6:46, but read 6:46-49 for the larger context.)

 

Here was a reflection that helped me go further in thinking about this.
 

In the Church, history does not just happen. It comes about through decisions made by hearts of faith, hearts open to grace. The real question to ask is, therefore, not "What is going to happen?" but rather, "What is the future that I am going to opt for, under the vocation and the grace that is at once my burden and my identity.

And you ask this question so that you can do what you are meant to do, and leave everything else to the silent sovereignty of the Lord of history.   

(Karl Rahner)

The theological and spiritual balance and integrity of those few words is astounding. And the implications are far reaching.

I encourage a lengthy lectio divina reflection on those words . . . making sure you spend time with the equestion:

What is the future that I am going to opt for?

May the God of grace guide you in your Vocation and Identity, taking you deeper and wider as you respond to his leading.

 

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

The Glory of God, The Imitation of Christ and Missional Spirituality

Here is a major "change of pace."

For this post, I am providing a PDF that is an 11 page essay/reflection on the Glory of God, the Imitation of Christ and Missional Spirituality.

It is an essay that is mainly a substantial biblical/theological reflection with the implications drawn out for both spiritual formation and spiritual direction.

At the end, I show how Ignatian spirituality pulls together all these themes.

Download GloryofGod

Next week - on opting for a future . . .

 

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

 

The True Mystic

 

 

Ordinary Mystics

Daily duties, burning bushes and trees full of angels.

 

I am drawn to the Jesuit way of spiritual formation because it is so incarnational. It is a rooted, get your hands dirty, love the world in action as Jesus did, way of encountering God.

A mystic, is by definition, one who encounters God.

So the question then is - where is God?

Well, God is everywhere.

This is not saying God is everything. That is Buddhism, or pantheism. God is everything. Everything is God. Christian theism knows there is a real (and vast) distinction between God and creation. But God is everywhere, present with all that he has created. We live in a God soaked reality.

Macrina Wiederkehr, in one of my favorite books, A Tree Full of Angels: Seeing the Holy in the Ordinary, writes:
 

  You live in a world of theophanies.
Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary.
There are burning bushes all around you.
Every tree is full of angels.
Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb.
Life wants to lead you from crumbs to angels,
but this can happen only if you are willing
to unwrap the ordinary by staying with it
long enough to harvest its treasure.

Now, our problem is one of awareness, alertness, attentiveness, of noticing, and discerning. We are not good at these things.

So there is a place for silence and solitude, so we may hone these spiritual faculties and skills. I enjoy daily silence and solitude as I meet with Christ.
 

But it is a mistake to think that God is only found in the secluded withdraw from the world and in the silence of the "cell."

 

The Jesuits (via Ignatius) knew that burning bushes are everywhere. And some of the brightest of burning bushes are found in the most lowly of places and most broken of people. 
 

To find the God of love, go to where the God of love is... and that is... with those who are most in need of that love and grace, of hope and healing, of renewal and restoration...

And be with them in the sacrifice of loving service. There you will encounter Christ in the deepest ways of love.

 

 

 

Karl Rahner, the great theologian and spiritual director, the one who relentlessly spoke of the ordinary mystic and the way of contemplation in action said this:
 

True mystics must always be ready to abandon their high contemplation, their myustical silence, in order to give bread to the hungry;  they know that the great feast of blessed union with the mystery past all grasp can ultimately only be the fruit of the bitter weeks of daily drudge and its duties.  

Karl Raher, Is Christian Life Possible Today?

 

The dailly drudge and its duties.

Real life.

That's where Jesus is.

That's where you will find Him today and His love will find you.

By God's grace . . . may your daily duty be brilliantly illumined with His burning bushes.

 

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

p.s.

I just had to include this fun image of an ordinary mysic.

If you don't recognize the person, you've been in your monk's cell for too long. 

One More Plea for Good Reading of Great Books

 

Wise Sayings on the
Reading of Good Books

A collection of some of my favorite quotes on books and reading. 

It is my assumption that the majority of readers of this blog are thoughtful readers. If you are, then you will nod your head throughout this post. If you aren't much of a reader, I hope you will be inspired to become more of a reader . . . as well as a discriminating reader who reads the truly great books.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.”

If that is so, then I am both relieved and alarmed. I am relieved and encouraged because of the availability of really good books, both ancient and modern to help us on our journey. Are there new “classics” or “great literature” being written today? Yes, I think so, but like any age, only a few are written in any age and we don’t usually recognize them as classics until some more time goes by. The good news is there are just a lot of good and really good resources to use.

I am concerned and alarmed about the decline of reading in our culture at large, among Christian as well and especially sad when I encounter another leader who doesn’t read (or read much, or read much good literature). Illiteracy is not being able to read. A-literacy is being able to read but choosing not to. 

Mark Twain said, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”  Christian leaders who choose not to read will have no more access to the world of powerful (good, beautiful and true) ideas available through great literature then the illiterate person.  Here are some quotes about books and reading, which have inspired me through the years.

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. Francis Bacon
 

Books represent the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the ages, available for pennies on the dollar. Books preserve the greatest thoughts, the greatest ideas, and the greatest insights of human experience.  Chris Brady
 

If you read a book a week, in a year you’ll have read 52 books. In ten years 520 books. You’ll be in the top 1% of your field. You’ll be more motivated, better educated; you’ll become the leader in your field.   Jim Rohm
 

Many times the reading of a book has made the future of a man.  Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

Noted 18^th century scholar Dr. Samuel Johnson once sat in discussion with the King of England. “I suppose, Dr. Johnson, that you read a great deal” said the King. “Yes Sire” replied Johnson, “but I think a great deal more.” 
 

People who hope to successfully influence what goes on around them will develop the habit of reading great books.  William J. O’Neil (founder of Investor’s Business Daily)
 

The best book is the one that sets us off on a train of thought that carries us far away from and far beyond the book itself.  (author unknown to me)
 

The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest men of past centuries.  Rene Descartes
 

It’s a good plan to have a book with you in all places and at all times. If you are presently without, hurry without delay to the nearest shop and buy one of mine.  Oliver Wendell Holmes
 

Along the way you will find a few books that become your constant companions. When you reread a classic you do not see more in the book then you did before; you see more n you than you did before.”  Clifton Fadiman
 

And here is a final thought on books from New York City pastor/preacher, Henry Ward Beecher who lived and ministered in the 1800’s.
 

Let us congratulate the poor that, in our day, books are so cheap that a man may every year add a hundred volumes to his library for the price of what his tobacco and beer would cost him. Among the earliest ambitions to be excited in clerks, workmen, journeymen and, indeed among all that are struggling up from nothing to something, is that of owning, and constantly adding to a library of good books. A little library growing larger every year, is an honorable part of a young (person’s) history. It is a man’s (and woman’s) duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life.

Check out this site for images of home libraries, including the image provided here.
 

Make yourself a nice reading nook in your house. Get a bookshelf, a good chair, a table, a lamp. How about this cozy set up.

So here is to good books, good reading (maybe even a few re-readings) and growing libraries as we move on in the journey of life long learning and transformation.

If you have a favorite quote on books and reading - drop me a note in the comments.

If you have a favorite "great book" you'd recommend - make a note in the comments.

If there is a spiritual classic that has been a great benefit for you - the same.

If you found this helpful, forward it to a friend, or put it on your Facebook page as a link.

If you want to subscribe to a weekly email that is one of the very best reviews of books, visit the Hearts and Minds website BookNotes link and sign up to receive Byron Borger's reviews. They are simply outstanding.

I also loved this design of library shelves using a staircase. Check it out here.

NEXT WEEK:

Who are the true mystics?
 

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