Chaos Proofing Your Life
The world’s in upheaval and it doesn’t take an astute observer to get to that conclusion. The events that started with the shutdowns in March of 2020, then the protests that commenced in early summer, current unrest around the election, and the most recent uptick of covid-19 cases make clear that the messes aren’t coming to tidy endings. Things just keep spiraling with more getting added by the day.
We as individuals and as a collective community need to find anchors that aren’t predicated by the circumstances, events, and talking heads of the world. We can’t anchor ourselves to our finances, the politicians, a news outlet, or people who think the same as we.
This week a little 81 page book arrived in the mail. Henri Nouwen wrote it in 1989. The chapter I read the morning after the first presidential debate is entitled The Discipline: Contemplative Prayer. The reading caught me off guard because the content provided a roadmap out of the distress I felt that morning.
Here are passages and key points that helped:
First, we need to let go of the desire to be relevant and instead set our hearts to identities deeply rooted in God’s first love.
Then we need to develop the discipline of dwelling in the presence of God
The above provide the basics of contemplative prayer. Nouwen explains:
Contemplative prayer keeps us home, rooted and safe, even when we are on the road, moving from place to place and often surrounded by sounds of violence and war.
Contemplative prayer deepens in us the knowledge that we are already free, that we have already found a place to dwell, that we already belong to God, even though everything and everyone around us keep suggesting the opposite.
The original meaning of the word “theology” was “union with God in prayer” . . . many debates with the Church . . . take place on a moral level . . . different parties battle about right or wrong . . . but that battle is often removed from the experience of God’s first love which lies at the base of all human relationships. Words like right-wing, reactionary, conservative, liberal, and left-wing are used to describe people’s opinions, and many discussions seem more like political battles for power than spiritual searches for the truth.
Nouwen also admonishes Christian leaders to lead from a place rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice and guidance.
The essay ends by encouraging Christian leaders (we are all leaders in some capacity) to once again learn to listen to the voice of love and its accompanying wisdom and courage to address whatever issue presents itself to them. He goes on to say that:
Dealing with burning issues without being rooted in a deep personal relationship with God easily leads to divisiveness because, before we know it, our sense of self is caught up in our opinion about a given subject.
He contrasts this with the idea that when we choose to be securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convince without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.
Cultivating our own rhythms of contemplative prayer provides a personal way out of the distress and angst, allowing us to lovingly and wisely impact our spheres of influence whether it is in our families, schools, places of work, et. al. At this time, I can’t think of a more important habit to develop.
Feel free to share in the comments any tips and tools you’ve found helpful in developing your own rhythms of prayer.
https://www.amazon.com/Name-Jesus-Reflections-Christian-Leadership/dp/0824512596
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