In the New Year

This morning I'm sitting in our sunroom, setting intentions for the new year. One of those intentions is to step up my practice of sustained lectio and be more consistent in that practice. I want for my everyday living and experience to reflect the ongoing incorporation of the Word, the revelatory text, in and through my life. In the month of January, I will listen to the recordings of the School of Lectio to refresh my memory and to be further inspired by the words and voice of S. Meg Funk.

I am making a commitment to myself to read daily in Moloney's commentary on the Gospel of John and in that of Aquinas as well. I will keep working on memorizing sections of the chapters I've selected in the Gospel of John, perhaps a short section each month. As I work along, I will also be reflecting on the symbolic dimensions of these chapters, and, where possible, expressing the symbols in some creative way. Finally, each day I will engage with the moral dimension of the chapters. Their theme is dwelling "in Christ" and being indwelt by Christ. It seems appropriate to "guard thoughts," as S. Meg suggests, to seek God's help to counter the thoughts that lead away from God, and to open to and fill my mind with God-thoughts. As I am able, I will practice "ceaseless prayer" using the Jesus Prayer and the practice of the Presence of God.

In addition, following the suggestion of one of the blogs I read, I have chosen three words for this year. In order of their appearance to me, they are: radiate, mercy, charis. They will be in my mind as I do lectio and live each day. At this point, 'radiate' seems to me to be the solution to a concern that has shadowed my mood and thought over the last couple of months. The problems of this world seem so great, the general mood so grim, the suffering increasing. Every day I receive at least a dozen emails asking me to send money, sign onto a petition, call a congress person, or contact some corporate wrongdoer. In my postal mail there are more solicitations for worthy causes to end some form or another of suffering. I have felt overwhelmed by the misery represented in these communications. What to do? How to keep from being overwhelmed and going numb to it all? The answer embedded in the word 'radiate' is to absorb the Light and radiate it outward in my thoughts, words and actions - to do my best to let the Light shine forth into the darkness.

The word 'mercy' has been on my mind for some time now. At one point some years ago I took some kind of online quiz to "discover (my) spiritual gifts." It turned out that the only gift that really stood out was 'mercy.' Mercy seems to me to be the opposite of the harsh, punishing, unloving tenor of these times. We do not see mercy when people are killed because of road rage. We do not see mercy when children are deprived of love, affection and models of how to live. We do not see mercy when old and young are refused medical care because they have no money. We do not see mercy when sentences for crimes are applied on the basis of race and class. We do not see mercy when people applying for employment are discriminated against on the basis of age, appearance, race, disability, and/or gender.  Mercy understands, comforts, binds wounds and heals them if possible. Mercy builds up the other, finding the good and affirming it. Mercy refuses to condemn others; it leaves judgment to God. Mercy seeks to knit together families, communities, humanity itself and the whole web of living beings.

When I was enrolled in the Shalem Institute's program for individual spiritual direction, the first residency was a magical time for me. It took place at the Seton Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The place itself was a lovely facility, built in a quadrangle around an inner garden. The atmosphere was sweet and holy. My small group for peer spiritual direction was filled with graced people. A word that emerged from within this group was this word, 'charis.'

Here is some discussion of what charis means. First and foremost, charis means grace. Within Christian theology much discussion, and ironically, not a few wars, have been prompted by trying to specify and determine what grace is. The quote below from www.bible-researcher.com addresses some elements of a definition of grace. The Catholic Encyclopedia has several pages on the various kinds of grace, how they are related, how they are communicated to and by human beings.

In most of the passages, however, in which the word charis is used in the New Testament, it signifies the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, affected through the agency of the Holy Spirit. While we sometimes speak of grace as an inherent quality, it is in reality the active communication of divine blessings by the inworking of the Holy Spirit, out of the fulness of Him who is "full of grace and truth," Rom. 3:24; 5:2, 15; 17:20; 6:1; I Cor. 1:4; II Cor. 6:1; 8:9; Eph. 1:7; 2:5, 8; 3:7; I Pet. 3:7; 5:12. 
Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, 1949), pp. 426-27

As I reflect on charis, I realize that for me, grace has the qualities of freedom, power, harmony, graceful and easy movement, loveliness, giftedness and gratitude. Several writers have addressed grace as the free 'gratuitous' gift of God to humans and angels. It seems to me that not only does God freely give, but also, the gift of grace itself is a gift of freedom to humans. We are free because we are graced with life, with our own gifts of body, mind and spirit. Further, we are graced with the companionship of God, who entered our own human life so as to share it most intimately with us. We are graced freely by the very Presence of God in our own souls.

Grace also has the aspect of power. The image that comes to mind is of a beautiful animal, perhaps a Lipizzaner stallion, bursting with focused energy, able to dance upon and above the ground. Charis is a dancer, disciplined, strong, and utterly beautiful. Grace accomplishes its ends because it has within it the giftedness of its being and it flows within and is sustained within Being of the dynamic God.

Another quality of grace is harmony. It brings harmony to human persons, to groups of people and to all of nature. Grace creates cosmic harmony, making a symphonic unity of a diversity of creatures. When charis is present, conflict is held within a wider harmony. Graceful and easy movement characterizes the harmony, the unity within diversity. Charis smooths harsh and jagged motions, allowing flexibility, stretching and strengthening, like the beautiful movements of a flowing yogi/yogini, or a dancer who seems to float in the air, or a free and happy child swinging or playing in the water.

Charis is loveliness itself. It embodies beauty and goodness. It conveys to its observers and recipients its own nature, which is sweet, gives pleasure, and is filled with joy. Charis is a gift, that gives itself, and that gifts the recipient with its own ability to gift others. Thus, it is truly the Gift that keeps on giving. Finally, charis is gratitude, gratitude for the gift of itself, gratitude for being able to gift others and gratitude for Being.