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Spring has sprung, in fact, summer has come (at least in the western hemisphere!). This is my favourite time of the year, with leaves and blossoms, plants and projects unfolding at a rate of knots. I become more and more convinced that there is a real urgency to bridge-build between the edge and the hub, the seashore and the city, the green and the grit. Some of the best exemplars of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, from Jesus onwards, have been able to hold in creative tension service and solitude, concern for the poor and the marginalized, together with care for the earth and the quiet appreciation of beauty. We are called to go and do likewise.
How can we better honour and uphold this interweaving of compassion and contemplation, this paradox of presence? This is where two resources can be profoundly helpful: firstly, a spiritual mentor or director; secondly, an authentic commitment to a rhythm of life shared within a community of travelling companions.
Three Questions: through either or both of these resources, each of us can justifiably be asked three questions: a) how much time am I giving to interiority, prayer in the presence of God? b) how much time each day or week am I allotting to the study of Spirit-breathed scripture and /or illuminating spiritual or insightful texts, to the deep attentiveness to pieces of music or art? c) what is the level of my commitment to seek out ways in which joy and hope, creativity and the capacity to celebrate can be translated into communities, sub-cultures and families where the predominant emotion is one of despair or alienation?
The trinitarian dynamic of prayer, study and action, identified above, is challenging and essential. The pragmatic interweaving of these three form the pattern of belonging and belief that is community in Christ. This is mystical engagement, contemplative discipleship, dying to self and being filled with God. This is when the deepest self is given space and fuel to be fully alive to God.
