Surrendering to Divine Providence

Self-Giving to Grace

Feb 28, 2014

Saying For Today: When I kneel at an altar, this signifies prayer that my sense of I be given wholly to Grace.

Brian K. Wilcox, a vowed, eremitic Contemplative, offers an interspiritual work focusing on cultivating the Heart of Compassion. He integrates wisdom from the major spiritual Paths. To contact Brian, see the email address at the conclusion of this presentation. May you always know that you are blessed!

Surrender to Divine Providence, an honored tradition in the history of Christian spirituality, might sound odd to our postmodern ears. First, surrender may sound like weakness, loss of self-control. And, What is this Divine? and Where is this Divine in a world of competing religious and spiritual claims? And, What is meant by Providence? Everything seems chaotic and the world is full of pain, so is Providence a reasonable matter of discussion and acceptance.

Surrender is not weakness, not as understood in spiritual traditions. Rather, surrender is an expression of strength and courage arising from acknowledgement of natural limitation, need for assistance, and oneself as belonging to Something that gives meaning and purpose to life beyond one's little mind and little environment. In a culture esteeming itself as too strong and too competent to need surrender, the wisdom of surrender will not draw the attention of many. However, some of us have reached the limits of strength and capability, and we have found ourselves ready to say "Yes" to Something much larger than our little, limited selves.

Divine refers to that Something called by many names. For many persons, the word "God" has lost practical meaning and power. For some persons, this Something will be abstract: like Beauty, Grace, Light, ... For others, this Something will be personal: like God, Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Allah, the Great Spirit,... The Divine is hinted at by these words, but not contained by them.

Providence was a word oft-used in the past for the governance of "God," this Something, in this world. However we understand this governance, it remains a Mystery. Likewise, Providence does not justify simplistic explanations of the pain in our world. For me to surrender to Providence is to give myself into the Will and Power of Grace, of Divine Presence.

Jean Pierre de Caussade, a French, Christian mystic, wrote the famed book Abandonment to Divine Providence. In his treatment, I find it clear that this surrender is surrender of the self, this little ego arising from the mind. When I kneel at an altar, this signifies prayer that my sense of I be given wholly to Grace. When I fold hands and bow the head, the same signification is there, along with the silent confession that who I truly am is not that ego-self, but is the Self of God and all others in God. This Self includes everyone, for we each are in Grace by nature and called upon consciously to give our sense of self into the Will and Person of Love.