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On this hot July day, we drive from house to house, visiting persons many call shut-ins: that is, persons unable to attend public worship due to health or age. We enter each home. I sit and hear the stories of these older saints. They were all born long before me. I have never seen them before, but I feel contentment, sitting, listening, and being with them. I listen to them, keep my eyes intent on them, reminding myself that is all I need to do. I resist any temptation to move into action mode.
In one home I am struck with a fresh joy, as I recall the words of one of my vows: Sacrament of the Present Moment. It dawns on me that being present with these persons,who need someone to listen to their stories about the past and their families, is fulfilling my contemplative vows.
As I, now, later reflect, one amazing thing about these saints today was not one was bitter or complained about their lot in life. Yet, each had major health challenges facing them or a spouse.
Through such moments of prayerful being with others, I realize more deeply that I never meet a stranger. I know that prayerfully being with is a different type of presence than just sharing a common space with another. Many persons can share a space, talk, and enjoy the company of another person. But, prayerfully being with is different.
After the visits today I, also, realize that ministry, whether as a clergyperson are a lay person, is very simple. Ministry entails ongoing conversion to all persons, conversion consequent of our reconciliation to our Creator. Being reconciled to God, we can become reconciled to others. This reconciliation does not mean that we have been antagonistic to another. Rather, reconciliaiton can mean a movement to true intimacy of the heart with another. Again, this is more than sharing space with another.
Henri J. M. Nouwen writes of conversion to others. “Conversion to God … means," says Nouwen," a simultaneous conversion to the other people who live with you on this earth” (With Open Hands). So, whenever any human is with another in Loving Compassion, God is present, even when the name or title “God” is not acknowledged as present. Any such compassionate being with is, in the best sense, Christian, for to be Christian is to be Christlike.
To be Christian, truly, not just be a member of a church or profess Christianity, or call oneself a Christian, is the greatest need of our time. To be Christian is a way of being with, and this way is exemplified in the way Jesus Christ lived, walked, and was among all peoples.
We may get a glimpse of this incarnated being with if we can discontinue using Scripture chiefly as a prescriptive, propositional textbook on morals and doctrine and, rather, look closely at the Scripture as a book about the way of True Christianity, as embodied in Jesus Christ. Possibly, the death of Christendom in the West is a wonderful opportunity to rediscover the spirit of True Christianity as a Way of following Jesus Christ in a radical conversion to all our brothers and sisters in the world.
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This call to being with sounds wonderful, does it not? However, there are many within established religion who will resist this radical incarnation of the Christian spirit. And, some of these, indeed, quite a few, are within the clergy. Why this resistance? Well, there may be many reasons. One is that many see Christianity as a tribal experience that must resist the evil outside the Church. However, look at the example of Jesus. The greatest evil Jesus faced was within the "church" of his day. Frankly, Jesus had a way of being with those that many in the "church" are uncomfortable with.
So, do we want to follow Jesus, even when the faith that claims to follow him refuses to be with the way Jesus models for us? ... to be with the type of persons that others in your faith group might not want you to be with? Or, do you want to claim to follow Jesus, while refusing to associate with the very persons that he most associated with during his earthly tenure?
Spiritual Exercise
1. Begin the morning, for one week, with a simple prayer: "Lord, bring into my path today whomever needs someone to be fully and prayerfully present to them? Through these opportunities, teach me the gift of being present, without feeling I must act or change anything at all."
2. Before going to sleep, nightly and for one week pray: "Lord, tomorrow, bring to me whomever you want to so that person can be with me the way Christ was with persons."
3. What is the difference, for you, between what I call True Christianity and confession of Christianity or membership in a church?
4. Reflect on what Nouwen means by “a simultaneous conversion.” What does that “conversion” imply for you? How do you see your deepening relationship with others reflecting your growing relationship with Christ?
5. How might the decline of Christianity in the West help in reclaiming the simplicity of the Gospel and the way of Jesus among us?
6. Is Jesus calling you to a more Christlike way of being among others? What might that entail for you?
7. Do you have moments when you feel a need for someone to be with you in prayerful being with? What does that feel like?
8. Consider having a Spiritual Director, or Spiritual Friend, to meet with often.
9. How might prayer meetings, studies, and other meetings in a congregation be transformed by members learning how prayerfully to be with, embodying the Presence of Christ for others, rather than feeling the need to act and speak so much?
OneLife Ministries is a pastoral outreach and nurture ministry of the First United Methodist Church, Fort Meade, FL. For Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Counseling, spirtual formation workshops, Christian meditation retreats, or more information about OneLife, call Rev. Dr. Brian K. Wilcox at 863-285-9059 or send a mail to briankwilcox@comcast.net .
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
The People of the
United Methodist Church
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