Searching for God # 83

Small confidential safe and secure circles dedicated to searching for God…..does that picture have to be utopian? Can it not be a reasonable, legitimate and attainable proposition among those who are really interested in such a pilgrimage?

The church year, calendar, festivals, Holy Days, and Lectionary can offer a beginning of some structure. And then, and then…..rather than ‘telling or showing’ what ordinary people might want to take away from the readings, the prayers and whatever music might be compatible with the interests, talents and degree of investment of individuals, what about starting with the proposition innate to ‘adult education’….that the learner makes choices about what s/he needs and wants to learn. And there are other starting propositions that might, at first, sound rebellious from a traditional, ecclesial perspective.

That trust between and among men, women and children who agree to participate is both essential as a working  value, and is also suspect as being one of the more elusive, rare, and ephemeral and ineffable and ‘sacred’ aspects of any attempt to search for, anticipate and expect God. And that the generating, sustaining and nurturing of trust, while each person commits to and remains open to his or her own growth as a whole person, offers a unique ‘setting’ for this pilgrimage. Never taken for granted, assumed or even pretended, trust, like love, has to be consistently, deliberately and authentically checked, reinforced and renewed., until, in the reverse of the boiling frog, it is no longer in question.

As a general proposition, with each meeting session a creative balance and blend of both ‘thought and action’ in and around the basic ideas, themes, actions, poetry, and film (if available) from  the lectionary, the Holy Days, the Seasons and the Gospels is envisaged. We can see, for starters, a casual and light-touch deference acknowledged and paid honourably and generously and without restraint, already to two approaches to theology, the Jewish midrash and the Jesuit, action-reflection model of process. Similar deference, respect, application and probing of indigenous spirituality, both in content as well as praxis, of the profound spiritual gifts of all of the world faiths, especially where there are synchronous intersections in language, liturgy and perceptions and attitudes.

These words in this space now are all hypothetical, imaginative and tentative, and not intended to eliminate or even to reduce the active participation of all, to the degree that each finds ‘acceptable’ and ‘comfortable.’ These gestational thoughts are intended as invitations, not to form a ‘church’ organization or institution, at this time, but rather as reflections that might be considered cogent for any shared reflection of like-minded persons, similarly-spirited, and intellectually and emotionally interested in having their own discussions in this ‘light’ and darkness.

In any proposed ‘project’ one of the first tasks of anyone/group offering such a proposal, is to set forth clearly the aims, objectives, goals and aspirations of the group. In this case, there is really only one articulated here:

To live into, to wrestle with, and to steep oneself in a deep and personal and provocative and profound relationship with God, as sketched in and through scripture, tradition and personal insight, imagination and aspiration. And such a search at both personal and group levels needs to remain open to and receptive of and engaged with hope and new life, as it constantly emerges from our dark corners, our imagination, our fears and our deepest anxieties. This seems, at first, to be a tangent from the manner in which ‘evil’ and darkness is perceived, by traditional Christian churches and their worship, as well as an invitation to begin from an openness to all of our shared hopes and dreams, on the one hand, as well as, and dependent on and contiguous with, our crippling and in some cases life-threatening darknesses. In supportive moving toward our unique form and face and voice of discipleship, keeping in mind that while God is and always will be  beyond the specific definition, scope and imagination of each of us, the disciple’s relation to wrong, and evil, and abuse, at the personal as well as at the macro, institutional, and even societal level, (structural evil) is more discernible, recognizable and amenable to ‘non-violence confrontation with force (Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God is Within You). It is as a force for such confrontation with evil that serves as a magnet, not an idol, to which we can be focused and determined to incarnate as an essential component of our personal as well as the world’s ‘salvation’.

 Keeping personal journals, or diaries would be highly recommended. Partnering and mentoring, too, would be highly desirable. None of our personal journeys is considered ‘superior to or inferior to another’s. The ‘rubbing’ up against another, metaphorically, with another who has committed to the shared and interdependent process envisioned, is an integral and essential aspect of each of our pilgrimages. Group expectations regarding aspects like pastoral care within the group and within the wider community, meeting preparation and delivery, child and adolescent mentorship and integration into the group, fiscal minima, discourse and relational guidelines, conflict resolution, between and among participants,…..these all require  consensus agreement, with opportunities for amendment, appeal and reconciliation.

Questions of previous, especially negative experiences within Christian or other ecclesial groups, and how they are to be ‘framed’ in this context, warrant a specific detailed discussion, as mirrors and guidelines to both replicate and reject going forward.

Essentially, a pedagogical, interactive, participatory structure, method, and atmosphere of engaged and committed men, women and children is envisioned as a primary model of organizational self-regeneration, rather than a sanctuary-top-down, hierarchical, and ultimately secret, private and silent foundation. There is always a place in a pilgrimage in search of God for silence, even concentrated silence, guided retreats, private reflections both in writing and in shared private conversation. The changes incurred and experienced by each, (spiritual, cognitive, emotional, relational, on a human level as well as with God) when shared, first with a mentor always without pressure or persuasion, and only and always under full consent, shared with the larger group, offer the pulse and rhythm of the ‘flow’ of both ideas and experiences that serve as guides for both new implementations and the excising of obsolete, or sabotaging aspects of our shared journey.

Metaphorically, ‘we’ can write a shared manuscript of our journey, freely and with full participation and consent, in parallel to our personal, private and introspective journeys.

The traditional modus operandi of the church, top-down, can be reversed, without abandoning the shared search. I had the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of early pilgrims who, when the tides are ‘out’ walk the  3-mile, 90-120-minute  Pilgrim’s Way across the floor of the North Sea to the Island of Lindisfarne, where skeletons of monasteries of St. Anselm and  St. Cuthbert still remain. While participants in our hypothetical ‘circle’ may not be able to make such a physical walk, they/we can explore the influence of men like St Anselm and St. Cuthbert and their profession of faith. As a model of mentorship across-the-centuries, (and there are a plethora of other examples) proximity through study, reflection and dialogue such pilgrims can be brought into a renewed focus, with diligent and creative preparation in which clergy, if available, and laity can all participate.

And while these words are all hypothetical, imaginative and tentative, and not intended to eliminate or even to reduce active participation of all, to the degree that each finds ‘acceptable’ and ‘comfortable.’

In an essay entitled, From radical engraver to canonical poet: how did William Blake’s reputation change?, written by Clemency Fleming, December 4, 2014, found on www.ox.ac.uk, we read:

Blake’s political and religious views were radical, in some respects even by 21^st century standards, and these may have  barred him from mainstream popularity, particularly at a time when Britain and France were still at war. Blake has a sense of a poet as visionary or prophetic figure, said professor Halmi. Someone who had insight into society from the outside, and insight into the spiritual nature of man. He was strongly opposed to slavery and mental tyranny-which for him included organized religion. He considered himself a Christian, and Christian themes are apparent in his works, but he hated what he referred to as the ‘mind-forged manacles’ of the Church. He believed that they were not grounded in truth, and in fact kept people from perceiving the truth as he understood it, whereby a spark of divinity was present in all of humanity…..Northrop Frye, a Canadian critic who tried to demystify Blake, believed that the work can be read as a coherent whole, with the engraved works at its centre. His study, Fearful Symmetry, published in `947, was largely responsible for bringing Blake into the canon. He said quite explicitly that we should think not of Blake as mad, but of the times we live in as mad. For Frye, Blake could offer some sanity to the post-war world.’