The Reality of God's Presence in Our Work
Last time we talked about how difficult it can be to stay fully recollected during busy work days. Even though we know God is Present, still we somehow "forget" Him for the bulk of the day. Even those little aspirations we might direct to Our Lord and Our Lady - e.g., "All for Thee, Jesus"; "I love You Jesus"; "Dear Mother, help me," etc. - sometimes remain unsaid until the day is done, if ever. So today, let's dig deeper into the reality of the Divine Presence in us. The hope is that by better understanding this awesome reality, we might more actively engage with it.
We're going to present some meaty stuff here. You'll find that the words of this spiritual writer don't try to "boil it down" to a few pithy phrases we can tack up on the wall. It's serious stuff that will take some effort to comprehend thoroughly. But you'll find it well worth the effort, so clear your mind before you start reading. The fact is, just as in our work, we can't make any real progress with slogans, even if they do sometimes help us along the way.
Today Archbishop James Leen, C.S.Sp helps us understand the simple fact that, even if we're not always conscious of it, God is indeed always present. The key thing we learn is that He's present in each of us. Here's how that works:
“The following avowal is found in the life of St. Teresa as written by herself. ‘At the outset,’ she says, ‘I was not aware that God is, in very truth, in all creatures. It appeared to me that such an intimate presence was unthinkable. But, on the other hand, it was utterly impossible for me not to believe that He was there in my inmost being. The (experimental) proof of His presence imposed conviction on me. I was told by persons, who were but poorly enlightened, that He was in the soul only inasmuch as sanctifying grace was there. They could not persuade me that this was so, for I repeat, it was clear to me that He was present within me in person. This conflict between what I experienced and what I was told, caused me great distress. This endured until a learned Dominican set all my fears at rest and dispelled all my doubts. He informed me that God was truly within me and unfolded to me the mode of this presence. His explanation brought me immense consolation.’ This ignorance of the special, real and substantial presence of God in the soul when in the state of grace, to which the great saint of Avila makes allusion is only too common amongst the faithful. And yet, this union with God, which results from the indwelling of His Holy Spirit in us, is the unique object of our existence. It is for this alone that we have been created and have been redeemed. No other purpose whatever can be assigned to our life’s effort. It is much to be regretted, then, that ideas about this central, pivotal dogma – the dogma upon which the whole supernatural system turns and from which that system draws meaning and coherence – are so vague. Is it not because of this vagueness that much genuine spiritual effort resembles the movements of a noble ship tossing about, rudderless and without direction on the bosom of the waters? There is a good deal of movement but nothing that can be called progress.
“Speaking generally, it is more or less assumed that when a preacher asserts that the Holy Spirit ‘takes up His dwelling in,’ or ‘inhabits’ the human soul, he is using a picturesque and perhaps, apt figure of speech – but yet, merely a figure of speech. It is of logical necessity that a theory and practice of perfection raised on this assumption should suffer from inherent complexity. The variety of ‘methods’ of spirituality is, to some extent, a proof of this. It is supposed that there are ‘distinct’ schools of spirituality – Carmelite, Franciscan, Dominican, Jesuit, and so on. That there should be a certain variety in the ways in which souls of diverse temperaments make their approach to God stands to reason. But if the unity that underlies this variety is not made clear and if, what is worse still, the diversity of schools is stressed and if, in consequence, it is thought that there are different kinds of spiritual life, there is serious risk that what is achieved through methods conceived in this way will not be a real spiritual life at all. The method, from being but a means, can come to be taken as an end.”
You may want to re-read these passages more than once - and slowly. There's quite a bit going on.
My reaction to a first reading was to recall that before I became professionally competent, my role was sales. We were told the customer was only interested in eating the sausage, not in what went in to making it. That was true in some cases, until you came across someone knowledgeable who, in fact, did want to know how the sausage was made. When it comes to the spiritual life, we should consider knowing how the sausage is made, really digging deep into the heart of the matter, rather than rely on slogans and Cliff notes to get us closer to God.
The fact is, to be really good at something, we have to know and understand it. Only with a deep knowledge and understanding can I competently practice my profession. The same holds for our spiritual lives. The hope here is not that we become amateur theologians. We simply want the reality of God's Presence to so thoroughly fill our minds and hearts such that we can more easily live and work every moment with some awareness of this.
Next time we'll identify what, for most of us, will likely be a serious roadblock to truly know and understand the profound reality of God's Presence in us, along with some suggestions to overcome that roadblock.
We're going to present some meaty stuff here. You'll find that the words of this spiritual writer don't try to "boil it down" to a few pithy phrases we can tack up on the wall. It's serious stuff that will take some effort to comprehend thoroughly. But you'll find it well worth the effort, so clear your mind before you start reading. The fact is, just as in our work, we can't make any real progress with slogans, even if they do sometimes help us along the way.
Today Archbishop James Leen, C.S.Sp helps us understand the simple fact that, even if we're not always conscious of it, God is indeed always present. The key thing we learn is that He's present in each of us. Here's how that works:
“The following avowal is found in the life of St. Teresa as written by herself. ‘At the outset,’ she says, ‘I was not aware that God is, in very truth, in all creatures. It appeared to me that such an intimate presence was unthinkable. But, on the other hand, it was utterly impossible for me not to believe that He was there in my inmost being. The (experimental) proof of His presence imposed conviction on me. I was told by persons, who were but poorly enlightened, that He was in the soul only inasmuch as sanctifying grace was there. They could not persuade me that this was so, for I repeat, it was clear to me that He was present within me in person. This conflict between what I experienced and what I was told, caused me great distress. This endured until a learned Dominican set all my fears at rest and dispelled all my doubts. He informed me that God was truly within me and unfolded to me the mode of this presence. His explanation brought me immense consolation.’ This ignorance of the special, real and substantial presence of God in the soul when in the state of grace, to which the great saint of Avila makes allusion is only too common amongst the faithful. And yet, this union with God, which results from the indwelling of His Holy Spirit in us, is the unique object of our existence. It is for this alone that we have been created and have been redeemed. No other purpose whatever can be assigned to our life’s effort. It is much to be regretted, then, that ideas about this central, pivotal dogma – the dogma upon which the whole supernatural system turns and from which that system draws meaning and coherence – are so vague. Is it not because of this vagueness that much genuine spiritual effort resembles the movements of a noble ship tossing about, rudderless and without direction on the bosom of the waters? There is a good deal of movement but nothing that can be called progress.
“Speaking generally, it is more or less assumed that when a preacher asserts that the Holy Spirit ‘takes up His dwelling in,’ or ‘inhabits’ the human soul, he is using a picturesque and perhaps, apt figure of speech – but yet, merely a figure of speech. It is of logical necessity that a theory and practice of perfection raised on this assumption should suffer from inherent complexity. The variety of ‘methods’ of spirituality is, to some extent, a proof of this. It is supposed that there are ‘distinct’ schools of spirituality – Carmelite, Franciscan, Dominican, Jesuit, and so on. That there should be a certain variety in the ways in which souls of diverse temperaments make their approach to God stands to reason. But if the unity that underlies this variety is not made clear and if, what is worse still, the diversity of schools is stressed and if, in consequence, it is thought that there are different kinds of spiritual life, there is serious risk that what is achieved through methods conceived in this way will not be a real spiritual life at all. The method, from being but a means, can come to be taken as an end.”
You may want to re-read these passages more than once - and slowly. There's quite a bit going on.
My reaction to a first reading was to recall that before I became professionally competent, my role was sales. We were told the customer was only interested in eating the sausage, not in what went in to making it. That was true in some cases, until you came across someone knowledgeable who, in fact, did want to know how the sausage was made. When it comes to the spiritual life, we should consider knowing how the sausage is made, really digging deep into the heart of the matter, rather than rely on slogans and Cliff notes to get us closer to God.
The fact is, to be really good at something, we have to know and understand it. Only with a deep knowledge and understanding can I competently practice my profession. The same holds for our spiritual lives. The hope here is not that we become amateur theologians. We simply want the reality of God's Presence to so thoroughly fill our minds and hearts such that we can more easily live and work every moment with some awareness of this.
Next time we'll identify what, for most of us, will likely be a serious roadblock to truly know and understand the profound reality of God's Presence in us, along with some suggestions to overcome that roadblock.
Comments