Power from the center
I will run the way of your commandments, * for you have set my heart at liberty.
For stability means that I must not run away from where my battles are being fought, that I have to stand still where the real issues have to be faced. Obedience compels me to re-enact in my own life that submission of Christ himself, even though it may lead to suffering and death, and conversatio, openness, means that I must be ready to pick myself up, and start .all over again in a pattern of growth which will not end until the day of my final dying. And all the time the journey is based on that Gospel paradox of losing life and finding it. ..my goal is Christ. Esther deWaal
This morning the Church Pension Fund sent out its monthly Necrology. All the clergy who have died since the last report. I skim it to see who I’m outlasting — friends, colleagues, opponents, an occasional enemy. I pray for each name I recognize. As with any group of Christians it’s a mixed bag. There are those who exhibited a combination of spiritual and emotional intelligence that had a grounding effect for for the others. And there are others who always came across as unhappy people in their grievance and resentment. Occasionally, you'd find a huxter or a careerist. The overwhelming number were simply faithful pastors. There's nothing new to it. Our Lord was familiar with the same range of human glory and failure.
A second thing bouncing about in my reflections this morning is the Order of the Ascension (OA). This is the third year that I have been unable to be with my sisters and brothers. I’m physically unable to manage it. They are gathered at the Community of Saint John the Baptist this week for a time of retreat, learning, friendship, and chapter. I've been part of this community since its beginning in 1983. In the last couple of days, some of them have been sending me messages and pictures. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of that. It has also set off reflection about the life of that community over these 43 years. People have come and gone. In the past decade or so, we haven’t had any Professed Member withdraw. I wonder if that's a sign of some growth in our corporate emotional intelligence. Or maybe it’s Sister Michelle’s persistent and winsome leadership. You can see the same concentric circles of relationship in that group. Some offer a stable, emotional and spiritual center, a few seem to go through cycles of agitation and then settling and then returning to agitation. Most are faithful and emotionally stable, following the community’s norms and serving its charism. I responded to one member’s message with the realization that I see my current situation as a blessing in that I'm able to see the Order continue to grow and change.
In your hands we rest
In the cup of whose hand sailed an ark
Rudderless, without mast.
Who was to make of the aimless wandering of the ark
A new beginning for the world.
In your hand we rest
Ready and content this day. Alan W. Jones
Jesus knew about these concentric circles. There was Peter, James, and John. Then the rest of the 12 and a few others close in. Then the 70. Then the 5000.
Our parishes are like that too. An apostolic core offering a measure of spiritual maturity to the parish both in its presence and its vicarious effect. Then there's most people who attend most Sundays and range from those progressing in faith and practice to those who are uncertain and tentative. Beyond that you get your Christmas and Easter crowd. And then most parishes have a significant number of people who connect vicariously through family or living in the neighborhood of the parish.
In Pastoral Theology: A Reorientation, Martin Thornton wrote about how the parish church was, “the complete Body in microcosm,” and explained his Remnant Concept, “in which power from the center pervades the whole.” The holiness and love of a Remnant at the center of parish life is for Thornton what makes a parish a true parish. The dynamic is intrinsic. It’s not something we need to create or make happen. It is the work of the Spirit in the church. Our task is to see it and cooperate with it.
This abides,
Brother Robert, OA
Related
A Wonderful and Sacred Mystery, Chapter 4, “Power from the center pervades the whole”
Fill All Things, Chapter 4, “The Shape of the Parish”
Thank you, Robert, for this reflection. Having participated in the OA retreat, and now having returned home, I am grateful that we as an Order continue to prioritize this annual gathering for fellowship/(re)connection, prayer, and learning. It's not the same without you, but we feel your presence with us always!