Whither Leadership 2

Last week, I began to explore the qualities of leadership which were developed in the Rule of St. Benedict.  This week, I want to continue with that exploration.  The first quality I explored was that of actions as well as words.  The Rule requires that leaders, “are to lead the community by a two- fold teaching: they must point out to the monastics all that is good and holy more by example than by words.”

This week I want to explore what qualities the leader must have to be able to actually practice what they preach.  Chapter 2 of the Rule states, in part, “They must know what a difficult and demanding burden they have undertaken: directing souls and serving a variety of temperaments.”  Joan Chittister’s commentary delves into this seemingly straightforward - if not easy requirement - and truly brings out the essence of what this means. 

Chittister points out what the leader, and by inference all of us, must do to achieve this.  They must encourage those whom they lead to, “struggle as they have struggled to grow in depth, in sincerity, and in holiness, to grow despite (my emphasis) weaknesses, to grow beyond weaknesses.”  The challenge of this is brought into focus in Chittister’s closing sentence of the commentary:

We must each strive for the ideal and we must encourage others to strive with us, not because we ourselves are not weak but because knowing our own weakness and admitting them can we with great confidence teach trust in God who watches with patience out puny efforts and our foolish failures.

There is truly the rub as Hamlet might say.  To acknowledge our weaknesses to ourselves, much less to others, is no small feat.  Indeed, that goes against our instincts, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, our egos.  Our ego does not want to admit to any weakness and will go to great lengths to excuse, rationalize, and even hide them from ourselves much less ourselves.   Carl Jung identified that hidden part of ourselves which contains the collective weaknesses which are inevitable in ourselves.  He named that aspect the Shadow which is resident in our unconsciousness.  The Shadow can appear in our dreams as a dark, foreboding, character, often of the same sex as the dreamer.  It can be very helpful, and I propose necessary, to get to know the shadow part of ourselves as Chittister proposes.

The fact is that we all have weaknesses as well as strengths – or at least part of ourselves that we hold to be weaknesses. It is part of our humanity.  We are formed in God’s image as we are told in the book of Genesis; we are not gods.  However, the good news and the Good News is that if we are to acknowledge our weaknesses to ourselves and to others there is great strength which will lead others by example as well as by words.  It will truly enable us to love one another as Jesus loves us.

Blessings on your journey and do not be afraid to ask for directions when the way is not clear – or even when it is.

Whither Leadership

 On the weekend, I watched a documentary on CBC, #BLESSED, which explored the C3 church movement which has now been expanded to Toronto from its beginnings in Australia.  The C3, which stands for Christian, City, Church, is an international evangelical church which has had great success attracting millennials.

The documentary, which rightly has been criticized for not being an in-depth critical look at the church, presented a church which seems to have many things I am in agreement theologically.  However, I was left feeling uneasy about what was not explored in the documentary.  It presented C3 as what could be described as not untypical evangelical church with praise leaders, a charismatic pastor who connected with his flock, and little in the way of liturgy.  There can be no arguing with its success, if success is measured by growth in the number of people who attend services and in the number of congregations and the ability to plant new church congregations. 

As was noted in one critical article, the documentary did not explore what the church does to make the church so attractive to the millennial aged people they are apparently so successful in attracting.  It also doesn’t explore the potential danger that a charismatic leader, who almost becomes an object of worship, can cause for those who follow his or her – especially if there are few, if any, constraints in place in the organization itself.

We have currently many examples of what can happen when leaders do not live up to the expectations which are placed on them.  We have all the politicians and civil servants who have demanded that citizens do not travel in this time of the COVID shut down and have turned around and done just that because “they deserve it” implying that they are special and, therefore, the rules - which they impose - do not apply to them.  We have the much more serious example of bad leadership in the United States which has incited insurrection to attempt to over turn a legitimate election. 

The question that is being begged to explore (but not begging the question) is what makes a good leader?  As I have mentioned, at the end of 2020 (that seems a long time ago), I took a course on Benedictine Spirituality.  I have continued to read one of the books recommended for the course, The Rule of Benedict by Joan Chittister.   The Rule of Benedict includes much information of what is required of leadership and leaders.  Over the next few week, I will explore aspects of leadership which are outlined in the Rule.  I find it particularly interesting that the Rule of Benedict was written over fourteen hundred years ago but it has stood the test of time and is just as applicable in today’s circumstances as it was when it was written despite the times being very different.

I will begin by looking at one aspect which is a good foundation for good leadership.  It states in the Prologue to the Rule that the leaders of the monastic community, “are to lead the community by a two- fold teaching: they must point out to the monastics all that is good and holy more by example than by words.”  Chittister’s commentary on this expands on its relevance today:

Autocrats and militarists and spiritual charlatans and abusive parents and corporate moguls want the people under them to obey laws from which their exalted positions hold them exempt.  Benedict says that the only authentic call for obedience comes from those who themselves demonstrate the value of the law.

This is a good application of the Golden Rule which Jesus and others taught, ‘do unto other what you would have them do unto you’.  If leaders do not have this as a guiding principle, he or she will be in danger of leading themselves down a wrong and potentially dangerous path.

Blessings on your journey and may you have God as your guide. 

Wake Up and Live

 

Late last year I took part in a course on Benedictine Spirituality with the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in Toronto.  Of course, in this time of COVID-19, we did this course via Zoom.  One of the books we used in the course was The Rule of Benedict, by Joan Chittister.  It provides daily commentary on the Rule developed by Benedict which I find to be a very good way to explore and inwardly digest the charters of the Rule.  The Rule has stood the test of time since it was written twelve hundred years ago. The Rule (rules actually) are very applicable to our world today and the commentary by Joan Chittister make them very accessible to the modern reader.

Today, I want to explore the commentary of the author on the Prologue to the Rule which begins, “Listen carefully, my child, to my instruction, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.”   Chittister writes:

Let nothing go by without being open to being nourished by the inner meaning of that event in life.  There is an Oriental proverb that teaches, “Take from death before is takes from thee.”  If we do not live life consciously (my emphasis), in other words, we may not be living at all.

The question that I want to explore from this statement is, what does it mean to live consciously?  Coincidentally, if you believe in coincidences, I was listening, about the same time as I read this, to an interview with Noam Chomsky, the famous (some might say infamous) linguist and philosopher.  He noted that people spend most of their lives in unconsciousness.  The concept of consciousness is one that has interested me for quite a few years.  In my view consciousness is the great gift of God and what it means to be created in God’s image as we are told in the book of Genesis. 

Chomsky was proposing that people - many, if not most - are not conscious most of the time they are in a waking state.  Your reaction to this may be one of rejection and you might well say, of course I am conscious when I am awake.  There is a simple way to test this proposition.  Think about the last time someone was talking to you.  How much of the time were you thinking of something else whether it is being somewhere else, or thinking of another person, of something that happened some time in the past, or anything else.  If you are honest you will admit that those thoughts, intentional or not, consumed much of the time you were ‘engaged’ in that conversation.  Another test you could engage in is trying to think about nothing.  Empty you mind – or try to – and see how long it is before some thought enters into you head unsought.

One of my regular spiritual practices is to engage in Centering Prayer on a daily basis.  This involved being in a state in which I empty my mind of thoughts for twenty minutes.  The idea is this allows God full access to my self without the day-to-day thoughts getting in the way.  If, or better when, thoughts enter I let them go using a “sacred word” to return my focus or non-focus to being open and receptive.  In invite you to give it a try and see how it works for you.

If you want an example of what happens when they are in an unconscious state, you only have to look at the videos of the mob which invaded the United States Capital building last week.  Many of them were there without being conscious of the consequences of their actions and or even their actual motivations.  It was a case of mob rule.  The collective consciousness of a mob is much lower than the consciousness of the individuals involved. 

If you want to practice consciousness and live more fully, one way you can do this is to pay attention for a set period and see if you can identify the times in which your mind wanders or times in which thoughts enter your mind unsought.  Do this for a perhaps five or ten minutes at ta time and be conscious of what is going on in your head.  Remember, if we do not live life consciously, we may not be living at all.

Blessing on your journey and be conscious of where God is on that journey. 

A New Year of Gifts to Bring.

Yesterday, we celebrated Epiphany which is the visit of the three Wise Men (sometimes known as the three kings) to the stable in Bethlehem.   They are reported to have brought gifts for the divine child whom they recognized as King of the Jews – gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

These gifts, as precious as they were being fit for a king, are also symbols and precursors of what was ahead for Jesus.  The gold was symbolically a gift for the ruler of God’s kingdom; the frankincense was used by priests in worship symbolizing Jesus Christ the High Priest; Myrrh which was used to anoints the body before burial foretelling Jesus’ sacrificial death. 

These gifts can have meaning for us as well.  We could see them as the inspiration for gift giving at Christmas and all that has become with the mad materialism we partake in today’s cultural celebration of Christmas.  But if we stop and reflect and pray, we can ponder, as Mary did, what gifts we can bring to the Christ in us.  

When I think of the gifts of the three Wise Men, I am reminded of the wonderful trope which the novelist Roberson Davies explored in his novel The Rebel Angels.  In the story, the character Uncle Yuko, understood the gifts as Gold, Frank Innocence, and Mirth.  Those gifts are something that the world needs more of today.  We need to have a heart of gold – as Neil Young was searching for.  We need much more frank innocence in our openness to the wonders of God’s creation which is being abused in so many ways.  And above all, mirth – to be able to experience “the laughter at the heart of things” to quote T.S. Eliot who wrote in an introduction of a novel by Charles Williams:

For the reader who can appreciate them there are terrors in the pit of darkness into which he can make us look; but in the end, we are brought nearer to what another modern explorer of darkness has called “the laughter at the heart of things.” 

Eliot, unfortunately, did not name the modern explorer who was the source of that phrase.  However, the laughter at the heart of things is to see the true nature of how things fit into the whole – how we all fit into what we are intended for in a world that sometimes seem to be chaotic and meaningless.  That, indeed, is the laughter at the heart of things.

Blessings on your journey to find the gift which you are intended to bring to the divine child. 

Let Christmas Bells Ring

The bells have been ringing out this Christmas despite the Pandemic shutdown that has loomed over us in Ontario and other parts of Canada – and much of the world.  The Bishop of Huron Diocese decided to closedown face-to-face worship on the Sunday before Christmas.  However, we were still able to ring the church bells (or in the case of St. James, Parkhill bell) on Christmas Eve at 6;30 and Christmas Day at noon as requested by Archbishop Linda Nichols, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.  The Christmas Day bell ringing can be seen on the St. James Anglican Church Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/St-James-Anglican-Church-Parkhill-114562600251874.  We had a simple liturgy with the opening sentence and collect for Christmas Day from the Book of Alternative Services:

Sentence
I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the
people; for to you is born this day a Saviour, Christ the Lord.
Luke 2.10–11
Collect
Almighty God,
you wonderfully created
and yet more wonderfully restored our human nature.
May we share the divine life of your Son Jesus Christ,
who humbled himself to share our humanity,
and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

This was followed by the ringing of the church bell to celebrate the birth of Jesus in lowly estate in the stable in Bethlehem.  The ringing of church bells has been part of the tradition of worship and is used to mark occasions both joyous such as Christmas Day and weddings as well as those more solemn occasions such as the tolling of bells at funerals.  I listened to a program on C.B.C. radio recently (I’m not sure which one) that told of the foundry in Italy that has been making bells for a thousand years.  It has been owned and run by the same family for all that time.  Anglicans are often accused of being focused on our traditions but you can’t get much more traditional than that – it is truly amazing.  The bells forged by this foundry can be found all over the world.  The reporter for this story advised that she was reporting from Rome and noted that there are over one thousand churches in Rome.  Consequently, the sound of bells being rung can be almost defining at times. 

Our single bell at St. James church makes only a small but perhaps not significant sound compared with that.  However, there were thousands of bells which rang out throughout Canada and the world on Christmas Day.  They all announced the Good News of the birth of the Prince of Peace. 

I will close with the word from that wonderful carol which celebrates the bells that are rung on Christmas Day announcing the birth of the Prince of Peace.

 

 

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

 

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on earth good will to men

And the bells are ringing (peace on earth)
Like a choir they’re singing (peace on earth)
In my heart I hear them (peace on earth)
Peace on earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men

But the bells are ringing (peace on earth)
Like a choir singing (peace on earth)
Does anybody hear them? (peace on earth)
Peace on earth, good will to men

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor does he sleep (peace on earth, peace on earth)
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good…

 

May you have blessings of peace throughout this Christmas Season

Peace on Earth and Shalom

 As Advent draws to a close, we anticipate the birth of the Prince of Peace.  I discovered recently that the wonderful Jewish word for peace – shalom, doesn’t actually mean peace or, rather, It means much more than just peace.  I received a great video from Rev. Sherry DeJonge which expounded on the meaning of shalom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLYORLZOaZE.  The video goes into great length concerning the meaning and application of shalom. 

In effect, shalom means wholeness or completeness and so it encompasses the concept of peace in a much broader way than the mere cessation of fighting.  I have embraced the idea of wholeness for many years as an ideal, particularly as something which we can aspire to rather than perfection.  I have been troubled by the scriptural passages that promotes the idea of perfection particularly the passage in which Jesus says “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)  I have thought that perfection is something that no one can achieve and is beyond human possibility.

Now, many of the commandments which Jesus gives us seem almost impossible such as love your enemies.  However, they may be a true challenge but are not beyond the realm of possibility as I believe that some exceptional people such as Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi have achieved that blessed state.  However, they were not perfect.  There is also the troubling trend in some circles recently that no one should be honoured unless they are judged to be perfect, or, rather, they are without sin in the judgement of those groups.  The example of Sir John A. MacDonald comes to mind and has fallen out of favour despite being the founding father of this nation because of his treatment of the first nations people.  Similarly, I read a report that Abraham Lincoln has fallen from grace for a similar sin despite his accomplishment of holding the United States together and bringing emancipation to those millions who were enslaved. 

That passage from Matthew was redeemed for me when I read a proposition that a better translation of the Matthew 5: 48 was be all-embracing rather than be perfect.  All-embracing can be seen as another way of understanding wholeness.  As we look to the celebration of the Prince of Peace, I would invite you to not worry about being perfect (even if you were considering that) and consider what it means for you to be all-embracing of life and of others.  That, indeed, is a challenge but it is something we can strive for and it is okay if we don’t manage it – we can keep on trying because we don’t have to be perfect or even try.

Blessing on your journey to worship the Christ Child who is born in the lowly stable in Bethlehem.

Blessed Be the Tithes that Bind

 

This is truly the most wonderful time of the year when every trip to the Post Office not only bring Christmas or Seasons greeting – although not as many now that we have electronic greetings available – but also the myriad of myriad appeals from charities with their ‘gifts’ of calendars and seasonal (definitely not Christmas) cards to encourage us to give generously to their very worthwhile work.

 I must confess that this often puts a damper on my Christmas spirit and I always wonder what I can do with one more calendar and can I justify to myself to use those cards if I don’t send at least a small contribution to that organization.  However, this is more than balanced by the appeals from Charities that I have supported in the past and I am grateful for the reminder to send them a contribution for the good work that they undertake.  I received one of those appeals last week from L’Arche Daybreak, the branch of L’Arche in Richmond Hill.  I had the opportunity to experience the wonderful work they do as a community for those with and without intellectual disabilities when I spent a few days with them one reading week when I was studying theology at Huron University College.  As they state in their mission statement, they strive to, “Make known the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities, revealed through mutually transforming relationships.” I filled out the donation form and got it ready to mail. 

As I did that I reflected on my donation to that group and wondered why I gave the amount I did.  There didn’t seem to be any relation to what I give to other organizations.  Why did I give that amount to what was, in my mind, an organization that did wonderful work that enable people, who had been given many challenges, meaningful and rewarding lives?  On reflection, I realized that there was not a great deal of rationale to many of my charitable donations.  In terms of my overall charitable givings, I am guided by the concept of tithing which has been the standard for Christians for a long time.  This is based on the bible passage in Genesis 14:20 in which Abram (later Abraham) gave King Melchizedek of Salem, who was priest of the “God Most High” a tenth of everything – hence tithing which is a tenth.  All well and good in terms of the goal for the amount I give, but what about to whom and how much for each organization.  It did not take me long to decide or realize that I had no clear idea on what basis I gave to certain groups or how much I gave to each. 

There is, of course, some basis for which groups I choose to support.  I tend to support groups or organizations I have first-hand knowledge of such as L’Arche and have assessed that their work has a positive impact on those they serve.  I am also aware that I do not do a very good job of investigating some groups in terms of the extent that they are good steward of the money they receive.  I am also aware that the amount that I give to an organization or choosing that organization is sometimes based on how a feel in a particular day when the request is received―not a great way on which to base my support.  I was inspired to raise this question, as I mentioned, by the question why I didn’t give additional support to L’Arche when I give more to organizations that seem to be not as deserving? 

I am aware that there is help available in determining if an organization is a good steward to the money they receive; Charity Intelligence Canada provides an assessment of charities which can assist in evaluating if your money is being used well, https://www.charityintelligence.ca/.  However, I must confess that I have never used this source.  As an experiment,t I decided to check put one of the organizations I support, World Vision.  It turns out to have a five-star rating based on financial transparency, results reported, demonstrated impact and need for funding. 

All well and good but it doesn’t help on the issue of how much I donate.   That will require more consideration.  If I was a more analytical person, I could develop a method of helping me do this on a more rational basis.  However, I am not likely to do that, so in the meantime perhaps I will settle on giving that more consideration when I decide on how much I give to which groups.

Have a blessed journey to Christmas this Advent and remember that you have many more gifts than financial ones.