Prayer and Knowing Onself

"You do so much praying, why is it that you live the way you do?" is the central question posed by a seminary professor in his book Know Yourself,  recently reviewed in the Catholic Times. It's a question for not only lay people but for those who devote their lives to prayer: priests and religious. 

Living the life of faith without maturity, and other obstacles in our approach to God, can be explained in many ways.. However, if we look deeply we will see, the professor believes, that it usually involves a failure in knowing ourselves, causing unnecessary pain for others and ourselves. Knowing oneself and prayer are thought to be, unfortunately, two completely different approaches to life. 

The priest emphasizes that being aware of who we are, especially in these days, is important to Christians. He wrote the book, he said, to remind us that if we are to love and experience God, it has to start with knowing ourselves.

He shows, by citing the Scriptures, that a life of prayer doesn't always result in worthwhile changes in our life. In getting to know ourselves, it's helpful to have small-group sharing and time set aside for meditation. The book goes over the traditional teaching of the Church on this subject and the various psychological methods of self-healing. 

There are many zealous Christians who have a distorted opinion of themselves and suffer from a feeling of inferiority. Many have little self-respect and torment themselves and others for they are not in touch with their feelings.

Hindrances to our maturity, the professor says, can be eliminated once we are able to see some of the problems in our examination of self: probing the inner life; we will have come a great way in remedying the problem. Prayer and  further meditation will then become more useful in helping us overcome the obstacles to growth.

Knowing ourselves we will come to understand the changes that normally take place in our spiritual life, and be better able to deal with the jealousy, envy and pain that come with ignoring our inner life. This can be overcome, he says, if we humbly acknowledge that we have been searching for our own wills and not the will of God.

                 

Learning from Experience

"Experience is one of the best teachers." Most of us would agree, and we often search out those with experience to help us move ahead in our field of interest.  The spirituality column in the Catholic Times introduces us to a priest whose experiences of life the columnist thought worthy of passing on to his readers.

After graduating from a secular college, he entered the seminary. Because college study had been no problem for him, he thought that would be the case in the seminary. The first two years he continued the methods of study he was used to, but in third year, during the study of philosophy and theology, all changed.  His classmates gave him the nickname 'worry wart'. During the second semester he received a 30 in an exam; a perfect score was 100. It bothered him a lot though he did say there were others who received the same grade.

Many of the students laughed off poor grades, simply increasing their efforts, but it brought change into his life in a different direction. He decided to change his interests and paid more attention to the natural world, to the trees and flowers on the seminary grounds.  He prepared seed beds for flowers and transplanted the seedlings in different areas of the seminary yard. He spent time trimming the trees on the property. Since the professors would comment on his not studying, he would work out of sight on the large seminary campus.

He realized, he said, he had been studying to pass the exams, and not studying to learn; grades seemed to be the determining factor for everything.  Working close to nature he got rid of his stress, found peace, was in touch with himself and more honest in his relationships. Close to  nature he became open and easy-going, and found that he could learn more than was  possible in the past. His grades also did not suffer. The columnist finishes the column by noting that those words of the priest, whose simple and warm personality he admired, have continued to echo within him over the years.

              
              
  

Wisdom Gathered from the Ages

Continental drift is a theory that maintains that large landmasses are slowly moving and have done so continually for ages. There was  a single landmass called Pangaea that split up tens of  millions of  years ago, and the resulting continents eventually drifted to their present locations.  Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) introduced the theory of continental drift in the early years of the 20th century after he closely looked at the contours of the different continents and saw how they could fit together like a jig saw puzzle. The theory in the early years was ridiculed, but 30 years after Wegner's death it has gained many adherents.

A professor in a college engineering department, writing in The Kyeongyang Magazine, wants us to reflect on how the theory, if true, might affect the way we see life. The theory of plate tectonics, which is accepted by all, explains that the continents move a few centimeters each year. This understanding gives added scientific probability to Wegner's theory of continental drift.

By considering the number of generations since the appearance of humanity about 2 million years ago, the professor estimates that there have been 30,000 generations of humans. In the eyes of the creator, all is alive and moving; in our eyes, it does seem that all is at a standstill, muses the professor. The creator can see a part of humanity as being very near-sighted and the primary reason for the mistreatment of nature and the world. We are part of nature; here for only a short time. Is this not the reason, he asks that Jesus come to be with us?   

A Christian who was poor went before the altar in his church and  began praying with great sincerity: "All powerful Creator, you see all of us as small in your eyes. To you, 100 years are like one second, and one million dollars is like one penny.  Please Lord, give me just one penny."  Shortly after he heard the words: "Yes, but just wait 1 second."

We know that God is not limited by time as we are. The professor wants us to see our earthly reality with the eyes of God from the  perspective of eternity. With humor the professor brings our attention to the movements imperceptible to us but none the less
happening continually. "Eyes do not see all that is."

He concludes with examples of being hurt by rebukes from others and being scarred, often making all kinds of resolutions to live the ideal, obedient and loving life, resolutions that turn out to be only empty words.  We forget our place  in the big cosmic picture. More effort, says the professor, should be directed in being patient, wise and humble.

Is My Life Beautiful?

Is My life Beautiful?, a new book by a Korean Benedictine Sister, has been reviewed in the Catholic Times.  So Heui-suk has lived the religious life for over 40 years and now has written her first book. She laments that the word 'wonder' is rarely heard. She feels that most of us don't see and thus don't experience the beauty that is all around us. She wanted to answer the question she posed for herself in her book: is the life we are now living beautiful?

All life is a mystery, she says. A crystallization of love, as she described the mystery--a mass of beauty and holiness. It's not our job to rid ourselves of this beauty, she says, but to enjoy it. And the I that I am, she tells herself, should be, first of all, the one who should be living this beautiful life.

Her experiences have been many; much of it becoming the basis for her book, including her missionary work in Africa and India. She is now responsible for a center for refugees from North Korea.

Sister would like all of us to see the beauty of life as our calling, as a vocation. The society we live in today has much distortion and perversity, which is the reason she concentrates on nature. Even though we have done, because of greed, much damage to nature, it renews itself and by self-cleansing has much to teach us about our own renewal.

Humanity of course is part of nature. But we can misunderstand our rightful role by treating nature in any way we please, forgetting that our bodies will return to nature, becoming food for the tiny creatures inhabiting the earth.  My life on this earth is just the briefest moment in time, she reminds us, compared to the age of the universe. Our lives on this earth should be, she says, a dance to life, and we should be enjoying each moment of the dance.

To live the beautiful life, the sister believes that pain is necessary, that experiencing pain helps all of us to achieve this kind of life. Living the beautiful life means we have to practice love of our neighbor, and when we see what is wrong in ourselves and the world, we should want to correct it and do what is right. We should, she says, be living in the center of the world and doing all that is possible to have all enjoy the beautiful earth that we have been given.

She feels that when we have the right relationship with nature and see our place in the totality of life, we will have the proper relationship with all our brothers and sisters. We are called to live a  life of sharing.  And especially those with faith are called to this life of sharing, there should be no hesitation on our part to run right to the center of the world,  where we are to live this life of love.

A New Beginning for a New Evangelization

Attempts at self-improvement are always valuable and welcomed. Our Catholic bishops have set their sights on life-long educational programs for clergy. An article and an editorial  in the Peace Weekly report that these programs have been in effect in many dioceses for years in the form of retreats, seminars, and sabbaticals, but that the bishops wanted to establish the programs nationally to give them more importance.

An e-mail recently received contained the well-known  poem "Desiderata," written by the American Max Ehrmann, and introduced as being on the wall of the Pope's studio. A good preamble to the programs would be one of the following lines from the poem:

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

Do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

A national program will allow for variety, a more systematic approach to renewal, and a decrease in the expenses and use of personnel in the dioceses. It will also facilitate the fellowship of the clergy beyond diocesan borders. Programs will begin this year with retreats and seminars; the number of programs for the future will be determined by the attendance this year.

Blessed John Paul II, in the Apostolic Exhortation on the Formation of Priests, expressed the need for providing our priests life-long educational opportunities, citing as reasons the rapid changes in society, the difficulties of accommodating our methods to the culture of the times, and assuring that the call to the priesthood is based on human maturity. 

Others who have worked in this area in the many research centers of the dioceses have expressed themselves similarly, especially pointing out the need to understand postmodernism, and how to deal with it and the growing secularization of culture, a vibrant atheism, and priests not acting as servants to the community but with an  authoritarian attitude. With overwork, priests can act like mere functionaries or misguided activists. Without a deep spirituality, anyone can become a victim of loneliness and listlessness; even disease, laziness, and burn-out can appear, and habitual behaviors can easily take over.

The contents of the programs will concentrate on humaneness, spirituality, knowledge, and pastoral sensitivity. The article, quoting Blessed John Paul II, said that unless the human element is present in any educational program then all the rest will be going into a  a pot without a bottom.

The editorial hopes that this new effort will be a way of recharging the priests as they begin the new evangelization here in Korea.    

Learning from Modern Dance

Modern Dance, begun in the early 20th century, is a dance style that allows for the dancer to express feelings through movement.  It does not have the structure of  traditional ballet dancing and is not limited in its movements. A priest writing for the Catholic Times discusses his congregation's dance academy, and his own attempts to acquire some ease with the dance movements, a new and challenging pursuit for him.

He admits that his interest in the beginning was to lose weight but this quickly changed into wanting to get rid of blocked feelings that had built  up over the years. Classes began with 40 minutes of stretching exercises which he found difficult, using muscles he had never used before. However, at the end of the stretching his body felt so light it seemed that he could fly if he tried. The stress on the body and mind was gone; he was becoming acquainted again with his body in a new way.

Jumping, stretching, moving in circles with the elasticity of the body, he learned the fundamental moves. Moving the lower body and the  upper body, and shortly it seems the body knows what to do on its own. The columnist is reminded again of the truth that there are basic ways of doing practically everything.

The teacher reminds the students often: "Do the movements to the best of your ability." He feels that someday he will be able to give expression to his feelings with the body.

One day the teacher asked the class to use the length and width of the hall and just walk with ease, comfortably and freely. Hearing these words he became perplexed and his body tightened up. He had always wanted to live with internal freedom and with ease, but the words of the teacher made him freeze. There was no textbook, and she was not telling them exactly how to do the walking, leaving it up to the students to do it as best they could. Not knowing what to do, he felt lost.

He looked around to see what the teacher was doing and tried to imitate her movements, drawing a laugh from the teacher. He was looking for the proper moves; how far to bend the knees, what to do with the arms and hands, what should be the proper facial expression, and so forth. Many of us like to believe we have the right answers not only concerning how to move on a dance floor, but concerning most of life's questions.  But the older we get the more likely we are to realize that the correct answers to most of our questions are not always there.

There are times we have to go beyond the proper answers, and look to what is more human and improve the values that we have. The Pharisees and lawyers at the time of Jesus thought that they had the correct answers, and Jesus had the wrong ones, which allowed them to put him to death. The columnist hopes that he will rid himself of the heavy baggage, personality impediments and attitudes, that prevent him from being free and transparent in his life.

Essence of Character is Relationships

Being sensitive to the feelings of others, being concerned not to offend, is generally considered good advice.  At times, however, some of us do not always find it easy to follow. Pastoral workers especially find it difficult when commenting on the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church in areas that can be upsetting to many. Furthermore, speaking the truth found in sociological and other scientific studies to those who see that truth differently is often seen as a lack of compassion, sensitivity and understanding, as not being the charitable thing to do.

An article in the  Peace Weekly, headlined "Happy Parents Make for Happy Children," considers the words of a religious sister, a member of  a family research center, that would be upsetting to many.

A strong, mature relationship between husband and wife, the sister says, will determine the character of the children. The way children relate with their classmates at school will be greatly influenced by what they see in the  home. When the relationship with others is a problem, she says it is, for the most part, because the relationship between the parents is not good.

The sister, a professional counselor, has found during her years of counseling that when communication between the parents is good, the relationships of their children with others is likely to result. The problem is no different, the sister insists, whether the child is a victim or a perpetrator of bullying in school. Both are victims of parental disharmony in the home, and what was learned at home is what the children will act out in school.

The essence of character, sister maintains, is molded by our personal relationships,  To have a good relationship with others, a person must first understand their  own preciousness and dignity. All of us have a desire to be loved and recognized; without this we are lonely and easily traumatized.  

Parents, it must be kept in mind, she says, should be sensitive to what the children really want, but this does not mean doing whatever the children ask for. If they desire a famous brand name item, it's good to remember that it's because they want to be recognized as special and accepted by their classmates.

Children, from grammar school to college, generally form their relationships around some aspect of play. Recognizing this, parents need to engender a sense of responsibility that involves other aspects of life; without doing so, a mature sense of responsibility is likely to be missing. When parents tell their children to go to church, for example, but there is no time for prayer in the home or a lack of love, there are bound to be problems. When the parents are living a happy life, this will likely be what is passed on to the children.

Sister reminds us that the home is the first community, the first church, and it is there that children learn the values of love, respect and service to others.