Thursday, May 18,
2017
Spiritual progress is seen in
our growing ability to love, and as we continue to develop through our prayer
and reading and through the sacraments, it can sometimes seem like we are
moving through stages in our loving.
To love is to be of service to
others, freely, unselfishly, without seeking anything in return, and with no
hidden agendas. Olivier Clément calls this a “disinterested affection.” The Roots of Christian Mysticism, p. 270.
What happens when we begin to love
this way is that little by little, we develop a greater sympathy towards
others. We become more aware of the individual and personal pain that each
person carries, and rather than becoming judgmental or cynical, we begin to
identify with that pain, not necessarily taking it upon ourselves, but
certainly becoming more sensitive, patient, tolerant and kind towards
others, particularly towards those individuals the in the past we found it
difficult to endure or tolerate.
Consider those persons in your
life you may find it difficult to like, those individuals you naturally feel
compelled to avoid or keep far from you; consider those especially who in
weaker moments you see yourself as superior to. As you progress in the
spiritual life, you will discover the coldness melting, you will be more
inclined to patience, understanding and kindness. This doesn’t happen
overnight; it takes a lifetime for most of us and we progress with baby steps.
Nonetheless, we can actually get to a point where, recognizing those baby
steps, we celebrate them and give thanks to God who has sent the graces to
soften our hearts and our brittleness, to weaken our tendency to see others as
“the enemy” and to unmask our illusions
of superiority.
As we grow this way, we become
more truly Christ-like, remembering that Jesus Christ identifies himself with
“every human being who is suffering, or rejected, or imprisoned, or ignored”
(p. 271). At the same time, with the Lord’s help, we learn to regard each other
person as possessing “an inward nature as mysterious and deep as our own, but
different and willed to be so by God.”
When I was younger, I used to
think in terms of “giving permission” to others to be the way they are, but now
I am coming to see that as not fully charitable and sometimes prone to judgment
even while pretending to be tolerant. As I’ve grown older, instead I keep
reminding myself to “bow before the mystery” of each person I encounter. I
don’t always succeed; my progress is halting and imperfect. But as often as I
can remember to think this way, good things tend to develop. Perhaps it can
work the same way for you.
God bless you!
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