Both/And, not Either/Or
Both/And, not Either/Or
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent – March 14, 2020
Healthy spirituality holds together both the inward journey and the outward journey. We are not given an either/or choice; rather, we engage the two movements in a both/and way
My first movements into spiritual formation were so radically different from any way I had known previously that I imagined this new journey inward was going to remove me from the difficulties of the world . . . that the inner life would heighten my immunity to all that was problematic in the world. I thought the inward journey would insulate me from “the world, the flesh, and the devil” (as John Chrysostom, the early spiritual writer, said centuries ago).
Only over time did I come to see that the journey inward is matched by a journey back out into the world. The two movements must be held together. We don’t have the privilege of choosing one or the other.
And make no mistake . . . this way leads to life . . . it is a hard way . . . and few find it (Elizabeth O’Connor’s words). I simply say, “The spiritual life is long, slow, messy work.”
O’Connor writes about how both the inward journey and the outward journey are essential for renewal in the Church. I find this short excerpt very helpful.
One, it leads to life, but
Two, it is a hard way, and
Three, few find it.
For those who would be on the inward journey, these are three facts to ponder at the beginning and end of each day. We must cling to the first against temptations, and false prophets, and glittering goals. We must hold to the second lest we be too easily turned aside or corrupted by the illusion that something can be had for nothing. It is part of our sickness that we go after the high prize with so little understanding of the cost and so poorly equipped to meet and withstand the armies that will do battle against us. We do not ask for courage, because we do not know we have need of it. We are given over into the hands of the enemy without having discerned his shape on the horizon.
The man who would step out of the crowd and follow his own destiny, must keep before him the knowledge that the way is hard. But even if he is aware of this, he is still in danger. He must remember, also, that few find it. It will grow easy for him to imagine that he is on the way when he is not. This is where the religious lose out on the Kingdom. They assume that because they are aware of the two ways, and because they have chosen the second, they are on it. This is to fall comfortably into the sleep of the crowd again. It may well be a “religious” crowd, but it is nonetheless a crowd.
This is a book about the “narrow gate,” which will henceforth be referred to as the inward journey. It is a book concerned with the renewal of the church, for it holds that renewal cannot come to the church unless its people are on an inward journey. It holds with equal emphasis that renewal cannot come to the church unless its people are on an outward journey. The outward journey is not to be confused with the way of the crowd. Those on an outward journey can see the neighbor. Their world includes the technological age, the modern metropolis. They are concerned with shaping the church for responsible involvement. While it is a crucial mistake to assume that churches can be on an outward journey without being on an inward one, it is equally disastrous to assume that one can make the journey inward without taking the journey outward. So this is also a book about the outward journey and a church’s struggle to contain both movements within its life.
[Elizabeth O’Connor, Journey Inward, Journey Outward. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1968.]
For Reflection:
o Life is not either prayer or action, either devotion or service. It is some mix of both within us.
o I think about the expressions of my faith to which I most easily gravitate . . . prayer, mission, study, teaching, serving, giving, worship, etc.
o I also think about those aspects of authentic discipleship which are not so fully cultivated in me. Do I resist them? In what ways might I be invited to step more fully into these aspects of the spiritual journey during Lent?
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent – March 14, 2020
Healthy spirituality holds together both the inward journey and the outward journey. We are not given an either/or choice; rather, we engage the two movements in a both/and way
My first movements into spiritual formation were so radically different from any way I had known previously that I imagined this new journey inward was going to remove me from the difficulties of the world . . . that the inner life would heighten my immunity to all that was problematic in the world. I thought the inward journey would insulate me from “the world, the flesh, and the devil” (as John Chrysostom, the early spiritual writer, said centuries ago).
Only over time did I come to see that the journey inward is matched by a journey back out into the world. The two movements must be held together. We don’t have the privilege of choosing one or the other.
And make no mistake . . . this way leads to life . . . it is a hard way . . . and few find it (Elizabeth O’Connor’s words). I simply say, “The spiritual life is long, slow, messy work.”
O’Connor writes about how both the inward journey and the outward journey are essential for renewal in the Church. I find this short excerpt very helpful.
One, it leads to life, but
Two, it is a hard way, and
Three, few find it.
For those who would be on the inward journey, these are three facts to ponder at the beginning and end of each day. We must cling to the first against temptations, and false prophets, and glittering goals. We must hold to the second lest we be too easily turned aside or corrupted by the illusion that something can be had for nothing. It is part of our sickness that we go after the high prize with so little understanding of the cost and so poorly equipped to meet and withstand the armies that will do battle against us. We do not ask for courage, because we do not know we have need of it. We are given over into the hands of the enemy without having discerned his shape on the horizon.
The man who would step out of the crowd and follow his own destiny, must keep before him the knowledge that the way is hard. But even if he is aware of this, he is still in danger. He must remember, also, that few find it. It will grow easy for him to imagine that he is on the way when he is not. This is where the religious lose out on the Kingdom. They assume that because they are aware of the two ways, and because they have chosen the second, they are on it. This is to fall comfortably into the sleep of the crowd again. It may well be a “religious” crowd, but it is nonetheless a crowd.
This is a book about the “narrow gate,” which will henceforth be referred to as the inward journey. It is a book concerned with the renewal of the church, for it holds that renewal cannot come to the church unless its people are on an inward journey. It holds with equal emphasis that renewal cannot come to the church unless its people are on an outward journey. The outward journey is not to be confused with the way of the crowd. Those on an outward journey can see the neighbor. Their world includes the technological age, the modern metropolis. They are concerned with shaping the church for responsible involvement. While it is a crucial mistake to assume that churches can be on an outward journey without being on an inward one, it is equally disastrous to assume that one can make the journey inward without taking the journey outward. So this is also a book about the outward journey and a church’s struggle to contain both movements within its life.
[Elizabeth O’Connor, Journey Inward, Journey Outward. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1968.]
For Reflection:
o Life is not either prayer or action, either devotion or service. It is some mix of both within us.
o I think about the expressions of my faith to which I most easily gravitate . . . prayer, mission, study, teaching, serving, giving, worship, etc.
o I also think about those aspects of authentic discipleship which are not so fully cultivated in me. Do I resist them? In what ways might I be invited to step more fully into these aspects of the spiritual journey during Lent?
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