Change of Heart
Change of Heart
First Sunday of Lent – March 1, 2020
Contemporary life treats busyness and worry as if they were badges of honor. We are quick to tell others what busy people we are, as if our busyness itself makes us important. The fact that I’m busy somehow contributes to the feeling that I’m indispensable and seems to increase my worthiness in the eyes of others.
Culturally we’ve created a cult of busyness and productivity. There are fewer more disdained words in our society than the word “lazy.”
The spiritual life does, in fact, speak to simplicity, silence and solitude. Intentional time during which we give our attention to God is vital to our spiritual well-being; however, we do not claim that the only way to live a spiritual life is to let go of all responsibilities and obligations. The notion that anyone could live the spiritual life if all life-duties were removed is simply false.
Rather, the spiritual life is about developing a different consciousness in the midst of what I do. It means intentionally honing my awareness to the reality of “what is,” not to the fantasy of “what I’d like it to be.” I am formed spiritually as I pay more and more attention to God, my inner self, others and the world in the real-life setting where I live. So ultimately the spiritual life is not an existence removed from my busyness and daily life; rather, it is the awareness I carry into the daily life that is mine already.
In a simple and direct way, Henri Nouwen spoke to the nature of the spiritual life. His words are full of life, seasoned in his own struggle to live the life that God had given him to live. This is what Nouwen writes in Making All Thing New:
Jesus does not respond to our worry-filled way of living by saying that we should not be so busy with worldly affairs. He does not try to pull us away from the many events, activities, and people that make up our lives. He does not tell us that what we do is unimportant, valueless, or useless. Nor does he suggest that we should withdraw from our involvements and live quiet, restful lives removed from the struggles of the world.
Jesus’ response to our worry-filled lives is quite different. He asks us to shift the point of gravity, to relocate the center of our attention, to change our priorities. Jesus wants us to move from the “many things” to the “one necessary thing.” It is important for us to realize that Jesus in no way wants us to leave our many-faceted world. Rather, he wants us to live in it, but firmly rooted in the center of all things. Jesus does not speak about a change of activities, a change in contracts, or even a change of pace. He speaks about a change of heart. This change of heart makes everything different, even while everything appears to remain the same. This is the meaning of “Set your hearts on his kingdom first . . . and all these other things will be given you as well.” What counts is where our hearts are. When we worry, we have our hearts in the wrong place. Jesus asks us to move our hearts to the center, where all other things fall into place.
What is this center? Jesus calls it the kingdom, the kingdom of his Father. For us of the twentieth century, this may not have much meaning. Kings and kingdoms do not play an important role in our daily life. But only when we understand Jesus’ words as an urgent call to make the life of God’s Spirit our priority can we see better what is at stake. A heart set on the Father’s kingdom is also a heart set on the spiritual life. To set our hearts on the kingdom therefore means to make the life of the Spirit within and among us the center of all we think, say, or do.
[Henri J. M. Nouwen, Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life (San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1981).]
For Reflection:
o I think of those things that concern and worry me right now. How would I talk to Jesus about them?
o Nouwen writes about the need for us to change our hearts, not change activities and things on the periphery of life. The reordering we need is not exterior as much as it is interior.
o The “kingdom” is not a place, but is a framework for life, an orientation in which my life is centered in God. In other words, it is a conscious ordering of life around God, who is the Core Reality of life.
First Sunday of Lent – March 1, 2020
Contemporary life treats busyness and worry as if they were badges of honor. We are quick to tell others what busy people we are, as if our busyness itself makes us important. The fact that I’m busy somehow contributes to the feeling that I’m indispensable and seems to increase my worthiness in the eyes of others.
Culturally we’ve created a cult of busyness and productivity. There are fewer more disdained words in our society than the word “lazy.”
The spiritual life does, in fact, speak to simplicity, silence and solitude. Intentional time during which we give our attention to God is vital to our spiritual well-being; however, we do not claim that the only way to live a spiritual life is to let go of all responsibilities and obligations. The notion that anyone could live the spiritual life if all life-duties were removed is simply false.
Rather, the spiritual life is about developing a different consciousness in the midst of what I do. It means intentionally honing my awareness to the reality of “what is,” not to the fantasy of “what I’d like it to be.” I am formed spiritually as I pay more and more attention to God, my inner self, others and the world in the real-life setting where I live. So ultimately the spiritual life is not an existence removed from my busyness and daily life; rather, it is the awareness I carry into the daily life that is mine already.
In a simple and direct way, Henri Nouwen spoke to the nature of the spiritual life. His words are full of life, seasoned in his own struggle to live the life that God had given him to live. This is what Nouwen writes in Making All Thing New:
Jesus does not respond to our worry-filled way of living by saying that we should not be so busy with worldly affairs. He does not try to pull us away from the many events, activities, and people that make up our lives. He does not tell us that what we do is unimportant, valueless, or useless. Nor does he suggest that we should withdraw from our involvements and live quiet, restful lives removed from the struggles of the world.
Jesus’ response to our worry-filled lives is quite different. He asks us to shift the point of gravity, to relocate the center of our attention, to change our priorities. Jesus wants us to move from the “many things” to the “one necessary thing.” It is important for us to realize that Jesus in no way wants us to leave our many-faceted world. Rather, he wants us to live in it, but firmly rooted in the center of all things. Jesus does not speak about a change of activities, a change in contracts, or even a change of pace. He speaks about a change of heart. This change of heart makes everything different, even while everything appears to remain the same. This is the meaning of “Set your hearts on his kingdom first . . . and all these other things will be given you as well.” What counts is where our hearts are. When we worry, we have our hearts in the wrong place. Jesus asks us to move our hearts to the center, where all other things fall into place.
What is this center? Jesus calls it the kingdom, the kingdom of his Father. For us of the twentieth century, this may not have much meaning. Kings and kingdoms do not play an important role in our daily life. But only when we understand Jesus’ words as an urgent call to make the life of God’s Spirit our priority can we see better what is at stake. A heart set on the Father’s kingdom is also a heart set on the spiritual life. To set our hearts on the kingdom therefore means to make the life of the Spirit within and among us the center of all we think, say, or do.
[Henri J. M. Nouwen, Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life (San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1981).]
For Reflection:
o I think of those things that concern and worry me right now. How would I talk to Jesus about them?
o Nouwen writes about the need for us to change our hearts, not change activities and things on the periphery of life. The reordering we need is not exterior as much as it is interior.
o The “kingdom” is not a place, but is a framework for life, an orientation in which my life is centered in God. In other words, it is a conscious ordering of life around God, who is the Core Reality of life.
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