Spiritual Formation in a Nutshell

Greetings, Sisters, Brothers and Friends of the Community!

I pray that this note finds you well and at peace.

The signs of autumn are beginning to show up in slightly colored leaves and cooler evenings.
The cycles of life that Our Lord designed continue to hold true.

The New Testament reading for this past Sunday (Romans 13:8-14) summed up, for me, what spiritual formation is all about: Wake up and Love!

Paul indicates that to properly “love your neighbor as yourself” (verse 9) we need to be “awake.” We can not love others or ourselves very well if we are asleep (verse 11). But what is this “slumber” he speaks of? This is often thought of as the call to get out of bed and get busy with your life. The “night is over; the day is almost here” (verse 12).

Let’s look at this a bit closer. There is a contemporary story about a group of people touring a large manufacturing firm. “How many people actually work here?” a visitor with the group asked. The tour guide responded, “Oh, about half.” This cute little story suggests that many people appear to be awake as they go through their daily activities, but are actually “asleep.” It is as if their brains are turned on, and they are moving around, but they are being managed by some foreign invader.

In fact, this may be exactly what is happening! Jesus tells us throughout the Gospels to become aware of this foreign invader that has taken control of our minds and hearts, and expel him forthright from our midst. Wake up!

This foreign invader is a dysfunctional ego that has become a tumor on our soul. It has grown from all the cultural and societal programming over the years, and manifests itself as prejudice, greed, fear, worry, judgment, hatred, arrogance and a myriad of other things that block our true self from showing itself.

When Paul says, “Wake up!” he is telling us to separate ourselves from this ugly thing and see it for what it really is – separation from God – a spiritual disconnection. Become the observer of this thing to see it for what it really is, and it will begin to slither away in the Light of Truth. Watch how it behaves and reacts to people and situations each and every moment. The time is NOW, Paul says, in the present moment, for this to happen. And as this happens, slowly over time, the natural love that was built into your hearts by your Creator will begin to flow out into your world so that you truly learn how to love your neighbor as yourself in your own unique way. And that is spiritual formation in a nutshell.

Blessings and peace to you all,

Your sleepy-eyed brother,

Br. Daniel-Joseph, CTG