Wednesday, August 31, 2016

     Language is the house of being.  In its home wo/man dwells.  Those who think and those who create with words are the guardians of this home.
                                               Martin Heidegger


Breaking Silence:

I Create as I Speak...


Mastering breaking silence--mastering coming out of myself powerfully and with clarity in speech that integrates what I think and feel, and expresses what I care deeply about (and have yet to learn, when I have the humility to admit it!) is one of my primary aims for this time in my life.  I aim for powerful speech because of a firm commitment to giving voice to what will make a difference for us as a species, and so for the planet and beyond. 

I am with Martin Heidegger.  We don't simply speak. We create with words. That makes us accountable. We are responsible for what we say and how we say it--responsible for what our language creates.

What we speak matters a great deal.  This year's election discourse has stood for a stark example of what language can create.  Discord, suspicion, increasing prejudicial language violence, and so many twists of what is true encourage the exclusion of some and create a climate in which outbreaks of violence--verbal and physical--have become commonplace.

What do we desire to create together--as a country of a multiplicity of communities with deep needs and drives?

I will say it again, drawing from an ancient source: speaking is a creative act.  God spoke and the heavens were made.  "God said" and there was land and water, light and dark, flora and fauna--and us.  Humanity.  Made in God's image.

We are given the power to create through our speech.  

With my contemplative bent, I note that speech emerges from silence.  
Choosing silence is as important as breaking it.
Listening is as important as speaking.
Listening to God, listening to one another, listening to creation and listening to our hearts may be MORE important than speaking, though we need do both.

I recently preached on a passage from the Gospel of Luke (12:54-56). Jesus chides some of his listeners.   Able to watch the clouds and expect rain they were, he said, unable to interpret the present time.

I have been among those he would chide many a day.  I can create quite a discouraging list of realities that make it imperative in my mind that I speak.  They are only partial reports of what is truly present,what is real, what I long to create with my words and my life.  This creates a distortion that is not at all life-giving.

Because my list is partial it is a failure to interpret the present time.  When I break silence I want my speaking and listening to make a difference.  I want to participate in God's wild, abundant, beyond our capacity to grasp creative adventure, not detract from it.

So what do I want to say as I break a year plus silence here?

We are a people that are deeply troubled. Much is troubling.  That is true.  
We are created to be troubled when violence erupts--in whatever form.  
We are in line with God's intention for us when death-dealing realities dominate.

When Jesus calls us to an accurate interpretation of the present times that is definitely part of the picture.  But his very life gives lie to the utter discouragement that arises from seeing the troubles only, and to interpreting them as signs of doom alone.  These signs of the times I believe he was calling us to interpret differ in their meaning from what many would have us see.

He would not paint a picture that is grim alone.

NOT:  The church is dying!  Civilization is crumbling!  I am a hopeless mess!  End of story.

What if we were to language differently? What if we were to be even more bold and speak another possibility, a different future, into being?

Let us listen to the times with a different ear.
Consider the birthing process!

The church, the world, you and me--are undergoing a profound transformation.  Transformation is messy and painful.  Some things are, indeed, passing away AND a new creation is promised.

An ancient message echoes in our times:  God will not keep silent. Death will not have the final say,
but "It does not yet appear what we shall be." We have God-given power to make choices and take actions that manifest God's dream for us.

It is possible for everyone of us to know abundant life and love, here and now.

This is not an empty hope but a true potential.  There is enough for everyone.  Now is the time to create the future where that is manifest.

God help us to recognize the openings for life-giving action--action that forwards God's dream of a world full of peace and justice, love and laughter and confrontation that leads to reconciliation.
God empower us to choose them.

God help us to keep and break silence--both!


I am indebted to the Mastery Foundation and its School for Leadership for their work with some of these core ideas.  It is quite a gift to be a participant in the School, and to stand with many others for creating a future that will make a positive difference.  As a Companion of Mary the Apostle, the future I stand for is one in which "all people flourish in bold, loving community."  What might yours be?