This term, our One Year Diploma students at the Institute Of Contemporary & Emerging Worship Studies are engaging with the riches of spiritual formation literature throughout the ages of the Church. We are also engaging together in a Spiritual Formation Group, based on Richard Foster and Renovare’s model, and participating with resident SSU Spiritual Director Lorna Jones in Ignatian Prayer activities.
To become present to God, to His activity in history, to His word, to ourselves and to one another inside and outside of community – this is a primary goal for this course.
Anyone is welcome to join in these InReflection blog posts on spiritual formation, which will be for our course participants to reflect on ideas they have been reading about and applying from historic spiritual formation literature.
Our next reading is focused on Ignatius:The Movements Of The Soul.
INRESPONSE QUESTION:
Reflect on the key ideas presented in this writing, and reflect on how do they personally apply to your life as a follower of Jesus, as a spiritual influencer and as a creative leader. (300-500 words).
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The first part, Different Movements, seems like a summary of my life. The on going frustration with bad choices and the regrets that follow is like a war; a battle between what I know is good and what I choose, which often makes me feel bad.
The way Ingatius describes consolation and desolation does help to shed light on the battle, give us a birds-eye-view of it. This is helpful because often, we are so bogged down in the battle, that we cannot see anything else but it, or any way through it.
I have often felt like my life is one led with and angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, and I have often embraced the conversation that takes place there. My sense is that I am probably not the best one to judge between the two voices, since the conversation most likely involves something I know I’m not supposed to do in the first place (the enemy rarely shows up when I know what I’m doing is right).
Thought I am not sure about the part about God’s desire to “test our worth”, the other two reasons for desolation seem to make sense to me. I often find myself in temptation when I am lazy in my relationship with God and His people. The more detached one is, the easier it is to get further detached. The closer one is to help, the more strength (God’s and the Body’s) is available to help. Isolation is a great way to find trouble, and yet it is so easy to get in that state, to think that it’s just me who’s going through this, that my actions don’t affect anyone else, and to forget that, as part of a body (family, friends, church), what I do has an impact, at least at the level of my participation, on the whole group. My distance hinders my availability to the group, even if that distance is emotional/spiritual as opposed to physical proximity.
The last part about the open door really speaks to me. I know from my experience that, the more you engage temptation, the easier it is to enter into it. And the more you embrace the Spirit, the easier it is to resist temptation. The liminal place (I like that word, Dan) we choose to dwell in affects where we end up. I do love it, though not always at the time, when the Spirit engages us at the threshold of the temptation. The feelings there can be internal or external, but they are a wonderful reminder of His care for us. I pray that I learn to respond to them more in my life.
I think that it is very important to lead from this place of understanding what people are going through. The more we can identify with the people we are leading, as opposed to expecting them to be perfect when we are not, the more empathy and compassion we will have, and our ability to speak into their live will increase as they see up open to the work of God.
‘The enemy is weak in the presence of strength, but strong if he has our will.” (Page 226 Ignatius if Loyola)
This movement of the soul is ‘A Show of Determination’, it strikes me the most that by my will the enemy could work and by my strength the enemy might flee. I’ve always wanted to be the strong one, not so much physically but emotionally.
When my best friend died at the age of 16, I was in Sri-Lanka. It’s funny because I was so lonely and sad in Sri-Lanka, that I would have killed for an excuse to return home but I made the decision to stay, no matter how difficult it got.
Then hearing the news of friend’s death, I soon returned home to the comforts of my friends and family.
In my time of ‘desolation’ I found no comfort in earthly things but I was waiting for an excuse to get out of this situation. I used his death as a “valid” reason to go home but what I didn’t tell you, is that I was out there doing relief work because of the Tsunami crisis.
By staying and carrying on my work, I would have learnt so much more about service to my King. When all the people around me had lost so many family members and friends, now the guilt haunts me. Just to think that I could have helped one more person or I could have built one more house sickens me but I’ve let this go and now through much pain I’ve managed to move on.
My point is that I’ve experienced this ‘desolation’ and all it takes is a little ‘Sow of Determination’ and it will build your character for life.
I also think that tepidness or being lukewarm is as dangerous as being in ‘desolation’ because you may not know that you’re doing it. It might just creep up on you!
God Bless you all! Dan
“This takes place in those who earnestly strive to purify themselves from their sins and who advance from good to better in the service of God our Lord. For these persons it is common for the evil spirit to cause anxiety and sadness and to create obstacles based on false reasoning, thus preventing the soul from making further progress.”
I bet, you know this feeling of anxiety and sadness and of being stuck. I do. It feels like a heavy burden on your heart. And something or somebody (according to Ignatius “the evil spirit”) keeps on telling you: “You’re never gonna make it! It’s hopeless. And it’s even getting worse. Why on earth did you ever try it in the first place? Or even think you might be able to do it? It’s been a bad idea right from the beginning!”
Listen, this is not God’s voice! Ignatius tells us: “It’s characteristic of the good spirit to give courage and strength, consolation, tears, inspiration, and peace, making things easy and removing all obstacles so that the soul may make further progress in good works.” Oh, how much I need to hear this! Even though I may know it in my head, it’s obviously not moved down into my heart yet. And it makes me think that refreshing my memory seems to be a master strategy to stay connected with God.
What really helped me a lot, was Ignatius’ statement: “In time of desolation one should never make a change, but stand firm and constant in the resolution and decision which guided him the day before the desolation…” So often when I hear this voice mentioned above, I just want to quit. At those times I doubt that there’s any point in persevering at all (although I do know better, of course. But it’s such a struggle sometimes). Now I feel confirmed by Ignatius. And even though I’m going through these kinds of thought at the moment, this time I know that I won’t even think about quitting until these dark clouds have departed. For when the sun is turning up again, I can still reconsider my decision. Funny that, once the sun is shining again, I usually don’t feel that urge to change anymore.
Good work, and strong ideas, guys. Ignatius went deep for us all in this piece. Our Formation Group in the morning will be rich with more insight from this, I’m sure.
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