ME AND MY SHADOW

FROM THE PROFESSOR

 

In a recent conversation with a very close friend, I heard this response to part of our give-and-take, “Stop walking in your own shadow.” It stopped me in my tracks. I trust my friend and thus I knew my response had to be hurtful. I know that we all have a shadow side, but what shadowy part of me showed its ugly face? It was time to take stock … God again was gifting me another time to stop and reflect. It’s so true that God always takes the initiative.

I believe God wants us to participate with Christ in our lives. Participation is an active/experiential word. How best can I participate with Christ in life’s pilgrimage? This was another opportunity to transform myself to be more other-centered, which connects me/us with Jesus, the “Man for Others.” My shadow was showing me that I was caught up in myself. So, how do I respond to my shadow self? How do I become more other-centered?

I believe that the key to the answer is to “let go” of what is hindering me from a fuller life with God in Christ. Among other things, I am learning to live with the ambiguity of life and reality. The weeds and wheat grow together. But do I really believe I can be Christ-like without participating in the life of Jesus?

The letter to the Philippians (2: 1-13) contains for me one of the fundamental principles in being a Christian . . . “Put on the mind of Christ.” (“[L]et the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” 2:5). I’ve also become aware that many Christians find it easier to worship Jesus than to follow him.  Jesus came to challenge us to be and to do good, not to feel good nor admire him from a distance. Once I got out of my own head, which is a lifelong process, I realized I couldn’t do this alone. I need God and the Holy Spirit, and I need others in community.

Jesus, filled with the Spirit, came to bring about the kingdom/reign of God,  (in the desert he turned down a worldly kingdom) and died trying. And so are we called to do the same. God calls all of us to be saints, to be holy.

But what do saints do? They make the Gospels concrete. We all participate in God’s holiness. We are his creations and we all have his DNA flowing through us. So, where do we start? Prayer, of course.

Sister Joan Chittister reminds us that we don’t find time to pray, we have to take the time to pray. I also learned rather late in life that we don’t think ourselves into a new way of living. We live ourselves into a new way of thinking (Richard Rohr). Remember, when we pray it’s the Holy Spirit praying in us.

It is true that many, if not most of our prayers, are spontaneous. But how can we know if something comes from the Holy Spirit or if it stems from the spirit of “powers and principalities” or the spirit of Satan – or whatever you want to call it?

So, this time our prayer takes a different turn. It’s the prayer of discernment. Discernment begins by asking God to prepare us to pray: “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). Discernment is a grace, a gift of the Holy Spirit, and a spiritual practice. It’s a prayer in which we listen to the Lord, and to others, and to reality itself. It is the authentic process of letting go. Our discernment entails obedience to the gospel as the ultimate standard. In this prayer we become aware of God’s presence; we examine our daily/life’s journey. Nothing is off limits.

In the letter to the Philippians St. Paul tells us to work out our own salvation (v.12). Salvation demands sanctification, and for Christians that means obedience to the law of love; salvation needs to be worked out. It’s not finished, just as creation is not finished. Working it out means to live the beatitudes and perform the works of mercy of Matthew 25. It is and will be the Holy Spirit living and working in and through us.

Yes, we are called to be holy, but how will holiness become evident?

It’s manifested in us in many ways:

  • Holy people are joyful and have a sense of humor. A spirit of mellowness.
  • Holy people are prayerful: trust-filled with a sense of the need for silence to discern God’s voice.
  • Holiness is manifested in and with community: we mirror God who is dynamic community, the eternal dance, eternal relationship, the Trinity. (Thoughts of Fr. Ronald Rolheiser)

It’s ironic that our shadows show themselves on sunny days. So, let’s pray that we can stay one step ahead of our shadows by walking into the sun which keeps our shadow behind us. All of this is a way to help us become more other-centered, so that we can experientially participate in the life of Christ the “Man for Others.”

(As these thoughts reflect my own spiritual pilgrimage, I am grateful for the words and thoughts of many spiritual writers who have inspired me, as so many have come to fruition in my life which I share with you. Joan Chittister, Richard Rohr, Ronald Rolheiser, Thomas Merton, and the late Fr. George Deas. Thank you).

Philippians 2:1-13

2If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.