Spiritualism - Lesson #18

Spiritualism - Lesson #18

This lesson gave a challenging assessment of the personal qualities needed for ministry. We are human-beings with human-limitations but there can be no room for pride or self-serving in ministry as if we possess all the answers; our motivation should be to serve others in humility gaining rapport through listening and empathy. But as the writer of the course makes clear we have no means of knowing what motivates someone into ministry, charity-work or any other profession if it comes to that. As one charity worker once said about volunteers working for their organisation: "volunteers need us as much as we need them." People are driven by powerful unseen forces e.g. guilt, insecurity, inferiority, superiority, regret and loss etc. I repeat what I said above that we are human; consequently we all wear masks.
During this course it soon became apparent that much of the material presented was subjective rather than objective in tone so it was informative to read that the writer had intended this. Since time began everyone who has ever lived has had an opinion which they've either keep to themselves or sought to force on others. Because of that it's a wonder that agreement about anything has ever been obtained. Emanating from the subconscious self-interest is a powerful motivator craftily manifesting itself as concern for others. It's part of the human-condition which we would do well to be mindful of. While a person's thoughts cannot be known one only has to look on social media to see the kind of destructive, critical comments people hurl at others from the anonymity of a computer. And it's noteworthy that when those who make such comments are traced by the authorities they're often embarrassed or remorseful at the distress they've caused. With that sobering thought ringing in the ears anyone responding to a "call" to ministry should not be surprised to find themselves in the cross-hairs of critics who "think they know better" and get great delight from kicking the legs out from under us. That may be so hard to bear it may well precipitate a collapse into the darkness of despair. It is not unknown that when a person shows compassion to another they are accused of being "holier than thou" by people hiding from something deep within themselves. Again, we are all human on a journey trying to make sense of life's mystery – and we all come to that journey from different directions.
I have both the Republic and the Crito which have so much to teach about human-nature, people and their problems. And it's interesting that during the final hours of his life Socrates, surrounded by his friends all urging him not to drink the poison, was composed and serene within himself – casually drinking the poison before laying down to die. As a man who confessed to knowing nothing Socrates calmly told his friends that if there was another life beyond death that was fine; likewise if death was nothing but a long sleep that was fine too. To have arrived at that point of contentment within himself with neither regret nor remorse and without heaping blame on the authorities for sentencing him to death Socrates showed great fortitude, courage and a quiet contentment that comes from the assurance of not needing to strive to know anything – that kind of "certainty" is beyond all of us. Yet for many people "fear," with its gnawing-partner "doubt" drives us to cling to life at all costs; yet we know so little about what life is. And here I agree with the writer that we know nothing – nothing meaningful that will survive our time here. For example as a people we have no idea how this planet got here or who may have been here before us – and we will never know that. We can look at Mars through a telescope and speculate whether life existed there billions of years ago; and we can measure, weigh and observe the universe in which we live yet we will only ever scratch the surface of "knowing" anything. The best we can do as far as "certainty" is concerned is concur with Euclid who discovered that in any triangle the internal angles always add up to 180 and that a straight line can be drawn between any two points. But that's hardly earth-shattering knowledge nor even discovering that "pie" is an infinite number. Maybe the best we can say about that is that a mere mortal, Euclid, was able to glimpse something of the immortal.
As a minister my "calling" came out of an acute crisis that almost brought about psychological collapse. But that's not a bad place from which to start - in a heap on the floor. But it was a great leveller. Today, in my preaching ministry I do not hold to any feelings of grandeur; quite the reverse I consider myself inadequate and therefore dependant on God! For those who've been to the "bottom" will recognise that these thoughts, though irrational and silly, are difficult to override. For me it means that every service I conduct (and I've been preaching for around 25 years) and every funeral I preside at I feel incredibly weak and vulnerable. But as the Apostle Paul said: "when I am weak then I am strong" – that is very much my testimony. If knowing oneself is the aim of philosophy I have a long way to go to get there – but not that many years left to complete the journey. The Bible has a verse which says: "If God is for us who can be against us?" My reply is: "myself" I can be my own worst enemy, critic, judge, jury, jailor and cynic. To believe in oneself is probably the hardest concept for me to hold to. Others too may feel the same way as we all carry baggage with us loaded upon us by parents, teachers and others in authority who were labouring under their own heavy burdens. In that sense no-one can know anything about anything that hasn't first come to us through the prism of someone else's prejudice. But those who have been through the mill and survived the dark-night of faith are often the most dedicated, gifted and empathic ministers having been to the bottom and survived. That is the story-line running through the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures so we are in good company.
The plight of others can be so moving it lays on the bleeding-heart a desire to help. I watched a programme on TV the other day about people who drink themselves to oblivion. They wasted their money, were reckless with their health; their lives; their careers; their families and their prospects. Yet they were broken people with heart-rending stories and as sick in body and mind as anyone with a physical illness. Their injuries were mostly self-inflicted yet so sad and moving to watch; these people were God's children (all sharing the image of God) suffering deep traumas often because they weren't able to face the truth about themselves. And I guess that most people would see something of themselves in them. Philosophy asks questions and builds on the insights of those who went before them. Yet how often those insights were manipulated to gain power over others. We may be able to change society but human-nature is constant and cannot be altered so there will always be those who seek to lord it over others. For many life is a riddle. It's as if we've been deposited on this planet not knowing where we came from and so left puzzling what cannot be fathomed. Some people seek answers in science; others bury their heads in activity; still others drink (or take drugs) to dull their fears and insecurities. Words are inadequate to express these gnawing feelings although poetry does help by painting pictures of the obscure. Our task in ministry is to meet people where they to support them in their dilemmas shining a light on the way ahead that they might find their way to the "Spirit." Speaking personally the answer is found in God. That doesn't mean I have some kind of higher knowledge than other people and should I be tempted to think otherwise the Apostle Paul has some helpful words here: "I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to" (Rom. 12:3). So this is obviously a perennial problem! As as ministers we are merely guides pointing the way. In the work we do we may be ridiculed, laughed-at, ignored or side-lined but we take for our example the "Suffering Servant" of Isaiah – who though rejected and abused was vindicated and rewarded. So too will those who serve others faithfully (with humility and compassion) from the heart.
Rog

1st May 2016