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'Always Already Present' |
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On a sunny afternoon not too many Mays ago, the Clarke College Kehl Center was alive with hope as my class, the College's 161st graduating class, was sent out into the world. It was during my four years at Clarke that I began to understand what spirituality really is: our way of being in relationship with a universe that exists within a God whose very essence is love. There are a few presuppositions that this connotation of spirituality assumes. First is the understanding that spirituality is both personal and communal. It is personal in how I as an individual relate to the cosmos through choices both simple and complex, from what television programs to watch to what career to follow. Spirituality is communal in how the social structures and systems to which I belong live out our collective choices. Second is a belief that spirituality is supported by a web of mutual relationships: I listen openly to all so that I can learn from the wisdom of everyone. In this model of spirituality, I am not trying to gain power over another person or group, and because of this I do not feel threatened by those who are ‘different' from me. Third is the notion that spirituality is not a static state of existence, but rather a dynamic process of becoming, a becoming whose purpose is salvation: being freed from all that which prevents us from being fully aware of God's presence among us.1 One way in which I am freed is by letting go of the patriarchal model of kingdom, and adopting a familial kin-dom model which still emphasizes the already and not yet tension of God's nearness. The kin-dom of God is fully among us whenever we concretely live out the call to love our neighbors as ourselves. It is not yet because the human community in this time and place continues to make choices that thwart others from realizing the abundance of God's loving presence in the here and the now. Fourth is an acknowledgment that spirituality is participative. I cannot simply allow it to happen to me. I must actively develop and nourish my spirituality by using a variety of methods such as personal reading and prayer, spiritual direction, BVM/Associate Cluster dialogues, and by working for peace with justice. Ultimately, I shape my spirituality by making decisions which build up the kin-dom of God. Habits of Being From these four presuppositions of a relational spirituality flow four habits of being that I am called to live out in my daily life. The first is a habit of freedom. This is not a freedom from the ordinary and quotidian, but a freedom that exists within these realities. It is only through my day to day experience that I can know what it is to “be freed and to help others enjoy freedom in God's steadfast love.”2 In my own life I strive to live out the habit of freedom through working for peace with justice by protesting militarism and by attending the annual SOA/WHISC demonstration. Because I am supported and empowered by my communities, I am freed to stand up for what I believe to be right. Education is the second habit of being. My goal as a Director of Faith Formation is to help parishioners develop a more intimate relationship with God so that they too can know what it is to be freed within the context of this relationship. I do this by frequently asking my students what is going on in their lives, and how God is present in those events. Living as a person of charity is the third habit of being. Through my experience of God's greatness, I have shifted from a mentality of scarcity in which there are not enough resources for everyone to a mentality of abundance in which God has blessed the universe with everything that is necessary for lives of dignity. The most wonderful of all the gifts God has given is self revealing love, of which there is more than enough for everyone. For me, the most important habit is the habit of justice. The belief that I am in relationship with a cosmos made in the image and likeness of God influences every decision I make. I know the outcomes of my choices will affect more than just me. Furthermore, everything I think, say, and do has the potentiality to either build up or tear down my relationship with the beings of the universe. Therefore, I strive to act in ways which bring about justice for all, from simple activities such as recycling, to more complex decisions such as how I invest my financial resources. Twelve years of Catholic education left me with a vague notion of spirituality based on an ‘out there' God who was accessible only through Christ Because of my Clarke education, however, I began to experience spirituality in a new way. Central to this experience is a belief in cosmic relationships rooted in an always already present God. Endnotes
About the author: Dan Abben, BVM Associate, is a graduate of Clarke College and is currently the Director of Faith Formation at St. Columbkille Parish in Dubuque, Iowa. Return to Table of Contents. |
