| Introduction |
Friends:
We usually do not finalize the goals of our Monday night studies until
we have had at least one time to exchange with each other, face to face.
Here then are my notes of the opening presentation last evening. They should
help those attending and those observing via the list and the website,
to see what we are about.
Following these short notes is an outline of the goals of the course and
characteristics of the books we are studying, as well as a possible learning
project you may wish to call your own.
Wayne |
| Contemplation and Action |
Central Themes of the Course:
Thomas Merton and Oscar Romero were 20th century spiritual masters who
learned to integrate contemplation and action. They changed the way we
now understand both. We hope that during this eight week series we will
be able to engage in:
- Holy Manners
- Holy Silence
- Holy Moments
Unlike many of the courses we lead, Jock and I hope that we will be able
to discover truth both by experiencing and though the use of our cogative
faculties. By following the writings of Merton and Romero we want to be
contemplative and active, together.
What are you best at - reflection or action? Many people say they favour
one - or are more adept at one - over the other. The truth is that by focusing
on one over against the other we ignore an important dimension of living.
We can do both better and our mentors for this course can help us.
In the Danish Lutheran tradition, familiar to some in our group (for example
Marjorie Gibson) there seemed to be two types of Christians. One were known
as Holy Danes, and the other, as Happy Danes.
The Holy Danes tended to be culture-rejecting. They were pietistic and
quietistic. The Happy Danes were inclined to be culture-engaging. They
were secularists and activists.
The former thought they could best live their faith by turning away from
the world, and by focusing on their Christian communities that emphasised
piety and prayerfulness - much like you may recall was portrayed in the
movie Babettes Feast, before Babette turned everything upside down with
her decadent french cuisine!
The latter were open to everything that was happening in the world. Today,
we would call them secularist folk who believed that life should be fully
engaged - the good with the bad - and not shunned or demonized.
Soren Kiekegaard (1813-1855) a founder of modern existentialist philosophy, made it is mission
to prick holes in the balloons of both Holy and Happy Danes. He challenged
the existing dichotomy between holiness and happiness and the hypocrisy
he found existing in both approaches. He called for a healthy integration
of the two, and bound them together in what has come to be known as modern
religious existentialism.
What are you best at? Where do you prefer to focus most of your energies?
- being or doing?
- reflection or action?
- personal or social salvation?
We hope to challenge you during this course, by zeroing in on some of the
radical (or basic and essential) spiritual discoveries of Thomas Merton
and Oscar Romero. They integrated both contemplation and action to create
for themselves a spirituality for the long haul.
|
| Course Goals |
COURSE GOALS
1. To receive the spiritual gifts that Thomas Merton and Oscar Romero offer
in their books: Thomas Merton: Essential Writings (and) Oscar Romero: Reflections
on His Life and Writings.
2. To discover how both Merton and Romero reflected a spirituality of contemplation
and action.
3. To grow and support one another in a relational learning community that
practices authentic hospitality, holy manners and a spirituality that integrates
contemplation and action.
4. To use our discoveries to select and practice effective ministries of
justice and peace.
5. To combine content sessions, contemplative experiences, plenary and
small group discussion as desired by the participants.
6. To see this is part of an individual lifelong learning activity of spiritual
development and growth in faith.
PURPOSE OF THE BOOKS IN THIS STUDY
1. To develop an awareness, through their stories and writings, of how
Merton and Romero shaped their contemplative experiences into spiritualities
of compassion for justice and peace.
2. To appreciate how both men helped to define the meaning of spirituality
in the 20th century.
3. To see spirituality and mysticism as means of bridge-building and connection
between persons of differing faith traditions within and beyond Christianity.
A KEY CHARACTERISTIC OF THIS COURSE
Learning how Merton and Romero integrated the spiritual disciplines of
contemplation and action into a vocation of justice and peacemaking.
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