The Danger of the "Introspective Conscience," a Matthew Fox Daily Meditation (September 7, 2023)

Saint Augustine, Father of Introspective Theology

Frederick Turner, in his important study of the history of the Americas from the point of view of Native Americans, Beyond Geography, points out that ours is an “introspective” and therefore dangerous civilization. 

By “introspective” he means overly focused on ourselves and living without cosmos, without myth, without ritual worthy of the name. 

No wonder we find ourselves cosmically sad, cosmically lonely, cosmically destructive in our militarist vision of creating weapons to rain death on the rest of creation.  And busy destroying Mother Earth as we know her.  With a whole political party content with denying climate change.

Inner journeys are essential to get to our true selves.  But an exclusively inward one can look only at oneself or one’s culture and ignore the rest of the world.  There lies the death of cosmic spirituality and with it the death of Mother Earth.  The world does not need more inward journeys; but there are no limits to the inner journeys we can and ought to make.

Where does this inward compulsion come from?  Biblical scholar Krister Stendahl recognizes St. Augustine as the instigator of the “introspective conscience” of the West and feels the reading of the Bible has been distorted in the process.

Augustine was a genius in writing what was probably the first autobiography of the West, but he remains oblivious of the sense of theosis, the divinizing of the cosmos, that Eastern Christianity put forward as the very meaning of salvation.  Russian Orthodox theologian Nicolas Berdyaev writes:

The central idea of the Eastern fathers was that of theosis, the divinization of all creatures, the transfiguration of the world, the idea of the cosmos, and not the idea of personal salvation.

How different would history have been if Europeans landing on the shores of Turtle Island had held that understanding of religion?  

Is it a Matter of Innate Trust?

 

It seems to be an impossible task.  People and institutions are attempting to address and solve the problem of Climate Change.  But it seems we are going nowhere.  “U.N. report finds world isn’t curbing global warming.” (USA Today Network, “Way Off Track,” September 9, 2023, p. 1NN) 

Years ago we were visiting our family in San Francisco and on a Sunday morning, we woke up to the news of the Tsunami that hit Japan.  (March 11, 2011)  We went to Mass that morning expecting to hear about the plight of the people in Japan and the need for help.  The homilist said nothing.  After Mass I asked the Superior of the religious order that serves the church why nothing was said about the Tsunami.  He explained that the homilist was older and probably wasn’t aware of what had happened, but he himself did call their community’s house in Japan and learned that the priests were all ok.  I was stunned. 

On Monday our grade school age grandson whose father is of Japanese descent, reported that his teacher asked the class about the Tsunami.  Are you afraid, she asked?  I questioned our grandson, were you afraid?  No, he said.  If it happens here, the water is only going to come up to my knees, but I am worried about the people in Japan. 

Was our grandson telling us what Julian of Norwich said in the 14^th Century?  Despite war, plague, and persecution, Julian said, ‘All is well and will be well.’

Is this the answer to our anxiety about Climate Change? 

The Working Catholic: Sacraments by Bill Droel

 

The Christian denominations vary in their list of official sacraments. But restricting God’s instruments of grace to any official list is misguided, writes Fr. Robert Lauder in The Tablet of Brooklyn. He directs his readers to Bernard Cooke (1922-2013), particularly his Sacraments and Sacramentality (Twenty Third Publication, 1983).

The word “sacrament must be understood in a much broader sense,” writes Cooke.  Properly understood, “the most basic sacrament of God’s saving presence to human life is the sacrament of human love and friendship… Our experience of being truly personal with and for one another is sacramental… The human friendships we enjoy embody God’s love for us.” Some knowledge of and experience of the divine is gained through personal relationships, Cooke continues. 

Marriage is a prime example. It is an intense relationship between two people with God in the mix. Please understand, this does not mean that a couple is constantly aware of God. Nor is a sacramental marriage coated in frosting. There is discord and disappointment in the crucible of every marriage. Mutual revelation too. And hilarity and quiet joy. And, of course, marriage is the sacramentality of sex.

 A sacramental moment occurs as two friends meet every Monday morning at the diner or as four women meet after work on Friday for drinks. God is not explicitly mentioned. The conversations go here and there from the superficial to deeply personal. But love is lurking within every genuine friendship.

The sacrament of friendship is easily lost in our culture in which relationships are utilitarian. Companies and business managers too often think of employees only as an item on the expense ledger. Employees have little loyalty to a jobsite, moving-on with but a muffled goodbye. Our dominant culture likewise encourages utilitarian marriages negotiated on a quid pro quo basis. “I did this for you, so you should do this for me.” Or, “I disclosed my innermost feelings, so now it is your turn to do the same.” Real friendship, by contrast, is a free gift that expects nothing in return, though it is often richly rewarded.

Like all sacraments, friendship is public. This necessary public dimension is seen in marriage, symbolized by the honor extended to the guests at the wedding reception. There is a public function to casual friendships among drinking buddies, in accidental friendships among neighbors, and in the friendships within extended families and more. All of these relationships build-up our social fabric and pose a counter-narrative to individualism.

Plus, there is a type of friendship that is primarily public, what Aristotle termed philia. Public friendship is different from liking someone or sharing an interest in sports or a hobby. Its sacramental component is a care for another person’s well-being and character. Therefore, public friendship is concerned about the environment or institutions that shape people. Ultimately, it cares about the public good. It is civic affection, camaraderie, trust or civic happiness.

The opposite of public friendship is, again, transactional utilitarianism. There are far too many people afflicted by agnosia—the inability to recognize the human in the person in front of them. They go about their business and miss the meaning embedded in the day. Public friendship is the result of a culture of encounter. There is no “art of the deal” associated with it.

At times the issues of the day seem most important. Or the material to be covered in that afternoon’s class. Or the arrangement of the decorations in the meeting hall. Or the diagnosis of the problem with the faulty heater in late November. Yet, all of these things come-and-go. What endures is friendship. Friendship is prior to the issues, the charts, the tangle of wires under the desk, the staff shortage for the evening shift, the stack of papers or the traffic congestion on the expressway. Be open to the sacramental grace within friendship and all these things will be given you besides.

Public Friendship by Bill Droel is obtained from National Center for the Laity (PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629; $5).