The heartbeat of life…

Posted by David Ward on 27/11/2010
Posted in: In the Media, Pilgrimage. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
— Annie Dillard

As travelling is to the pilgrim, so is rhythm to life. Rhythm is , it seems, hard-wired into the whole of creation. Day and night, the seasons, the cycle of birth and death, the ebb and flow of the tides, sleep and wakefulness…all serve as reminders of the rhythm of our world.

Human beings work best when they appreciate that we are creatures made to live in harmony with these natural rhythms. Alas, there is often a conscious effort to subvert or ignore these rhythms, particularly in the worlds of  production and the city. Lighting and central heating make it possible to ignore day and night and even the seasonal changes to some degree. The 24/7 culture and the shift system wring the last penny or the last bit of work out of those who are its captives. In such a society it is not long before we see signs that the physical, mental and spiritual health of people begins to suffer.

Monastic life at its best has long stood as a prophetic symbol of a life of rhythm lived in harmony. The rhythm of prayer, work, rest and recreation are built into the system, and many people in our modern world have began to appreciate that what was seen as antiquated and outmoded actually has something to teach us, if we’re willing to look, listen and learn. The popularity of BBC television’s “The Monastery” and the proliferation of programmes and books on ‘monasticism-for-today’ that followed it are evidence that there is a hunger for a return to the sanity of rhythm and the wholeness it can bring. “New Monasticism”, where groups of believers are reinterpreting monasticism for today, has become part of the movement to discover contemporary ways of being church.

Monastic rhythm has at its heart two fundamental ideas. They are: a Rule of Life and a Rhythm of Prayer (or fixed hour prayer, as some call it). A Rule of Life brings balance to the pattern of our life over the course of a day, a month and a year. It is a way of ensuring that we get times of busy-ness and times of rest, times of receiving and times of giving out and times for ourselves, for others and for God in our lives. A Rhythm of Prayer is really a part of that overall Rule, but provides useful ‘punctuation points’ within the day to pull us up and keep us on track. This is a huge subject and I will probably return here with some of my own experiences of trying to live this way at some point (if I don’t get distracted!).

Although there are many books to help here, I have found the writings of Robert Benson to be particularly helpful, particularly his book about the Rule of St Benedict, “A Good Life” and his book on fixed hour prayer, “In Constant Prayer”. The Grove Booklet “Finding a Personal Rule of Life” may also be helpful. A quick search online will bring up huge lists on these subjects, evidence of their current importance.

Eliminate risk…die slowly inside…

Posted by David Ward on 26/11/2010
Posted in: Personal thoughts, Pilgrimage. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The stage of ‘life as pilgrimage’ that corresponds to the geographical pilgrimage stage of “Leaving” is risk taking.

RiskIn these days of health and safety and risk assessment there seems to be a genuine attempt to destroy our sense of adventure. Risk, by it’s very nature, is not totally predictable…in the right circumstances that’s what makes it so desperately attractive, as well as potentially…risky!

Every new choice we make requires us to be prepared to put our money where our mouth is, to step out into the unknown, to risk failure as well as success…even if we’ve weighed it all up and have some degree of security that it won’t all go pear-shaped.

Remove risk by legislating against it, or by personally being more secure with the ‘known’, the ‘familiar’ and we run the risk of part of us dying inside, even though we may be safe and secure from actual physical harm.

Every choice we make must be matched by an equal willingness to go, to do whatever it is we’ve purposed to do. The relationship, the new venture, the change of career, the move to a new location all have a degree of predictable security about them, but ultimately we are required to take the risk that we don’t have it all sewn up.

This is how we grow, and how we learn to survive even the bad risks…by taking the risk in the first place!

The Spiral of Life…

Posted by David Ward on 25/11/2010
Posted in: Pilgrimage. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment 

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life
Elton John from “The Lion King”

As a said a couple of posts ago, in the post called “Geography or Life”, there is a way of viewing many of the processes that we all go on as steps along the pilgrim path to wholeness and maturity as a person. This is not so much a linear process, like a geographical pilgrimage or even a circular one, like the stages in our life cycle from birth to old age and death. It’s more like a spiral, where within any one life event we may come back to a previous step many times before we progress on to “resolve” or “absorb” the event. I gave a hint as to what these “steps” might be, and how they might correspond to the stages of a geographical pilgrimage.

Geographical Life Cycle “Life”
Preparing Childhood Decisions
Leaving Adolescence Risk-taking
Travelling 20s/30s Rhythm
Arriving Middle Age Closure/Resolution
Returning Empty nest/Midlife Crisis Change
Remembering Old Age Learning
I thought the table might refresh memories and help to make comparisons and correlations.
Decision making is perhaps the fundamental activity which launches the process of change and therefore of growth or lack of growth in our lives. Decisions may be good or bad, may lead to personal growth or stagnation, cannot be taken without considering the effect our decision will have on others (unless we’re totally selfish and self-centred). Any single life event may involve an astonishing array of decisions, some very simple and others incredibly complex. Those of us who pray appreciate the help and guidance we may gain from God as we, as often unconsciously as consciously face the bewildering array of decisions that life brings us.
How do we make decisions, especially the more complex ones? What moral and ethical standards do we apply? Do we seek advice and how do we weigh it? What about the decisions that need to be made in a split second, where we don’t have the luxury of a long process? How does the process of successful prior decision making affect the emergency decisions? And so on…more questions than answers.
And of course, every decision, especially those that require action, open us up to a degree of risk taking…