ReImagine

Tuesday night 35 of us gathered for the first session of EXPERIMENTS IN TRUTH, a 40 day experiment in which we are inviting one another into the laboratory of personal transformation inspired by ancient themes of obedience, surrender and vows. (A vow is a tangible expression of good sentiment). We spent some time exploring some historic and scriptural background on the physicality of spiritual formation, including the relationship between our efforts and the work of the Spirit. As a group we went through a methodical process of developing our individual experiments. This process went something like this:

STEP ONE: EXAMINE YOUR LIFE. Where do you sense the greatest need for transformation in how you live in your body, mind, feelings, time, relationships, spending, possessions, and vocation? We wrote down the first things that came to our minds—and reminded each other that the goal of examen is not shame, but to hear the kind invitation from our maker into rest and more fulfilling paths.

STEP TWO: IDENTIFY THE PRIORITY CHANGES YOU DESIRE.  We looked through our lists and circled the three life energy areas where we sensed the greatest need for transformation. For each we considered how the teaching of Jesus and the ancient scripture speaks to that issue. Then we thought about the habits and systems of choices that have perpetuated the patterns we seek to change.

STEP THREE: DESIGN YOUR EXPERIMENT. We spent time alone and then in pairs brainstorming specific experiments to address the issues we identified—including actions we will abstain from and engage in over the next 40 days.

STEP FOUR: COMMIT TO YOUR PLAN: We worked through the details of our experiments in dyads, putting them down in writing, and signed them as a contract. (Some groups finished and others took theirs home to complete).

A FEW WORDS OF FOCUS & ENCOURAGEMENT:

On face value, these experiments might seem to be more about our effort than God’s intervention. What we are primarily exploring in this Learning Lab are the themes of obedience and submission. There is a point at which transformation requires brute effort and obedience—a change of will reflected in a change of behavior.  Even God cannot go against your will—the power that has been given to you to rule in the kingdom of your body, time, feelings, mind, relationships, money and vocation.  

At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus concluded with a story about wise and foolish builders, suggesting that his message could only be transformative for people who took action to live in the reality of the kingdom he described. With Experiments in Truth we are gently confronted with our responsibility to cooperate with the work of the Spirit by surrendering to the rule of love in the details of our lives. We are trying to act more in line with reality than the fantasy or nightmare world we partially have created for ourselves.  It is an experiment in TRUTH because the message of Jesus calls us into the light of God’s presence, power and care in our world and in our lives.

Through your experiments the next 40 days you are confronting some long-standing habits that you have determined are barriers to flowing in the way of generativity and love. Don’t be surprised if you experience some resistance from your body, your mind and perhaps from some of the people in your life. It is both liberating and discomforting to experiment with new patterns of action.  You can do it! You were made with the power to choose! There may be struggle, but a new way is possible.

REINVENTION!

Cities like San Francisco seem to attract people who wish to reinvent themselves. I’ve seen professional women dressed in financial district attire abruptly change careers, becoming massage therapists or hippy mamas. I watched my 38-year old neighbor, a slacker covered in tattoos, morph into a successful businessman and real estate tycoon. I saw a shy and awkward young women from small town America transform herself into a hipster scene diva in only six months! We are enthralled and inspired by the possibilities of reinvention. But quitting a job, getting a haircut or buying new clothes is often the easiest part. What is more difficult is learning to become a new person from the inside out—discovering new motivations, breaking old habits or finding a source of energy and love that is greater than your own.

One of the reasons Jesus became such a popular teacher among the poor and discontent of his day is that he awakened their hope that “a new way is possible.” Perhaps our fascination with reinvention stems from the deeper longing we have for “newness” to come to our lives—to experience greater freedom, creativity, purpose, vitality, healing, and restoration. Jesus spoke of a new power for living in the reality of the reign of love that can be accessed immediately. He even had the audacity to say, “the kingdom of God is within you.” How can we learn to tap into the generative energy of the Spirit that already dwells in the nearest place of our being? The path Jesus offered his listeners was, “Repent!” In Hebrew this implies “to return” & “to feel sorrow” and the Greek term “metanoia” suggests “to think differently after…  to have a change of mind and heart.” In contemporary vernacular we might say, “Dream up your whole life again! Reinvent yourself. Rethink your whole way of being! Reimagine!” 

Reinvention can sound exciting until you realize that transformation may require painful soul surgery and ongoing therapy of mind and body. We begin to imagine a new way first by considering what the old and tired patterns are that need to change. This practice, sometimes called examin, is illustrated by this ancient prayer:  “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Once you recognize what specifically needs reinvented or reimagined, you can formulate a plan about how you will seek to cooperate with the generative work of the Spirit.

Right now you might be thinking, “Wait, that sounds like hard work? Wouldn’t it be better if I could take a little pink pill or have God magically change me?”  Yes, that would be easier, but you would be missing an essential truth--We were made to cooperate and collaborate with our creator. You have been given great authority and powerful life energy—a mind, body, time, resources, presence in relationships, and natural and cultivated talents. In fact you aren’t far from being a god yourself! But you have probably developed destructive ways of using your essential life energies.  Reinvention and transformation requires that you learn to use your essential life energies in new ways—doing what you are capable of doing to direct and discipline your body, your mind, your resources, your time and talents. If you do what you have the power to do, the creator will do what you cannot. In this way, grace is not opposed to effort and action. This is why one of the earlier followers of Jesus wrote, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who works in you to will and to act according to [God’s] good purpose.” The new way to be human is about learning to surrender your life energy to the way of love. This involves taking risks and experimenting with new ways to channel your life energy.

Mahatma Gandhi subtitled his biography “The story of my experiments with truth.” He saw the details of his daily life as a laboratory for learning how to love God and people. Since ancient times earnest spiritual seekers have explored how to discipline their minds and bodies—leveraging their lives towards a greater purpose. An early advocate of the way of Jesus wrote to his apprentice, “train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”  Jesus serves as a model of a life formed by absolute surrender to love. Dallas Willard memorably suggests:

 “The star performer himself didn’t achieve excellence by trying to behave in a certain way only during the game. Instead, he chose an overall life of preparation of mind and body, pouring all his energies into that total preparation...And in this truth lies the secret of the easy yoke: the secret involves living as [Jesus] lived in the entirety of his life-- adopting his overall lifestyle. Following “in his steps” cannot be equated with behaving as he did when he was “on the spot.” To live as Christ lived is to live as he did all of his life....the secret of the standard, historically proven spiritual disciplines is precisely that they do respect and count on the bodily nature of human personality.” (From Spirit of the Disciplines)

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Matthew 11: 28-30