Friday May 14, 2010

insight on small groups

by Tim Scorer

ORDINARY PEOPLE'S EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCES OF THE SACRED

This wonderfully descriptive title is actually the subtitle of Paul Hawker's book, Secret Affairs of the Soul . Hawker is clear that we can't make these mystical and peak experiences happen of our own volition; they are extraordinary precisely because they exist beyond our ordinary capacity to initiate them. However, we can put ourselves into sacred places such as Hawker's New Zealand mountainside where we become more attuned to the activity of spirit and the aliveness of our own soul.

Although we often associate these mystical moments with a solitary wilderness, such as Jesus experienced during the forty days when he was led by the Spirit into the desert, the gospel writers time and again draw our attention to the ease with which Spirit addresses the depths of our souls in community, particularly a community that in our time we might refer to as a small group. Let's turn to just one of those in John 21:1-9.

It's a small group made up of seven of Jesus' disciples. Here they are with their fisherman name tags already on:

After this, Jesus appeared again to the disciples, this time at the Tiberias Sea (the Sea of Galilee). This is how he did it: Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed "Twin"), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the brothers Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.

The group facilitator gets things underway: Simon Peter announced, "I'm going fishing."

And the process of the group life is underway: The rest of them replied, "We're going with you." They went out and got in the boat.

And off they go doing what they know best. Their anticipation, as night fishermen, is that they will come on a school of fish attracted to their boat by the light hanging off the stern. They hang in with one another but when the dawn light begins to spread across the sea they become dispirited, ready to return to shore after what seems like a wasted night. They caught nothing that night.

It feels like one of those times when the members of the group have acted with all their skill and instinct but without the kind of outcome that would have justified the expenditure of all that time and energy. And now it seems too late; time is up, the productive dark has gone. Then something, apparently quite ordinary, intervenes in the flatness of their group life:

When the sun came up, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn't recognize him. Jesus spoke to them: "Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast?"
They answered, "No."
He said, "Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens."

As they consider what seems like a useless suggestion, you can imagine one voice chiming up with listless encouragement: “OK, boys, what have we got to lose?”

They did what he said. All of a sudden there were so many fish in it, they weren't strong enough to pull it in.

This is what we've been longing for! It's not just a few fish. No, this is extraordinary; more than we could even imagine based on all our previous experience. Don't you get a visceral sense of what Hawker and many other spiritual writers and storytellers mean by extraordinary experiences of the sacred?

Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, "It's the Master!"

That stunning moment of recognition! The moment you know that this is not of the group's making. There is something there on the shore that's way beyond our capacity to initiate or even imagine.

How do we get there in our small group practices? If we take our cues from the biblical narrative, these would seem to be some of the operative principles:

• Just be yourselves. Interact in ways that are familiar and full of respect for who you already are;
• When someone suggests that you do something that is outside the norm for the group, take a chance, even though the rational you says it's a useless waste of time;
• When something amazing happens that is clearly not of the group's making, make sure you announce it so that there is no doubt that everyone is included in the wonder;
• Take time to talk about what happened so that the fullness of the event has been witnessed and integrated by all whose presence brought it about.

Scripture taken from The Message by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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insight on spirit-centred leadership

by Tim Scorer

LEADING WHILE EXPECTING EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCES OF THE SACRED

I wonder if there is anything to be learned about spirit-centred leadership as this biblical story continues? I don't know, but in the expectation of some spirit-centred insight, let's continue with the story.

When Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea. The other disciples came in by boat for they weren't far from land, a hundred yards or so, pulling along the net full of fish.

Notice that spirit-centred leadership is sometime impetuous, insisting that we just “dive in” – sometimes taking time to get dressed before doing so! And sometimes it's full of care and thought as someone rallies the team to bring ashore all that has been netted through whatever the group's experience has been.

When they got out of the boat, they saw a fire laid, with fish and bread cooking on it. Jesus said, "Bring some of the fish you've just caught."

Be attentive to the diversity of human need in community. In the provision of food and in the sharing of a meal, there will be transformation of body and of soul. Invite the members of the community to share the riches of gifts they have on hand.

Simon Peter joined them and pulled the net to shore – 153 big fish! And even with all those fish, the net didn't rip.

Keep watching for every opportunity to keep the process unfolding: joining, pulling, counting, whatever it takes. It seems as though the extraordinary experience of the sacred, this affair of the soul, may not be over in a flash; it may be like a birth that takes time and the patience of a midwife.

Jesus said, "Breakfast is ready." Not one of the disciples dared ask, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Master. Jesus then took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus had shown himself alive to the disciples since being raised from the dead.

Sometimes way more can be achieved in leadership through action than through talking. Sometimes the offering of a piece of bread may say way more than a thousand words ever could.

After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"
"Yes, Master, you know I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
He then asked a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
"Yes, Master, you know I love you."
Jesus said, "Shepherd my sheep."
Then he said it a third time: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, "Do you love me?" so he answered, "Master, you know everything there is to know. You've got to know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.”

In addition to ritual and symbolic action, make time for liturgies of meaning and faithfulness. When we engage with one another and with the Holy through the cadences, rhythms, patterns, and metaphors of symbolic language, we transcend the ordinary and open ourselves to affairs of the soul, both individually and communally.

I'm telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you'll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don't want to go." He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, "Follow me."

Recognize the diversity of human community and the demands that are placed on humans at various stages of their journey. This is a place of profound vulnerability, the place where Jesus says “follow me” and means it.

Scripture taken from The Message by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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insight on spiritual practice: Holy Listening

by Lois Huey-Heck

We’re nervous about telling our stories of numinous encounter – and with some good reason. Paul Hawker is not naïve about the potential risk of sharing such stories yet he encourages thoughtful sharing of these profound experiences that we might support and encourage each other and that these treasures not remain hidden away.

Near the end of the book Hawker writes, “Most treated their (soul encounter) as a special gift. Some said their religious convictions had been confirmed and strengthened. Some said it affirmed their faith, making it deeper but less well defined. Others completely rejected a religious explanation. Regardless of the individual interpretations, the overwhelming majority felt they were better people because of their (soul experience). Feeling good about oneself may sound selfish and inward looking, but in gaining inner peace and contentment they found they were freer to think less about themselves and to look more towards others.” – Secret Affairs of the Soul pp. 206-207

Research cited in Secret Affairs of the Soul reveals a surprisingly high percentage of “regular" people reported having numinous experience. Researchers also found a marked increase in the percentage of people who would admit to and talk about such experiences when a person (an interviewer in this case) visited the individual in their home and spent an hour hearing and recording the story of their numinous experience.

There is a wisdom that teaches that we can "listen another into speaking." It’s a great gift to receive and to offer this kind of safe and sacred space. We are called to enter care-fully and respectfully, with a commitment to non-judgment and openness to mystery.

THE INVITATION 

Step One: Honor your own story.
Book an appointment with yourself as soon as possible (or take the time right now if you can.) Recall a time when you have had a numinous experience and re-member the experience in as much detail as you can. Recall the particulars of the moment – where you were, how it came about and what you experienced. As you revisit the experience, observe everything, be aware of any sensation in your body (either in the present moment or from memory of the experience), and invite yourself to feel again whatever feelings may have arisen (past or present). Stay present to “it” as long as needed. Respond to your remembered experience in some tangible way such as writing, sketching/painting, or “taking it for a walk.”

Madeleine L’Engle once wrote that we only have one moment of “knowing” a certain truth and ever after what we have is the memory of that knowing. I find myself to be a forgetful creature and a lot of my spiritual practice is about remembering.

Step Two: Honour the story of another.
Grounded in your own remembered experience, offer the gift of holy listening to another. Once you have set your intention to "listen another into speaking,” an opportunity may arise quite spontaneously. Or you may be intentional about arranging time to visit with someone for the purpose of spiritual conversation. Or you may be more "formal” about this and arrange to share such stories with a soul friend. A mentor and friend of mine has a special arrangement where he meets with a trusted soul friend for two hours: the first hour he listens and the second hour he tells his sacred stories.

To "listen another into speaking" is obviously honouring of the person who shares their story. It’s also a most profound gift to be the hearer of such a story.

Through such intentional holy listening we honour each other and honour our sacred experiences. We also honour the immanent and transcendent One who sometimes breaks through our distractedness and resistance and surprises us with glimpses of eternity.

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insight on authors - Paul Hawker

by Ellen Turnbull

Paul Hawker is a non-fiction television writer/producer. His films have covered topics from social issues to shipwrecks. Recent screen credits include National Geographic’s Taboo; Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters; and Investigation Discovery Channel’s Deadly Women. Paul lives in Australia and has three adult sons.

In 1996 Paul embarked on a solitary journey to the treacherous Tararua Mountain range in New Zealand. He left behind family and friends for 40 days and nights and opened himself to “The Source,” listening for the voice of God speaking in the silence and amidst the inner voices of ego. Paul’s experiences on the mountain are told passionately and honestly in the book Soul Quest (Northstone 2007) (originally released as Soul Survivor in 1998).

Following his experience of the sacred, Paul sought to discover others who had had encounters with the divine, or affairs of the soul as he refers to them in his 2000 book Secret Affairs of the Soul: Ordinary people’s extraordinary experiences of the sacred . Paul gathered stories from people himself and delved into the scientific evidence generated by the Religious Experience Unit at Oxford University. He offers accounts of synchronicity, feeling a guiding hand, answered prayers, and mystical and peak experiences from ordinary lives. He also speaks to the difficulty of finding language with which to express these experiences and offers some suggestions to readers.

Ten years after the publication of Secret Affairs of the Soul, I was curious about Paul’s current perceptions around the topic of experiential spirituality.

WLP: In Secret Affairs of the Soul, you write that “…spiritual release comes to those who can embrace total powerlessness while at the same time feeling no fear.” In Soul Quest it seems to me that you gave yourself over to The Source many times. Is this still a spiritual practice for you? How does it manifest in your life? Are you feeling less fear?

Paul: I’d love to be able to say that I “let go and let God” but I have to admit it is a really patchy exercise – even in solitude – especially when I am immersed among colleagues, family, and friends where life comes at me so quick and fast. I suppose the big difference is that I no longer accept so much personal responsibility for all that goes on in my world. I’m not sure if that’s because I’m getting older and mellower or it really is the accumulation of trusting “otherness” more. But yes, I have kept surrendering my ego – albeit with GREAT reluctance. I think it has reduced the fear in my life, but then again I am not sure. Ask me when someone with a lab coat, a clipboard, and a stethoscope announces, “We have the results of your test and they’re not great!”

I am sure that how each of us surrenders is totally different; however, the William James quote I used in Soul Quest (page 78) is a fine summary of what’s required and the rewards therein.

Give up the feeling of responsibility, let go your hold, resign the care of your destiny to higher powers, be genuinely indifferent as to what becomes of it all and you will find not only that you gain a perfect inward relief, but often also, in addition, the particular goods you sincerely thought you were renouncing.

WLP: In the ten years since Secret Affairs of the Soul was published, have you noticed a difference in how experiential spirituality is perceived or received? Has its credibility increased or decreased?

Paul: Unfortunately, I think awareness of experiential spirituality has diminished over the last decade. That’s really sad because experiential spirituality is where there may be some answers to the statements Richard Dawkins and other popular atheists pose. But as I wrote in Secret Affairs of the Soul, religion, academia, and popular culture have little knowledge of the commonality of spiritual experiences and are consequently disinterested in pursuing it. This means by and large we still keep our privatized religious/spiritual experiences to ourselves.

Gosh, it all sounds rather serious and depressing doesn’t it! I suppose at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter – we know what we know to be true and our spiritual experiences don’t need scrutiny or explanation. That truth is in stories, laughter, music, and making loving, life affirming choices for ourselves and those we love.

WLP: A couple of days after posing the above questions, I went back to Paul with one last question: Are you still hearing from people who have spiritual experiences, or are you still researching this? Do you see some way of bringing this (experiential spirituality) out of the closet?

Paul: I came across a great quote yesterday in David Mamet’s book, True and False: “Those of you with nothing to fall back on, you will find, are home.” Wow – that’s the essence of the William James quote I sent to you. It’s also the message of Jesus’ beatitudes as translated in Eugene Peterson’s The Message.

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and [God’s] rule. You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

Lately, I’ve been getting more involved with feature film scripting and it’s amazing how many spiritual “truths” I come across as I explore the practice of screenwriting – especially David McKee’s Story. No wonder De Mello, Jesus, and others used stories! It’s true; stories are the shortest distance between a human being and the truth! It’s such a privilege to be a writer of stories – such a spiritual occupation.

But to answer your question, no, I don’t hear much from people about their spiritual experiences. They are just as secret as they have ever been and I am at a loss to know what to do about bringing them out of the “closet.” However, I don’t find this depressing. I look for their manifestation in other places. As I suggested in Secret Affairs of the Soul, I believe our soul affairs are given expression through music, art, books, stories, and especially in the “temples of our time” – cinemas. Avatar is a classic example. Here we see good triumphing over evil; a bigoted man learning totally different ways of seeing. A messiah story no less: a tale of a hero who renounces everything he knows, gives up all hope of the future that had been promised him, dies physically and emotionally to self and, in doing so, rises to become a force of great good – greater than he could have hoped for or foreseen. An amazing expression of the Christ story, and a wonderful call to the millions who saw it to live a better life. Sure, I may be drawing a long bow, but it seems to fit.

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