A friend asked me to ponder the question, “What is shaping me?” Then put it another way, “What does a resurrection-shaped life look like?” I find these questions difficult because I realize so much is beyond my control. More and more, I am in new, often unwelcome, territory. Beloved ones die. Health issues increase. Years of comfortable ways of connecting in family and community have been absorbed by the pandemic. Larger concerns such as polluted air from wildfires and national debt have created new fears.
In today’s Gospel, * Jesus speaks of hard reversals, of turning everything inside out. He said he did not come to bring peace but the sword. Get your priorities straight, even be willing to turn against your immediate family to follow the way of compassion and truth. Do not be afraid of those who can hurt you physically. Above all, remember how valuable you are to the One who created you.
I look again at what I name as beyond my control with these guiding principles in mind. I imagine holding that sword in my hand. It is so helpful. First, to cut away assumptions about what is welcome and unwelcome. That helps me accept the hard realities and encourages seeing resurrection hope in all circumstances. Only then is it possible to acknowledge and work for that hope.
Secondly, use the sword for subtraction. To let go of what is not life-giving. That means acknowledging losses but not dwelling on them. Honor them as is right but move on. Also, cut away habitual work and relationships that are no longer life-giving. Make time and space for what is now invited. Carefully view and review time.
Companioning others in discerning call continues to be a rich part of my life. What I now call “the sword of subtraction” comes up frequently. If one is to add in something new, something must be subtracted. Then there is more discernment. What can be removed? Where is the energy stifling and where is it flowing? Lose your life, Jesus says, to find it. New call may seem challenging, even overwhelming, but always it is persistently energetic, alluring, and insistent.
So the essential question is not “What is shaping me?” What seemed like an analogous question puts the sword of subtraction in my hand. “What does a resurrection-shaped life look like?” points to the essential question, “Who is shaping me?” Not “What” but “Who.”
I know that is my First Love and turn wholeheartedly to the One whom I acknowledge with complete authority. In the simplicity of subtraction, other questions fall away. The busy analytical mind slows down, halts in subtraction. Then it is possible to listen for the One whispering in my ear and trust Jesus’ promise that “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known.” Listen.
– Ann Dean, Dayspring Church
- Who is whispering in your ear?
- What can you subtract that will open space for listening?
- What can you subtract that will open space for new call?
For continuing reflection this week, consider these words attributed to Pedro Arrupe, SJ, (1907–1991):
Nothing is more practical than
finding God, than
falling in love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
