John Ruusbroec: Supernatural zeal

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:11-12

“Generosity gives rise to a supernatural zeal and devotion to every kind of virtuous and proper behavior. Only a person overflowing with generosity can experience this zeal, which is an insistent impulse from within toward the practice of virtue and conformity with Christ and His saints. Through such zeal a person desires to dedicate his heart and senses, his soul and body, and all that he is or has or might obtain to the honor and praise of God.

Such zeal makes a person vigilant in both reasoning and discretion and leads him to practice virtue with both body and soul as righteousness requires. By means of this supernatural zeal all the powers of the soul are laid open to God and made ready for the performance of every virtue. A person’s conscience is filled with joy and God’s grace is increased. The virtues are practiced with gladness and joy, and the exterior works a person performs receive a certain graceful embellishment.”

John Ruusbroec (1293-1381) in The Spiritual Espousals (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1985) 61.

I am somewhere over the Pacific as you read this. I posted it before my departure for Australia. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve God there and desire to exhibit the supernatural zeal that John Ruusbroec writes about. It positions us to function at a high level in our “reasoning and discretion” and lays open all the “powers of the soul” to God so that our service exhibits virtue and righteousness.

Lest you think this lofty thinker was not down to earth, consider his background! Ruusbroec grew up outside of Brussels, Belgium. He had a devout mother, and we know nothing of his father. At age 11 he went to live with his uncle who saw to his religious education. He would become a priest from 1318 to 1343 who humbly loved and served others. After that season of ministry, he did much writing, largely in solitude, and would become a prominent Christian mystic of the Middle Ages.

In this work, The Spiritual Espousals, he wrote about the active life, the interior life, and the contemplative life. For Ruusbroec, the active part of our lives only works when founded on virtues such as humility, detachment, and charity. Together these three bring forth generosity in a person. What a recipe! And generosity leads to supernatural zeal. In his thinking, this zeal is God at work in us to give ourselves, our heart and senses, body and soul, and all that we have or might obtain, to others in loving service, all for God’s glory.

That’s my hope today for myself and for you, wherever you are reading this in the world. God, grant us supernatural zeal!

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. To Him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. Who by His understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. Who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1-6

“Thanking is a true inward knowing, with great reverence and lovely dread turning ourselves with all our mights unto the working that our good Lord stirreth us to, enjoying and thanking inwardly. And sometimes, for plenteousness it breaketh out with voice and saith: ‘Good Lord, I thank Thee! Blessed mayst Thou be!'”

Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) in Revelations of Divine Love (London: Methuen & Company, 1901) 86.

In God’s providence, I read excerpts of Julian of Norwich yesterday about thankfulness. She convinced me that “thanking is a true inward knowing” or in plain terms, we see things rightly when we are filled with thankfulness.

Coupled with this, it is my turn to lead the discussion this morning at our Tuesday morning Bible study at Pinehurst. We are reading through the Psalms, five per week. I am looking forward to facilitating the discussion on Psalms 136-140 today.

Psalm 136 is a long-time favorite. It’s an antiphonal psalm of thankfulness. That means it would have been sung by two choirs back and forth. If you read it yourself, you get a profound sense that your mind and heart are in conversation back and forth. Your mind proclaims all that God has done, and your heart can only reply with thankfulness for the love of God which endures forever.

We can’t be generous until first we are thankful. “Thanking is a true inward knowing” and only after we take this posture can we see things rightly and live richly. Today, with thankfulness, I fly to Australia for two weeks of ministry. I am thankful God watches over my family, that He provides for our needs, that He leads and guides us in all we say and do. His love endures forever!

What about you? What are you thankful for? And how will it shape your generous living today?

For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ Deuteronomy 15:11

“Mother Teresa sums up her family life during her childhood and adolescence: “We were all very united, especially after the death of my father. We lived for each other and we made every effort to make one another happy. We were a very united and a very happy family.”

Lazar, the only son, commented about the religious life of his mother and sisters: “We lived next to the parish church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sometimes my mother and sisters seemed to live as much in the church as they did at home. They were always involved with the choir, the religious services, and missionary topics.”

Lazar also commented about his mother’s generosity: “She never allowed any of the poor people who came to our door to leave empty-handed. When we would look at her strangely, she would say, ‘Keep in mind that even those who are not our blood relatives, even if they are poor, are still our brethren.'”

Lazar Bojaxhiu, the only brother of Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, a.k.a. “Mother Teresa” in No Greater Love, Commemorative Edition by Mother Teresa (Novato: New World Library, 2016) 199-200.

Mother Teresa always inspires me. On this “Memorial Day” in the USA, her brother testifies to the powerful example of their mother, Dranafile Bojaxhiu, who though she was a poor widow, was always ready to share with those in need. Her example marked Lazar and his two sisters. They would never forget it.

Parents, if we want to inspire our children to be generous, we must not wait until we have wealth or surplus. Today’s reading serves as a powerful reminder that our children are watching and they remember the sacrifices they see us making. They also recall vividly the words which accompany our good works.

Who knows? Our children may go on to inspire the world like Mother Teresa did. This illustration should remind us that our children are watching and listening. Let us resolve to always treat people in need as brethren, and teach our children through our words and deeds to care for them.

“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ Matthew 6:9-13

“You are very concerned with making the right choices about your work. You have so many options that you are constantly overwhelmed by the question “What should I do and what should I not do?” You are asked to respond to many concrete needs. There are people to visit, people to receive, people to simply be with. There are issues that beg for attention, books it seems important to read, and works of art to be seen. But what of all this truly deserves your time?

Start by not allowing these people and issues to possess you. As long as you think that you need them to be yourself, you are not really free. Much of their urgency comes from your own need to be accepted and affirmed. You have to keep going back to the source: God’s love for you.

In many ways, you still want to set your own agenda. You act as if you have to choose among many things, which all seem equally important. But you have not fully surrendered yourself to God’s guidance. You keep fighting with God over who is in control.

Try to give your agenda to God. Keep saying, “Your will be done, not mine.” Give every part of your heart and your time to God and let God tell you what to do, where to go, when and how to respond. God does not want you to destroy yourself. Exhaustion, burnout, and depression are not signs that you are doing God’s will. God is gentle and loving. God desires to give you a deep sense of safety in God’s love. Once you have allowed yourself to experience that love fully, you will be better able to discern who you are being sent to in God’s name.”

Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) in The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom (New York: Image, 1996) 105-106.

Many people I know these days are looking for work. “What should I do?” They ask. For my own part, as I personally don’t serve one employer or organization but many, I often complete projects and have bandwidth for new ones, so I myself periodically ask this question: “What should I do and what should I not do?” Nouwen’s advice is so enriching.

None of us, from those looking for a job to the fully employed, should look for our acceptance and affirmation from our work. We must focus instead on God’s love for us. Rather than being obsessed with the question of what we should do or not do, we must give our agenda over to God and trust Him to send us out in loving service in His name.

I can relate to Nouwen who held prestigious posts at Yale and Harvard, but found even greater joy in serving at unexpected places like L’Arche Daybreak, where he spent a decade ministering among the developmentally disabled. He testifies that those transitions were definitely not in his plans for his life. Perhaps you too can relate from your own vocational journey. That’s why the advice Nouwen offers from his own experience is so enriching.

See for yourself. Try to give your agenda to God. God’s agenda for each of us may be to serve in places we least expect and yet, those may be the places where our most generous service will be performed because it will be filled with God’s love.

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose. Philippians 2:13

“Now, therefore, O human, understand and learn. From whence do these things come? What does this mean? It is God Who works in you what is good. How? He has constituted you that, when you act with wisdom and discretion, you feel Him in your reason. For the irrational animal does all its deeds without intellect or wisdom, without discretion or shame; it does not know God, being irrational, though it feels Him, being His creature. But the rational animal, which is Man, has intellect and wisdom, discretion and shame, and does rational deeds, which is the first root fixed by God’s grace in every person given life and soul. These powers flourish where there is a reason, for all of them make people know God, so they may choose what is just. Therefore, the deed that a person embraces in his Savior, the Son of God, through Whom the Father does His works in the Holy Spirit, is productive and perfect and prosperous; and the fiery grace of Christ Jesus calls this to the person’s mind and kindles his enthusiasm anew.”

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) in Scivias, translated by Columba Hart and Jane Bishop (New York: Paulist, 1990) 384. This classic book title, Scivias, comes from the Latin, Sci vias Domini, meaning “Know the ways of the Lord.”

Hildegard must have loved the outdoors the way she wrote about God’s creatures.

When my son, Sammy, and I go fly fishing, he likes to say that each fish is a “glimpse of God’s extravagance” because of its beauty as a creature made by God and because of its predictable behavior. While fishing or guiding for others, we can locate fish because they do what God made them to do. And the only One enjoying the magnificence of each fish before us was the God who fashioned it. We treat each fish we catch as God’s gift to us, and we release each one as our gift to the next angler.

But we, as humans, are not like the fish (or other creatures). We are rational. We have been given intellect, wisdom, discretion, and shame.

Hildegard reminds us, echoing the Apostle Paul, that when we, as rational humans, do deeds that are “productive and perfect and prosperous” it is because God is at work in us, specifically, “the fiery grace of Christ Jesus” is at work in us by the power of the Holy Spirit to do what is good and just and right. Anew an afresh, with enthusiasm, let me urge you today to surrender to the Spirit of God so that “productive and perfect and prosperous” works are wrought in and through you. When you do this, you too will do what you were made to do!

And if you want to see a “glimpse of God’s extravagance” while fly fishing for trout in Colorado, book a day of guided fly fishing with my son, Sammy, and I will tag along at no extra charge should it work in my schedule to join you. Reply to this email promptly as the Sammy’s Fly Shop guiding calendar for June through September 2017 is starting to fill up!

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

“All the gifts of God are good. But if we rest in them, rather than in Him, they lose their goodness for us.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in Thoughts in Solitude (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1999) 47.

The paradox of God’s blessings, especially material ones, is that we often find our rest in them, rather than in Christ.

We do just what God’s people did in the wilderness. We worship the golden calf, instead of the God who provided it.

In modernity, we pile up wealth and possessions, and as Merton puts it, the gifts “lose their goodness for us.”

God, thank you for your good gifts. By your Holy Spirit, help us show the world how to rest in Christ by using your gifts faithfully. Amen.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. Matthew 22:36-38

“I think the most certain sign that we keep these two commandments is that we have a genuine love for others. We cannot know whether we love God although there may be strong reasons for thinking so, but there can be no doubt about whether we love our neighbor or not. Be sure that in proportion as you advance in fraternal charity, you are increasing in your love of God, for His Majesty bears so tender an affection for us that I cannot doubt He will repay our love for others by augmenting, in a thousand different ways, that which we bear for Him. We should watch most carefully over ourselves in this matter, for if we are faultless on this point we have done all. I believe human nature is so evil that we could not feel a perfect charity for our neighbor unless it were rooted in the love of God.”

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) in The Interior Castle (London: Thomas Baker, 1921) 63.

How are you doing at loving others generously? Ironically, most people find it easy to love God and, simultaneously, they agree that it is far more difficult to love others! So how do we grow in this area?

Teresa puts her finger on the key: “I believe human nature is so evil that we could not feel a perfect charity for our neighbour unless it were rooted in the love of God.” To advance in fraternal charity, we must increase in our love for God.

Father in heaven, thank you for unfathomable love for us despite our unworthiness. Help us, by your Holy Spirit, to extend that same love to all people, even the most unworthy around us, so that everyone knows of your kindness. Hear our prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Then [Jesus] said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15

“A native of the United States clings to this world’s goods as if he were certain never to die; and he is so hasty in grasping at all within his reach, that one would suppose he was constantly afraid of not living long enough to enjoy them. He clutches everything, he holds nothing fast, but soon loosens his grasp to pursue fresh gratifications…

At first sight there is something surprising in this strange unrest of so many happy men, restless in the midst of abundance. The spectacle itself is, however, as old as the world; the novelty is to see a whole people furnish an exemplification of it. Their taste for physical gratifications must be regarded as the original source of that secret inquietude which the actions of the Americans betray, and of that inconstancy of which they afford fresh examples every day.

He who has set his heart exclusively upon the pursuit of worldly welfare is always in a hurry, for he has but a limited time at his disposal to reach it, to grasp it, and to enjoy it. The recollection of the brevity of life is a constant spur to him. Besides the good things which he possesses, he every instant fancies a thousand others which death will prevent him from trying if he does not try them soon. This thought fills him with anxiety, fear, and regret, and keeps his mind in ceaseless trepidation, which leads him perpetually to change his plans and his abode.”

Alexis De Tocqueville (1804-1859) in Democracy in America, volume 2 (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1899) 622-623.

My friend, John Stanley, alerted me to Fred Smith’s blog post on this topic, so I went back to this classic source to read it in context and offer a more lengthy quote. Though De Tocqueville was not a Christian mystic, which is the segment of authors I am reading these days, he is referred to often as a “seer” for his wise perceptions about society and, particularly, the wealthy and prosperous.

De Tocqueville yet again does not disappoint! Over 150 years ago he sketched this picture of America. See why people give him the “seer” label? Notice what language describes the person gripped by greed and materialistic gratification. They exhibit “secret inquietude” or restless dissatisfaction daily which results in “ceaseless trepidation” which in plain terms is fear! Choosing generosity over materialism is also choosing peace over debilitating anxiety!

I plan to take this book with me when I teach and speak in Australia in the first half of June. In various settings, I want to ask Aussies to share their reaction to it. Why do this? I am finding that when adult learners hear such graphic pictures of reality, they become motivated to consider their own situation and choose a different course. Jesus warned us about this long before De Tocqueville, and today I echo the warning. Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed!

Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil. Proverbs 15:16

“The purpose of the monastic life is never to amass wealth for the sake of the self…The monastic idea is about the ability to understand the difference between need and want, between having what is necessary rather than doing without what is necessary — simply for the sake of doing without…

It is not the use of the goods required to make contemporary life possible — cars, computers, electronics, telephones… It is the over-consumption — the unmitigated greed that drives a person to have in undue measure what others have little or nothing of, to want for the self rather than for humanity…

It is the delusion of having to have at our disposal ten kinds of potato chips, thirty pairs of shoes, the biggest and best of everything, that, in the end, wars against the desire of the heart to live a simple life… When we find that we have accumulated good things in multiples and use few of them ever, it is time to give some of them away to those who have none.

It is not necessary to look poor to live a simply life. But it is necessary to love simplicity, to gather only what is necessary for ourselves, not necessarily to have the best, the most, the latest, or the most expensive, let alone to have all there is of anything.”

Joan Chittister in The Monastery of the Heart: An Invitation to a Meaningful Life (Collegeville: BlueBridge, 2011) 89-93.

Chittister helps us see that loving simplicity frees us from greed and positions us for generosity. We must learn to discern between needs and wants. We must be focused on “having what is necessary” so we are not consumed by that which is unnecessary.

Is it time for some Spring cleaning at your home? 

Not sure where to start? My wife suggests that you take one room at a time. Simplifying does not leave you empty. Sharing all you have that is not necessary positions you to focus on what you really need and helps you begin see what others really need too.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

“Let’s say I interviewed ten people, asking each the same question — “Do you trust God?” — and each answered, “Yes, I trust God,” but nine of the then actually did not trust Him. How would I find out which one of the ragamuffins was telling the truth? I would videotape each of the ten lives for a month and then, after watching the videos, pass judgment using this criterion: the person with an abiding spirit of gratitude is the one who trusts God.

The foremost quality of a trusting disciple is gratefulness. Gratitude arises from the lived perception, evaluation, and acceptance of life as grace — as an undeserved and unearned gift from the Father’s hand. Such recognition is itself the work of grace, and acceptance of the gift is implicitly an acknowledgement of the Giver. The grateful heart cries out in the morning, “Thank you, Lord, for the gift of a new day.” And it continues to express its gratitude as the blessings unfold.”

Brennan Manning (1934-2013) in Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin’s Path to God (New York: HarperCollins, 2000) 24-25.

Brennan Manning has put his finger on the criterion of having an abiding spirit of gratitude and the Apostle Paul teaches us how to preserve this condition: we must devote ourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

It’s fitting Paul would put this statement in the letter to the church in Colossae. It was a flourishing city situated on a trade route that was known for it’s cool spring water and varied wares. The Colossians had access to anything a person wanted in antiquity.

We, in America, enjoy a similar situation in modernity. That’s why we need to reset our thinking daily in prayer and be watchful and thankful, so the world does not distort us into thinking either that we earned what we have or that life is found in what we have.

All we have are gifts from the Giver. Everything we have ever possessed or will ever possess has come to us as a work of grace from God. We can neither trust God nor give like Him until this abiding spirit of gratitude permeates our lives.