| Thursday, December 17, 2009
Philippians 4:1-13 1Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. 2I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. 10I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. 11Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. 12I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. 13I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
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Gentleness is a quality I've worked toward for a long time and still have a ways to go. Many years ago I had an email signature before there was email. It goes like this.
Now it is framed and hangs by the door in a graphic art form - a gift from a friend. Sometimes I wonder how many more times I will have to say it to make it more real. At other times it is clear that it isn't to be spoken again until it has been realized. From various translations we hear interpretations of gentleness that may parallel this signature:
Gentleness is here seen as an antidote to fear or worry. It is paralleled with prayer as a process of transformation and renewal. Where worry and fear tend to freeze us into repetition of behavior or erratic response flailing around for some escape, gentleness offers an active and intentional way toward a mystery of peace through a gift of being able to fruitfully wait and to see ourselves and the world around us in a larger context. This allows us time and space to moderate our fear by being on the side of that which scares us at least enough to forbear our knee-jerk violent responses and find a reasonable path forward. No Fear is not just a macho response to every situation, exempting one from the worries of life so central to our lives or a requiring all the world to circle our one small center of the universe. It is a proactive decision to not have innocent doves and wise serpents be equal, but be 60/40 in favor of doves. It is gentleness revealed by being on another's side before they are. Gentleness is not passivity but spiritual judo to be balanced and willing to be rebalanced as contexts change, to be interior to the fear of another for the purpose of transformation of their sense of balance. If we can get away from a preoccupation limiting prayer to words, this dance with our worries or fears may offer a larger prayer experience and peaceful/joyful responses. |
