Podcast Episode Ten: Contemplative Ecumenical

SEASON TWO - EPISODE TEN: CONTEMPLATIVE ECUMENICAL

In episode ten of The Why Behind the What, I seek to introduce you to a new language that, for a long time, I did not have words for. Much of this episode is based on a three-part blog series I wrote a little over a year ago entitled, On Being an Ecumenical.

My spiritual journey, which has led me to practice the contemplative and the ancient, has led me to discover and develop a new identity:

I am a Contemplative Ecumenical.

I see more and more people who once identified as Evangelical, Protestant, Catholic, or Christian, seeking and longing for something new. So, I think it’s time we find a new term and form a new type of community. And, lucky for you, this is what I’m trying to do with turning Ecumenical into a noun and claim it as our identity. 

I think Contemplative Ecumenical might be a great term that embodies the ancient spiritual practices we’ve been talking about and what the Jesus tradition is all about.

As an adjective, ecumenical means promoting unity and oneness among the world’s Christian churches. It seeks cooperation and better understanding among different Christian traditions. It values the beauty of diversity, names and embraces our differences, sees everyone as members of the same community, all the while not letting these things bring division. A lofty goal, for sure.

I think being an Ecumenical means viewing the Christian Tradition as a diamond. We acknowledge and appreciate every facet of the diamond, rather than thinking the unpolished parts need to be removed or only one facet gets to glean the brightest. 

What I want to do is hold this diamond in my hand, move it around, look at each facet, and be in awe of the facets that catch my eye, reflect the beauty of God’s Light, and impact my soul.

I don’t know how this sounds to you, but being a Contemplative Ecumenical it gives me a little more hope, speaks deeply to my soul, and I’m all in. I think it could be so cool to see a movement of Contemplative Ecumenicals who are living an ancient faith and experiencing glimpses of the Divine and being transformed by this God today.

Maybe you’ve come to the point where you can no longer identify as Protestant, Evangelical, or Catholic. Maybe there’s something better for all of us. Maybe, we’re all Contemplative Ecumenicals reading to join this mysterious, contemplative, and transformational way of life.

A few resources I reference are The Pocket Meister Eckhart and The Pocket Thomas Merton as well as my blog series, On Being an Ecumenical. Also, please leave a review of the podcast here.

As you live as Contemplative Ecumenicals, as you practice an ancient spirituality, and as you see glimpses of the Divine all around you, may you have peace, may you have calm, and may you have happiness.

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FOMO in 1955 by Thomas Merton

Long before FOMO was a thing, I’m pretty sure that Thomas Merton was writing about FOMO.

In his book, No Man is an Island, which Merton published in 1955, he states the following about contentment, happiness, humanity, and FOMO. I’ve adapted this passage with gender inclusive language:

One who is content with what they have, and who accepts the fact that they inevitably miss very much in life, is far better off than one who has much more but who worries about all they may be missing. For we cannot make the best of what we are, if our hearts are always divided between what we are and what we are not.

We cannot be happy if we expect to live all the time at the highest peak of intensity. Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony. Let us, therefore, learn to pass from one impfect activity to another without worrying too much about what we are missing.

What do you think? Pretty good, right?

What I found striking about this passage is his emphasis on contentment and presence. When we are content and in the present moment, we inevitably miss out on something, but we are much more happy. If I am understanding this correctly FOMO, then, would lead to simply fear, anxiety, and a lack of contentment and happiness. He wrote this 65 years ago, long before #fomo became a thing.

Sure, there are times when I am disappointed when I am not with certain people who happen to be somewhere else. However, if I am always longing to be somewhere else than where I am, I will never truly be happy in the present moment or my daily life.

Yet, so much of social media and our culture has taught us not to be present where we are but instead to post about being present so those who are not present with us might sense some FOMO for not being present where we are present.

I don’t even know if that sentence makes sense to you, but I think I’m stating it correctly.

But all of this means we are not present. If Merton is correct, then we will never truly be content. And, I think it is safe to say that many of us live a life of discontentment because of our lack of presence.

This is what I think of when Merton speaks of the “highest peak of intensity.” We are living for the next like, the next retweet, the next share, the next comment. And when we live hoping for that, we are trying to live in the highest peak of intensity.

As I have stated elswhere, it leads to to live a life where we are face-to-phone around people rather than being face-to-face with people.

I’ll be sharing more about this idea in my podcast, The Why Behind the What, later this season (Check it out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify).

Maybe we need to heed these 65 year old words and try to let the imperfect activity pass without worrying too much about what we are missing so we might realize contentment, happiness, and the joy of missing out.

A Theology of Love, Revolution, and Resistance

Thomas Merton is one of my favorite authors. I think you should read everything that man has written. I’m trying my best to do the same.

The following passage is pretty prophetic and shows that, for the Christian, love is more than some sentimental thing we preach and profess. It is, instead, a way of revolution and resistance.

“A theology of love cannot afford to be sentimental. It cannot afford to preach edifying generalities about charity, while identifying ‘peace’ with mere established power and legalized violence against the oppressed. A theology of love cannot be allowed merely to serve the interests of the rich and powerful, justifying their wars, their violence and their bombs, while exhorting the poor and underprivileged to practice patience, meekness, longsuffering, and to solve their problems if at all, non-violently.

"The THEOLOGY OF LOVE must seek to deal realistically with the evil and injustice in the world, and not merely compromise with them...A theology of love may also conceivably turn out to be a THEOLOGY OF REVOLUTION. In any case, it is a THEOLOGY OF RESISTANCE.”

from Faith and Violence (Notre Dame; University of Notre Dame Press, 1968), 8-9