A Cure for Burnouts (by Tony Campolo)
Far too often, activists do little to nurture their souls. Consequently, they "burn out." Ignoring the need for spiritual revitalization to sustain their zeal on behalf of the poor and oppressed, they wear out and fade into oblivion. Often those who were one-time dynamic spokespersons for social justice while living out countercultural values become exhausted from working hard with very little sense of accomplishment. Becoming cynical, they sometimes say disparaging things about those who still remain in the fray.
It was out of deep concern for the spiritual condition of social justice activists that I teamed up with a young professor from Spring Arbor University, Mary Darling, to write The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism and Justice.
In this book I, along with my co-author, endeavor to present ways to renew the energies of social activists by tapping into spiritual practices of Catholic mystics that we Protestants often ignore. In particular, we focus much of our attention on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius whose directives can help us move beyond the often shallow and mundane prayer styles that are common among Protestants.
First, we explore what Ignatian spiritual directors call centering prayer. Centering prayer is something I do each morning for at least 15 minutes. During the early hours, I take time to center down on Jesus as I say his name over and over again. I do this until everything else is driven out of my mind and I am almost totally focused on Jesus. In stillness I wait for Jesus to reach out from the cross and absorb into his own body the sins that mark my soul. Then, in the midst of quietude, I wait for the Holy Spirit to flow into me and saturate my personhood. I have learned from experience that "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31).
Secondly, I practice Lectio Divina. This is a spiritually informed way of reading scripture in which there is no reliance on scholarly interpretations, such as Bible commentaries. I read some carefully chosen verses, shut the Bible, close my eyes, and wait patiently for the Holy Spirit to tell me what I need to hear from God through what I have just read. There is something mystical in recognizing how verses that I have read many times before speak to me in new ways when practicing Lectio Divina, bringing new meaning that is especially relevant to my existential situation.
Next, there is a practice called "The Prayer of Examen." This I do at bedtime. With my head on my pillow, I reflect on all the ways God used me to do good during the past day. I think of all the things I did that were "honest … just … pure … lovely … of good report … and worthy of praise" (see Philippians 4:8). Only after such "feel-good" self-affirmations am I ready to review the day for a second time--this time remembering the ways in which I sinned and fell short of what I should have been and done. I confess and wait for Christ's cleansing.
Of course, there is much more to the spiritual exercises that have proved so essential in keeping me alive spiritually and revitalizing my "first love" for working for justice and doing evangelism. In the book Mary and I go into these exercises in depth and attempt to show how biblically prescribed and spiritually valid mysticism has motivated leaders such as John Wesley and George Whitefield to proclaim a holistic gospel.
I hope you get this book and find it useful in making spiritual renewal a daily practice. Developing spiritual depth through such exercises will enable you, in accord with the teachings of Jesus, to bring forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold (Matthew 13:8). Without such care of the soul you are apt, as the scriptures tell us, to "wither away" (Matthew 13:6).
Tony Campolo is founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE) and professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University.
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Comments
'...I wait for Jesus to reach out from the cross and absorb into His own body the sins...'
Interesting article - I personally perfer to focus on the Risen Christ and the fulfillment of the Final Sacrifice. As believers we worship a Risen Christ and not the Babe in the Manger or the Savior on the Cross. I believe it is the fulfillment of the Salvation message that really should be our focus.
Thinking this one over - again.
Blessings -
.
Posted by: Moderatelad | January 11, 2008 10:37 AM
I once would have agreed with you whole heartedly. I would also have preferred to focus on Jesus as the Risen Christ. All the rest seemed way to "Catholic" for me. Then one day I realized that what I "preferred" was a very limited view of Jesus. My preference all of the sudden looked like a sort of theological prejudice and was based on thinking exactly like that of those who would say something like "Well my God would never send anyone to Hell!" In other words I was defining God according to my own prejudicial view.
The Bible presents Jesus in many differing lights and from many differing view points, that is why there are four Gospels instead of one, and Paul's Jesus is different again. James, the half brother of Jesus seems to have had a very Jewish view of Jesus. I had to ask myself why and on what basis could I not accept that a Greek Orthodox or a Anglican Jesus may have something to add to my limited ideas of who my Savior is?
My vision of God got much bigger that day.
For centuries the only way most Christians had to view God was through a "Catholic"lens and yet so many of them had a relationship with Jesus that was much more intimate than any that my comfortable Protestant "preferred" view had given me. What I am used to is not always right, and it must always contain a built in limitation. Be careful that your "focus" is not merely the result of having blinders on your eyes.
Thanks for the article Tony!
Posted by: wayne | January 11, 2008 12:16 PM
There's a certain aspect of current religious practice that has sought to distance its practitioners from a close relationship with Jesus and then the necessary consequence flowing from that of following in his "narrow path."
We have in many cases subsumed Christianity into our material and political agendas. For that, we have to follow "another Christ" - not the Jesus who takes up the cross in the pages of scripture and teaches us, but our own tame version who won't cause us to seriously question our appetites for just the same things all the world desires.
I believe that the change to the Southern Baptist statement of faith in 2000 was made by the reactionaries who seized the demonination's leadership then for just those reasons. Christ was no longer to be our example, but relegated to a solely ceremonial atonement role as predicted in other scripture and His living example and teachings to be understood as having no more scriptural weight than say, that of Rahab and her lies on behalf of the spies in the Old Testament. This reeks of a biblicist Pharaseeism of the rankest sort, in pursuit of de facto indulgences for all sorts of behavior proscribed for us by Jesus' teachings in Matthew 5, 6 and 7.
In many ways the most conservative and "fundamental" (a description that falsely implies they don't cherry-pick scripture for the outcome they want) mirror what we call fundamentalism in other cultures and religions. A religious understanding that puts God far away from us, where we can't have an intimate relationship with Him, mirrors very much religions which putatively believe in Him but make His will largely unknowable. This can justify all sorts of behavior not in His will at all, since the intimate and personal correction possible by living close and in conformance to Him is not seen as possible and therefore not lived out.
Posted by: Sojourner Truth | January 11, 2008 3:30 PM
I am with you all the way Tony, as i too do the prayer of silence in the afternoon, nightly reflection and morning lectio using the daily readings from the Roman liturgy to meditate upon.
In Christian lingo; meditate means to THINK!
As one cultivates these holy habits of spiritual practice ones roots grow deep in God and all others.
Many may find that with persistent discipline even a quick read through familiar verses will expose/illuminate a phrase or verse that is meant just for them to carry through the rest of the day in their heart and mind.
But we are also more than spirit; we are body and mind and nourishment of all three is required to keep that trinity in balance.
God gave us sex not just for procreation, but that adults would also always PLAY. While one won't get much done if they spend the day in bed, there are other ways to play-but for many it has become a 'work out.'
Finding the physical activity that nourishes your soul and keeps your body in prime is a spiritual practice too.
After the age of 50, aerobics are too much, but i highly recommend Pilate's; for it stretches and centers you at the same time.
Our minds need rest and recreation too-but couch potato-itis is what many American's choose for that.
Limit yourself to no more than 1 1/2 hours a day of TV-and i highly recommend The Simpson's, The Daily Show and Colbert Report as The Way to go there.
"Walk gently, breathe peacefully, laugh hysterically." ~ Nelson Mandela
"I came that you would have life to the full: abundant life."-John 10:10
The abundant life takes discipline, deep though and doing something.
Eileen Fleming,
Reporter and Editor WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu"
Posted by: eileen fleming | January 11, 2008 3:48 PM
Tony,
I am a mystic and contemplative. I was absolutely giddy reading your post. I have been practicing many different Christian prayer forms and have found that centering is the deepest and hardest prayer form I have ever lived. It's about time evangelicals are shown more mature and deeper ways to know and experience God. It's good to see you write about the sacred and intimate relationship you have w/ God.
Please continue to do so.
Posted by: payshun | January 11, 2008 8:57 PM
This website seems to be about the Christian God, rather than just a generic God. I think divine intervention is ludicrous (like praying for miracles). At a glance, this site seems full of hocus pocus. Let reason be your guide. Belief without reason is dangerous to humanity.
Posted by: Sciencelady | January 14, 2008 7:05 AM
Dear Sciencelady,
Is the problem 'belief' or that which persons choose to believe in? For instance, if someone believes reason as the best route for knowing truth--would that be a worthy object of belief??
If you are attracted to a reasoned inquiry of existence, truth, and reality--I can only say, "Go for it with all you've got." And I only ask if you bump into something beyond your reasoning that you not stop.
This morning my mother, at age 88, lies in a nursing home bed with her heart and kidneys shutting down. In a few moments of alertness on Friday I asked her if she had been talking with God. She nodded, "Yes." I asked if God had been talking with her. She nodded, "Yes." And she added, "God said I shall not want" (i.e. from Psalms 23 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
My wife died in the presence of our three little girls and me a year ago. I was at her side for three years as she battled for life--and often seemed like she had one foot firmly planted in a place beyond her temporal reality. Sometimes it seemed surreal living life with a person who was here and at the same time seems to have landed in another place.
There are times and places that transcend reason, time, and space. That does not argue for a withdrawal of reason but for a recognition reason might not grasp everything.
Posted by: letjusticerolldown | January 14, 2008 10:17 AM
Thanks for the many good letters! I even copied Eileen Fleming's, the ultimate endorsement! And speaking of endorsements, let me put an additional plug in for Tony and Mary's book. I can easily say that this was the most useful and enjoyable book of 2007 for me! Tony has some solid introductory and final chapters, and then Mary brings you many excellent chapters on the different spiritual exercises and things she has learned personally over the past years of her spiritual journey, and experiences as a spiritual director.
I highly recommend this to anyone who is searching for the spiritual recharging we all need if we are also reaching out to others. The Lord wants us to be artesian wells, not little battery run miniature fountains sitting in a livingroom!
Posted by: janible | January 14, 2008 11:01 AM
I've been interested in learning more about the kinds of spirituality Tony has been talking about. We had a seminary intern last year conduct a series of Sunday school classes on the topic of prayer. He covered centering, lectio divino, and other practices. It was informative, but unfortunately we didn' t follow it up with an attempt to implement the prayers we had studied. I am not sure how to implement them in my own life; I'd like to begin with others if possible. Mainly because I'm lazy and don't pray on my own like I should!
I've been reading Kathleen Norris, who also writes about these kinds of practices. And I have some other books on my reading list to look at as well.
Peace,
Posted by: Don | January 14, 2008 11:40 AM
In my post above, I should have written (first paragraph) "...we didn't follow it up with an attempt to implement the practices we had studied; not the prayers we had studied.
Don
Posted by: Don | January 14, 2008 11:43 AM
Hey sciencelady,
Thanks for you comment. The idea that science and reason can explain everything in the universe is ludicrous. The universe is infinite. So are the spiritual things that transcend science's abilities to understand it. Let's take me for example. A few years ago I had a virus. That virus made it so that my body was trying to convert carbon monoxide. That meant my body was toxic and by all accounts I should have died. I went to some of the best doctors in the state, my case made medical journals and was reviewed by some of the best doctors in the country. They had no idea what was wrong w/ me or even how to treat it. I was like for nine months. I went to an island, got prayer and got better. I can't explain how but it happened. I am not making this and there are 22 witnesses that saw it. THere are other stories too. I am by no means bashing science or saying that I think science sucks I am just pointing out that we can't explain everything thru it and neitehr should we.
p
Posted by: payshun | January 14, 2008 12:58 PM
Sciencelady:
Science is a very important body of knowlege, and I wouldn't want to shortchange it. In fact, it concerns me greatly that science is so misused for political and religious reasons (e.g., the denial of global warming; the efforts to teach various forms of creationism in public school science classes). But science as a body of knowlege has its limits: specifically, science is limited to the natural world. It can only confirm what it can observe. Science has nothing to say about metaphysical reality. Science cannot prove God's existence. It cannot prove God doesn't exist, either.
And that leads to my second point. Some militant athiests have tried to use science to "prove" God doesn't exist. By so doing, they are misusing science, just as much as the pseudoscientific arguments of the global warming deniers are misusing science. Belief that reason alone should guide us is another form of metaphysics. And it's a religious dogma just as surely as is any traditional religious belief. In fact, the term "scientism" has been coined to identify this dogmatic faith in science and reason. One simply can't get away from metaphysical belief; the only choice is the nature of that belief.
Peace,
Posted by: Don | January 14, 2008 1:16 PM
Excellent post. Bringing together the mystical and the evangelical/prophetic are natural fits. I am a spiritual director who teaches the ancient practice of inner communion with Christ also known as Prayer of the Heart. Tony's use of the name of Jesus as the way of unifying awareness and self-surrender in interior communion with Christ is completely rooted in earliest Christianity of the desert tradition. It predates any denominational affiliation. As one who comes from a more liturgical tradition denominationally, when I went through my training in spiritual direction, I found to my surprise that I was most drawn to those members of my class who came from Evangelical traditions, despite our differences on church teaching on a variety of social issues, and despite the differences in forms of worship. The common denominator was the singular devotional love in the Person of Christ as the center of our spiritual life, and the interiorization of that experience as the wellspring of our lives. The exercises described by Tony come from deep in the tradition that cultivate this life of interior communion with Christ as the center of all life and activity. Thanks, Tony!
Posted by: Bill R. | January 15, 2008 12:42 PM
Tony, thank you for your reflections and taking the time to share the nature of your own Christian spiritual practice of opening your heart to God. It's encouraging to read how people are willing to open their most intimate self to God's abundant grace in solitude.
I have found in my own long time practice of prayer of the heart which comes from our own Christian heritage and saying the unceasing name of Jesus in mind and heart to be spiritually sustaining throughout the day. Like you, I practice, lectio divina daily and a formal sitting time in silence. I find the strong historical Christian focus on contemplative prayer deep and rich. I love the ancient promise that comes to us through the Eastern vein of Christianity; God births within us over and over again in the very depths of our human soul as we open to the intimacy God offers us.
So much of Christianity has become a language of platitudes and after a while, people begin to go dry or seek ways to hedge the deeper work. Thank you so much for laying out your learnings and your daily practices of walking with our mutual friend, Jesus Christ.
In the Joy of the Holy Spirit...
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon | January 15, 2008 1:17 PM
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