“Deeper People”

Several years ago, Richard Foster wrote: “The desperate need today is not for greater numbers of intelligent people or gifted people, but for deeper people.” (Celebration of Discipline, p.1). We live in a world of superficiality. We see it all around us – in relationships, fashions, conversations, how we deal with social problems and issues, and even in spirituality. Our culture encourages us to be cautious about getting involved too deeply. We haven’t the time and things change quickly. The latest gadget reminds us that technology is all about innovation. Admittedly, many of these innovations have improved our lives and allowed us to free up time for other things. But the problem is that we fill this “extra” time with things that are often very shallow or held tentatively since we know that we will be moving on to something else pretty soon. There is something liberating about not being locked into the past and unable to change with the times or see and embrace “new” things that really are better and allow is to be live more humanely and comfortably in the world. But along with that freedom comes the temptation to superficiality.

 

Foster cites a quote from the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan that describes many of us: “I go through life as a transient on his way to eternity, made in the image of God but with that image debased, needing to be taught how to meditate, to worship, to think.” It describes me. I don’t know why I often think that spiritual maturity and growth as well as contentment and wholeness simply come. Moving beyond a superficial faith, going deeper does require something of me and the first thing beyond the desire to go deeper is time. I am always amazed at how much time I spend reading or facebooking or surfing the web or working or watching TV, etc. compared to how much time I put in to deepening and solidifying my spiritual life. In the spiritual life I often settle for  superficiality and then complain when something happens that upsets and penetrates my shallowness: “Where’s God?” “Why me?” “Doesn’t God care?” “There’s got to me more than this!” But often, instead of pausing to look at my life and its shallow relationship with God and working on that, I cry out to God (not, in itself, a bad thing) or reach for my Bible for some quick verses and when I feel a little bit better, go on with life as usual. I’m like the person who is sick, takes the medicine, feels a bit better, and then decides that I don’t need the medicine anymore only to discover later that the problem was much deeper. Instead of dealing with the deeper issue (our need for God), we often deal only with the superficial, although real, symptoms. 

 

Coggan is right, we need to LEARN how to meditate, to worship, to think. And we could add pray and serve. And to learn something well it requires time, making time. But I guess making time and desire are closely related. What is it that I really desire in life? 

 

Two final thoughts: One from Larry Hein and the other from Thomas Merton (whose birthday was yesterday, January 31). My prayer for myself and others is that they will stimulate, discomfort, and comfort us:

 

“May all your expectations be frustrated, may all your plans be thwarted, may all your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God who is Father, Son, and Spirit.” (Larry Hein)

 

“Happiness consists in finding out precisely what the “one thing necessary” may be in our lives, and in gladly relinquishing all the rest. For then, by a divine paradox, we find that everything else is given us, together with the one thing we needed.” (Thomas Merton)