Posted by Helen on: 03.09.2008 /
In November I went to hear Ken Trainor talk about his book We Dare To Say.
Last week I went to hear Ken again. This time he was giving a lecture “Sharing our Spiritual Journey” as part of the Ekklesia lecture series. I’ve quoted from his lecture below. The whole lecture is here.
Ekklesia describes itself as “an adult education organization formed and administered by the laity to serve the communities of Chicago and the near western suburbs.” Most of the board members are from local Catholic churches.
This talk was again related to Ken’s book. As Ken said
after [the book] was published, I discovered to my great dismay that you can’t just bask in the glory of authorship. You have to get your butt out there and promote the damned thing. Which led to talks like this
It was different in various ways from the talk I heard in November. This time Ken said much more about his relationship with the Catholic Church (because of the audience at this one).
I describe myself as a “free-range Catholic.”
I’m the one, out on the open range, whom the Good Shepherd leaves the 99 to go search for. Only I’m not lost. I know where the flock is. I choose to be out here. I like to imagine the good shepherd saying, “I know, but just for appearances sake, let me bring you in on my shoulders and make a big deal about your return. I’ll score big points with the 99.” Hey, why not. A man can’t live by the open range alone—at least not forever. A free-range Catholic needs to go to church regularly, just to stay connected. You can get a little squirrelly if you stay out there too long.
Ken commented on some things he’d change about the Catholic Church if it were up to him. He said this about the mass
There are a few other things I could quibble with. The Mass, for instance. Could use some revision. Take the part where the priest says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God” and everyone responds, “It is right to give God thanks and praise.” We sound like the old Communist Party Congress—or like extras in one of those biblical epics sputtering “idiot dialogue” because the scriptwriters felt they had to give them something to do.
“It is right to give God thanks and praise?” First of all, we’re in God’s house. Why are we referring to God in the third person? And what a stirring testimonial. If you’re going to thank and praise God, then do it, don’t tell us you’re doing it.
(e.e. cummings poem “I thank you God for most this amazing day …”)
Now that’s thanks and praise—e.e. cummings probably isn’t biblical enough for a lot of people, but that’s the real thing. There ought to be more poetry in the Mass. Probably not much chance of it though.
And isn’t this supposed to be the “Good News?” Then it should sound like good news. The only priest I’ve ever heard preach this on a consistent basis was Fr. Bill Burke. You should book him for a talk. “God loves you like a fool,” he would say, his voice filled with passion and a smile on his face. “You don’t have to earn it.”
Like last time, Ken was very affirming about spirituality - yours, mine, anyone’s
The spiritual salesmen of the world have made it difficult for the rest of us to talk openly about our spirituality. I’m not pushing any particular persuasion. I’m not trying to convert anyone. I don’t care what you believe or even if you believe. I certainly don’t expect you to believe what I believe.
all of us have wisdom within, waiting to be tapped. When we take ourselves seriously as a spiritual authority—not THE spiritual authority, just one of many—then we are engaged in an act of daring. Hence the title: We Dare to Say.
Do you take yourself seriously as a spiritual authority? That’s where the word “author” comes from, and that’s what the authorities kept pestering Jesus about: “On whose authority do you speak?”
Is it presumptuous to see yourself as a spiritual authority? Is it the dreaded “sin of pride” we were terrorized with growing up? Just who do you think you are? That’s a fine question, actually. “Who do you think you are?” But it was asked rhetorically. If we had really tried to answer it, who knows what might have happened. Well, at the very least we are the foremost authority on our own spiritual journey.
This is all part of the democratization of spirituality in our era. God is no longer locked in the tabernacle. We are no longer dependent on the “experts.” We have to take ownership of, and responsibility for, our own spirituality—and that’s a good thing.
The kind of spirituality I’m preaching might be called “Middle Earth Spirituality” in honor of dear departed J.R.R. Tolkien. It is midlife, middle class, middle of the road, Midwest spirituality. Hobbit spirituality, nothing fancy, simple and down to earth—spirituality as a natural extension of life, not something transcendent, compartmentalized and apart from our daily lives.
Too often we veil spirituality with a lot of mystification and mumbo-jumbo. This isn’t alchemy. It’s a natural part of life. James Joyce called it “the holiness of the ordinary.” The good news is everyone can experience it. Everyone, I believe, wants to experience it.
Rohr says the phrase Jesus used more than any other in the New Testament is “Do not be afraid.” I think we can take him at his word. If we can’t believe that much, we really can’t believe anything. The biggest step on the spiritual journey is the first step: finding a way past fear.
When we rise above fear, we begin to recognize the other phrase Jesus used so frequently: “The kingdom of heaven is upon you.” Catherine of Siena said, “The path to heaven is part of heaven.”
We may only get glimpses of heaven on earth, but those moments make life worth living.
Comment by: benjamin ady
1 03/10/08 9:52 PM | Comment Link |I wonder what it is about me that noticed that he said “You have to get your butt out there and promote the damned thing.” and NOT “You have to get your butt out there and promote the *&!damned thing”?
Comment by: Helen
2 03/11/08 4:40 AM | Comment Link |Evidently free-range Catholics say ‘damned’ but not ‘&!damned’.
I was pleased that the audience was very responsive to Ken. They were almost all ‘post-retirement’ age and presumably mostly Catholics. It was a good sign that they all laugned during his introduction when they heard “Ken left Niles College [a seminary preparing men for the Catholic priesthood] when he learned the meaning of celibacy”.