According to 1 Corinthians 12.—a gift
is given to you not just for your own self, but to build up the community, to
build up the society. As an individual, you don't have the full responsibility
of putting it all together, as the false theology of perfectionism claims. All
you have to do is discover your one gift and use it for the good of all. [ROHR,
Daily Meditation, April 8, 2016]
So
today, I’m pondering what my “unique gift” might look like at age 77. If it’s true that the emptier the container, the
more it can receive, I figure life may have offered me opportunities to release
one or more self-packed spaces along the way.
Certain outmoded activities have morphed into activities that take up
much more of my time these days. Things like, sitting longer at table and
hearing stories that reveal a unique aspect of my friend, or even a stranger,
can definitely expand my personal “vision” of them and/or the world within and
around both of us.
As
a spiritual director, becoming a silent presence can allow the directee space for
heart-felt expressions of truth without being edited by the director. Each of
these encounters become “transpersonal spaces” in which both persons are able
to be changed by sacred listening. If only
one is changed, then the other must not have been in a space in which true
listening was possible. True listening
requires a stance of mutual openness so that the Wisdom of the Spirit can
“cross-pollinate” both the listener and the speaker. Each time I listen, tell a story or become
attentive to any aspect of creation, God-ness shows itself as wisdom and grace.
Sister Mary Rachel Kuebelbeck
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