Just Spirituality E-Book

Mae Elise Cannon

• Herausgeber: IVP
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 330

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Throughout history, Christians have been called by God to active engagement in society on behalf of the poor and oppressed. Christian leaders have been instrumental in caring for people who are poor, fighting injustice and advocating for social change. But they have never done so on their own power. Their energy and zeal were fueled by inner spiritual practices that propelled them forward into the world.Activist and historian Mae Elise Cannon explores the direct connection between Christians' personal relationship with God and outward actions of kindness, mercy, compassion and advocacy. She looks at how notable Christian leaders were able to face societal challenges because of the rich depths of their spiritual practices. For example: - Mother Teresa's practice of silence compelled her to service. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer's prayer life equipped his discipleship. - Martin Luther King Jr.'s beloved community empowered his proclamation. - Oscar Romero's discipline of submission prepared him to face martyrdom. Biographical profiles of these and other key figures from around the world give us concrete examples of how activism and advocacy can be sustained over the long haul. Cannon also describes modern-day activists who embody the synergy of faith and action, with practical lessons for our own lives.Find yourself spiritually transformed by these examples, and follow in their footsteps in just service to the world.

Leseprobe

Just Spirituality

How Faith Practices Fuel Social Action

Mae Elise Cannon

InterVarsity Press P.O. Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com E-mail: [email protected]

© 2013 by Mae Elise Cannon

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Contemporary stories are told with the permission of those interviewed.

Design: Cindy Kiple

Images: © TMSK/iStockphoto

ISBN 978-0-8308-6459-1

Dedicated with sincere appreciation and gratitude to my spiritual mentors in Christ:

Brother Romuald, Diane Grant, Gilbert Bilezikian, Greg Jao, Sister Francis, Sibyl Towner, Tamarin Huelin and Thomas Getman.

Contents

Introduction Spiritual Practices as Fuel for the Soul

1: Mother Teresa From Silence to Service

2: Dietrich Bonhoeffer From Prayer to Discipleship

3: Watchman Nee From Study to Evangelism

4: Martin Luther King Jr. From Community to Proclamation

5: Fairuz From Worship to Freedom

6: Desmond TutuFrom Sabbath to Reconciliation

7: Oscar RomeroFrom Submission to Martyrdom

8: Courage, Joy and Celebration

Introduction

Spiritual Practices as Fuel for the Soul

Throughout the entire history of Christianity, holy women and men of God have shown their inner spiritual lives by active engagement in social justice in defense of the poor and oppressed. Some were sanctified (declared “saints”) or beatified (declared “blessed”), according to their traditions.[1] Others, such as Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Watchman Nee, were martyred because of their faithfulness in living out God’s heart for justice. In every era, Christian leaders have shaped compassion and justice movements around the world.

For iconic spiritual figures such as Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr., one might ask how their Christian faith shaped their mission. How did the condition of their souls influence their ability to lead? What is the relationship between their practice of spiritual disciplines and their effectiveness in shaping movements of social change? Is the cultivation of one’s soul a requirement of Christian-oriented justice? In considering these questions, I began to look for resources to shed light on particular Christian disciplines practiced by heroes of the faith.

As a Christian leader and activist, I resonate with the social justice tradition. I live a fast-paced life. I am more productive when I am busy, but I wrestle with what it means to operate from a sense of peace rather than one of frenzy. Spiritual rhythms challenge me. I work for a Christian international development agency. My work focuses on responding to global poverty and injustice in the Middle East. I travel several days every month. I work long hours. I am passionate about my job and consider it a privilege to pour myself into my passion and calling. As deeply meaningful as I find my life and ministry, I struggle with what it means to be spiritually centered. I want my life to be fueled by the power of God and intimate connection to the person of Jesus. I wrestle with the connection between my justice-oriented activism and my desire for intimacy with the Creator.

One of the strengths of the social justice tradition, according to Richard Foster, is “constantly calling us to a right ordering of society—right relationships and right living.”[2] The tradition of social activism also has significant weaknesses, however. Foster identifies one of the greatest risks of the social justice stream as “caring for social needs without reference to the condition of the heart.”[3] This book seeks to address the core of that concern. Why is the cultivation of one’s soul so important? What differentiates the engagement of the body of Christ from the justice-oriented action of other groups? How might we as Christian leaders and servants learn from those who have gone before us? What can we do to be molded, shaped and transformed more into the image of Christ in our work of compassion and justice?

Just Spirituality responds to these questions by looking at the examples of seven Christian leaders and their practice of spiritual disciplines. Intended to help readers understand the way spiritual practices deeply form our views of and responses to the world, this book includes historic examples of Christian leaders who have inspired powerful movements of compassion and justice around the world: Mother Teresa (India), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Germany), Watchman Nee (China), Martin Luther King, Jr. (United States), Fairuz (Lebanon), Desmond Tutu (South Africa) and Oscar Romero (El Salvador). How did the spiritual lives of these leaders influence their concern for the poor, their responses to the oppressed and their activism to overturn unjust systems?

Many books have been written about Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa and other significant Christian leaders of justice. This book is unique because it looks more deeply at the specific spiritual lives and practices of these leaders and how faith practices shaped their advocacy. These leaders became some of the most influential servants of justice the world has ever seen. Just Spirituality lends greater understanding of the spiritual rootedness of historic justice movements around the world.

Spirituality is the mechanism by which we come to understand God’s work in our souls and the world around us. The spiritual lives of Christians are further fostered by discipline and intentional engagement with God through Jesus Christ. Just Spirituality presents the case that the practice of disciplines—such as silence, prayer, study, community, worship, sabbath and submission—provide the fuel by which people are inspired to make a difference in the world. These disciplines are not mutually exclusive, and certainly many, if not all, were practiced simultaneously by the spiritual leaders highlighted in this book. It is helpful to look at the distinct nature of each of these spiritual practices, however, in order to consider how we might apply them to our own lives. This book provides lessons from history as Christians in the twenty-first century seek to integrate spiritual lives with God’s call to make disciples of all nations, respond to the needs of the least of these and anticipate the kingdom of heaven.

People often ask me whether there is a difference between Christian service and secular responses to needs in the world. I believe strongly that the Christian faith is of huge import and deeply affects the way individuals and groups respond to needs and injustices. Christians must pay close attention to the development of our souls if we desire to live out God’s justice in the world. There is a direct correlation between one’s relationship with God and actions of kindness, mercy, compassion and justice. The practice of spiritual disciplines empowers and equips Christians to better engage with society and exercise justice.

In addition to introducing a key figure of justice, such as Mother Teresa and Bishop Tutu, each chapter also includes a contemporary person who practices that discipline in her or his own life and ministry. These individuals represent ordinary people doing amazing things: Sami Awad (Palestine); Wenche Miriam (Norway); Princess Zulu (Zambia); and Alexia Salvatierra, Daniel Hill, Efrem Smith, Larry Martin, Mark Labberton and Gary Burge (United States). Each chapter also includes a section on contemporary praxis (reflection paired with action) to explore how we might apply that particular spiritual discipline in our lives today.

The first chapter tells the story of Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity Sisters in Calcutta, India. Mother Teresa’s work and ministry has shaped the world’s understanding of God’s heart for the poor. What was the source of her strength of character and deep-seated love for suffering people? Mother Teresa had a deeply intimate relationship with Jesus that was fostered by several spiritual practices, most remarkably her commitment to silence. She often said: “Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.”[4] During her life as a monastic, Mother Teresa understood how the spiritual discipline of silence changes us, inside and out. As a person becomes more connected to themselves and to God, clarity of purpose emerges out of the silence. The spiritual discipline of silence directly motivates and compels people toward other-oriented service.

The second chapter addresses the spiritual discipline of prayer by looking at the model of German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Like Mother Teresa, Bonhoeffer understood the relationship between silence and prayer. He said, “To pray is to be silent and at the same time to cry out, before God and in the presence of His Word.”[5] Deeply motivated by the Scriptures, Bonhoeffer led a life of strict discipline and personal piety that included rituals of prayer throughout the day for himself and the seminary students he mentored. Bonhoeffer’s commitment to prayer sustained his conviction to live out Christian discipleship regardless of the cost.

Chapter three tells the story of Watchman Nee and his profound influence in leading an evangelistic movement across China during the communist revolution. He felt God’s call on his life to be a voice warning and inviting others into relationship with Jesus. Self-educated and deeply committed to the study of God’s Word, Watchman Nee became one of the most influential evangelists and church planters in the early twentieth century. Nee’s devoted commitment to the spiritual discipline of study of Scripture is a marked example of the power of the gospel to build up the body of Christ.

Chapter four expounds upon the life and ministry of Martin Luther King Jr. Known as the esteemed leader of one of the greatest social justice movements in history, King was also one of the greatest preachers of American Protestantism. The community of Montgomery, Alabama, facilitated the growth and spread of King’s ministry and the spiritual giant he would become. Richard Foster claims Christian community is one of the major weapons of fighting the global battle against injustice. In pursuit of what King called “beloved community,” King understood the transformational power of God at work through the lives of people around him. As a result of God’s power through the community of Montgomery, King became one of the leading voices of proclamation on behalf of God’s love and justice in the world.

Worship supersedes culture and tradition as a powerful source of prophetic proclamation about God’s heart for justice. Chapter five tells the story of the Lebanese Christian singer Fairuz, whose worship and music has penetrated the divides of nationality and religion and become a unifying force for Arabs around the world. Music has often played a significant part in justice-oriented movements, from the hymns of the civil rights movement in the United States to Fairuz’s Easter album about the holy city of Jerusalem. Fairuz’s personal piety is a source of strength and centeredness for her strong justice-oriented conviction. Her worship music and Christ-centeredness are beautiful expressions of the spiritual discipline of worship as a call to freedom.

Chapter six addresses the desperate need of Christian social activists to observe the sabbath and include rest in their regular patterns of life. Perhaps the most difficult spiritual discipline for those involved in causes against injustice is that of sabbath rest. Throughout the Bible, writers place an emphasis on the observance of the sabbath as a way to honor God and rest from the toils of one’s labor. Desmond Tutu, one of the leading reconcilers involved in ending apartheid in South Africa, is a justice-oriented leader who took to heart the commands of Scripture for rest and the observance of the sabbath. Looking at Bishop Tutu’s example, one becomes deeply convicted about the necessity of observing the sabbath to enhance movements of justice.

Absolute submission requires the complete denial of self for the sake of Christ. Chapter seven tells the story of Oscar Romero, a Latin American priest who served as the bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. Bishop Romero, who was deeply committed to the faith and regularly engaged in contemplative practices, reminded the church of the need for submission to the cross of Christ. His leadership directly challenged people in power in El Salvador by criticizing injustice, oppression, assassinations and torture. His example and willingness to devote his life to ending injustice is a profound example of the spiritual discipline of submission.

The devotion and spiritual intimacy with God of these seven heroes of justice allowed them to permeate the oppression and suffering surrounding them. Just Spirituality leans on the example of these men and women while providing practical tools (ideas for praxis) for the reader to engage along the way. A study guide at the end of the book provides further opportunity for reflection. Do not feel obligated to read this book quickly or from one chapter to the next. Rather, read slowly, giving yourself time to reflect on spirituality and faith practices in your own life. You may want to read a chapter each week (or month!), individually or as a group, and practice the discipline discussed during that period of time.

Engagement in spiritual practices leads to Christ-centered action through works of justice such as service, discipleship and reconciliation. At the same time, justice-oriented action also leads back to reflection through spiritual practices such as silence, prayer and study. The correlation between reflection and increased social action is not linear. Justice-oriented spirituality is a cyclical process in which social action leads people closer to God; similarly, spiritual disciplines compel people toward increased engagement in social action. The spiritual practices discussed are recursive disciplines that simultaneously draw people closer to the heart of God through reflection and action.

Each of the practices focuses on an aspect of the spiritual life that helps to put us in a place where God can speak, intervene and transform our hearts and minds. Mother Teresa reminds us that the “silence of the heart is necessary so you can hear God.”[6] Prayer and the study of Scripture are powerful tools by which we can remain connected with our Creator and understand the world. Lest our pride become a stumbling block, community provides an earthly voice to hold us accountable while offering encouragement and admonishment along the way. The Lord is certainly worthy to be praised in our worship. As we gain a better understanding of God’s heart for justice, our worship becomes both more holy and right­eous. I pray this book might provide some encouragement for rest and observance of the sabbath as we submit ourselves to the powerful and saving person of Christ Jesus.

1 Mother Teresa

From Silence to Service

Silence is at the root of our union with God and with one another.

Mother Teresa[1]

Today I woke up very early at my parents’ home in rural southern Maryland. The rest of the house is quiet (which is unusual!), and I am entering into the silence of the morning. The view from my parents’ living room overlooks the Patuxent River, one of the largest estuaries of the Chesapeake Bay. The water is rolling gently. The sun is just starting to make its mark on the cornfields across the river. I can see the trees along the shoreline gently blowing in the wind. There are soft sounds of birds in the distance and other outside creatures making noise to greet the day. The sounds are soothing. In the stillness of the morning, my heart enters into silence. As I do so, I am reminded of how much one is able to hear when the mind and heart are stilled.

“If we face God in prayer and silence, God speaks to us.”[2] Mother Teresa, minister to the poor in Calcutta, reminds us of God’s desire to meet with us in deep silence, alone with him. Silence fosters relationship as we are stripped of everything and enter into the intimate presence of God. Mother Teresa says: “In silence He listens to us; in silence He speaks to our souls. In silence we are granted the privilege of listening to His voice. Silence of our eyes. Silence of our ears. Silence of our mouths. Silence of our minds . . . in the silence of the heart God will speak.”[3]

God desires to speak to all people. Silence provides the opportunity to hear the words that God speaks when we are still, quiet and listening. At times it may seem that only mystics of the faith or people called to monasticism embrace the spiritual practice of silence. But professionals, clergy and others specifically called to religious life are not the only ones who should embrace the discipline of quiet. Regardless of one’s stage of life or vocation, silence is a gift waiting to be opened and explored.

Mother Teresa: Servant to Calcutta and the World

Mother Teresa regularly practiced the spiritual discipline of silence while being an example to the world of life-giving service. Hoards of books have been written about the life and ministry of Mother Teresa. I found few, however, that focus specifically on the connection between her personal relationship with Jesus, developed through spiritual disciplines, and her actions as a servant with the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. These questions intrigue me: “How did Mother Teresa develop her heart and love for the poor? And where did her strength of character and passion for service come from?” The answers are found in the actions of her daily life, particularly in her regular devotion to prayer and entering into the presence of God by practices of the faith, most remarkably silence. Silence fueled Mother Teresa’s social action, which manifested itself through her overwhelmingly powerful ministry with the poor.

At eighteen years old, Mother Teresa joined the Catholic Loreto order in Ireland and took her name from Thérèse of Lisieux. In 1948, she founded the Missionaries of Charity Sisters in Calcutta, India.[4] When asked about her personal history, Mother Teresa said: “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”[5]

Through sacrifice and endurance, Mother Teresa reminded Christians and nonbelievers that God is the God of love. She is a profound example of how the love of Christ for all people compels us to respond to the deeply troubling needs of humanity through social action. Professor Mary Poplin tells of her personal discipleship serving alongside the Sisters of Charity for two months: “For Mother Teresa, everything was one person at a time—‘one, one, one, one’ she would say.”[6]

Mother Teresa had a deeply intimate relationship with Jesus that was fostered by silence during her life as a monastic. Her practice of silence created room for prayer and space for her relationship with God to grow. For Mother Teresa, silence was a prerequisite to prayer and the ability to meet with God. Prayer, through the means of silence, took upon itself the form of deep intimacy with God and with Jesus. “And when the time comes and we can’t pray it is very simple: if Jesus is in my heart let Him pray, let me allow Him to pray in me, to talk to his Father in the silence of my heart,” she would say. “If I cannot speak, He will speak; if I cannot pray, He will pray.”[7]

One of Mother Teresa’s most recognized prayers came to be known as her “business card”: “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.”[8] She started to distribute this prayer after it received international recognition, and many view these words as the secret to her success in ministry and care for the poor.[9]

Mother Teresa believed the presence of God transforms souls in silence. “Silence gives us a new outlook on everything,” she said; “We need silence to be able to touch souls.”[10] She recognized and exemplified the powerful connection between silence and service, regularly teaching of their interconnectedness in her conviction to care for the poor: “I shall keep the silence of the heart with greater care so that in the silence of my heart I hear His words of comfort and from the fullness of my heart I comfort Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor.”[11]

Dark Night of the Soul

In many ways, silence is a pathway to what St. John of the Cross called the “Dark Night of the Soul”: a time in which one intimately connects with Christ’s death on the cross through personal struggle and internal darkness. Years after Mother Teresa’s death, her own inner struggles became a hot topic in global media. For Mother Teresa, prayers in the silence were not without great pain, sorrow and struggle. The world was surprised to learn that Mother Teresa, beloved activist, leader and servant to the poorest of the poor, wrestled with a profound inner darkness during her Christian journey. Mary Poplin writes that this period of darkness occurs when one experiences “deep longing for God”; she believes it is in this dark night of the soul that Mother Teresa found the true love of God.[12]

As Mother Teresa delved into the dark hollowness of internal suffering, she used Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a model in the hope that “God would intervene in His own time and way.” Brian Kolodiejchuk, biographer of Mother Teresa, tells of the way she inspired the virtue of silence in the sisters around her: “To envelop in silence God’s work within her soul, as Mary had at the Annunciation, was for Mother Teresa an expression of reverence and trust,” he writes.[13] In her silence, she maintained a serene disposition while at the same time carrying the pain of Calvary. While she went about her daily responsibilities with joy and vigor, “her radiant smile hid an abyss of pain; it veiled the Calvary within.”[14]

For Mother Teresa, silence provided a place within which her internal suffering and darkness could be expressed. Her religious training taught and encouraged “silent suffering in union with Jesus Crucified.”[15] Kolodiejchuk describes her quiet suffering as a “sacred silence,” which concealed her inner struggles as God continued to outwardly bless her ministry: “She believed that His showering so many graces on her work was His way of disguising her secret!”[16]

In the Silence, God Speaks

Intimacy with God undergirded Mother Teresa’s ministry with a spirit of love. Prayer and silence provided the means for that intimacy. Mother Teresa described God as “the friend of silence” and believed that in one’s quiet and stillness, God would always be present—even if at times he, too, might be silent.[17] She rested her practice in the tradition of contemplatives and ascetics who also met God in the silence of the desert, forest and mountain. Mother Teresa believed silence was a means of stripping away people’s distracting thoughts and worldly influences in order to “dwell lovingly in His presence—silent, empty, expectant, and motionless.”[18]

Silence was both literal and figurative for Mother Teresa. She believed it was necessary for one’s tongue to be silenced, but also for the other senses to experience deprivation as well. One’s eyes could not be distracted by seeing things out in the world; one’s feet must be still in order to provide an emptiness of noise, movement and action: “For this we need silence of the mind, silence of the heart, silence of the eyes, silence of the hands.” This would provide space for one to “listen to God speaking in your heart.” She promised her disciples: “If you are hungry to hear the voice of God, you will hear. To hear, you have to cut out all other things.”[19] Silence before God means ridding one’s surroundings of “all other things” to make room for God to speak. Silence allows one to open one’s heart to hear and discern the whispering voice of God. Mother Teresa saw silence as a means to prayer and prayer as a means to the final destination of “the presence of God.”[20]

Oneness with God: Love Enters In

Jesus was the center of Mother Teresa’s life and ministry. She taught that silence is a means of learning and knowing the love of God through the person of Christ. In addition, silence was modeled for her by Jesus. She said, “In the tabernacle Jesus is silent. I can understand the majesty of God, but I cannot understand the humility of God. A little piece of bread! Jesus created the whole world and Jesus, whose Precious Blood washed away my sins, is in the tabernacle . . . This silence in the tabernacle, this perfect silence.”[21]

Silence provides a means by which one can talk with Jesus and be intimately connected, made one with Christ. “The more silent we are the closer to Jesus we become and the more we are like Jesus, the more holy we become,” Mother Teresa said. “So deepen your union with Him by your prayer life.” Mother Teresa believed that without silence there could be “no good prayers.”[22] Rather, one experiences intimacy with Christ when the presence of God intermingles with the silence, which creates space for conversation between the soul and its Creator. This intimacy culminates in the form of the Eucharist. The tabernacle was a source of energy for Mother Teresa’s extensive and demanding activities, giving her strength to work daily among the poor and the dying. Each day she celebrated mass in the morning and observed the Eucharist in the afternoon. Her love and intimacy with Christ were expressed through her care for the poor.[23]

Silence as a Manifestation of Humility

Mother Teresa also admonished silence as a means to humility. When directing young women in her order, she challenged them to not only keep silence in their hearts but also to exhibit the spirit of silence in conflict with one another. Silence provides space for self-examination and reflection. If someone criticizes, silence is a way of practicing humility and not responding directly to the insult. Mother Teresa saw this practice of silence as an act of love.

She encouraged that one should not make excuses but rather “keep silence with a humble heart,” taking advantage of opportunities to acknowledge truth when others point out fault. In this encouragement of personal reflection, Mother Teresa did not mince words: “Have you heard the voice of God? Is my heart silent? If bitter words, angry words come out of your mouth, then your heart is not full with Jesus. From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks, and in the silence of the heart God speaks.”[24]

Mother Teresa taught that humility, through the acknowledgment of weakness and mistakes and by keeping silence, is a manifestation of Christlikeness. She believed that humility is not possible without silence: “Both humility and prayer grow from an ear, mind, and tongue that have lived in silence with God.” In the silence of body, mind and spirit, God speaks and reveals himself. “If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you,” she said. “Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself.”[25]

Finding Calcutta: The Determination of One’s God-Ordained Purpose

Silence is a means of hearing God within us and of sensing God’s heart for us and God’s heart for the world. Mother Teresa believed that every person carries God’s love and is called to his or her own unique mission of charity. For Mother Teresa, as God speaks in the silence of the heart, the fruit of love is manifested in service.[26] What greater things has God prepared for each of us? Over the past several decades, followers of Christ have longed individually and collectively for a clear sense of purpose. If the sales numbers of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life are any indication, people are desperate to know and better understand God’s purpose for their lives.

Mother Teresa acknowledged that every person has a unique call on her or his life. We are each called to be ministers of the gospel, but the specific expression of what that looks like will be unique. Nonetheless, she regularly called the church to action and to taking responsibility for the world’s poor through acts of service and love.[27]

What does it mean to hear the call of God upon our lives? How do we intentionally pay attention to the Holy Spirit so that we might be ready to act when called? Mary Poplin asked similar questions during her two-month pilgrimage with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity. After becoming a Christian, Poplin wrestled with the integration of her faith and her vocation. As she attempted to integrate her experiences in Calcutta with her work as an academic, she remembered the words of Mother Teresa, who told her one day, “God doesn’t call everybody to work with the poor like he does us. He calls some people to work with the rich. And he doesn’t call everybody to be poor like we are. He calls some people to be rich. . . . But God does call everybody to a Calcutta. You have to find yours.”[28]

In Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Meaningful Work and Service, Poplin tells how her encounters with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity provoked a crisis in her own life, a crisis that revealed more clearly her purpose and calling. Poplin writes about some of her conclusions: “In Judeo-Christianity, we will suffer for our purpose, and suffering can be redemptive and instructive. . . . We need to attain the desire of our heart—our purpose.”[29] Silence serves as a means of helping us find our God-given purpose.

Silence and Caring for the Poor

Mother Teresa’s practice of silence was a source of connection with God that strengthened her love for and ministry with the poor. From the silence, she experienced God’s love, which compelled her to bring God’s love to the poorest of the poor. She would often tell people: “Jesus is not waiting for you in the tabernacle but in the slums, touching, loving the poor.”[30] Mother Teresa experienced Jesus in the slums:

I never forget once I picked up a child six or seven years old from the street and to see the face of the child—hunger, real hunger. So I gave her bread and she started eating the bread crumb by crumb like this. And I said, “Eat the bread, you are hungry. Eat the bread.” And she said, “I’m afraid that when the bread is finished, I will be hungry again.” So small, she was afraid of being hungry again. She has already experienced the pain of hunger. . . . And that is the greatest injustice.[31]

Mother Teresa’s life’s motivation was for men, women and children who had been rejected by society to know the love of Jesus. She believed that large organizations and Christian institutions should address issues of injustice and fix the source of the problem.[32] Her role, and the role of the sisters in her order, was to daily be in contact with those who suffered. She felt called to restore their sense of dignity as human beings who also were children of God. Mother Teresa wrote: “The poor are hungry not only for food, they are hungry to be recognized as human beings. They are hungry for dignity and to be treated as we are treated. They are hungry for our love.”[33] Her gift of love, nurtured in the discipline of silence, brought light and dignity to people who suffered in darkness.

Sami Awad: Silence, Meditation and Nonviolent Activism

Sami Awad was one of the first people who came to mind as I looked for contemporary examples of Christians who practice silence. Sami, who is the founder and executive director of the Holy Land Trust, grew up in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. His family lost their home as a result of the Arab-Israeli War in 1948. He describes the injustice he felt from a very early age, “As a young child, I knew and was fully conscious that this is wrong and shouldn’t be the way it is.”[34] Sami was very influenced by his uncle Mubarak, who showed him that nonviolence was a viable option in responding to injustice. Sami says, “Mubarak taught me how to engage nonviolence from a spiritual and practical perspective in order to pursue the rights, dignity and respect that all people might be treated equally as human.” Under his uncle’s tutelage, Sami began to join nonviolent protests when he was only twelve years old. When Sami was sixteen, his uncle was deported because of his work in nonviolence. This occurrence was a turning point in Sami’s life: “My uncle’s deportation created an opening in my life. I decided to commit my life to studying, understanding and engaging what nonviolence is all about.” Nonviolence as a way to pursue justice and reconciliation is, for Sami, a source of transformation and healing.

Sami Awad has dedicated his life to pursuing nonviolence as a means of exposing the occupation, human rights violations and injustices occurring in the Holy Land on a daily basis. Sami acknowledges the deep and historic suffering of the Jewish people. Out of their suffering and the abhorrent losses experienced during the Holocaust, Jews sought safety and security in the historic land of Palestine. Sami believes that even those experiencing oppression are obligated to contribute to the healing of those who are acting against them. True justice is not about freedom for one party and the oppression of another. Sami asserts, “The greatest justice we can offer to Israeli Jews as Palestinians is by creating, through our actions and dialogue, a mechanism for healing and reconciliation from historic wounds.”

As a Palestinian Christian, Sami’s faith deeply influences his work and commitment to nonviolence. He says, “Even though I grew up in a Christian evangelical family and had a personal experience accepting Christ as my Savior as a young child, it was not until very recently that I was able to fully understand how faith needs to be fully centered in my work and in the activities that I do and the conversations I have.” Initially he engaged in nonviolent activism because it was strategic and pragmatic. As his faith became increasingly real, however, he began to ask how he should respond to his circumstances as a follower of Jesus. On a daily basis, he asks himself what his life should look like as a follower of Christ. How does his relationship with Jesus affect his interactions with his family, his community, the staff he oversees and others? Sami describes it this way: “Historically, Jesus hovered around my life. But now, more and more, I am learning to understand and to integrate my faith. Jesus is increasingly at the center of my life and the work that I do.”

Sami’s leadership at the Holy Land Trust and his commitment to nonviolence is deeply integrated with his personal relationship with Christ and his pursuit of Christian discipleship. As I have gotten to know Sami, I have been impressed with his daily commitment to silence and meditation. He says, “Silence and meditation are very important to me. On a daily basis, I remind myself of the ministry of Jesus and how it began with silence: going to a place for reflection, meditation and personal prayer.” Jesus spent forty days and forty nights in the desert before the launch of his earthly ministry. Sami says, “This is meaningful for me as I seek to be a person who follows in the footsteps of Jesus in order to reach a point of awareness, consciousness and personal strength to deal with my own issues and shortcomings.” Silence and meditation serve as means of prayer for Sami, and he says he notices a difference in his demeanor and spirit when he does not create the time and space for quiet and solitude.

When Sami first began in nonviolent engagement, he actively pursued it as a means of resistance and strategic organizing in order to end the occupation of the Palestinian territories. Now, having spent several years practicing a period of silence daily, his understanding of nonviolent resistance has changed. No longer does he approach nonviolence simply as a means of resistance; rather, he sees it as a global approach to healing. He believes this methodology can be applied in any community in which there are historic wounds.

Sami is committed to a peaceful future between Israelis and Palestinians—one that acknowledges and preserves the right of Israel for stability and security and the right of Palestinians for freedom and justice. His work and ministry, however, are not limited to the conflict in the Holy Land. Sami cares deeply about people suffering all over the world. In September 2011, he wrote an article entitled “Giving 1 Percent of Jesus to Somalia,” which brought attention to the children suffering from famine, for The Huffington Post.[35] He called Christians to respond to the cries of those who barely have enough food to survive.

Sami’s daily practice of silence and meditation is a source of his care for the world. Whenever he has a challenge or is facing an important decision in his life, Sami sets aside a time of quiet, within which he can clear his mind and make space for God. He first learned this practice from a Jesuit monastery in Switzerland. He has been to the center several times and has increasingly committed to creating space for intentional meditation and silence. The process of emptying allows room for one to better understand and interpret one’s thoughts, Sami says; it is about “honoring them [thoughts] and letting them go.” He says, “The moment you empty out the space of what you were taught about your identity . . . then you move beyond that space . . . and have the opportunity to make a choice about who you are being called to be.” As a result of his regular meditation, Sami believes he has a deeper understanding of Jesus and of the person Jesus has called him to be.

As Sami talked about the daily discipline of practicing silence, I asked him if it was difficult. At first, he says, it was. “At first, my biggest difficulty was my own thinking,” he recalls. As he has more regularly entered into the practice, he finds the space refreshing and enlightening. Not only is there great personal benefit in terms of creating space for the soul, Sami says, but he also notices a distinct change in the way he leads. “My ministry is different because of the way I have been able to free myself and be liberated from under the constraints and hassle of daily tensions and operations at work. When I start my day in a space of silence, it creates a completely different environment from which I work. . . . I take this with me for the rest of the day.”