Called to Show Up
Patrick Reardon, an author who regularly contributes to the National Catholic Reporter, wrote a column recently entitled, “God Calls Us to Show Up, Be Present.” The title intrigued me, and the article made several salient points.
Reardon wrote about a group of men to which he belongs who meet regularly to talk mostly “about our individual and communal faith and about how our beliefs shape the way we live….”
At a recent meeting, the question put to the group was: “What is the one thing in my faith of which I am absolutely sure?”
As Reardon points out, it’s a question that people of faith should ask themselves frequently. After all, much of what Christians and Jews believe appears absolutely ludicrous to non-believers. We need to remind ourselves of that to avoid smugness and be ready to answer potential questions of belief for ourselves and others.
Fully Alive
How did Reardon answer the question? “The one thing I’m sure of is that we’re called to show up, to be present,” he wrote. “…The greatest task as human beings is to live – to be as fully alive as possible, to be as fully alert to all of the wonder and pain and beauty and jaggedness of life.”
He adds that “being present” is a big part of being fully alive. When interacting with others, it requires looking the McDonald’s clerk in the eye and talking with the homeless guy….” And it means to really listen to others, the people we’re close to, the people we work with, the people we meet casually.
This may not seem like a big deal, but I’m often put off by people who lack that presence with me, such as people at church who fail to look you in the eye at “the kiss of peace,” or people who continuously have their eyes glued to their cell phones. And I wonder how often I fail to be present to others.
The Second Mountain
I’m currently reading a book by New York Times columnist, David Brooks, who many may know from his participation in the commentary portion of PBS News Hour. The book is called The Second Mountain. It makes similar points.
Brooks describes his emotional and spiritual awakening in which he acknowledges “failures to truly show up for the people I should have been close to. (My faults) tend to be sins of withdrawal: evasion, workaholism, conflict avoidance, failure to empathize, and a failure to express myself openly.”
A recurring motif in his life, he writes, was to “prioritize time over people, productivity over relationship.
“Few people confided in me because I did not give off a vibe that encouraged vulnerability. I was too busy, on the move.”
I believe many of us – particularly the men among us – could say the same.
Doing As Well As Thinking
Often in these blogs I’ve offered my opinion that the search for God is not merely an intellectual exercise, trying to decide whether or not we believe and if so, in what? No, it involves doing as well as thinking – doing for others, being there for others, developing the habit of “showing up” for self and for others. In short, being God-like is a pathway for finding God.
It’s not something that happens overnight. It may take a lifetime of trying to notice and acknowledge all of God’s creation, human and otherwise, and always being present. Many of us have developed a keen ability to be absent when it suites us.
The main thing, in my opinion, is being conscious of the need for presence and seeking God’s help to be, as Reardon writes, “as fully alive as possible, to be as fully alert to all of the wonder and pain and beauty and jaggedness of life.”
