Posted by johnboy on September 01, 1999 at 17:53:43:
i was confronted recently about my writing "style" which is pretty much nothing more than the force of long habit, and that, of someone who types with two fingers in a stream of consciousness wysiwyg, and i, like most folks, don't think linearly, narratively
this gave me the occasion to try something on myself that i use before giving unsolicited input, even to my employees
below is my discernment tutorial and the important thing is not so much whether or not the result is *right* but more importantly that we tread carefully before giving input or, in this case, reacting to input, and that we be willing to listen to the Spirit, within and from others
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upon reflection, i have considered that writing can be a charism *and* it can be a ministry to oneself within the context of formative spirituality
and that i would do well to consider this distinction, which never really occurred to me before, such that if my purpose is catechesis or evangelization, story-telling or dialogue, i would pay attention to language conventions and communication protocols in order to meet the demands of charity and to advance the common good
i have carried over the force of habit from my journaling into public discourse, but in a very limited arena with only a few in the audience attuned to my esoterica anyway
as for journaling, i have often thought that that part of my journey is largely finished, but just when i think same, another "flourish" *arrives*
finally, i now experience an apophatic-kataphatic rhythm in my life and i am still trying to "get the beat" and learning this dance step will have a bearing on all of this i am sure
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as always, in discernment, it would be useful to play devil's advocate and to also inventory the reasons that i might oughta stay the course --- presupposing that the holy Spirit might have used my foibles and shortcomings and eccentricities in order to advance others' salvation and the common good in a way not immediately obvious to those of biased disposition
then, weighing all of this in the balance, i can discern, not without input from significant others in my community, to stay or change course
staying open either way
my inertia is to do nothing, following Andy Greeley's advice to "ignore your mail"
http://www.agreeley.com/articles/polarizi.html
>>>In my first parish assignment, I served under a pastor who nervously feared that every negative letter – especially if it were anonymous -- represented vast hordes of dissatisfied parishioners. Moreover a single complaint on a hot summer Sunday that the air conditioning was too cold would send him rushing towards the sacristy to turn off the cooling system. For some reason the scores, even the hundreds, of parishioners who were stifling would complain only to the curates. The alleged polarization of American Catholicism is of the same order of reality. I plead with those responsible for this mythology in the same words that I used to the Monsignor in those days, "Don't believe that your mail is typical."<<<
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Guidelines I Have Used to Evaluate Input---whether giving or receiving it
1) if not urgent, don't rush to closure but continue to pray and love, leaving it alone after initial discussions
2) Does the input meet the Dolan-deMello Test which suggests:
a) leave other people alone* (see footnote)
b) be compassionate; and
c) bend the rules.
3) Love and Pray
footnote: and i add, does it follow the *multa dissimulare* of John XXXIII's famous motto? translated "let a lot of little things go by", this necessary in discerning whether it is indeed a *little* thing)
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the verdict is in: Dolan-deMello points 2a) and 2c) were not met and Greeley's sage advice seems therefore applicable
but, maybe there will be more mail !!!!!!!!!