Some years ago at Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault, I first heard the concept of “third force.” This morning as I read the headlines about the “total mess” at the Iowa caucuses last night, my own assessment of the situation arose. I’m not sure it’s accurate in this case, but I want to try and float it here as an example – primarily, I suppose, to keep my optimism functioning.
The concept of third force – simply put – is threefold. In a situation there is an affirming force and a denying force (not always a culprit but somehow in opposition to the affirming force whose task is to move along whatever one is considering). To “solve” the situation, we hope for a “new arising” which is so called because of the need sometimes to struggle with what is in order to come to what will be. Some could say that there are too many good Democratic candidates for President of the United States. For awhile that might have been seen as a good thing (affirming force) since, if they had not had some credibility, they would have been out of the race before now. Last night, in Iowa however, the caucus process became “a mess” (denying) because of several factors, among them 1. the new rules for caucusing, 2. the fact that there could only be two rounds of choice for a caucus and even 3. The fact that there are too many good candidates still in the race!! (Question: Can a situation be both affirming and denying???)
We will have to wait for the new arising before this situation is resolved. Meanwhile I’ll have to return to my wisdom school notes for a better or easier example. My only other option is to trust that there is a possible outcome when too many “goods” seem to muck up the machinery, necessitating a whole new answer to the process!
I have started this post three times in the past two minutes and am grateful for the technology that includes a “delete” button. It’s not that I have one thought stream; rather, there are too many words rumbling around in my head with no clear way to express anything. This happens sometimes when too much is going on and especially as I prepare to travel. It’s as if I need to be sure I have everything taken care of before I leave, especially remembering (of course) what needs to go with me.
Last evening we sat, a group of 12 seekers, to begin what is the last in a series of events that have taken place over the last six years in different places in the Northeast United States. We call them “Wisdom Schools.” Drawn first by the work of our teacher Cynthia Bourgeault to delve into the Wisdom Tradition of Christianity, we have joined an ever-growing network of people who choose spiritual practice as a discipline for deepening our living. Explaining how that happens, we admit, is something difficult to do and generally only seen in retrospect. We will spend the next three days “swimming in that sea” and hope to go home ready to meet the challenges of our everyday lives with more determination and willingness because of having been together.
My thoughts right now are many. Rules for writing teach the importance of a strong thesis sentence (or paragraph, depending on the length of the entry) – something that will catch the attention of readers and give them reason to continue reading. During the time it took to unpack my computer and get settled to write I have had at least three possibilities of where to start that might actually take me (and hopefully some of you) somewhere worth the trip. Perhaps I should “cut to the chase” and begin at the desired conclusion which will, I hope, have something to do with diversity not necessarily being dangerous to unity. But, no. Allow me to meander for a moment…
6:37AM: Very dark outside. Very cold in my bedroom. A day to hunker down under a mountain of blankets, one might say. But I’m awake and moving with thoughts of gratitude for the promise of two days of work that is not burdensome. Rather I look forward to the creativity of planning with my “Wisdom Team” for the events that help us and those who participate in these retreats to go deeper into life in the Spirit. The work is greater than anything we could conjure ourselves and it is always a joy and privilege to see where it takes us. Today is a new beginning and I find myself singing silently a familiar chant:
As I try to stay in the present moment this morning, I am aware that today is the last full day of our leadership training event. I can feel myself almost physically leaning forward as at the starting line of a race, even while attempting to be present to my typing. One of the words that we have heard often in the last three days as we process the sessions of our time together is rhythm. The word itself is a rare combination of consonants with only the y to act as vowel. I hear the singsong “a,e,i,o,u and sometimes y” English lesson of my youth and still wonder why that function is only “sometimes.”
Some years ago in a Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault, we learned a chant that was quite instructive for me. We sang: Listen, listen, wait in silence listening for the One from whom all mercy flows.” It was a very quieting verse and, sung over and over, had a mesmerizing effect, bringing us to stillness as we began our periods of Centering Prayer. I found those words again this morning in a translation of Psalm 130, verse 6, where the psalm was subtitled “The Call for Healing.” Even without the music, the words of that verse themselves could lead one to feel the healing presence of God, the One from whom all mercy flows. I was grateful for the additional commentary on the psalm, however, which emphasized the possibility contained in those words. See if you don’t agree.
It has been raining all night. I was awake only twice – and briefly – but my wide-awake housemate affirmed that although some of the rain came more seriously and some was just drip-like, we are in for a full day of it in any case. No storm, I hope, as our Wisdom School ends today and some people have a long way to drive…
The Sophia Center for Spirituality 