Recently, I was asked to reflect on my personal philosophy of ministry…You might be saying, “your what?” just like I said “my what?” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the heart of ministry for me, its core, are a few meaningful, relevant, and inspirational realities.
Aspirationally, these realities illuminate or guide how I approach ministry and life in general. I know that I fall short, sometimes in dramatic fashion. While I might not call it my “ministerial philosophy;” instead, I would want you to know what might be underneath, in front of, or behind my words, behaviors, actions when I am at my best. And, what you might see in me if we happen to be working with or serving alongside each other.
There is nothing complicated or jaw-dropping about these simple practical wisdoms which have been with me for as long as I can remember: 1) relationships matter–all relationships, all the time, with people and the world around us; 2) being present is critical–presence is at the heart of healing; 3) compassionate service is the essence of ministry–with special attention to those who are vulnerable, marginalized, oppressed, alone, or suffering.
Mind you, this is my first run at articulating a ministerial philosophy; certainly, experience and ongoing reflection will continue to challenge, form, and deepen how I understand what this means for me. As I am thinking this through, I am reminded that, if I am to live in to these practical wisdoms, if the fruits of my ministry are to express presence, compassion, and service, then I have be intentional in cultivating a ministerial practice.
Basic pillars of this practice include: 1) Presence. Being present to, with, and for the other requires that I am grounded and attentive. Simone Weil wrote: “attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” For me, this speaks to how being present and attentive is one way we give ourselves to the other in service. 2) Conversation. This isn’t all about talking, although dialogue is one way we turn toward the other, it also helps to reveal the ground on which I stand in ways reflection that reflection or introspection cannot. Conversation has the power to all me to attention. At the root, being conversant also means walking with/accompanying the other; sometimes this happens in silence. The reversal at play (converse) in service is that I am for the other and not for myself. For me, conversation broadly refers to meeting the other in ways that are meaningful and relevant to them. And, 3) Compassion. Compassion can’t necessarily be reduced to a practice. It is fundamentally a response to the suffering of another living being. What I have to practice, however, is letting go and opening myself up to being used in compassionate service. The compassion that flows through me springs from a far greater and deeper Source than the compassion that flows from me. Fr. Jean Pierre Médaille, a 17th century French Jesuit, describes it this way: “I love Love and I let Love love through me.”
These practices and practical, ministerial wisdoms point to an ultimate, inexhaustible, and unencompassable reality…one which is under the underneath, in front of the in front, within the within…That reality is “God is with us.” We just need “eyes to see and ears to hear.” And if we do, it is in and through the encounter with the other that God’s presence is revealed.
We live in the presence of Sacred Mystery, we only have to open the door and enter in. Borrowing a phrase from 20th century Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, the trace of God can be found in the space between two people; I would add that this happens (is a happening, an event) in love, creation, the true, beauty, the good, and unity. This Thomistic enumeration serves principally to illustrate that how we encounter the other, those who are and that which is other, matters greatly. There is a vast distinction between indifference, hate, violence, and love, service, healing.
