wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] 'Contemplative outreach'

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #7788 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

'Contemplative outreach'
GA03099

'Contemplative outreach'

Speaker recommends combining serene spirituality, passion for justice

by Alexa Smith 

DENVER, May 29 - Learning how to "center down," or combine a contemplative
spirituality with a passion for justice, was the focus of a joint meeting
Thursday of the Office of Spiritual Formation of the Presbyterian Church
(USA) and the National Black Presbyterian Caucus (NBPC).

Participants heard from someone who has struggled to balance contemplation
and action in his own life - the Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, canon of
Washington National Cathedral and director of its Center for Prayer and
Pilgrimage. Sutton also is a co-founder of Contemplative Outreach, of
Metropolitan Washington.

	Sutton said his inspiration is Howard Thurman, the black theologian
and philosopher who taught that only love can overcome racial bigotry and
hate, lift the hearts of the oppressed and free those of the persecutors.

	Sutton cited excerpts from Thurman's writing in articulating how God
moves people into justice-work through inward reflection.

	"People think, 'I'm an activist; I never stay quiet,'" Sutton said,
contending that it's only when Christians learn to slow down their minds that
they achieve focus in their lives.  "We're thinking, 'I've got to do this.
Run there. Gotta call my mother.'"

	Thurman described such frenetic thinking this way: "The streets of
our minds seethe with endless traffic; our spirits resound with clashings,
with noisy silences, while something deep within hungers and thirsts for the
still moment and the resting lull.

	"But for those who go into deep prayer  we begin listening to God
instead of directing God."

	Sutton said John Cassian, one of the "desert fathers" of the early
church, taught that the authentic spiritual life requires letting go three
things: One's way of life, one's thoughts and one's image of God.

	That permits God to be who God is, not what one thinks he or she
needs God to be.

	In his liturgical-style lecture, Sutton lit a candle before beginning
to address the group. He interspersed his own thoughts with readings of works
by Thurman and Martin Luther King Jr., emphasizing that people who find
stillness for the first time often move back into "the daily round, With the
peace of the Eternal in our step" - and enables God to make room in the heart
for compassion leading to the work of justice.

	Sutton said taking time for stillness is a way of consenting to God's
presence. When consent is granted, he said, "God begins to act, to (instill)
compassion."

	The Rev. Curtis Jones, of Baltimore, MD, the NBPC moderator, said the
caucus is going to join forces with the denomination's Office on Spiritual
Formation, a union he said is overdue.

	The caucus is already linked with the (PCUSA)'s International Health
Ministries Office in supplying kits for AIDS caregivers in Malawi, an
outreach that the Rev. Otis Smith of Atlanta, GA, said represents the end of
"navel-gazing" in the caucus and its stepping into the world.

	Sutton's presentation was titled, "Contemplative Prayer: Shaping
Spirituality from Love to Justice." He described it less formally as
"contemplative outreach."

	The Rev. Steve Shussett, of the Spiritual Formation Office, said
Sutton's bridging of contemplation and justice is well-timed for the mutual
goals of the office and the caucus. 

	"It was perfect timing," Shussett said.
	

*** For instructions on using this system (including how to UNJOIN this
meeting), send e-mail to mailrequests@ecunet.org
------------------------------------------
Send your response to this article to pcusa.news@pcusa.org

------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an 'unsubscribe' request to

pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org