C S Lewis: Spiritual Pride

C S Lewis: Spiritual Pride

Guest writer: Larry Burton

“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.”  C. S. Lewis

As a child, I heard these words far too often: “Don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought.”  So I didn’t.  I never knew why this was such a dangerous thing, but I certainly did my best to remember I was dust and to dust I would return. That childhood admonition was about getting a big head, becoming egotistical and judgmental.  It was certainly not about healthy self-esteem.  Why then did St. Paul and 20th century author C.S. Lewis warn against pride?  It is spiritual pride that is their concern? 

As one who is in spiritual direction and who serves as a spiritual director, my encounters with spiritual pride are numerous, and personally far too frequent.  Every time I think I am growing spiritually--through my own efforts—I get tripped up.

There is a wonderful story about a famous preacher who, one Sunday after a preaching a rousing homily before a capacity congregation, sat down to dinner and asked his wife, “Just how many truly great preachers there are in this country?”  Without looking up from her roast beef and potatoes his wife responded, “One fewer than you think.”

When anyone, and certainly includes me, begins to think that our goodness and giftedness is our own doing, spiritual pride has entered the picture.  I have no idea what St. Paul meant when he spoke of the thorn in his side, but for me it is the tendency to become judgmental and superior. Saving others from their wrong-headed thinking, their insufficient theology, and their wayward walk with Jesus, can become my week’s work.  Thank goodness when I get tripped up and actually hear myself.

Not “thinking of myself more highly than I should,” is now, for me, a spiritual admonition, a warning, a caution.  It is the thorn in my side which reminds me that it is by the grace of God that I am healed and made whole.  And what a relief that is. 

Larry Burton

Joanna   joannaseibert.com

Buechner: A vision of the God of Love

Buechner:  A vision of the God of Love

 “One summer day I lay upon the grass. I'd sinned.. and in sin's wake there came a kind of drowsy peace so deep I hadn't even will enough to loathe myself…

A light breeze blew from Wear that tossed the trees, and  they formed a face of shadows and of leaves. It was a man's green, leafy face.,,. No sound came from his lips, but by their shape I knew it was my name.

His was the holiest face I ever saw. My very name turned holy on his tongue.. When I deserved it least, God gave me most.” Frederick Buechner, Godric, The Frederick Buechner Center, Frederick Buechner Quote of the Day.

This is the God of my understanding and the God I hope to introduce to spiritual friends I meet. I so want to share Buechner’s dream with those who cannot forgive themselves for wrongs they have done. There are always consequences, but the God of my understanding is there beside me as I come to the realization of what I have done. This God of my understanding walks with us, is there to give us all the love we need to have to be able to forgive ourselves and ask for forgiveness from those we have harmed. This is the God who stays with us and helps us make living amends, having an awareness that our calling is to bring love not hate or hurt into the world, trying to make a difference in the lives or others instead of bringing harm and disaster.

 A good test to use when we are trying to make a decision or being in discernment about an issue is to talk with others and ask, “Will this decision harm others?” 

Sometimes someone will be harmed no matter what we will do. Then the decision is how to care for those who may be harmed. We also need to know we are never alone. If we are open, there is a guide, the Holy Spirit, doing even better work than we can ever imagine.

This is where I often get into trouble. There is that voice that could not possibly be from God telling me that I am the only one who cares about this issue, the only one involved, the only one who can make a difference. Oh, dear. Big trouble, but this voice is such a sweet voice. It sounds like my voice.

Photography by Joanna ES Campbell

Joanna  joannaseibert.com

Addiction and Spiritual Direction

Addiction and Spiritual Direction
“We have entered into the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime.”
Big Book of ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84.

 Sometimes those coming for spiritual direction are blocked because of addiction. They have filled their “God hole” with another form of the spirit, alcohol of drugs, and it is no longer working. How do we help spiritual friends who need recovery? First of all, as you know, this is a disease, not a moral failing. Denial is a HUGE part of the disease. It is the only disease that tells you that you do not have the disease, so look for subtle hints. This could be a time to suggest the name of a therapist who specializes in addiction or a good friend of theirs who is in a recovery program. A person in recovery will simply tell them their story, what it was like when they were drinking and now what their life is like in a recovery or 12-step program. This is a two-way street. Telling their story keeps them sober as well as possibly helping another. I know of no more powerful act of love than being vulnerable enough to tell someone else your story about how another Spirit has entered your life and made all the different.

 Most people have no idea how spiritual 12-step programs are. They are a new way of life, a road less traveled, for statistics say that only about 10% of those in alcohol addiction make it to recovery. Recovery is not just about not drinking but a new way of life, looking and relating to the world with a new pair of glasses. 

I remember when I first started going to a 12-step program that I soon believed it would hopeless for me to recover when I was told that the heart of this program was spiritual.  I already was a very spiritual person, leading groups, writing articles about faith! However, I soon realized that God was a part of my life, but I was in charge, the pilot, and I gave God the position of co-pilot, being there to help me with my plans.  I had been told this in church, of course, since an early age to have God in charge, leading my life, but I had to hear it someplace else to try to change, for you see, I have such good ideas!

Joanna joannaseibert.com