In the last few weeks, a phrase resonating in our shared public life here in the United States caught my attention: “we are in a battle for the soul of our nation.”
Phrases like this from our shared public life sear the seemingly inward-facing orientation of the often personal work that is done in retreat centers. What contribution does a place like the Episcopal House of Prayer make to our larger society, especially in chaotic times like these? Are we not also doing “soul work”? How does inner work impact and benefit public life?
My own hunch is that the work of healing and wholeness benefits both the individual and the society. Yet the fruits of activities that claim the benefits of healing and wholeness are often best-evidenced at the interpersonal level, in the social spaces where we test the fruits of the inner life in the fire of real life. With that “hunch” in mind and heart, I offer the next phase of reflection and practice on contemplative dialogue.
This next phase will focus on the interpersonal skills that support the movements of contemplative dialogue (grounding in self, open to others, seeking God, facing others, and commitment to wholeness), and work in tandem with the contemplative postures (spaciousness, suppleness, and surrender). The interpersonal skills are: openness/receptivity, mutuality, dynamism, ambiguity, and resonance.
The first stance of receptivity and openness is a dual-stance. The two descriptors serve as opposite faces of the same stance, whereas receptivity emphasizes the passive side and openness emphasizes the active side, much like the play of black and white colors in the yin/yang symbol. For example, receptivity is characterized by emptiness, whereas openness is characterized by expansiveness. Whereas a receptive stance is one that provides neutrality and willingness, an open stance is one that exhibits welcome and availability. Receptivity lets in comfort, allows for knowing, and attends to the details. Openness accepts newness, appreciates difference, and relishes in possibility.
Openness and receptivity mark moments of spaciousness. Openness and receptivity are the building bricks laying the foundations of becoming grounded in the self. When we take a deep breath to honor the moment, we lay a brick of openness. When we notice how we show up in a tense situation, we lay a brick of receptivity. When we seek to recognize our own shadows, we offer another brick of openness and when we let go of our judgments of others’ shadows, we offer another brick of receptivity. Openness and receptivity are part of the scaffolding that holds up the hard, practical work both of respectfully engaging others and of deeply encountering the sacred in the midst of daily life.
- What habits and activities support you in developing openness and receptivity? What hinders?
- Who are the people in your life that inspire you to be open and receptive? Who challenges your ability to be open and receptive?
- How do you ground yourself in the Holy One in ways that promote growth in openness and receptivity?
