Stewards of God’s Mysteries

In early October, I had the good fortune to attend the clergy retreat of the Diocese of Virginia and hear meditations offered by  both Br. Curtis Almquist (Superior) and Br. Geoffry Tristram from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist (SSJE).  I was particularly struck by Brother Geoffry’s meditation on “Stewards of God’s Mysteries,” in which he probed the practice of leadership within the Church.  The value of leadership in much of our contemporary culture is measured by performance.  Brother Geoffry reminded us of the writing of  Herbert Marcuse, the 20th century philosopher and political theorist, who wrote that modern society has been dominated by “the performance principle.”

“We are as a society anxiety-ridden because under this rule, society is stratified according to the competitive performances of its members.”

Marcuse argued that almost inevitably, we begin to regard our essential value as human beings in terms of how we perform or how much we produce.  Life lived under the “performance principle” is life seen as essentially earned, a life by which we justify our existence by how well we perform and by what we produce.  Brother Geoffry stated:

What about us who are called to be leaders in God’s church?  Is “performance” the right and appropriate criterion for judging how successful we are as leaders?  And in any case, what it the product?

I think St. Paul gets closest to describing the product and also our role as leaders in 1 Corinthians chapter 4:1, “Think of us in this way–think of us as stewards of God’s mysteries.”  And he goes on to say, “It is required of stewards that they should be found trustworthy.”  So for St. Paul, in some ways the product, if you can call it that, is the mystery of God, and the criterion for successful leadership is not performance but being found trustworthy or faithful.

It is difficult to resist the pressure to apply the criteria of secular leadership to what it is we have been called to.  If the “product” is God’s mysteries, and if the criterion of good performance is not successful sales or profit, but being found trustworthy or faithful, what does that really mean?  Brother Gregory answers:

It means we cannot sell God’s mysteries, but we can teach them as merciful revelation, we can celebrate them in the liturgy, we can invoke them as healing and pardon, and we can live them as the deepest meaning of our lives (emphasis mine).

A great deal of the tension I find as a leader, and I know this to be true for many of my parishioners, is establishing a consistent rhythm of life where nourishing the contemplative dimension of one’s life is priority number one.  I quoted Sarah Coakley in a recent post, but her words resonate again with me in light of Brother Geoffry’s helpful teaching:

Often even ministers don’t think enough about how Christian life is magnetized and electrified by being lived prayerfully. When you meet a priest or a minister who is living prayer, you never forget that person. That person may be bumblingly inefficient on the budget, useless about remembering to come to appointments, all other kinds of things that they’re meant to do right, and yet have the most fantastic impact on people’s lives.

It seems to me that in order to pursue a contemplative way of leadership, one needs to keep a regular pattern of prayer, personal care, and accompaniment with other like-minded friends.  When you think about it, this was the way that Jesus himself made the journey and so must we.