By Patrick Schmadeke
Evangelization in the World Today
Even Walter Cronkite would be locked in an echo chamber. Once our nation’s chief storyteller, the “most trusted man in America” guided us through such fraught moments as JFK’s assassination, the Vietnam War, and the Iran hostage crisis. We have no chief storyteller today. There is no new-Cronkite on the horizon. There are only echo chambers.
We long to break free from the echo chambers. We seek peace from the fracas. We want human dignity where it is denied. We all have our neighbors to the north top of mind. This column is not about Minneapolis, but it is prompted by it. More directly, it is about developing human authenticity.
If we want bridges of peace, we must build them. If we want spaces for dialogue, we must host them. If we want divisions to heal, we must mend them. If there is building, hosting, and mending yet to be done, then I have some bad but obvious news: we have not finished our Christian task. The adage has proved true: we don’t rise to the occasion, we sink to the level of our training. We need more resources at our disposal. Here is one to help us build, host, and heal.
The Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergan (1904-1984) articulated five rules for living an authentic human life. Unlike most rules, they don’t say what to do. Instead, they work like a compass, guiding a journey of discernment. The five rules are: be attentive, be inquisitive, be reasonable, be responsible, be in love. One Lonergan scholar termed them the be-attitudes.
Be attentive. We perceive the world through our senses and our inner feelings. We use words like hot, cold, bright, dark, rough, smooth, hard, soft, loud, quiet, bitter, sweet, savory, citrusy, smoky, pungent to describe sense experience. We use terms like happy, sad, hopeful, playful, anxious, angry, frustrated, jealous, bored, relaxed, and confident to describe our inner experience. Lonergan reminds us to be mindful of our moment to moment experience.
Be inquisitive. The second level is about understanding our experience. If I feel a sudden smack on my shoulder on a warm summer day at the beach, I have not yet understood the meaning of the experience. Is it a congratulatory slap on the back for a successful ski run behind the boat? Is it a courtesy that spares me from the sure and painful bite of a horsefly? Is it to draw my attention to some sudden need? Many understandings of the experience are possible.
Be reasonable. The third level is about selecting the correct understanding of our experience. The mind has identified the possible and seeks to narrow to the probable, and in some cases the certain. Of the many possibly coherent pictures of reality, which is the most coherent? This comes down to a simple yes or no that judges the truthfulness of an understanding. Is X correct? Is Y true? Is Z a more coherent picture than X or Y?
Be responsible. This fourth level is about action. Given what I now know to be true, what should I do about it? What course of action should I take? What are the values that inform my action? Are those values at the service of the common good? Have I considered the needs of the marginalized?
Be in love. Finally, God made us to be beings-in-love. Love must focus our attention, shape our understanding, direct our judgments, and guide our actions. Only love can create real bridges of peace, spaces for dialogue, and healing of division. Being a being-in-love will always take us beyond our comfort zone. It will always stretch us out and place us in the redemptive pattern of the crucifixion-resurrection. Die to self. Rise anew for others.
One reason authenticity is tricky is because it is never permanent. Parenting is a good analogy for this. Just when I figure out how to parent our 5-year-old, she changes. The game of life is constantly changing. The situation in Minneapolis is constantly changing. Then there is the bias of the echo chambers we are all subject to. We can break through the echo chambers by accruing more relevant experience and asking difficult but relevant questions in love. That will have a domino effect through the be-attitudes. As members of the body of Christ, we need to nurture the authenticity of the human family in how we evangelize. The be-attitudes are a helpful guide along the way.
(Patrick Schmadeke is director of evangelization for the Diocese of Davenport.)
