By Kathy Berken
“Joy is the echo of God’s life within us.” (Leon Bloy, French Catholic novelist)
These few words pave the way to a new spiritual self-awareness, a barometer that measures our perception of God’s presence within us. But don’t think that joy necessarily means only happiness or delight. Joy is deeper than simple warm fuzzies, and may not even be attached to our ever-changing emotions. Rather, true joy is knowing in our souls that God is always and everywhere present. It is absolute trust in God’s grace.
The last time I visited with the Franciscan Sisters in Little Falls, Minnesota, I spoke with Sister Shirley, who gave me permission to share how she lives out her daily prayer. Sister Shirley is in her 80s, having served God through missionary work in the U.S. and Africa for 60 years. She has been a nurse’s aide, nurse, nursing home assistant supervisor, hospital chaplain, pastoral minister, clerk and pharmacy technician, missionary, massage therapist, gardener, home health aide, and assisted-living night cook.
Recently, Sister Shirley discovered four pieces of advice gleaned from a set of principles called “The Four-Fold Way” by the late cultural anthropologist, Angéles Arrien.
Sister Shirley’s joy in daily living these spiritual practices is evident in her smile. Hand-written on a well-worn piece of paper, these words have become daily reminders to live a life filled with simple but profound joy.
Show up. Be present. Sister Shirley believes that even when she might not want to attend yet another meeting, or go to yet another gathering, or walk down to the dining room for yet another meal with the sisters, she does it anyway. She knows that simply being present is a sign of God’s presence in her.
Look for what has heart and meaning. Sister Shirley’s spiritual radar directs her to those people, environments, and activities that provide her with a sense of the holy. Of course this means daily Mass in the sisters’ chapel, small-group morning prayer with the sisters whose rooms are near hers, and community vespers just before supper, but it also means the weekly group she leads on ecology, the conversations around the video she shows, and the universal meaning of caring for God’s creation. “It’s very Franciscan,” she reminds me.
Speak your truth without blame or judgment. Sister Shirley has many ideas, opinions, thoughts, and personal truths/beliefs about almost everything! But she is careful not to judge others lest she be judged. Blaming is simply criticizing without offering constructive suggestions for improvement. She has a great love of community and a deep sense of universal holiness. Not one to simply follow someone else’s lead for the sake of compliance, Sister Shirley’s informed conscience allows her to teach from well-researched and prayerful exploration.
Be open to outcome. Sister Shirley says that you always have to be willing to be wrong, to change your mind, to look at something with new lenses. Further, she says acceptance is key to this openness. It’s the Serenity Prayer in a slightly different setting. She strongly advocates for both parts of this prayer: change the things you can and accept what you cannot change. If you spend time and energy on a project and discover at the end that you began with a false premise, then accept defeat and start over. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can always begin again.
We don’t have to have lived the same varied apostolic life that Sister Shirley did. We just have to live the life that God gave us. But we can live it with joy, with the profound belief that God has been and is always present.
(Kathy Berken is a spiritual director and retreat leader in St. Paul, Minnesota. She lived and worked at L’Arche in Clinton — The Arch from 1999-2009.)
