SPIRITUALITY FOR THE LITTLE GUY !!!!!!
How many of us, in this life, become "Bigshots", get our names in the history annals or, after death, are remembered by more than our families and a few close friends? The response to such questioning is obvious. Statistically, very few. Viscerally, we know that once we are out of sight, we are out of mind. We painfully understand that nothing is so dead as yesterday's news.
Will Shakespeare's famous line about everyman's brief stage appearance in life with the strutting and posturing for his fleeting hour and then is heard no more, becomes more poignant the older we get. Is it the tale of an idiot "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"? And is Will right again when he suggests that " the evil men do lives after them and the good is oft interred with their bones"?
How to live? How to cope? How to find meaning in one's life? Does it matter that I lived? Have I counted? Does anyone really love me? Questions…questions….questions… deep within the souls of most of us!
Living for the approval of others is, of course, woefully inadequate for happy living, but living with the unrealistic hope that we will be fondly remembered by all after we leave this world is nearly the apex of fantasy. It would be almost comic in its unreality were it not so sad. Yet, the tendency toward such wishes is understandable within the human condition. One need not be a romantic to agree that we all have a seemingly bottomless need to be loved - - and for ever! Eternally! And this need is acutely accented in the modern culture which is so huge and depersonalizing. Even beyond that observation, most of us are "little guys", hardly noticed, making a tiny ripple as we pass "through."
Most of us live routinistic lives, making little impact on our own spheres. We might endure monotony, insult, slights, defeats. We can be taken for granted and feel smothered by the overwhelming environment in which we live our lives. Our "littleness" becomes behemoth in our lives.
I have often been struck that so many people look me up for "talking it out"? I, the ancient priest, though psychologist/ dinosaur, listen for hours and months and years to the pain of this strange but profound alienation, this constant searching for answers, for meaning, for intimacy, for understanding - - - -the search so seemingly endemic to being human. And further, I have often wondered whether or not this generation is more sad than others. P.D. James in her autobiography frighteningly notes:
" All our brightly minted social reforms, the sexual liberation since the war, the guilt-free divorce, the ending of the stigma of illegitimacy, have had their shadow side. Today we have a generation of children more disturbed, more unhappy, more criminal, indeed more suicidal than in any previous era. The sexual liberation of adults has been bought at a high price and it is not the adults who have paid it."
I fear that she is right both about the ravages consequent to the sexual revolution and the general unhappiness of the modern soul. I sense from my consultees a deep sense of insecurity and inadequacy. My clients (parishioners, patients or fellow humans) who are usually young, fairly SHRIEK out for some slight assurance that they have some value - -that they are worthwhile! They so often say that something IS missing.
So they knock on a thousand doors. They scan a thousand lips. They plead a thousand times - - - -"tell me, tell me, tell me, somebody tell me that I am loved and worthwhile. Tell me my life does matter…." On and on and on! Something deeper than clichés is needed. Something more than bartender words of wisdom! We need a Saint to guide us, one who is deep into the life of God!
There is a "Little" Saint nearly perfectly tailored by the Holy Spirit for this depressed era and for us "little guys." She was called Sr. Therese of the Child Jesus, otherwise known affectionately as "The Little Flower." The adjective "little" is highly emphasized in our perception of her since she, herself, coined the phrase " The LITTLE way" which was an approach to life for the ordinary person (who is) out of the spotlight and deep into humdrum living. Or, as I see it, the Little Guy!
She lived in a cloistered Carmelite convent in the tiny town of Lisieux through which American soldiers passed on their way to liberate Paris in 1944. Although she died at the early age of 24, her Little Way swept across much of the world….and was devoured by the Little Guys. Imagine reading that merely picking up a pin off the floor for the PROPER motivation can have cosmic reverberation - - might even "save" one's soul. No need for Newspaper headlines or television interviews. No need to hit home runs or to be the life of the party. Just to be able to link the action (whatever it is) to the love and glory of one's God is sufficient. And suddenly everything becomes meaningful. Suddenly everything can be mined for one's Eternal Treasure or as I say frequently (to the discomfort of my more theologically minded colleagues) for one's Eternal Bank Account. How I love to think quantitatively as I say silently to my Lord: " Chalk that up to my account, dear God." A kind of celestial Brownie Point tally!
All saints have known about motivation and purity of intention. Yet, somehow, this Little Flower put it all right within the grasp of the ordinary Jane or Joe, which is most of us. This Little Way, when practiced, is known only to God and the Little Guy. No need to broadcast or to compete. It is surely delightful to be recognized and affirmed and appreciated, but don't most of us experience more frequently the opposite?
So, when one, fatigued from work or responsibility, has to listen to the boring rambling of some egotist about the loveable behavior of his remarkable cat ( God forgive and preserve us), instead of giving vent to obvious irritation, non-interest or bad manners, one can by a simple mental act enter the "Little Way" and offer this passing (little) Cross up to the Father for His glory and the possible salvation of a soul somewhere in the world! It is no longer a bore but another brick in the spiritual mansion we build for eternity.
And VOILA! we find patience! Now, there is a reason to endure these troublesome things.
Therese describes an example. Some nun, hopefully, by accident and not intent, splashed some soapy water in the saint's face while they were working in the laundry. She did her "Little way" thing. She offered it UP to God. An irritation became an advance in her spiritual journey.
Suddenly, my mind cascades with possibilities from my own life for "offering it up" to the Lord!
That crick in my neck when I woke up yesterday; that insolent, young bus driver with her cheap shot at my collar; the irritations I felt when my clients can't see why they are so obviously self destructing; the snubbing I receive from those who apparently dislike me; the tiredness I feel when some one requests still another favor or service; the embarrassment I feel when I bobble in a talk on some difficult word an educated person should be able to pronounce; the deprivation I feel when I accede to a companion's preference rather than my own; the resentment I feel when someone jumps in front of me in the bus queue; I can't walk as far or as fast as used to; I can't Preach the way I used to: I can't accept the challenging and joyful pastoral opportunities offered me……………..and on and on and on…..
But…..wait! It also tells me that I am a typical "little guy." It tells me that I, too, can walk the walk of holiness….. me, the dirty neck from the tenements of New York's West side. It tells me that I can enter the "Little Way" with all these frustrations and hurts and deprivations and put them all in my Eternal Bank Account. And THAT brings me a sense of meaning in what might look like a staid and prosaic life. Little St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower of God, I am so glad that you are around for me and for so many others. No wonder they made you a DOCTOR of the Church!!!!!!