In “What the Mystics Know”, Richard Rohr states,
“We all need to develop that rare ability to live happily in a broken world
and still work to reform it.”
It seems that there was never a time that righteous men and women did not have this challenge. Today, however, we are fortunate to have access to a greater variety of strategies for developing these abilities. Some are old, some are new, and some are from far away places. Regardless of what methods we choose, we are all challenged to first transform our “inner world”, in order to successfully transform our outer world.
For those who are interested, I am happy to share with you two simple strategies that I often use to navigate through life’s pain and brokenness. The first is rooted in the following saying, “If you know what you don’t want, you know what you do want”.
I find the mere process of writing down and clarifying what I do not want, helps me to better understand and envision that which I prefer. (I do this by simply writing out the opposite of what I do not want.) Then, once I have clarified what I want, it becomes easier for me to transform my attitude, and begin pouring positive energy into the desired change.
The Prayer of St. Francis offers a similar method of change. Here we are given simple examples of taking attitudes that are often associated with pain and suffering, and transforming them by “sowing seeds” of the opposite feeling or behavior.
The Prayer begins as follows:
LORD, MAKE ME A CHANNEL OF YOUR PEACE;
WHERE THERE IS HATRED LET ME SOW LOVE;
WHERE THERE IS INJURY, PARDON;
WHERE THERE IS DOUBT, FAITH;
WHERE THERE IS DESPAIR, HOPE;
WHERE THERE IS DARKNESS, LIGHT;
WHERE THERE IS SADNESS, JOY.
When we learn to view each moment of darkness or brokenness as a call for transformation, we can begin to take immediate action by turning to our “inner world”. Whatever method we use is secondary, as the key point is to develop a skill set that helps us to transform our reactions to pain and brokenness into a response that guides us to pour more Love, Peace, Gratitude, and Connectedness back into the world.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi,
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”