As I read through one of my favorite sources of religious news, my eyes landed on this intriguing title: “Shakespeare for your spiritual direction.” The reflection is by Robert Morneau, whom I do not know. As I read his very short bio, I learned that Morneau is a priest, a poet and retired auxiliary bishop in Green Bay. I laughed when I also read he is a Packers’ fan. I would guess everyone in Green Bay, WI is a Packers’ fan.
With some relish I jumped into the short article. It begins with a good couple sentences. “The spiritual journey is complex terrain, so many twists and turns, so many mountains and valleys, so many unknowns and thrills. The wise person seeks a guide.” This is very true. I like the imagery for spiritual journey. It is complex terrain. Clearly, it is not a straight line from belief to sainthood. There are twists and turns. There are mountains and valleys. Of course, much of the journey is dealing with the unknown. Occasionally, there may be thrills. I would add also there will likely be disappointments. But it’s a journey worth taking. And taking it with a spiritual guide is smart.
While Morneau talks about a few different themes, I want to focus on two themes. The first of these is love. He begins with a quotation from one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. And then Morneau adds his own interpretation and insight. I pull out one point from his commentary. Morneau says, “The mystery of love is at the center of spirituality. This is a life of self-giving, of dying to one's selfishness and being for others.” I agree with his observation.
I also believe that the mystery of love is at the center of it all. And I like how he talks about love as mystery. All I need to do is ask the students in my class to define love. I sit back and watch them fumble with words. It is not because they are not bright enough. And many of them are quite articulate. But like so many of us who are older and have loved, it is difficult to put it into words.
To say, “I love you,” is both to confess something very profound and to confess that I don’t really know how to say it adequately. That is why I like how Morneau develops his thoughts. Love is a life of self-giving. This is a good place to begin. No one wants to be in love with some narcissistic person. For that person we exist only for them and their pleasure. Real love is self-giving. In deep love the other person is more important than we are.
Indeed, real love calls for a death to our own selfishness. It is not that we don’t matter; rather, we matter very much. But it is not a selfish kind of mattering. “I am for you” is the mantra of true love. And when that is mutual, it is an immensely powerful situation. Only when we are self-giving and not selfish can we truly be for the other. It grows out of our deep care for the other. Only when we care are we able to take care of each other. This counteracts all those people in our world who basic mantra is “I couldn’t care less!”
The second theme Shakespeare addresses is what he calls “wise counsel.” He means the bard offers “nuggets of advice” for all of us pilgrims. An example of Morneau’s use of Shakespeare is found in these words. “In ‘Sonnet 73,’ Shakespeare describes the ending of things: the autumn season, a day, a glowing fire. These are images of encountering our mortality. The sonnet concludes: ‘This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, / To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.’ Again, the beautiful call to fidelity in the face of death.”
Morneau concludes his observation on wise counsel with this thought. “Shakespeare knew well the human heart and the qualities of the spiritual journey — prayer, forgiveness, love, kindness, compassion.” This list is not surprising. In fact, it contains the basic tools of the spiritual journey. Time-honored tools like prayer are necessary disciplines for the journey. No athlete and no spiritual athlete can imagine a journey without discipline. And having a guide or companion is smart.
Shakespeare insightfully includes things like forgiveness. He knows things like kindness and compassion with be necessary. These will be necessary for us to receive and, certainly, necessary for us to be ready to extend to fellow spiritual pilgrims. I like Morneau’s sense for the developmental nature of this spiritual journey. For example, I may not be capable of compassion. But I can learn to be kind. I may not want to forgive, but kindness is a good first step. I appreciate his focus on the simple.
I like what Morneau has done and appreciate that he invites me to consider jumping back into some reading of Shakespeare. Probably for too many of us, we had to read some Shakespeare in high school and the experience was not satisfactory. Then I did not have a good mindset and felt no compelling reason to read the English poet. In my day no one suggested Shakespeare might offer counsel that would help me make sense of life. I am not convinced he can.
So thanks Packers’ fan and priest. I am eager for this counsel.
With some relish I jumped into the short article. It begins with a good couple sentences. “The spiritual journey is complex terrain, so many twists and turns, so many mountains and valleys, so many unknowns and thrills. The wise person seeks a guide.” This is very true. I like the imagery for spiritual journey. It is complex terrain. Clearly, it is not a straight line from belief to sainthood. There are twists and turns. There are mountains and valleys. Of course, much of the journey is dealing with the unknown. Occasionally, there may be thrills. I would add also there will likely be disappointments. But it’s a journey worth taking. And taking it with a spiritual guide is smart.
While Morneau talks about a few different themes, I want to focus on two themes. The first of these is love. He begins with a quotation from one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. And then Morneau adds his own interpretation and insight. I pull out one point from his commentary. Morneau says, “The mystery of love is at the center of spirituality. This is a life of self-giving, of dying to one's selfishness and being for others.” I agree with his observation.
I also believe that the mystery of love is at the center of it all. And I like how he talks about love as mystery. All I need to do is ask the students in my class to define love. I sit back and watch them fumble with words. It is not because they are not bright enough. And many of them are quite articulate. But like so many of us who are older and have loved, it is difficult to put it into words.
To say, “I love you,” is both to confess something very profound and to confess that I don’t really know how to say it adequately. That is why I like how Morneau develops his thoughts. Love is a life of self-giving. This is a good place to begin. No one wants to be in love with some narcissistic person. For that person we exist only for them and their pleasure. Real love is self-giving. In deep love the other person is more important than we are.
Indeed, real love calls for a death to our own selfishness. It is not that we don’t matter; rather, we matter very much. But it is not a selfish kind of mattering. “I am for you” is the mantra of true love. And when that is mutual, it is an immensely powerful situation. Only when we are self-giving and not selfish can we truly be for the other. It grows out of our deep care for the other. Only when we care are we able to take care of each other. This counteracts all those people in our world who basic mantra is “I couldn’t care less!”
The second theme Shakespeare addresses is what he calls “wise counsel.” He means the bard offers “nuggets of advice” for all of us pilgrims. An example of Morneau’s use of Shakespeare is found in these words. “In ‘Sonnet 73,’ Shakespeare describes the ending of things: the autumn season, a day, a glowing fire. These are images of encountering our mortality. The sonnet concludes: ‘This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, / To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.’ Again, the beautiful call to fidelity in the face of death.”
Morneau concludes his observation on wise counsel with this thought. “Shakespeare knew well the human heart and the qualities of the spiritual journey — prayer, forgiveness, love, kindness, compassion.” This list is not surprising. In fact, it contains the basic tools of the spiritual journey. Time-honored tools like prayer are necessary disciplines for the journey. No athlete and no spiritual athlete can imagine a journey without discipline. And having a guide or companion is smart.
Shakespeare insightfully includes things like forgiveness. He knows things like kindness and compassion with be necessary. These will be necessary for us to receive and, certainly, necessary for us to be ready to extend to fellow spiritual pilgrims. I like Morneau’s sense for the developmental nature of this spiritual journey. For example, I may not be capable of compassion. But I can learn to be kind. I may not want to forgive, but kindness is a good first step. I appreciate his focus on the simple.
I like what Morneau has done and appreciate that he invites me to consider jumping back into some reading of Shakespeare. Probably for too many of us, we had to read some Shakespeare in high school and the experience was not satisfactory. Then I did not have a good mindset and felt no compelling reason to read the English poet. In my day no one suggested Shakespeare might offer counsel that would help me make sense of life. I am not convinced he can.
So thanks Packers’ fan and priest. I am eager for this counsel.
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