Our first reaction to chapter 5, which opens with a focus on leadership, may be to disengage. “I am not a leader,” we say. But that is ego trying to appear humble. As Palmer says, “If it is true that we are made for community, then leadership is everyone’s vocation.” We lead by our words and deeds. “If you are here, doing what you do, then you exercise leadership of some sort,” he says (pg 74).
Whether or not we recognize ourselves as leaders, there is inner work to be done on the spiritual journey as we become whole human beings who contribute more light than shadow to our world. This work, Annie Dillard said, will take us “inward and downward, toward the hardest realities of our lives, rather than outward and upward toward abstraction, idealization and exhortation” (pg 80).
On the journey we will likely encounter the monsters that have kept us from living our true lives and from offering our lives to others. Why would anyone want to embark on such a journey?
“Because there is no way out of one’s inner life,” says Palmer, “so one had better get into it. On the inward and downward spiritual journey, the only way out is in and through” (pg 85).
Palmer identifies five shadow-casting monsters that keep us from offering our light to the world. The first is insecurity about identity and worth. We think we must plunge ourselves into external activity to prove that we are worthy. Sadly, we become so dependent on being “worthy” that when the role is taken away we become depressed and even die (pg 86).
A second monster we must face and overcome is our belief that the world is a battleground. We think we must fight everyone and everything to get our share, making and overcoming enemies, rather than contributing to a universe that works together for good (pg 88).
Third, we operate in what Palmer calls “functional atheism.” We talk a good game about trusting God but actually believe that we are responsible for making all good things happen. On the inner journey we find out that there are plenty of competent people who may be wiser than ourselves. “The great community asks us to do only what we are able,” says Palmer, “and trust the rest to other hands” (pg 89).
A fourth shadow is fear, especially our fear of chaos. Palmer reminds us that “chaos is the precondition to creativity” and that “even what has been created needs to return to chaos from time to time so that it can be regenerated in more vital form” (pg 89).
Lastly, we are prone to deny death itself, refusing to recognize it when things need to be let go of. But, says Palmer, “by allowing something to die when its time is due, we create the condition under which new life can emerge” (pg 91).
For reflection
While Palmer applies each of the five “monsters” especially to leadership, we can find examples of every one of them in our own lives. Our inner work calls us to look at them objectively, maybe with a trusted advisor who will hold our feet to the fire gently, honestly, and lovingly, as we grow into the fullness of the creatures God intended us to be.
Read again Parker Palmer’s five “shadow-casting monsters” that we meet as we do our inner work, pages 86-91. How, where, and when do you encounter these in your everyday Life?
Then carefully read the Inner Work in Community section, pages 91-94. How might you work to implement these suggestions in areas in which you are involved?
More Resources
The Time of Your Life
The extremes of life – the best of times and worst of times – certainly invite our prayer. “However most of life is somewhere in the middle, sometimes in the muddle, and even there – especially there – there is an invitation to practice God’s presence, to pray our life” says Brother Curtis Almquist from Society of St. John the Evangelist.
Click the link.
https://www.ssje.org/2015/02/01/the-time-of-your-life-curtis-almquist/
The Wisdom Years 