McHugh describes what an introverted spirituality looks like in chapter four. After beginning the chapter by describing how scattered our society has become… he issues the following observation: ‘In an increasingly fragmented, fast-paced, chatter-filled world, I consider the greatest gift introverts bring to the world and the church to be a longing for depth.’ McHugh then starts to describe a ‘Contemplative Spirituality.’ Which was a section in which I found myself nodding my head a lot because it resonated with me and tended to describe some of my own leanings in devotional material recently. “Sometimes referred to as mysticism, this spiritual mindset seeks to discover the presence of God in every aspect of human life.” He goes on to describe the multitude of ways that God tries to communicate to us… from the scriptures, to beauty, to modern stories, to experiences… and the goal of contemplative spirituality is to be an active and open listener. This resonates with me… because some of my most profound thoughts about God tend to happen outside of church… sometimes in the midst of a moving story… or enjoying the beauty of nature.
One description that has been helpful to me in locating my spirituality on a map of sorts is by looking at three statements found in church history. Augustine would say ‘I believe in order to understand.’ Aquinas would say ‘I understand in order to believe.’ Mystics say ‘I believe in the absurd.’ In other words, there is such a mystery, such an unknowable-ness to the truths of Christianity… that a mystic begins to embrace that mystery… instead of being overwhelmed or frustrated by it… they allow it to expand their wonder and awe. The older I get, the more I find myself in the third category. That’s not to say that I’m not trying to learn and think and grow in knowledge… but there are certain things I don’t think I’ll ever completely understand… and I’m growing more and more comfortable with that.
McHugh goes on to describe a contemplative spirituality. One aspect is what he called integration. Here’s his depiction of this: “Introverts in particular can feel that the world divides us from ourselves, that it takes from us. In contemplation we seek to draw together the divided fragments of our existence and present them to God who, in turn, finds us, restores us and draws the pieces together.” I am learning more and more about my need for this to happen in my life. Particularly in those seasons of life when a lot of different things are coming at me all at once. It’s easy to feel scattered. But I find that when I can quiet myself before the Lord on a regular basis… he binds me back together. He quiets and even focuses my mind. It’s something, I’ve noticed recently, that I have to have in order to be effective in my various tasks.
Another thing McHugh mentions and it’s the last thing I’ll write about in this post is the role of solitude in contemplative spirituality. He makes immediate reference to the fact that we find Jesus as an example of carving out times of solitude in our lives. McHugh makes reference to solitude in much the same way that Bobby Gross (Living the Story of God) makes reference to fasting… it is the art of creating space for God. We remove ourselves from distractions and noise and human relationships… FOR A TIME… in order that we might experience more of God’s presence… or that we might hear Him in a clearer way. It’s a moving AWAY from something… but at the same time, it’s a moving TOWARDS something.
I’ll stop there for now… he finishes off chapter four with more on how to create and use times of solitude… and then gets into a discussion about how to take advantage of the rhythms of our lives. I’ll get into those topics next time around.
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