THE FIFTH TRANSFORMATION
POTTERY MAKING
"You are our father,
Lord. We are like clay, and you are like the potter". (Isaiah 64:9).
There is a vivid image used
in scripture of potter and clay; of earthen vessel holding a great
treasure. If we are indeed
earthen, or clay, vessels holding a great treasure from God, then we have a
responsibility to care for and maintain those vessels as if they the rarest of
art objects.
Jesus said, "I have come
that you may have life and live it abundantly." Abundant living can mean many things. If we see ourselves as empowered by the
living Spirit of God within us; in whom we live and move and have our being,
then we can truly reflect on the idea that we are "earthen
vessels". As keepers of these
vessels we have certain responsibilities for "maintenance and
upkeep".
The focus of Pottery Making
as a life changing TRANS-FORMATION will be on the concept of WELLNESS. I wish to speak to the issue of Wellness first from
the secular perspective as it was developed in the early 1960's by Dr. Halbert
L. Dunn, and secondly as a spiritual path, primarily as it is outlined by Dr.
John J. Pilch in, Wellness:
Your Invitation to Full Life (Copyright 1981, John J. Pilch)and
adapted by the Society.
WELLNESS: A SECULAR PERSPECTIVE
The concept of High Level
Wellness was first developed in the early 1960's by Dr. Halbert L. Dunn. He defined High Level Wellness as a
state wherein you are, "alive clear to the tips of your fingers. You have energy to burn. You tingle with vitality. At times like these, the world is a
glorious place".[i]
Others took up the banner of
High Level Wellness and continued to develop it.
One of the proponent's,
Donald B. Ardell, from whose book,
High Level Wellness, (Copyright 1977, 1979, Donald B. Ardell) I
will draw heavily, added the idea that a person must be self-responsible for
good health and well-being. If you
are not healthy, don't blame your physician. Ardell advocates and integrated approach to well-being, and
calls High Level Wellness, "A life-style approach to realizing your best
potentials for physical health, emotional serenity and zest for living, and
mental peace through clarity of purpose".[ii] He goes
on to draw the following conclusions about wellness:
o Attention
to lifestyle and environment offers the most rewarding paths
to
improved levels of health.
o Wellness
initiatives in one area of you life will re-inforce health-enhancing
behaviors
in other areas.
o It
is even possible to be "well" in the midst of illness and dying.
o High
Level Wellness is not the same as holistic health.
o A
state of high level wellness is within the reach of all.[iii]
High Level Wellness has five
distinct dimensions: 1)
Self-Responsibility, 2) Nutritional Awareness, 3) Stress Management, 4)
Physical Fitness, and 5) Environmental Sensitivity.
I. SELF-RESPONSIBILITY
This
is the keystone to a life of high level wellness.
Without
an active sense of accountability for your own well-being, you won't have the
necessary motivation to lead a health-enhancing lifestyle. A strong sense of personal
accountability is required to avoid high-risk behaviors.
Self-responsibility
is also needed for a commitment to a health-producing lifestyle, and to pursue
health education.
Principles of Self-Responsibility:
o You
Are in Charge of Your Own Life.
Others may influence you and the decisions you make,
but you make your own choices.
o You
Are Unique
Your
approach to/program for health will be different than anyone else's. What works for others may or may not work
for you. What works for you may or
may not work for others. Each of us must find our own way.
o You
Are Motivated by a Desire for Happiness
We
pursue health and high level wellness not for their own sake, but in the
context of our
own values and purposes. We all
value happiness. I want to be
healthy because it makes
me happy.
o You
Need a Sense of Purpose
An
aim in life can help you obtain the kinds of rewards needed for fulfillment and
balance, and is crucial to
your feeling "centered" and reasonably content with your life.
A
goal or purpose in life is fundamental to positive health and well-being. It tops the list of necessary components in a
balanced lifestyle.
o You
are O.K. - And on Your Way to Being Better.
In a word - self-esteem.
o At
Times, You Might Prefer Illness to Health
We
do this unconsciously to escape from an unpleasant reality, because it gets us needed attention from others,
helps mask inadequacies, or otherwise avoid responsibility.
o Stop,
Examine, and Choose
Do
not make decisions, take actions, or experience feelings based on outdated
tapes. Examine your
beliefs, assumptions, and ideas.
Are they really yours or something someone
else to told you? Look at new
possibilities.
o Go
for Positive Happiness, Wellness Style
Happiness
is a momentary sense of "self-actualization" (Abraham Mazlow).
Some
people seek happiness in unhealthy, risky behaviors (smoking, drinking excessively,
over eating, etc.).
Wellness-oriented
people practicing active self-responsibility seem to prefer positive to negative
decisions in their pursuit of the highest kind of happiness.
o Great
Decisions Under Distress Seldom Are
Don't
make decisions under great duress or other high emotional charge, whether the feelings
about the thing are positive or negative.
II. NUTRITIONAL AWARENESS
Nutritional
Awareness is the relationship between diet and disease.
9
of the 10 leading causes of death are diet-related: heart, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, arteriosclerosis,
and liver disease. These diseases
are caused primarily by an imbalance of fat - both
saturated and unsaturated, protein, and carbohydrates.
No
other dimension of wellness has received as much attention as nutrition. However, while people are becoming
more "nutritionally literate" and making more healthy choices in
their diet, as
a nation we have a long way to go.
The degree to which convenience and pre-packaged, processed
foods have become a way of life makes eating properly more trouble, more
costly, and
more time consuming. In addition,
"healthy" foods are frequently either unavailable or inconvenient
to obtain.
What
price are you willing to pay in order to eat in a way that is consistent with a
wellness lifestyle?
Principles of Nutritional Awareness
o Go
Out of Your Way to Find Healthy Foods
Healthy
foods are harder to obtain than are convenience or "fast" foods, but
it is well worth
you while to make the extra effort in terms of the overall health and wellness
that results.
o Prepare
Foods in a Way that Reduces the Use of Unnecessary Fats
Braise
meats in a little water in a non-stick pan instead of frying.
Use
a non-stick agent such as "Pam" when cooking.
Prepare
more of your foods in a crock-pot or microwave oven.
o Replace
Meats in Your Recipes with Beans and Grains
Cracked
wheat Bulgar makes a wonderful substitute for meat in chili, and tacos can be filled
with pinto beans. Also, spaghetti
does not have to be served with meatballs!
o Eat
a Balanced Diet
This
is almost like a "Commandment".
Eat
from the four food groups (which are not fast, frozen, junk and spoiled or breakfast,
lunch, dinner and snacks!).
Balance
proteins and complex carbohydrates, get less protein from meats, less carbohydrates
from refined sugars.
o Begin
Each Day with a Good Breakfast
This
is yet another "Commandment".
o Take
a Moment to Reflect with Your Food Before Eating
Always begin a
meal with a prayer. This is not
only a way to thank God for the food that
you have been provided, but is also a way to S L O W down.
Don't
rush, eat slowly, enjoying the experience. You will eat less this way since it takes some time for your
stomach to realize when it is full and send the message to your brain to stop
eating. The faster you eat the
more "excess food" you will consume before the message get through. Excess food just causes problems, in
more ways that one.
o Keep
it Simple and Take Your Time
Set
realistic goals. For most of us,
eating healthy is a lifestyle change.
It requires new behaviors. That takes time. Don't decide to become a complete
vegetarian tomorrow. It won't work if you
have been carnivorous all of your life.
Set small goals that can be achieved. Find others of like mind and support
each other along the path to healthy living
and eating.
III. STRESS MANAGEMENT
Norman
Vincent Peale once remarked something to the effect that people are so stressed
out these
days that they don't even sleep in church anymore!
Stress
is, "the nonspecific response of the body to any demand placed upon
it".[iv] Stress
is a fact
of modern life. Unrelenting stress
over time can turn into distress which can in turn result in
disease in the form of migraine headaches, ulcers, heart attacks,
hypertension, mental illness, and
suicide to name just a few.
Because
of the world in which we live, stress can't be avoided completely. It can, however, be managed. We need to learn to control stress
rather than allowing stress to control us.
Principles of Stress Management
o Take
Stock of Your Own Power
You
already have the resources within yourself to control your stress. You just need practice
at exercising that power and at taking control. Rather than permit your body to undergo
harmful biochemical reactions, you can develop your ability to interpret stress
events
in a positive way. Your response
can contribute to instead of
detract from your well
being.
o Make
Up Your Own Guidelines
In
other words, develop your own stress management techniques. Some people meditate,
others exercise, still others practice self-hypnosis. PRAYER is not too bad a stress
management technique!
o Take
It Easy
As the song says, "Be happy, don't
worry". In Alcoholics
Anonymous its, "Easy Does It". Either way its the same message. Using all of your fingers and toes,
count how many
problems you have ever, in your entire lifetime, solved by worrying about
them. Go
ahead, count - I'll wait. You
didn't need all of those fingers and toes did you? You
didn't even need one! The fact is,
worrying never solved a thing.
"Which of you by
worrying can add a moment to his life-span?" (Matthew 6:27).
Worry
cause you to loose perspective and objectivity and to spin out of balance. When
confronted
by a problem, do what you have to do, and get on with life. Getting yourself
"wrapped around the axle" causes a "loss of traction".
o Make
"Quieting" a Part of Your Daily Routine
Find
a place to create an environment in which you can quiet yourself in relaxation
for a minimum
of twenty minutes a day.
o Consider
Getting "Lost" in an Activity From Time to Time
Art, music, literature are all ways in which we can
escape the stressful environment in which
we live and take a "relaxation break". We can participate (as an artist or musician)
or be a spectator, it makes no difference.
o Strive
to Be Open and Assertive
"Suppressed
feelings, anxieties about appropriate behaviors and disclosures to others, self-doubts
and low self-esteem are among the major stressors that lead to illness and disease. Work on developing a wider repertoire
of assertive and personal disclosure skills. When you can act in your own best
interests, stand up for your rights without fear
and anxiety, express your emotions, and still respect the needs and rightful
claims of
others, you free yourself from a great deal of traumatic distress which cannot
do you or
anyone else any good whatsoever".[v]
o Seek
Inner Peace
"Try
to find modes of self-expression which you find satisfying, that you are or can
become
good at and on which you can work hard and long. Such resources make possible
inner peace, which more than anything else can protect you from the steady assaults
of stressful living".[vi]
"My
peace is my gift to you; I do not give it to you as the world gives peace. Do not be distressed
or fearful".
John
14:27
IV. PHYSICAL FITNESS
No matter
how attentive you may be to your nutrition, however much you control stress,
and regardless of how self-responsible you are you can't be healthy if you are
not responsibly fit. I am not
talking about "super fit", running marathons or competing in
triathlons, but adequately conditioned and feeling good, physically and about
yourself. There is a direct
correlation between physical fitness, self-esteem, and a person's ability to be
self-responsible.
There
is another incentive for a person to be physically fit - the cost of health
care. We are in a period in our
society when escalating health care costs are meeting head on the aging of the
major segments of the population.
For many of us, long-term care facilities loom large on the horizon -
either for our parents, self, or both.
One way to "hedge your bet" against a nursing home is to
engage in a reasonable program of physical exercise.
Principles of Physical Fitness
o Make
Physical Fitness a Part of Your Life
Reassess
your values if you believe you are too busy to exercise. Consider the disease- and illness-prevention
aspects of being fit and the potential joys of personal progress and achievement inherent in varied
physical outlets. You have much to
gain and nothing
to loose in adopting an exercise regimen and making fitness a part of your
life. Keep thinking about these
benefits-in-waiting until you are fully ready to commit yourself to
some fitness-inducing endeavor.
o Don't
Think of Fitness as a Crash Program
Finding
a conditioning activity that is right for you and time to devote to it on a
regular basis
requires a commitment and some energy. Avoid trying to rush the development of endurance
and attempting to hurry the realization of cardiorespiratory benefits. Becoming
and staying fit can and should be gradual and enjoyable.
o Exercise
is Fun So Don't Cheat Yourself by Taking an Activity too Seriously
Too often people develop a compulsivity about their
exercise program that undoes any benefit
to total wellness to be gained by producing stress! Forget about points, clocks and
schedules. Don't be in a hurry
about physical fitness and exercise routines, do not compete with
yourself or others to meet some standards or guidelines. How can you enjoy
something and get in touch with the earth and with yourself if you are
struggling to
measure up to someone else's idea of the norm? What is important is what you do, whether your
chosen activity provides and exertion level (pulse rate) for your endurance conditioning
and whether you are enjoying the activity enough to continue to pursue fitness
as a life-long adjunct to healthy being.
o Get
in Touch with Nature - and Yourself
Exercise
is a great way to commune with the environment, with God, and with
yourself. There is a certain "Zen" involved with
walking, bicycling, and similar outdoor activities.
o A
Little Activity Goes a Long Way
When
you consider that the vast majority of Americans engage in no more strenuous activity
than pushing the buttons on the TV remote, the benefits of even minimal exercise
can be astounding. A minimal
program of 20-30 minutes of exercise two or three
times a week is all that is needed to maintain good muscle tone and cardiorespiratory
health.
o Set
Modest Expectations
If
you are attempting to overcome years of
inactivity with a crash program to become "Hans or
Franz" you are doomed to failure.
In this case failure is counter-productive; it can lead
to a loss of self-esteem and adversely affect other aspects of your health program.
o Combine
Physical Fitness with Other Aspects of Your Wellness Lifestyle
The
"conventional wisdom" - which in this case holds true - is that
exercise without diet (or
visa versa) is not as effective.
So connect your fitness program to your nutritional awareness program in order to derive
maximum benefit from both.
Attempt to eat those foods
that both best prepare you for exercise and replace those things that are lost during exercise.
o Listen
to Your Body
Your body will tell you when you have exercised too
much or too little. It will also
tell you
if you are healthy. Learn the "language" your
body speaks and listen to it.
V. ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY
"An
attitude to life which seeks fulfillment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth
- in short, materialism - does not fit into this world, because it contains
within itself no limiting principle, while the environment in which it is
placed is strictly limited".[vii]
A
lifestyle that strives to attain high level wellness is not complete without
the recognition that we are not alone on this earth. We share it with other human beings and with the rest of
creation. We have a responsibility
to both to help maintain the earth in a "high level of wellness".
During
my lifetime the level of awareness has increased dramatically. From Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
to the first "Earth Day" when I was in college to the current boom in
recycling, people have become more and more sensitive to their responsibility
of stewardship of the earth. We
have much room to grow, however.
When God gave Adam the task of naming the other creatures God had made,
he was also given the charge to care for and protect them. The command to, "subdue the
earth" was a command to nurture and preserve the earth. We will only be able to fulfill that
command when we realize the degree to which our convenience
lifestyle adversely affects the environment and become willing to simplify
the way we live.
Specific
principles for befriending the earth are discussed in the Transformation:
"Peace-Making" under the heading of "Reconciling with the
Earth".
WELLNESS: A SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE
"Wellness
is an ever-expanding experience of pleasurable and purposeful living which you
and I, especially as motivated by spiritual values and religious beliefs,
create and direct for ourselves in anyway we choose".[viii]
From the spiritual
perspective, "wellness is a way of living, a lifestyle, which centers
about five key elements...
o Knowing
the purpose and meaning of life,
o Identifying
life's authentic, satisfying, fulfilling human joys and pleasures,
o Accepting
responsibility for freedom of self-determination in life,
o Finding
an appropriate source of motivation,
o Accepting
the need for change in life, the need for on-going 'conversion'".[ix]
In the previous discussion on
wellness from the secular perspective, what is called "high level
wellness", the focus was on health and leading a health producing
lifestyle. Wellness from the
spiritual perspective adds a different dimension. Wellness from this perspective is not synonymous with health
in the physical sense.
"Spiritual wellness" can, in fact, co-exist with chronic
illness, disease, and even terminal illness, since it extends to and includes
the non-physical aspects of life.
Wellness is a process
("an ever-expanding experience"). It never ends.
It is not a goal; you never arrive. You're always in process, living pleasurably and with
purpose and meaning in sickness and in health.
Wellness and Spirituality
"Spirituality is a
distinctive characteristic of the human person. Humans can relate to and respond to spiritual realities
because a person is more than a body; a human being is a spirit, too. No matter how you choose to specify
this spirit, most people agree that it is a "higher" element in the
human person".[x]
"Christian spirituality
is a patterning of one's life after the quality and direction of the life of
Jesus, a pattern that is self-designated and to a great extent developed
according to one's preferences and interpretations."[xi] In other
words, no two people develop exactly identical patterns of discipleship and
spirituality. That also explains
why there is a Benedictine spirituality, a Franciscan spirituality, an Ignatian
spirituality, a Teresian spirituality, and so on. And also why there is more than one Gospel!
The spirituality of wellness
as characterized by John Pilch above forms a very appropriate metaphor for
integrating the Ten Transformations of the Society. Each of Pilch's five characteristics corresponds to one or
more of the Ten Transformations, as follows:
o SELF-DETERMINATION POTTERY
MAKING
STORY
TELLING
o PURPOSE
& MEANING OF LIFE FOOT
WASHING
PEACEMAKING
PRAYER
MAKING
o SOURCES
OF MOTIVATION MYTH
MAKING
RITE
MAKING
o AUTHENTIC
JOYS & PLEASURES MIRTH
MAKING
GARDEN
TENDING
o NEED
FOR ONGOING CONVERSION
COMMUNITY
BUILDING
In Pilch's scheme of wellness,
the point around which everything revolves is SELF-DETERMINATION. We make our own choices in life and
because we live in a society with other people, those choices have certain
consequences.
Self-determination works well
with the concept of pottery making.
Our individual lives are like clay. We shape and mold them in ways that we see fit, based upon
the other four characteristics of the spirituality of wellness. We are free to make the choices which
shape our lives and must also assume the responsibility for those choices.
The most important choice a
person makes in shaping the "clay" that is their life is in terms of
the way they will direct that life.
It is a choice rooted in either directing one's life TOWARD God or AWAY
from God. In classical theology,
this choice is called the "Fundamental Option".
Many people never make a
conscious, adult choice about directing or not directing their life toward
God. We live in a society that, at
least until very recently, could be called nominally Christian. The majority of people were raised in
families in which church attendance was part of the cultural experience. Most attended Sunday School and were
even Confirmed in some Christian tradition. For most, however, it is part of their enculturation into
American society. A conscious
choice is not really involved as much as it "just evolves". Self-determination in the spiritual
arena involves a conscious choice.
At some point in life, a person of true faith must "stand up and be
counted". Like Joshua, we
must choose to follow the Lord.
Having chosen to follow God,
to orient ourselves in a direction that leads to God He then becomes the potter
who gives shape to our life as we live in the power of the Spirit.
Finding the purpose and
meaning of life is a quest that all human beings are engaged in. We search in many place (sometimes
"all the wrong places").
For many of us, the purpose and meaning of our lives is something that
has been "imprinted" on us by our families, our culture, and to some
extent by the roles we fulfill in society.
The values of contemporary
society suggest that the purpose of life is to be "successful". That success is measured in terms of
status, wealth, and position. To
be a successful, fulfilled individual you must have the trappings of
success: money, expensive home and
automobiles, a highly placed job, and the other material things that go with
success. The attainment of these
things, if they are the sole purpose in our lives, proves to be less than
fulfilling.
For the disciple of Jesus
Christ, the purpose of life is quite clear. "...the person who has been evangelized goes on to
evangelize others...it is unthinkable that a person should accept the Word and
give himself to the Kingdom without becoming a person who bears witness to it
and proclaims it in his turn."[xii] The
Christian, therefore, finds his or her purpose and meaning in life through
proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - to evangelize.
"Evangelization...is a
complex process made up of varied elements: the renewal of humanity, witness, explicit proclamation,
inner adherence, entry into the community, acceptance of signs, apostolic
initiative".[xiii]
These are all the things which we in The Societies of John XIII believe and
attain to.
"The first means of
evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life, given over to
God in a communion that nothing should destroy and at the same time given to
one's neighbor with limitless zeal...modern man listens more willingly to
witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because
they are witnesses."[xiv]
Put all together, then,
evangelization is the sum of the Transformations of "Story
Telling" - knowing and proclaiming the story of the Great Acts of God
in Human History, of which our personal history is a part; "Foot
Washing" - assuming the Christ like stance of servanthood in the
world; and "Peace Making" - being a force for reconciliation
in the world.
In order to be an effective
witness requires the third characteristic of spiritual wellness - accepting
the need for on-going conversion.
When the Church renewed its
initiation rites through the restoration of the catechumenate in the "Rite
of Christian Initiation of Adults", it recognized the developmental
aspects of the life of faith. They
based the revised catechumenate on three fundamental ideas:
1. That
the experience of Christian faith is an adultcexperience;
2. That
conversion is a life-long, ongoing process; and
3. That
the conversion process takes place in the context of a community of faith.
The model of the on-going
process of conversion is St. Peter.
Three times he shows on one hand that the "is fully converted"
and at the same time that he isn't.
1) His confession at
Caesarea-Phillippi, 2) When he tells Jesus at the Last Supper that he will
stick by him through anything, and then denies him three times after the
arrest, and 3) when he, and the others run and hide in the Upper Room until
after the resurrection. If the one
upon whom the Church was founded under went such a conversion process, why
should it be any different for any of us?
This ongoing process of
conversion takes in the Transformations of "Garden
Tending" and "Community Building"
and indicated above in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults' demand that
conversion takes place within the context of a community of faith.
Our source and ability to
engage in this process of on-going conversion stems from our source of
motivation in life - the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus message is a simple one, "Change your lives and
believe in the Good News, the Reign of God is now".
The Gospel contains the
source of the MEMORIES and the EXPECTATIONS that form the true Mission of the
Church. For the Society, these
memories and expectations are given life in the Transformations of "Prayer Making", "Myth Making", and "Rite Making". These three Transformations form the base of the members
sources of motivation.
Identifying life's
authentic, satisfying, fulfilling human joys and pleasures. This becomes
quite a challenge in a culture that has done so much to TRIVIALIZE LIFE.
For so many people human joys
and pleasures are reduced to mindless activities such as television, or
destructive activities such as mood and mind altering chemicals. They have, in
effect, lost the capability for authentic joy and pleasure.
The degree to which we, as a
people, have trivialized life can be seen in the manner in which we treat one
another. We live in one of the
most murderous countries in the world. Children carry weapons to school and
kill one another in the school yard because life has become so cheap. We allow people to live on the streets
and institutionalize the elderly whose wisdom and experience we should treasure
and hold sacred.
There should not even be
words in our common vocabulary to describe sexual harassment, abuse, and
discrimination.
We do not value one another,
nor ourselves. We are, therefore,
incapable of identifying life's authentic, satisfying, fulfilling human joys
and pleasures. We can neither
identify nor enjoy them.
I believe that the key to
finding and enjoying life's authentic joys and pleasures can be found in the
Transformation "Mirth Making".
Jesus tells his followers
that a person must become childlike in order to enter the Kingdom. In other words, to experience the Reign
of God, which includes life's authentic joys and pleasures, requires the re-capturing
of those qualities that marked each of our childhood's. The characteristics of wonder, awe,
excitement, enthusiasm, honesty, simplicity, openness, loyalty, reverence,
respect, and above all, playfulness
and a sense of humor.
Robert Fulgham suggests in, All
I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, that the "rules of
life" learned in the earliest years of life are what people really need to
rely on in order to live complete and fulfilled lives. He reminds each of us to "share
our milk and cookies", "take a nap every day", and to always,
ALWAYS, have a box of crayons on hand. He goes so far as to suggest that when countries have
disputes between each other, their leaders should come together with their
crayons and color a solution.
It is almost a "law of
the cosmos" that the older one gets, the more joy and pleasure he or she
can derive from such childhood experiences as flying a kite, taking off his or
her shoes and running barefoot in the grass, or blowing soap bubbles. Must we loose those qualities at such
an early age?
"The time is now...the
Kingdom is at hand" become like a child and experience the Good News.
Wellness can, indeed be a hub around which we attach the spokes of the Ten
Transformations. It can provide a
method and mode of integrating our hopes, desires, and values as we assume the
freedom which is rightly ours to determine the direction of our lives and the
responsibilities that go with that freedom of self-determination.