bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Thursday, March 06, 2003 ::

Lectio divina, day four
I've read enough of Henri Nouwen's works to grasp, at least somewhat, the importance of passivity in the Christian life. And I think that one reason why lectio divina is such a powerful prayer technique is because it works through our passivity. Instead of prayer being an active event, it is a passive one. It is a matter of reading and waiting, of being receptive, rather than being active and forceful. This, however, goes against the grain of my human nature. I am so used to being active, to doing, that becoming passive is difficult for me.

Passivity was especially difficult to achieve this morning. I set about planning to actively do the lectio divina. I'd already picked an appropriate Psalm -- one of David's "war psalms," Psalm 3, in which he seeks God for rescue and relief from his enemies (in this case, his own son, Absalom). This seemed an appropriate Psalm for the day, given the "attacks" on the university I work for, and the leader of that university, in the newspaper the night before -- published despite my attempts to persuade the passive-aggressive petty tyrant of an editor and, later, the reporter he assigned to do the story, to reconsider the newsworthiness of the entire subject, which was based on an anonymous letter from an alleged employee of the university. (The university I work for has the misfortune of being located in the same community that also is home to the worst daily newspaper in Missouri. That newspaper yesterday published a report based on allegations from an anonymous letter criticizing the chancellor of our university. I would link to the story, but the RDN does not archive its articles. Like its dead-tree editions -- "yesterday's newspaper is today's fish wrapper" -- the online version is also ephemeral, much more so than most newspapers with an online presence.) I'd stayed up half the night contemplating the appropriate response to the article -- whether to compose a letter to the editor myself, collaborate with the chancellor, withhold the meager ad budget we have for that newspaper, send my own anonymous letter, etc.

So I set about reading Psalm 3. I read it twice, listening for God's still, small voice. Then I read it a third time. And then I heard that still small voice -- a nudge, a reminder, a snippet of Scripture from another Psalm: Fret not thyself because of evildoers. I recognized that line. It's the opening to Psalm 37. So I turned there. I read anxiously -- not passively -- hoping to find something to justify my anger and my plans for revenge -- but my eyes fell on these verses:

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him ...
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret--it only causes harm.

Psalm 37:7-8

Damn.

That's not what I wanted the still, small voice to say to me this morning. But the voice from Scripture was insistent. As to whether I'll heed that voice or bow to my own human cravings is a great test this morning. The day has only begun. I haven't heard from anyone else on campus, including the chancellor, about this issue, but I'm sure I'll get loads of cousel. Nevertheless, there are two truisms in public relations that I must always keep in mind when considering whether to respond to bad press:

1. Yesterday's newspaper is today's fish wrapper, bird-cage liner, etc.; and

2. Don't get into an argument with someone who buys ink by the barrel

:: Andrew 07:52 + ::
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