Reflections…On Being a Gospel for Today

By Mike Macauley

Beginning with a bold affirmation that the "good news" embodies the reality that each and every one of us is a living gospel, the author explores, in over 70 reflections, many of the challenges that life presents to us as we journey to realize and affirm that gospel message. Drawing on his Catholic upbringing, but incorporating learned truths from many of the great religions and spiritual systems of the world, the author invites the reader to both question and validate deep seated beliefs, and, in the process arrive at an authentic understanding and celebration of self. Reflections...On Being a Gospel for Today compels the reader to summon to courage to explore beyond doctrine, beyond tradition, beyond institutional and hierarchical dictates to arrive at a more expansive, inclusive, and compassionate world view.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mira Digital Publishing
• Release date: Mar 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781631101953

Book preview

work.

Introduction

And so begins my effort to impart some of what I have learned . . .

The story of the apple tree in the preface is hardly original. Many forms of it have existed since primitive man first sat around a rudimentary camp fire and began to reflect and contemplate. Variations of it can be found in literature throughout the ages, perhaps most recognizably in the fable of the three blind men and the elephant. I assert no claim of originality other than this metaphor is one that sprang forth from my own contemplations and it works for me. I have included it in the preface because it speaks to the most important concept that I am espousing in this book - that of challenging ourselves to expand our thinking beyond traditional boundaries.

None of the ideas contained herein are offered as or intended to be taken as dictates, or dogma, or even facts. These contemplations are in no way an attack on anyone’s faith or practice thereof. In fact, it is precisely the opposite. These passages are reflections of my thoughts and experiences as I have traveled the road of life. To that extent they are unique to me. They are an effort to communicate my acquired understanding of things; things having to do with faith, spirituality, love, forgiveness, relationships, God, religion, and life in general.

This work is not intended as a scholarly endeavor. However, I readily admit that I have benefited immensely from the efforts of a host of fine authors. Without a doubt readers familiar with these authors’ writings will find reflections of their ideas and concepts throughout this piece. In gratitude I have included many of their works in my recommended readings. However, you’ll find few formal citations, no footnotes, nor a standard bibliography here. My goal, for readability purposes, was decidedly not to get bogged down in the minutia of a research type paper. Therefore, I have purposely striven to treat each entry with simplicity and brevity to avoid any such insinuation. In truth, I believe there is too much supposed scholarly treatment of these issues. We’ve been led, frequently by design, to believe that our own intuitions, simple and basic though they may be, are not valid somehow. That we should look anywhere but within ourselves for enlightenment and the truth of how to live authentic, holy, fulfilling, and complete lives.

This then, above all, is a call to introspection. A challenge to you the reader to look within for answers, answers that don’t rely strictly on the authority of others or the fashionable feel good trend of the moment, but rather reflect an authenticity of self understanding and determination. It is an impassioned plea for all of us to reclaim our souls - souls that have been cast adrift by a society bereft of any standards of compassion and mutual understanding. Souls that have also been simultaneously scarred and alienated by the supposedly loving and caring organizations which purport to stand above the fray as beacons of hope, solace, and comfort. Regrettably, these too have often failed in their mission by sacrificing truth and innocence on altars of obfuscation and institutional protection.

Despite what some may view as blasphemous content, nothing is included here to purposely anger, irritate, or offend though I acknowledge that a few, upon reading, may experience just such emotions. If you find yourself among that group, I apologize. Apology notwithstanding, what I have written is intended to be provocative in the most positive sense of the word. This work is meant to induce thought and introspection, to compel reflection, contemplation, and discernment. It is by design a challenge to you to consider your own deep seated views and beliefs, from whence they have arisen, and whether or not you fundamentally own those beliefs. This is essentially, therefore, a book of questions, not necessarily answers. If you come away from the experience of it with a better understanding of yourself, then this effort will not have been in vain.

I was raised Roman Catholic and educated in Roman Catholic schools. Catholicism is a deeply rooted aspect of my identity. However, that being said I realize my offering of this book of reflections in the public domain, available to anyone interested, could be problematic for devout, doctrinally-pure adherents to the Catholic faith. Some might righteously object that my personal faith views, no longer privately held but publicly expressed, are heretical and scandalous. As such, under current guidelines, it could be deemed that I am not in a proper state of grace to participate fully in the sacramental life of the Church. Since I absolutely respect the rights of the institutional Church to establish requirements for participation in its various sacraments, I will honor those rules. I now voluntarily abstain from presenting myself to receive the Eucharist at Mass. I do this not out of protest in any way, but out of deference to all for whom the rules of the Catholic faith are precious and immutable. My aim is to enlighten, not to antagonize.

The simple and beautiful truth is we all have a gospel - good news - to share if we only summon the conviction and courage to actually accept the challenge. Indeed, accepting the personal risk necessary to share one’s gospel is an integral theme of this entire compilation. We are all blessed with incredibly valuable insights and gifts of understanding and one needn’t be a first century evangelist to bring good news. God imbues all of us with an immensely valuable and unique manifestation of creation. That means the good news is YOU! Sharing your unique experience with others is one of the greatest gifts you can offer. For my part, I write principally for the benefit of my family, especially my children, and their children if they choose someday to share it with them. But I willingly and humbly offer it with neither insistence, nor reluctance, to anyone who finds benefit in the reading.

Some may chalk this effort up to the folly of a man in the full throes of a mid-life crisis. Fair enough. However, having honestly and sincerely considered that possibility myself, I am compelled to reject it. I write neither out of the brashness of youth nor the desperation of old age. I write because I am called to by the Spirit - plain and simple - and this work is the result of that invitation.

My desire to write is innate, a fundamental aspect of the creative side of my character. I relish the joy of fleshing out an idea and bringing it to life with words. This particular project has been in the works for close to thirty years. Slowly fermenting, bubbling, and congealing in the back of my mind. I always had the intention of bringing it to life, but, the dual demands of work and, in partnership with Janet, raising a family in our rapidly shifting world always seemed to conspire against me. Finally, thankfully, I let the first keystroke fly and since then I have patiently plodded forward – a germ of an idea here, a couple of sentences there. It really is amazing what one can accomplish by working steadily at a project week after week, month after month, and year after year; even if that work is comprised, as in my case, of mere minutes taken at the end of a day or week to type just a few sentences. Patience, diligence, and determination can indeed yield what the mind can dream. This is but one more valuable lesson learned as I have trod the road of life.

But, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that ultimately putting that first word to paper was inspired and kindled in large part by a very ambitious writing effort of my father, an exercise which caused my entire family not a small measure of consternation. That exercise was a piece of fiction that he penned late in his life which he titled, The Firefly Rhapsody.

I believe that deep down Dad too felt the call to pass on to his children and others something of his Spirit and his learned life lessons, his gospel if you will. Unfortunately, he chose to attempt that through the authorship of a romance novel! Dad certainly had a rogue streak, perhaps not readily apparent to those who didn’t know him intimately, but he was always pushing boundaries. As such, my suspicion is that he felt he could use the genre of the romance novel as a relatively safe vehicle from which to challenge certain elements of the conventional wisdom and thinking of the day, somewhat akin to the way Fr. Andrew Greeley used his own fictional literary platform to challenge conventional Catholic thinking in many ways. However, inhibited by advanced age, Alzheimer’s disease, and a rapidly deteriorating faculty for processing information, my father’s result was not a literary triumph but an epic disaster. Perhaps fortunately, for him and all of us, his goal of publishing his novel never came to fruition.

His ambition, in my estimation, would have been much better served if he had started his project earlier in life, as I am attempting, and better accomplished by journaling, as I have done. I dearly wish he had. Dad’s wisdom, much of which he wove into the narrative of his numerous public speeches, homilies, and commentaries was always from the heart and reflective of a recognizably deep effort at introspection and spiritual identification. While we are left with some distant memories of those elegantly spoken words, they are unfortunately fading with time and a lack of documentation. Joyfully, though, what will never be lost is the inspiration he provided to me by his gleefully confident foray into the milieu of the romance novelist, ill fated though it was, and for that I am forever grateful.

So, now I write, perhaps with more candor and directness than my father would have found comfortable, but this is who I am. If I am called before I finish this project, I enjoin here my daughter and editor, Erin, with the assistance and monetary support of my wife Janet, to bring it to my intended conclusion - publication.

With that said, my ending wish for all, and especially you the reader, is that you perceive and experience the apple tree, the ENTIRE apple tree, and revel in its sweetness, beauty, and utility; and, that you find the courage to share your gospel with all who are privileged to meet you.

What’s Your Gospel?

Were you at all offended by the title I chose for this book? Did you feel the slightest bit of unease about my use of the term gospel? Did you find it irreverent, presumptuous, or even blasphemous? Or, perhaps you felt it reflected misplaced arrogance on my part. If so, take a moment and ask yourself why?

We are all GOSPEL - the living, breathing, bang your fist on the table, shout from the rooftops announcement of God’s incredibly beautiful, unique, and creative energy in play, right now, at this moment in this incomprehensibly vast universe! You, me, the neighbor, the Catholic priest, the Buddhist monk, the Hindu yogi, the Muslin Imam, the atheist, the criminal, the Saint, the single, the married, the divorced, the panhandling homeless man down on the street corner, the gay guy, the straight gal, even, and I know this is hard to believe, the politician! Let me repeat, we are all GOSPEL – good news. The spark of the Divine exists within us all. When we consciously move our perception to that plane, acknowledging and welcoming that spark and recognizing its presence in every other, we allow joy to enter our souls and fill our lives with meaning and wonder. Our experience becomes enticingly rich and savory, something to be relished – not painful and dreary, something drudgingly to be endured.

When we embrace the reality of our gospel, we embrace ourselves, and in embracing ourselves we embrace God.

Take a moment and think of an embrace, a true and genuine hug. Picture it in your mind. Two joined as one, entwined, intimately in touch with one another, sharing energy, sharing palpable love. Think of how you feel when you hug someone you love, really hug them.

Now, when was the last time you hugged yourself? When you embrace yourself, you hug God and by extension every element, every particle of creation. The problem, the real challenge, is that many don’t know how to love themselves and that inability perpetrates and inflicts all manner of pain and hurt on the individual as well as the rest of humanity.

Loving ourselves must be a conscious effort, it doesn’t come accidentally. To get there, a plan is required and my plan is simple. It is summarized in my daily living goal:

May all who encounter me today, especially and firstly myself, be better off for the experience!

As with the story in the preface of the apple tree, there is no grand originality in my stated daily living goal. Its sentiment is not much different than Jesus’ exhortation to, Love your neighbor as yourself. And, while I make no claim to the superiority of my version over the Bible’s, there are certain contextual refinements in it that work well for me. Constructing and executing a daily plan of living that functions properly is fundamental to enjoying a life of fulfillment and happiness.

Key aspects of my daily living goal which are critically important to me:

1.First, and foremost: it is DAILY! Every morning I wake up and the challenge is renewed. No fuzzy time-line, no watered down promise of doing better in the future. Today induces urgency. Today compels action in the here and now and permits no procrastination.

2.ALL is a requirement that demands total inclusiveness. No one is excluded. That means regardless of social status, race, religion, sexual orientation, profession, or any other self perceived limiting characteristic, I am challenged to be present to all others in a non-judgmental way, to serve them, and to offer them the best of myself.

3.ENCOUNTER. There are many ways to encounter others, especially with current technology. We may encounter others face-to-face. We may encounter them in social media, in text messaging, in voice mails, or in the blogosphere. We also encounter others in our demeanor, in our tone of voice, in our body language. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we encounter others spiritually, meeting them just by our thoughts or prayers for them, private though they may be. The challenge is to make every encounter, regardless of type, be born of love and beneficial for both.

4.My goal starts with MYSELF. If I cannot love myself, I cannot be good news to others.

5.Lastly, BETTER OFF. Each encounter is different. This isn’t necessarily a call to make everyone around me feel good. Better off could certainly mean happier, but, it could also mean enlightened, challenged, educated, empowered, disciplined, served, consoled, or any of a number of other benefits. Every encounter is a unique opportunity to recognize and elevate both the innate dignity and divinity of the other.

This is my plan. You are welcome to adopt it and make it yours if you wish. However, before doing so I urge you, based upon your own particular style and comfort, to contemplate, discern, meditate, and pray. Why? Because YOUR plan must be authentic. You must OWN it. It shouldn’t be my plan, someone else’s plan, or some institution’s plan, unless you have fully embraced it. If your plan doesn’t work, or, if for any reason you cannot embrace completely what you believe your plan is or should be, YOU NEED A NEW PLAN! Simple in concept, but very difficult in practice. Doing so demands that you confront and steel yourself against the howling headwinds of conformity, and the spiritual pain and discomfort that often ensues from bucking them.

The challenge is a worthy one though. If more people summoned the courage to embrace a simple, positive, mindful, and truly authentic daily living goal that they believed in and practiced, there would be a lot more joy and a lot less pain and sorrow in the world.

Challenge

Be a gospel. Be good news. A glorious herald of God’s creation! Hug yourself and rest in the peace and comfort of knowing that when you do, you hug God as well. Develop an authentic daily living goal. Muster the courage and discipline to own it, and live it. Doing this will put you on the path to deep personal understanding, and bless you with the peace and joy that attend to that understanding.

Reading Recommendation

The Bible

The Glade

There is a quiet, peaceful, and tranquil glade situated on the far side of an immense imposing forest.

Two seekers approach this forest. One seeker takes a defined trail. It is a trail well worn by many who have previously traveled the same path. It is a trail complete with guardrails, instructional signs, and numerous postings of danger and warning. These postings strongly discourage side trips on less defined paths.

The other plunges directly into the forest where no path exists at all. There are no signs, no warnings, no instructions. Occasionally, as she makes her way, this traveler encounters other paths and perhaps even walks along these for a bit. But, ultimately she departs again, blazing a unique, uncharted course.

In time, both arrive at the glade.

Shall they now argue about who travelled the right way? Shall one lay claim to legitimacy over the other because of the path chosen? Or rather, should they not congratulate each other for obtaining the glade? Should they not enjoy the beauty, tranquility, and refreshment of the glade in mutual appreciation of each other’s journey?

The glade is the Spirit, the domain of the Divine. Success is in the finding and the arriving, not in the chosen route. To be on the path to God has far less to do with practicing a specific religion that it does with following where the Spirit leads, and steadfastly searching for,