Thoughts

Quantum physics (at least as much of it as I can understand) has been fertile ground for some of my most significant paradigm shifts in Christian spirituality.

For example, it seems the universe isn’t made up of solid “building blocks” but rather tiny particles in relationship with each other with vast quantities of “empty space” between them. What is it that fills the “space” between the particles? Well, perhaps it’s God’s presence, holding everything together (Col 1:17). Maybe we’re swimming in God.

Another concept from quantum physics that I find intriguing is “quantum entanglement,” which is the phenomenon that occurs when a group of particles seem to be connected in a way that you can’t observe with Newtonian physics. When one particle changes state, other entangled particles change at the exact same time, even when separated by vast differences. It’s like they’re connected through some unseen “medium”, almost like being in two places at once.

What’s all this got to do with Christian spirituality? The New Testament writers talk often as if we are in two places at once. In Romans 6, Paul says, “all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death… Therefore, we were buried together with [Christ] through baptism into his death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life.”

In other words, in our baptism, we’ve already died and been raised from the dead! We die before we die, and we rise before we rise. In Colossians 3, Paul writes “You died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” We exist in two realms at the same time (just like Jesus, who is in heaven with God but also with us to the end of the age).

It’s like we have quantum entanglement with Jesus! Our bodies are here on earth, subject to corruption and disease and sin, but also we’re already dead to all that and we are connected to the resurrected body of Jesus in heaven.

Hans Urs von Balthasar puts it eloquently:

So it is that not only Christ, but our love for him is already in heaven; it is in heaven that we receive him at Holy Mass, in heaven we seek and find him in prayer and contemplation, Indeed in loving our neighbor in the most ordinary earthly matters, we are encountering Christ in heaven. All this is hidden, of course, from our earthly senses at present, but when the Lord returns in will become manifest, along with him, as something that was always there.

Prayer, p. 281.

Contemplating quantum entanglement helps take these biblical ideas from wishful thinking to plausibility for me. I’m able to live with a more consistent awareness of the fact that I really do have a life hidden with Christ in God, so “setting my mind on things above” is not a flight from reality, but rather a grounding in reality.

The story of the Greeks at the festival who want to see Jesus (John 12:20-26) came up in the Daily Office Lectionary today. Jesus’ response always seemed like a bit of a non sequitur to me:

The time has come for the Human One to be glorified. I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever. Whoever serves me must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be. My Father will honor whoever serves me.

What seems to be happening here, though, is that Jesus’ “celebrity factor” is growing. His miracles and direct challenge to the religious powers that be is gaining him a bit of fame far and wide. And now some Greeks are getting in on the action: “We’d like an audience with Jesus, please.”

Perhaps their motivations were sincere, like those who sought Jesus out for healing or provision. Perhaps their motivations were more along the lines of those who sought to trap him or use him to advance their own political agendas. We don’t really know.

But it seems that Jesus isn’t interested in leveraging his growing fame and popularity to consolidate more status and power among the people. Instead Jesus consistently moves in the opposite direction, because he knows that the glory the crowds seek to give him is fleeting and fickle. He also knows that the true “glory” he is entering into is bound up in his impending death.

So, in response to a new group of people wanting to see him, Jesus says, in essence, “You want to see me? You want to walk with me? You want to figure out what my deal is? You want to participate in my ‘glory’? Well, you can, but it looks very different than what you’re expecting. My ‘glory’ is to fall to the ground and be buried. My ‘glory’ is to turn away from a life of status-seeking and self-preservation. My ‘glory’ is to die (to produce much fruit).”

We’re invited to walk the path

Jesus is, of course, talking about his coming death. But notice that he doesn’t talk about it merely as a singular act he will do our on our behalf (though it is that). He also says, “Whoever serves me must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be.”

And so Jesus’ “non-answer” to the Greeks who wanted to see him is in fact an answer, and an invitation to them and us and everyone: if you want to see Jesus, walk the way of the cross.

This is our pattern as disciples of Jesus: we follow him where he goes.

We walk the way of the seed that goes into the ground (trusting that it is also the way of abundant fruit).

We make choices that seem insane from the perspective of the powers and principalities that order our world, as if we “hate” our lives (trusting that we are in fact investing in a new kind of life that can never die).

We walk the way of the cross, following Jesus to death, trusting it to be none other than the way of life and peace, a path of hidden glory the world cannot perceive.

I find the permanence of the Incarnation to be an endlessly verdant theological idea. Jesus doesn’t “shed” his resurrection body in order to ascend to heaven, but rather enters into the Father’s presence as a resurrected human, permanently uniting divinity and humanity.

God’s entering into flesh must not be seen as a mere means to our redemption, nor as a preliminary stage on the way to our “divinization”; it is not something that passes away, as it were, is extinguished, is canceled by the Risen Lord’s return to the Father. The Risen One returns to the Father with his whole humanity, including his body.

Hans Urs von Balthasar, Prayer

It’s also an under-explored idea, it seems to me. Whenever I teach this in our church, almost everyone is surprised to hear it. But of course, Christian theology makes no sense unless it’s true.

God created the world in order that he might enter into a covenant relationship with humankind…. Even if humans had not sinned, Jesus Christ would still have needed to come in the fullness of time, because only through that revelation is covenantal relationship realized in the fullest measure—as communion with the triune God.

Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology

If Jesus stops being the Incarnate Word, the communion also stops, or at least is severely diminished. In the Incarnation, God becomes what God loves, and remains so permanently, eternally. It’s an astonishing and glorious display of the humility of God.

Recently I learned (from Tom Hodgkinson’s Idler newsletter) about a new project by the UN’s International Labour Organization training center. It’s a manifesto of sorts on the benefits of “slow learning.” From their website:

We live in an age of information overload, ever-accelerating technologies, and split-second learning. Citizens, learners, and workers today are required to continuously reskill, upskill, and newskill to keep up with this new pace. 

The Slow Food movement paved the way for a good, clean, fair future of food. And now, we’re putting on the brakes to learn at this new tempo. It’s time to praise questions over answers. It’s time to value observations over evaluations. It’s time to prioritize self-reflection over criticism.

This got me thinking about whether we could apply some of these same principles to discipleship and spiritual formation? What would “Slow Formation” or “Slow Discipleship” look like? In what ways have we in the church unconsciously absorbed the values of the fast-paced, profit-driven, novelty-obsessed culture around us? How might we reimagine discipleship at a slower pace that better aligns with how people actually grow in Christ?

The first part of the book is framed as a “Bill of Rights”, ten manifesto points for slow learners. Here they are, with a little explanation about each (written by Tom Hodgkinson, who contributed to the project).

(As a bill of rights, each item on the list is preceded by the statement: “You have a right to …”)

(Also, as you read these, think about how embracing this manifesto would change our approach to forming disciples of Jesus.)

1) Focus on direction, not destination.

Immerse yourself completely in the journey and you will reach your final goal gradually.

2. Raise your hand.

Asking questions is a fundamental human right.

3. Learn at your own pace.

Find your rhythm, find your flow. Don’t compare yourself to others.

4. Unplug.

You have the right to disconnect and move your attention towards what’s essential. Learn unplugged, far away from digital distractions.

5. Change your learning path (and mind).

Don’t get too comfortable in the habit zone and start with changing the aversion to change. Think differently and learn new things.

6. Take a break.

Micro-breaks, lunch breaks, and longer breaks will all improve your learning performance. You have the right to rest.

7. Make mistakes.

Don’t fall into despair but Fail Forward.

8. Leave it unfinished.

We live in a super busy, multi-tasking, results-oriented society. Step away from your long to-do list and enjoy once in a while the beauty of an unstructured day.

9. Unlearn and forget.

Harness the power of unlearning. Reboot your mind, abandon old knowledge, actions and behaviors to create space.

10. Slow down.

Sometimes slow and steady will win the learning race. Make haste slowly.

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I’m especially struck by #9 (Unlearn and forget). The Christian word for this is “repentance” I think, and it’s such an important aspect of our spiritual formation. We’re not merely gaining new knowledge and new habits in discipleship, but also abandoning old “knowledge” and behaviors, and learning to see the world in a completely new way.

We’re shifting our allegiance and trust to Jesus, which necessarily means leaving behind our old allegiances to principalities and powers that we’ve spent a lifetime trusting to tell us the truth and lead us into life. There’s a lot of unlearning and forgetting we all need to do as we follow Jesus.

I wonder what occurs to you as you read this list? How could we apply this slow learning manifesto to begin creating a Slow Discipleship Manifesto?

(breathing in) You’re the breath in my lungs;
(breathing out) You’re the heat on my skin.
(breathing in) All-Consuming Flame of Love:
(breathing out) Transform me from within.