Thursday Thoughts - May 28

Nobody is a nobody. Even those who say “I am” are somebody. When it comes to some forms of Christian spirituality “a nobody syndrome” – like, give God all the glory – is frequently in play. Or it goes, “Don’t ever put yourself forward or mention your accomplishments. That’s unspiritual.” But this seems, humanly speaking, and I’m assuming being human and being spiritual have some common ground, counter intuitive. The desire to be somebody and to be somebody who accomplishes things in the world is not anti-spiritual. What is not spiritual is to have inappropriate pride in oneself or in what one does, but to say “well done” or “good job” is, I’d wager, appropriate pride and a valid expression of “spiritual.” Being spiritual therefore is disconnected from being nobody. This brings us back to last week and my thoughts on Divine action. God, I reckon, is not somehow behind every particular in my life. God graciously extends some freedom for me to act as a real actor, not merely a puppet. So, go ahead “be somebody” and in doing so “be spiritual.” I think God would applaud.