QUEST FOR WHOLEHEARTEDNESS | PART 1

“The antidote for exhaustion is not rest. It is wholeheartedness,” David Whyte, a poet, shared as he reflected on the most significant turning point in his life.

I am on a relentless quest for wholeheartedness. And I KNOW this one matters. For most of my life, I pursued visions and projects based on external realities that were not largely congruent with my interiority. I force-fitted and convinced my true God-given self that the external realities were worth pursuing and giving my all to while often ignoring internal prompts and questions related to wholeheartedness. I had thought that obedience was what mattered, and my wholeheartedness did not matter much. I had reduced my faith and work to passive and comfortable assent to programs and slogans. God’s realities filtered through the so-called biblical worldview became somehow the absolute real over who I was. What I thought or questioned did not matter much because God and God’s glory were what mattered. The nagging interior questions naturally took a backseat but thankfully have not been thrown out of the car altogether. Little did I know at the time that the so-called biblical worldview was an interpreted worldview by some tradition or culture, which was squarely lodged in the U.S. evangelical box.

The concept of “priesthood of all believers” assumes a leveling effect of all “readers” and even further “interpreters.” When we read, we interpret. No one reads the Bible without interpreting, interpreting with our cultural and experiential lens. The unique lens describes who we are in all our blessings and limitations. God seems to be ok with that and even further invites us all to use our lens. The important admission and I would add maturity, is whether we are aware of the lens we are wearing. The unawareness does far more damage than “wrong” honest interpretation. Interpretation is not the problem, as we all interpret. 

The interpretative journey of mine took a significant turn when I discovered a massive hidden (hidden from me) well of the living water of broader contemplative traditions. The contemplative traditions cut across and embrace certain ecumenical traditions as well as elements in other religious traditions. While I would not declare that the contemplative traditions are the biblical worldview, (I don’t personally believe THE biblical worldview exists. The biblical worldview is that paradoxically it embraces many different cultural and religious traditions and encourages subversive transformation from within.) the most lucid benefit has been the growing discernment journey of what is real over what is illusionary. Additionally, contemplative traditions fight for wholeheartedness from within as well as the soul’s relationship with God and the world (people and the creation). It seeks radical harmony and fights for the betterment of all. If it is not good for me, it is neither good for God nor for the world. If it is not good for God, it is neither good for me nor the world. If it is not good for the world, it is neither good for God nor for me.