The Possibility of Possibility

Albert Einstein

We are all looking for a larger and more loving story in which to participate. Our ordinary lives are given an extraordinary significance when we accept that our lives are about something more meaningful than winning and succeeding inside of a very small plot line.  (Brian McLaren)

Within the Maryknoll Affiliate movement and, I think it’s fair to say, most in Maryknoll and the institutional Church, are trying to understand how best to move into the future, even to have a future. Most often, consistent, steady incremental progress is the viable pathway. But, is that the case now in a time of epochal change? Is a better sameness enough?

Many among us have expressed the need for religion itself to be reborn, more than creeds, obligations and dogmatic belief systems. Religion is the energy of Life itself; a deep existential dimension of being that longs for ultimate wholeness.  It does not belong to any one institution and It is not a particular way to get us into heaven…i.e., an evacuation plan for the next world.

A few years back, Waldencroft, a British consulting firm supporting CEOs, featured an article entitled, “Poverty of Imagination: the biggest executive threat in 2021. It continued: “Holding too firmly to the world as it was, without exploring what it might be, could be described in this instance as the ultimate act of poor leadership. Imagination, therefore, is a fundamental capability of an effective leader.” Perhaps some of the thoughts expressed therein will give the Affiliate movement the insight, courage and imagination to move into the future.

There are already small but encouraging examples. Matt Rousso of the New Orleans Affiliate Chapter wrote that their Small Church Community met on Wednesday. After reading and praying with the Scripture of the day, they asked themselves, “How might we advance the progress of human persons in our immediate environs?”  Their response was one of thoughtful consciousness. “In our everyday actions on behalf of others we will be aware that we intend to advance the human progress of others and ourselves in the world.”