Indifference (one might say, “différance”) and the Anglican Debate

Paul writes – I recently had the pleasure of reading a wonderfully wise and balanced paper by philosopher / ethicist Canon Dr. Joseph Cassidy (St. Chad’s College, Durham University). It’s an excellent essay, very helpfully addressing some of the important questions that that (many-but-not-all) Anglican’s are currently thinking through and debating. Particularly good, I think, at a macro-level (i.e. it frames things well), however, the micro implications (working it out on the ground) might be a bit challenging.

As someone occupying middle ground I found it helpful in a way I don’t find a lot of what is coming from the “left” and the “right”. Some might say, from the fraying edges. I found this excerpt useful in narrating my own sense of “posture” and freedom relative to these debates. I Joe drawing this understanding of “spiritual freedom” from one of my inspirations, Ignatius of Loyola (not surprising given that Cassidy was formerly a Jesuit). Cassidy articulates a point that many on either side of this debate find uncomfortable – dare I say this would be particularly the case with conservative evangelicals, as “the Bible” isn’t mentioned, nor are particular biblical texts, though Cassidy does engage (in the essay) theologically with John 7:14-36.

“…Spiritual freedom is rather a measure of whether I'd be willing to change my mind if God required it of me. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, urged his companions to aim for 'indifference': though it is a bit of a misnomer, in his terms indifference is a quest for equilibrium, a desire to be inclined to one option or another solely because it is closer to God's will for us. In other words it is a desire to be swayed by nothing other than God's will. It's difficult to explain, but Ignatius realised we have all kinds of preferences, complex sets of priorities; but if we could get our motivation clear, if we really wanted to be motivated solely by whatever is more conducive to God's praise and glory, then that would have a ripple effect on all our other desires. The experience of indifference is accompanied by an exquisite sense of freedom; the sign of indifference is related to that sense of freedom via the absence of compulsion; and the fruit of indifference is the readiness or availability to do God's will for God's sake. If such indifference becomes a habit, a virtue, then one gets a feel for God's ways, one has an openness to being persuaded by God without requiring God to prove God's self because the Spirit animating a particular desire is recognised as coming from God - though discernment is always needed because we are perpetually capable of deceiving ourselves and because it is one thing to desire something authentically and another thing to figure out how best to fulfil the desire.

And spiritual freedom is a real grace. Spiritual freedom is a willingness to allow the Holy Spirit within us to recognise God's often subtle hand in our world, in our choices…”

On related Ignatian themes, see Simon Carey Holt here, and John Santic on “Discernment as a Missional Imperative.” I’ve fairly recently written (as a draft document, i.e. some preliminary thinking – modified a little since then – but still a work in progress) on discernment here…I previously posted, here, a sermon by Cassidy.

Comments

[John Santic]

Paul, thanks for the link. I am grateful that you found the article meaningful...

I look forward to reading your thoughts on discernment...

[Joe]

Ditto from me: I'm glad that some have found my comments helpful. Like manmy others, I'm trying to make sense of the situation we find ourselves in -- I can't help but think that Ignatius' insights into 'deception under the guise of the good' may be helpful in all of this: it allows us not to impute people's motives (on our best days, we all aspire after the good, more or less), but also to appreciate that some of us will inevitably be more or less 'deceived' on what is the good. But if we could at least acknowledge the possibility that we are all aiming at the good, then some of the vitriol could be reduced....

Joe Cassidy

[Paul Fromont]

Joe, thanks so much for dropping by. You've written a very useful article, and as you might have seen your sermon on "who's in and who's out" (linked on this blog earlier on) you've made a helpful contribution there too. I / we appreciate the innate wisdom in both.

I add an "AMEN" to your comment above.

PAX
Paul