read letter 7 - Edmund Rice

We operate out of our images of God. What is the image of God that governed our past behaviour
Was it a God that demanded service and suffering, a God that we had to keep on our side by the way we
behaved We spoke of a God of love, but it was usually tough love! And we lived that tough love in our
communities too.
Our past few Chapters have constantly invited us into a new way of being Brother – one that some of us
have found very, even too, confronting. There has been the desire to return to the way things were, the
certainties of the past, and the comfort of living in closed and familiar circles.
We see that there is much cultural baggage that we hold on to and which weighs us down:
• Vestiges of hierarchy and patriarchy continue to be prominent in our living.
• In some parts of the Congregation, we are still caught up with the Christian Brother kingdom and
our institutions. While this is often good, it can stop us from looking beyond our narrow interests,
and even at times knowing that our interests are narrow.
• We can be jealous of our rights as Religious and slow to encourage and welcome the growing
influence of other members of the Network.
• We at times seem to be suspicious of an emerging Christianity, and this hinders our participation in
community prayer and celebrations.
• Many of us are still scared of showing emotion and relating on a more feeling level with one
another.
• We are strongly wedded to past or current Province and community structures and find it hard to
imagine different ones for new times.
These areas are reinforced and further developed in Ted Dunne’s article on “Interior Freedom” in the
latest edition of Human Development, in which he says that “the emergence of truth requires that we make
room for the ‘new’ through a labor of letting go.”
“the emergence of truth requires
that we make room for the ‘new’
through a labor of
letting go”
Today we are called to a spirituality of the heart, to be
aware of our feelings and we are encouraged to share the
“secrets of our hearts.” Life in community has taken on a
depth that it rarely had before and our communities are
opening in hospitality and welcome. We are becoming more
aware of the God who speaks in other religions and cultures,
and who challenges us to move beyond our boundaries,
whether imposed by narrow thinking, or the physical
structures we set up which may have served their purpose.
This God is welcoming of the stranger, open to the
different, amazed by the beauty of the other. This God is everywhere, not “elsewhere,” and most
noticeable among the disadvantaged of our world. And so this is where we now take our place.
So, what do I need to bury in the trench Can I list the most obvious things from my daily life How will
these “escape into the new” How do I prepare myself to receive A Way Into The Future
We invite you into your own reflection on the questions in this letter, and then to share with other
Brothers the fruits of your pondering.
Your Brothers,
David, Francis, Jack, Peter, Philip