Desiring Abundance of Life, Not Just Absence of Sin

Last updated on: May 12, 2015 at 3:18 pm by Leah Libresco

Desiring Abundance of Life, Not Just Absence of Sin 2015-05-12T15:18:45-04:00 Leah Libresco

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

(Horla Varlan / Flickr)

Ben Kuhn has a great post up on strategies for inviting (and retaining) new kinds of people to a group that you run. Ben is writing specifically about effective altruism, an interest of mine, too, but I think his thoughts generalize pretty well.

Hands down, this was my favorite thing that he said:

Get interested in other people’s experiences. Don’t try to convince them to “become an EAer;” try to get them to convince you of something. Figure out how their perspective can add to effective altruism, not what effective altruism should subtract from them.

This is great advice, and I’m going to try to make sure I keep this in mind when meeting people, recommending books, and inviting them to events. It’s pretty easy to fall into a Procrustean mindset, trying to make people into a slightly blurred, generic exemplar of your group. It’s harder to address folks as individuals and to wind up longing for something from them instead of just wishing something for him.

It’s pretty easy to fall into this error in Christian circles, where it’s easy to wind up thinking about becoming Christlike only by pruning away sins, rather than by living life more abundantly, and getting the chance to be loved and delighted by your fellow parishoners.

There are two remarks by C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton I love that fit in very well with Ben’s point. And, since I quoted them both in my book (in the context of how the Eucharist strengthens us), I’ll just put the excerpt here:

Each of the saints is united wholly to God: in him they move and live and have their being (Acts 17:28). And yet, communion with God is not a great annihilation. We are not dissolved into God, so diluted by his infinite nature as to be erased. Somehow, our unique souls are preserved.

It is feasting on the Eucharist allows us to be transmuted, rather than blurred out. C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity about this kind of [ungeneric] growth in God: “There are no real personalities apart from God. Until you have given up your self to Him, you will not have a real self. Sameness is to be found most among the most ‘natural’ men, not among those who surrender to Christ. How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been, how gloriously different are the saints.”

G. K. Chesterton picks up the theme in Orthodoxy: “It is true that the historic Church has at once emphasized celibacy and emphasized the family; has at once (if one may put it so) been fiercely for having children and fiercely for not having children. It has kept them side by side like two strong colors, red and white, like the red and white on the shield of St. George. It has always had a healthy hatred of pink.”

Somehow, the mixing of man and Christ makes everyone sharper and more distinct, instead of yielding some averaged-out blandness. The saints have been perfected and healed while still remaining recognizably themselves.

I’d be curious if you guys have any good strategies for keeping this idea at the front of your minds during conversations, events, or other parts of everyday life.

Are there questions you like to ask that often help you notice how other people can add to effective altruism (or your project of interest)? Are there contexts in which you find it easier to glimpse the “glorious difference” among potential saints?

If you’re in DC, you’re invited to my book launch party tomorrow at the Catholic Information Center!

Debate Tactics

quest for community

Previous Post

May 11, 2015

A Dominican Friar Found My Book "Pious, Intellectually Robust, and Personal"

Next Post

May 13, 2015 Talking to Vox Nova about Conversion and Learning from Others

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 7 Quick Takes Apologetics Atheism Book Conversion Debate Tactics Debates Epistemology/Philosophy Housekeeping Ideological Turing Test Marriage Morality in Practice Parsing Catholicism Possibly Heretical Radio Reviews/Recommendations Sequence Index Spiritual Practice Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Vatican City Rome Florence Jerusalem