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INFORM-A^CTION

Issue Number 39 - August 2001

Spiritual Growth and the Option for the Poor

In 1984, Albert Nolan OP proposed a framework that describes stages a person navigates in their spiritual journey of service to the poor. He posits that there is a process people go through in the service of the poor and that this has much in common with the process that is generally associated with the stages of prayer - crises, dark nights, shocks, challenges, moments of lights and insight. He suggest four stages that one can go between, progress through or get stuck in - though not necessarily in a rigid, linear way.

Stage One: COMPASSION

This stage is about being open to and learning about injustice. Seeing and hearing injustice can move one's heart to COMPASSION and this compassion needs nourishing. Nourishing compassion can happen by being immersed into situations of injustice and poverty and by increasing one's knowledge of injustice. During this stage one can be with and reflect on the God of Compassion - one can share in God's compassion for those suffering. Common responses to feelings of compassion are (a) giving resources to assist those suffering and (b) modifying one's lifestyle and living more simply.

Stage Two: STRUCTURAL CHANGE

One can move from compassion to start asking WHY the injustice is happening. In asking this question a journey of research and analysis can lead to understanding that many injustices are the result of political and economic structures and policies. This usually leads one to feeling ANGER. In feeling this anger one can be one with the God of Anger. Nolan says of this:

If we don't have the anger about any system or any policy that creates suffering, we don't feel about it as God feels about it and our compassion is wishy-washy.

The response during this stage is to work for structural change.

Stage Three: HUMILITY

This third stage is when one comes to discover that the poor must and will save themselves and they really don't need you or me. The poor know better than we do about what to do and how to do it. They are the ones who know how to bring about change to their own circumstances. Great humility is needed in knowing and accepting this. This can be a moment of crisis and conversion - one experiences their own powerlessness and emptiness. When one enters this moment of conversion in one's own heart it is a time to sit with and stay with the God of Compassion - to be heard and understood - to have one's ground being ploughed to make room for new growth, to take the next step and just be with those suffering injustice.

Stage Four: SOLIDARITY

Solidarity begins when it is no longer a matter of us and them. Real solidarity begins when one discovers that we all have faults and weaknesses and that we are on the same side against oppressive systems and policies. It is when people can work together and struggle together against the common enemy to change the unjust policies and systems which oppress people and destroy the earth.

Article available from 8th Day Center for Justice: www.8thdaycenter.org. Go to the publications button and download Toward a Spirituality of Justice.

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		INFORM-A^CTION Issue Number 39 - August 2001 Spiritual Growth and the Option for the Poor In 1984, Albert Nolan OP proposed a framework that describes stages a person navigates in their spiritual journey of service to the poor. He posits that there is a process people go through in the service of the poor and that this has much in common with the process that is generally associated with the stages of prayer - crises, dark nights, shocks, challenges, moments of lights and insight. He suggest four stages that one can go between, progress through or get stuck in - though not necessarily in a rigid, linear way. Stage One: COMPASSION This stage is about being open to and learning about injustice. Seeing and hearing injustice can move one's heart to COMPASSION and this compassion needs nourishing. Nourishing compassion can happen by being immersed into situations of injustice and poverty and by increasing one's knowledge of injustice. During this stage one can be with and reflect on the God of Compassion - one can share in God's compassion for those suffering. Common responses to feelings of compassion are (a) giving resources to assist those suffering and (b) modifying one's lifestyle and living more simply. Stage Two: STRUCTURAL CHANGE One can move from compassion to start asking WHY the injustice is happening. In asking this question a journey of research and analysis can lead to understanding that many injustices are the result of political and economic structures and policies. This usually leads one to feeling ANGER. In feeling this anger one can be one with the God of Anger. Nolan says of this: If we don't have the anger about any system or any policy that creates suffering, we don't feel about it as God feels about it and our compassion is wishy-washy. The response during this stage is to work for structural change. Stage Three: HUMILITY This third stage is when one comes to discover that the poor must and will save themselves and they really don't need you or me. The poor know better than we do about what to do and how to do it. They are the ones who know how to bring about change to their own circumstances. Great humility is needed in knowing and accepting this. This can be a moment of crisis and conversion - one experiences their own powerlessness and emptiness. When one enters this moment of conversion in one's own heart it is a time to sit with and stay with the God of Compassion - to be heard and understood - to have one's ground being ploughed to make room for new growth, to take the next step and just be with those suffering injustice. Stage Four: SOLIDARITY Solidarity begins when it is no longer a matter of us and them. Real solidarity begins when one discovers that we all have faults and weaknesses and that we are on the same side against oppressive systems and policies. It is when people can work together and struggle together against the common enemy to change the unjust policies and systems which oppress people and destroy the earth. Article available from 8th Day Center for Justice: www.8thdaycenter.org. Go to the publications button and download Toward a Spirituality of Justice. Next Newsletter Article Newsletter Index