The art of presence
By Reverend Dr Katherine Rainger, Senior Chaplain
A point in time, such as the start of a new school term, often lends itself to personal reflection. There are also benefits to daily examining daily how we are travelling, what we are noticing, what we might need and how we are relating to others.
This week, I encountered 2 texts that made me think about the approach and attitude I bring to any given situation. The first text comes from Psalm 116, verses 12–14, which was read in my church on Sunday:
What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord; I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
The writer of the Psalm uses a question and answer to make their point. It is worth pausing at the question, 'What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?' Each of us might bring a unique answer. Do we return our love, time, attention, patience, skills or talents? Or something else.
The writer's own answer looks further into the grace of God who brings healing, presence and wholeness, captured in the word 'salvation' and the invitation to call upon the name of the Lord. The Psalmist brings a personal response to their relationship with God that also involves the community around them.
The second text I encountered this week was For A Leader by John O’Donohue. This blessing is full of imagery to challenge and provoke reflection on how we relate to ourselves and others. I wonder if there is an image that particularly resonates with you today?
May you have the grace and wisdom
To act kindly, learning
To distinguish between what is
Personal and what is not.
May you be hospitable to criticism.
May you never put yourself at the centre of things.
May you act not from arrogance but out of service.
May you work on yourself,
Building up and refining the ways of your mind.
May those who work for you know
You see and respect them.
May you learn to cultivate the art of presence
In order to engage with those who meet you.
When someone fails or disappoints you,
May the graciousness with which you engage
Be their stairway to renewal and refinement.
May you treasure the gifts of the mind
Through reading and creative thinking
So that you continue as a servant of the frontier
Where the new will draw its enrichment from the old,
And may you never become a functionary.
May you know the wisdom of deep listening,
The healing of wholesome words,
The encouragement of the appreciative gaze,
The decorum of held dignity,
The springtime edge of the bleak question.
May you have a mind that loves frontiers
So that you can evoke the bright fields
That lie beyond the view of the regular eye.
May you have good friends
To mirror your blind spots.
May leadership be for you
A true adventure of growth.