FORMING THE WHOLE PERSON

WILL, CREATIVITY, DESIRE

WELCOME!
WHY FORMATION?
WHY FORMATION?

A STORY FROM THE DESERT MONKS

▸ Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to
him, “Abba, as far as I can I say my Little Office.
I fast a little. I pray. I meditate. I live in peace
and as far as I can. I purify my thoughts. What
else am I to do?”
WHY FORMATION?

A STORY FROM THE DESERT MONKS

▸ Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to
him, “Abba, as far as I can I say my Little Office.
I fast a little. I pray. I meditate. I live in peace
and as far as I can. I purify my thoughts. What
else am I to do?”

▸ Then the old man stood up, stretched his hands

towards heaven and his fingers became like ten
lamps of fire, and he said to him, “If you will,
you can become all flame.”
WHY FORMATION?

THE GOOD OF GOODNESS

▸ “The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving
persons with God himself at the very heart of this community as its prime
Sustainer and most glorious Inhabitant.” (DW)

▸ Shaped by a sacred story and sharing at a common table, we are awakening to

God, who is love. As we awaken to divine love, we grow and are transformed—for
this love evokes human flourishing. Love frees us to create, to forgive, and to
participate in the sacred work of cultivating life in this world. Love animates
generous living, proclaims news that is truly good, and culminates in God’s
dream of peace in a world integrated by divine love. (Pearl’s Rhythms)
WHY FORMATION?

FORMATION: TAKING ON CHARACTER

▸ “Spiritual formation, without regard to any specifically religious context or
tradition, is the process by which the human spirit or will is given a definite
‘form’ or character…. We each become a certain kind of person in the depths
of our being, gaining a specific type of character.” (DW)

▸ Luke 6:45—“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good
fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns,
nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good
treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure
produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.”
WHY FORMATION?

FORMATION: TAKING ON CAPACITY

▸ Matthew 25:14ff—For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and
entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one,
to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five
talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same
way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had
received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then
the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents,
saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy
in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
SPIRITUAL FORMATION FOR THE
CHRISTIAN BASICALLY REFERS TO THE
SPIRIT-DRIVEN PROCESS OF FORMING
THE INNER WORLD OF THE HUMAN SELF
IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT BECOMES LIKE
THE INNER BEING OF CHRIST HIMSELF.”

Dallas Willard
THE WHOLE PERSON
FORMING THE WHOLE PERSON

THE HOLISTIC PERSON SOUL

▸ Seeing the human person under the lens of SOCIAL CONTEXT
these parts helps us understand, and care for,
BODY
each aspect of ourselves.
MIND
▸ Most traditions have emphasized one or a few
parts, and neglected others. WILL
▸ “Understanding is the basis of care. What you
would take care of you must first understand,
whether it be a petunia or a nation. If you would
care for your spiritual core—your heart or will—
you must understand it. That is, you must
understand your spirit.” —Dallas Willard
FORMING THE WHOLE PERSON

WILL SOUL
▸ “Volition, or choice, is the exercise of the will, SOCIAL CONTEXT
the capacity of the person to originate things
BODY
and events that would not otherwise be or
occur.” MIND

▸ Freedom, creativity, desire. WILL

FORMING THE WHOLE PERSON

MIND (THOUGHT & FEELING) SOUL

▸ “Thought brings things before our minds in various SOCIAL CONTEXT
ways (including perception and imagination) and
enables us to consider them in various respects and BODY
trace out their interrelationships with one another.” MIND
▸ Perception, articulation, connection
WILL
▸ “Feeling inclines us toward or away from things that
come before our minds in thought.” (32

▸ Value, evaluation, judgment

▸ “Notice that feeling and thought always go together.

They are interdependent and are never found
apart.” (33)
FORMING THE WHOLE PERSON

BODY SOUL
▸ “The body is the focal point of our presence in SOCIAL CONTEXT
the physical and social world... It is our primary
BODY
energy source or ‘strength’—our personalized
‘power pack’… And it is the point though which MIND
we are stimulated by the world beyond
ourselves and where we find and are found by WILL
others.” (35)

▸ Energy, interaction, presence

FORMING THE WHOLE PERSON

SOCIAL CONTEXT SOUL

▸ “The human self requires rootedness in others. SOCIAL CONTEXT
This is is primarily an ontological matter—a
BODY
matter of being what we are. It is not just a
moral matter, a matter of what ought to be.” MIND

▸ “Western culture is, largely unbeknownst to WILL

itself, a culture of rejection... It seeps into our
souls and is a deadly enemy to spiritual
formation in Christ.”

▸ Connection, belonging, acceptance

FORMING THE WHOLE PERSON

SOUL SOUL
▸ “The soul is that dimension of the person that SOCIAL CONTEXT
interrelates all of the other dimensions so that
BODY
they form one life.”
MIND
▸ This part transcends and relates the person to
all that is, and to the Divine. It is in the most WILL
fundamental way the whole self, and thrives on
wholeness/integration.

▸ “Pull yourself together”

▸ Transcendence, interconnection, centeredness

UNDERSTANDING WILL
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

WHAT IS THE WILL?

▸ “Man is a creature who makes pictures of himself, and then comes to resemble
that picture.” (Iris Murdoch)

▸ What pictures (stories, movies, metaphors, experiences) come to your mind

when you think of “the will”? What shapes our cultural image of “will” and
“choice”?
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

THE WILL AS POWER

▸ Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, some forms of
postmodernism

▸ All “morality” and “rationality” hide plays of

power

▸ Choices and values are always irrational/

extra-rational, and are never “justified” -
“might makes right”

▸ Sometimes this is offered as critique

(Derrida), sometimes as commendation
(Nietzsche)
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

THE WILL AS “LEAP”

▸ Kierkegaard, Sartre, existentialism

▸ There are no rational values “out there” so I

must simply commit myself; by choosing I
place value on a neutral world of fact

▸ In a different way, Kant

▸ Obedience to universal law cannot be

demonstrated from empirical proof, it is
radically other and for itself
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

THE WILL AS ATTENTION

▸ Plato, the Buddha, Jesus, Augustine

▸ There are indeed values “out there” which

humans can come to see

▸ Primary metaphor of vision — where I place

my attention, what facts I pay attention to,
determines what choices are available to me

▸ The task of will is to (slowly) turn from

obsessive desire/compulsion/illusion toward
the Real/Beautiful/Good/God and so choose
to participate in creative goodness
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

DEFINING WILL
▸ “Our will is what comes from nothing else but us. Will is the ability to originate
(or refrain from originating) an act or thing… It is that aspect of personality that
gives us a likeness to God, what we are in God’s image.” (DW)

▸ Our natural will toward good (bene-volence, good-will) gives us capacity to

partner with God in creative goodness for all things.

▸ The primary movement of the will is to allow us to turn our attention and
thoughts so we can attend to, love and desire what is good.

▸ Will is creativity, consent and participation.

UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

CREATIVITY
▸ A restored will is not a loss of individuality, nor
conformity.

▸ “What God gets out of your formation is

precisely you.” (DW)

▸ Our capacity to desire and choose goodness is

a unique expression of our inmost being, and
an irreplaceable part of God’s creation.

▸ “Good will” brings about the flourishing of

places, communities, and all kinds of life.
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

CONSENT
▸ “Consent” acknowledges that as creat-ures, we are
never solely originating, always invited, never
compelled to engage creatively with an existing
set of circumstances

▸ God does not coerce our choices, but invites our

creative contribution

▸ Luke 1:26, 38—The angel said to her, “Do not be

afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And
now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you will name him Jesus. … Then Mary said,
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with
me according to your word.”
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

PARTICIPATION
▸ Finally, will is participation in the ongoing
creative life of the Divine.

▸ The movement of restoration of the human will is

from:

▸ estrangement (self-protection) to belonging

▸ belonging to communion

▸ communion to union

▸ “Union” is shared life, purpose, experience -

engagement together in all activity as one
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

THE WILL IS FREE… A BIT

▸ “The thoughts and feelings that the will depends
on in any given moment of choice cannot be
changed in that moment. But the will or heart can
change the thoughts and feelings that are to be
available to it in future choices…. Will alone
cannot carry us to change. But will implemented
through changing my thoughts and feelings can
result in my becoming the kind of person who
just doesn’t do [or desire] that kind of thing
anymore.”

▸ Our greatest freedom is where we set our

attention.
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

THE WILL IS FREE… A BIT

▸ Addressing Calvinism - is the will “perverse”?
“Broken”? “Bound”?

▸ No - and yes. By Reformation era, the “spiritual

disciplines” which had been about shifting attention,
had become“works of righteousness” to perform for
their own sake. The image had shifted from VISION
to LEAP, from BECOMING to DOING. So when
Luther/Calvin encounter the disordered will they call
us perverse/dead, but when the ancient church
encountered it they called us sick/ensnared.

▸ BUT it is also true that DIRECT CHOICE in the

moment is pretty weak, so “leap” is a bad image.
COMPULSION AND
THE WILL
UNDERSTANDING THE WILL

THE RESTORED WILL

▸ An integrated, healthy will is not shut down/repressed/denied (this is the
experience of being voiceless, as though you do not matter and make no
contribution)

▸ Rather, the restored will means developing the capacity to see, desire and
move toward goodness, without being fragmented and trapped in the
compulsion of self-protection

▸ The restored will is open, has capacity to desire and choose without
needing control. (We can name what we want, and also know we are still safe if
we do not get it.)
FORMING THE WILL
FORMING THE WILL

OBSERVING THE WILL

▸ The Welcoming Prayer
FORMING THE WILL

PAUSING THE WILL

▸ Slowing Down

▸ “A major service of spiritual disciplines... is to cause the duplicity and malice

that is buried in our will and character to surface and be dealt with… Your mind
will really ‘talk to you’ when you begin to deny fulfillment to your desires, and
you will find how subtle and shameless it is.” (DW)

▸ Interrupting the habitual function of will allows us to notice where our desire is
fragmented and compulsive: what feels threatened if we don’t get what we want?

▸ Slowing down makes room for attending to the Good and Beautiful.
FORMING THE WILL

DIRECTING THE WILL

▸ Setting an Intention

▸ Finding and dwelling with an ever-refined “I INVITE OTHERS INTO

RULE OF LIFE
PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD FOR CREATIVE
expression of purpose, direction, desire can be an
I invite others into partnership with God for creative goodness in the world.

GOODNESS IN THE WORLD.”

“For we are his workmanship (poivhma), created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Eph 2:10

aid in the shift of attention toward our truest desire CO RE VALUES

▸ Various formats: a “purpose statement”; a LITURGY LISTENING

metaphor/image/symbol that expresses your deep worship, praying the Daily Office,
observing the Church year, small group
spiritual direction (receiving and offering),
Sabbath, silence and solitude

desire in life; a breath prayer.

▸ What might this look like for you?
LEVELING LEADERSHIP
writing, cultivating physical presence (not
shrinking), confession, teaching
intercessory prayer, strategic vision
development and planning, journaling

PRAYER