Suchergebnisse

This paper argues that neoliberal globalization is presenting a challenge to welfare provisioning in the industrialized countries and to the prospects for equitable social development in developing and transition economies. This challenge flows partly from the unregulated nature of the emerging global economy and partly from intellectual currents dominant in the global discourse concerning social policy and social development. The paper contends that certain global conditions are undermining the prospects for the alternative: equitable public social provision in both developed and developing countries. These conditions include the World Bank's preference for a safety-net and privatizing strategy for welfare; the self-interest of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in providing basic education, health and livelihood services that might otherwise be provided by the state; and the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) push for an open global market in health services, education and social insurance. Yet these disturbing trends are taking place in parallel with an apparent shift in the politics of globalization from orthodox economic liberalism to global social concern. The paper begins by reviewing the challenges faced by countries seeking to secure the social welfare of citizens and residents in the context of globalization. In the North, globalization has set welfare states in competition with each other. Moreover, the different kinds of welfare state are differently challenged by globalization, and have responded differently. Anglo-Saxon countries, which have residualized and privatized welfare provision, are in tune with liberalizing globalization, but at the cost of equity. Workplace-based welfare systems of the former state socialist countries, and payroll tax-based 'Bismarkian' insurance systems common in many Western European countries, are proving vulnerable to global competitive pressures. The social democratic, citizenship-based welfare systems funded out of consumption and income taxes, found in the Nordic countries, have been surprisingly sustainable in the face of global competitive pressures due to political will to maintain them. In the South, globalization has generated indebtedness that has undermined the capacity of governments to secure education, health and social protection. It has threatened social and labour standards, segmented social policy within countries and created zones excluded from any of the benefits of globalization. Next the paper considers the current global social policy discourse within and between international organizations and aid agencies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently shown signs of taking the social dimensions of globalization more seriously, by beginning to consider whether some degree of equity within countries is beneficial to economic growth. The World Bank has articulated more clearly its 'individual risk management approach' to social protection in the context of globalization. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has asserted that globalization may lead to the need for more, not less, social expenditure. While the International Labour Organization (ILO) has begun to show signs of making concessions to the Bank's views on privatizing some aspects of social security, it has also shown an interest in a new universalism emerging from bottom-up movements in several countries. The views of the WTO on the desirability of a global market in health and social service provision are assuming new prominence. International NGOs are now more clearly divided into those acting as substitutes for government, and those advocating greater government responsibility for welfare. Yet within this discordant global discourse can be discerned elements of a new politics of global social responsibility. Orthodox economic liberalism and inhumane structural adjustment appear to be giving way to concern in the World Bank and the IMF with the social consequences of globalization. International development assistance is increasingly focusing on social development. United Nations agencies are giving more attention to the negative social consequences of globalization. Among the shifts in policy thinking and concrete steps that are being taken, which could herald more socially responsible globalization, are moves to globalize social rights, indications that social policy issues are moving up the development agenda and steps to regulate the global economy. The paper looks at each of these in turn, and at the disagreements as to how to proceed with this new orientation. It examines the dangers of the North moralizing about global social rights without providing the resources to realize them in practice. It also discusses whether the initiative to establish a code of principles and best practice for social policy will enable these dangers to be overcome. The paper then questions whether the move to establish development targets, such as basic education for all by 2015, represents global social progress or the legitimation of residual social policy. The obstacles to progressive North-South social policy and social development dialogue are also examined. In terms of the moves to inject social concerns into the global economy, the paper reviews conflicts of interest surrounding the failed WTO conference in Seattle, the proliferation of codes of conduct for transnational corporations and the debate about raising global taxes to finance social programmes. The paper argues that despite the apparent shift from global neoliberalism to global social responsibility, four tendencies within the new global paradigm, if pursued, will undermine equitable social progress and development-at a time when the resources exist to fund such advances. These tendencies are: the World Bank's belief that governments should provide only minimal levels of social protection; the concern of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to focus funding on only basic education and healthcare; the self-interest of international NGOs in substituting for government provision of services; and the moves being made within the WTO to open the global market in private healthcare, education and social insurance. Within the context of minimal and basic-level-only state provision, the middle classes of developing and transition economies will be enticed to purchase private social security schemes, private secondary and tertiary education, and private hospital and medical care. The wider repercussions are predictable. We know that only services for the neediest will remain-and that services for the poor are poor services. We know that those developed countries without universal public health and education provision are not only more unequal than those that do, but also more unsafe and crime ridden. This is the prospect for all countries that buy into this new global social development paradigm. Some policy measures to counteract this trend and to re-establish the place of equity in the discourse and practice of global social policy and development are suggested in this paper, together with an assessment of global forces that might be sympathetic to them. It is concluded that a major problem is the fragmentation and functional separation of agencies (WTO, World Bank, IMF, ILO, WHO, UNDP, UNESCO, OECD, regional groupings), and conflict and competition within and between them for the right to determine the content and other aspects of global social policy. Whether the five-year review of the World Summit for Social Development (Geneva 2000) begins the process of establishing a responsible and accountable global system of governance in the social sphere will depend to a large extent on political support from the European Union. It will also hinge on progressive voices from the South speaking out for improvements in the structure of global governance-in the interests of the North and the South, and of equity within and between countries.

INTRODUCCION-OBJETIVOS: La presente tesis describe la problemática provocada por los delitos de peligro abstracto. La tensión permanente entre norma primaria y principios del Derecho penal clásico -reserva, culpabilidad, inocencia, lesividad u ofensividad y proporcionalidad-; generado, básicamente, por una "Sociedad de riesgo". El legislador se ha volcado hacia un Derecho penal de autor, dejando atrás un Derecho penal de acto. El Derecho penal se ha expandido, no actúa como última ratio, se convierte en una especie de conformación social o instrumento de cambio de la sociedad. Lo dicho lleva a una reconceptualización del bien jurídico protegido. Asimismo, se ha buscado desentrañar si esa conducta legisferante de mayor endurecimiento punitivo, tiene justificación empírica, en base a datos criminológicos. También se analiza, brevemente, advirtiendo posiciones dogmáticas y doctrinarias, las últimas reformas del CP y con más precisión los delitos contra la seguridad vial. Se analiza la política criminal actual que radica en un constante y permanente adelantamiento de la barrera punitiva -tolerancia cero- y, con ello, un enfrentamiento con ciudadanos "peligrosos". METODOLOGÍA: Estudio descriptivo de bibliografía jurídica, revistas especializadas y jurisprudencia. Análisis estadístico. Asistencia y participación en cursos de especialización en derecho penal. CONCLUSION: A) Desde una visión dogmática: argumentos negativos 1) tipificar conductas peligrosas o aquellas que traen consigo peligro de peligro –delito obstáculo-, vulneran principios clásicos (reserva, lesividad, inocencia, culpabilidad, proporcionalidad e intimidad); 2) preeminencia de prevención general; 3) Conversión en un Estado paternalista de permanente control; 4) adelantamiento de la barrera punitiva, bajo intereses electorales. Argumentos a favor: 1) los códigos penales, no pueden, ni deben ser estáticos; 2) Intensa búsqueda de avanzar y "crecer" con la sociedad y su constante evolución; 3) Reformulación del concepto de bien jurídico protegido para adecuarlo a un moderno Derecho penal; B) Desde una visión político criminal, 1) obrar legislativo teñido de desidia por falta de estudios criminológicos serios o, a espaldas de los existentes, con fuerte influencia de los medios de comunicación 2) Utilización de los delitos de peligro abstracto como "arma" predilecta para regular conductas sociales, 3) Cuestionamientos a las últimas reformas del Código penal, entre ellos, los delitos contra la seguridad vial; 4) Aplicación de un Derecho penal del enemigo "apartando" al sujeto peligroso del todo social, -aumento de reclusos condenados por delitos contra la seguridad vial-. 5) Erosión de la cultura garantista y de aquella orientada hacia la reinserción; 6) La delincuencia ya no es vista como la consecuencia, a nivel individual, de desajustes sociales; sino como expresión de la actividad de un sujeto delincuente, disfuncional al todo social; 7) Quebrantamiento del welfarismo penal, incursionando en políticas de "tolerancia cero"; 8) Utilización de expresiones como terrorismo urbano, provocando estigmatización en sujetos no "incluidos" al todo social, 9) Falta de elaboración de políticas integradoras –política criminal, criminología y derecho penal-; 10) Acreditación empírica, en delitos contra la seguridad vial, que aún con baja en los números de víctimas mortales, se optó por endurecer los tipos penales, con ello: aumento de reclusos, incremento de juicios rápidos y urgentes, mayor número de condenados a TBC; 11) En consecuencia, aquella, tensión entre reglas primarias y principios se decanta por la primera; 12) Se propone hablar de un Derecho penal de confianza excluyente; 13) Proyectar un Derecho penal intermedio entre lo nuclear y accesorio, entre Derecho Administrativo y Derecho penal, 14) Proponer un concepto personal de bien jurídico protegido y 15) La administrativización de delitos de peligro abstracto. INTRODUCTION, OBJECTIVES: This tesis describes the problem area caused by crimes of abstract danger. The permanent tension between the primary rules and basic the principles of criminal law -reservation, culpability, inocence,harmnfulness and proportionality-: basicly generated by a "risk society".The legislator has turned his activity into an authoring criminal law, leaving away an acting criminal law. The criminal law has expanded, not only acting as a última ratio, but its becomes into a sort of social confrontation, or an instrument for socia change. That drives into a re-conceptualisation of the legal protected good. Furthermore, the unraveling of if there is a empirical justification on the basis of criminological data for endure the punishment for this legisferante conduct has been sought. The brief analysis, begining in a dogmatic position, of the last changes in the criminal law is also included, and more precisely the crimes against road safety. The analyse of the criminal policy, which lies in a constant and permanent hardening of the punitive barrier -Zero Tolerance- and a subsequent confrontation against "dangerous" citizens is also included. METHODOLOGY: Descriptive study of legal bibliography, specialized magazines and jurisprudence. Statitistical analysis. Attendance and participation in criminal law. CONCLUSION: A) Taking a Dogmatic approach: negative points 1) typify dangerous behaviour or that conducts thath may cause danger of a danger-obstacle crime- they violate the classic principles (reservation, harmfulity, inocence, culpability, proporcionality and intimacy); 2) General prevention preeminence; 3) Conversion into a paternalistic state of permanent control; 4) advance of the punitive barrier,due to electoral interest. Arguments for: 1) criminal laws can not and should not be static; 2)An intense research for advance and grow up with the society and its constant evolution; 3) the reformulation of the concept "legal good" in order to adequate it into a modern crime rigths; B) From a political criminal point of view, 1) An aphatic legislative process for a lack of serious criminological studies, or some against the existing ones, affected by the influence of the mass media. 2) The use of crimes of abstract danger as the predilect gun for the regulation of social behaviour, 3) Questioning of the last changes in the penal code, among them, the crimes against road safety; 4)Implementation of a criminal law turning away the dangerous subject from the society-increment of inmates condemned for road safety crimes-. 5) Sputtering of the guarantee-based culture and that oriented to the reintegration; 6)Crime is not seen as a consecuence ofsocial imbalances anymore, at the individual, but the expression of the activity of an individual criminal person,dysfunctional to all social; 7) Breakdown of penal welfarismo,raiding into "Zero tolerance" policies ; 8) The use of such expressions as "urban terrorisim" causing a stigma in those subjects that are not included in all social, 9) The lack in the elaboration of inclusion policies- criminal policies, criminology, and criminal law-;10) Empirical accreditation, in those crimes related to road safety crimes, that even with a low rate of casualties, a more stringent law were set, and as a consecuence, the number of inmates increase, and also in the expeditious trials, and more condemned in TBC; 11) As a consecuence, the tension between the primary rules and principles decides in the first; 12) A proposal of a penal law of a excluding trust has been set; 13) To project an intermediate penal law between the nuclear and the accesory, between administrative and penal law, 14) Propose a personal concept of a legally protected good, and 15) The administrativization of abstract danger crimes.

The scientific community has been debating climate change (CC) for over two decades. In the light of certain arguments put forward by the aforesaid community, the EU has recommended a set of innovative reforms to science teaching, such as incorporating environmental issues into the scientific curriculum, thereby helping to make schools a place of civic education. However, despite these European recommendations, relatively little emphasis is still given to climate change within science curricula. The main goal of the research project described in this thesis is to study if, how and why the scientific contents related to CC could be reconstructed so as to integrate the many dimensions involved in the issue. Specifically, the project set out to create and test innovative materials and activities for secondary school students, designed to foster: i) effective and meaningful understanding of the concepts involved in CC (disciplinary dimension); ii) a growing personal involvement in environmental issues supported also by the maturation of rational arguments for moving consciously through the political, economical, social and ethical dimensions (societal dimension); iii) epistemological reflections aimed at problematizing the traditional and outdated image of science which is still widespread among citizens (epistemological dimension). In the design and analysis of the materials, we start from the conjecture that behind many conceptual difficulties and psychological barriers lie particular epistemological obstacles related to a naïve and stereotypical view of science. In order to reach the main goal, the work has been organized according to four research questions (RQs): RQ_1: What operational criteria can be identified for reconstructing physics so as to integrate the many dimensions considered in the main goal? RQ_2: (a) Which models of greenhouse effect and GW are effective for implementing the criteria identified? (b) What experimental activities can be designed in order to promote an inquiry-based approach to the study of environmental issues, and to help students understand the models and their multi-dimensionality? RQ_3: How do secondary school students react to the proposed materials? Are the materials effective in achieving the main goal of the research? RQ_4: Which analytic methods can be used to investigate the multiple dimensions of a teaching/learning classroom experience? In Chapter 1, the analysis of a selection of research papers and international reports is presented. The selected papers and reports concern: the conceptual difficulties that students usually encounter in dealing with physics concepts related to CC; the sociological and behavioural reactions of citizens facing CC; the crucial points regarding the scientific debate on CC; the status of the research on modelling in science education. The match among the main results in so many different research fields led us to point out some design principles which guided the process of instructional design of a multidimensional proposal on climate change intended for upper secondary school students (grade 11th, 12th and 13th). The design principles, the teaching materials and the developed conceptual path are described in chapter 2. The multidimensional conceptual path was implemented in four different teaching experiences and many data were collected in order to keep tuned the many dimensions involved in the study. The contexts of implementation, the role of each one and the data sources properly designed are described in chapter 3. The materials and the data tools were initially validated in a pilot-study which aimed to test and revise both the teaching materials and the data sources (chapter 4). On the basis of the results of this pilot-study, the materials have been reviewed in order to emphasize the epistemological dimension. Specifically, the results led us to make the epistemological fil rouge on the models and modelling stronger and more evident; to revise (in form and content) the lesson on complexity; and to insert specific tools of investigations aimed at indepth investigation of the epistemological dimension. The data collection and data analysis focused initially on the single dimensions (conceptual, behavioural, epistemological) and later on the correlations among them. This strategy implied the development of new and original analytic tools able to bootstrap from the data results related to each dimension, but also analytic techniques that could render the results of each dimension comparable to each other (chapters 5-6-7). As a global result, the analyses highlighted a positive overall trend both on the three dimensions considered individually and with respect to the identification of positive influences and impacts among the different dimensions. Nevertheless, some critical elements emerged from the analyses. As far as the disciplinary dimension is concerned (chapter 5), the conceptual path revealed to be effective in providing a chance i) to resolve the problem of confusing climate change with different environmental phenomena, like the ozone layer depletion and general pollution, and ii) to relate the greenhouse effect to the properties of absorbance, reflectance and transmittance. The analysis, however, revealed the permanence in the students of conceptual difficulties which are well-documented in the research literature, such as i) the difficulty in managing the concept of emission and ii) the confusion between heat and radiation. These two problems are those in which there is the greatest discrepancy between common sense and scientific thinking and, as our other studies on thermodynamics show, they must be addressed indepth from the moment that the basic physics concepts of thermodynamics and electromagnetism are introduced. However, the type of analysis we were able to carry out did not allow us to thoroughly investigate the nature of these unresolved problems. As far as the societal dimension is concerned, the data analyses showed positive behavioural responses in all the teaching experiments. The analysis of the mutual interaction between knowledge and behavioural response (chapter 6) strengthens this result. Moreover, the evolution of a certain type of knowledge and, mainly, the introduction of the epistemological perspective of complexity appeared potentially able to provide students with the cultural tools necessary to rationally navigate through the jungle of ideological/media wars about environmental issues. The epistemological dimension constituted the particularly original feature of this research work (chapter 7). As we said above, this study originated from the conjecture that climate change represents not only a societal and disciplinary but also an epistemological challenge. Scientific debates imply sophisticated epistemological argumentations which refer, more or less implicitly, to a refined way of looking at modelling in climate science. In the light of the results of our analysis, we can assert that, under certain conditions, specific epistemological know-how can positively impact not only productive disciplinary engagement, but also a more personal and authentic involvement in climate change. The decision to keep together the societal and conceptual dimensions, thanks to the epistemological dimension, proved to be a successful choice. It offered the students the opportunity to understand the increasing importance of the role of models and modelling in coping with scientific issues that have direct impact on the social aspects of people's lives (e.g. climate change, earthquakes, nuclear physics, modern physics applied to medical studies). Besides the epistemological dimension, the other element of originality of the research work is the construction of new analytic methodologies constructed to exploit the data and correlations between the different dimensions. These new methods can make, in our opinion, a positive contribution to the current debate on methodology in science education research.

[SPA] La presente tesis doctoral tiene por objetivo identificar y caracterizar las Spin-off surgidas del quehacer académico e investigativo en las universidades públicas de Costa Rica. Así, se identifican y caracterizan las Spin-off académicas, se profundiza en los factores determinantes de su creación bajo la metodología de O`Shea, Chugh, y Allen (2008), se destaca el factor del emprendedor académico, al determinar sus características y motivaciones para emprender; se analiza la cultura intraemprendedora y su relación con la innovación y rendimiento en las Spin-off académicas y se profundiza en el estudio de las prácticas de éxito que promueven las Spin-off para competir en los mercados. La metodología utilizada implicó una amplia revisión bibliográfica con la cual se sustentaron las variables investigadas, para ello se construyó un cuestionario que se aplicó a los emprendedores académicos identificados. El proceso de selección de los emprendedores se realizó a través de entrevistas al personal de las Vicerrectorías de Investigación de cada universidad, entrevistas personales a ex–Rectores universitarios, y consultas formales a entes gubernamentales del ámbito de la Ciencia y la Tecnología de Costa Rica. En total se identificaron a 52 empresas y se logró entrevistar a 44 emprendedores que constituyeron Spin-off académicas. El análisis de los resultados se realizó de forma univariante y multivariante, a través de regresiones lineales. Las conclusiones obtenidas del estudio empírico realizado a profesores universitarios, que han trabajado o trabajan, en las universidades públicas de Costa Rica: Universidad de Costa Rica, Universidad Nacional e Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, son relevantes y tienen importantes implicaciones para el desarrollo de las Spin-off. Entre los principales hallazgos tenemos que las spin-off académicas son un fenómeno creciente en las universidades costarricenses, son derivadas del quehacer académico-investigativo, existen spin-off híbridas y ortodoxas, han surgido sin apoyo universitario, ni planificación y son principalmente pequeñas y medianas empresas que han contribuido a la creación de nuevos puestos de trabajo. El principal determinante que ha impulsado la creación de las Spin-off académicas, es el emprendedor académico, quien por formación y vinculación con el sector productivo identificó una oportunidad de negocio y la puso en práctica. El determinante externo legal es el principal obstáculo, que inhibe la creación de empresas. Sin embargo, dentro de este factor determinante se cuenta con un ambiente empresarial propicio en Costa Rica, para promover la creación de Spin-off académicas. Aunque es necesario por parte de las universidades públicas promover un mayor acercamiento con el sector productivo, a fin de que esta invierta cada vez más en investigación. Por último, se encontró evidencia que las Spin-off académicas hacen uso de la cultura intraemprendedora y que esta tiene un impacto positivo sobre el rendimiento y la innovación. Finalmente, destacar que los principales factores de éxito competitivo de las Spin-off académicas son: la visión comercial, la actualización, la capacidad de los trabajadores y la buena coordinación entre las distintas áreas de la empresa, realización de acuerdos y alianzas estratégicas y las prácticas de recursos humanos. Con esta investigación, se busca explicar el comportamiento de las variables que promueven o frenan la creación de las Spin-off en el contexto de las universidades públicas de Costa Rica, para contar con información que apoye en la toma de decisiones que las desarrolle. ; [ENG] This doctoral thesis pretends to identify y characterize the spin-offs that come up from academic and research tasks in the public universities of Costa Rica. Moreover, by identifying and characterizing the academic spin-offs, this research plans to delve in the most important factors of their creation based in the methodology of O'shea, Chugh and Allen (2008). This method highlights the academic entrepreneur; by determine which are the characteristics and motivations to start a project. Also, it analyses the entrepreneurial culture and its relation with the innovation and performance of the academic spin-offs; hence, it deeply studies the practices that help to promote their success in a competitive market. The methodology used implies a wide bibliographic review in order to sustain the different variables of this research; in addition, a questionnaire was made and applied to a group of identified academic entrepreneurs. The selection process for the entrepreneurs was carried through some interviews to the personnel of the research vice-rectorates, interviews to former university rectors and some formal enquiries to governmental entities from the sector of science and technology of Costa Rica. In total, the academic spin-offs are constituted by 52 businesses and 44 entrepreneurs. The results were analyzed by means of univariate and multivariate methods, and through linear regressions. The conclusions obtained from the empiric study applied to university professors that currently work or had worked at the public universities of Costa Rica (i.e. University of Costa Rica, National University of Costa Rica and Costa Rica Institute of Technology) have proved to be relevant, and they reveal important implications to the development of the spin-offs. Among the most important findings, we found out that the academic spin-offs are a rising phenomenon in Costa Rican universities. They are a result of academic and research tasks. Moreover, there are hybrid and orthodox spin-offs (Nicolau and Birley, 2008) that have merge with neither university support (Pirnay, 2003), nor planning (Steffensen et al, 1999), and they are essentially small and medium businesses that have contributed to the creation of new jobs. The main factor that helps to create the academic spin-offs is the academic entrepreneur who, because of his formation and his link with the productive sector, has identified and carried out a business opportunity. On the other hand, the legal factor is the main obstacle since it inhibits the creation of businesses; however, inside this determinant factor, Costa Rica has a business environment that helps to promote the creation of academic spin-offs. Nonetheless, public universities need to promote a closer approach with the productive sector, in order to increase the investments on the research field. Lastly, some evidence has been found about the good impact that the intra-entrepreneurial culture has on the academic spin-offs since it benefits performance and innovation. Finally, the most important factors for the competitive success of the spin-offs are their commercial vision, their ability to remain updated, their workforce, and their accurate coordination among the different business departments, their ability to pact agreements and strategic alliances, and human resource practices. This research plans to explain the behavior of the different variables that either promote or halt the creation of the spin-offs in the context of the public universities of Costa Rica in order to gather some information that supports the decisions taking processes of their development. ; Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena ; Programa de doctorado en Administración y Dirección de Empresas

Article in U.S. News and World Report based on excerpts from Hays' book A Southern Moderate Speaks ; Inside Story of Little Rock . "I was tormented by the fact that my home city was drifting toward a crisis. A head-on clash between State and federal authority seemed imminent. Nothing was being done to avert it" of a disturbance at the school would not of itself provide any basis for action by federal authorities. He made a distinction between this case and the one in Clinton, Tenn., in which a federal-court order enjoining certain people from interfering with the plan being carried out there was violated and the judge called on the assistance of the Justice Department to make the order effective. It was in this context that a suit was filed in the Arkansas Chancery Court by the newly formed Mothers of Central High League to stop the implementation of the school-board plan. On Thursday, August 29, Governor Faubus appeared before Chancellor Murray O. Reed as a witness in support of the prayer for an injunction. He testified that "violence, bloodshed and riots" would result if the integration began as scheduled, and cited the increased sales of knives and revolvers to Negro and white students. While he failed to give any specific information, the chancery judge nonetheless granted the petition for an injunction. The school board immediately appealed to the federal district court for an order prohibiting the State court from interfering with the efforts of the board to go forward with the plan. Federal Judge Ronald N. Davies, who had been sent from North Dakota to Little Rock to deal with the backlog of cases which had accumulated since Judge [Thomas C] Trimble's retirement, heard the appeal on Friday, August 30, and issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the use of the chancery court's order. All obstacles were now thought cleared for the beginning of Little Rock's voluntary integration program on the day after Labor Day, September 2. Decision to Call State Troops Meanwhile, members of the school board heard that Governor Faubus was considering calling out the National Guard to defy the federal court's integration order. Winthrop Rockefeller, appointed by the Governor to head the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission and anxious to entice industry to the State, pleaded with Governor Faubus on Sunday not to take any action that would set back industrial progress for years. Governor Faubus indicated that he had not yet made up his mind but that he greatly feared violence. He apparently made his decision to call out the National Guard on Monday morning, and the proclamation was issued that afternoon. When Roy Harris heard this news that evening in Georgia, he later commented, "I sat there . . . just scratching my head and wondering if he called 'em out for us or agin' us." Governor Faubus was said to have complained to his friends that afternoon: "I can't win. . If there's trouble or violence out there tomorrow, the integration crowd will say I provoked it by bringing in troops. But if I don't call the Guard and some children are killed, the other side will say the blood is on my hands. I've got to act on the side of safety. When I testified in chancery court last week, I said there might be violence. Now, I'm convinced of it." Thus it was that National Guardsmen and State troopers turned back nine Negro students who tried to enter Central High School on September 4, after Judge Davies had directed the school board to disregard the troops and to permit Negroes to attend classes at a special hearing on September 3, the first day of school. Governor Faubus called out the Guard just a few days after the first session of the 85th Congress had ended, and I was still in Washington preparing to return home to spend the fall with my people. While there had been indications that the integration program approved by the courts would run into some difficulty, it did not seem likely that such drastic action would be taken to prevent violence. I arrived in Little Rock on Thursday, September 5, and made my first public comment that evening. Being relatively uninformed on details of the crisis, I had only this to say: "The whole situation is so new to me it's hard to say anything at all. I grant he, Faubus, has the duty to maintain law and order. The first thing we now must do is to try to re-establish a spirit of calmness so the orderly processes of law can prevail." That day the school board asked Judge Davies to suspend temporarily the plan for integrating. A hearing was set for Saturday morning. In the meantime, I began to think of ways I could be of assistance. On Friday, I received a call from Bob Estabrook of the Washington "Post" suggesting that I call former President Truman, who was known to be a friend of Governor Faubus, to ask him to appeal to the Governor to withdraw the troops. I was reluctant to make such a request to Mr. Truman and also was not sure of the timing, since the federal court would meet the next morning. Any suspension of the school-board plan would change the situation somewhat, and it seemed best for me to wait for further judicial action. A temporary postponement of integration by court order might be deemed a satisfactory solution to the Governor, who could then disband the National Guard and leave to the federal courts the final decision as to the date for peaceful integration to begin. With the city tense and expectant, the federal district court convened that Saturday. After a brief hearing, Judge Davies ruled that "this court is not persuaded that upon the tenuous showing made by the petitions this morning that it should suspend enforcement of the petitioners' plan of integration." The school board then announced that it considered its plan still in effect and that Central High School would "be open Monday for all students." That Sunday morning, I addressed the congregation of the Second Baptist Church, my home church; reporting to them on my work as head of the Southern Baptist Convention. Then I went back to the Sam Peck Hotel, where I spent the afternoon contemplating this grave challenge to the spiritual strength and social consciousness of Little Rock. I was tormented by the fact that my home city was drifting toward a crisis. A head-on clash between State and federal authority seemed imminent. The lawyers called it a constitutional crisis. Nothing was being done to avert it. What is a Congressman's responsibility in such a situation? If it were a flood or tornado, and federal emergency help were required, the Congressman would certainly act. Then should he not also act in a situation in which the misfortune centered around human relations rather than physical forces? Truman's Promise to Help I decided to act. I called President Truman, as I had been requested to do, and he assured me he would do all he could to help. Governor Faubus was interviewed that evening on a special television program by a panel of correspondents, and his moderate presentation of the need to preserve order, 120 U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, March 23, 1959

Issue 40.2 of the Review for Religious, March 1981. ; treat Director and the Contemplative. The Problem Member in COmmunity Trends of 1980 Volume 40 Number 2 March 1981 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS (ISSN 0034-639X), published every two months, is edited in collaboration with the faculty members of the Departmeqt of Theological Studies of St. Louis University. The editorial offices are located at Room 428; 3601 Lindell Blvd.; St. Louis, MO 63108. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS is owned by the Missouri Province Educational Institute of the Society of Jesus, St. Louis, MO. © 1981 by REVIEW FOa RELIGIOUS. Composed, printed and manufactured in U.S.A. Second class postage paid at St. Louis, MO. Single copies: $2.50, Subscription U.S.A.: $9.00 a year; $17.00 for two years. Other countries: $10.00 a year; $19.00 for two years. For subscription orders or change of address, write: REVIEW ~'Oa RE'tJ(;tOUS; P.O. Box 6070; Duluth, MN 55802. Daniel F. X. Meenan, S.J. Dolores Greeley, R.S.M. Jeremiah L. Alberg, S.J. Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. Jean Read Editor Associate Editor Book Editor Questions and Answers Editor Assistant Editor March, 1981 Volume 40 Number 2 Manuscripts, books for review and correspondence with the editor should be sent to REVIEW FOR RELtG~OUS; Room 428; 3601 Lindell Blvd.; St. Louis, MO 63108. Questions for answering should be sent to Joseph F. Gallen, S.J.; Jesuit Community; St. Joseph's University; City Aven~e at 54th St.; Philadelphia, PA 19131. Back issues and reprints should be ordered from R~:vtE'W roa REtJGIOt~S; Room 428; 3601 Lindell Blvd.; St. Louis, MO 63108. "Out of print" issues and articles not published as reprints are available from University Microfilms International; 300 N. Zeeb Rd.; Ann Arbor, MI 48106. To Experience God Donald Macdonald, S.M.M. Father Macdonald's last article, "When Did We See You?" appeared in the issue if May, 1980. He is master of novices for his community, residing at Baria Bhavan; D.R. College P.O.; Bangalore 560029; India. T ~ . oday, many people are looking for an experience of G~d. Whether they are young people at charismatic prayer meetings, or their bored brothers and sisters, so many; searching for life, have given up on Christianity asking,. "Where can I find Jesus now?" Many an adult Christian knows what it is to have labored long and have gained nothing: "Why has baptism not taken root in any recognizable way? Why is good will seemingly not enough to experience God? Saint Anselm put this experience of so many in a nutshell: Everywhere You are entirely present, and I cannot see You. In You I have my being and l cannot come to You. You are within me and around me, and I have no experience of You.' How can I experience God? I would not presume to map out anything so particular as the contact between God and the individual. Who can know the mind of God or man? I suggest in these pages just one pattern that may en-courage the reader seeking an experience of God. There are many, many more. A key to the problem of experiencing God is to know something of what happe.ns between God and ourselves. Here, personal experience is essential, along with integrity,~ or we can find ourselves in the bogus world of what is to-day called "Karma Cola." One guide of outstanding integrity and proven record is St. Paul.2 With ' Anselm. Proslogion Chapter 16, in the Prayers and Meditations of St. Anselm (Penguin 1973). 161 162 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 deceptively calm matter-of-factness, he suggests a beginning: "The depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man" (l Co 2:1 l). We live in private, self-contained worlds. God, too, is very much apart. "In the same way the depths of God can only be known by the spirit of God" (l Co 2:11). So we have two poles, God and man. How can they meet? What happens if they do? Paul offers to help: "we have received the Spirit that comes from God to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us" (l Co 2:12). His experience of the Spirit is such that he believes that he is now able to see into the very depths of God, "for the Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God" (l Co 2:10). Here, as so often, Paul uses words so simply to contain concepts which almost defeat language. Yet the in-trinsic evidence of his letters, and his part in the history of Christianity, would support that claim: "in Christ, we speak as men of sincerity, as envoys of God and in God's presence" (2 Co 2:17). Experience has further taught Paul that he can only speak of these matters to those who have received the Spirit: "We teach., in the way that the Spirit teaches us . spiritual things spiritually" (l Co 2:13). Someone "who does not accept anything of the spirit of God . sees it all as nonsense . beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by means of the Spirit" (l Co 2:14). Chess and algebra may well fascinate a mathematician. On the other hand, the finest of classical music is lost on a deaf man. Today's pop musicians ~ay that if you think their music is too loud you're too old. Cot ad cor Ioquitur is. as valid there as in any field of human understanding. " ~ In view of this, if we wish to experience God we would do well to reflect on what it means to be baptized, because that was when we received the Spirit. However much. we may envy some of our charismatic friends or wish that we were "twice-born Christians," perhaps the practica'l first step would be to take ourselves as we are. God has-loved us enough to give himself in baptism. This is an objective, ontological fact. Here God has entered our lives. A New Creation What then happenedat baptism? It is hard to say. Paul speaks of the ex-perience of "a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up.into paradise and heard things which must not and cannot"be put into human li~nguage" (2 Co 12:2,4). But in trying to share this experience, Paul's starting point is invariably ~he same: "The love of Christ overwhelm~ us when we reflect." (2 Co 5:14). Love is its essence. Love is itsmeaning. Christ came through a ~rave to be with Paul, so real was Paul to Christ.' Thi~ glimpse.into the depths of God by this "man in Christ" has so transformed his outlook ~ "When we fix our gaze on the life of men who have followed Christ faithfully, we have a new motive., the safest route whereby we may arrive at perfec! union with Christ. which suits each man in his condition and in his own circumstances." Lumen Genlium, 50. To Experience God / 163 that he can only speak of what has happened to him in terms 0f creation, something from nothing. "For anyone who is in Christ there is a new creation; the old creation has gone and now the new is here. It is all God's work" (2 Co 5:18). It is a radical change in life--root and branch. He has now a new center of gravity, so creative is the experience. Anyone aware of what is happening in baptism knows that he can be wholly transformed, like those who now "live no longer for themselves but for him who died and was iaised to life for them" (2 Co 5:15). "What's in it for me" then becomes a "What's in it for Christ?" It is an experience of love received in a faith that is truly creative, as I allow myself to be loved by God, Father, Son ~and Spirit. I now march to a different drum. I am in Christ. My selfish, self-centered world has been opened up to admit God. Ligh! Clearly, the reality or otherwise of this experience will depend, in part, on my understanding of what it means to be loved by God. Paul, baptized as a mature man, attempts to explain what h~ppened to him. This time he writes in terms of the creation of light. The awesome Creator-God of the opening of Genesis who had said "let there be light shining out of darkness. ~ had shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God's glory, the glory on the face of Christ" (2 Co 4:6). This mystic, pl.ung.ed into the depths of God through the Spirit received at baptism, believes his mind to be illuminated to an unbelievable degree. The face of Christ coming to him in love holds :him en-thralled. He can now glimpse something of the glory of God. "Glory" generally means what God is like insbfar as we can be aware 6f it. This Paul sees in the face of Christ, and, gazing as he does, he can both receive and reflect the likeness of God: "our. faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect. This is the work of the Lord who is Spirit" (2 Co 3:18). Paul, christened, and so a man in Christ, lives in Christ. His personality and world view are illumined as he allows God to love him in Christ. He becomes like what he sees, in love, in joy, in suffering, in experience, in life, realizing this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit. Paul has no need of the Turin Shroud to see the face of Christ. He needs no reproduction. "Even if we'did once know Christ~in the flesh, that is not how we know him now" (2 Co 5:16). The dominant note in his life is the creative, illuminating presence of God in every circumstance, bar none. God is, above all, loving and present to him. And as it is almost impossible not to return the warm smile of a welcoming friend, so to see in faith Christ as present, loving, smiling, courteous, has a similar effect. A sketch of what Paul saw can be found in 1 Co 13:3-7: "Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, conceited nor rude; never selfish nor quick to take offense. Love keeps no score of wrongs; does not. gloat over other men's sins but delights in the truth. There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit tO its 164 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 faith, its. hope and its endurance." Christ sat for that portrait, as has so.often been remarked. Is this the company I keep? A lady who was gradually losing her eyesight once told me that what she missed most was being no longer able to see the smile of a friend or a wave from a neighbor. Small in themselves, but only the loss of ~ight s~hows how much these things mean in fact. Now she is closed in on herself, walks with a l~esitant step. Previously when returning the smile or acknowledgment, she saw ~that she was recognized, loved, "somebody." It was lovely to receive these gestures, and they undoubtedly helped make her lovable. When we realize what happens in baptism, we recognize that the same holds true for the Christian. Temple of God Paul knows that words and concepts cannot adequately express what he has experienced. "Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror." (1 Co 13:12). As the art critic, Bernard Berenson, used to say as he looked at the beauty of the world, "Where were my eyes yesterday?" But Paul never gave up trying to share what he was experiencing. A third helpful analogy of his, following upon creation and light, was the symbol.of the Temple. The God of Israel dwelt with his people. They were who they were precise-ly because God was among them. For a time the heart of the community was the Temple, the symbol of God present among his people. At the heart of the Temple itself was the "holy of holies" (naos). Here God was present as nowhere else on earth. So sacred was his presence there that only the high priest dared enter, and that, only once a year. "Take off your shoes for this is holy ground" was above all true there. "O God we ponder your love within your Temple" (Ps 47:10) is easily understood within that context. The Catholic devotion to God's presence in the tabernacle evokes similar prayers. But how would such a prayer sound on the waterfront at Corinth? Here was a seaport, with half a million in population, in a class of its own for depravity even by contemporary pagan standards. "O Lord I love the house where you dwell, the place where your glory abides" (Ps 2~:8). Within the community bf Israel as reflected in the Temple at Jerusalem, yes, this is real-- but Corinth? Paul, however could see its application. Once baptized into a Christian community, I both enter and become a temple where God is present, just as in the holy of holies of the Jerusalem Temple. The parallel is extraor-dinarily vivid. Pa~l, who could say "Hebrews are they? So am 1. Israelites? So am I. Descendants of Abraham? So am I" (2 Co 6:16), is most emphatic: "We are the temple. And to underline it still further the word "temple" (naos) could be correctly translated by the more reverent terms "holy of holies" or tabernacle. That statement from someone of Paul's background is almost in-credible in its realism. The same immensely powerful image is applied to the individual: "Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since, you received him from God" (1 Co 6:19-20). The creative, il- To Experience God / 165 luminating presence of the Trinity at the center of myself offers a dynamic of love, which, glimpsed, can leave me speechless in adoration, wonder and .humility. Such love from the Trinity present to him will bring from Paul reserves and qualities he scarcely knew he had, especially in view of the heartbreak in his life. He will be stretched to the limit and beyond. He is challenged by the creative, loving presence of God, in an ever-deepening personal relationship that death itself will only intensify not break. The prospect of total fulfillment in the continuing gift of himself to God, Absolute Truth, is held out to Paul; "then we shall be seeing face to face . Then I shall know as fully as I am known" (l Co 13:12). All that he has experienced must be in terms of knowledge and love or it would never reach the heart of Paul the man. It is knowledge, and love intensified, given another dimension by God, which makes it possible for the baptized to enjoy this personal relationship with God. God could do this. God has done this. God loves us. It is literally wonderful that reality includes for me such a.perspective. My personality is respected by God. Yet at the same time he invites me to deepen all that is truest in myself to the limit of my being. An enriched personality is given a taste for knowledge and love as seen in Christ, and a lifetime and an eternity to savor and enjoy it. Personal [niegrity Once baptized, therefore, and aware of what is happening, life for me can never be the same. The heart of the mystery, not to be explained, is to wonder how I can be so loved by God and not lose my identity. Perhaps respect and reverence lies at the heart Of love. Certainly Paul is ecstatic at times. Words cannot express what he feels. Yet he is always his very individual s~lf. It is not necessarily the self he would want to be (see 2 Co 12:10), but it is Paul as he is today to whom God is present, not Paul as he might wish to be tomorrow. This is equally true of his Corinthian community. "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Co 3:16). This is the magnificent compliment he pays them, yet he writes to people to whom he "was unable to speak., as people of the Spirit. I treated you as. infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it; and indeed you are still not ready for it." (l Co 3:1-2). Paul has no illusions about human nature.But with realism like that, there are many "infants in Christ" who would be grateful for any milk that Paul could offer. For, as must be i'ecognized, there is solid food there. After all, no child ever takes his father's every word literally, especially when he is anxious and upset: "You might have thousands of guardians in Christ, but., one father and it was I who begot you in Christ'Jesus." (1 Co 5:15). Paul therefore tries to show that the baptized Christian can experience the creative, illuminating presence of God: "This is the work of the Lord who is Spirit" (2 Co 3:18). Three reasons suggest that his experience can be mine. 166 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 Simple, Practical, Emotional First of all Paul's approach is simple. The new creation, with a new central reference point in Christ not myself, is easy to see as it dawns on me that I am so approached and loved by the Trinity. Reflect, assimilate, adore and wonder is a first step, and in God's own time, the experience may be mine at a level beyond woi'ds and ideas. Repent, and believe the good news. ~ Looking in faith at the face of Christ attending to me in love is bound to il-lumine existence for me as I meet him all the time everywhere, and not by chance. "Indeed as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ, does our,. consolation overflow" (2 Co 1:5). Even suffering, so much a part of life, is seen in Christ: ','That is why I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions and the agonies I .go through for Christ's sake" (2 Co 12:10). The man who can cope with suffering can cope with life. For Paul it was no magic wand nor temperamental strength, but being with Christ that enabled him to take so much that was so often beyond his control. He becamelike what he saw. I, too, can live in that world. Belief in the Trinity's presence to my inmost self can evoke much in me by way of response, from adoration to sorrow, as I allow ttie nearness of God to possess me. God, dare I say it, focuses on me. 1 can, wherever I am in my or-dinary day-to-day life, develop a cast of mind centering on the Trinity, whenever not immediately held by work demanding concentration. None will know, it will disturb nobody. It provokes no strain at all, simply receiving God's constant presence with open arms. "We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure" (2 Co 4:7), but undeniably it is a treasure. Secondly, Paul's approach is practical. In this article I have deliberately limited myself to Paul~s Corinthian corresponde'nce. Every New Testament reference 1 used, e~plicit or implicit, is from there. I did this because if anything is true of Paul and Corinth it is that circumstances were truly lifelike and far from ideal. His association with the Corinthians may have done much for their faith but little for his nervous system. What we call 2 Corinthians was written because he could not go to them personally. They had made it very clear that he was not wanted. He had to write a letter therefore or forget them. Yet Paul never suggests that his understanding of Christ will never work in Corinth. The dockworkers (longshoremen?) of Corinth may be a challenge, but much of the attraction of St. Paul is to watch him use every resource to ap-ply what.he knows of Christ to the here and now. And underlying everything he says is the assumption that what is true of him in his experience of God can be true for them. With Paul it is invariably us, scarcely ever me and you. Paul makes no mention of the need for seminars or retreats or courses. ¯ Nothing will be said of the need to learn how to sit, to breathe, to concentrate. Biofeedback will not be suggested. Houses of prayer, hermitages, or prayer communities have no place in his counsel. This. is important because, in-valuable as all of these are and to be encouraged, they can be overdone. Too many today can be discouraged. We may spend our time reading the critics, To Experience God / 167 never the classics. The marvelously open, welcoming, rough and tumble world of the New Testament may today in the Church be reduced to little more than eclectic, gnostic groups, where the elite may go to their" ashrams to experience God. Groucho Marx once said that he would never join a~ club which would have him as a member. That is almost a prescription for membership of the Corinthian (and traditionally our Catholic) Church. Look at yourselves, says St. Paul, "how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No. God chose what is foolish.weak., by human reckoning., those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones God has chosen" (1 Co 1:26-28). There is no understatement there, but many of us will recognize our unbelievable luck that Paul is on the side of the majority. Finally, Paul's approach can engage our emotions. This is important because unless our feelings or emotions are committed we are not involved. Far from being the refuge of the intellectually weak, emotions are invariably active in everyone though not always recognized. Reason and logic are sometimes disguised emotion. A gut.reaction may be inarticulate but a real ex-perience. Reason will not often carry the day against feelings. So in baptism we can move out of our possibly subjective, ill-ordered world into the creative enlightening World of God's loving presence. The Gospel offered by the Church:can be an objective reference point and keep us from making religion ¯ in our own image and likeness. So our feelings and.emotions can be purified, educated and deepened as we respond to the demands of the loving presence of God. The actress, it was said, ran through the whole range of emotion from A to B. Paul is not so crippled. No human feeling is excluded as he honestly admits that once "we were so utterly and unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself . " which is rock bottom in any language, yet "~God who raises the dead., delivered us., and he will deliver us . On him we have set our hope" (2 Co 1:8.10). The Retreat Director and the Contemplative Robert O. Brennan, S.J. Father Brennan resides in the Jesuit formation community at Murray-Weigel Hall; Fordham University; Bronx, NY 10458. Prayer is a very personal thing. General statements about prayer can border on the dangerous. What may be helpful to one person may be counterproduc-tive, or downright dangerous, for another. The great advantage of the directed retreat should be that the dialogue about prayer can be tailored to fit the retreatant's actual situation in prayer. And to make this advantage real, the retreatant must make clear to the director just how he or she prays, at least as well as this can be done. It may be that it is the contemplative who can be most helped or most badly hurt in the course of a directed retreat. And by a contemplative here, I do not mean necessarily a member of a contemplative order. Such a one is likely to be safe, either because of lack of motivation to make a directed retreat or because he is are solidly grounded in the tradition of contemplative prayer. But our area of concern here is any retreatant whose prayer has grown to, or at least grown toward, contemplative prayer. I would .suggest that such retreatants fall into three classes: a) those whose prayer is definitely contemplative, whether they know it or not; b) those on the edge of the transition to con-templative prayer; c) those who have ceased, or nearly ceased, to pray because discursive prayer has failed them and they do not know where to turn. In the following pages, I hope to be able to give some guidelines for a director who meets a retrea(ant in any of these classes. Contemplation First of all, what do we mean by contemplation here? In the history of 168 The Retreat Director and the Contemplative / 169 writing on prayer, there have been a number of definitions, classifications, subdivisions, along with a whole body of speculation as to its precise nature. To keep things under reasonable control, let us attempt some sort ofa descrip-tion rather than a definition. Let us say "Contemplation is prayer that has become exceedingly quiet so that one might call it an intuition--a loving intui-tion- without clarity but with darkness and obscurity." Perhaps .this might be best understood in its genesis in the person who prays. Let us suppose a person who has been praying in the way many have been taught today. It is very likely a case of praying over a passage from Scrip-ture-- a slow reading, reflection on the persons, words, actions, long delay if a word, a phrase, an event appears particularly striking, an attempt to place oneself in the scene, if it is a mystery of the Lord's life, applications to one's own life and circumstances, words of prayer to the Lord or others in the mystery, or to the Father. Prayer in this manner could for some persons con-tinue for a long time--perhaps a lifetime--and be of great profit. But for many persons after some time, the whole process may begin to fail, not because of tepidity or sloth; if it were tepidity, the person would not sense ¯ there was a problem. Rather, as much as one may try to continue, there is no perception that one is praying. God is simply not to be found. Such an ex-perience can be agonizing. Often this indicates a time for a change, and, usually, there is need for a guide. The model of discursive prayer has been so prevalent--in early educa-tion, in so many preached retreats, in the books on prayer that one turns to for help--one could be convinced there is no other. Without special help, grace and graced guidance, prayer could just cease. Part of this syndrome we can understand rather easily: the mind has had its day. Not only has it had all the insights it needs, but it is unable to cope: the God it is beginning to know cannot be comprehended. Part of the story is less clear. It is the work of faith, grace and love. Though the mind is inadequate to encompass God, faith and a loving will can reach out. But here there is mystery and much depends on individual history and cooperation with grace. And, as the mind, so the imagination can no longer be of help, nor the emotions and feelings which find no adequate object to attract them since the mind itself seems empty. There may be times when one has a strong sense of being in God's presence, but the preponderant feeling is that of being empty, unable to do anything. The only positive advice John of the Cross gives is "a loving and peaceful attentiveness to God. without the concern, without the desire to taste or feel him."' In another place he advises: ' St. John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. 1, ch'. 10, no.4. See The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, trans, by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D., In-stitute of Carmelite Studies, Washington, 1979. All quotations from John of the Cross will be 170 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 When the spiritual person cannot meditate, he should learn to remain in God's presence with a loving attention and a tranquil intellect, even though he seems to himself to be idle . And if, as we have said, scruples about his inactivity arise, he should remember that the pacification of soul (making it calm and peaceful, inactive and desireless) is tip small accomplishment. This, indeed, is what our Lord asks of us through David: Vacate et videte quoniam ego sum Deus. 2 The Director This sketch of contemplative prayer hardly does it justice. The important thing for the director to take from it is the fact that such states of prayer do in fact exist and are good. All prayer is the work of God's grace and love. In our own minds we should not be too ready to set limits on what God may do, or to see contemplation as such a rare and extraordinary thing that it scarcely ever happens, or only to great saints, and certainly not to our retreatants. But when the appetite.has been fed somewhat, and has become in a certain fashion ac-customed to spiritual things. God begins to wean the soul, as they say, and place it in the state of contemplation. This occurs in some persons after a very short time; especially with religious, for in denying the things of the world more quickly, they accommodate their senses and appetites to God and, in their activity, pass on to the the spirit which God works in them. This happens when the soul's discursive acts and meditations cease, as well as its initial sensible satisfaction and fervor, and it is unable to practice discursive meditation as before . ~ Or, to cite a contemporary author: It could be said in a very general way that affective prayer will last as long as such shelter-ing is needed. So too with meditation: how long an individual will go on praying in that way will depend very much on mental ability, and on previous education in Christian doctrine. Someone who has had a long and thorough education in the Faith may find quite soon after taking up systematic meditation that it seems not only unattractive but impossible. A saturation point has been reached: the mind has absorbed as much as need-ed of this nourishment. As much, that is to say, as the person needed, to pray as the Spirit of God wishes.' Of course, it is possible to go overboard and expect to find contemplation everywhere. But this certainly has not been our failing in the recent past. What we need most is to try to be alert, sensitive, and open, to accept that God leads along many different paths. Although the present article is an attempt to give the director some essen-tial helps and caveats, it is fairly clear that some reading of competent authors on contemplation is to be recommended. To assist in this, I will give a short annotated bibliography at the end of the article. taken from this translation. Besides chapter and verse of St. John's particular work, we will give page references to the edition, as, for instance, here: Works, p.317. 2 St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel, Bk.2, ch. 15, no.5, Works, p. 149. ~ St. John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love, Stanza 3, no. 32, Works, p. 621 f. 4 Leonard Boase, S.J., The Prayer of Faith, Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, IN, 1975, p. 70. The Retreat Director and the Contemplative / 171 Developed Contemplatives Let us discuss those whose prayer is already contemplative as the first case. Some of these may have made the trafisition from meditation to contempla-tion with the help of a skilled director or by fortunate reading. Some may have--not without much grace--sort of muddled through. They pray but they don't understand what is happening. There are probably doubts and some lack of peace. Broadly speaking, this prayer strikes those who come to it as something rather unim-pressive. A frequent reaction is given in the phrase, "I am doing nothing." There is a general sense of untidiness. Nothing seems to be happening. There are moments of more intense consolation, but they'are few. In good times there is a sense of peace and content-ment, a satisfaction in prayer which appears difficult to explain, since there is seemingly nothing to account for the satisfaction. In the lean years prayer is distressing because it appears such a waste of time--nothing but an unavailing effort to chase a clutter of hens out of the flower-garden, thro~'ing stones with one hand, as it were, at pertinacious distractions, and with the other hand groping in the dark for something or someone.5 Inthe contemporary climate of spirituality, some also may have arrived at contemplative prayer through reading about or participating in workshops in "centering prayer.''~ They may not yet know if this is their way of prayer. Or some may have tried Eastern ways of meditation and be looking for roots in Christ. The director will want some criterion to judge whether those who are using contemplation are doing so authentically or have fallen into some illusion. The test is ancient: What matters is the result. The after effects of good prayer are more definite than the prayer itself." I mean a determination to follow God's will, and to care for nothing else, without any reason to be given for the determination.' The one real proof that you have the right kind of prayer for you, is not that it always goes easily and always succeeds, but that it really does you good and changes your life.8 If the test is passed, and the director is convinced it is a case of genuine contemplation, the whole question of how to direct this one in a retreat arises. But prior to this, I believe it would be good to discuss some norms for direc-tion that apply equally intime of retreat and outside retreat, and leave the par-ticulars of the retreat itself until later. The first duty of the director will be that of affirming the retreatant's (directee's) prayer, and this by way of instruction and encouragement. First, instruction: make sure the retreatant knows that the simplicity of his or her pra~'er is correct; that it is not now a question of using the mind, imo ~ Leonard Boase, S.J., op. cit., p. 92. 6 Centering prayer = prayer of faith = contemplation. See Pennington in the bibliography at the end of the article. 7 Dom John Chhpman, O.S.B., Spiritual Letters, Sheed ahd Ward, London, 1935, p. 62. ~ Ibid., p. 135. 172 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 agination, and so forth; to seem to be doing nothing but waiting is not only not bad, but the very best. The following passage from St. John of the Cross has always sounded to me as being very modern, with its reflection about wasted time and bad self-image: The attitude necessary., is to pay no attention to discursive meditation, since this is not the time for it. They should allow the soul to remain in rest and quietude, e.ven though it may seem very obvious to them that they are doing nothing and wasting time, and even though they think this disinclination to think about anything is due to their laxity.9 The director might suggest the possibility of the use of a mantra to fix at-tention: If you want to gather all your desires into one simple word that the mind can easily retain, choose a short word that the mind can easily retain, choose a short word rather that a long one. A one-syllable word such as "God" or "love" is best. But choose one that is meaningful to you. Then fix it in your mind so that it will remain there come what may. This word will be your defense in conflict and in peace. Use it to beat upon the cloud of darkness above you and to subdue all distractions, consigning them to the cloud of forgetting beneath you. Should some thought go on annoying you demanding to know what you are doing, answer with this one word alone. II~ your mind begins to intellec-tualize over the meaning and connotations of this little word, remind yourself that its value lies in its simplicity.'° Play down the role of, and the frequent worry about, distractions: o Distractions are of two kinds: (a) the ordinary distractions, such as one has in medita-tion, which take one right away: and (b) the harmless wanderings of the imagination alone, while the intellect is fixed on God. These are quite harmless.'~ Sometimes we are, so to speak, in touch with God, but are beset with distractions, and every effort to get rid of these distractions only serves to break our contact with God. This is a state, referred to by St. Teresa, in which no attempt should be made to banish distractions. It is somewhat analogous to the case of a hostes~ entertaining a visitor on the ground floor while her children are making noise upstairs. If she goes up to keep them quiet, she has to leave her visitor.'z Above I said the director should affirm the retreatant's prayer by instruc-tion and encouragement. Of course, in this material, instruction can equal en-couragement. But let us turn to matters that are more explicitly encouraging. Dom Chapman's letters are filled with passages where he brings our accep-tance of God's will to the acceptance of the state of prayer we may have: But prayer, in the sense of union with God, is the most crucifying thing there is. One must do it for God's sake; but one will not get any satisfaction out of it, in the sense of * St. John of the Cross, DarkNight, Bk. 1, ch. 10, no.4, Works, p. 317. ,o The Cloud of Unknowing, ed. William Johnston, S.J., Doubleday Image, Garden City, 1973, p. 56. ~' Chapman, op. cit., p. 290. ~2 M. Eugene Boylan, O.C.S.O., Difficulties in Mental Prayer, 2nd. ed., M. H. Gill and Son, Dublin, 1944, p. 102. The Retreat Director and the Contemplative / 173 feeling "I am good at prayer," "! have an infallible method." That would be disastrous, since what we want to learn is precisely our own weakness, powerlessness, unworthiness. Nor ought one to expect "a sense of the reality of the supernatural" of which you speak. And one should wish for no prayer, except precisely the prayer that God gives us--prob-ably very distracted and unsatisfactory in every way! '~ But if we only pray in order to give ourselves to God, then the prayer we can do, whatever it is (doubtless it is not the very best we can do, but in general it is the only kind we can do), is what God wants, though it is far from being what we want. Only we must try to want what God wants, and only that. Don't worry." A favorite maxim of Chapman's was "Pray as you can and don't try to pray as you can't." He puts this doctrine to one correspondent in the form of a question: Can you do anything else? Can you choose your path, your prayer, your method or want of method?" At least ten times in the collection of his letters, Chapman insists on the point: want only the prayer the Lord is giving you. These passages suggest the purifying effect of contemplation. It becomes so arid at times that we must be praying not for our own sake but for God's sake. The reflection on our prayer after the prayer is finished, recommended by St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises~6 could also be of help to a con-templative who seems just to be stumbling along. Reflection may reveal an obscure sense of Presence that was missed during the prayer itself: ¯ . ihe experience of void, of emptiness, of no-thing and non-being; it is the condition of kenosis and poverty of spirit. The sense of absence and negation is painfully real. Yet the experience seizes the reality of God more truly, because it touches him as he is, beyond feelings, images, concepts. Living faith alone can achieve this, and the purer and less en-cumbered the faith, the more real the possession of God. By the same token, however, God, the object of faith, becomes less "visible" or empirically experienced in any human terms. ,7 The fact that writers on prayer are concerned with the states we find in ourselves is itself an encouragement: To add to our distress, the failure to enjoy the sense of God's presence, often coupled with failure to fix the mind even for two moments on any thought that might provide a contact, makes us feel that we are doing nothing, and that bur so-called prayer is nothing but a waste of time and an insult to Almighty God. It is very necessary not to be stampeded or panicked by the cry that rises in our hearts, "I am doing nothing." One simple way of proving that we are not doing nothing is to Chapman, op. cit., p. 52. Ibid., p. 54. Ibid., p. 56. Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, no. 77. Ernest E. Larkin, O. Carm., "The Dark Night of John of the Cross," The Way, vo. 1,4, no.l (1974), p. 15. 174 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 stop doing it. Provided that in spite of appearances we have been endeavoring to reach awareness of God, then the cessation of the endeavor will be observed.'8 Now let us turn to specifics for the time of retreat. What we have said so far is not to be forgotten. The most difficult thing for the director is to lay aside the expectations that the retreatant will: 1) have thoughts, insights, feel-ings in time of prayer;'2) report to the director said thoughts, insights, feelings of prayer time. To have these thoughts and feelings, insights, belongs to a kind of prayer that makes use of the mind and imagination. For the con-templative, these have been set aside. John of the Cross is adamant on this: Once a person has begun to enter this simple and idle state of contemplation, which comes about when he can no longer meditate, he should not at any time or season engage in meditations or look for support in spiritual savor or satisfaction, but stand upright on his own feet, with his spirit completely detached from everything . ~9 Chapman concurs: All those who find it impossible to meditate, not from la~:iness or lukewarmness, and find they cannot fix their thought on a subject, or understand the meaning Of the words unless they cease to feel that they are praying, are meant to cease all thinking, and only make acts of the will.2° Some directors may feel that they have had experiences with contemplative ret~'eatants contrary to this prescription. I think we must be careful in making this judgment. The retreatant may have felt constrained to follow carefully the given directions and somehow come through with something to report on. It may be that he or she is actually reporting on events that occurred outside of prayer. Or it is possible that it has come from a prayer time not without ex-treme violence to the prayer: Though, at first, a// meditation seems impossible, still, as one is practiced in contempla-tion, it becomes possible to meditate feebly and contemplate feebly at one and the same time. I mean that we can retain a filmy idea of some great truth--but then the tap is only half turned on of attention to God--unless the thoughts are merely in the imagination. This is good in hearing Mass, for instance, but not in time of mental prayer?' But if this has happened, we have failed in an important way. The annual retreat may be most fruitful for many if, through it, they find how they should pray best. And this praying "with the tap half off" is not the affirmation they need. So what is left for the director to do? Two things, I believe. The first is to do what I have just indicated: what is necessary inside and outside of retreat time: affirm the retreatant's prayer. Use all the helps given above, and any others available--some readings, perhaps--to assure the retreatant that he or L. Boase, pp. cir., p. 81. John of the Cross, Living Flame, Stanza 3, no. 36, Works, p.624. Chapman, pp. cit., p. 289. Ibid., p. 122. The Retreat Director and the Contemplative / 175 she is praying as the Lord would have them pray; suggest they accept his will; let them see they really don't have much choice if they are going to pray at all. Some may have experienced the "tap half open" that Chapman speaks of: a thinking while they pray, but with the realization that their thoughts really are not their prayer. Encourage them to open the tap wide. In addition to this, the second thing: the director can still use Scripture, and the retreatant can actually move through a program--even the thirty-day Exercises. Only in this instance the Scripture is not to be the object of formal prayer. We have been constantly pointing out that for the contemplative, meditation is not prayer. But in the many periods outside of formal prayer during a retreat day, tho~ughts may come. The Scripture passages may bear their fruit. Let us refer to Chapman again: Outside the time of prayer:--(a) Meditation must never be dropped. It need not be elaborate consideration, but a mere glance at the mysteries of our Lord, especially of the Passion. Most people will find it very easy and helpful to make the Stations of the Cross in private?~ Again, the reflection on the prayer period can frequently be a source of special grace. Though there may have been no th6ught in the prayer, especial-ly helpful insights may come at this time. Chapman points out an effect of prayer that may have important meaning here: .and this act,of wish to love must go on increasing, or I should say at once the prayer is bad. But whether there is any emotional feeling outside prayer depends on the character of the person in question. But l am sure good prayer must increase tenderness (so to speak) and appreciation in a momentary look, without long consideration. And I am sure there is an "irradiation" from prayer on ordinary knowledge, making it broader and more compreh~nsive.Z~ If the retreatant's prayer is very quiet and if the circumstances of retreat reduce distractions so th~it the sense of Presence of the Lord is strong, even that Presence can be Colored by the phase of the retreat. How it may be I don't know, but I believe the modality of Presence, ol~scure as it may be, i~ different for a retreatant in the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises than it is for him in the Fourth Week. All this may sound very un-Ignatian, but I do not believe it is. There is an interesting couple of sentences on theoprayer of the Ignatian Exercises in the Dictibnary of Spirituality: But the Exercises aim to lead a soul in the way and manner of prayer which God wishes for it. Ignatius does not judge in advance what the divine work will be.2' Ibid., p. 292. Ibid., p. 78 f. Dictionnaire de SpiritualitY, Beauchesne, Paris, 1953, t2, pt.2 col. 2025: Mais les Exercises vi- 176 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 Is this entirely gratuitous? I think if one takes a look at Ignatius' history of prayer, one will read certain phrases in the Exercises in exactly the sense of this quotation. Although annotation no. 15 refers directly to decision making, it has other overtones: . but in the course of these spiritual exercises, it is more appropriate that., the Creator and Lord should be left to deal himself with the soul that belongs to him, receiving it into his love and the life of praise . " What is Ignatius saying in Annotation 20? The more our soul finds itself in perfect solitude, the fitter does it become to approach and reach up to its Creator and Lord; and the closer it gets to Him, the more disposed does it become to receive favors and gifts from his supreme divine goodness.26 Then there are implications in one interpretation of the Application of Senses, the final prayer of nearly every day of the Exercises. If one accepts Mar6chal,27 the Application of.Senses leads from discursive prayer toward contemplative prayer. If this is indeed Ignatius' intention, I doubt that he would mind if the retreatant turned to contemplation before the end of the day, or from the beginning of the day. Certainly not all questions are a0swered, all difficulties overcome. But I believe that if the director guides the contemplative in the way outlined here, which includes very little Scripture each day, the retreatant will grow in the Lord.z8 The director definitely needs some of the faith Ignatius had that the Lord really is very much dealing with his creature whom he loves with a love that is tender and powerful. The Transition to Contemlflation Our second case is one who is on the border line between meditation and contemplation. Such a retreatant is a very special person. It is a critical time. There is an opportunity for great growth. There is the chance that even long years lie ahead without peace in prayer, a sense of being at sea. There is also the danger that prayer will prove to be just so different that it will be complete-ly laid 'aside. Certainly the director cannot determine all--this we must face. There is only one real expert on what helps a person in prayer, and that expert is the person who is praying. The director may make suggestions, give warnings, teach. But only the one praying can tell if it works--except for the criterion of sent ~ conduire ~'6me dans la voie et le mode d' oraison que Dieu veut pour elle. Ignace ne prdjuge pas I'opdration divine (M. Olphe-Galliard). 2, Spiritual Exercises, no. 15. Corbishley's translation (Anthony Clarke, Wheathampstead, Hert-fordshire, 1973). 26 Ibid., no. 20. 27 See the article on "Application des Sens" in the Dictionnaire de SpiritualitY. ~B 1 say "little Scripture" here as the program for the retreat. If the retreatant will be helped by more extensive reading, it certainly should be considered. The Retreat Director and the Contemplative / 177 the effect the prayer is having on daily living. Is the retreatant at the point where attempts to meditate should be given up, where he should turn to contemplation? St. John of the Cross gives signs for this in two places which Chapman abbreviates as:'9 1) impossibility of meditating, no pleasure in using the imagination, delight in being alone and waiting lovingly upon God;3° and 2) dryness, without.comfort either in God or in creatures, painful anxiety as to fervor, inability to meditate.3' John of the Cross also discusses the transition at length in Stanza 3 of the Living Flame of Love, but there he seems content with the inability to meditate, and his atten-tion is very much on the director.3' John's teaching is thus summarized by Chapman: . Many persons pass long years., when they cannot meditate, and yet are afraid to contemplate; and the signs are less easy to recognize. They have tried methods, one after another, they have tried reading and pondering, and then reading again (a good way of keeping off distraction); alas, perhaps they have almost given up mental prayer in despair . They do not feel urged by a frequent thought of God, nor do they dare say that they have a disgust of creatures. On the contrary they have found the spiritual life so dry that they have felt thrown upon creatures for consolations., they have imagined themselves to be going back because they have no devotion, no "feelings"; and perhaps they are really going back, since they have not learned the right path forward. But they have the essential marks., for they cannot meditate--it is a physical im-possibility . They are able to think out a subject, to work out a sermon., but they feel such considerations are not prayer. They want to unite themselves with God, not reason about what he has done for them or what they have to do for him.~ If things are anything like what Chapman describes here, certainly ex-perimentation is in order. The retreatant should be encouraged at least to try some quiet times, times of waiting or listening. Later I will mention some reading material especially for those who may have given up prayer, which may also be useful. Chapman mentions the possibility of an interim period: There is sometimes a period when meditation is sometimes possible, sometimes not. In this case use meditation whenever possible. This state will not last long.~' If the experimentation shows some signs that tfiis is the right direction to go, the material we gave above for the developed contemplative should apply. I suppose one should mention the possibility and danger of someone out of pride claiming that the contemplative way is his or her way. It could happen. ~9 0p. cit., p.287. ~o TheAscent of Mt. Carmel, Bk. 2, ch. 13, Works, p. 140 ff. ~ The Dark Night of the Soul. Bk. I, ch. 9, Works, p. 313 ff. ~2 Works, p. 620 ff. ~ Chapman, op. ~it., p. 287 f. ~' Chapman, op. cit., p. 289. St. John of the Cross agrees with this: Ascent, Bk. 2, oh. 15, Works, 148. 178 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 If it does, questions of humility, obedience and charity should help to suitable discernment. But in the prayer culture of more recent times, the preponderant influence has not been to make false contemplatives but to give the impression that there is no such thing as contemplation. Resuming Prayer Again Ernest Larkin speaks of the beginning of contemplation: This initial con, templauon ~s at first so tenuous and delicate that it would go undetected without the outside assurance of a spiritual director." Often, of course, there is no spiritual director to give that assurance. And without it, many lose their way in prayer. This has a special element of tragedy about it: the opportunity for growth has become the occasion for slipping backward. If a retreatant has a sense at the beginning of the retreat that "it's not go-ing to work," he may actually be experiencing this crisis. If he reports that there has been no regular prayer for a long time lately, especially if there was once a tithe when prayer seemed to mean Presence, this may indicate that ~he invitation io contemplation has been missed. Certainly a review of the retreat-ant's history of prayer is in order. I like very much Chapman's "Pray as you can and don't try to pray as you can't." A friend has turned it around a bit: "If you are persevering in prayer, you are probably praying at least close to the way you should." A prolonged attempt ,to keep prayer up when one is not praying in the way one should will not work. What does this all add up to? Hope, I think. If a retreatant has not been praying, first try to explore and find the prayer that is best for this one now. There is a chance you have a contemplative on your hands who just needs to be aimed right. As to beginning afresh, or where you left off, I don't think you have any choice! You simply have to begin wherever you find yourself. Make any acts you want to make and feel you ought to make; but do not force yourself into feelings of any kind.J~ The exploration may include some attempts at discursive prayer--but not pushed too hard. The whole atmosphere ought to be "Lord teach us to pray";" and the expectation that the Lord will confirm the right way of prayer by his Presence, even if most obscurely. If the results seem to indicate that the way of contemplation is right for this retreatant, the material presented above should prove again useful. A retreat director who has helped a retreatant who has ceased to pray to find his way again has done an excellent Ernest E. Larkin, O. Carm., 7~he Way, 1974, p. 14. Chapman, op. cit., p. 53. One might offer some readings. See the bibliography at the end of this article. The Retreat Director and the Contemplative / 179 thing. Perhaps tied up with the syndrome of laying prayer aside is a kind of par-tial laying it down: "I can't pray for more than a half hour"; "Centering works for me for twenty minutes." Implicit in such statements seems to be a theory of prayer that says it ought to be easy or feel nice, or be successful. Many of the quotations we have given thus far show that prayer is a work of faith, and that it is purifying and often most difficult. We can add another: You are on the lookout for "consolation," merely because you still imagine that you are not serving God properly when you are in dryness. Make up your mind once for all that dryness is best, and you will find that you are frightened at having anything else! Em-brace aridities and distractions and temptations, and you will find you love to be in ~ darkness, and that there is a supersensible light that is simply extinguished by consola-tion!~ a Those, then, who claim that only short periods of prayer work need in-struction: How long to I~ray. One thinks of one full hotir daily . St. Peter of Alcantara says, "When the time is too short, it is passed in unloading the imagination and in bringing the heart under control; just at the moment when we are ready and ought to be beginning., we stop it . It would seem that the more active and distracting our daily life is, the more need there is of a full hour of "relaxing, coming to rest in God". We . need the~daily "healing of soul" and "opening to the Spirit" in quiet and silence if we lead a busy life . In view of all this, one would not advocate the practice of having two separate periods of thirty minutes each, instead of one full hour at one time.~9 But if centering prayer (rightly understood, this is just another name for the contemplation we have been talking about) is right, don't try to prolong it by discursive prayer. Rather persevere ,in silent faithful waiting. Chapman, op. cit., p. 99. James Borst, M.H.M., A Method of Contemplative Prayer, Asian Trading Corp., Bombay, 1973, p. 25. SOME REFERENCES FOR READING What I present here will not be systematic, mainly what has helped me. In some cases I will give more background, iri others less. Throughout the text of this article, I have carefully suppressed any references to "dark nights" or to "mysticism," lest anyone be scared away. Sooner or later it has to come out. It can't be avoided in these references to the literature. But maybe it won't sound so bad now. Dom John Chapman, O.S.B., Spiritual Letters, first published 1935, Sheed and Ward, London. An insert in my copy says "distributed in the United States by Christian Classics, 205 Willis Street, Westminster, Md. 21157, though I believe it may be found in many bookstores. 180 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 This is obviously one of my favorites. Chapman, a convert, died in 1932. His letters are almost exclusively to those whose prayer seems to be contemplative and his advice is very much down to earth, In appendices there are two special essays: "Contemplative Prayer, a Few Simple Rules" and "What is Mysiicism?" St. John of the Cross, Collected Works, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D., Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington, D.C., 1979. Many have felt that John of the Cross would be too difficult. He is actually writing for beginners and is much con-cerned with the transition from discursive prayer to contemplation. This transition, the failure of mind and imagination to be prayer, is what he calls the Dark Night of the Senses. It seems unfor-tunate that the term "dark night" is used so casually to mean any difficulty in prayer or the spiritual life and at the same time so little attention is given to its real meaning for St. John. The most useful sections of his writings in connection with the problems we have been discuss-ing are in the Ascent of Mr. Carmel. Ch. 13, 14, 15 of Book II (Works, p. 140 ff.); in The Dark Night of the.Soul, Book I, Ch. 8 to about 13 (Works, p. 311 ff.); in The Living Flame ~fLove, Stanza 3, 27 ff. (Works, p. 620 ff.). In this last section he has some unkind words about spiritual directors he has known. Leonard Boase, S.J., The Prayer of Faith, Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, IN, 1975. This is the second revision of a gem that first appeared in 1950, published then by the London Apostleship of Prayer. It is surprising in how many libraries you may find it--a testimony of how its worth was recognized. This book is aimed at someone who is having difficulty in prayer precisely bgcause discursive prayer is failing. It is beautifully written. M. Eugene Boylan, D(fficulties in Mental Prayer; M.H. Gill and Son, Ltd.,Dublin, 1944. This used.to scare me. The title's reference to mental prayer suggested "more techniques for medita-tion." Actually, in purpose it is much like Boase. One chapter toward the end is "The Prayer of Faith." Jean Pierre de Caussade, S.J., On Prayer, trans, by Algar Thorold, Benziger, New York, NY, 1931. The introduction is by Abbot Chapman. In this work, de Caussade reduces to a kind of catechism Bossuet's work on Quietism. The first part of the book is on th6 errors of Quietism, and if it exaggerates the actual intent of the Quietists, at least it shows what was condemned in the name of Quietism. I found it useful. Sometimes it seems that a fear of Quietism may be operative in keeping prayer very active. The second part of the book (sometimes printed by itself) helps one grow toward simplicity in prayer--still in the form of question and answer. James Borst, M.H.M., A Method of Contemplative Prayer, Asian Trading Corporation, Bom-bay, India, 1973. The sixth edition is the one I have. The preface to the fifth edition is dated 1975. The foreword is by Abhiskiktananda, known to many by his own book on prayer. Despite the remoteness of the publisher, I believe this is quite available in good .religious book stores. It is hardly more than a pamphlet, 62 pages. Fr. Borst is a member of the charismatic movement in In-dia, but the book is all on contemplation. It is an excellent "how to do" introduction. The Cloud of Unknowing, anonymous 14th century English writer, Doubleday Image, Garden City, N.Y., 1973. A classic on the subject of contemplation. The editor is William Johnston, S.J. The Book of Privy Counseling by the same unknown author is included in the Image edition, as well as cross references to the works of St. John of the Cross. M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O., Daily We Touch Him, Practical Religious Experienc(s, Double-day and Company, Inc. Garden City, NY, 1977; and Abbot Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O., M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O., and Thomas E. Clarke, S.J., Finding Grace at the Center, St. Bede Publications, Still Run, MA, 1978. Both these books are introductions to "centering prayer"--the title taken from Merton and the technique from the Cloud of Unknowing. There is considerable overlap between the two books, Pennington's contribution to the second matching much of what he says in the first. As I read it, those proposing centering prayer seem to take it as a The Retreat Director and the Contemplative / 181 method anyone might use any time, while John of the Cross says there is a time and there are signs when to begin and that you then never lay it aside. Of course, many today may be prepared for contemplation who simply have not known it and these books could help them. Anthony de Mello, S.J., Sadhana: A Way to God, The Institute of Jesuit Sources, St. Louis, MO, 1978. The book bears a subtitle: Christian Exercises in Eastern Form. Ft. De Mello is an Indian Jesuit in whom east and west might meet. Exercises in awareness open one to a quiet that makes contemplation possible. Later sections take up prayer and fantasy, devotion. In a certain way, the book's structure seems backward in the light of John of the Cross' teaching. William Johnston, S.J., Silent Music, The Science of Meditation, Harper and Row, New York, 1974; The Inner Eye of Love, Mysticism and Religion, Harper and Row, New York, NY, 1978. The first of these surveys meditation (taken in its widest sense, as one says "Zen meditation") east and west. Ft. Johnston, with a degree in mystical theology and years of residence in Japan, is singularly qualified. Silent Music among other things, gives some reports on scientific ex-periments in the altered states of consciousness associated with meditation. Later sections deal with questions of healing and intimacy and their relation to meditation. The Inner Eye is an essay in the contemporary theology of mysticism, not limited to Christian mysticism. Thomas H. Green, S.J., When the Well Runs Dry, Prayer Beyond t.he Beginnings, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN, 1979. This recent book I met only after finishing this article. Ft. Green draws much from St. Theresa as well as John of the Cross. It should be very helpful for many. Invitation Come, Master Harper, Play my life, Gliding fingers down the dream strings Dancing 'long undreamed of paths Not bound by frame of wood or thought. Blend the patters and the pitches with the peace of new creation And the death of all I know, 'Til new sounds, unsounded still, reverberate through all ! am and i am played unto the end. Then touch my strings to stop them, And when the echoes fade, In this last silence Let the infinite variations of Your own theme begin. Sister Linda Karas, RSM Religious Consultation Center Dallas, PA 18612 When You Can't Pray: Removing Obstacles to Prayer Mary C. Coelho Mary Coelho is coordinator of the program in spiritual direction at the Center for Christian Spirituality; General Theological Seminary. She resides at 800 Riverside Drive, Apt. 7C; New York, NY 10032. For Christians, prayer is the route to the inner way, the treasure in the field. Yet many Christians find they can't pray. Feelings of anger, inadequacy, impatience--and perhaps abandonment--arise from our frustration in prayer. We cannot understand our frustration in the light of the promise that we are continually sought by God. If God seeks us and we try to seek God, what happens to frustrate a meeting? If the soul is naturally Christian, shouldn't the desire of our heart for communion with God issue naturally in the fulfill-ment of that desire? What goes awry? We know the path is arduous and the gate is narrow, but we doubt if we are even on the path. Merely delineating some of the obstacles to prayer can help us find our way on the early stages of the path. When we do this, we become less discouraged simply because identifying and recognizing the obstacles means we are aware bf the cause of our difficulties with prayer. We no longer project our frustration and failure into anger and disbelief while we remain immobile and unchanging. We can take responsibility for the obstacles and cooperate in their removal. Thus a process of identification of internal obstacles to prayer can be a source of help toward growth in prayer. Prayer is our response when we have found ourselves possessed and sought by God on some occasion in our life. Our beginning to seek God is difficult and tortured, yet it is one which we are irresistibly drawn to make. William Blake's words, "We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to 182 When You Can't Pray / 183 bear the beams of love" strikingly state this fundamental invitation to human beings to respond to God. But we find it hard to be open to these beams of love. Part of the response of prayer is concerned with the changes necessary in order for us to become less resistant to and less afraid of the "beams of love." This quiet openness to change is related to the Christian tradition of the "prayer of the heart." Thomas Merton describes it as "a way of keeping oneself in the presence of God and of reality, rooted in one's inner truth.'" Merton's insistence on being rooted in one's inner truth shows that learning to bear the "beams of love" involves a deep form of self-knowledge. We have to be willing to face the negative as well as the positive elements which we find in our inner selves. The obstacles to prayer we are going to identify and describe here primarily revolve around failure in self-knowledge and the fear and resistance we often produce to obscure our inner depths. The beams of love which bear witness to the priority and initiative of God encourage us to face our resistance and frustration with hope. God is working in us at depths beyond our comprehension. We begin then with the trust that God's love is greater than our failure, however deep that may be. Paradoxically, it is the very activity of God's love in us which uncovers our resistances and invites us to acknowledge them. When we do that, the resistances begin to lose their power, Indeed the whole process is one of recognition of the obstacle, repentance, and purgation. The only justification for this apparently negative activity, which we so resist, is that we may more and more be available to the energies of love working in us. St. Augustine wrote, "We come to God by love and not by navigation." Isn't our intention to describe obstacles to prayer an attempt at navigation? Augustine gives priority to the love which is always drawing us rather than to the techniques of ndvigation which we wish to employ to bring us to our destination. We:may suspect that our struggles with the obstacles to prayer are only an attempt at Pelagian navigation and an attempt to control the whole adventure of prayer. But navigation can be of a cooperative nature and not the fixing of a forced course to a predetermined destination. What may look like navigation on our part is in reality dependent i)n the love of Goal already working in us. It is this very love which encourages us .to enter the struggle to be free to bear the beams of love. It is this very love which enables and en-courages us to be navigators in relation to the internal obstacles to prayer. The journey inward is not primarily accomplished by our own efforts: it is rather a double search. In prayer we seek God as our response to knowing that God seeks and loves us. We are invited to collaborate with the creative God who calls'us to b~ecome pilgrims in the land of our interior depths. We are ready now to look at some obstacles to prayer in some detail. These obstacles include our woundedness, our fear of darkness in ourselves, our Thomas Mert0n, Contemplative Prayer (New York, Herder and Herder, 1969), p. 24. 184 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 need to achieve, our lack of patience, our lack of gratitude, and our failure to trust our inner longing for God. Our Woundedness One reason for frustration in prayer, for our failure to collaborate with the love of God, is our woundedness. We feel rejected, unwanted, unloved. We believe that we have not been loved sufficiently in the past. This has been so painful an experience that we dare not risk accepting the vulnerability which love demands. As one Christian has written, "And because our need to be loved and to give love is so deep and central, to be denied this makes us angry beyond the conscious knowing, and an angry person consciously or un-consciously is tempted to destroy, to kill and often does. Most people in the world are deeply angry.''2 Our often unconscious devices for protecting us from further wounds tend to cut us off from God in spite of an avowed con-scious desire to be open to his love and a belief in his graciousness. Likewise anger, often deep and unconscious, can generate an energy which pervades our whole being and thus deflects our attention away f~om God's healing presence. A wounded person may find it actually impossible to allow himself or herself to be open and vulnerable. What are we to do in the face of such an impasse? Surely it is impossible to make ourselves suddenly open and vulner-able so that love can work more effectively in us and through us. Are there any ways of navigating in the face of our woundedness? Although we feel unloved and rejected, we will discover thereare some people who care about us, enjoy us and even love us. If we begin, however tentative-ly, to risk trusting this care and love, we will find the pressure to run away-- either physically, or in the myriad of small ways by which we shut off personal involvement--greatly diminished. When we begin consciously to admit our desire and need to be with certain people, we will also accept this desire and need and act on them. We do this in the face of knowing that the care and love offered by others will also be wounded and imperfect, and that we will un-doubtedly be hurt again. Reaching out to others in spite of our woundedness will often mean finding new friends or deepening our trust and availability to a spouse, an old friend, a priest, a teacher, or a spiritual director. Opening ourselves to the love of others is comparable, on a psychological level, to opening ourselves to God, who reveals himself as One who knows what it is to be wounded. Not only do we need to allow others to love us and care for us as we are, we also need to to do the same for ourselves, especially our wounded parts. As an area of woundedness within us is made conscious, we need to accept it, acknowledge it and let it be part of us. This involves a deep self-acceptance. Gordon Cosby, "The Invisible World," Faith at Work, March, 1976, p. 6. When You Can't Pray / 185 Sister Rachel Hosmer describes3 praying in a chapel where she felt secure, separated from noise and distraction in the building and separated from her own unhappiness and loneliness in a community. But she realized she did not want this separate, safe place. She writes, "From then on I began to realize that I had to go down to the roots of my own life, where lives a small, rebellious, treacherous, wounded, tear-stained child. I had to encounter her gently, lovingly, take her in my arms, comfort her, listen to her, share with her." Such recognition and gentle acceptance of our woundedness allows us to drop the barriers that protected our woundedness. These are the same pro-tective barriers that prevent our vulnerability in prayer. Accepting our woundedness means we can move closer to rootedness in our inner truth and that we can better live in the presence of God and reality. Fear of Darkness in Ourselves Another reason for disappointment in prayer related to Our woundedness is our fear of the darkness in ourselves. On encountering darkness in ourselves, we may have tried to deny its existence or distract ourselves from looking at it further. If we choose to avoid our own darkness we are also choosing to withdraw from any deep involvement with prayer. True prayer will not allow us either to deny our darknesses nor be seduced by distraction. We have no choice but to come back to the darkness if we are to learn to pray. And u~ually our darknesses are thrown into consciousness in such a way that we can't possibly avoid them anyway. By coming upon darkness in ourselves, I mean meeting deep anger, empti-ness, loneliness, guilt, fear, excessive pride, a sense of failure to live up to ideals, a recognition of helplessness before some desire or habit, a recognition of not truly living, or the sense of living a lie--to name a few! Closing off en-counter with these aspects of our personality will not be replaced by light, but by a gray world in which God is distant and detached.' Encounter with darkness in ourselves is an essential element of true prayer. It is part of the movement towards true light. Meeting darkness in ourselves is not a reason for failure in prayer. It is an early stage of prayer. It becomes an obstacle if we fail to acknowledge it or attempt to hide from it. Once an aspect of personal darkness has been seen and acknowledged, how can we navigate in relationship to it? We need to trust that through it and beyond it, new life will emerge inus. This trust is based on the faith that God is already working in us, calling us to wholeness. We need to trust that the darkness will lose its Power and that we will be sustained in our struggle with ~ Sr. Rachel Hosmer, New Principles for Christian Spirituality (Center for Christian Spirituality, General Theological Seminary, 175 Ninth Avenue, New York 10011), 13. 23. ' William J. Connolly, S.J. "Experiences of Darkness in Directed Retreats," REviEw RELIGIOUS VOI. 33 1974, p. 611. 186 / Review.for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 it. Nor dare we give the excuse that it is inappropriate to concentrate on gloomy things. Conscious work with darkness in ourselves may necessitate the finding of professional help because the obstacle to prayer may have deep roots in our character. A basic confidence in facing darkness is found in the paschal rhythm of the Christian life, the passage from death to life in Christ and our entry into that drama places all our struggles in a wider and healing context. Conscious encounter with darkness can be the beginning of the dissolution of the power of ~hat darkness, although it is hard to believe that could be true on first encounter with it. We realize it has been a dominant, determining force in our lives and we feel caught, defeated, and totally determined .by it. But the initial step of consciousness of the darkness is of critical importance. We were previously unaware of the darkness and it held sway in our lives free-ly and unbeknownst to us. By acknowledging and facing the guilt, the fear or the loneliness, the darkness no longer has an unchallenged freedom to operate in our lives. And as we face the darkness, we find that ,the king has no clothes." There is a gradual shift in our self understanding which involves the growth and emergence of new life and wholeness. However painful and slow this may be, the facing of our darkness is an essential task. To avoid darkness is to do so at the price of living in shallowness and unreality. Willingness to face and deal with darkness, instead of denying it and hiding it, is one of the clearest indications that our own reali-ty, rather than an idealized concept of ourselves, has entered into the dialogue to which God is always calling us. Usually the busy round of normal daily demands prevents buried parts of ourselves from becoming conscious. In fact we often consciously and ~uncon-sciously pattern our lives precisely to hide from the truth about ourselves and to maintain a false, idealized image that we have carefully constructed. Often a weekend retreat or a longer period of silence is the occasion of a sudden breaking of this image, when an aspect of darkness is allowed to come to the surface. For this reason, retreats and other ways of breaking tlie daily patt.ern of demands, are essential if we are to move beyond disappointment in prayer. Need to Achieve Many of us have a high need to achieve. A person with a high need to achieve as a wiry of earning identity and self-esteem will try to make prayer an achievement. But he will inevitably be disappointed when trying to turn prayer into a performance. This is because a great deal of achievement in our culture depends on a willful manipulation of life by our conscious ~elves whereas prayer involves an open availability to life and a desire not to do our ego-will but the will of God. The failure of attempts to pray by sheer effort is.a crucial event for the would-be "achiever" which must be recognized and faced honestly. We approach prayer with the same attitudes with which we approach the Whbn You Can "t Pray /A 87 rest of life.~ We aren't different people when we pray, although we would like to think otherwise. Many of the carefully acquired manipulative skills we have learned to earn a place in life, to be "successful," in reality impede our open-ness to the totality of life as it is. The methods of consulting experts, strenuously learning the latest or oldest method of meditation or prayer, reading all the books, while not unimportant, will not "work" if the informa-tion is applied in a willful, controlling, achievement-oriented way. How does the achiever who has failed at praying continue from the point of his failure? God's hiddenness to him could drive him to ask hard questions and then to abandon his achieving ways, since they don't work anyway! Our own aggressiveness and desire to control and manipulate are systematically humiliated as we begin to face the realization that what matters most in life is not at the service of our achieving devices. The very frustration and fail~re are teaching us to learn and try other modes of being and to undermine our view of life as being validated only by achievement. What aspects of the human being are more receptive to God's love? Learn-ing to listen, to hear, to be passive and receptive, to wait and be patient, to trust intuition, these are qualities most often associated with the feminine side of our life. It takes a !ong time for both male and female achievers to learn and to trusi these qualities of our being. Yet it is through the receptive, feminine side of life that we can learn to pray and know God. Unfortunately it often seems to take an occasion of helplessness to recognize the importance of the so-called feminine side of our personality. This occasion may be serious ill-ness, admission Of alcoholism, death of a beloved person, loss of work or the dissolution of an important intimate relationship. . The feminine aspects of personality, however, can be slowly nourished by a va.riety of means. For example by meditative listening to scripture we learn to let scripture address us personally. This depends on a receptive openness find a capacity to listen. Listening to dreams, which come to us from another world beyond our control, can be of essential importance in a growing con-sciousness of the restrictedness and narrowness of the confines of the con-scious, achieving personality. In the give and take of friendship or in marriage we slowly learn to let go of our willful ordering of the other person's life and gradually accept the unique-nes~ and otherness of the friend or spouse with their mixture of strengths and weaknesses, beauty.and ugliness. Participation in a small group, as a "house church," prayer group, therapy group or group for spiritual direction, gradually instructs us in the capacity to relate to life in nonachieving ways. A group has a life of its own, so that living and sharing in its life invites us to participate in a larger life outside ~ William J. Connolly S.J. "Disappointment in Prayer: Prelude to Growth?" REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Vol. 32, 1973, p. 557. "188 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 our narrowly limited consciouness. Some typesof movement and dance, painting, walks in nature are means for some people to learn to drop their aggressive and manipulative ways. All of these may lead us to a humility before life which calls us to live more prayer-fully in it. Lack of Personal Freedom We have just described the "need to achieve" as a pattern of behavior that may cause disappointment in prayer. This is a specific example of a larger problem that blocks our prayer. We are disappointed in prayer because we obstinately cling to false or narrow and unexamined conscious goals, opin-ions, atntudes and feelings. We all do this to some degree and we need to learn to detect the ways in which we unconsciously narrow our lives. William Con-nolly writes: "The person who is controlled by fear, by anger, by a fixed idea of his or her futur.e, finds himself or herself incapable of more than superficial prayer. When a person begins to be freed of that control, he becomes capable of deeper prayer.''6 The detection and unearth.ing of our narrow and unexamined conscious goals and opinions, attitudes and feelings is a slow and difficult process. We are so wedded to them and convinced of their correctness, or so take them for granted, that they are not even a subject of our consideration. How then can we detect them? Often the truth we most need to ponder is initially unattrac-tive. We resist it. It bothers us and even repels us. This is a clue to'look again. The more there is at stake emotionally in some idea, proposal or change of the way of doing things, the more we can be sure it deserves our careful attention to detect the causes of our alarm. Or we may observe that we strongly dislike someone who never did us any harm. We should suspect they have qualities and patterns of being that we also have, but have rejected in ourselves, losing conscious awareness of them. But we can gradually become aware of some of the constrictions in our personality and our ways of being so that we are more available to the divine freedom. As we consciously acknowledge these con-strictions we are freer to act out of love and caring. God does not force our behavior, but a personality that is more self-accepting and freer is more available to act out of God's love. A person with a raw, unguarded immediacy to God and to life is moving towards freedom to live and love. Lack of Patience Another reason for disappointment in prayer may be an unwillingness to be patient with ourselves and with the process of learning to pray. Advice to "be patient" sounds like something you sa.y in the absence of any more specific help. It is especially difficult for Americans who believe, although William J. Connolly S.J. "Freedom and Prayer in Directed Retreats," REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, Vol. 32, 1973, p. 1359. When You Can't Pray with diminishing confidence, that, with some effort, discipline and extra work, we can get what we want. I hate to write it, American that I am, and I have learned it the hard way, but I believe that an unwillingness to wait and to be patient is a reason for disappointment in prayer. It is honest, sound advice. The necessity to be patient and wait does not mean that we become passive and listless. Nor does it mean that we are to be patient about all aspects of life. If the landlord doesn't give you heat, you should not be patient about that. But in relation to prayer, advice to be patient is an honest recognition that the transformation of our person by grace toward wholeness is a slow process. The education and training. (ascesis) of our person to be available to God's love is slow. Even the sudden gifts of moments of grace do not preclude the slow, gradual process of sanctification. Time, clocktime, is notof the essence. There are no shortcuts or tricks in the life of prayer. When Friedrich yon Hugel was eighteen, he was advised by the Dominican priest, Raymond Hocking "You want to grow in virtue, to serve God, to love Christ? Well you will grow in and attain these things if you will make them a slow and sure, and utterly real, mountainstep plod and ascent, willing to have to camp for week.s in spiritual desolation, darkness and emptiness at different ~tages in your march and growth. All demand for constant light, all attempt at eliminating or minimizing the cross and trial, is so much folly or puerile trifling.''7 Lack of Gratitude At times our feeling of disappointment in prayer may resultfrom a failure to celebrate and be grateful for the grace and gifts and strength we do,receive in our daily lives and in prayer. Unfortunately it seems easier to focus on our struggles and to suffer than ~to celebrate and enjoy changes in the quality.of our life or that of our neighor. Small changes of heart, a sense of being reconverted, and simple acts of love seem fragile and transient in the face of major human dislocations. We need to sing more, if we sing, or dance more, if we dance, in order to sustain our celebration of life. We need the ability to be carefree, to disregard appearances, to relax and laugh at the world and ourselves. These are all ~ways of being grateful and saying "yes" to life. Douglas Steere often says in his retreats t.hat he doesn't know. of a better way to enter prayer than through gratitude. Lack of Obedience in Small Things We proudly look for some major insight or a profound illumination or a clear call to an exciting, life-transforming project. However much to be treasured; such desires are often more a need of the ego than a readiness to Bernard Hollard, ed., Selected Letters ofFriedrich von Hugel (London, Dent, 1927), p. 266. 190 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 allow such experiences to transform and shape our lives. It' is "the slow mountainstep plod" that does transform us. Failure to carry out small acts of love and caring and to integrate in our lives insights we have received, are what can effectively block us. "It is clearly absurd to be pining for some grand revelation of God's will while we are refusing to attend to this or that small beginning of a revelation that is already unmistakably before us. It may only be 'something telling us' as we say, that I am not using my money as I thought--not holding it in steward-ship. It may be a recurrent doubt about the strict honesty of some habitual practice. It may be an uncomfortable feeling about a certain indulgence I have been allowing myself.''8 We can learn to celebrate and savor small acts of devotion and to do them with joy. Unwillingness to Be a Beginner Another obstacle may be the unwillingness to be a beginner in prayer and meditation. We need to be perfectly content to be a beginner, to experience ourselves as one who has little or no capacity to pray and has a desperate need to learn the bare rudiments. This may be in spite of long involvement in the Church, and in spite of highly developed capacities and talents in other areas. Those who think they know from the beginning will never in fact come to know anything. In a way we will never be anythng else but beginners all of our life. Our ego consciousness is always a beginner in relation to God because itis not out of its ways of relating to life that we know God. o Failure to Trust Our Inner Longing for God Learning to pray depends on an inner knowledge that it is worthwhile. Otherwise our attempts to pray will be experienced as too laborious and dif-ficult. The inner knowledge of our need to pray may be within us, but we are listening to other voices, particularly the voices of a secular culture. Clamor-ing voices within and without drown out our desire to know God and we organize our lives around the other demands. By comparison to the seeming importance of the other demands our desire to pray seems too tenuous, un-proven- simply not worth it. So we need to learn to trust and live out of our deepest inner desire. Sometimes to avoid trusting experiences of the heart, we demand a rational, causal explanation by some authority in society. This serves to make the claim of these experiences more manageable, in our control. But Pascal wrote that the heart may have reasons that the mind knows not of. A rational explanation serves to deny the uniqueness of our spiritual life and allows us to shed that uniqueness along with our particular personal history, our gifts and our responsibilities. Complete rational knowledge is possible only of things, John Baillie, The Idea of Revelation in Recent Thought (New York, Columbia University Press, 1956). When You Can't Pray / 191 not persons.9 We must allow ourselves the fact of not totally understanding our experiences and to live and love and affirm life in the midst of our not-understanding. We are called to fall in love with life, not just to try to under-stand it. Brother Roger, founder of the Taize community, speaks to the problem of our demand to understand. He writes "A set, juridical mentality was a feature of ancient Rome, and it was handed down to all of Western Christianity. It left us ill-prepared for contemplation, the culmination of the inner life. In contrast, Eastern Christianity is still today rich in lives centered on just this reality. When the mind is less concerned with defining how we know God and what we know of him, there is more room available in which to adore him.'''° A friend once described in careful and loving detail the experiences and events of a week-long retreat. The week had been profoundly important to him and included a number of unexpected, new experiences. It involved feel-ing called and directed to seek out specific individuals particularly needing love and attention. After the retreat he said he spent two years trying to ex-plain or discredit the experiences and to find descriptions of comparable events in the Bible or elsewhere in religious literature. "Experiences had to be manageable and understandable." But finally by telling the story of the retreat, sparing no detail, he was letting the experie.nces speak for themselves, not finally understood but accepted and celebrated for their life-transforming quality. He came to trust his own inner knowledge of the peculiar importance of the retreat experiences. It is common for people to have a'sense of restlessness and an awareness from past experiences of God or from knowledge of scripture, that their pres-ent way of living narrows life unhecessarily. The ego must give consent to this inner knowledge if the soul is to grow and bloom by God's grace. Conclusion A number of the Obstacles to prayer circle around our proclivity to see our-selves as a static, firmly established, already, attained ego-self that needs only to be perfected. Facing a number of the, obstacles just described involves recognizing, as Thomas Merton writes," that we are a "nothing," a "possibility'i in which the gift of creative freedom can realize itself by its response to the free gift of love and grace. We are invited to accept our "potentiality," Merton continues, as a gift and a commission, as a trust to be used--as a "talent" in the language of the parables. It is through prayer and the profound transformation of personality that it involves that our "possibility" may become a living reality. " Erich Fromm, "Man ls Not a Thing," Saturday Review of Literature, March 16, 1957, p. 10. ,o Br. Roger Schutz, Living Today for God (Mowbrays, Oxford, England), "Life in Ourselves," p. 18. " Thomas Merton, "The Spiritual Father in the Desert Tradition," Cistercian Studies Ill, 4, 1968, pp. 13, 14. Suffering with the Humble Christ in Religious Life Martin R. Tripole, S.J. Father Tripole is Assistant Professor of Theology at St. Joseph's University, and iives in the Jesuit Community there, City Ave. at 54th St.; Philadelphia, PA,19131. Is there a place for suffering in religious life? Are people who vow themselves to poverty, chastity, and obedience really supposed to suffer as part of their religious commitment.? Before that question can be answered, it would first be necessary to investi-gate the place for suffering in Christian living as a whole; for religious life is a specification within the larger context. Suffering in Christian Living There was a time when it was commonly thought that Christians were sup-posed to suffer. One recalls the stereotyped remark supposedly made to the poor and underprivileged during the Industrial and post-Industrial Era: God wants you to be poor, he meets you in your suffering; accept your lot as an expression of love and place your sights on the kingdom of heaven. We all know Marx for his assessmefit of religion as the drug that pacifies the lot of the miserable. '~ In pre-Vatican II days, much of this kind Of thinking seemed still to be around. We were supposed to suffer because Jesus suffered; we were supposed to have it hard because Jesus had it hard. Aptly associated with that theology of suffering was the "work ethic" that made hard work a value just because it was hard. If we suffered from working hard, that was good because a good American was supposed to suffer from working hard. The post-Vatican II era seemed different--most notably among the 192 Suffering With the Humble Christ / 193 young. I can still recall fellow Jesuit scholastics in the late '60's discerning what we considered to be a new awareness of the implications of Jesus' resur-rection: had he not been raised from the dead, and should we not therefore share in his glory and the joy of his resurrection? The Church had dwelt too long on the suffering of Christ, we concluded. The emphasis should rather be placed on the resurrected Christ'. We had been redeemed, had we not? Why, then, should we dwell upon. suffering? It was time to show forth the new redemptive life won for us by the risen Christ. Along with this type of thinking went what seemed to be its logical conse-quence: the cult of the individual, the affirmation of the"I." It was Iwho had been redeemed. Jesus died so that I might be free and find fulfillment in my life. Things were of value insofar as they brought me personal fulfillment; they were a disvalue if they cramped my style. The concept of obedience needed to be changed: to be obedient now meant, first of all, to be true to myself and to my natural drive for fulfillment. That meant I had a primary obligation to realize my human potential. To deny myself was to frustrate my personal, human growth and to that extent was actually sinful. Superiors could no longer deny my basic human rights without violating the natural law. Since to destroy oneself is never permissible, so was it deemed unacceptable for a superior ever to ask me to go against my need to be fulfilled. Obedience, therefore, had to mean primarily obedience to myself and my natural drive for personal fulfillment, and only secondarily response to the wishes of anotherwand this only when his wishes were compatible with my goals. Since the resurrection of Christ meant birth to a new life, a life of personal fulfillment in God, God was now to be found in my drive to be fulfilled. Under these circumstances, suffering becomes an evil because it thwarts that drive. It is therefore not .'.6.nly to be avoided, but also to be u~rooted from life. Thus, to inflict suffering or to ask someone to do something that caused suf-fering became a basically unchristian act. The role of su.'ffering had been suitably removed from Christian piety. It had been replaced by the right to fulfillment in life. Such was a common theology not a few, years ago. The fact is, however, that the whole matter of the relationship of suffering to Christian living and the place of suffering in religious life must be reexamined and more carefully analyzed. Because I am a Jesuit, and my experience and training allow me to speak of religious life only as a Jesuit, I shall confin~ my examination of the .character of religious living to a discussio~ of the spirituality of St. Ignatius. However, since the basic principles of religious living seem common to most forms of religious life, and sinc+ Ignatian spirituality has had wide influence in religious thought beyond the lives of Jesuits, such an approach will be of in-terest to many religious today. I shall, therefore, first briefly examine the more fundamental question of the nature of Christian living in general, and then see religious life as understood by St. Ignatius as a specification within that larger area. 194 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 Role of Suffering in Jesus' Teaching We can posit the existence of at least two levels of pr?clamation in the New Testament: that of Jesus and that of the first generation of Christians. Though' exegetes tell us there is never a time when the message of Christ is not filtered to us through the eyes of the early Church, this does not rule out the possibility of discerning the original proclamation of Jesus. Indeed, a fuller study of the whole matter reveals the early Church always understood its func-tion to develop, at the same time as it remained faithful to the original procla-mation of the message of Jesus. The Church also related the message of Jesus to its own problems and needs, much as the Church continues to do today. The upshot of all this is that we are able to discern a theology of suffering in the Scriptures that is not only expanded upon by the early Church but is actually based on the teaching of Jesus himself. One of the clearest places where Jesus' theology of suffering is presented is in his three predictions of his passion and death found in each of the Synop-tics. There Jesus makes it clear that his role as messiah, in contradistinction to what the Jews had expected, was to suffer and die and rise from the dead. Jesus tells his disciples he has to suffer (Mk 8:31). The character of this suffer-ing is carefully delineated: it involves not only sheer physical (Mk 10:34), but also psychological suffering (Mk 8:31; see 14:34-36); moreover, it is manifested in a special way in his confrontation with leading spokesmen of his community, "the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes" (Mk 8:31) over the law of God, God's will for his people, the dispensation of his revelation to mankind, the road to salvation, the character of true discipleship of the Lord. In the long run, the more significant form of suffering in Christ's life was not simply endurance of physical paine but of political and theological oppositiofl to the revelation of God's will. The attacks of the Jewish leaders were not only attempts to thwart God's will, but also to stymie the freedom which would find its highest form in man's acceptance of Jesus' good news. Ultimately, therefore, it was in the area of the freedom of God's will toward man and the freedom of man to respond to God that the Jews were at odds with Jesus. His pain was that the Jewish leaders were not open to being free, but actually preferred to be enslaved--to themselves, to their own limited standards and values, to their desires to dominate and control their li~,es and the lives of the other members of the Jewish community. The teaching of the Beatitudes, a highpoint in Jesus' proclamation delineating the kind of lives his disciples will lead and the experiences they will undergo as his disciples, encapsulates the heart of Jesus' teaching on suffer-ing. There he states that the dis.ciple will surely suffer for dedicating himself to the principles for which Jesus stands (Mt 5:10). Most important for our later discussion is the fact that Jesus indicates that hisdisciples should be happy when being insulted and persecuted for following him (v. 11), forit is then that God takes his place at the side of the disciple (v. 9) and fhe disciple finds his place in God's kingdom (v. 10). Here again, Jesus makes it clear that anyone Suffering With the Humble Christ / 195 who makes the commitment to him and his teaching will find himself in oppo-sition to the world and its standards. In Jesus' disciples, the historical reenact-men~ of the suffering and death of Christ must take place before they can share in God's glory (vv. 9, 12). Suffering as Seen in the Early Church Paul's conception of a theology of suffering is rooted in that of Jesus. It is because Jesus suffered and died that Christians, as imitators of Christ, must also suffer and die. The Christian chooses to suffer with Christ so as to be attached and closely identified with Jesus. The basis for this is love for Jesus as the Son of God and Lord, but closely identified with this basis is the fact that Jesus suffered and died so that we might be free from the power of siffand death. Thus, the soteriological is never separated from the ontological for Paul. The importance of suffering with Christ also follows from the fact that only then can we share in his resurrection--not only after biological death, but even during our lives within history. For Paul, it is necessary to enter into the historical process contained within Jesus' own life, death, and resurrection: to suffer and die for the sake of others, so that they might have life. This translates into a life of service of others, even to the point of renouncing one's life totally for the sake of others. The concrete social and political implications of this insight were obvious to Paul: life is one of service through the ministry of spreading the good news, promoting reconciliation between man and God, opposing correctives or compromises to God's teaching, and responding to the temporal needs of others, such as caring for thee poor. One who proclaimed and lived by the teaching of Christ must expect, according to Paul, to come into conflict with worldly structures and be persecuted by them (2 Tm 3:12). It is by enduring in the midst of that conflict that one wins the right to inherit eternal glory (2 Co 4:17). To follow Christ means to have renounced the world and all that it stands for in opposition to Christ's teachings (Ga 5:24). That opposition means "constantly" to be "delivered to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh" (2 Co 4:11). Paul delivered himself to that death and life with joy (Col 1:24). It is in the context of his ministry of the gospel that Paul occasionally tells us of the physical, psychological and social forms of suffering he had to undergo: We are fools on Christ's account. Ah, but in Christ you are wise: We are the weak ones, you the strong! They honor you, while they sneer at us: Up to this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, poorly clad, roughly treated, wandering about homeless. We work hard at manual labor. When we are insulted we respond with a blessing. Persecution comes our way; we bear it patiently. We are slandered, and we try conciliation. We have become the world's refuse, the scum of all; that is the present state of affairs (l Co 4:10-13). On the contrary, in all that we do we strive to present ourselves as ministers of God, acting with patient endurance amid trials, difficulties, distresses, beatings, ira- 196 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 prisonments, and riots; as men familiar with hard work, sleepless nights, and fastings; conducting themselves with innocence, knowledge, and patience, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love; as men with the message of truth and the power of God; wielding the weapons of righteousness with the right hand and left, whether honored or dishonored, spoken of well or ill. We are called imposters, yet we are truthful; nobodies who in fact are well-known; dead; sorrowful, though we are always rejoicing; poor, yet we enrich many. We seem to have nothing, yet every/thing is ours (2 Co 6:4-10). The writings of Peter and John also emphasize the importance of our suf-fering. with Christ. For Peter, suffering with Christ is cause for rejoicing. We are "happy" to be "insulted for the sake of Christ, for then God's Spirit in its glory has come to rest" on us (1 P 4:13-14). For John, Christian living in-volves the willingness to "lay down our lives for our brothers" in imitation of Christ who "laid down his life for us" (1 Jn 3:16). One who is a follower of Christ will experience his discipleship in his confrontation with the values of the world. He will "suffer in the world" (Jn 16:33) and be hated and rejected by the world (15:18-19), but he will find "courage" in that Christ has "over-come the world" (16:33). Suffering in the Spirituality of St. Ignatius The spirituality of St. Ignatius is remarkably biblical. Central to his thought is a theology of.suffering rooted in that of Jesus and the spirituality of the early Church, especially that of St. Paul. According to Ignatius, there was only one purpose in life: to dispose oneself completely to the praise and service of God: "Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.'" What that immediately implied for Ignatius was the uproi~ting and outlawing from one's life of any affection which would interfere with that praise and ser-vice. To be so disposed means applying to oneself what is commonly known as Ignatius' principle of indifference, whereby one prefers nothing in life except insofar as it contributes to the theocentric orientation of one's total being. Consequently as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. [but only] what is more conducive to the end for which we were created (SE 23). That indifference in the service of God our Lord becomes more concretely defined by the beginning of the Second Week of the Exercises as acceding to the call of Christ to serve the Father in the establishment of his kingdom: "It is my will to conquer the whole world and all my enemies, and then to enter into the glory of my Father" (SE 95). Since the exercitant has by now uprooted any affection that would interfere with the proper disposition of his life, he is able to perceive the value of this goal, and is ready to respond. The response is the acceptance of t~e call to serve. But how precisely is the ' First Principle and Foundation in The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, tr. Louis J. Puhl, S.J. (Westminster, MD: Newman, 1951), n. 23. Hereafter SE and paragraph number. Suffering With the Humble Christ / 197 exercitant to serve? Ignatius provides no preconceived or metaphysical prin-ciples to determine the modus agendi. The sole norm is the imitation of Christ by sharing in the root experiences undergone by Christ in his public ministry. Imitation of Christ thus meanS, as it did for St. Paul, an identification with the person of Christ in his sufferings and death, so as eventually to share in his glory. The identification is never really with the glorified Christ except as the one who attains his glory through suffering. Christ tells the exercitant that "whoever wishes to join me in this enterprise must be willing to labor with me, that by following me in suffering, he may follow me in glory" (SE 95; italics added). The precise character of that suffering is two-fold: negatively, it means overcoming "sensuality and carnal and worldly love" in one's affective life; positively, it means "'bearing all wrongs and all abuses'and all poverty, both actual andspiritual"--provided there is no jeopardy to one's spirit of in-difference, i.e., only if the "Eternal Lord" desires this because it will con-tribute to his "greater service and praise" (SE 98). Ignatius is relentless in his attempts to drive home the idea that once the individual has become indifferent, service of Christ, though it remains the rubric under which all action is undertaken for the praise and glory of God~ at-tains its special character in the identification with Christ in suffering the blows of the human condition. With Christ as his standard-bearer, the exerci-tant is sent on a mission "throughout the whole world to spread His sacred doctrine." But this is made possible only by desiring "insults and contempt" (SE. 146) and by "bearing insults and wrongs" because one is thereby able to "imitate him [Christ] better" (SE 147). Indifference, once it becomes perfect, no longer means to be absolutely indifferent, but rather to be one with the suf-fering Christ. The highest class of men, according to Ignatius, "seek only to will and not will as God our Lord inspires them" (SE 155). They are urged to accept the highest form of spirituality, which for Ignatius means the "third kind of humility,." the humility which is most distinctive of his spirituality and gives it its noblest quality: This is the most perfect kind of humility. It consists in this. If we suppose the first and second kind attained, then whenever the praise and glory of God would be equally served, I desire and choose poverty with Christ poor, rather than riches, in order to im-itate and be in reality more like Christ our Lord; I choose insults with Christ loaded with them, rather than honors," I desire to be accounted as worthless and a fool for Christ, rather than to be esteemed as wise and prudent in this world. So Christ was treated before me (SE 167; italics added). The exercitant is instructed to beg our Lord to deign to choose him for this third kind of humility, which is higher and better, that he may the more imitate andserve him, provided equal praise and service be given to the Divine Majesty (SE 168; italics added). Not all exercitants would be expected to be able to cope with this third kind of humility, and so it is up to the retreat director to discern how far to go with the retreatant. But the Jesuit novice was normally to undergo a thirty-day 198 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 experience of the Spiritual Exercises with this third kind of humility as the in-tended summit of his new spiritual life. Ideally he is to accept this humility as his own, though if he be not yet able to do so, it becomes at least the end-goal and guiding principle of his life as a Jesuit. Obstacles to this goal are to be fought and overcome, it being pointedly noted that the exercitant's progress in the spiritual life will be in direct "proportion to his surrender of self-love and of his own will and interests" (SE 189). These same principles recur in the General Examen and its Declarations regarding standards for admission to the Society of Jesus. When the candidate embarks on religious life as a Jesuit, he is 1~o acquire a "deliberate determina-tion to live and die in the Lord with and in this Society of Jesus," and is to be "determined to abandon the world and to follow the counsels,of Christ our Lord.''2 This means to abandon "whatever he had in the world" dear to him out of "merely natural affection," and to replace it with a life based a new principle: "He who does not hate his father and mother and even his own life, cannot be my disciple" (Lk 14:26). Consequently, he is to live "as one who is dead to the world and to self-love/arkd who lives only for~ Christ our Lord" (GE 61). One of his probationary experiences is to be involved in "tests of humility and abnegation of oneself through the performance of lowly and humble tasks, such as working in the kitchen, cleaning the house, and all the rest of these services." (GE 83). Another is that he should go begging from door .to door for three days so that, "contrary to common human opinion, they [scholastics] may be able in God's service and praise to humiliate themselves more and more and make greater spiritual progress, giving glory to his Divine Majesty" (GE 82). The candidate must also be "willing to have all his errors and defects.r~anifested to his superiors." (GE 63). Ignatius urges the scholastic constantly to accept exercises for obtaining humility: toward the cook (GE 85), subordinate officials (GE 87), spiritual superiors as well as physicians and infirmarians (GE 89), in the performance of penances for his "errors and negligences" (GE 90, 98), in the complete manifestation of his conscience to the superior (GE 93). In a section of the General Examen where he approaches most completely the lofty ideals contained in this third kind of humility and a th'eology of suf-fering strongly reminiscent of that of Jesus and of St. Paul, Ignatius insists that it be made clear to the candidate for the Society of Jesus that he strive "to abhor in its totality and not in part whatever the world loves and embraces, and to accept and desire with all possible energy whatever Christ our Lord has loved and embraced." This desire to be one with Christ is to lead candidates to the desire to "clothe themselves with the same clothing and uniform of their Lord." This means that if it would better serve God, and not be an occasion of 2 "The General Examen and Its Declarations" (50-51), in St. Ignatius of Loyola, The Constitu-tions of the Society of Jesus, tr. with commentary by George E. Ganss, S.J. (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1970). Hereafter GE and paragraph number. Suffering With the Humble Christ / 199 sin to anyone, "they would wish to suffer injuries, false accusations, affronts, and to be held and esteemed as fools. -3 Here above all they come to "resem-ble and imitate" Christ and "follow him" as "the way which leads men to life" (GE 101). Should the candidate be naturally repelled by such thoughts, Ignatius urges that he be questioned as to whether or not he is determined and ready to accept and suffer with patience., any such injuries, mockeries, and affronts entailed by the wearing of this uniform of Christ our Lord, and any other affronts offered him, whether by someone inside the house or the Society (where he desires to obey, be humiliated, and gain eternal life) or outside it by any persons what-soever on earth, while returning them not evil for evil but good for evil (GE 102; italics added): Ignatius again argues that this kind of humility will be better attained if the examinee should "seek in our Lord his greater abnegation and continual mortification in all things possible" (GE 103). According to Joseph de Guibert, S.J., these, last citations contain the "characteristic stamp of Ignatius' personality," the "true key to the conduct" of Ignatius toward his followers, and the "interior meaning of all that follows in the Constitutions" of the Society of Jesus." Moreover, these passages bring 'to focus one of the central features of Ignatius' spirituality: his emphasis upon "the poverty and humiliations of the Savior" (deG 136). T.hese passages rein-force the core elements of Ignatius' SpiritualExercises where, according to de Guibert, one finds the "counterpart" of the same kind of emphasis upon "abnegations" which Ignatius fostered "in the training of his followers" because of his "profound conviction that in this abnegation is found the decisive point, the central position which is to be held absolutely in the field of battle for souls and for conquering the summits of sanctity" (deG 137). Suffering in Religious Life Today Religious life, at least as understood by Ignatius, is therefore steeped in a theology of suffering in the pursuit of humility, based, not on any speculative principles that would justify this pursuit (few, indeed, can be found), but on the "principle of union and companionship with the suffering Christ. The union is achieved most of all, according to Ignatius, by imitating Christ in ac-cepting humiliations so as to become one with Christ in his humility. The beloved wishes to be as closely as possible identified with the lover. Since Jesus js he who suffered out of love for us, we wish to return that love by suffering with him out of love for him. As we have seen, theological if not mystical j'ustification for this spirituality can be found in the Gospel as well as in Paul's J See Mt 5:11; 1 Co 4:1~-13 and 2 Co 6:4-10, cited above. ¯ Joseph de Guibert, S.J., The Jesuits: Their Spiritual Doctrine and Practice, tr. William J. Young, S.J. (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1972), p. 142. Hereafter deG and page numbers. 200 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 insight thai it is only if we share in Christ's suffering that we shall share in his resurrection. It seems to me, therefore, that if we would retain the true spirit of religious life as this is given expression under the inspiration of Ignatius and others like him, and reinforce the basic insights of the scriptures, we must revitalize our Christian perspective on suffering with the humiliated and humble Chrisi in our contemporary experience of religious life. Permit me to reminisce a bit. As I recall, the above theology of suffering was very strongly advocated when I was in the novitiate (1958-1960), but with some shortcomings in its exercise. A constant danger in religious life is that we preach one theology and practice another. I was able to discern, even as a novice, the gap between our theology and practice. Our theology of suffering encouraged, as the high point of Jesuit living, that we find meaning and hap-piness in sharing in the insults and humiliations of Christ; yet whenever we received these humiliations, we took offense. Early on, the novice begins to conclude'that this gap is acceptable as built into religious life, that the theology of suffering is meantto be a rhetorical, formalistic kind of spirituali-ty, accepted as an ideology not actually to be implemented. A community that thinks and lives this way is bound to have a profound effect upon the developing religious life of the individual, for, to some extent, the individual is always necessarily a reflection of his environment. If the indi-vidual religious dwells in an environment which lives by the theology of suffer-ing with the humble Christ, the individual is induced to find meaning in that theology also; if the environment does not implement this theology of suffer-ing, it is extremely difficult, even for the most well-intentioned individual, to make that theology an integral part of his religious life. Or again: if every religious takes to heart Ignatius' words to accept !nsults and humiliations as the call of Christ to share in his program of spiritual renewal; the individual religious, when these are cast at him (as they surely will be), sees Christ calling him in them, and is able to rise above a natural human response to them, and adopt a truly Christ-centered form of spirituality in relation to them. But when the general form of response is to feel vilified whenever one's personal worth or honor has been attacked, the power of any one individual truly to im-itate the humble Christ is extremely limited. The end result is that religious life seriously runs the risk of self-deception and/or hypocrisy. The grace of voca-tion that comes to the individual through the community will simply not be, there, and we are left to mouth empty words of piety. So often it occurs in religious life that we inadvertently offend others. We unintentionally fail to give our fellow religious the attention they deserve. How often we find that they have taken offense and respond in a coarse and unfriendly way. What does it all mean? Where does this fit into a theology of suffering with the humble Christ? How can this reflect the application of Ignatius' spirituality of identification with Christ? So often it seems that the application is beyond our capacity. And yet that would not so often be the Suffering With the Humble Christ / 201 case if we worked at this matter together with dedication and with the awareness that it is only in this way that we justify our existence as members of a Jesuit religious community. ' One of the best ways of correcting this spirituality-practice gap would be achieved by making a decisive effort to return to Ignatius' theology of suffer-ing with the humble Christ and to the inculcation of his teachings in early Jesuit living. One wonders, however, if this is feasible today when so much emphasis is placed upon the importance of other goals. Are we not in danger of emphasizing praxis when we have not yet instilled theoria? Can, for instance, a life of social apostolic activity seriously be imbued with the prin-ciples of Ignatius when so much of the novice's life is devoted to social action? I do not mean to undercut the importance of social action, nor am I unaware of the fact that Ignatius wished the novice to be tested by experience in apostolic activity. But St. Paul recognized the fact that apostolic activity, unless it be imbued with the spirit of the humble Christ, is of little conse-quence. And Ignatius just as surely recognized that.primacy must be given to exposing and educating the novices to the spirit of the humble Christ, instilling in them the desire to follow that spirit in their lives, if their apostolic action is to be anything more than pious humanism. In the long run, is it not really more important that the novice, in his two years in the novitiate, be imbued with the spirit of suffering with the suffering and resurrected Christ? For if he does not capture there the spirit and the importance it has in renovating his life as a Christian and as a religious, he is in danger of never discerning its meaning or importance later. He risks joining the ranks of ambitious, over-zealous and secular-minded religious, whose spirit is widespread in religious life today and who have never realized that grandeur is attained in Christianity through suf-fering with and for the humble Christ. Let me not be misunderstood. The theology of suffering with the humble and humiliated Christ has nothing in common with laissez-faire social think-ing. Neither is it simplistically identifiable with pacifism, or with passive acquiescence in all things as coming from above as pronouncements of the will of God. Evil is to be opposed, and this especially when it involves injustice, insensitivity, immoral decision-making that obfuscates the will of God or denigrates the dignity of the human person. One need only read Jesus' savage attack on the Pharisees in Mk 7 to see that this is so. Theology of suffering with the humble Christ recognizes in the conflicts of Christ a suffering for God and man so that the word of God not be defecated, so that the human per-son not be destroyed. The theology of suffering with the humble Christ cepts the theology of the Sermon on the Mount, a suffering "for holiness' sake," of being "persecuted" for one's convictions, of refusing to accom-modate the message of Christ to worldly standards and values wherever they are manifested. But a response of loving acceptance of personal hurt, of defeat is the response of the theology of suffering with the humble Christ. This is in imita- 202 / Review for Religious, Volume 40, 1981/2 tion of Christ who remained silent in the face ~of his own persecution by legitima.te but unscrupulous authorities. He humbly accepted the will of God where it clearly manifested itself to him. But if one unjustly treats a fellow human being, opposition must be voiced: the dignity of the human person is being assaulted. Sometimes an insult to my person may fall under the same rubric and should not be tolerated. A prudential judgment is necessary. If only we religious would exemplify to the Church at large the importance of this theology of suffering with the humble Christ, it might catch on as a way of lifeappropriate to Christian living. What a reformation that would make in the world: What a transformation in our society, and what a proclamation of the message of Christ and of the theology of the New Testament, which have made it so clear that it is only insofar as we die with Christ that we have a right to hope in being raised with him. The Cradle Home! Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who had brought them, like their forebears, safely back from Egypt. The door yi.elded to a strong arm, creaked open, sagging on its leather hinges. They entered, the Three, and stood training thei,r eyes to the darkness. A shaft of sunlight, slipping in behind them, picked out a cradle; its smooth wood gleamed golden. In three strides the man reached it, caressed it slowly with a strong brown hand. Quickly, on sturdy little legs, the Child stood beside him, curly dark head sharing the sunlight. Still near the door the Mother, intent, watching. "You never used it, Son." The man's voice held the faintest hint of sorrow. The Child put one dimpled hand on the cradle, the other caught at the man's fingers. Eyes deeper than the starred midnight sky lifted to the earnest face. "it is so smooth, Father," stroking a cross bar. "I saved it for all my poor little brothers and sisters. For me, a rougher wood." Sister Mary Luke, C.S.J. 14505 Madison Avenue Lakewood, Ohio 44107 The Problem Member in Community Desmond O'Donnell, O.M.I. Father O'Donnell, an Australian clinical psychologist, was recently appointed a general councilor in his congregation. His present address is General House OMl; C.P;9061 ; 00100 Roma-Aurelia, Italy. When scaffolding or supportive structures are removed from a build.ing, its fibre is tested and any weaknesses in it become obvious. Wisely or unwisely, many of the structures which surrounde~d religious life have been removed in recent years and we should not be surprised if its fibre is tested and its weaknesses become more obvious. But first let us not underestimate the fact that the building is still standing, even if it is showing the strain. And in some ways religious life as expressed in apostolic community is beginning to show signs of renewal and strengthening as it reaches out in concern for mission in many new ways. However, it is with one of the weaknesses that I am concern-ed in this a~.ticle. In my professional work and in my, everyday experience of men and women in the apostolic communities--especially tho,se in the middle years--I have noticed that there is a growing restlessness, not always due to problems within themselves, but due'to their inability to find reasonable harmony within community. It is not difficult to distinguish between those who are restless anyway both in their apostolic area and in their commufiity, from those who are happy and productive in their work but who ca

In his 1961 classic The Labyrinth of solitude, Octavio Paz offered his much discussed metaphor of Mexican masks, referring to the gap in Mexican culture between formal expressions and actual intention or content. This gap between formal agreement and practical rejection is abundantly clear in the field of Human Rights. Mexico is a founding signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and in contrast to its Northern neighbor an early adopter of almost any other additional treaty thereafter. Importantly, it also recognizing the corresponding institutions such as the Inter American Court of Human Rights. The mask fits tightly. Yet the Human Rights record in the past decades, both visible in formal investigations as in the everyday experience of its citizens, speaks of a different reality. Here we don't just refer to the disappearances, lack of security, etc., but also about the frequent violations of rights related to work and the provision of services like social insurance, education and healthcare. This in combination with the notorious impunity and failure of the legal system to effectively address such rampant violations, makes the smiling mask look all the more cynical.Alternatively, we could also accept the challenge that Human Rights pose, and try to match pretention with reality. Mexico does have a basic legal, educational, democratic, social, etc. infrastructure that, given reforms, can serve to build an institutional landscape that supports Human Rights. At the moment of writing, a new progressive government shows revamped interest in social and economic rights, alongside the more usual promises of more transparency, democracy and fighting corruption. If this can be achieved, and if it will be done so with respect for civil rights, it could mark a point of hope rather than a tradeoff.One precondition for any of this to happen, is an awareness of the human rights framework itself. Starting with one's own rights, but also those of others. Yet the violations of certain groups happen either far outside of our view (in forests or prison sells), or are not understood as Human Rights violations (such as obstacles to joining syndicates). By speaking to transnational migrants making the journey to the U.S. through Mexico from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, my team learned a lot about hidden horrors. Murder and rape by criminal groups on trains, robbery and extortion at the hand of security forces in the forests, destitution from drought and disease the Northern deserts. All indicate a systematic failure of protecting, respecting and providing of rights like security, freedom of torture and health, amongst many others. Yet we only knew because of the survivors.The relative visibility and enforceability of the human rights of certain groups form the red thread that connects the first four articles in this special issue of Política, Globalidad y Ciudadanía, which is focused on Human Rights. Articles five, six and seven are part of the normal publication cycle of this journal, although it is difficult to truly stray far from topics that are relevant to human rights, as the entries on gender and policing demonstrate.As far as the first part on Human Rights is concerned, the goal is to draw attention to the systemic, continuous and often less visible human rights issues of Mexico. The aim is to do this in two ways:1. By presenting studies on systematic HR problems and the surrounding struggles, often involving marginalized groups.2. By reflecting on the recognition, visibility and handling of these human rights issues as human rights issues.Although to some extend present in all, the first will be mainly covered in the entries on disappearances (2) and foster children (4), while the second question surfaces more prominently in the this text (1) and the entry on the media representation of human rights (3) of this special issue.We will engage in this endeavor with an interdisciplinary approach and assemble. Various authors have identified the field of human rights as fertile grounds for interdisciplinary work (Freeman, 2002; De Feyter, 2008). A frequent starting point for the study of universal rights is the field of international law (and with that, international relations), yet the focus of this issue is national and thus not primarily concerned with the international aspect of HR. The analysis borrows much from a sociological approach, since the focus is often on "the societal processes and relations that shape and define how human rights are generated, defined and employed in specific social and political arenas" (Madsen, Verschraegen, 2013, p. 4). Besides law and sociology, our interdisciplinary assemble of authors employs perspectives from communication sciences and political science.In what follows, I will briefly walk the reader through the index of this issue of Política, Globalidad y Ciudadanía:In the first article, Tuur Ghys offers a general introduction to the topic and logic of human rights that will be useful in understanding the other entries in this journal. It also deepens the discussion of the central topic of unequal attention and why certain groups struggle to construct their grievances as Human Rights abuse. This article was written in English.In the second article, Darwin Franco Migues makes a deep reflection on the problem of disappearances in Mexico. Approaching the problem from a communication point of view, he explores how the disappeared are often stigmatized and forgotten, as well as the resistance of their families to try to re-frame these human rights abuses. The article was written in English.In the third article, Beatriz Elena Inzunza Acedo presents an empirical study on the knowledge and social imaginaries about human rights. This study, focused on Monterrey, presents data on what people know about HR, how they know it and what issues they imagine as human rights issues. This article was written in English.In the fourth article, Leticia Ivonne López Villarreal offers a case study of the interplay of public policies and private actors in organizing the protection human rights of foster care children in Nuevo León. It shows that a complex web of multi-level processes and actors is required to give voice to the rights of a particularly voiceless group. This article was written in Spanish. The fifth article deals with public policy in the field of sports. Francisco Javier Mendoza-Farias, Rocío Ivonne Quintal-López and Leticia Janet Paredes analyze the limited and slow process of implementing gender equality and sensitivity in CONADE between 2012 and 2018. This article was written in Spanish.In the sixth article, Lenin Ramírez Matus and Genaro Hernández Velazco make a case for improving police mediation in neighborhood conflicts. Reviewing literature, they conclude that local police need to further develop their role and responsibility in pacifying community relations. This article was written in Spanish.In the final, seventh entry, Said Dahdah Antar takes a more historical approach to the topics usually discussed within this journal. His article attempts to trace back the roots of rhetorical speech in political communication and citizen participation back to the ancient Greece and the Roman empire. This article was written in Spanish.As the editor of this issue, I would first of all like to thank the authors, especially the group that had the patience to stick with the human rights project until the end. Second, I want to thank any anonymous students and student assistants for their contribution, as they often form a hidden part of the academic production process. Lastly, in the name of the authors I want to thank all interview or survey respondents for their time and testimonies that gave empirical substance to our research. Enjoy the read. ; In his 1961 classic The Labyrinth of solitude, Octavio Paz offered his much discussed metaphor of Mexican masks, referring to the gap in Mexican culture between formal expressions and actual intention or content. This gap between formal agreement and practical rejection is abundantly clear in the field of Human Rights. Mexico is a founding signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and in contrast to its Northern neighbor an early adopter of almost any other additional treaty thereafter. Importantly, it also recognizing the corresponding institutions such as the Inter American Court of Human Rights. The mask fits tightly. Yet the Human Rights record in the past decades, both visible in formal investigations as in the everyday experience of its citizens, speaks of a different reality. Here we don't just refer to the disappearances, lack of security, etc., but also about the frequent violations of rights related to work and the provision of services like social insurance, education and healthcare. This in combination with the notorious impunity and failure of the legal system to effectively address such rampant violations, makes the smiling mask look all the more cynical.Alternatively, we could also accept the challenge that Human Rights pose, and try to match pretention with reality. Mexico does have a basic legal, educational, democratic, social, etc. infrastructure that, given reforms, can serve to build an institutional landscape that supports Human Rights. At the moment of writing, a new progressive government shows revamped interest in social and economic rights, alongside the more usual promises of more transparency, democracy and fighting corruption. If this can be achieved, and if it will be done so with respect for civil rights, it could mark a point of hope rather than a tradeoff.One precondition for any of this to happen, is an awareness of the human rights framework itself. Starting with one's own rights, but also those of others. Yet the violations of certain groups happen either far outside of our view (in forests or prison sells), or are not understood as Human Rights violations (such as obstacles to joining syndicates). By speaking to transnational migrants making the journey to the U.S. through Mexico from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, my team learned a lot about hidden horrors. Murder and rape by criminal groups on trains, robbery and extortion at the hand of security forces in the forests, destitution from drought and disease the Northern deserts. All indicate a systematic failure of protecting, respecting and providing of rights like security, freedom of torture and health, amongst many others. Yet we only knew because of the survivors.The relative visibility and enforceability of the human rights of certain groups form the red thread that connects the first four articles in this special issue of Política, Globalidad y Ciudadanía, which is focused on Human Rights. Articles five, six and seven are part of the normal publication cycle of this journal, although it is difficult to truly stray far from topics that are relevant to human rights, as the entries on gender and policing demonstrate.As far as the first part on Human Rights is concerned, the goal is to draw attention to the systemic, continuous and often less visible human rights issues of Mexico. The aim is to do this in two ways:1. By presenting studies on systematic HR problems and the surrounding struggles, often involving marginalized groups.2. By reflecting on the recognition, visibility and handling of these human rights issues as human rights issues.Although to some extend present in all, the first will be mainly covered in the entries on disappearances (2) and foster children (4), while the second question surfaces more prominently in the this text (1) and the entry on the media representation of human rights (3) of this special issue.We will engage in this endeavor with an interdisciplinary approach and assemble. Various authors have identified the field of human rights as fertile grounds for interdisciplinary work (Freeman, 2002; De Feyter, 2008). A frequent starting point for the study of universal rights is the field of international law (and with that, international relations), yet the focus of this issue is national and thus not primarily concerned with the international aspect of HR. The analysis borrows much from a sociological approach, since the focus is often on "the societal processes and relations that shape and define how human rights are generated, defined and employed in specific social and political arenas" (Madsen, Verschraegen, 2013, p. 4). Besides law and sociology, our interdisciplinary assemble of authors employs perspectives from communication sciences and political science.In what follows, I will briefly walk the reader through the index of this issue of Política, Globalidad y Ciudadanía:In the first article, Tuur Ghys offers a general introduction to the topic and logic of human rights that will be useful in understanding the other entries in this journal. It also deepens the discussion of the central topic of unequal attention and why certain groups struggle to construct their grievances as Human Rights abuse. This article was written in English.In the second article, Darwin Franco Migues makes a deep reflection on the problem of disappearances in Mexico. Approaching the problem from a communication point of view, he explores how the disappeared are often stigmatized and forgotten, as well as the resistance of their families to try to re-frame these human rights abuses. The article was written in English.In the third article, Beatriz Elena Inzunza Acedo presents an empirical study on the knowledge and social imaginaries about human rights. This study, focused on Monterrey, presents data on what people know about HR, how they know it and what issues they imagine as human rights issues. This article was written in English.In the fourth article, Leticia Ivonne López Villarreal offers a case study of the interplay of public policies and private actors in organizing the protection human rights of foster care children in Nuevo León. It shows that a complex web of multi-level processes and actors is required to give voice to the rights of a particularly voiceless group. This article was written in Spanish. The fifth article deals with public policy in the field of sports. Francisco Javier Mendoza-Farias, Rocío Ivonne Quintal-López and Leticia Janet Paredes analyze the limited and slow process of implementing gender equality and sensitivity in CONADE between 2012 and 2018. This article was written in Spanish.In the sixth article, Lenin Ramírez Matus and Genaro Hernández Velazco make a case for improving police mediation in neighborhood conflicts. Reviewing literature, they conclude that local police need to further develop their role and responsibility in pacifying community relations. This article was written in Spanish.In the final, seventh entry, Said Dahdah Antar takes a more historical approach to the topics usually discussed within this journal. His article attempts to trace back the roots of rhetorical speech in political communication and citizen participation back to the ancient Greece and the Roman empire. This article was written in Spanish.As the editor of this issue, I would first of all like to thank the authors, especially the group that had the patience to stick with the human rights project until the end. Second, I want to thank any anonymous students and student assistants for their contribution, as they often form a hidden part of the academic production process. Lastly, in the name of the authors I want to thank all interview or survey respondents for their time and testimonies that gave empirical substance to our research. Enjoy the read.

Inhaltsangabe: Introduction: The master thesis 'Worldwide Development of Nuclear Energy and the Strategic Deployment of German Consultancies on the Arabian Peninsula' is chiefly targeted at German consultancy companies so that they can assess their status of strategic deployment and prioritize their activities to enter a new business sector in a foreign market. This publication could also be of relevance for policy makers, investors, suppliers as well as nuclear energy and governmental agencies to identify their need for external advisers to safely operate a nuclear power program; provides a guideline for how to enter a new market. Hence this thesis should be considered as an aid to identify hurdles and obstacles that have to be foreseen and so overcome. Potential business fields are also noted as well as important factors that have to be considered to minimize the chance of failure in the new market. Nevertheless, this huge market with its continuously changing constraints and conditions could throw up a lot more obstacles than could be covered in this thesis. Also the internal organizations of individual companies may differ from the one described in the thesis. The objective of this master thesis is thus to set out a set of guidelines for possible approaches. The first two chapters present an overview of the current geographical, political, cultural and economic conditions to familiarize the reader with the background information and constraints needed for the subsequent chapters. The third chapter deals more specifically with the energy market on the Arabian Peninsula, particular in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This chapter provides information on types of energy, pending developments, country-specific organizations and institutions, as well as means of financing such huge projects. The fourth chapter is devoted exclusively to nuclear energy, starting with the current status and the motivation of the two countries to launch such a development. This is followed by a description of the legal requirements and other commitments as decreed by the countries' governments. These specific legal conditions do not just apply within the countries concerned, but companies which do business there are likewise obliged to follow these regulations. Challenges for countries are opportunities for consultants, and identification of these represents is the core content of this chapter. The content of the fifth chapter is the preparatory measures that are essential prior to entering a foreign market. A company's vision and mission as well as various analyses are needed to provide a sound basis for taking a decision to proceed. In this context, SWOT analysis is noted as well as an evaluation of M.E. Porter's 'Five Forces' to describe the market and internal organizations. After the preparatory measures, the implementation phase follows. This and its various stages are described in Chapter 6. It is inevitable that, to ensure success, many measures will have to implemented and subsequently adjusted. This starts with deployment and steering of business units and proceeds to overcoming difficulties with external parties. Recruitment on a permanent basis of employees is also a prerequisite for sustained business success, together with a staff feedback, incentive and salary system. Chapter 7 sets out methods for evaluating previous years' activities in the new business. The first couple of years after 'start-up' are over and the situation in which the company is now has to be assessed. It is frequently necessary to undertake organizational upgrades, that could amount to a complete reorganization of the business, aided by change management provisions. The final Chapter 8 summarizes the key information and content, and sets forth the need and reasons for strategic deployment. Changes in the market means that companies will have to re-adjust for economic survival. Because the nuclear program of the United Arab Emirates is more advanced than that of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and information is less available in the latter country, the main focus of this thesis is on the UAE. Nevertheless, the KSA is an emerging nuclear market with great ambitious for a nuclear program and so is worthy of mention when discussing constraints and conditions that these countries have in common. Other countries that are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) do share an interest in nuclear energy but are not yet at the same stage of development as the UAE and KSA. These serve from time to time to support arguments and figures. A sufficient and reliable energy supply is essential for continuous economic development, contributing also to poverty reduction and health care improvement. If these developments are restricted or lacking, often the result is social conflict that could even lead to civil strife. Examples are rural arid areas in the world where there is no access to potable water. A minor local conflict affects the economic development and population of specific countries and often results in regional instability and interventions from outside. The global energy imbalance has been steadily growing over the past couple of decades. Roughly 1.6 billion people live without electricity, and almost 2.4 billion people rely on traditional biomass to cook their daily meals . Modern fuels are not available or are restricted to the upper social strata. There is an almost equal share of the world's population with no access to potable water, so in the struggle for survival the consequences will be social unrest and riots. In some poor countries of the world, the per capita electricity consumption is as low as 50 kWh per annum, compared to developed countries with 8,600 kWh. Worldwide, the provision of energy is dominated by three major challenges. 1. Energy consumption has tripled in the past half century. If this continues, humankind will consume more energy in the 21st century than in the entire past history. This represents an increase of 53% in global energy consumption by 2030. 2. The main energy resources are now scarce, so to ensure economic development, countries will compete with each other to acquire their own supplies. Each country seeks to protect its existing sources and open up new ones. This will not result in a fair distribution of resources, as poor countries are not able to compete with their developed neighbors and lose out, as has often happened in history. 3. To an increasing extent attention is focusing on environmental impacts. Because of the greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels bring about a rise in global temperatures. The consequences are long-lasting drought, sea level rise, submerging coastal regions and more destructive storms. For these reasons, many governments are reviewing their present energy mixes and are considering alternatives to avert the consequences of energy scarcity, including the renewal of interest in nuclear energy that has been noted in recent decades. Adoption or resumption of nuclear energy is at least one solution for some countries faced with a threat to the security of their energy supplies. Among others, one benefit of nuclear energy is zero emissions of greenhouse gases during their operating phase and the ability of huge plants to provide electricity reliably and on a large scale. Much engineering effort has been devoted to significantly improving nuclear plant safety in recent decades. Furthermore, although they are finite, there are ample reserves of uranium and, unlike petrochemicals, they are not put to any other use apart from as an energy source. Prospecting is under way for new deposits, as currently in Yemen. The cost of electricity generated by nuclear power is now competitive, but a major concern that has still to be resolved is final storage of down burned nuclear fuel rods. An overview of the economics is provided by a cost comparison of the various electricity generation technologies, as shown in Figure 1-1 below. This survey is ongoing in a couple of countries to seek a basis for taking decisions on their energy strategies. The quoted figures are ballpark estimates, with actual values depending very much on local conditions and the current market situation, but they do serve to provide a rough comparison. The outcome of these calculations is that electricity generation from nuclear fuel is, at 91.0 US Dollar/MWh, much more competitive than firing crude oil at 133.4 US Dollar/MWh. However, a major consideration is the distinction that has to be made between supplying base and peak/cycling load. To meet the demand for base-load electricity, large-scale power plants, like nuclear and those fired with coal and crude oil are more favorable. These need an extended start-up period – ranging from a couple of hours to two or three days – before they can feed power into the grid. Smaller scale plant, like diesel-fired simple-cycle gas turbines and solar power plants are able to rapidly ramp their power output up and down to cover daily consumption peaks. For this reason, nuclear power plants almost exclusively operate continuously at or near peak output to supply base load, together with natural gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine plants and coal-fired power plants. Diesel-fired gas turbines and solar power plants find application for peak and cycling duty. The key factors are listed in the following table, with firstly the operating parameters, which are attributes specific to the various power plant technologies that are taken as basic assumptions for the further calculations. The second sub-heading is key financial constraints, which fix the technology that is more economical. These comprise the capital cost for construction and development as well as long-term costs that are highly cyclical and cannot be so readily predicted as the other costs. The third main distinction is the direct electricity generation costs. These are running costs incurred only during power plant operation and are directly related to the rated power output in MWe. This calculation serves as well to identify companies and utility suppliers for nuclear power generation as well as to broaden the mix of energy supply technologies and reduce dependency on specific primary resources.Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: List of Figures4 List of Abbreviations6 1.Introduction and Objective8 1.1Objective of this Master Thesis8 1.2Introduction9 2.Geographical, Political, Cultural and Economic Conditions13 2.1Geography and Culture13 2.2Economy and Politics14 2.3Political and Social Stability in the UAE18 2.4Relations between the UAE and Germany18 2.5Relationship between the KSA and Germany19 3.Energy Sectors of the Leading Countries on the Arabian Peninsula20 3.1Electricity Generation and Consumption in KSA and UAE20 3.2Water Production and Consumption in the KSA and UAE24 3.3Renewable Energy in the UAE and KSA25 3.4Pending Developments25 3.5Country-specific Organizations and Authorities26 3.6Financing of Power Projects in Arabian Countries27 3.7Summary of Chapter 327 4.Nuclear Energy on the Arabian Peninsula28 4.1Status in the UAE and KSA28 4.2Reasons for Launching a Nuclear Program29 4.3Obligations to Launch a Nuclear Program30 4.4Commitments of the UAE31 4.5Challenges and Potentials of the Nuclear Path33 4.6Global Outlook35 5.Preparations for Market Penetration37 5.1Vision and Mission38 5.2Market Analysis39 5.3Strategic SWOT Analysis41 5.3.1Strengths41 5.3.2Weaknesses45 5.3.3Opportunities46 5.3.4Threats47 5.4Five Elements of Realization Strategy49 5.4.1Arenas (market conditions and valuable segments)49 5.4.2Staging and pacing53 5.4.3Differentiators55 5.4.4Vehicles (course of action)55 5.4.5Economic logic58 5.4.6Summary and checklist of foundation59 6.Execution of the Initial Phase60 6.1Centralization versus Decentralization of Business Units60 6.2Acquisition of New Permanent Employees61 6.2.1Recruitment strategy for employees without experience61 6.2.2Recruitment strategy for experienced employees62 6.2.3Selection of potential candidates63 6.2.4Recruitment process63 6.3Internal Deployment and Organization66 6.3.1Feedback systems66 6.3.2Development of competencies66 6.3.3Incentives and salary systems68 6.3.4Difficulties with external parties69 7.Assessment of Business after 'Start-up Phase'70 7.1Reassessment of Recent Years70 7.2Organizational Improvement Measures72 7.3Change Management and the Reorganization of Business and Markets73 7.3.1Strengthen the position in the existing market74 7.3.2Entering new global markets75 8.Summary76 List of Literature78Textprobe:Text Sample: Chapter 3.3, Renewable Energy in the UAE and KSA: Utility companies in the GCC states are under enormous pressure due to the global scarcity of fossil fuels, which are running out much faster than expected, consequently they are boosting also renewable energies. Governmental agencies have been instructed to review energy consumption in the Middle East and are seeking alternatives to meet the rising demand, which is also in line with the global environmental movement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The long shoreline and high insolation throughout the year are optimal for generating wind, water and photovoltaic power. The following illustrate the efforts made by government agencies for the upcoming year: Abu Dhabi's Masdar City is spending US Dollar 2 billion on promoting solar technology. Saudi Arabia is looking to position itself as a centre for solar energy research and so become a net exporter of energy sourced from renewables. Abu Dhabi is to build the world's largest hydrogen power plant at a cost of US Dollar 15 billion. 'Glance over the borders": Jordan is assessing plans for constructing a wind farm while Qatar is considering solar power. 3.4, Pending Developments: Regarding upcoming developments, the two countries, UAE and KSA, have to be considered separately due to the primary resources that are available. Crude oil and natural gas reserves in Saudi Arabia will last decades more than the resources in the UAE. A further reason is that the quality and composition of the mineral resources are much less favorable in the KSA than in the UAE. This means that their firing for power generation is, for economic reasons, the only reasonable option for their exploitation. In the UAE the situation is different, as there the mineral resources are of much higher quality and are too valuable to fire in power plants. The price obtainable on the world petrochemicals market is much higher than the benefit derived from electricity generation. The UAE therefore has a greater incentive to diversify its power generation and to invest in technologies other than fossil fuels much earlier. Based on the financial and economic crisis, the 'Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie' expects a smoother growth of GDP in 2008 and 2009. This means that ongoing projects with a total CAPEX of US Dollar 378 billion will be postponed or abandoned. Despite these figures, the UAE will remain the most important project market for German companies in the Arabian region. Over the near term, between 2009 and 2011, the UAE expects investments of about US Dollar 540 billion. Showing high potential for investments of about US Dollar 24 billion is expansion of water production and power plant capacities. To participate in this development, frequent consultations and top-level meetings are held to strengthen the relationship between German industry and local agencies like DEWA (Dubai Electrical and Water Authority) and ADWEA (Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority). These authorities organize and guide all water and electricity projects, starting with planning and tendering through to commissioning. Over the past four years, energy consumption in the Emirate of Dubai has increased by around 10,000 GWh. As a consequence, the projection for 2010 is for a new electricity generation capacity of 9 GWe provided by power plants. Likewise electricity transmission has potential for growth. DEWA intends to award contracts annually for more than 6,000 km of HVDC (high voltage direct current) transmission lines. DEWA has an estimated annual budget of US Dollar 2 billion.

The citizens' relationship toward the European integration process and the European Union is a dynamic category, varying from country to country and from time to time. The changes in attitudes are affected by occurrences at the EU level, as well as processes taking place in each individual country. However, in spite of the differences and changes, there are tendencies of a more permanent character, which explain the relationship of citizens toward the processes and institutions of the united Europe. Therefore the data collected on the sample of youth and adults in Croatia at the beginning of 2004 give an insight, not only into the attitudes of that moment, which are more or less susceptible to changes, but into trends that enable us to gain scientific insights about the subject of our research. In this analysis the relationship of the participants towards European integration and the EU was investigated through numerous indicators, with emphasis on the perception of the consequences of Croatia's accession to the European Union. However, other aspects of the relationship toward Europe and the EU, which represent a wider context for the understanding of the perception of consequences of entering Europe, were also investigated. The results obtained demonstrate that most young and adult participants in Croatia actually had a neutral perception of the EU – even though there are more of those with a positive than a negative image – and it is logical to assume that this neutrality might be relatively easily changed under the influence of different factors. Nine out of ten participants even supported Croatia's integration into the European Union at the beginning of 2004. Among them, most were Euro-skeptics, that is, those who believe that too much is expected from accession. At the same time, the Euro-enthusiasts (expecting comprehensive benefits from accession) and Euro-realists (believing that integration is inevitable for the survival of small countries) were considerably less numerous. The domination of Euro-skeptics again warns of the instability of the relationship towards the EU, which can be influenced by different events both in the EU and in Croatia. However, in spite of the expressed skepticism, two thirds of participants expected that Croatia will be an equal member of the Union by 2010 at the latest. The experiences of other transitional countries also demonstrated that there are numerous obstacles on the road to a united Europe. Our participants ascribed these obstacles equally to Croatia and the EU, however, the number of young participants emphasizing the EU's responsibility increased from 1999 to 2004, while the number of those stressing Croatia's responsibility decreased. Also, to determine the relationship towards European integration and Croatia's accession to the Union, the findings about the expected positive and negative consequences, once Croatia is integrated into the EU, are most important. Again, both the young and the adults expect more advantages than undesirable consequences. However, there was a mild decrease in the expectance of positive, and an increase in the expectance of negative consequences in the five year period between the two pieces of research. In spite of all these tendencies, the expectations of youth are more positive than those of the adults. The greatest positive expectations were registered on an individual and socio-cultural level, while socio-economic enthusiasm waned. Indeed, it is because of the socio-economic unpreparedness of Croatia for joining a developed European environment, that most negative consequences are expected. An insight into the perception of the social and political consequences of Croatia' s integration into the European Union was gained with the aid of a number of indicators. Thus, research into the expected development of the EU in the coming ten years demonstrated that only the opportunity for easier travel, work, study and life in Europe is something most participants expect, where this opinion is accepted by two out of three young participants. However, they are quite afraid of the costs of integration for Croatia and the worsening of the farmers' position. The adult participants expect more social problems than the young, including a higher level of unemployment. The negative consequences for their own countries are also less perceived by the young in Croatia than was the case with their counterparts in the Union. Related to the fears from the building of a united Europe and European Union, we determined that the young in Croatia are most afraid of the abolition of the Croatian currency and an increase in crime, and least afraid of the potential loss of social privileges. The adult participants, on the other hand, are consistent in demonstrating a higher level of fear in all the examined elements. The fears of the participants from the enlarged EU are somewhat different – the greatest fear is that of employment transferring to other countries, as well as an increase in crime and the drug trade, difficulties for farmers and the price their country will have to pay due to the construction of the EU. Both the young and the adult participants in Croatia are less worried about losing their national identity, language and social privileges than the Europeans. One of the most important components of the construction of Europe and the EU is the enlargement process, although the current crisis that the European integration process is going through, may result in an intermission in its tempo and scope. All our participants emphasize the multifaceted benefits from EU enlargement, followed by the positive influence of that enlargement on Croatia, while the efforts the Croatian authorities are putting into joining the Union were evaluated quite poorly. The adults accept all these attitudes more than the young, as well as valuing Croatia qualities more. Almost two thirds of the participants from the EU candidate countries, on the other hand, gave high marks in 2002 to all the potentially positive consequences of EU enlargement, but one quarter also demonstrated a fear of the possible increase in unemployment in their countries. The potential accession of Croatia to the European Union will also signify a change in the way decisions are made, in the sense that some will be made at the national level, and some along with the EU. Our participants have in this regard turned out to be very prepared for integration, for most of them believe that four fifths of all the observed areas should be the subject of joint decision-making by Croatia and the EU. The only areas in which, according to the opinion of the young participants, Croatia should decide autonomously, are the acceptance of refugees, the judiciary, culture, agriculture and fisheries and the police. The European share a different opinion on this issue, and believe two thirds of the stated areas should be decided upon by their country along with the EU, while it should be autonomous in the fields of preventing juvenile crime, urban violence, then education, basic rules regarding the media, health and social care, as well as unemployment. The perception of the potential winners and losers of Croatia's membership in the EU is especially indicative. Different social groups were, based on the perception of the young participants, structured into the potential losers from integration (e.g. farmers, retired persons, manual workers, the unemployed), potential winners of integration (such as the inhabitants of the capital and some regions, youth and all Croatian citizens), and sure winners of integration, who are also best prepared for Croatia's accession to the EU (experts, those who speak foreign languages, the political elite, managers and large companies). Indeed, it was demonstrated that the young believe the greatest winners from EU integration are those that are today in a relatively better position in Croatian terms, and those whose existing position is not invidious and who most need a better future, were seen as potentially the weakest winners. It is encouraging that the young put themselves in the group of potential winners, meaning they believe that the existing capabilities and potentials of their generation only need optimal circumstances to be fully expressed. Since people that speak foreign languages are perceived as certain winners of joining the Union, we have particularly examined this aspect of readiness for accession. The data about the knowledge of foreign languages is less than thrilling, especially compared to the knowledge of foreign languages of the young in the EU. The first position, of course, belongs to the English language. However, unlike the European results, where the knowledge of French is next in line, in Croatia the second most common foreign language is German. The young speak both these languages more than the adult participants, while they are in a worse position regarding other foreign languages researched (Italian, French, and Russian). In this research, we also determined that approximately three quarters of our participants are proud of the fact that they are Croatian citizens, while somewhat more than half of the young and slightly fewer adults are proud to be European. The young are those with a slightly more critical attitude towards their national identity and are especially avid in the positive validation of their Europeism. However, the most interesting finding is that all the Croatian participants feel less national pride than the population of the European Union, while it is understandable that the EU participants emphasize their pride in being European more often. The answers of the participants regarding the content of the " citizen of the European Union" indicate that neither the young nor the adults have a coherent conception of citizenship in the EU. Still, the right to work, live and study in any EU member country is the key element of understanding this citizenship, with the young in Croatia, as well as youth in the Union itself. Also, both the young and the adult participants in Croatia chose as the least important the general active suffrage, regardless of elections being held for the European Parliament, the national or the local representative bodies. Only one out of four participants from Croatia believes they will have some personal benefits from Croatia's membership in the EU, while almost half of the young and a third of the adult participants have no defined opinion on this issue. This feeling is clearly very much linked to the issue of the personal meaning the European Union has for the participants, where neither the young nor the adults have a homogenous perception. Only one answer occurs in the majority of cases – the EU is a way of creating a better future for the young, while little support was given to the claim that the EU signifies a " European Government" , superior to the national states who are the Union's members. Unlike the youth in Croatia, those from the Union countries mostly emphasize the freedom of movement, while in time the concept of the " European Government" grew more pronounced in their attitudes. Like the Croatian youth, the young in the EU have an equal fear of Euro-bureaucracy, the loss of cultural diversity and the Utopianism of the European idea. Intrigued by the often publicly expressed concern about the emigration of young, especially highly educated people, to other country, we deemed it necessary to explore the readiness of our participants to spend a certain period of time or their whole life abroad. According to our data, two fifths of young people would like to spend a long period of time (working and studying) abroad, while a quarter of Croatian youth would leave forever. The desire of youth to gain certain knowledge, material wealth and experience in other countries is not in question, especially if it is taken into consideration that the young are also the most mobile and flexible segment of society. However, the information that a quarter of youth wishes to abandon this country forever (while not all of them will do so), is worrisome, seen from the point of view of human capital, which is extremely important for the survival and optimal development of a small country such as Croatia. Also, it is important to mention that the percentage of youth that would go abroad forever, with or without an adequate opportunity, increased over the five year period, which is an indicator of the unfavorable trends in the social development of Croatia. The adult participants, on the other hand, demonstrate a more conservative attitude toward the possible emigration of their children to one of the Union countries, but are still prepared to accept their studying and training in the EU, and only 14% of them would like their children to reside permanently or during their working life in one of the European Union member countries. The analysis of the differentiation of youth regarding European integration and the EU indicated the limited influence of the social attributes used. In other words, the young are relatively homogenous in their perception of a unified Europe as well as expectations from Croatia's accession to the European Union. However, there are certain differences, and they are mostly caused by party identification, socio-professional status, regional status and religiousness. The conclusion is that the most influence is exerted on the attitudes toward the European integration process by ideological-political orientations and existing social status as well as the specifics of the wider environment. It was, hence, shown that the supporters of the left of center parties, the pupils and students, the inhabitants of more developed regions and the non-religious participants are more inclined to the EU and the integration process, and emphasize the positive consequences and potential gains from Croatia's accession to the Union more than they express their fears from the negative consequences. This also applies, although to a lesser degree, to young men, the academically educated youth, with an urban background and/or domicile, while the age related differences within the young population are inconsistent. Therefore, we can say in short that the higher social competence of youth is reflected in the formation of a stable and consistent pro-European orientation. Since this group still consists of a minority of youth, it is obvious that a great effort on the part of the advocates of integration is necessary, especially the political protagonists, to attract the majority of youth that are vacillating and, thus, susceptible to influences often opposite in nature. Finally, two most important tendencies may be stressed, which are the result of the research data about the relationship of youth towards the European integration process. The first indicates that the young generation in Croatia is recognized – both by themselves and by the adults – as one of the potentially greatest winners of the European integration process and, in that context, of Croatia's accession to the European Union. The second trend demonstrates that the young, in relation to the adults, consistently demonstrate a more definite pro-European orientation. Both these tendencies suggest that the potentials of youth are a resource to be taken into serious consideration on Croatia's path to the EU, and then in its adequate development in the new circumstances that will arise. Hence, along with all the other damage, which would occur by stopping the EU enlargement process, one of the undesirable consequences would also be the weakening of the motivation and Euro-optimism of youth in Croatia. This would, therefore, additionally aggravate the negative consequences, because they might be used as one of the more important motors for the development of this country, which does not seem to be going in the right direction, in more favorable circumstances – which the assured accession of Croatia to the EU would contribute to.

The empirical literature on institutions and development has been challenged on grounds of reverse causality, measurement error in institutional indicators, and heterogeneity. This paper uses firm-level data across countries to confront these challenges. Instead of analyzing ultimate outcomes, such as income levels where institutional quality is likely endogenous, the focus is on firm-level external finance. Moreover, institutions are "unbundled" to explore how various types of institutions affect external finance differently. The paper documents that micro firms have significantly less access to external finance than small and medium firms. General financial development and contracting institutions that facilitate transactions between private parties exert little effect, on average, on firms' access to external finance. In contrast, property rights institutions that constrain political and economic elites exhibit stronger positive association with access to external finance. The analysis finds evidence of attenuation bias associated with error in measuring institutions. For leveling the playing field between elite and non-elite firms (as proxied by firm size) in their access to external finance, property rights institutions also figure more prominently—with an important exception for the information environment, a component of contracting institutions. The results indicate that a specific channel through which development is affected more by property rights institutions rather than contracting institutions is external financing for firms.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chided NATO states this week for their unwillingness to directly join the fight against Russia."What's the issue with involving NATO countries in the war? There is no such issue," Zelensky told the New York Times in a fiery interview. Western planes could simply "shoot down what's in the sky over Ukraine" without leaving NATO territory, he argued, thus mitigating escalation risks.Zelensky added that he would welcome any plans to send NATO soldiers to support Ukraine's war effort on the ground. The Ukrainian leader also asked Western states to allow Ukraine to use their weapons to target military sites within Russian territory.Zelensky's increasingly desperate pleas come at a difficult time for Ukraine. It has now been over a year and a half since Kyiv made any substantial gains on the battlefield. As political scientist Graham Allison recently pointed out, Russia took more territory in the past two months than Ukraine liberated in its entire 2023 counteroffensive.Ukraine has attempted to regain an advantage through a campaign of attacks on Russian infrastructure, including fuel depots and power plants. The tactical shift is in part a response to Moscow's long-standing campaign of strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which forced Kyiv to impose rolling blackouts this week for the first time since Russia's 2022 invasion.In this moment of crisis, the U.S. has chosen a Goldilocks approach. American officials have long opposed Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory, in part due to fears of escalation and in part due to the potential impact on global oil prices. But Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared to soften that stance in comments last week."We have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine, but ultimately Ukraine needs to make decisions for itself on how it conducts this war," Blinken said. "We will continue to back Ukraine with the equipment it needs to win."From Ukraine's perspective, such comments are far too ambiguous. But American actions have been somewhat more direct. Just a few weeks ago, Washington revealed that it had secretly given long-range missiles to Kyiv that are capable of striking deep within Russian territory.The U.S. has been firmer in its opposition to sending troops to Ukraine or directly helping to shoot down Russian missiles. While some NATO states have warmed to the idea of deploying soldiers to the country, Gen. C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that "right now, there are no plans to bring U.S. trainers into Ukraine.""Once this conflict is over and we're in a better place, then I would suspect we would be able to bring trainers back in," Brown said.As Zelensky plays down fears of nuclear escalation, the Kremlin is taking a different tack. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered drills this week in which his troops practiced using tactical nukes. While these battlefield weapons are smaller than strategic warheads, certain variants can pack a bigger punch than the bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.Russia said the drills, which took place near the border with Ukraine, were a response to "provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation."The escalatory move highlights a diplomatic tension that the Biden administration has yet to address. While Ukraine and the U.S. have a strong shared interest in making Russia pay for its invasion, Washington's superseding goal is to prevent nuclear escalation by avoiding a direct conflict with Moscow. Ukraine, for its part, has every reason to drag the U.S. into a war that Kyiv views as existential.European states are stuck in the squishy middle. Europe has stronger incentives to back Ukraine to the hilt, hence why countries like France and Britain have floated plans for more direct involvement in the war. But any sudden move would naturally implicate their most powerful ally, the United States, which has strongly discouraged any efforts to drag NATO into the conflict.The West has largely papered over these divisions by insisting that it will continue to back Ukraine "as long as it takes." But, as Kyiv's battlefield position worsens, that approach could have an expiration date.In other diplomatic news related to the war in Ukraine:— Ukraine could enter formal talks to join the European Union by the end of June, according to Politico. The main obstacle to this step is Hungary, which has long been skeptical of bringing Ukraine into the bloc, in part due to controversies surrounding Hungarian minorities in the country. But, with Budapest taking over the rotating presidency of the European Council in July, some diplomats speculate that Hungarian officials would rather get the issue out of the way as soon as possible, especially given that there will be plenty of future opportunities to derail Kyiv's accession in the coming years.Ukraine's larger and longer-term impediment will be bringing its political system in line with the standards for EU membership, which will require efforts to root out corruption and strengthen democratic systems in the country.— Last Friday, the EU moved to ban four Russian media outlets that the bloc described as "essential and instrumental in bringing forward and supporting Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," according to Reuters. The decision to block the Russian-language outlets followed a previous move to ban Russia Today and Sputnik, both of which have broadcasts in English. The Kremlin pledged to "respond with lightning speed and extremely painfully for the Westerners" without revealing exactly what that means.— In this week's edition of "who's mad at France," American and European officials fumed over French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to invite a Russian representative to D-Day commemorations next month, according to Politico. "Perhaps this will remind the Russians that they actually fought real Nazis once, not imaginary ones in Ukraine," an anonymous U.S. official told Politico. The event will provide a rare scene: Biden, Macron, and even Zelensky will stand side-by-side with a Russian official for one of the first times since Russia's 2022 invasion.— In part deux of "who's mad at France," Zelensky chided Macron for suggesting a worldwide truce during the Paris Olympics this summer, according to Agence France Presse. "Let's be honest... Emmanuel, I don't believe it," the Ukrainian leader said. "We are against any truce that plays into the hands of the enemy." Chinese leader Xi Jinping threw his support behind the idea, but Putin has yet to say if he would endorse a truce.— Ukraine is now offering parole to prisoners who sign up to fight Russia, with the exception of those convicted for particularly serious offenses, according to Reuters. Ukrainian officials say the decision could allow as many as 20,000 prisoners to join the war effort, providing a much-needed boost in manpower as the war drags on. Russia has faced harsh international criticism for its own policy of granting clemency to inmates who join the war on Moscow's side, a policy that has given the Kremlin more than 50,000 extra soldiers.U.S. State Department news:In a Monday press conference, State Department spokesperson denied that the U.S. is using a double standard for International Criminal Court cases against Russian and Israeli officials. "There is a fundamental difference here and it's that Israel said they were going to cooperate with the investigation. Russia did not," Miller said. "Israel said they were going to cooperate with the investigation, talk to them about the charges that they were preparing to bring. And the ICC short-circuited that cooperation by bringing these charges."

If there is a "Chekhov's gun" in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, it consists of circa $300 billion worth of central bank assets sitting in the coffers of the U.S. and (more so) its close allies. Frozen at the outset of Moscow's invasion, the money represents both the object of the strongest sanctions taken so far against a state outside of a UN-authorized regime, and, at the same time, the possible target for even more dramatic further escalatory measures.The question at the moment is whether G7 states will make the crucial transition from "freezing" to "seizing" – i.e., liquidate the funds and then reallocate them to assist Ukraine. The issue has gathered urgency amidst flagging support in the U.S. and in Europe for continuing to expend funds on shoring up Ukraine's struggling defenses.At home in the U.S., the bipartisan REPO Act endorsed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would empower the President to "confiscate ... Russian sovereign assets'' and to then deposit them into a "Ukraine Support Fund" that would aid in reconstruction, recovery, and the "welfare of the Ukrainian people." Those goals, if vague, are hardly objectionable. But using seized sovereign assets to promote them is, as a matter of law, untested and problematic. As a matter of economic statecraft, meanwhile, it is still more inadvisable, for several reasons. These include the significant risk of alienating allies, further discrediting U.S. "dollar power", boosting China's prestige and its own "yuanization" aims, and endangering U.S. assets abroad.Piercing the Veil of SovereigntyThe legal objections are quite simple to summarize. The norm of sovereign immunity is one of the most well-established customs in international law. In the eyes of many experts, it is precisely the firmness of this bedrock principle that has allowed exceptions, such as litigation for commercial disputes involving states, to become reliable.The rule is reflected in the law of countries around the world, including in the U.S.'s own Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. China, notably, has only as of this year finally implemented legislation for immunity that clearly separates commerce from matters of state, putting foreign businesses and investors on equal footing as litigants — which should be seen as a victory for U.S. interests in its market.Despite immunity's inarguable applicability to central banks, advocates of asset seizure have pointed to the custom of "countermeasures'' to justify their project. These are illegal acts taken by states injured by a previous wrong of another state, and intended only to induce the latter to cease its misbehavior. Usually, only a directly injured party (here, Ukraine) can take such actions, but emerging arguments for "collective countermeasures"would extend the field of retaliators for some core wrongs to include any state in the global community.Experts critical of asset seizure have pointed out, however, that doctrinal support is lacking. As Vanderbilt Law School's Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk rightly summarizes: "There is little or no state practice on countermeasures for reparations ... There is little practice of third-party countermeasures, little or no practice of countermeasures used to deny immunity, and no practice that provides clear support for denying central bank immunity as a countermeasure."Meanwhile, given that most of the funds currently lie in special accounts at the financial services company Euroclear, any repercussions would also be primarily borne not by Washington, but rather by its European allies. That fact has prompted considerable opposition to the initiative among European policymakers, despite their willingness to join earlier rounds of sanctions. After all, Europe's leaders are, in effect, being deputized to carry out a policy of financial warfare whose costs they will have to bear right along with that policy's targets.First of all, the precedent of a geopolitically-motivated confiscation could threaten the euro's hard-won status as the world's second reserve currency. The euro's attractiveness has been based on numerous ingredients, obviously including Europe's economic productivity, stability, and growth potential; however, its apparent security for asset-holders as compared with the more thoroughly weaponized U.S. financial system is also a key factor. And then there is, of course, European states' relatively far greater vulnerability than Washington in the case of any escalations of the broader NATO-Russia conflict.It is understandable why the EU has so far balked on agreement to a plan of outright confiscation of Russian funds. It has, instead, begun to implement a much more moderate approach of reallocating to Kyiv the sizable interest payments being generated by the frozen assets. However, the G7 is still due to discuss the proposal for seizure at its next meeting. The Biden administration, along with Canada and Japan, remain strong backers of this idea.A Financial Coalition of the Willing?Debates are intensifying. For example, when Swiss lawmakers discussed reparations involvement this month, the motions were adopted in the Senate by 21 votes to 19, with three abstentions. Some senators worried about "weakening" international law protections, which "exist to protect small states." Those misgivings are still more widely shared beyond Europe, of course, as large swathes of the Global South know precisely how vulnerable they can already be to Western sanctions. A dubious new practice of asset confiscation would make U.S. dollar power, already a subject of widespread discontent, even more unpalatable.If the G7 financial offensive provokes as much backlash as it seems poised to, could China stand to benefit? Certainly, Beijing is likely to reap diplomatic dividends from perceptions that Western financial warfare has become too extreme. Xi Jinping's Party center has emphasized portraying China as a law-abiding global power, especially by embracing UN institutions (where it, of course, exerts great influence at little cost). The contrast with a G7 maneuvering around the UN at every turn makes a potent impression in the Global South.A separate question is whether China's vision of a "de-dollarized" world could receive a boost from Western confiscation efforts. Certainly, Beijing has long sought to increase the yuan's share of global foreign currency reserves and cross-border usage, and has made some recent progress. The RMB would indeed become more attractive as dollar and euro accounts began to look ever more vulnerable to seizure.But it has a long way to go. Currently, the yuan is only the fifth global reserve currency, still narrowly trailing the yen and the pound. It is also limited by domestic economic issues and, especially China's strict capital controls and heavily managed exchange rates. As a recent article produced for a PRC Ministry of Education research project phrased it, given all of the current obstacles to international use of the RMB, even for Russia itself, "de-dollarization cannot be a complete renminbization."Still, intensified weaponization of Western currencies could indeed boost China's yuan efforts, and, more significantly, provide a major stimulus to plans for a BRICS basket reserve currency. The move would simultaneously improve Beijing's reputation as an apparently more responsible actor with respect to foreign assets, while also perversely incentivizing it to further experiment with its own nascent unilateral sanctions regime.A managed process of de-dollarization with cross-bloc participation could be a good thing, but a chaotic transition triggered by Western hubris, provoking similar ventures by great power rivals, would not be. Like the "coalition of the willing" that supported the illegal Iraq War in 2003, arguably helping to normalize behaviors like those of Russia today, the coalition now aligning for ever-escalating financial warfare may ultimately weaken international law protections for everyone, not only their intended targets. It is time to put a freeze on the transition to seizure.

Haiti's deepening crisis — armed groups launching an assault on the government, and the de facto prime minister on indefinite layover in the San Juan, Puerto Rico airport — is a predictable consequence of 14 years of U.S. support for undemocratic regimes connected to Haiti's PHTK party as it has dismantled Haiti's democracy. Haiti has a chance at reversing this descent and returning to a more stable, democratic path, but only if the Biden administration will let it.Prime Minister Ariel Henry was stranded in San Juan Tuesday on his way back from Kenya, where he had signed an agreement for Kenyan police to come bolster his repressive, corrupt and unpopular regime. The armed groups, including many that had collaborated with Henry's regime, took advantage of his absence to attack government infrastructure, and free 5,000 prisoners, many of them members of armed groups. Henry had planned to fly to the neighboring Dominican Republic and take a helicopter ride back to Haiti's National Palace under the cover of darkness. But Dominican authorities refused entry to the prime minister's chartered plane, which re-routed to San Juan.Prime Minister Henry has not yet resigned, and the State Department denied reports that it demanded his resignation. But Henry has clearly lost the support of the United States, which for two years had allowed him to resist Haitians demands for fair elections. Absent Washington's support, Henry has little chance of regaining power. This dire situation is not only predictable, it was predicted. Haitian-American officials, Haitian civil society, members of the U.S. Congress, and other experts had been warning for years that the U.S. propping up Henry would lead to increasing tragedy for Haitians. The United States, which installed Henry in power in the first place, ignored these pleas and stood resolutely by its friend. With U.S. support, Henry's unconstitutional term as prime minister exceeded any other prime minister's term under Haiti's 1987 Constitution. Levels of gang violence, kidnapping, hunger, and misery also reached unprecedented levels.The United States is still insisting on getting Kenyan troops to Haiti. The State Department has persistently — if so far unsuccessfully — tried to deploy non-American boots onto Haitian ground since Henry requested them in October 2022. The mission's deployment initially stalled because it was widely rejected as a bad idea that will primarily serve to prop up the repressive regime that generated the crisis. Haitian civil society repeatedly insisted that the first step towards security must be a transitional government with the legitimacy to organize elections and determine how the international community can best help Haiti.Concerns that the intervention would serve only to reinforce an unpopular regime led the countries that the Biden administration first tapped to lead the mission, including Canada, Haiti's Caribbean neighbors, and Brazil, to pass. The U.N. itself concluded that the mission would require too much "robust use of force" to be appropriate for a peacekeeping mission. So, the Security Council took the unusual step of authorizing the mission, but on the condition that it not actually be a U.N. mission that the organization would have to take responsibility for. The Biden administration, likely concerned about election-year cell phone videos of troops shooting indiscriminately in crowded neighborhoods — as the last foreign intervention did — declined to send U.S. troops for the mission (but is considering deploying a small Marine contingent to Haiti in early March).Last August Kenya — which did not even have diplomatic relations with Haiti but did need the hundreds of millions of dollars that the United States offered — agreed to lead the mission. The exploratory delegation Kenya sent to evaluate conditions in Haiti quickly realized how deadly the planned mission would be for Haitians and Kenyans alike, and proposed to limit its scope to protecting public infrastructure.The United States was not open to renegotiating the deal, and Kenya withdrew its proposed limits. But Kenya's High Court temporarily blocked the deployment as unconstitutional. Ariel Henry's visit to Kenya was for the signature of an accord that Kenya's President William Ruto hoped would overcome the court's objections. Kenyan lawyers insist that the agreement itself is illegal, and are continuing their challenge. In the meantime, Kenyan officers who had volunteered for the mission are changing their minds. Another obstacle appeared on March 7, when the White House conceded that the mission cannot be deployed without congressional approval of funding.The State Department's insistence that the Kenyan deployment must nevertheless happen raises fears that the United States will also continue its policy of installing and propping up undemocratic regimes in Haiti. Finance Minister Patrick Boisvert, who Henry tapped as interim prime minister when he left for Kenya, increased concerns of authoritarian governance on March 6 when he declared a three-day curfew and state of emergency throughout the Port-au-Prince region in an edict that did not even mention the legal basis for his authority. The next day Boisvert raised more fears by extending the emergency measures for a month and adding in a ban on all protests.The State Department's rescinding its support for Henry might have been promising had the gangs not already made his ouster inevitable. State's claim that it now supports "an empowered and inclusive governance structure" that will "pave the way for free and fair elections" might have been promising if it had not added the condition that the new government must "move with urgency to help the country prepare for a multinational security support mission."A legitimate, broadly supported, sovereign transitional Haitian government might request foreign police assistance. But a government allowed to form only if it accepts a U.S.-imposed occupation force originally designed to prop up a hated, repressive government is not sovereign. It may not be legitimate or broadly-supported either.The United States tasked CARICOM, the federation of Haiti's Caribbean neighbors, to forge a civil society consensus. CARICOM has enjoyed credibility in Haiti in the past, but over the past few months it has faced criticism for trying to strong-arm civil society into an agreement that maintained Henry's power. Not surprisingly, CARICOM-led talks on March 6 and 7 failed.When allowed, Haitians have a history of coming together to make their way out of a crisis. Haiti became a country in 1804 by defeating Napoleon, with almost no outside help. In 1986, when the U.S. finally withdrew its support from Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, Haitians eventually wrested power from the military and held fair elections. In 2006, they voted their way out of the crisis created by the U.S. kidnapping of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide two years before. In August 2021, shortly after the killing of Haiti's last president, Jovenel Moïse, a broad-based group presented the Montana Accord that would have created a transitional government leading to elections in two years. The U.S. vetoed the accord, citing, among other reasons, that the two-year time frame was too long. That was 30 months ago, and there are no elections in sight.No amount of submission to U.S. demands by Prime Minister Henry and his predecessors can justify the absolute horror that our support has allowed them to inflict on the Haitian people. It is time for the United States to let Haitians come together and make their way out of the current crisis. Civil society sees an opportunity for democracy in the crisis, and people all over Haiti have been meeting, discussing and negotiating to develop platforms for a broad-based, legitimate transitional government that can hold fair elections. It is expected that soon — maybe within weeks — one of these platforms will rise to the top, and civil society will coalesce around it. The United States needs to let that process happen without interference or conditions.

The Biden administration is wrestling for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — or so it claims. President Joe Biden has insisted that the war in Gaza must end with a pathway to Palestinian independence, a proposal Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has loudly rejected. Arab governments have tried to sweeten the deal, by offering to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for "irreversible" steps towards a Palestinian state.There's one irreversible step Biden could take with or without a deal: granting the Palestinian Authority diplomatic recognition. Experts say that the U.S. president has the power to recognize the State of Palestine, with immediate legal effects, and would most likely be able to push the United Nations to recognize Palestine as well. The president would not need permission from Congress or Israel, despite the fact that Israeli troops remain in control of most Palestinian territory."Even if the exact borders haven't been defined, Israel was recognized as a state without defined borders, so it's not an insurmountable obstacle," said Khaled Elgindy, former adviser to Palestinian negotiators and current head of the Program on Palestine and Israeli-Palestinian Affairs at the Middle East Institute in Washington.Biden is unlikely to make such a drastic move. His administration has opposed steps as basic as a ceasefire in Gaza, while running past Congress to flood Israel with generous military assistance, including ammunition refills and targeting support. Although Biden administration officials have portrayed themselves as helpless bystanders to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, trying their best to create the conditions for a solution, experts and former officials say that the administration has a variety of tools it has so far chosen not to use — both diplomatic recognition and other moves short of it."On the ground in Palestine," recognition of a Palestinian state "would not change too much," argued human rights lawyer Zaha Hassan, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It would likely change how third states deal with the issues following on the U.S. lead, however."U.S. State Department official Josh Paul had resigned from his post last October over concerns that the "expanded and expedited provision of lethal arms to Israel...would only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people." In an essay published by the Los Angeles Times last month, Paul called on the Biden administration to recognize Palestine and endorse Palestinian statehood at the UN Security Council as the "first step" to a new peace process.The United States previously blocked the Palestinian Authority's bid for full UN membership in 2014. (It currently has a non-voting, observer seat.) Paul told Responsible Statecraft that no permanent member of the Security Council "would veto a U.S.-supported candidacy for Palestine."Everything from water rights to the use of radio waves and airspace over Israel and Palestine "would become negotiations between two equal parties rather than concessions from the occupier to the occupied," Paul said. "For many of these there are international arbitration fora that exist that would suddenly apply."Making Palestine a full member of the United Nations would render Israel "a state engaged in aggression against another member state" under the UN Charter, said Hassan, the lawyer. That could have immediate effects under American law. The Arms Export Control Act, which regulates American weapons sales and military aid, requires foreign buyers to use American-made weapons for "legitimate self-defense" in line with the UN Charter.After the Israeli air force bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, the Reagan administration temporarily suspended fighter jet shipments to Israel on the grounds that Israel had exceeded the limits of self-defense. If Palestine were recognized as a separate country from Israel, similar calculations may come into play.However, it "really depends on the parameters of that recognition decision and what Israeli action we're talking about," said former State Department lawyer Brian Finucane, now a Crisis Group adviser. The United States could interpret Palestine's borders and Israel's right to self-defense in a way that continues to allow for broad Israeli military action.Another immediate impact of recognition would be allowing Palestine to open an embassy in America. Previously, Palestinian diplomats were based in the Palestine Liberation Organization offices in Washington, which the Trump administration shut down in 2018. If Palestine were a state, it could open an embassy protected by international law."However, Palestine might not want to do that unless the president also stops treating the PLO/PA officials as terrorists," said Hassan. The administration could waive immigration restrictions on Palestinian officials, but those officials may still be on the hook for civil lawsuits over violence against Israelis, due to the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act, passed by Congress in 2018.On top of the terrorism sanctions, any future U.S. administration could de-recognize the Palestinian government, warned Finucane, so "you need some kind of political consensus supporting" Palestinian independence to make it last. From the 1990s onwards, U.S. policy has been to support a Palestinian state as the end result of negotiations, not beforehand."It would almost certainly create a crisis in the bilateral relationship with Israel, which is the fundamental reason why it wouldn't happen," said Elgindy, the former adviser.However, Elgindy insisted that there are measures short of recognition that the Biden administration could take. Biden has so far imposed visa bans on Israeli settler vigilantes who commit violence against Palestinian civilians. He could push more serious economic sanctions against the settlements. Elgindy pointed out that several American charities funnel money to the settlements, and Biden could easily revoke their tax-exempt status. Several New York state legislators are pushing for that measure.Biden has also declined to reverse some of the Trump administration's moves entrenching Israeli legal control over the Palestinian territories. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had issued a memo declaring that Israeli settlements are not "per se inconsistent with international law," and ordered U.S. customs authorities to label settlement products "made in Israel." Biden's State Department has not reversed either decision.U.S. military aid to Israel is often cited by critics as another point of leverage that the United States refuses to use. Congress currently budgets around $3 billion a year in aid to Israel and is considering $14.5 billion in additional aid this year. There are signs Biden would have a willing partner in Congress if he decided to restrict that aid. Almost every single Democrat in the Senate has signed on to an amendment that would add endorsement of a two-state solution to the military aid package."Step One is the realization that there isn't a military solution to this, and that only addressing the political dimension is going to resolve that. Right now, they're doing both. They're saying there is a military solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but we also want to have a diplomatic solution. You can't really do both. It doesn't make any sense," Elgindy said. "Maybe they think that they mean it, but in reality, they are creating the conditions that make a diplomatic settlement almost impossible."Faced with the tradeoff between military and diplomatic measures, Biden is committed to continuing the Israeli war."You cannot say there's no Palestinian state at all in the future. And that's going to be the hard part," Biden said at a December campaign event. "But in the meantime, we're not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel in the process. Not a single thing."

The Israeli incursion into Gaza has begun though we do not know yet how full or advanced it will become. But it is reminding us already that war, especially urban combat, is indeed hell.So what will this ground invasion actually look like on a tactical level? Gaza proper is roughly 25 miles long and on average 5.5 miles wide. This is a tiny amount of space in which to conduct a large-scale military operation. Most modern artillery can almost shoot the length of Gaza. Most modern anti-tank missiles can shoot half its width. Israeli F-16s can fly the length of the strip in under three minutes and will find it necessary to be in a constant turn to maintain position over Gaza City. To make the range issue worse is the urban nature of the battlefield. While it might only be around five miles wide, it's highly unlikely that you have line of sight that far due to man-made obstacles — better known as buildings. What this means is no one has superior range. If you can see it, it's in range. If it's in range, so are you.The majority of this space in fact is covered in buildings — shops, offices, schools, hospitals, and residences. Each one provides cover and concealment for fighters. The structures also create natural channels funneling attacking forces into pre-designated fire zones for ambushes or over top of improvised explosive devices. Israeli armor can't conduct maneuver warfare on this battlefield. Armor will be sitting ducks without infantry support. Infantry are vulnerable to everything. The Israelis will take losses, and already have, according to the New York Times on Wednesday. Urban areas pose difficult tactical problems. Fortified urban areas are worse. Over the past decade Hamas has developed a labyrinth of tunnels that are fortified and connected literally across the entirety of the strip, and especially heavy in Gaza City. They use these underground structures for command and control, movement, logistics, shelter, and as a way to "out flank" and ambush an enemy. Fortified urban areas with significant population density pose the biggest challenges. The majority of combat will take place in Gaza city proper which has a greater population density than New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia or San Francisco. There are over two million people living in an area roughly twice the size of Washington D.C. This means civilians, or non-combatants, are everywhere. Even if half the population has moved south it will still cause the Israelis immense targeting problems. In addition, the densely populated area compounds the Israeli problem of target identification. Hamas intentionally blends in with the civilian population. The bottom line for the battlefield is that it helps Hamas and hinders the Israelis. In urban warfare, the defender, in this case Hamas, has the advantage. An advantage that can be mitigated if the attacker has overwhelming firepower, and the will to use it. How Hamas will fightHamas will use the urban terrain to cause excessive Israeli casualties while forcing them to injure civilians to limit those casualties. They will make every block a fortress and every street corner an ambush site. By using the "subterranean flank" they will pop out of tunnels and hiding places in buildings to shoot at Israeli vehicles with missiles, launch grenades, or even throw Molotov cocktails.While they may not be using Javelin anti-tank weapons (although the threat of Hamas having those weapons shouldn't be dismissed, given what may have been captured or "lost" in Ukraine), their weapons will be more than sufficient to at least disable a tank and cause casualties. The short ranges decrease Israeli reaction time and increase lethality. Hamas fighters are commingled with the civilian population most likely both intentionally and unintentionally, and will take full advantage of that. They know the world watches what the Israelis do and are counting on pressure to make them stop. Again, they see this war as existential, so they will use any and all means to win. How the Israelis will fightFirst, Israelis must find the Hamas fighters, then engage them in their fortified positions.They must do this without taking unreasonable casualties, all the while trying not to kill civilians. To find Hamas fighters the Israelis will use a variety of sources. They will have already scanned the electromagnetic spectrum for everything from cell phones, computers, to radios looking for an electronic signature to identify a potential target. They will pour over social media for anything identifiable.They will use drones, manned aircraft, and human reconnaissance teams to confirm and verify what they think they know. They will do all this and more to listen, collect, and build a targeting picture of command centers, logistics sites, artillery positions, and order of battle — who is who, who has what, and where it is. This process is called intelligence preparation of the battlefield. This is what the Israelis have been doing — in truth some of their targets were most likely derived long before Hamas attacked just as most certainly Hamas had/has a robust target list of Israeli targets — since the start of hostilities. The ground incursion of course changes this process. With Israeli tanks and infantry "closing" with the enemy, finding and subsequently engaging Hamas fighters will most likely devolve into merely returning fire — often with zero time to figure out how to limit civilian casualties. It's one thing to take a breath and disengage in sparse open terrain, it's another thing to figure out who is shooting at you.Once located, the Israelis have a host of options to engage the Hamas fighters. But it's not a simple task of deciding what weapon is best to use. They have to measure what they do by three metrics: 1) does it achieve the desired effect on the enemy? 2) Can they accomplish the task without losing too many Israeli soldiers? 3) Can they limit civilian casualties, which in excess can be a war loser for Israel? If civilian casualties weren't a concern, the Israelis would use their massive firepower to destroy any and all Hamas targets or potential targets. They have the potential to literally level Gaza City using 2,000-pound satellite guided bombs with delayed fuses to smash the known tunnel complexes or at least seal them for eternity. This would meet the goal of destroying Hamas and limiting Israeli losses. But in reality this approach would cause unacceptable civilian casualties. The inverse would be to advance for a close quarter battle that seeks a more "surgical" path. In a close quarter battle, you do nothing to mitigate the defender's advantage in urban warfare and you take losses — lots and lots of losses. Storming a building can be like storming a trench. We have seen what that is like in Ukraine. So how will the Israelis fight? Their best option for destroying Hamas (which is the first priority), managing their own losses (second priority), and limiting civilian casualties (last priority), will be to strike hard when they have known, verified targets, advance to make contact with the enemy, then choose the weapon to engage. Moving slowly, deliberately, a block at a time.This is why the prime minister said it would be a long war. This grinds Hamas down through attrition and loss of supply. The longer it takes, the more food, water, and fuel Hamas uses with no hope of real re-supply. The Israelis proclaim this war is existential. They will keep that consideration as they manage the tension of their losses and civilian casualties. Some suggest this will look like the battle for Fallujah between U.S. forces and Iraqi insurgents. Perhaps. But I suggest it will be more like Stalingrad or Berlin. Like in those battles, both sides see the war as existential and will conduct themselves accordingly. One thing is for certain, for the populations on both sides, this war is truly hell.