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Be attentive to the world around you
By Dorothy Cummings McLean
September 21, 2009
Dorothy Cummings McLean
The shiniest star in the constellations of contemporary Catholic theology is arguably Karl Rahner (1904-1984). There are few Catholic theology departments where you can escape from Rahner’s influence, even though he is as fun to read as the Freiburg telephone directory.
But I went to Regis College, one of the only theology schools in the world where the German Jesuit Rahner has been dethroned by the Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergan (also 1904-1984). And one of the first things that happens to you when you begin a M.Div. at Regis College is a big red book called Method in Theology. It begins with Lonergan’s warning, “This book has long been in the making” and, lo, it is a long time in the reading.
But I went to Regis College, one of the only theology schools in the world where the German Jesuit Rahner has been dethroned by the Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergan (also 1904-1984). And one of the first things that happens to you when you begin a M.Div. at Regis College is a big red book called Method in Theology. It begins with Lonergan’s warning, “This book has long been in the making” and, lo, it is a long time in the reading.
Fortunately, it is fascinating, and if you are bitten by the Lonergan bug, you next read Lonergan’s 800 page Insight and discover how human curiosity in itself proves the existence of God. Sadly, I have never managed to get to the last three chapters, and therefore still have to take the existence of God on faith. But, meanwhile, I learned an awful lot from Insight about how human beings come to knowledge.
Lonergan believed that knowledge is a three-step process including experiencing, understanding and judging. Pure experience is feeling something without yet knowing what it is. (Think of a cat, dozing contentedly in a sunbeam.) Understanding is an answer to the spontaneous question “What is it?” Judging is the test of the hypothetical answer to “What is it?” with the second question “Is it so?” Judgment (and possession of knowledge) leads to a fourth step, deciding, and its question, “That being so, what do I do?”
These four steps are analogous to Lonergan’s four great rules for integrity: be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable and be responsible. Of course, they are easier listed than done.
Take “Be Attentive.” It is tempting to get through the day with as little attention to the world as possible. There is an entire electronics industry aimed at blinding and deafening us to our surroundings. People on the subway stare almost sightlessly into the middle distance, listening to their headphones. People on the bus shout conversations into their cell phones, apparently unaware of their irritated neighbours. But life passes us by when we distract ourselves from it.
When we are attentive, it is usually with our eyes or ears. But we have three other senses at our command. To really experience life, we have to be attentive to what all our senses are telling us. And this becomes even more important when we relate our experiences to other people.
For example, my friend Nicole sent me an e-mail rejoicing that she was going to attend The Killers concert at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto. She wished I could go. I wished I could go, too, so I asked her to send me a report after the show. “I want to read the sights, sounds, feelings and smells,” I wrote. “Oh, and tastes, if you eat or drink anything, OK?”
“Will do,” wrote Nicole cheerfully. “Smells is an intriguing one…”
As a matter of fact, smell is the royal road to memory. Ask a group what their favourite smells are and what memories they trigger, and prepare for lots of smiling, nostalgic faces.
Nicole went to the The Killers concert, and I waited eagerly for her detailed report.
“It was magical,” she wrote.
“Nooooo!” I shouted at my screen. “That tells me nothing! Nothing!”
But I sent a much calmer query, and Nicole relayed the details the next morning. She had loyally remembered to pay attention to everything, not just the sound of the music — which was a heroic undertaking, as Nicole really loves music.
Nicole sat on a clean lawn, surrounded by people, watching the stage and listening to the music as the summer sun set. She could smell excitement, beer, pot and the nearby harbour. Because of the distance of the stage from her grassy perch, she enjoyed the rock music without being deafened by it. The first song energized the crowd, and when confetti fell from the stage ceiling during another popular song, seagulls wheeled above as if in concert. The lead singer, who wore his trademark black sleek trousers and a fancy black jacket with pointed shoulders, grabbed Nicole’s attention with his charisma and style. When the sky grew dark, the stage was illuminated first by the moon, and then by lights. After an encore set of three songs, the band left to the strains of “Moon River.” And Nicole was glad, afterwards, that she had used all her senses.
“It’s true,” she wrote. “Without your list, I wouldn’t have remembered to remember the pot and beer and lights and surroundings. I’m such a music fan I’d only remember the set list and songs... Now I have the moon, the birds, the confetti, his jacket, the clean grass.... the chilly night air and the smell of the water.”
And now I do, too. And, perhaps, so do you.
Lonergan believed that knowledge is a three-step process including experiencing, understanding and judging. Pure experience is feeling something without yet knowing what it is. (Think of a cat, dozing contentedly in a sunbeam.) Understanding is an answer to the spontaneous question “What is it?” Judging is the test of the hypothetical answer to “What is it?” with the second question “Is it so?” Judgment (and possession of knowledge) leads to a fourth step, deciding, and its question, “That being so, what do I do?”
These four steps are analogous to Lonergan’s four great rules for integrity: be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable and be responsible. Of course, they are easier listed than done.
Take “Be Attentive.” It is tempting to get through the day with as little attention to the world as possible. There is an entire electronics industry aimed at blinding and deafening us to our surroundings. People on the subway stare almost sightlessly into the middle distance, listening to their headphones. People on the bus shout conversations into their cell phones, apparently unaware of their irritated neighbours. But life passes us by when we distract ourselves from it.
When we are attentive, it is usually with our eyes or ears. But we have three other senses at our command. To really experience life, we have to be attentive to what all our senses are telling us. And this becomes even more important when we relate our experiences to other people.
For example, my friend Nicole sent me an e-mail rejoicing that she was going to attend The Killers concert at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto. She wished I could go. I wished I could go, too, so I asked her to send me a report after the show. “I want to read the sights, sounds, feelings and smells,” I wrote. “Oh, and tastes, if you eat or drink anything, OK?”
“Will do,” wrote Nicole cheerfully. “Smells is an intriguing one…”
As a matter of fact, smell is the royal road to memory. Ask a group what their favourite smells are and what memories they trigger, and prepare for lots of smiling, nostalgic faces.
Nicole went to the The Killers concert, and I waited eagerly for her detailed report.
“It was magical,” she wrote.
“Nooooo!” I shouted at my screen. “That tells me nothing! Nothing!”
But I sent a much calmer query, and Nicole relayed the details the next morning. She had loyally remembered to pay attention to everything, not just the sound of the music — which was a heroic undertaking, as Nicole really loves music.
Nicole sat on a clean lawn, surrounded by people, watching the stage and listening to the music as the summer sun set. She could smell excitement, beer, pot and the nearby harbour. Because of the distance of the stage from her grassy perch, she enjoyed the rock music without being deafened by it. The first song energized the crowd, and when confetti fell from the stage ceiling during another popular song, seagulls wheeled above as if in concert. The lead singer, who wore his trademark black sleek trousers and a fancy black jacket with pointed shoulders, grabbed Nicole’s attention with his charisma and style. When the sky grew dark, the stage was illuminated first by the moon, and then by lights. After an encore set of three songs, the band left to the strains of “Moon River.” And Nicole was glad, afterwards, that she had used all her senses.
“It’s true,” she wrote. “Without your list, I wouldn’t have remembered to remember the pot and beer and lights and surroundings. I’m such a music fan I’d only remember the set list and songs... Now I have the moon, the birds, the confetti, his jacket, the clean grass.... the chilly night air and the smell of the water.”
And now I do, too. And, perhaps, so do you.
Dorothy Cummings McLean