jerome-pondering

[jerome-pondering]

Franciscan Economic Thought Mounts of Piety and Contemporary Institutions

Microcredit: Grameen Bank

background:

Muhammad Yunus • Bangladeshi economist • Studied poverty in the early 1970’s • 1974 famine • 1976 founded program for microcredit for poor, especially farmers • Small loans (approx. $25) • Social “lending groups” help support and coax members to repay loans • Government supported project, made independent bank in 1983 • Others helped provide capital (beyond Bangladesh) • Yunus and Grameen Bank received Nobel Peace Prize in 2006

Grameen Bank • Grameen is the Bangla word for “rural” • Five people meet with bank managers, two are given loans • If two repay on schedule, the rest receive loans • Peer pressure replaces collateral • 2,200 branches in Bangladesh; similar programs in other countries • 97% of recipients are women • Inspired other ventures …

Problem: How to get power to rural homes? • Lack of electricity in rural Bangladesh • Difficult to set up infrastructure to wire homes with power plants • No companies saw bringing solar panels as profitable • What kind of company would serve here?

“Social Business” • To solve a human problem • Does not yield dividends for investors • Company should yield profit • Proposal should “pay its way” • Profit repays initial investment, small administration cost, and reinvests remainder in addressing the human concern

Grameen Shakti • Established as a company that would eventually turn a profit • Profit goes into furthering goal of rural power, not to increase individual wealth • Initial outlay can be repaid, with profitable business model • Rural persons get power • New employment • Initial investment allows capital to circulate to margins of economy

This model was seen to be effective, so other, for-profit companies were set up to also bring solar power to rural homes.

Franciscan / Gospel Values parallel in another culture • Social relationships are critical • Dignity of human person • serving persons on the margin of society, rural poor • value: common good • Value of treading lightly on environment • lower carbon footprint for solar power • Gratuity (Carbajo) as respect for the other person • recognizing and addressing widespread need • This rising tide does lift all boats

[jerome-pondering]

Franciscan Economic Thought

Every dollar is a vote. I have frequently preached about how the way we spend (or don't spend) money reflects who and what we support, the values we practice. The idea of "poor use" of things is something I often practiced even before meeting the Franciscans.

The greatest takeaway from this course, for me, has been the historical perspective. I was impressed by the note that pawn shops developed from the Franciscan-promoted Montes di Pieta (see image), essentially microcredit institutions that assisted those on the margins of the economy with the finances they might need, for example, to set up or expand a business. I had not thought much about the importance of keeping money circulating in a way that would benefit others, as an abstract principle or moral imperative, but I have been long fascinated by organizations like the Grameen Bank which promote microcredit and have a high rate of repayment due in part to the social structure they set up as a precondition for the local collection of loans.

I had not been aware of the changes in the economy between the time of Jesus walking this earth and the time of Francis. This course gave me a better sense of how the economy shifted from some use of coins to almost no use of coins to again using coins. The social-structural reasons for these shifts help me to make sense of the reality of Francis' world.

In addition to the historical examples and development of the economy, it is helpful to read and hear and discuss this overview of the principles of Franciscan economic thought.

I appreciated the opportunity to engage in some discussion, to apply these general principles to aspects of our life today. This overview of Franciscan economic thought is an excellent complement to the reading I'm doing on economics more generally, in order to have a more informed background when I preach on such practical matters.

In our discussions, I'm constantly thinking of the fact that the choice which acknowledges the importance of building trust and not simply maximizing profit short-term may often yield a greater long-term profit. I remember when I was teaching before I became a friar, one of the other young faculty members hired at the same time was complaining about the poor choice we had for pensions. I didn't understand his complaint that he had lost money, because the socially careful investment instrument I had chosen had yielded a good profit. We did not discuss the difference between short and long term profit strategies, but this is implicit in our discussion about the social value of trust and honesty.

[jerome-pondering]

Knowing Ways

Knowing God and Knowing Others: Reflection on Ministry

Dave* called me to schedule Confession. He knew his health was declining. He did not want to move into a nursing home, but also knew that that was also inevitable. Others told me what I could confirm from his words with me: Dave was a difficult person.

I continued to hear his Confessions after he entered the nursing home. At the time, he was the only person I visited there, but he would call me every few weeks asking for the Sacraments, and I could hear his Confession and bring him Communion. Holy Anointing at the beginning of his time in the nursing home, and again near the end.

At the beginning of me seeing him, and at the beginning of each time we met, Dave would complain. Nothing was good, nothing was good enough. He was angry and on edge.

Eventually, Dave fell asleep in the Lord. Before that happened, I noticed that there had been a gradual change in his Confessions. Along with the change in how he spoke with me, I noticed a change in the way that the nurses spoke of him. Fewer complaints, fewer demands. More appreciation. Confession was a real reconciliation for him, not only with God but with the world and people around him as well.

I recall one of the nurses getting misty eyed when I asked about Dave after he had gone home to God. That would not have happened when he had first arrived.

Coming to know God

I can simultaneously hold both pessimism and optimism about a person (even myself) in my heart. But confronted with a person who is stubborn and appears to be stubborn even about prayer, it is enheartening to see the advice I give have such an effect on someone other than myself. I don’t remember a parishioner having any significant change like Dave did. And I don’t remember noticing a parishioner in the kind of stubborn prayer Dave seemed to engage in. Usually we give up.

Knowing God in and through speaking and praying with Dave—this is a complex set of interactions, over time, involving prayer and therefore God’s direct presence with these two human persons. Sometimes I was not personally interested or more to the point, I felt it somewhat hopeless whatever I might say to Dave. I went because Christ came to dwell among us, not because I thought it would help anyone. Simply imitation of Christ.

This is a very basic kind of trust, that there is some purpose to imitating Christ, even if it yields no efficient or productive result. And when that trust bore fruit for Dave, I felt like God was trying to send me a signal. This was a time when I was sorely tried and many relationships in the friary were odd at best. God was giving me a sign that there is some positive fruit, even in the short term, for my presence, my ministry. One of the friars who knew Dave seemed to think this was God’s work, a miracle of sorts. God does actually wait for us to turn to him.

This same method I have used in other ways, not only in Confession. The simple reminder of the turning to prayer and gratitude is not only helpful for the other person, but it also helps me to be patient in dealing with someone who finds it difficult to deal with life or even to remember such direct advice.

Conversion of Heart

(Three lessons or principles: (1) memory, understanding, desire as three aspects of how we know another; (2) a habit of gratitude or prayer can break through the overwhelming quality of strong anger or stress; (3) even small habits can shape our hearts and have a profound long-term effect.)

While I used different words, the basic method I advocate is rooted in the importance of memory, understanding (perception and intellect), and desire (will and choice that is part of will). Bonaventure (Into God) would recognize this.

First, we have to remember more than just the emotion and reaction of the moment. Remember to be grateful for something. I asked Dave to remember to tell the aides thank you for basic things. In Dave’s situation, I would probably be stressed and even angry just for having to be in a nursing home. But there are other emotions and values we have to remember when the fire burns in our heart.

When we are in the habit of being grateful and we experience stress or anger, the habitual nature of our gratitude can draw us to perceive more than our immediate distress. The adrenaline rush, whether we are used to lashing out or raging in our heart, need not be repressed but simply accompanied by other values which can help us to train our hearts to direct that energy in a different path, away from the sin of rage.

Those who study habits suggest that we are made for this. Small habits shape our hearts and make significant changes and adaptations in the long run.

When we learn to remember a broader set of values, allowing us to perceive a human person in front of us, we can choose to love. We are able to desire something better than merely venting rage. We can allow God to shape our heart to be Christ-like, as we are created to live.

The specific advice to Dave was more tailored to his situation, but I find this approach helpful in my own life. Understanding how the human person functions, spiritually, mentally, physically, all help me to know myself better. Seeing the advice work in another person gives me the confidence that I actually grew to know Dave, and that both of us grew in our knowledge of God.

*obviously identifying information has been changed and obscured, since this is a story about Confession

[jerome-pondering]

Knowing Ways

Love to Know God

We can love because God has first loved us. In the same way, I’ve always felt that I know God because God has reached out to know me. He has reached out through my parents, through the Church, and directly.

I remember praying on the bus home one day because the driver took the route backwards, and so we were going to be let off way after the time we should have been left off. Mom would be worried. And I “heard” The Voice tell me not to worry, just to pray.

The Voice has told me four times to be wary of certain men. Three have been accused of inappropriate predatory behavior. The other was untrustworthy for another reason. Hmm.

Maybe there really is a God.

I find it difficult to doubt God, and the Universe only makes sense to me if indeed, God loves us in spite of the mess we make of things, and God loves us enough to redeem us without rescuing us entirely. I find no other philosophy of life that makes sense of the world and offers life. My response, however, falls short.

I can remember some things before they happen, and I gradually came to consider the possibility that God was trying to help prepare me, to disarm some of the native nervousness of my personality. There are other explanations possible for this phenomenon, but this is one that rings true for me.

A few considerations, as if these ways of being present are keys to unlock the mystery of life: redemptive suffering, joy, being with, enduring with, maturity and growth in maturity, relationships visible in so many creatures and in so many other ways, patterns replicating at various levels, symbols and reality itself beckoning to consider something more than survival or efficiency.

The first prayer I chose to memorize was a prayer to the Holy Spirit: Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, everywhere present and filling all things, Treasury of Blessing and Giver of Life, come and dwell within us, cleanse us of all stain, and save our souls, O Gracious One. I don’t hold to the idea of the Holy Spirit as the “love between Father and Son” because that doesn’t sound very personal. I do hold to the idea of the Spirit as the quiet breath of God, which seems more Scriptural. This fits my experience. The Holy Spirit should be discerned, not assumed. All kinds of wild charismatic fervor does not necessarily signal the Spirit. Do we pray quietly, or assume that every movement is a movement of the Spirit?

Formal prayers teach me aspects of God and how to relate to Him. I know the centrality of relationship—not only between me and God but also with others, from the forgiveness line of the Our Father. Odd, uncommon words like “hallowed” push me to understand a concept not common in daily speech. Epiousious bread prompts me to think of one like Superman, a superbread, a supernourishing essence. Whatever comes from me is simply from me, but what comes from the Church helps me to integrate my understanding, and therefore my will, with that of the Church, and by extension, with God.

Everything good comes from God. Almost a postulate for understanding the world, I’m prompted more to turn to the Most High Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not to presume that I’m responsible alone for any good that I do. This motivates me to craft my life more carefully. For example, in the resolution I have to avoid cursing by instead blessing. Or in my more-recent efforts to craft humor that builds others up, to reduce the biting humor that blossoms in my head. It’s an interesting exercise that has refocused my attention and my sense of humor and also made me feel a bit more vulnerable while also more joyful even in the face of insulting humor.

Perhaps it is fitting to end with the quote from Bonaventure:

For this reason, from him, through Him and in Him all things are; for He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. To behold Him perfectly is to be blessed, as was said to Moses: I will spread all good out before you.

[jerome-pondering]

Knowing Ways

Love to Know People

I learned more about the human person more efficiently than any other methods in starting to teach mathematics and in the process during the novitiate of exploring personality profiles—my own, in contrast with the others in the novitiate with me. I should add that I was raised with a presumption that each person is capable of knowledge and love (see Thaddee Matura, Message, 86).

Mathematics and especially the mathematics classroom in America values the precision of mathematics along with the understanding of the subject and to assist the student to see how to apply the ideas of mathematics. This intent prompted me to pray for patience, the calm that I believe necessary to listening to another’s “heartbeat” or “mathbeat” as the case may be. The subject, with its difficult clarity, gave a limited environment to practice, to focus attention, yet not removed from the emotional life of the student or the teacher. I had thought only a little of the actual need of students to see the emotions of the teacher, the role I would eventually describe as cheerleader…for math, for the student as student, even for life.

In the novitiate we took three different assessments and had an interview with a friar who was professionally certified to administer these assessments. The personal discussion, for me, gave little insight into myself but helped me to see more clearly the possibilities of other persons. Apparently little over 1% of the world’s population shares one of the slices of my personality profile. No wonder I think differently from most people. But to see the other possibilities, to speak with others about how we would confront specific situations, to see some ways not only to value them in my heart but to convey that value in a way others could perceive, was helpful.

We have been speaking in our discussions about the light outside or within a person that allows me to know that person. But I have always focused more on the filters—think rose-colored glasses—that help me to see some things more easily, while more easily ignoring other aspects. Perhaps more relevant to the question at hand, if we realize the variety of lenses each of us has, we can better recognize the uniqueness of each of our fellow creatures.

[jerome-pondering]

Knowing Ways

Love to Know People

Sudden burst, I step aside.

Where are you? You speak not in this room, not from this time.

Heart beats. Blood pulses.

No knife I see, but sound of a swift thrust, seeking a place to rest and rest again. I know the Surgeon’s calm, and it is not His blade, not His deft skill.

I hear drums, from over a hill, from an earlier age. The beat echoes in my heart, but it is not my rage hitting the drum. You are old, but you strike like one unlearned in the pat-pat-pattern of the Dance. I try to dance with you: the fingers of your hand are all knives.

The drum beats a frenetic message. Underneath the chaos beats three short, three long, three short. A message hidden, unintended but clear and universal. You know not what you speak.

Father, forgive him: You know who needs Your blessing.

On the third day, I hear your voice.

You tell me of the tumor you inherited, ganglia groping from gut to beat in your chest the pain of a past age. Diagnosis, partial. Pain, complete, suffused through every motion, every word.

No surprise. Now I know what I saw in your eyes and heard in your voice through so many years.

No surprise. Only the one we ask Our Father to deliver us from can so cloud our vision.

Now you, too, can trust the Father to send his angels to lift us up when we cast foot against stone.

For only by stumbling do we learn to dance.

[jerome-pondering]

Knowing Ways

Love to Know Nature

Can I be calm when the dog barks? This is learned.

Can I be calm when the voice rages? Let me hear the message behind his words.

Can I still speak when so many, so often, have not understood me? When it seems pointless to utter a word, can I find a way to utter, “Word”?

Remembering not only the tritone but the path through chord and tension to resolution.

A new calm, a higher level with each day, each new adventure.

Pay attention to each person, hear the “numbers” or harmonies, the echoes from others in the chamber of my heart.

I’m not comfortable with dogs in the friary. Many reasons, “the jaws that bite, the claws that catch…,” but also the difficulty of who is the master, how does the dog understand being part of the group in a way that respects the owner but also the equality of the brothers, that the dog’s “owner” is not the ruler of the house though he is (or should be) alpha to the dog. That said, dogs are incredible animals. I am amazed at how a dog is able to understand, sometimes quite quickly, that I will not feed him from the table but I will reliably open the door to let him out.

I do speak with dogs, more or less as I would speak simply with another person. Maybe sometimes the dog, however stubborn, seems to catch on more quickly than some people. As a paperboy, I would speak to the dog a block down the street who would bark and growl to try to stop me from delivering what I later found out was used as an instrument of torture by the adults of the house. No wonder! Using a mode of communication that I was familiar with calmed my nerves. But dogs do understand some words in addition to reading emotions. As long as I stayed against the fence across the street, the dog stayed more or less in his fenceless yard.

A big part of learning is perceiving what is really present. Thus, to be calm enough not to jump to conclusions or ignore important signs, however small.

[jerome-pondering]

Knowing Ways

Love to Know

I met a woman who had moved from a memory unit to the regular section of a senior care facility. She described knowing while she was in the memory unit that something was wrong, that her perception and memory was out of whack, without being able to convey or describe it. It was her intuitive sense that she was not in sync with what was real.

John Duns Scotus posits that a person can directly know someone or something. (I would like to know more of the way he himself writes about this, not merely the analyses of his writing, which is most of our reading assignment. Unfortunately, most of his writing was destroyed intentionally, so it is being reconstructed from student notes and related resources.) The experience of the woman I had met illustrates a meta-level sense of this intuition: our relationship with our environment can even clue us into the possibility that we can directly perceive the structure through which we perceive and interpret our environment as a whole.

We know enough about human cognition to know that this experience can be explained (modeled) through purely physical aspects of human life. We pick up all kinds of sensory data without being consciously aware of it; only sometimes do we pick apart our experiences or analyze our surroundings to discern the sensory data driving our intuitive conclusions. (I’m fascinated with the way the Scotist approach “fits” with some aspects of a more contemporary or scientific approach to our understanding of the world.)

I appreciate (1) the distinction Scotus makes between our perceptions and the thing we are perceiving, (2) his recognition that there is a thing we perceive which is (my words) partially responsible for our perceptions, and (3) the care he takes to make a minimalist definition of ‘being’ (‘not nothing’)—especially as I consider God as ‘beyond being’ since God is not ‘a being’ (already implying something by the use of the article ‘a’) but more ‘the essence of being’ or ‘Being Itself.’

I am curious to explore the differences and similarities between Scotus’ understanding of intuition, rooted in a direct experience of another, and the emotional intuition we have, which is a body-reaction developed at least from the accumulated effects of previous body-experiences or reactions in related situations and our reflections on those previous experiences. Does emotion play any role at all in how Scotus writes about knowledge?

When Sr Mary Beth Ingham describes Scotus as existentialist and personalist, I think about how I read the writings of St John Paul the Great. He, too, was communicating a joyful invitation from God to a world that is filled with people who do not believe that God can be near or that there can be any real purpose to life. I sense that this is part of our struggle to be men of faith. Even in our friaries, it is often too difficult for us to embrace the reality of the struggle of life, especially the demand of Gospel Life. The mere perception of evil can prompt us to flee, to hide, which is in itself giving into evil. I never knew Scotus well enough to see this in his writings, so this description entices me to learn more of his perspective.