Reflection of the Week - 20th August 2024

By Richard Rohr

Posted Aug 20, 2024 in Faith

A Helpful Relationship 

The word ‘mentor’ comes from Greek mythology. Mentor was the name of the wise and trusted counsellor of Odysseus. When Odysseus went on his long journey, he put Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, as his teacher and the guardian of his soul.  

We long for believable mentors on every stage of our journey. In Western culture and even in the Christian tradition, we have few guides to lead us deeply into life’s full journey. We have almost no mentors who have been there themselves and who have come back to guide us through. Of course, there are many bosses, ministers, coaches, and teachers who will happily tell younger people how to ‘fix’ their problems, so they can be ‘normal’ again, but a true mentor guides people into their problems and through them. It feels a bit messy and wild, but also wonderful in some way. A wise mentor leads someone to their own centre and to the Centre, but by circuitous paths, using their two steps backward to lead them three steps forward. It may look unproductive, but it is really the wisdom path of God.

We need someone to be in solidarity with us, so we can learn what it means to be in solidarity with ourselves, and eventually with others. Have we forgotten how Jesus formed his disciples? We can read all the words of Jesus in the Gospels in a matter of hours, but Jesus spent three long years discipling the people who followed him. What he gave them was not so much his words but his example and his energy, his time and his touch. ‘Where do you live?’ said the first two disciples of Jesus. ‘Come and see,’ he replied, ‘so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day’ (John 1:39). What a telling account! In John’s Gospel, one of his disciples even laid his head on the breast of Jesus (see John 13:23–25). They knew how energy was passed: not primarily by sermons and books, but by relationships and presence.  

I have no doubt that one of the main reasons I have done some interesting things in my life is the number of men who believed in me throughout my formation. I remember one old friar who told me as a young Franciscan, ‘Richard, I want you always to trust your intuitions. Promise me that you will always trust them, even if they are wrong once in a while. The direction is right and I will personally fight for you in the background if it ever comes to that.’ Need I say more? He was my spiritual father on that day, and one trustworthy spiritual father, mother, friend, or mentor can make up for a hundred negative ones.

Reference

Richard Rohr A Helpful Relationship  — Center for Action and Contemplation (cac.org).

Comments

Write comment