Everywhere these days, we’re told that the best policy is “no surprises.” Our world is obsessed with control, planning, and risk management. Parents of small children, coaches, managers, therapists, spouses, and friends are advised to be steady and predictable, to avoid sudden changes, to be transparent, and to explain expectations clearly. Much counsel in spiritual matters has a “no surprises” flavor. We’re advised to stick to routines and develop good habits of prayer. We can rely on what we know to be true, because God is faithful. After all, says the writer of Hebrews, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (13:8). The Apostle James says of God, “there is no variation or shadow due to change” (1:17).
But does that mean “no surprises”? Maybe not. No one was more surprised than Abraham when God told him to leave his comfortable home and set out on a journey without a map. No one was more surprised than Mary when the angel of God visited her with an unexpected announcement. Same for Elizabeth and Zechariah, the Galilean fishermen mending their nets when Jesus walked by, and Saul on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians. Jesus didn’t think the steady, predictable, exact, clear, and precise “no surprises” religious observance of the Pharisees was anything to be praised. In fact, he condemned it. Jesus constantly overturned the expectations of people who listened to him, including, especially, the expectations of his disciples, who were with him all the time and were startled time and again by what he had to say.
Pope Francis often spoke warmly of the “God of surprises.” He talked about the Holy Spirit’s creativity in always bringing new things into the life of the Church: “The Spirit is the gift of God, of this God, our Father, who always surprises us: the God of surprises” (Morning Meditation, “God of Surprises,” May 8, 2017). Francis warned about “spiritual rigidity.” He was critical of those who resisted change. Their attitude of, “This is how it has always been done,” “kills freedom; it kills joy; it kills faithfulness to the Holy Spirit who always moves forward, leading the Church forward.”
The problem is that we can fall into a rut. Routine can harden into rigidity. Once open minds can close. Sticking to “how it has always been done” seems to work well, or well enough. When the new thing comes along and we’re surprised by the God of surprises, we’ll frown and say, “That’s not how we do things around here.”
Many statues of St. Ignatius show him with one foot raised, alert, eyes forward, and striding into an unknown future. That seems to be the right posture. Ignatius didn’t always know where he was going. But he served a God who makes all things new, a God of surprises. He didn’t know what the next thing might be, where it would take him, or what it would demand of him. But he was ready for it.
I’m reminded of one of my favorite novels, Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen. At the end of the book, a woman who had powerful mystical visions in her youth writes to a friend, who wants to know if she still has such an intimate relationship with Jesus. She replies, “We try to be formed and held and kept by him, but instead he offers us freedom. And now when I try to know his will, his kindness floods me, his great love overwhelms me, and I hear him whisper, Surprise me.”
We crave certainty. Instead God offers us freedom. Are you surprised?
As a spiritual director, I often hear retreatants say, “I was surprised by…” and that’s my signal to really pay attention. Ideas out of nowhere are often from God.
Thank you, Jim for a great reflection.