Trust the Slow Work
I’m turning things inside out and upside down today!
Instead of ending with some words or poetry to reflect on, let’s start with this prayer from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. I was introduced to this prayer in my spiritual director training. I love the words. Read it slowly, a time or two, and notice if any words or phrases stand out to you. Then, keep reading. I’m sharing why line has been a niggly invitation to me.
Patient Trust
“Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.”
—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
I sometimes use the “Prayer of Patient Trust” in spiritual direction sessions. This week, the first line popped into my mind for no apparent reason, and it hasn’t let me go. This is exactly the smaller and deeper movements I like to explore in this weekly newsletter. When a word, phrase, or idea seems like an unexpected invitation, that catches me off guard and sparkles with wisdom that feels just below the surface I pause with it to see what I might learn.
“Trust in the slow work of God” are the words Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote, but the first five words have been rolling around in my head. Trust in the slow work. It feels so very counter-cultural to trust in the slow work.
Slow work, isn’t that an oxymoron? It’s the opposite of efficient and effective hacks and productivity tips.
Yet, there is something fresh in the idea and invitation to trust the slow work.
I find it endlessly fascinating to look up the dictionary definition of words I know, like trust, to see what new insights the dictionary might hold. I loved a secondary dictionary definition of trust. Another way to consider trust is “freedom from suspicion or doubt.” That lands gently in my soul. It’s equal parts a gentle, spacious invitation and endlessly challenging, bordering on impossible.
What would it be like to be free from suspicion and doubt? There are not many places and spaces in life that encourage that stance. Most news, social media, advertising, and many conversations are framed with a bit of “healthy” suspicion and doubt. There is a constant diet of questioning the motives of politicians, media, and all social institutions. Social media is tinged with the question, is that for real? Do they love that, or are they paid to love that? When I pause to reflect, it’s easy to see that suspicion and doubt are more often than I like the animating energies.
It feels like a lofty and yet spacious invitation to be free from suspicion and doubt in (or maybe about) the slow work of God, or healing, growing, discerning. Being free from the suspicion and doubt that daily lands in my soul is a more tangible and actionable invitation than simple trust. Trust is a word rich with meaning but harder to put actions to. I can wrap my head and heart around what it might take to free myself from suspicion and doubt. (That is not to say it would be an easy journey, but probably a journey worth making!)
We are all much involved in slow work. Ideas, hopes, dreams, growth, relationships, and healing slowly unfold. Things that we long for and hope for that could be but are not yet. That’s slow work. The approved human being development curriculum is built almost entirely on the concept and idea of slow work. We mature slowly. We heal slowly. It’s the slow fermentation of sourdough bread and wine that makes those things tasty.
Trust in the slow work. It’s how anything of value is done, with slow, steady, step-by-step progress toward the desired goal or outcome.
Trust in the slow work of God.
Trust in the slow work of growth.
Trust in the slow work of discernment.
Trust in the slow work of courage
Trust in the slow work of forgiveness
Trust in the slow work of love
Trust in the slow work of fermentation
Trust in the slow work
Trust in slow
Trust = be free from suspicion and doubt
So we return again to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s words:
Patient Trust
“Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.”
Davin, Michael, and I had our monthly haiku Zoom call this past week. I say this every month, and it’s true; it’s one of my favorite conversations. I enjoy Davin and Michael, but it’s more about the creative synergy that always unfolds. Seeing what they have written and responding to it is a uniquely creative and thought practice. Every time, there is a string that connects the three haiku that isn’t apparent at first glance…You’ll see if you watch (and I really hope you will!) What do pheasants, mountain bikes, breath, and flowers share? We find the animating energy beneath and magnify it. The result is exciting and energizing to find unseen themes and help them become seen through writing and shared reflection.
Visit Profound Living to see each of our Haiku cards and to access our entire library of haiku conversations!
