With Love & Gratitude, Respect & Appreciation for Pope Francis -who introduced (me!) to synods -sandra, topps, writeousmom
Pope Francis. Born Dec 17, 1936. Died April 21, 2025. Today being his funeral..
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i am Christian; not a 'Catholic' Christian; but regard myself a hybrid.. adopting beautiful ways of being, thinking, behaving, living, praying from a variety of Christian denominations; from a variety of TV and church ministers; Bible Teachers..
i am a believer. i love Jesus. i find the Bible truthful, intriguing, insightful, helpful, mysterious -packed with love; practical words of wisdom applicable in my every day life.. and in some cases.. the Bible is beyond my education & life experience to grasp -but based on my life results
i am commited for the entirety of my physical life; into the eternal one..
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let us dream, the path to a better future, Pope Francis was gifted to me (per request i believe..) several Christmases ago..
-fun to look through and see all my personal highlights, notes, parenthesis, underlines..
in perusing it yesterday.. there are other paragraphs that stand out to me now.. new ones..
but, the most germane for this day, this time, this current political, cultural climate:
Pope Francis's writings, teachings on SYNODS. i am quite certain, i never encountered the word prior to reading this book.
pg 81: My concern as Pope has been to encourage such overflows within the Church by reinvigorating the ancient practice of synodality. I have wanted to develop this ancient process not just for the sake of the Church but as a service to a humanity that is so often locked in paralyzed disagreements.
My husband and i have been watching a great deal of tv -political coverage, by programs both for and quite against the current Trump Administration..
'paralyzed disagreements' is an accurate description. -the views, thoughts, ideas, opinions, facts, theories, are so totally opposite depending on what station you watch..
we sum it up this way, "two different realities; people are literally living in two different realities"
each certain the other is wrong; each utterly believing they are -write. -each being provided/fed, and then providing 'evidence' that backs their truth and point of view. -no surprise,
both sides have evidence to back their point of view.
anyway.. it's TV. TV itself has certain rules.. codes... criteria.. which must be factored in. Like, the goal is a viewing audience; to grow the viewing audience..
the goal for any cameraperson is not to feature a peaceful, predictable, slow paced... thoughtful...
the goal is -action.. drama.... conflict... interest... TV is competitive.. so much manipulation of emotions; exploitation; things intentionally taken out of context and shared to the masses..
and, -journalism.. has its rules, codes, criteria, culture..
and -congress.. and put those all together.. it's vaudeville. there is so much, what i call, 'gotcha journalism' so much 'attack' or be 'attacked' in conversations..
"watch so n so destroy so n so.." "so n so loses it on national stage.." "so n so is humiliated by.."
mocking is a highly regarded skill set on air.
there's a big appetite and audience for this type of programming.
you have to really work at it if you hope to identify an actual problem; and work much harder than that even, if you hope to solve one.
i love the idea of synods, but, pretty immediately you'll see like me, synods will not likely be -televised.
part of the criteria is the process of mutual listening..
but worse than that.. periods of silence between speeches to allow people to become conscious of the motions of the spirit. -can't think of a time on TV i heard somesay say, 'give a minute to think about that..' -or, 'i can feel my emotions getting the best of me.. let me pause for a moment'
synods 'quod omnes tangit ab omnibus tractari debet'
-what affects us all should be discussed by all
-would be a wonderful practice for everyone though; secular.. faithfilled.. wonderful for families, churches, workplaces.. spouses.. teams of all kinds.. anywhere more than 1 person is in a room..
a successful synod does not need to result in everyone thinking and believing the exact same thing.
pg 82 This synodal approach is something our world now needs badly. Rather than seeking confrontation, declaring war, with each side hoping to defeat the other, we need processes that allow differences to be expressed, heard, and left to mature in such a way that we can walk together without needing to destroy anyone. This hard work; it needs patience and commitment -- above all to each other. Lasting peace is about creating and maintaining processes of mutual listening. We build a people not with the weapons of war but in the productive tension of walking together.
*** lots more here..
my take away.. synods involve listening; involve quiet time, pauses to reflect; process..
synods require a maturity level that allows two opposing views to be thoroughly expressed; uninterrupted.
synods will reveal agendas.. biases... distinguish between opinion, fact..
will reveal authentic truths vs. peer pressured responses.. or ideas born from false information..
synods will teach
-good example of 'seek first to understand, then be understood'
participants seek to share vs impose ideas.. request vs. demand
participants are free, and allowed to.. maintain their original beliefs; and/or adjust them based on new information.. be converted based on new information.. double down on original belief, based on hearing the other side..
be more deeply convicted by truths..
****
but a (secular) synod is a mutually respectful conversation and exchange between people(s) who have slight or dramatically opposing point of views
-you should ultimately be able to discern (explain) -how your original point of view was formed; what has supported and reinforced it?
-understanding your own, should transfer to understanding how another person came to hold an entirely different point of view.. what has supported, reinforced their point of view
-synod's should offer exposure to other ways of thinking on a given topic..
synods do require an open heart and mind, but, as Pope Francis writes,
synods do not aim for 'peace at any price.'
but respect; mutual respect before, during and after. this should be the opening and end result.
-it is my experience that listening, followed by considering, thinking, pondering, filtering.. processing
and sharing the results of that: solves a lot of problems all by itself.
-what breaks my heart, is when people 'disown' each other entirely.. utter estrangement, because they believe differently. believe my way.. or else.
-what gives me hope, is when i see family members, friends, who can say, "we are on polar opposite sides of that issue.." acknowledgement without estrangement. they don't continue to try and persuade, convert each other.. they take that topic off the table, and the relationship itself stays intact.
in fact, i'll be to visit my dad today.. love, love, love my dad, and remind what i've shared in the past -how during elections of the past, my dad would vote.. and in a phone conversation on the same day, he would call me, and lighthearted with love, he would say to me, "so did you cancel out my vote?"
where, the importance was that we each voted according to our own knowledge and beliefs and understandings at the given time.
love when we give each other grace...
*****
speaking of the Pope, and mutual listening of diverse opinions/beliefs.. LOVED this documentary. More candid than i ever would have imagined.. a mix of young adults speaking directly with Pope Francis on todays hottest, most controversial topics.. catholics, aetheists, agnostics, secular -from all around the globe. im inspired to write much about it.. -very soon. it is a brave documentary; full of brave individuals. in Jesus holy, loving, grace filled, all merciful name...
posted by SANDRA MICKANEN @ 3:21 PM
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