Hope from the Hills
Beyond Grand Illusions
Some people have forty years of experience. Some have only one year of experience - forty times!
In a rich article, An Audacious Humility, author Terry Minchow-Proffitt admits, “I am now on the far side of 50. So there. I’ve crested. The path no longer ascends, but slopes….[and has] gradually reduced to the dust of my destiny. …… But [I am being freed] from our habitual need for grandeur that does not sustain and cannot be attained.” … [from] the illusion, so pronounced and patterned in our culture, of aspiring to larger-than-life living.”
For Minchow-Proffitt, Pretense, Pride and Performance are hallmarks of this grand illusion. “We reveal our Pretense when we seek to fill the voids within and deny our limitations without.
“Our Pride consists of ‘disposing of everything around us and bringing everything to ourselves’ as if we were the center.
Performance is “The desperate drive to ‘give ourselves value’ as if we have been our own source.”
But the good news, according to Minchow-Proffitt is that “the autumn of mid-life is a great season for these three to die. The second half of life offers a doorway to ‘Audacious Humility.’ ….Humility is not respecter of age. Yet those of us who have been around the block a time or two, are ready to be pruned of pretense, pride and performance.”
When these ‘illusions’ die, our hearts can open up to genuine soul-learning. Life has left us without enough answers – except that being wrapped up in ourselves is too small a package. So we no longer need to fear new light. In fact may be eager for new ‘learnings’ to re-shape us. The last 40 years of life need not be merely “one year’s experience 40 more times.” We can audaciously morph into humble ‘life-long learners’.
Even better news: We don’t have to wait till mid-life. We can abandon illusions at any age!
An observation: Autocratic leaders live out life locked into the illusions. Healthy Leaders keep growing. They are life-long learners. Always in process of becoming.
Lynn Anderson
The article An Audacious Humility was originally printed in the Desert Call, the quarterly magazine of the Spiritual Life Institute. For more information click here.
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Comments:
Pretense - Pride - Performance
Boy those are hard to let go. I agree that it gets easier as we age if we grow from the life we have lived complete with being humbled over and over again.
In the second half of life, Pretense can be nothing but that that Glorifies God.
Pride in only our allegiance to Him
Performance in willingly serving Him in all that we do.
So we don’t have to change those three, just change the focus of the lens with which we view life.
God Bless Lynn. What a great thought.
By Randy on May 29 2009
I’ve spent 44+ yrs learning, changing, and growing ... why change now. No matter how deep we dig into God’s word the depths are not reached in this lifespan. The message in the word can, if we let, give us visions of the world around us too wondrous to behold it seems sometimes. God never intended for us to become bored in any way in this life. There is always a thread of adventure and excitement around us till the day we go home. I thurst for His living message.
By John Lucas on May 29 2009
To worry less about what people think and more about what pleases God….there’s something very freeing about all of that. Thanks for the reminder and your continuing partnership in ministry.
By Don Kleppe on May 29 2009
Thanks for the heart check, Lynn. Man, those three words set me back on my heels thinking about motives in ministry, and especially in the area of continuing education. I’ve pretty much committed to c.ed. as long as I’m in this thing called ministry, but it’s certainly important to know why I’m putting myself through some of the torture of learning new and fresh stuff, especially in areas that I’ve never trodden. Looking forward to another sandwich and good conversation, Lynn. It’s my turn to buy, so shout at me again when you’re in town. randy couchman
By randycouchman on May 29 2009
Amen to the article and comments. Pruning with age is freeing but on the high side of fifty it still takes much prayer for transformation. The redundant habits of the past do not go out easily! Pretense and performance are easier to let go than pride, for me. Shifting to pride in Him in all things…love those moments!
By Waterman on May 29 2009
Lynn,
Thanks for reaching into the far corners of our own tendencies to diminish God’s wondrous, continual work. You have been a blessing to many through the years and I treasure your friendship. Partnering with the 3 guys in Oshkosh so many years ago has left undeniable marks upon the ministry here. The smell of sheep still permeates my clothes and the air I breathe. My dad worked for all his life in an iron mill in Birmingham, Alabama. As he came through the door you could smell the burn cinder smell that told us that our dad had been at work. I only hope that on those days my own kids were growing up they would smell the smell of sheep and know that their daddy had been working.
(All three of our (Deb and I) sons are active in working in church plants or other missional works- Madison, Minneapolis and Wisconsin Rapids)
I thank God for you. I don’t have a Harley, but I’m enjoying the ride anyway.
Shalom
By Gary Cleveland on May 30 2009
Great piece Lynn! Good to read this while I’m still a few years on the south side of fifty!
Greatly appreciate your ministry!
By Kevin Withem on June 02 2009
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