Christian Practice, Part 3: Kenosis and Gelassenheit

Most agree that spirituality involves an assault upon the ego. If all sin is generally rooted in selfishness and egotism, then the spiritual disciplines must attempt to curb the demands of the ego, the ever present focus on me, me, me.

In Christianity, this assault upon the ego is called kenosis. Kenosis is taken from the Greek verb which means "emptying." The classic articulation of kenosis in the NT is in Philippians 2:7: "Jesus made himself nothing ..." (NIV) or "...he emptied himself..." (NRSV).

In Christianity, kenosis is captured by themes of service, submission, obedience, humility, and modesty. Generally, the idea of "servanthood" captures the manifestation of kenosis. The image of kenosis, therefore, is the towel:

John 13: 1-5, 12-17
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

If kenosis is the goal, what then is the practice of kenosis? As mentioned above, kenosis manifests itself in humility, obedience, service, and submission. Can we find a single word that captures those ideas, the practice of kenosis?

I think a good candidate word comes from the Amish community. In many ways, the entire Amish lifestyle is aimed at kenosis. This can be seen in their modest dress, their strong emphasis on submission, and their ritual practice of footwashing. Speaking globally about all these practices, the Amish speak of Gelassenheit (pronounced Ge-las-en-hite). Roughly translated, Gelassenheit means submission or yielding. Amish children learn Gelassenheit by reciting this favorite verse:

I must be a Christian child,
gentle, patient, meek, and mild,
must be honest, simple, true,
I must cheerfully obey,
giving up my will and way.

How might Gelassenheit manifest itself outside a strictly ordered Amish community? Well, turning back to the the Rule of St. Benedict from my prior post, we find the following suggestions for the monks. True, I don't live in a monastery where an abbot tells me what to do. But I am embedded in a world where people (ranging from my children, to my wife, to my friends, to my co-workers, to my supervisors) make demands of me. When those demands come, do I display Gelassenheit? Here is what Benedict says:

"The first step of to humility is to obey an order without delaying for a moment..."

"The obedience of such people leads them to leave aside their own concerns and forsake their own will. They abandon what they have in hand and leave it unfinished..."

"With a ready step inspired by obedience they respond by their action to the voice that summons them. It is, in fact, almost in one single moment that when a command is uttered that the task is completed..."

"we carry out the orders given to us in way that is not fearful, not slow, not halfhearted, not marred by murmuring or the sort of compliance that betrays resentment..."

"The third step of humility is to submit oneself out of love of God to whatever obedience under a superior may require of us..."

If you are like me, these suggestions for practice humble me. How often, when my children or wife as me to do something, do I sit there and not respond quickly and energetically? How often at work do I delay in responding to superiors or do so half-heartedly? By resolving to practice Gelassenheit in these daily interactions I slowly converge on kenosis and, in the language of the NT, "take on the form of a servant."



Summary of Our Week's Work
For the week, we have the following Christian Practices:

Ahimsa
Charity
Hospitality
Simplicity
Gelassenheit

See you next week!