To Bless the Space Between

As we walked down to the train stop on Sunday morning, the clouds separated to allow the Bernese Alps to come into view. As I watched, I immediately thought of my Pastor from St. Ann in Phoenixville, PA, and his insight into being able to “Bless the Space Between” in our lives. I knew I had to find his insight this week from my notes, for the “space between” was becoming visible to me right there in my view. If only I could recognize the same “space between” with my wife and children every day. For this is my daily prayer…

Here are some insights from Rev. John J. Newns’s “To Bless the Space Between.”  Thank you, Father Newns, for all that you have done and continue to do for me and my family:

I

To Name Is to Bless

A way to bless is to name something, and/or to give it its proper name. We give it a location in time, space and value. In life, as in real estate, the three most important things are: 1) Location, 2) Location and 3) Location.

We put it into a context.

How (by means of what; in reference to what) do we assign location, context? By means of our GPS. Scripture and Tradition are our God Positioning System or our Grace Positioning System.

Each moment is a moment between Sunday Eucharists; each place is a place between Sunday Eucharists; each event is an event between Sunday Eucharists.

Each moment / space / event takes place within the Paschal Mystery and is a part of a story, a part of The Story, a part of His-Story.

II

The Space Between as The Table

The space between individuals is the meeting space that can be blessed by being named as a potential sacred space. The space between, which simultaneously separates and unites those gathered, is a place of Grace, a space for the Spirit. An image for this is that of “the table”. Sometimes a table is visible; other times the table is invisible; always the table is present as the symbol of encounter, of presence. On the Lord’s Day, the Table becomes visible, and the oneness of each and every “table encounter” of the past seven days becomes visible. On the Lord’s Day, we bring all the tables of the past week to the Table of the Lord to be integrated into the Paschal Act and to be uploaded into the Trinity.

III

The Space Between as The Tone

Some of those who study such things say that communication is about 70% body language, 20% tone, and 10% verbal content. Might the aspect of tone be addressed via attentiveness “the space between”?

With what attitude am I present to the other? And if respect for the other begins with and is inseparable from respect for self, with what attitude am I seeing and treating myself? Who gets admitted to the space, the Table? Who is uninvited, who is not welcome? How real is my Presence? How complete?

IV

The Space Between as the Holy Spirit

In communication, Spirit is (almost) everything. In the presence of a good spirit, communication almost always can happen—even if those present do not speak the same language. In the absence of a good spirit, communication cannot happen—even if those present speak the same language.

The Good Spirit is the Bridge spanning the space between.[iii]

The Good Spirit is the Table, simultaneously connecting even as it preserves distinction.

When Catholics pray “to the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit”, are we not saying that God the Holy Spirit is unity, and that all good unity is a part of and the work of the Holy Spirit?

The space between is not only real and deserving of a name and worth our attentiveness. In the Trinity the Space Between is a Person and this Person is God!

When Catholics pray “to the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit” we are saying:

1. God the Holy Spirit is Unity Itself, specifically the Unity 
2. between God the Father and God the Son.
3. Wherever, whenever, and to the degree there is true and good unity, it is a participation in the divine unity—-  
4. “May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ, be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.”
5. “Grant that we who are nourished by his body and blood, may be filled with His Holy Spirit, and become one Body, one Spirit in Christ.”
6. the Unity who is God the Holy Spirit, the Unity that is from God the Holy Spirit, and the Unity that is the “working of the Holy Spirit”

 

[iii] See the 1991 film “Grand Canyon”