ISSUE No. 48 | AUGUST 2024
WELCOME
If you’re new to CULTIVARE we welcome you! CULTIVARE is a monthly field guide for life and faith, brought to you by TEND. Each month we explore a specific “field” – a topic or theme through which we seek to cultivate contemplation, engagement, and deeper understanding. Our guiding questions are:
What are you cultivating in your life?
What fruit do you want your life to bear?
Each issue of CULTIVARE is structured into three parts:
Cultivate: Examines a specific “Field” or facet of life and offers questions to unearth and challenge our held perspective; along with concise kernels of truth which we call “Seeds.”
Irrigate: Explores the ways we nurture our understanding, which varies from individual to individual. We offer six means of irrigation: Art, Poetry, Profile, Film, Essay, and Books.
Germinate: Encourages practical ways to engage in becoming more fruitful and free in our lives.
Our name, CULTIVARE, in Spanish means “I will cultivate.” We hope each issue of our field guide will encourage you to do just that – cultivate new thoughts, actions, faith, hope, and fruitful living. We invite you to dig in and DIG DEEP!
FIELD
For we are partners working together for God, and you are God's field.
(I Corinthians 3:9)
Our theme this month is SURRENDER. What do you think of when you think of surrender? Do you view surrender as a positive or a negative act? For many Americans surrendering sounds like quitting, giving up, capitulating. That may be true in the world of sports, competition, or even war. But in the spiritual life, surrendering can often be an invitation to deeper faith and greater freedom.
We want to make clear from the beginning that we firmly believe that surrender is not the same as resignation. Resignation is an act of giving up. Surrendering is an act of giving over. Resignation often leads to a sense of hopelessness and futility. Surrendering fosters faith, hope, and fortitude. Britannica Dictionary defines “surrender” as: 1) to agree to stop fighting, hiding, resisting, etc., because you know that you will not win or succeed; and 2) to give the control or use of (something) to someone else.
Surrendering is an important and often necessary act in our spiritual formation and faith journeys. Consider the many individuals illuminated throughout the Bible who went through the experience of surrendering – Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Noah, Esther, Mary, and Jesus himself – to name just a few. As you contemplate their stories, consider the extraordinary fruit of their surrendering.
In this issue we feature an original profile of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Andrew DeCort entitled Radical Surrender Without Resignation. We highlight the essay The Cross and the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth. And we spotlight the classic spiritual formation text by David Benner entitled Surrender to Love: Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality. We also feature several thought-provoking films on the topic.
Theologian A.W. Tozer once observed, “Until your kingdom goes, His kingdom cannot come.” The act of surrendering is key to that needed change. I greatly appreciate how the act of surrendering is framed in Step #3 in Alcoholic Anonymous’ Twelve Step Program: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” In what area(s) of your life do you need to turn your will and life over to the care of God? How will you respond to God’s loving invitation to surrender? (DG)
***
“Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.” (Joshua 24:23 NIV)
In the same way,” concluded Jesus, “none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have.” (Luke 14:33 GNT)
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39 NIV)
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8 NIV)
SEEDS
A handful of quotes to contemplate and cultivate into your life
Love consumes us only in the measure of our self-surrender. (St. Therese of Lisieux)
I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day. (Abraham Lincoln)
One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime. (Elizabeth Elliot)
Seeds of transformation blossom when the heart’s surrender to love is complete and sincere. (Paula D’Arcy)
Rest is not true rest without surrender. (Dan Allender)
The moment of surrender is the moment you choose to lose control of your life, the split second of powerlessness where you trust that some kind of “higher power” better be in charge, because you certainly aren’t. (Bono)
Surrender will always feel like dying, and yet it’s the necessary path to liberation. It takes each of us a long time to just accept—to accept what is; to accept ourselves, others, the past, our own mistakes, and the imperfection and idiosyncrasies of almost everything. Our lack of acceptance reveals our basic resistance to life. Acceptance isn’t our mode nearly as much as aggression, resistance, fight, or flight. None of these responses achieve the deep, lasting results of true acceptance and peaceful surrender. Acceptance becomes the strangest and strongest kind of power. Surrender isn’t giving up, as we often think; it’s a giving to the moment, the event, the person, and the situation. (Richard Rohr)
God does not demand anything of us except surrender and gratitude.
(St. Therese of Lisieux)
It’s healthy to say uncle when your bone’s about to break. (Jonathan Franzen)
Once you have surrendered yourself, you make yourself receptive. In receiving from God, you are perfected and completed. It is a law of nature and grace that only those who give will ever receive. The Sea of Galilee is fresh and blue and gives life to all the living things within its sunlit waters – not because it receives waters, but because it gives them. The Dead Sea, on the contrary, is dead, simply because it has no outlet. It does not give and, therefore, it never receives. No fish can live in its waters, no beast can thrive upon its shores. Not having had its Calvary of surrender, it never has its Pentecost of Life and Power. (Ven. Fulton Sheen)
ART
Artist of the Month
Brian Eno
By Olivia Mather
Brian Eno is a musician who invented the style of “ambient music,” a style that downplays traditional musical senses of time created by steady beats, obvious chord changes, and quick dynamics of tension and resolution. His compositions create an experience of the ethereal, of the environment, of mysticism, and of stretched time. In the interview in the linked article below, he explains how he’s recently identified surrender as a unifying concept in his career. His artwork invites the listener to experience the act of surrender, of losing control, of letting go, and knowing that things will be OK. He does this through slow transitions and calming effects. Though a self- described “evangelical atheist,” Eno takes inspiration from religious ideas of letting go and losing control—not nihilism or hedonism, but a realization that we are not in control of our lives and that our egos are a problem for us. His goal is to create the experience of structure “without the superstructure of beliefs” the way religion does. Whether this goal is attainable or not is, perhaps, for artists and theologians to debate. But his music helps us practice our helplessness while simultaneously providing a calming experience that reflects his interpretation of gospel lyrics: “surrender, everything’s gonna be alright.”
Click the article below on Brian Eno entitled Surrender in Art and Religion found in The History of Emotions Blog.
POETRY
Tripping Over Joy
by Hafez
What is the difference
Between your experience of Existence
And that of a saint?
The saint knows
That the spiritual path
Is a sublime chess game with God
And that the Beloved
Has just made such a Fantastic Move
That the saint is now continually
Tripping over Joy
And bursting out in Laughter
And saying, “I Surrender!”
Whereas, my dear,
I am afraid you still think
You have a thousand serious moves.
PROFILE
Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
Radical Surrender without Resignation
By Andrew DeCort
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a German pastor and dissident theology professor during the Holocaust. Pulitzer Prize winning psychiatrist Robert Coles called him one of the top-ten moral leaders of the 20th century. His life bears witness to the power of radical surrender without resignation.
In 1933, Adolf Hilter came to power and promised to make “a Greater Germany.” Days later, at the young age of twenty-six, Bonhoeffer became the first Christian leader to speak publicly against the dangers of Hitler and his authoritarian “greatness.”
Thereafter, Bonhoeffer devoted his career to training dissident Christian leaders to follow the Beatitudinal Way of Jesus against Nazified Christianity. He helped Jews escape Germany and sounded the alarm against the horrific atrocities of Hitler’s regime.
But, as Bonhoeffer hungered and thirsted for justice, he lost seemingly everything.
In 1936, Bonhoeffer was banned from teaching at the University of Berlin. A year later, his underground school for anti-Nazi pastors was shut down by the Gestapo.
Bonhoeffer continued his work under these difficult conditions, but in 1940 and 1941, he was banned from public speaking and publishing his prophetic writings. To his eternal honor, the authorities judged that he lacked “the requisite political reliability.”1
A year later, Bonhoeffer was expecting to be arrested or killed. He wrote a will and gave it to his best friend Eberhard Bethge. Then, on April 5, 1943, the Gestapo knocked on his door and took him to prison.
The next two years in Nazi prison would severely test Bonhoeffer’s practice of compassionate surrender. He survived what he called “repugnant” interrogations. Throughout this time, Bonhoeffer witnessed his society, Christian community, and close colleagues descend into some of the most appalling othering and hellish injustice in history. With each day, it became clearer that he himself wouldn’t escape alive.
Amid this anguishing loss, Bonhoeffer wrote a “daily meditation” on July 7, 1944. What would he say about this time of such severe loss in his life and world? Would he rage and resign?
We witness a person who was practicing radical surrender. Bonhoeffer’s compassion for others’ suffering had become elemental and all-encompassing. Out of his poverty, grief, nonviolence, and hunger for justice, Bonhoeffer wrote from his prison cell:
The world would have no hope if [God repaid evil for evil]. The world lives by the blessing of God and of the just and thus has a future. Blessing means laying one’s hand on something and saying: Despite everything, you belong to God. This is what we do with the world that inflicts such suffering on us. We do not abandon it; we do not repudiate, despise, or condemn it. Instead, we call it back to God, we give it hope, we lay our hand on it and say: may God’s blessing come upon you, may God renew you; be blessed, world created by God, you who belong to your Creator and Redeemer.”2
It’s hard to believe that these beautiful words were written in a Nazi prison amidst the Holocaust. But they were. They show what becomes possible when we live into the radical surrender of Jesus’s Beatitudes and refuse to resign to despair. We practice an unkillable hope.
Bonhoeffer was able to surrender the loss of his rights, his freedoms, his friends, indeed, his whole world – without giving up. He could do this because he trusted that the unbreakable blessing of God holds us: Despite everything, we belong to God.
Bonhoeffer lived deeper into this radical surrender until his final day on earth. With his last words before being hanged on April 9, 1945, Bonhoeffer confessed,
“This is for me the end – but also the beginning. I believe in the principle of our Universal Christian siblinghood which rises above all national hatreds and that our victory is certain.”3
Radical surrender without resignation is the way to humane happiness. Let us follow Bonhoeffer’s Beatitudinal Way today with its soberingly similar challenges.
***
Adapted from Andrew DeCort’s forthcoming book on the Beatitudes, to be released in Fall 2024 with BitterSweet Collective. Andrew is the author of Bonhoeffer’s New Beginning: Ethics after Devastation (Fortress Academic, 2018) and Flourishing on the Edge of Faith: Seven Practices for a New We (BitterSweet Collective, 2022). Follow his writing at andrew-decort.com.
1 See Conspiracy and Imprisonment: 1940-1945: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 16, edited by Mark Brocker (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2006), 182.
2 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Daily Text Meditation for June 7 and 8, 1944,” in Conspiracy and Imprisonment: 1940-1945: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 16, edited by Mark Brocker (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2006), 632 (translation modified).
3 See Andrew DeCort, Bonhoeffer’s New Beginning: Ethics after Devastation (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Academic, 2018), 217.
FILM
Each month we recommend films focused on our theme
Soul Surfer
(2011)
Soul Surfer is the inspiring true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, through her sheer determination and unwavering faith. The film features an all-star cast, including AnnaSophia Robb and Helen Hunt, with Carrie Underwood in her film debut, and Dennis Quaid. Available on various streaming services.
Documentary Film
The Work
(2017)
Set inside a single room in Folsom Prison, three men from the outside participate in a four-day group therapy retreat with level-four convicts. Over the four days, each man in the room takes his turn at delving deep into his past. Available on various streaming services.
Ted Talk
Surrender Can Give Us A Life We Never Knew
Mary Fran Bontempo
The concept of surrender and loss of control are universally viewed as negative. However, if one surrenders to the loss of control, giving the “it” of a situation’s negatives up to the universe, to one’s higher power, or simply to time, surrender can offer life-changing opportunities for dynamic growth and change. Mary Fran Bontempo is a speaker, author, and humorist who teaches audiences to control their most powerful influence: Self-Talk.
ESSAY
The Cross and the Machine
By Paul Kingsnorth
Author Paul Kingsnorth is a novelist, essayist, and poet living in Ireland. In this 2021 article from First Things, Kingsnorth shares of his conversion to Christianity as an adult – a process he refers to as: A truth I would surrender to. Kingsnorth is known for his thought-provoking essays that illuminate cultural dynamics and dangers and their intersection with faith and true freedom. In this article he culminates with these reflections:
I grew up believing what all modern people are taught: that freedom meant lack of
constraint. Orthodoxy taught me that this freedom was no freedom at all, but
enslavement to the passions: a neat description of the first thirty years of my life.
True freedom, it turns out, is to give up your will and follow God’s. To deny yourself.
To let it come. I am terrible at this, but at least now I understand the path.
In the Kingdom of Man, the seas are ribboned with plastic, the forests are burning,
the cities bulge with billionaires and tented camps, and still we kneel before the idol
of the great god Economy as it grows and grows like a cancer cell. And what if this
ancient faith is not an obstacle after all, but a way through? As we see the consequences
of eating the forbidden fruit, of choosing power over humility, separation over
communion, the stakes become clearer each day. Surrender or rebellion; sacrifice or
conquest; death of the self or triumph of the will; the Cross or the machine. We have
always been offered the same choice. The gate is strait and the way is narrow and maybe
we will always fail to walk it. But is there any other road that leads home?
We encourage you to read the entire article by clicking the link below.
BOOKS
Each month we recommend a book (or two) focused on our theme
NON-FICTION
Surrender to Love:
Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality
By David Benner
In our self-reliant era, most of us recoil from the concept of surrendering to a power or authority outside ourselves. But, surrender need not be seen as threatening, especially when the One to whom we surrender is the epitome of goodness and love.
God doesn't want his people to respond to him out of fear or obligation. Rather, he invites us to enter into an authentic relationship of intimacy and devotion. And so, God calls us to move beyond mere obedience―by surrendering to love.
In this profound book, David G. Benner explores the twin themes of love and surrender as the heart of Christian spirituality. Through careful examination of Scripture and reflection on the Christian tradition, Benner shows how God bids us to trust fully in his perfect love. God is love, and he intends for you to live in his love. Surrender to Love will lead you to an unexpected place, where yieldedness to God frees you to become who he created you to be.
FICTION
The Story of the Other Wise Man
By Henry Van Dyke
Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of Henry van Dyke's timeless classic, "The Story of the Other Wise Man.” First published in 1895, this beloved tale explores themes of faith, sacrifice, and the enduring power of love.
Follow the journey of Artaban, the "Other Wise Man", who sets out to meet the newborn King of Kings, bearing precious gifts. But destiny takes him on a different path, filled with compassion and selfless acts of kindness. Van Dyke's captivating storytelling and rich, biblical imagery make this story a compelling read, still resonating with readers over a century later.
This edition is perfect for those intrigued by religious-themed literature, fans of Henry van Dyke, or anyone interested in exploring an alternate perspective on a classic biblical tale. Whether you're a student of classic literature or a reader in search of thought-provoking stories, "The Story of the Other Wise Man" is a must-have for your bookshelf.
MEMOIR
Lit
By Mary Karr
Lit follows the self-professed blackbelt sinner's descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness--and her astonishing resurrection. Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting blueblood poet produces a son they adore, but she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in 'The Mental Marriott,' with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, 'Give me chastity, Lord-but not yet!' has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity. Lit is about getting drunk and getting sober, becoming a mother by letting go of a mother, learning to write by learning to live. Written with Karr's relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, and irreverent, lacerating humor, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up--as only Mary Karr can tell it.
CHILDRENS
Harold Loves His Woolly Hat
By Vern Kousky
In this sweet picture book that celebrates selflessness and the joy of helping others, a little bear named Harold loses his beloved woolly hat--only to discover that others need it more.
What makes a bear special? For Harold, it is his beloved striped woolly hat. He wears it when he sleeps, when he goes to school, and even when he takes his monthly bath. But when a crow whisks the hat off his head and high up into a nest, Harold doesn't feel so special anymore. He tries everything to get it back--offering the crow blueberries, worms, and even shiny objects--but alas, the crow will not budge. Turns out that the hat has a new special purpose: keeping three baby crows warm. This heartwarming picture book features an irresistible bear and gently reinforces the notion that it doesn't matter what you have, it's who you are that matters.
DIG DEEPER
Practical suggestions to help you go deeper into our theme
1. QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Devote some time and thought to these reflective questions on our theme:
a. What is an area of your life that you know you need to surrender to God?
b. What are you hoping to gain from that area of your life you refuse to surrender?
c. What might you be giving up if you do surrender that area to God?
d. Do you believe that surrendering to God could actually benefit you? Why or why not?
e. What freedom might be available to you by surrendering this area of your life?
2. PRAYER OF RELINQUISHMENT
In this 1991 article from Richard Foster, he writes about the power of surrender through the Prayer of Relinquishment. Foster observes: “Struggle, you see, is an essential feature of the Prayer of Relinquishment. Jesus struggled in the garden, so much so that his sweat became like great drops of blood. All of the luminaries in Scripture struggled as well: Abraham as he relinquished his son Isaac; Moses as he relinquished his understanding of how the Deliverer of Israel should function; David as he relinquished the son given to him by Bathsheba; Mary as she relinquished control over her future.” Read the entire article by clicking below.
3. THE POWER OF SURRENDER
In this 2014 article in Psychology Today, psychiatrist and author Judith Orloff is interviewed on the power of surrender. In defining “surrender” she states: “I'll start with what surrender is not. It is not failure, defeat, holding up the white flag, or weakness, as it is traditionally defined. I define surrender as being able to give yourself wholly to something, in a flow that's intuitively attuned.” Read the entire interview by clicking below.
4. HYMN: I SURRENDER ALL
Be blessed by listening to this music video of the classic hymn I Surrender All, performed by the Journey Worship Co. in their Green Room Sessions.
5. PRAYER
St. Ignatius Prayer of Surrender
Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory,
my understanding, and my whole will.
All that I am and all that I possess,
Thou hast given me:
I surrender it all to Thee
to be disposed of according to Thy will.
Give me only Thy love and Thy grace;
with these I will be rich enough and
will desire nothing more.
AMEN
ROOTED
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
(Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV)
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FIELD NOTES
Images used in order of appearance:
1. FIELD: Thomas J. Abercrombie, National Geographic Education, Angel Falls, Venezuela
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/waterfall/
2. SEEDS: CBS 8 NewsNow.com, Hands of Hope Day at Hope Christian Health Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 27, 2023
3. ART: Carlton Ward, Jr., “Hidden Wild: Secrets of the Everglades,” National Geographic Live!, Everglades, Florida
4. POETRY: Lista Hightower, My Shot, National Geographic Education, Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls, Canada
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/waterfall/
5. PROFILE: Art Resource, NY, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1924
6. FILM: Brandon Beck, “Jumping for joy: Cliff diving at Tahoe exhilarating, dangerous,” Tahoe Daily Tribune, Angora Lake, California, July 3, 2021
https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/jumping-for-joy-cliff-diving-at-tahoe-exhilarating-dangerous/
7. ESSAY: Tomasz Tomaszewski, “Family Worship,” Nat Geo Image Collection, San Cristóbal de las Casas Church in Chiapas, Mexico, August 1996
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photo-of-the-day/media-spotlight/mexico-church-cross-family
8. BOOKS: Travis Dove, “Lobstermen,” Stonington, Maine, 2011
http://www.travisdove.com/collections/lobstermen/003_Lobstermen_073/
9. DIG DEEPER: Travis Dove, “Chip and Linda,” Clinton, South Carolina
http://www.travisdove.com/short-stories/chip-and-linda/
10. ROOTED: Travis Dove, “Called to the Holy Mountain,” National Geographic Society, Eastern Orthodox Church Monasteries, Mount Athos, Greece, 2009
http://www.travisdove.com/collections/the-holy-mountain/
TEAM CULTIVARE: Duane Grobman (Editor), Billy Brummel, Amy Drennan, Greg Ehlert, Bonnie Fearer, Ben Hunter, Eugene Kim, Olivia Mather, Andrew Massey, Rita McIntosh, Heather Shackelford, Jason Pearson (Design: Pearpod.com)
WE'RE LISTENING:
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and suggestions for future issues.
Email us at: info@tendwell.org
