Gerald May: Willingness and Surrender

Gerald May V: Willingness and Surrender

Return of the Prodigal Son, Bishop’s Garden National Cathedral. ‍ ‍

“The gentlest form of spiritual narcissism is the belief that one can achieve one’s own spiritual growth. ‘I can do it.’”—Gerald G. May, Will and Spirit (HarperOne, 1982), p. 115.

In Will and Spirit, Gerald May writes about the struggles in our world today and the many battles within ourselves. We will likely face issues with will, willingness, control, and surrender in our spiritual lives. As we begin our spiritual journey with willingness, the moment we notice spiritual growth, we become vulnerable to spiritual narcissism: the unconscious use of spiritual practices to inflate our self-importance. We try to become holy, assuming we can accomplish our own spiritual growth. This becomes willfulness masquerading as willingness.

When we recognize our self-interest in participating in charitable works, our actions and gifts will be given and received more effectively. But sin occurs when self-image and personal willfulness become so vital that one forgets, represses, or denies one’s absolute connectedness and grounding in the God within us, the power who creates and sustains the cosmos and who placed that yearning within us. 

May encourages us to let attachments come and go rather than constantly clinging to them. We must be aware of our need for self-importance; thus, he cautions us against immediately leaping to shore ourselves up. He places less emphasis on coping and mastery and more on waking up to whatever is happening in the present moment.

As we surrender some of our self-importance, we make friends with mystery. Even if we do not always find God when we sacrifice our self-importance, May believes that as we lose our need for self-importance, we realize that God has already found us. We will experience more spontaneity and awareness when we are not driven to perform, and when we can let things flow without needing to be defined by self-judgment or evaluation of our own actions.  

May reminds us that spirituality cannot be a means to an end for our discomfort.

Spiritual growth must be a way into life, not an escape from it. God calls us to be in the world, not of it. Unfortunately, this side of the world may be uncomfortable.

I share this familiar statue of the Return of the Prodigal Son in the Bishop’s Garden at the National Cathedral. It is an icon of surrender and willingness for both the son and the father. They serve as our role models.

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Gerald May: How We Love

Gerald May IV: How We Love

“In speaking of love, narcissism says, ‘I need you to love me.’ Erotic love says, ‘I need you.’ Filial love says, ‘I love you because I understand you.’ Agape—if it could speak—might say, ‘I am you in Love.’” —Gerald G. May, Will and Spirit (HarperOne, 1982), p. 167.

In Will and Spirit, Gerald May discusses types of love: narcissistic (self-love), Me-Me; erotic (romantic) love, Me-You; filial (compassionate) love, I-Thou; and agape (divine, unconditional) love. May believes that erotic and filial love can serve as “primary education leading to agape love.” Our confusion arises when we expect unconditional love from human beings and conditional love from God—and when we look for unconditional love in the image of God. 

may

May points out that those who believe they are as holy as God commit perhaps the greatest sin. Willful self-determination is a template for human evil, just as willful vengeance is. Willfulness always leads to separateness. 

If we can move toward forgiveness for past wrongs, our fundamental capacity for love will not be harmed. But if we hold on to resentment, it will become increasingly difficult to love or feel lovable. Our sense of separateness grows, and we become more afraid of anything resembling belonging, surrender, or union. 

It is not so much the nature of the evil forces we encounter, but our response to them, that can make a difference in our lives. When faced with a difficult situation, we must not deaden ourselves to reality, cop out, or rush into our own plan, while forgetting to call on the active power of God. We are called to remember the importance of the situation and the need for action, while recognizing our total dependence on the unconditional love of God. Then our hearts can be open to God working in us—and at some deep level of our awareness, we can relax and be at peace. 

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Fractals and the Shape of Our Christian Lives

Fractals and the Shape of Our Christian Lives

Guest Writers Steve and Sally Harms

snowflake

Have you ever come across the concept of fractals? These are never-ending geometric patterns that exhibit self-similarity. One excellent example online is the Sierpiński carpet — a simple square divided into smaller and smaller squares that endlessly repeat the same design (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sierpinski-carpet.gif#/media/File:Sierpinski-carpet.gif). If you watch the video, you’ll notice the endless repetition. Fractals are prevalent in nature, appearing in forms such as snowflakes, trees, river systems, coastlines, and even mountains. A mountain is shaped the way it is because it is composed of similarly shaped rocks, which are made of pebbles, which are made of sand, and finally, molecules. Fractals are widely used in science. Our ability to stream Netflix is due to compression algorithms that use fractal-based techniques.

In Chaos: Making a New Science, James Gleick explains how fractals help us make sense of what seems chaotic, such as weather. Early radar gave scientists vast amounts of information, but prediction didn’t improve until computers could model the patterns of small, local changes. The key to understanding the big picture lay in the details of the small things.

carpet

Just as the minutiae of weather reveal larger storms, Jesus teaches that the details of our inner lives reveal broader patterns of righteousness or sin. In Matthew 5, He takes the commandment “Do not murder” and breaks it down into its smallest components: “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:21-22). Murder doesn’t emerge spontaneously; it begins with the “fractal seed” of anger, which can evolve into contempt and erupt in destructive action.

Our personalities are like fractals. Small emotions grow into attitudes, which form habits, and those habits shape the pattern of our lives. That’s why Jesus emphasizes the urgency of reconciliation: “If you are presenting your gift at the altar and remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there… First, go and be reconciled” (Matthew 5: 23–24).

An Olympic athlete achieves victory not through a single grand gesture but through countless daily trainings that align with their overarching objective. Similarly, a Christian life is not merely a Sunday profession of faith but a consistent pattern of years, days, hours, and minutes lived faithfully. Each moment embodies the larger framework of discipleship.

Recently, we have seen public figures and institutions targeted by violence fueled by divisive rhetoric. These tragedies are a reminder of Jesus’ teaching that sin begins not with the final act but with the seed of anger and contempt. Jesus teaches us that violence starts with a thought, then a word, then an attitude — small steps that, if unchecked, spiral outward until they erupt into destructive action.

This is why we begin with prayer, as Psalm 80:19 urges us to seek restoration and for God’s face to shine upon us, leading to salvation. The psalmists teach us to bring both grief and hope to God. Naaman’s story reminds us that healing and grace come through humility and obedience, not through status or power (as depicted in 2 Kings 5). Paul writes that the true Christian life is not about pride but about walking in the humility of the cross (as expressed in 1 Corinthians 4). Furthermore, Jesus emphasizes that worship and reconciliation are inseparable.

Where do we need reconciliation today? In our hearts, in fractured relationships, or within our community of faith? The shape of our lives, like a fractal, is formed by the smallest details. May we let God’s light shine in those details so that our lives, our words, and our society reflect His restoring love.

 Steve and Sally Harms

Medicine has taught us that small things matter: a tiny pill can improve our lives, and likewise, our thoughts can shape our character. With each Morning Reflection we write—and each one we read from other gifted contributors—we gain fresh insights and continue to deepen our understanding. For this gift, we are deeply grateful to God and to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. This piece was posted on Monday, September 22, 2025, as St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s daily Morning Reflection.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com