Formation

Author: Canon Dr. Josh R. Ritter

In November 2024, I wrote a post called What is a Micro-Formation? In that piece, I defined micro-formation as, “Any small reflective observation or intentional teaching on an aspect of Christian formation that connects directly to someone’s daily life and Christian practice.” I then suggested:

More powerful than programs, retreats, or events, we significantly undervalue the simple, intentional gestures of communication we offer to ourselves and to others. In fact, we often fail to realize that the small micro-formations we sow can have some of the biggest impacts in people’s lives.

In sum, micro-formations are the seeds Jesus told us about, and we might here recall his teachings on the powerful practice of seed casting to plant for future harvests. So, Jesus used micro-formations, and he practiced the art of seed casting. Why don’t we?

To continue reading about micro-formations, see my previous post.

Creating micro-formations of turning

Metanoia is a Greek term. In the New Testament, the best way to understand this term is “conversion” or “repent.” For example, we see it in Mark 1:15 where Jesus says, “Repent and believe the good news.” What metanoia means, though, may be different than you expect.

It does not mean come and feel awful, terrible, shameful for being who you are and only then can you seek God. It does not mean I convert you to my way of thinking. It doesn’t even mean that I try to convert you to my religion.

What it does mean is “turning.” Conversion is about turning our mind, heart, and soul toward God, and we are invited to do this for our entire lives. Yes, conversion is not a one-time deal. It is a lifelong series of turnings toward God, and so, part of our Christian journey is learning and practicing the art of conversion-as-turning.

Jesuit theologian Bernard Lonergan wrote a lot about conversion, and he says there are three main types of conversion: intellectual, moral, and religious. Intellectual conversion is the turning of the mind where we “think” something is a good idea. Moral conversion is the turning of the heart where we come to change our behaviors based on what we think. Religious conversion is the turning of our soul where we come to fall in love with who God is. We fall in love with Love.

So, what’s the micro-formation of turning?

Well, we do a lot of turning already, don’t we?

In our churches, we turn our bodies toward the Gospel reading. Our Prayer Book also mentions a lot about turning our hearts and minds toward God.

Scripture often ask us to turn towards God (Job 11:13, Joel 2:13, Psalms 13, 40, 62). The great gesture of Moses at the burning bush scene is that he “turned aside to see this great sight.” That was the key moment. He turned his heart and face toward God. God didn’t force Moses to come over. Moses noticed the bush, and then, he decided to turn aside from his normal, habitual life and go see this burning bush that did not burn.

In the Desert Teachings of Jesus, he asks us to turn three times in three different ways. First, he reminds us we do not live on bread alone, and we must turn to “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4). Second, he reminds us that we do “not put our God to the test,” and we must turn our trust and surrender to God alone (Mt 4:7). Finally, he reminds us that we are to worship and serve only God, and we must turn our hearts only to God (Mt 4:10). Right after his time in the desert, he began to preach his message: turn away from anything other than God and turn (metanoeite) your heart, mind, and soul entirely to God (Mt 4:17).

And, the most notable turning in the New Testament is probably one of its most famous phrases of “turning the other cheek.”

“Ugh,” we say, and I agree, because turning the other cheek has not always been taught to us in a way that is all that helpful. We often think of it as some type of weakness or being a spiritual doormat, but the reality is that turning the other cheek is a bold and courageous practice of compassion, love, and presence. It tells the world that we are available and paying attention.

The deep and penetrating truth of Jesus’s teaching to turn the other cheek is not that we turn a blind eye to injustice but that we stop creating blindness in the world with eye for an eye justice, which isn’t really justice at all.

Turning the other cheek tells the world that we care and that the way we care is different – we offer a higher quality, more consistent, and deeper love than whatever kind of “love” culture is offering this week.

Turning the other cheek is a deep teaching of Jesus, and it summarizes his entire message of learning to love what we dislike and despise (in ourselves, in our neighbors, and in Creation) as we grow into Christian maturity, which is what we call discipleship.

It is what Jesus modeled for us on the cross as he transformed violence and fear into Beauty and Compassion, and it is what we, too, can do in each and every ordinary moment of our lives as we seek to manifest Love and Christ in our own selves. 

Turning the other cheek incorporates many other practices into itself – such as loving neighbor and loving enemy. Every moment of every day is an exchange of self for other…for neighbor, for enemy, for friend, for spouse, for tree, for rock, for earth.

All of life becomes one magnificent and terrifying exchange of self for other that is difficult and impossible…and this practice is an opening, a tear, a rupture in Life that is a fissure of deep and endless gratitude.

The Beatitude Path of Christian Maturity

The path we must follow to learn to turn the other cheek and turn away from “eye for an eye” violence is the Beatitude Path.

I will summarize the path here:

• Poor in Spirit: Happy are they whose hearts are empty and open and know they do not know and no longer pursue the illusion of independence but abide within the reality of inter-dependence
• Mourning: Happy are they whose hearts never give up caring for all of life, who face the suffering of life with courage, and who follow their heartbreak into the world
• Meekness: Happy are they who surrender entirely to God so they can become tamed by God to become bold truth-tellers and artists of the opportune moment (the time of God)
• Hunger and Thirst: Happy are they who hunger and thirst deeply for the well-being of the entire world and do not hunger and hoard for more than they need
• Mercy: Happy are they who come alive into the movement of God’s Spirit by unwaveringly practicing compassion and forgiveness for self, neighbor, enemy, and Creation (mercy is an ethical imperative)
• Pure in Heart: Happy are they who stop worshipping the idols and ideals of “self” and culture and pursue God alone with the clarity of a loyal, obedient, and undivided heart
• Peacemakers: Happy are they who stop trying to live up to the world’s expectations of “success” (winning at all costs) and “satisfaction” (accumulating at all costs) and begin to let go of their small story and embrace the Big Story of God’s peace
• Persecuted: Happy are they who never, never, never give up and persevere no matter what comes their way, staying committed to the counter-cultural life and message of Jesus…to live a cruciform, Jesus-shaped life of unconditional acceptance and compassion

So, here it is…the eight-step discipleship program of Jesus. Or, as I call it, the Beatitude Path of Christian Maturity because the Christian life is about learning and practicing Christian maturity into Christ…together (Eph 4), and if we read through these beatitudes, we can begin to see the shape of turning the other cheek. We can begin to see the maturity required to get to a place where we might be able to turn the other cheek because I have to tell you, I don’t know if I’ve ever done it. It’s just too hard isn’t it?

But Jesus teaches us to practice turning other cheek. He asks us to do hard things, and fortunately, he gives us a pattern and a model of how to do it in the beatitudes because each beatitude is a practice in turning.

Each beatitude is a request for a new conversion, a new turning.

Like the beatitudes, turning the other cheek is always about transforming, or turning, away from something and towards something else. We turn away from our own internal blaming systems and judgmental mind into the pause of patience so that we might respond out of a posture of presence and compassion. We turn away from and into so that we might respond out of…this is the pattern, or flow, of the beatitudes that is the practice of turning the other cheek. 

And so, we turn. This is our micro-formation.

The small turnings in our lives. The small practices of the beatitude turnings that make a big difference in our lives and in the world. The small turnings when we do not practice eye for an eye living. The small turnings when we respond with love and compassion instead of with fear and anger.

The small turnings as we learn to practice the embrace instead of pushing away or closing down.

Our small practices of Christian maturity are our micro-formations. These are the seeds we plant today that will bring a beautiful harvest in the future.

In these ways, you are co-creating narratives of meaning, narratives of purpose, rhythms of life, communal identities, social cohesion, and…perhaps most importantly…trust…in each other and in God.

Never underestimate the power of the micro-formation!