Prevenience is the conviction that God has been working diligently, redemptively and strategically before I appeared on the scene, before I was aware there was something here for me to do.
The cure of souls is not indifferent to the realities of human lethargy, naive about congregational recalcitrance, or neurotic cussedness. But there is a disciplined, determined conviction that everything (and I mean, precisely, everything) we do is a response to God's first work, his initiating act. We learn to be attentive to the divine action already in process so that the previously unheard word of God is heard, the previously unattended act of God is noticed.
Running the church questions are: What do we do? How can we get things going again?
Cure of souls questions are: What has God been doing here? What traces of grace can I discern in this life? What history of love can I read in this group? What has God set in motion that I can get in on?
We misunderstand and distort reality when we take ourselves as the starting point and our present situation as the basic datum. Instead of confronting the bogged down human condition and taking charge of changing it with no time wasted, we look at the divine prevenience and discern how we can get in on it at the right time, in the right way.
The cure of souls takes time to read the minutes of the previous meeting, a meeting more likely than not at which I was not present...
The Contemplative Pastor p60-61
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