Let us Tune Ourselves
During the rehearsal of the cultural evening at Satya Nilayam, I played on the guitar for an instrumental. I played my piece with full confidence. Everybody was mesmerized by our music group. But in our midst there was a professional musician, who observed that one of the strings in my guitar was un-tuned. I was very happy with my performance till the musician came to me and told me, “The third string of your guitar is un-tuned, please tune it well.”
Soon I tried to tune it, yet it was not perfectly tuned. However, he said, “My dear, it takes time to integrate the uniqueness of each string in us.” And he tuned it for me.
I was just stunned and remained silent for a few moments. It was a time for me to think deeper about my shallow knowledge of music. Since he was a professional, he could notice the disharmony in the music. It was melodious for non-professionals, but it caused a great discomfort for the professional.
We Jesuits are supposed to be professionals in spirituality and in intellectual abilities. Is it true? When it comes to the discernment of spirits, are we able to notice that the strings of our lives are tuned or un-tuned? Most of the time, even the professed Jesuits are not able to tune themselves in a given crucial situation. How then, will they tune the lives of formees who are unaware of their strings of their lives? Very often we do not know what happens to us. We are not even conscious of our un-tuned lives. Due to our un-tuned lives, we disturb the music of the Society of Jesus.
It is a big challenge for all of us, because most of us never become professionals. Are we capable of doing the discernment which we are supposed to master? If we have really mastered it, then even during the time of desolations, we will be able to maneuver our lives. We will be able to tune ourselves and produce good music in the band of Jesuits.
Do people consider us as professionals in spirituality and in intellectual abilities? If not, let us work hard to be professionals. Do we commit ourselves to our tasks as that of well- known professionals in the world? If not, then there is something wrong with in us.
Further, any band demands a team work. Everybody’s contribution is important. If one instrumentalist does not perform well, the whole band suffers. So the collaboration of every member is a must. There is a variety when many instruments are properly fused. One more important thing is that the band has a director who knows how to infuse a particular piece of music. If the director is excellent, then he will be able to understand the uniqueness of each instrument. As superiors, are we able to fit the right personnel for the right job? Are we able to work as a team? Are we able to tune our lives and the lives of others?
Let us train ourselves to be professionals in the spirituality of the Society of Jesus.
Patras Mundu, S.J.
Satya Nilayam
