Longanimity

It is all about The Long Game. Maybe because I am now old, I like the long game. When I read that "China is playing the long game" I am impressed and intimidated. We need to play the long game. The short game is over immediately. It's all about the long game!

Longanimity I learned for the first time this week in the magnificent reflection on the Holy Spirit The Sanctifier (fantastic reading for the week before Pentecost!) by Archbishop Luis Martinez of Mexico. Tremendous word! The Latin root anima means spirit or mind. Other words with this root include: equanimity meaning serenity of spirit; pusillanimity or weakness, timidity, lack of courage; and especially magnanimity as greatness of spirit. This last is especially important. Interestingly, it is the opposite of arrogance, egoism, narcissism. It actually includes a humility which ignores the demands of ego in service of a greater moral vision. So longanimity describes a spirit, an intellect and will and temperament, that is in for the long haul, the marathon, the long game. Every morning in my prayer I ask God to make me magnanimous; this morning I added longanimous. 

It is defined as patience, forbearance of injuries. But the meaning, as explained by Archbishop Martinez, is deeper and brighter than that would suggest. Synonyms include: fortitude, longsuffering, endurance, patience, abstinence, restrain, moderation, persevering. This is a really good thing!

As described by the Archbishop, it is heroic patience in the face of suffering, but far more than that. It is a quality of Hope. It is a sweetness, a delight, a quiet joy precisely in the suffering in anticipation of the eventual outcome. It is expectancy. It is waiting and endurance, but not as frustration, dissonance or irritation. It is interior serenity and happiness. Our lives are full of waiting: for the crops at harvest, at a light, for the bus, etc. Such waiting can be frustration or joy.

 Imagine you have a date with the one you love. You get to her house at 6:05 for the 6:00 date. Just about right. She is not quite ready so you wait for 12 minutes as she finishes "getting ready"...being sure her hair and makeup are just right. During that wait you chat amicably with her Mom and Dad whom you like and who like you. You simply can't wait to see her. Your are bursting with happiness. When she walks down the stairs you look at her; you lose your breath; you feel a queasiness, a feeling like you will faint that you never felt before. She sweetly says "I'm sorry I made you wait." You reply "You are worth waiting for!" What was that wait like? Pure Joy!

Longanimity is not stoic endurance, but the inner Joy of anticipation, of Hope. The pain of deprivation is overcome by the delight of happiness. It is like the marathoner, in practice, doing a hard run, experiencing pain in the lungs, heart and muscles, but deeper knowing a quiet peace and happiness in anticipation of the accomplishment hoped for. 

Another dimension of longanimity is stability of life. This is a quality desperately needed in this culture of rapid, chaotic, relentless change. We Catholics know  stability as the hallmark and fourth vow of our Benedictine monks who pledge to live out their lives in a specific location, community, monastery. Few of us are called to this expression of longanimity, but an element of stability is intrinsic to every vocation and indeed any wholesome, integrated life. The opposite of such virtuous steadfastness is the vice of acedia, which we translate improperly as sloth. Actually, it is a deeper laziness of the spirit, a detachment from God, that causes a restlessness of spirit. Such restlessness can cause constant irritation, dissatisfaction, frustration and a manic, compulsive urge from one satisfaction to another, without an underlying steadiness of purpose.

By baptism and confirmation, we are rooted in Christ, in Joy for the long haul. In Eucharist and Penance we renew this continually. In marriage and religious life we make a specific vow which roots and directs our lives. Each of us is given a providential identity, a charism, a mission in life. Our longanimity is our fidelity, however obscure and confused at times, to that mysterious call.

On this eve of Pentecost, let us invoke the Holy Spirit:  Come to us, Spirit of Jesus and the Father, with all your gifts of fortitude, patience, longanimity and Joy without cause!