In New York City, instructions accompany buttons at busy intersections that pedestrians can press to direct traffic lights to change. There is only one problem: they don’t work! The city deactivated them in the 1980s when they installed high-tech traffic signals but never bothered to remove the buttons or their instructions. It’s probably just as well as they boost people’s illusion of control. The “illusion of control” is the finding in psychology that people overestimate their ability to control events or their outcomes. It’s a phenomenon in which people believe they have more control over a situation than they really do. Let the truth be known–we are not in control. There is only the illusion of control.
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), whose companions in his missionary journeys became known as the Society of Jesus or Jesuits, originally envisioned for himself a career in the military, but a cannonball to his leg changed the trajectory of his life. During his long convalescence, he came to terms with his illusion of control and surrendered his life to God. Surrender is a much-misunderstood word in relation to God. It does not equate to passivity, as though God does everything. Surrender requires our active participation to live in union with God. Ignatius kept a record of his wildly fluctuating emotions in everyday life and the spiritual practices he employed to master them. His friends urged him to share his reflections, which resulted in his highly influential devotional Spiritual Exercises. He originally intended it as a month-long retreat toward a goal of spiritual transformation. Near the end of his devotional is the “Suscipe Prayer,” so-called for the first Latin word in the prayer that translates “receive.” The prayer follows an extended series of reflections on God’s love for us. As Ignatius reminded his readers, “We love, because God first loved us” (1 John 4.19). What an ideal prayer for the approaching New Year. We let go of past hurts, old resentments, and our high need to control as we surrender to God’s love:
Ignatius of Loyola
Take, Lord, all my freedom. Receive my whole memory, understanding, and will. Whatever I have or own, you have given me. I hand it all back to you and surrender it entirely to be governed by your will. Grant me only to love you, give me this grace. This, truly, is enough for me.
David Coffey, “The Ignatian Suscipe Prayer: It’s Text and Meaning.”
Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.