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Meeting Evil with Mercy

An Anglican Priest's Bold Answer to Atrocity

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

Venture of Faith

We live in a world of darkness which is illuminated by our own courageous movements towards a light, which though within us, is concealed from the eye of reason. Yet in giving of ourselves in hope beyond reason – and this is a venture of faith – we glimpse a depth of reality in ourselves which is the true self, also called the soul. What we would aspire to if we only had the wisdom to do so, would be to live under the direction of the soul, for its dominion is free and joyous.

Anchored deep within us is an undeniable knowledge of our own existence and this immediate awareness is a direct intimation of our own immortal being in the midst of physical impermanence – even as it points to a profound truth inherent in every living moment that is always seeking to find expression.

All of Nature – all created things in fact – speak eloquently like this of eternity ever present in the midst of change to reveal innumerable, sparkling facets of the one ultimate reality.

In this absolute reality is to be found ineffable goodness, as well as tender mercy and above all great love – all essential qualities by which God is known. These divine qualities may be obscured by conflict and suffering, but they are never entirely lost.

As the conviction deepens within us that the supreme creative power, which brought us into being means no harm – and can actually be trusted – our attitude to the challenges we meet on the often stony path of life changes accordingly. And as it does so, we cannot help but proceed further in the fervent wish to give tangible form to this poignant vision of wholeness that will never leave us bereft once we have glimpsed it.

It is a venture of faith as the text introducing this first chapter suggests, but it will also prove to be a stern test of our fidelity regarding that most precious insight we have glimpsed in our heart of hearts. We are not separate from the Absolute – and never have been. This is what mystical unity with God signifies.

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The quotation at the beginning comes from the prolific writings of a highly gifted but unpretentious figure, who is the subject of this biographical study. A remarkable Christian priest by the name of Martin Israel, who originally trained in South Africa and practised as a medical doctor in London, he indicated in incisive fashion forty years ago how we live in a world of darkness.

Of course that world was already by then an unpredictable and dangerous place in all sorts of respects and on every level – how could it have been otherwise? But now in addition it has become marked out by the violent upsurge of religious fundamentalism, as well as by overt nationalism; to our great consternation indeed our own era is turning out to be one of distinct menace as the blind, irrational forces of the universal unconscious mind – so long denied and ignored in fear – are surging up to overwhelm the ordered rationality by which any civilized person still aims to manage affairs with justice, compassion and basic respect for human rights.

Little has really changed nowadays except that the stark issues confronting mankind have become more pressing. Even so it has clearly become essential to investigate yet again – as Martin did in a uniquely articulate way – how we may not only summon all the resources at our disposal, but also invoke the spirit of compassion anew. And to attempt this urgent task while still bound to a tired vocabulary that has all but lost the power to truly inspire. What more can possibly be done now to make a difference?

In the weary eyes of the world, to meet evil with mercy seems surely a futile act of utter foolishness. In actual fact it is nothing of the kind. It is really a gesture of the highest wisdom, but it does take the greatest courage of all – for when once you determine to take a firm stand on the bedrock of reality, all that does not belong to Truth rises up in fury to dissuade you from the most noble of intentions.

To meet evil with fortitude nevertheless is to dare to greet evil and go further still. It is actually to bid evil welcome and in so doing to disarm its threat at the most fundamental level. And this of course is to follow faithfully the supreme teaching of Jesus Christ – to offer the other cheek to your adversary and to travel the extra mile to help your neighbour in the midst of trouble.

Naturally, the authentic spiritual path of loving kindness and nonviolence that you will find outlined in this book is anything but easy to emulate. It has many adherents, but little credibility in terms of effective action from a wordly standpoint. Yet ultimately it is the only enduring answer to atrocity – and it was the bold reply Martin Israel unstintingly provided to all who cared to listen during the course of his remarkable healing ministry.

* * *

Undue piety holds little appeal for the modern mind, and extreme religious fundamentalism is the scourge of our time and is wisely shunned by all normal people. Simple goodness and great bravery on the other hand speak directly to the heart and will never go out of fashion. Such fine qualities are rightly celebrated whenever they are seen to gleam in the shadows, and no effort to translate high ideals into practice amidst the abrasive demands of daily life is ever wasted.

Anything we may ever need to know – all the sustenance we will ever need – resides within these hidden depths of our own being, and yet almost certainly we will still need to avail ourselves of sound outer guidance in order to realise that this is so. Such is an unavoidable paradox of the quest for Truth and why it is always valuable to pay tribute to men and women of outstanding wisdom and courage, who are the genuine teachers of humanity. It is they who embody the age-old perennial philosophy expressing the essential truth underlying all the great world religions. By their unselfish example, these noble exemplars of deep wisdom remind us of our innate nobility – and never has this been more urgent than in our own era of rapid change and unremitting turbulence.

I have done so once before, and now once again find myself prompted to relate aspects of my own life story within the warm glow shed by the radiance of another spiritual teacher. But before I embark upon yet another creative journey, it becomes clear to me that I need to question my motivation and intentions. When deep contemplation precedes our most important decisions, the quality of our work is enriched immeasurably.

When we feel moved in admiration to write about someone else, in the beginning our work is clearly derivative. Yet if what we express is a genuine response to the beauty that has touched us and partakes of honesty and candour, it becomes authentic in its own right. When one decisively speaks out in truth it is as if the whole world rejoices.

If a writer feels the need to shelter behind someone else's philosophy, it is probably because they are still in the process of formulating their own convictions – and there is no harm in that. For to borrow from the authority of someone more experienced than oneself is to be involved in a rich learning process and the eventual contribution to a particular field of study becomes all the more valuable. For my part – as long as I live – I trust that I will not become complacent or cease to learn.

Finally we may see how the careful study of another human being acts as a mirror, reflecting our own responses andprompting us to question more deeply how we ourselves function. Informed and uplifted by the example of others, we are enabled to become more deeply rooted in our own reality. We are encouraged to move from a merely personal to a universal vision – and our concern can then embrace the entire world.

In Quest of True Purpose

Man struggles to keep alive yet often forgets to live. He is obsessed with acquiring things, yet he seldom has the time or understanding to enjoy them. The will to survive is a prerequisite for life, but if the object of the living is simply to escape or postpone death, we are indeed truly dead already.

How apposite is this summary of mankind's predicament, skilfully hinting as it does at the contradictions inherent in human nature – the clash of light and darkness, or hope and fear in the midst of the struggle to survive and prosper at all costs. They are the opening lines of Martin Israel's very first book and they set a clear and decisive tone for the steady stream of work from his pen, which was to follow over the next thirty years.

So it was with these incisive, initial words – as perceptive and telling now as they were when they were written – that Martin embarked in 1974 upon a new career in England as a prolific and immensely popular Christian writer. He completed eventually more than twenty books in total, exploring every conceivable aspect of spirituality; the originality and depth of his thought was remarkable – the breadth of his knowledge astonishing.

Born into a prosperous Jewish family in South Africa, Martin had by this time left his youth well behind and had already passed the age of forty-five, having established a successful career as a medical doctor before adopting Christianity. Soon after publication of this first full length work of spiritual reflections – entitled Summons to Life – he was to be received into the Anglican Church as a priest. It is a remarkable and inspiring spiritual journey, which testifies to his determined courage and profound creativity, because he had considerable obstacles to overcome in the course of his private life and public ministry.

Assiduous in his duties, Martin grew in authority and candour, even as he gained in rich diversity of experience. As his confidence grew, increasingly he came to terms with an agonising diffidence, which had mostly stemmed from acute sensitivity and shyness in his youth. Loneliness as an only child and intractable family issues at home, resulted in severe depression in later life, but the burden of this dark shadow only made him more compassionate and understanding towards those people drawn to him for spiritual direction and counselling.

His pastoral work soon extended into healing – and even into the obscure and difficult work of exorcism of evil influences, which he termed 'the ministry of deliverance' since it often required entrusting disembodied, earthbound souls into the providential care of God through rapt prayer. That Martin was able and willing to undertake such challenging and dangerous inner work extending into subtle realms beyond the gates of death says a great deal about his rare and very particular gifts of mystical intuition and psychic sensitivity, which set him apart from other Christian clergy – and marked him out as somehow different from them to say the least. Such mysterious considerations as rescue work in the afterlife hardly lend themselves to credible explanation, but Martin still wrote about these esoteric matters of the paranormal with fluent ease and matter of fact conviction.

Shy and a touch mysterious he may have sometimes seemed, but unapproachable he definitely was not. People warmed to him in increasing numbers as soon as they discovered how caring, precise and profound the spiritual direction he offered was. Before long he became sought after both as an inspired preacher and wise spiritual guide, offering retreats to both laymen and clergy. Eventually however, the unremitting demands upon his time and energy took their heavy toll. With little warning after many years of conscientious application to his ministry and acclaimed by a growing circle of avid readers as well as by an admiring church congregation, he was overcome with alarming rapidity by debilitating illness, following an acute breakdown, which occasioned a dramatic near-death experience.

He was to spend his final years mostly confined to a wheelchair in ever-increasing disability, yet his inherent quality of radiant spirituality was now even more apparent as he flowed out in greater measure of love and wisdom to all visitors. He was indeed now living according to the sacred principles he had espoused during his ministry with such plain-speaking fervour and eloquence.

The gifted doctor turned priest had responded ardently to God's summons to sanctity, but by this point he knew more fully what such an invitation entailed, having plumbed the depths of suffering during a long and useful life dedicated in service to others.

As an eminent lecturer in pathology during his medical career, Martin was acutely aware of man's mortality, while with his deeply mystical temperament he had realised early on how very fleeting and precious life is.

And he made plain in his first book of profound spiritual instruction how tragic it is for people to waste this precious gift of mortal existence while becoming submerged in superficial preoccupations – in compensation perhaps for unacknowledged disappointment. The will to survive is natural to human beings and renders us tenacious, he said but we so easily become burdened by trivial concerns that all too often we forget to live. Such is humanity's central and most tragic dilemma.

The time in which we live is notable for the great scientific advances and social achievements that have swept humanity on and transformed its members into active units. And yet the individual is as far from true fulfilment as a person as he has ever been. What is the measure of a truly mature person? He is the one who is at home in the world because he is at home in himself.

In the mad rush for security and peace, there is too often an escape from the person to an outer world of authority, where responsibility may be laid at the door of someone else. Yet there can be no peace that does not come from the depths of our own being, no security that does not arise from the love within, and no knowledge that does not proclaim the unity of the person in the greater community of creation ...

Martin showed with engaging clarity how the growth into the fullness of our own being is the awakening of a progressively greater knowledge of the being in God. Yet such knowledge is not one that is externally imposed but rather is something gradually gleaned from hard-won inner experience.

The source of personal being is at one with the fount of universal being. From the unknown streams the power behind the universe and it is in faith that we come to regard the mysterious primary cause with a sense of wonder – even while we personalise it as God – sometimes named the Author of all creation.

Such realisations lie at the heart of mystical illumination, nevertheless all verbal descriptions fall short because we cannot capture such profound understanding with any amount of striving – although earnestness of endeavour is a prerequisite for the spiritual quest. Here most certainly is an enigma to reflect upon. Reality need not be attained since it is already an accomplished fact, but it still needs to be recognised and then made our own if it is to mean anything.

With an open mind and heart, it is best to forget all we have learned and begin again just where we are. We approach the simple secret of our own existence most readily and become naturally convinced of God's reality as somehow not separate from our own, as we wait patiently in the stillness of attentive trust for Truth to reveal itself. This is contemplative prayer.

What appears to be a strange paradox concerning an endless struggle for fulfilment relates to our profound predicament as human beings. It revolves around the essential question of our identity and points to our pressing need for self-knowledge. It is in point of fact an acute identity crisis, which we alone can resolve.

Who are we really? Only as we begin to answer these urgent existential questions, as Martin continually reminded us, do we begin to find a truly satisfying sense of meaning. And only then do we begin to discover strength of purpose sufficient to sustain us in the face of all vicissitudes.

To know the true self, which alone is durable and partakes of eternal reality, requires a radical acceptance of ourselves as we really are, of the whole personality in fact. As the outer layers are recognised and put in their proper perspective, so the core or centre of the psyche is revealed. How radiant and warm it is but how few of us know it! We are deterred from this knowledge by the surrounding layers of cold and darkness. Many people strive for this central place of warmth, of which they are intuitively aware and may even have touched momentarily in meditation or during some great aesthetic experience. But few will attain its full comfort until they have made the surrounding darkness their own possession also.

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Excerpted from Meeting Evil with Mercy by Philip Pegler. Copyright © 2015 Philip Pegler. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
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