Last week Andrew ended his commentary with a brief reference to the former secretary to the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld. What Andrew didn't tell you is that he has a particular affinity with Mr Hammarskjöld. At present, Andrew is packing up all his possessions in Perth and moving with his wife and young son to live in Oxford for a year where he has been invited as a visting academic to write a book on Dag Hammarskjöld. Andrew's doctorate was gained from the University of Uppsala in Sweden and focused on the life and work of Dag Hammarskjöld. He has now been invited to turn his study into a book. For a time Andrew lived in the former secretary-general's house and got to know his family during the course of his research. Dag Hammarskjöld was a bachelor throughout his life and Andrew's doctorate has raised considerable interest in academic circles around the world leading to this invitation to turn his research into a book. Today he shares a little of what brought fame to this famous Secretary-General of the United Nations following his death in a plane crash in 1961. I am pleased to report to you that Andrew hopes to continue filing articles for Catholica when he has settled in in Oxford and, in the meantime, he has given us a series of wonderful reflections which will run over the next four Tuesdays while he makes the transition to the UK. This series is a mixed collection of reflections on different aspects of life looked at from a spiritual perspective. Today's commentary sits very comfortably with the observations I was writing about yesterday concerning the spirituality of Opus Dei which endeavours to view spirituality as part and parcel of our secular lives. _Editor

At 4.51 p.m. on the 17th of September, 1961, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961), boarded the aircraft, Albertina, en-route from Ndjili in Zaire to Ndola in Zambia. Hammarskjöld had travelled to the African continent on a mission to resolve the Congo Crisis. Believing that he would only be away one night at a meeting, the Secretary-General left his personal effects behind in a villa. Hammarskjöld's plane was never to arrive at Ndola Airport, bursting into a ball of flames, soon after 10.00 p.m. All on board the plane, with the exception of one man who survived for a few days in a hospital, perished. There still exists much conjecture as to whether Hammarskjöld's death was an accident or assassination.

Secret life...

Dag Hammarskjöld had been Secretary-General of the United Nations for eight years, and prior to this a senior Swedish public servant, a man of known achievement in the fields of literature, economics and law. But what was to astound the world, was the 'secret' life that was to be discovered upon his death. In his apartment in New York a manuscript was found with a cover letter to his friend Leif Belfrage. The letter read:

"Dear Leif: Perhaps you may remember I once told you that, in spite of everything, I kept a diary which I wanted you to take charge of someday. Here it is. It was begun without a thought of anybody else reading it. But, what with my later history and all that has been said and written about me, the situation has changed … That is why, during recent years, I have reckoned with the possibility of publication, though I have continued to write for myself, not for the public." (Hammarskjöld, 1988, p. 7)

The 'diary' which Hammarskjöld kept would become one of the best selling books of the 20th Century, and would be known in the English speaking world as Markings (1964). The portrait it revealed of Hammarskjöld was vastly different from what the world had known; here was a man of God, totally in love with God and Christ, a man who at the core of his being, sought above all else and others, a union with the Object of his greatest desire — God.

Of love of solitude and silence...

Since the publication of Markings many have postulated as to Hammarskjöld's secret spiritual life putting forward argument after argument as to why this drive within him was never made public, why did such a confident man keep within him such a beautiful life? A book found among his personal effects at the villa in Zaire provides the best possible rationale. It has been established that Hammarskjöld had a deep devotion for Thomas à Kempis The Imitation of Christ, and this text was found in his bedside table. Chapter 20 of Book I of The Imitation of Christ, entitled: "Of Love of Solitude and Silence" is especially interesting.

According to à Kempis: "The most holy men and women who have ever lived fled as far as they could the company of worldly-minded men, and chose to serve God in the secret of their hearts". (Thomas à Kempis,1955, p. 56)

Thomas à Kempis thus stresses that every person should have a 'secret chamber' to retire to which no one can invade. As à Kempis concludes: "No man can safely mingle among people save he who would gladly be solitary if he could. No man is secure in high position save he who would gladly be a subject. No man can firmly command save he who has learned gladly to obey. No man has true joy save he whose heart shows him to have a clear conscience. No man speaks surely save he who would gladly keep silence if he might" (Thomas à Kempis,1955, p. 56)

The secret spiritual life of Dag Hammarskjöld may be compared to another public servant, lawyer and statesman, in this case a founding father and architect of the Commonwealth of Australia, Alfred Deakin (1856-1919).

An active man of the spirit...

	Alfred Deakin A spiritual man and second Prime Minister of Australia

Considered to be one of Australia's greatest Prime Ministers, Alfred Deakin, laid much of the political framework for the development of the Australian nation. Yet unbeknown to many Australians and even contemporary spiritual writers, Deakin preceded Hammarskjöld as a 20th century example of an 'active' man of the spirit. Australia's second Prime Minister, a man who rode his bicycle to Parliament, a man who rejected a knighthood, also left a collection of musings and poems regarding his spiritual journey. In words comparable to Hammarskjöld's thoughts, Deakin, Prime Minister of Australia around the time of Hammarskjöld's birth, a forceful orator, the founder of the Australian Navy and the Conservative Party in Australia, a man who was the tireless spokesperson for the dream of a unified nation, is seen in a far different light when we gaze on his spiritual writings: "The best road to the Father is that of the Son — to come as a child following the footsteps of the Divine Elder brother who says softly: 'Come unto me and I will give you rest'. To go to him is to find him coming much more than half way but it is to be ashamed to wait without making at least some advance to him … To submit to the influx of holiness in ever so slight a degree means more than mere passiveness. Purification must cleanse us before we can be worthy to receive it and what we perceive we must give. Centre of light and love he makes the soul that welcomes or accepts him a tiny centre of some finest ray of Christliness. God Bless him". (La Nauze, J.A., (1965): Volume I: 74-75)

The false notion that the spiritual life is only demanded of those in monastic orders or those disconnected from the temporal affairs of life, belies the omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence of God, who has chosen peoples from all races and walks of life, even those who are fiercely embroiled in matters 'profane', so as to make these dealings 'sacred'. Let us not fall into the trap of shirking responsibility to lead a sacred life according to whether one has been consecrated or ordained as a 'priest' or as a 'religious' or not.

The old adage that the stillest waters run deepest, should make us acutely aware not to classify others by occupations or personal biases or prejudices. Many people have lived holy lives within a cloister, but many have also attempted lives of contemplation within the hum and din of the world of temporal affairs. As the German Dominican mystic preached, Christ not only requires of us to emulate a 'Mary' and sit pondering his words, but also requires us to set to work in this world as 'Martha', to show through our actions our faith. For as works without faith are inevitably 'pointless', so faith without works is essentially dead. (cf: James 2: 14-26). For this reason we should not be surprised to find cobblers, such as Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) writing great mystical works, nor giants of the political world such as Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) amidst the bloody hardships of the United States Civil War, declaring: "my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right".

IMAGE SOURCES: The headline image has been sourced from stock.xchng. Titled "Scarborough Bluff" the photograph was taken by Cygnus Hyoga, Toronto, Canada. Clicking on the other images will take you to the original source for each image. The image of Thomas a Kempis, "The Imitation of Christ" is by the publisher of Catholica, Brian Coyne.

©2009 Dr Andrew Thomas Kania

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