FROM THEOLOGY TO MYSTAGOGY. THE INTERIORISATION OF THE PROTESTANT TRADITION BY A WORLD CITIZEN:

This essay presents as paradigm the reflection of Dag Hammarskjöld on the history of his belief. It investigates how his initial expression of theological concepts gradually became a mystagogical process, interiorising the religious traditions in which he has grown up. From generations and soldiers and government officials on my father’s side I inherited a belief that no life was more satisfactory than one of selfless service to your country — or humanity. This service re- quired a sacrifice of all personal interests, but likewise the courage to stand up unflinchingly for your convictions.


INTRODUCTION
When sociologists and psychologists conceive a research on religious beliefs, most often they start to interrogate people about concepts corresponding to traditional creeds (Dekker, De Hart & Peters 1997). Research in spirituality is less interested in answers to questions whether people consider themselves as "believers" and how they may formulate their religious ideas. Spirituality focuses on the spiritual journey of a person and how the encounter with the divine reality may provoke in them a process of transformation. Theological language may be used to express the process of becoming conscious of the divine human relationship. This essay will present as paradigm the reflection of Dag Hammarskjöld on the history of his belief. What started in him as the expression of theological concepts gradually became a mystagogical process, interiorising the religious traditions in which he grew up.

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE AND PERSPECTIVE FROM GOD
Each person finds him/herself located in a field of tension between the personal life journey and the perspective of God in which this life takes place. We experience our lives as a "drama" with ourselves as Huls From theology to mystagogy he strongly focuses on himself. On the other hand, he discovers that it is only when we become oblivious to ourselves that it becomes possible to act in a just and ethical way. In this process, silence becomes the space in which he discovers how his true life orientation is created and how he has to act. We may also indicate, in the process of discernment, a transition from "I" to "we." My performance may be considered as "good" when the other comes to the fore. Granting implies creating space for the other. Continuously we are confronted with the critical question of whether we really have the other in mind. Or is the Christian ideal of charity merely a cover for a subtle egocentrism and an inclination to perfection? Do we use the other as object of our own goodness? What is our real motivation? The spiritual maturity originating from discernment gives us the sensation of coming to life in the self-forgetfulness of love. The authentic person is born in loving the other. But the other comes to the fore in the gaze of our eyes. In this way the other discovers that he/she is worthy to be seen.
In 1950 Dag Hammarskjöld formulated this openness to the other as follows: Hunger is my native place in the land of the passions. Hunger for fellowship, hunger for righteousness -for a fellowship founded on righteousness, and a righteousness attained in fellowship. Only life can satisfy the demands of life. And this hunger of mine can be satisfied for the simple reason that the nature of life is such that I can realise my individuality by becoming a bridge for others, a stone in the temple of righteousness. Don't be afraid of yourself, live your individuality to the full -but for the good of others. Don't copy others in order to buy fellowship, or make convention your law instead of living the righteousness. To become free and responsible. For this alone was man created, and he who fails to take the Way which could have been his shall be lost eternally (cf. 1988:62.) Our desire for justice is only satisfied if we are inspired to grant others life. This happens if we are not so much consumed by the self that we begrudge the other his/her life. We are only in the centre of our own being when our essence bridges the gap to the other. When the other may exist in his/her own right, resisting our dominance, the door of heaven opens up. Spiritual maturity does not mean that we have 88

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From theology to mystagogy The title expresses Hammarskjöld's attitude towards life. In fact, he shared the hesitation of many of his contemporaries who experienced the Second World War. He sensed that he was living in a new world that still had to find answers to completely new problems. It was evident that rapid technological development had its dark side too. A conflict which in the past was solved at local level could result in a worldwide catastrophe. For Hammarskjöld it was evidently a question of a new world with new problems asking for new solutions.
At the beginning of this radio talk he notes, The world in which I grew up was dominated by principles and ideals of a time far from ours and, as it may seem, far removed from the problems facing a man of the middle of the twentieth century. However, my way has not meant a departure from those ideals. On the contrary, I have been led to an understanding of their validity also for our world of today. Thus, a never abandoned effort frankly and squarely to build up a personal belief in the light of experience and honest thinking has led me in a circle; I now recognize and endorse, unreservedly, those very beliefs which were once handed down to me.
As is usual in the years of our childhood, we are educated with values, principles, ideas and creeds of our parents and other important people. In the beginning they are foreign to us. We accept them because we identify ourselves with them or because they belong to the conventions of the time. However, this does not mean that they really belong to our inner world. A long process of interiorisation is necessary if principles and ideals are to become part of our personal life. Indeed, a grammar of inner life does not exist. Things which are acquired may become interiorised by way of experience in daily life. It is this experience that confronts us with the value to be attributed to principles, ideals and creeds.
As is clear from his writings, Hammarskjöld experienced the difficulty of connecting the principles and ideals of his youth to the problems confronting him as a person halfway through the twentieth century. As secretary of the United Nations, the principal problem confronting him was that of maintaining world peace. The new equilibrium in the world demanded multilateral diplomacy. Representatives of the various countries could not just simply defend their own interests, but were also required to accept responsibility for world events. Each local conflict carried with it the potential of becoming a world 90

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Traditions represented by his father
The next section of Dag Hammarskjöld's radio talk works out the different principles and ideals which he received in his youth and which gradually became part of his conviction, since they express his own inner life. First he focuses on the tradition represented by his father: From generations and soldiers and government officials on my father's side I inherited a belief that no life was more satisfactory than one of selfless service to your country -or humanity. This service required a sacrifice of all personal interests, but likewise the courage to stand up unflinchingly for your convictions.
Although Hammarskjöld did not know his father very well, this radio talk and also some of his other speeches resound with a tone of deep respect for a man who remained until the end of his life, faithful to his inner convictions. The violence of the First World War did not prevent him from remaining true to the principles of international law. Neutral states like Sweden had, according to him, a special obligation towards the future.
Hammarskjöld certainly shared his father's belief in international law. However, in his Canadian radio talk he does not refer to the concrete ideals of his father, but to the attitude behind these convictions. Hjalmar Hammarskjöld and many other members of the family consecrated themselves to the service of the state. They were convinced that "no life was more satisfactory than one of selfless service to your country -or humanity." This service does not always result in applause -as became painfully clear to Hammarskjöld when he was still young (Foote 1962a:78-79;Foote 1962b:87-88): In looking back to find a situation reflecting the essential core of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld's personality, I pause before this recollection. It is late in the day, the third day of the defense debate of 1925. In the First Chamber, the discussion has largely been colored by echoes from the great battles of 1914. Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, who has sharply fought for his views from his position outside the parties, has belike the effort of every single individual, finally led him to the doorstep where the rest is silence because the rest is something that has to be resolved between a man and himself. The rest is silence -but the results of the inner dialogue are evident to all, evident as independence, courage and fairness in dealing with others evident in true international service.

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From theology to mystagogy of desperate attempts to be more and different than the person he/she really is. Service means dedication to the other on the basis of independence and liberty, because only these attitudes enable us to encounter the other.

Traditions represented by his mother
After focusing on the tradition of his father, Dag Hammarskjöld focuses on the spiritual tradition of his mother: From scholars and clergymen on my mother's side I inherited a belief that, in the very radical sense of the Gospels, all men were equal as children of God, and should be met and treated by us as our masters in God.
The relationship with his mother, Agnes Almquist, was rather intense. It is therefore not surprising that she especially represents the way he believes. It is striking how God and the experience of God are intrinsically interwoven with the encounter and association with people. The fundamental orientation of the human person has two aspects: on the one hand all humans are equal as children of God, and on the other, they have to be treated as our masters in God.
That human persons are equal as children of God, does not mean that Hammarskjöld holds the bourgeois ideal of equality as in the French revolution. Human persons are equal to each other because they are children of God, or because they have their origin in God. This idea may not be understood as a theological concept, but as the expression of experience. The fundamental equality of the human person may be experienced by us when we are aware that we are not at the origin of life, but receive life as an undeserved gift. We may live Life (with a capital 'L'), but never possess it. On one occasion Hammarskjöld expressed this experience in Markings (1988:75) as follows: It occurs to you in a flash: I might just as well never have existed. Other people, however, seeing you with a guaranteed salary, a bank account and a brief-case under your arm, assume that you take your existence for granted. What you are can be of interest to them, not that you are. Your pension -not your death -is what you should think about "while the day lasts".
The fact that life in itself is divine -this means with our life we live out of God -makes us thoroughly equal in receiving life. This 94 Huls From theology to mystagogy In this section the word "faith" and the deep-rooted experiential meaning of the word, play an essential role (cf. Huls 1991:623-656). The language of religion should be understood on this substantial level. The expression of faith does not speak about something that is perceptible as an object of reality, but refers to the "unheard-of reality" (in the literal sense of what cannot be heard in reality). It is to this experience that the language of faith is referring, conducting and seducing us. The sensitivity of the "secret" of reality or the "miracle" of the other person causes this to frequently surface through the images. However, the other person remains at the same time intangible. This experience evokes in us a love which surpasses ourselves and goes beyond our logic. This love affects us, but remains in itself intangible. This "blow" through which the Life self forcefully enters our lives, is expressed by Hammarskjöld in the words of John of the Cross: "The union of God with the soul".
In this way we realise that real life only occurs on the other side of the border. Quoting John of the Cross, Hammarskjöld makes it clear that faith refers to an attitude in which not our own person or our own will is at the centre, but the relation with that layer where we realise that it is God guiding and moving us and creating us all the time. Life in which we accept the guidance of that which is outside and beyond us -although in us -is the beginning of our religious or spiritual journey. In contrast with our normal habit of reaching for a precise goal, this way can only be travelled with a questioning attitude. We are not in command of this journey. We are only able to be guided by our sensitivity to the mystery of life. This mystery remains beyond our concept and the mystics call it "love." In fact, love is at odds with our survival instinct and our aspirations to happiness. Nevertheless, the person who lives on this substantial level is aware of being intensely loved.
These moments are so fundamental to the human person, that it not only remains in our memory throughout our entire lives, but it also determines and orientates our activity and our relationship with others. For Dag Hammarskjöld this meant that the "beliefs" which he received from his parents, became intrinsically elucidated by personal experience. Therefore he does not speak about ethical obligations or ideals, but about "beliefs." The disinterested service of his father originates from the same source as the basic orientation towards the other of his mother. 96

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Mystical traditions
In Markings we see clearly how the spiritual journey of Hammarskjöld was connected to the mystical traditions: But the explanation of how man should live a life of active social service in full harmony with himself as a member of the community of the spirit, I found in the writings of those great medieval mystics for whom "self-surrender" had been the way to self-realization, and who in "singleness of mind" and "inwardness" had found strength to say yes also to every fate life had in store for them when they followed the call of duty, as they understood it. Love -that much misused and misinterpreted word -for them meant simply an overflowing of the strength with which they felt themselves filled when living in true self-oblivion. And this love found natural expressions in an unhesitant fulfillment of duty and in an unreserved acceptance of life, whatever it brought them personally of toil, suffering -or happiness. I know that their discoveries about the laws of inner life and of action have not lost their significance.
In contrast with the usual esoteric ideas of mysticism, Hammarskjöld considers mysticism as belonging to the area of charity or social service. The encounter full of adventure of the mystics with divine love is according to him not indulgence in navel-gazing but an orientation to the inner-world in union with external activities. In this way we do not become unilateral in our concentration on God, but arrive at a holistic unity of the different levels of human life. Therefore mysticism is not contrary to political activity, but much rather interwoven with it. Hammarskjöld understands that the love of God is unconditional, and therefore an undeserved gift which occurs in our lives. By way of this inner orientation, we arrive at a "singleness of mind" because we get rid of the ambivalence of self-interest and self-concern. Transformed into this simplicity (cf. Huls & Blommestijn 1995) -this means the complete unselfishness of divine love -we abandon ourselves unconditionally to be carried along by the strength of love. In this way we cannot accede to the other out of ourselves, but we are carried along by the love of God to meet the appeal which the real needs of the other present to us. The service to the other in this way becomes a mystical experience. We love the other with the love of God. We envision the other with the eyes of God. We think about the other with the thoughts of God. As mystics we do not withdraw ourselves from society, but act on the call of our sense of duty. In this way we say "yes"