The Kenotic Path

We’ve talked over and over this Lent about how the spiritual path of Jesus Life-Giver is truly a transformational path leading us to higher and higher levels of consciousness, culminating in an understanding that we are all one – one with the Divine, one with each other, and one with all of creation. Another way to say this is to “put on the mind of Christ” – Christ being a code word for higher consciousness, not Jesus’ last name. Christ was an attribute given to Jesus after his death and resurrection by his followers who felt that he had achieved enlightenment, an integration with all of life and death… he got it.

Cynthia Bourgeault believes that the key to developing this higher consciousness is to follow the kenotic path - the path of self-emptying, humility, and radical love that Jesus embodied. “Kenosis” is a Greek word translated as “emptied” in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul writes,

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…” (Philippians 2:5–7).

Now, I don’t want to get hung up on the divinity (or not) of Jesus. But I believe when Paul saying Jesus “was in the form of God” and was on a level “equal to God” it was his way of explaining the level of spiritual understanding, connection and consciousness that Jesus had achieved. Having achieved that level, Jesus did not think or act like he was any better than anyone else, but chose the kenotic path, the self-emptying path of vulnerability, surrender, and compassion over dominance or self-interest.

Ascetic Path vs. Kenotic

To more fully understand the kenotic path, it might help to see how it is diametrically opposed to what most of us probably consider to be the traditional spiritual path – a more ascetic path. Nuns and monks are the first to come to mind when we think of those who follow the ascetic path. It is a pat of self-denial, inner renunciation, living simply or in isolation, taking vows of poverty and celibacy, and often living by very strict rules.

The ascetic, Bourgeault writes in her book The Wisdom Jesus, is one who “through the disciplines of prayer, meditation, fasting, and inner witnessing… learns how to purify and concentrate [an] inner reserve and to avoid squandering it in physical or emotional lust, petty reactions and ego gratification. As self-mastery is gradually attained, the spiritual energy concentrated within becomes strong enough and clear enough to sustain contact with those increasingly higher and more intense frequencies of the divine life, until at last one converges upon that unitive point.” This has been a popular path because it often works. But it is not the only path.

Jesus shows us a different way, what Bourgeault says is a more “reckless and extravagant path… attained not through storing up that energy or concentrating the life force, but through throwing it all away – or giving it all away. The unitive point is reached not through the concentration of being but through the free squandering of it.” The kenotic path is not about giving up things or pulling away to reserve one’s spiritual energy but is instead about giving out one’s spiritual energy out for others. The kenotic path invites us to imagine faith not as a set of rigid beliefs and rituals, but as a living practice of pouring ourselves out, becoming a servant of others, offering abundant life for others.

There are many examples of Jesus that illustrate the kenotic path. Consider the story of the loaves and fishes where everyone has enough and there are twelve baskets of food leftover. Or when he turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana, filling multiple bathtubs with good wine. The prodigal son is another example. The son squanders his inheritance, but when he comes crawling back, instead of being angry, his father throws a huge celebration. On the sea of Galilee after the resurrection, Jesus helps the disciples bring in a huge load of fish – 153 to be precise. And in the Gospel of John 10:10, Jesus says, I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly. And there are so many more examples!

To walk the kenotic path means letting go of the illusion of separateness. It means listening deeply—especially to voices at the margins—and being willing to set aside our privilege or comfort for the sake of justice and wholeness. It means trusting that, when we give of ourselves, we do not diminish but become part of a greater wholeness—the body of Christ alive and moving in the world.

Babette’s Feast

There is a popular kenotic parable of our times in the 1987 movie Babette’s Feast, adapted from a short story by Isak Dinesen. Bourgeault shares the gist of the story:

As the drama unfolds we discover that its heroine, Babette, had until recently been one of the most celebrated chefs in Paris, but during the political riots of 1971 she loses everything – restaurant, livelihood, and family. She flees for her life to rural Denmark and is taken in by two aging sisters who have given their lives to religious work, trying to hold together the spiritual community that their father founded. When Babette arrives, the remaining believers have grown old and weary, lost in petty bickering. Babette tries as best she can to lift their spirits, but nothing seems to be turning the situation around. Out of the blue a letter arrives informing her that she has won three million francs in a lotter back in Paris, and then and there she decides to treat these Danish peasants to a proper French dinner.

She imports all the necessary ingredients: not only exotic gourmet delicacies for the seven-course meal itself (each with its appropriate wines, champagnes, and liqueurs) but the China dinnerware, silver cutlery, damask tablecloths, and crystal glassware. The film zeroes in on the banquet table as the astonished Danish peasants are suddenly faced with this extravagant abundance. At first they are frightened and suspicious, but little by little the mood mellows as they slowly relax into gratitude and forgiveness. The last scene of that banquet night has them all stumbling, a bit drunk but very happy, out into the village square, where they form a circle around the fountain… and begin to sing and dance together. After all these years they have finally touched the wellspring, and their hearts are overflowing. Then someone says to Babette, “Well, I guess you’ll be leaving us soon, won’t you, now that you’re a rich woman?” She says, “Rich? I’m not rich. I spent every penny I had on that banquet, three million francs.”

My first gut reaction to this story was, what a waste! Right? As soon as the villagers get some sleep and sober up, they’ll all be back to the way they were. But it doesn’t matter to Babette. She throws these tired souls the dinner party of their lives – no-holds-barred. She offers them the gift of unbounded love and extravagant generosity, mirroring to them what God is like, and what true humanness can be like. And she does it in the self-emptying act of giving away everything – her money, her time and talent, her love and gratitude. And she doesn’t resent it, nor expect anything from it. This is the kenotic path.

This path feels counterintuitive… how do we continue to pour out and not become burnt out? How do we have always more to give without becoming jaded, resentful, grouchy and exhausted?

Jesus had achieved such a level of consciousness that he had a continuous connection with life-force to provides a constant flow of spiritual sustenance. But, we also know that Jesus took time to refuel. He stepped away from the chaos and crowds to pray and spent time with God… filling up his reserve tank. It gave him the perspective and strength he needed not to cling. That is a practice we could all take up!

Let me share one last story from Thich Nhat Hanh that speaks to me of the Kenotic path in a little different way.

I asked the leaf whether it was frightened because it was autumn and the other leaves were falling. The leaf told me, “No. During the whole spring and summer I was completely alive. I worked hard to help nourish the tree, and now much of me is in the tree. I am not limited by this form. I am also the whole tree, and when I go back to the soil, I will continue to nourish the tree. So I don’t worry at all. AS I leave this branch and float to the ground, I will wave to the tree and tell her, ‘I will see you again very soon.’” That day there was a wind blowing and, after a while, I saw the leaf leave the branch and float down to the soil, dancing joyfully, because as it floated it saw itself already there in the tree. It was so happy. I bowed my head, knowing that I have a lot to learn from the leaf because it is not afraid – it knew nothing can be born and nothing can die.

In our letting go, self-emptying and pouring forth, we are not denying ourselves anything, but instead becoming one with everything in our giving.

Lenten Blessings, 

Kaye