Remembering Dallas Willard

 A Bridge Between Worlds: Remembering Dallas Willard

by Mark A. Scandrette

Hi all. My friend and colleague Mark Scandrette wrote this reflection after Dallas transitioned into Glory; it was originally published in either Sojourners or Christianity Today, but has long been out of print. I'm sharing it now for two reasons: One, I sometimes feel like a fish out of water in this group as an unapologetically progressive, contemplative/esoteric, Peace Church-influenced apprentice of Jesus who receives much value from Dallas's life and work; Mark speaks to his underappreciated role as a bridge-builder so well. And secondly, because I think many of you will enjoy this tribute. Grace and peace.

I’ve spent the last week reflecting on the life of one of my most important influences,  Dallas Willard, who passed away on May 8th. The morning he died, I awoke early with a  sense that he was gone, and later discovered that my good friend, Gary Black, had  been with him in his final breaths.  

I became familiar with Willard’s work in kingdom theology and spiritual formation in 1998  during a dramatic transition in my life. Willard’s broader and more cosmic understanding  of Jesus Christ and his message helped me adjust my lens on faith to the pluralist  context of San Francisco. In Divine Conspiracy I discovered language for what I long  thought true about the present availability of the divine life. His earlier book, Spirit of the  Disciplines, became something of a primer for the journey of integration I’ve sought to  experience and share with others.  

As a person, Dallas became an important part of the early development of ReIMAGINE. Our team participated in forums and intensives he taught in Southern California.  Because of my cofounder Dieter Zander’s connections, Dallas spent time with our little  group in San Francisco on several occasions.  

In person, Dallas was his message: utterly calm, centered, humble, present, quietly  engaging and profoundly wise. Because of this I tended to refer to him as “the buddha-like one.” As a young man of action, urgency, ego and emotion I felt like a bull in a  china shop whenever I was around him. At a large conference I helped organize, I tried  to convince Dallas to wear a court jester’s hat onstage. “We are going for a holy fools  sort of thing,” I explained. He declined by saying, “I’m still working on the holy part.” I  wanted strategy, tactics, drama and demonstrable evidence and was often frustrated by  Willard’s deceptively simple responses to my agitated questions. Gradually I’ve come to  understand that Willard’s radical calm and modesty came from his confidence in the  absolute goodness of God expressed in this moment. 

As a young man I asked Willard how a community might experience the reality of God’s  kingdom. His reply became the mandate of our work over the past 12 years, “a group of  people should simply look at what Jesus said and did and try to do those things.” We  eventually designed a years worth of curriculum, exercises and Learning Labs based on  this premise, informed by his understanding of the dynamics of spiritual formation. In  retrospect, I think I’ve put more energy into the action or method, without fully realizing  the inward journey required for substantive change -- the daily, moment by moment  surrender to the love that is making all things new.  

I understand that Willard’s theological work is largely ignored in academic circles.  Though a trained philosopher, his theological writings speak more to the soul than the  scholarly mind. Despite his sophistications, and though many find his writing dense,  precise and difficult, he wrote and taught with the heart of a pastor. In some of his  writing and teaching I detect a cultural myopathy that at times verges on antagonism  towards contemporary society and culture. I am challenged by the semi cloistered and  deeply private life he lived, which I believe funded his considerable and at times  prophetic contributions. 

At times I’ve been critical of what I considered to be Willard’s “quietist” approach, though I’ve come to understand that his lack of overt social justice  rhetoric came from a thorough commitment to secrecy. I am challenged not to shout  about every small act of compassion I perform. I have friends who wrestle with gender  identity and sexuality who interpreted his responses to their earnest questions as  conventional and lacking nuance. Yet who of us is not limited in our perspective by our  age, milieu and life experiences?  

At times I’ve resisted formal association with “the Willard school” because so many of  his most zealous “fans,” in my estimation, grasp for knowledge of his work without  seeking or possessing his kind of knowing-- a wisdom way of being that came from  silence, solitude and quiet surrender. These are not ideas to be understood as much as  realities to experience.  

For me Willard serves as a bridge between the simple “biblical” faith of my upbringing,  the wisdom tradition of the mystics and the challenges and opportunities of new  consciousness emerging in the 21st century. I am deeply indebted to the strength of his  ideas and the example of his life.