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Spiritual readings "Greetings from Whittier Presbyterian Church"
Jan.
2004 Emails
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JS Bach New Years Day Cantata |
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JS Bach Epiphany Cantata |
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Francis de Sales on Devotion |
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Robert Graves on Robert Frost |
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Thomas Shippey on J.R.R. Tolkein |
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Dean of Grace Cathedral, prayer for singers |
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Parker Palmer on Vocation |
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William Sloane Coffin on Iraq lost opportunity |
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JS Bach on death & Simeon’s song |
Two years ago I found a 4-CD set of Christmas Cantatas of J. S. Bach and it has been the mainstay of my Advent/Christmas listening ever since. His cantata “Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied/Sing Ye The Lord a New Refrain,” BWV 190, was written for New Year’s Day, bringing together our Christian faith and the secular observance of the new calendar year. It has these words, in part echoing the 149th and 150th Psalms:
“Sing ye the Lord a new refrain! The assembly of saints should sing to him praises! Honor him with timbrels and dancing, honor him with strings and with piping! All that which breath doth own, honor the Lord. Alleluja!
That thou with this the newborn year us newfound joy and newborn blessing grantest, and still with favor on us thinkest.”
That last line is my wish and prayer for you for the coming year.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Today is the 12th day of Christmas or Epiphany. It is the close of the liturgical holiday season and we leave it with a quote from the libretto(text) of the 3rd section of the Cantata “Sie Werden aus Saba alle kommen.” (They shall from Sheba all be coming), making reference to the visit of the Three Kings to the Christ Child. It comes from the 4-CD set of Christmas Cantatas of J. S. Bach put out by Musical Heritage Society, CD 5459801. The words are penned by an unknown writer.
Gold, incense, and myrrh are the rare and costly presents
With which they this the Jesus-child in Bethlehem’s poor stall do honor.
My Jesus, if I now my duty well consider, Must I myself before thy manger venture
And likewise show my thanks: For this one day I deem a day of gladness
When thou, O Prince of life, the light of nations and their Redeemer art.
But what could I bring thee, thou King of heaven?
If thou my heart deem not too little, accept it with thy grace
No nobler gift could I bring thee.
It’s maybe a hackneyed expression, to offer Jesus our heart at the manger. But if we consider it seriously, it is the best gift we have to offer.
As you consider your faith life this Epiphany season, may you find worthy gifts in your soul to offer the Christ child.
Grace & peace
Geoff
What difference does a devotional life or prayer life make in our day to day living? You may come up with several answers to that question, but I found a very insightful one from St. Francis de Sales in a ‘modern interpretation’ of Sales’ “Introduction to the Devout Life” by Bernard Bangley, Shaw Books, Waterbrook Press, Colorado Springs, 2002. Bangley titles his edition “Authentic Devotion.” Here is a sentence from the very first chapter, where St. Francis works at answering my opening question here.
“Devotion is a kind of spiritual sugar that removes bitterness from life’s experiences.”
Notice that St. Francis does not say that devotion removes pain from life, nor that it will avoid disappointment, nor that it will guarantee success or happiness. A mature person of faith will know that all these things in life happen to us no matter the level of prayer or devotion that we practice. I take St. Francis to mean that our attitude will continue to be hopeful, that our relationship with God will continue to be one of trust, no matter what happens to us in life. I find that insight to be deeply helpful.
May your life be sweetened through all its ups and downs by your life of prayer.
Grace & peace.
Geoff
I went looking for a poem by Robert Frost the other day. I never found it, but did find these great words by Robert Graves, who wrote the introduction to the book I was looking through. It was a “text” book from my college days, “Selected Poems of Robert Frost” published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963. Graves, himself a poet, says:
“I agree with Frost that a poem planned beforehand never comes off. Real ones appear unexpectedly, and always at a time when the poet is in a so-called state of grace: which means a clear mind, tense heart, and no worries about fame, money, or other people, but only the excitement of a unique revelation about to be given.”
Amen, Mr. Graves, that’s downright religious talk! I was struck by the similarities between Graves’ description of the “gift of a poem” (my phrase) and my experiences of God, or grace, or revelation, or whatever I want to call it when I have special spiritual experiences. I never plan for them, or when I do they often turn out to be less than I had hoped or planned for. To play devil’s advocate with Graves here, I remember seeing a statement by one of the former Archbishops of Canterbury that was talking about prayer and events in life. The statement was something about prayer changing things and trying to answer the argument that it is just coincidence when our prayers are answered the way we like. The archbishop said “I don’t know about that, I only know that when I pray, coincidences happen more often.”
So, how do are religious experiences happen? Are they totally unexpected, or can they be massaged by prayer? How do yours happen?
However you experience God, may you be blessed today.
Grace & peace
Geoff
I’m a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I studied Tolkien in seminary. He was part of a group of English writers who met together to discuss their work as well as how to better communicate the Christian Faith. I’ve been disappointed that little of the commentary or criticism of the movie versions of the trilogy says anything about the Christian nature of the story. Here is some however that draws out some of those elements. Tom Shippey is author of the book “J. R. R. Tolkien, Author of the Century.” I have an interview with him on Mars Hill Audio Tape, vol. 52, where he says the following:
“Tolkien is one of a group of what I call ‘traumatized’ authors, that is those who were traumatized by war. That group includes Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, George Orwell, William Golding and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. They all found ways to express their experiences of 20th Century warfare through fantasy.
The Lord of the Rings is not a quest, it is an anti-quest, the fellowship is not seeking something, they are trying to get rid of something, quite the opposite of usual quest stories.” (Somewhat paraphrased by me).
I understand Shippey’s words here to point to the Christian idea of renouncing power, not seeking it. I’m reminded of Philippians 2:5-8. The issue of power, and its more personal aspect of control, is a huge spiritual challenge for anyone choosing to follow Jesus Christ. The movie versions of “Lord of the Rings” do an adequate job of exploring this issue of power and provide great entertainment.
How do you deal with issues of control in your life? May you find the guidance and help you need in your life with this challenge and all the challenges you face.
Grace & peace
Geoff
A recent musical acquisition of mine is “Evensong from Grace Cathedral for the Feast of the Epiphany”, Gothic CD G49106 (www.gothicrecords.com). There I found this closing prayer attributed to The Very Rev. Alan, Jones, dean of the cathedral.
“O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining and whose power we cannot comprehend; show us your glory as far as we can grasp it, and shield us from knowing more than we can bear until we may look upon you without fear, through Jesus Christ. Amen
We give thanks for singers. All types of singers. Popular, concert singers and tuneless singers in the bath. Whistlers, hummers and those who sing while they work. Singers of lullabies; singers of nonsense and small scraps of melody. Singers on branches and rooftops. Morning yodelers and evening warblers. Singers in seedy nightclubs, singers in the street; Singers in cathedrals, school halls grandstands, back yards, meadows, bedrooms, corridors, stairwells and places of echo and resonance. We give praise to all those who give some small voice to the everyday joy of the soul. Amen.”
I love the inclusiveness of this prayer, reminding us that all singing gives voice to our souls. This quote speaks of the joy of the soul, but let us not forget the Blues and laments that set to music those hurt, angry, disappointed parts of our souls. Indeed, to paraphrase St. Augustine, (or whoever said it) “those who sing pray twice.” Any emotion which we can pray can be deepened by singing that prayer.
May your prayers be deepened this day as your soul sings out who you are.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Parker Palmer is a Quaker educator and author of various spiritual writings. I was given one of his books, “Let Your Life Speak, Listening for the Voice of Vocation,” Jossey Bass, San Francisco, 2000, where I found this definition of vocation.
“Vocation at its deepest level is, ‘This is something I can’t not do, for reasons I’m unable to explain to anyone else and don’t fully understand myself but that are nonetheless compelling.’”
When you have that feeling, you can suspect that God is behind it. When there is something you can’t not do, your best bet is to pursue that and see where it leads you. This is how God works in our lives and souls and we are well served to trust God with whatever the issue at hand is. Particularly, as Palmer goes on in the book to illustrate, when things seem so out of synch with what you had planned or expected, there is a good chance God is at work in your life.
Ever had that feeling that there was “something I can’t not do”? “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” and see if you don’t get that feeling.
Grace and peace
Geoff
Christian Century magazine printed a short article in its Jan. 27, 2004 edition. They took it from The Nation magazine from their Jan. 12/19, 2004 edition. It was written by Rev. Willian Sloane Coffin, pastor emeritus of Riverside Church in New York City. The Century entitled it “Lost Opportunity.” It is what Coffin says would have been a better national response to September 11, 2001. They are words that Coffin (and many others) wish our president had said.
“We will respond, but not in kind. We will not seek to avenge the death of innocent Americans by the death of innocent victims elsewhere, lest we become what we abhor. We refuse to ratchet up the cycle of violence that brings only ever more death, destruction and deprivation. What we will do is build coalitions with other nations. We will share intelligence, freeze assets and engage in forceful extraditions of terrorists if internationally sanctioned. I promise to do all in my power to see justice done, but by the force of law only, never by the law of force.” Coffin adds that it could have been a teachable moment to help Americans deepen the quality of their suffering by identifying with others around the world who suffer, and to help them abandon the American illusion of invincibility.
Lost opportunity indeed. This kind of response, and the thinking that goes behind it, is clearly the more Christian or Christ-like response to that tragedy. We will continue to wrestle with and reflect upon Sept. 11, 2001 for years to come. For those of us in the Christian faith, may that reflection and our personal responses be yet another witness to our faith.
Grace & peace
Geoff
We had a death of a family friend several weeks ago and it gave me reason to consider death in a more personal way. In the process of listening to a cantata of J.S. Bach, based in part on the story of Simeon in the second chapter of the gospel of Luke, I ran across these words, in English translation. The Cantata is “Ich Habe Genug” (It Is Enough) BWV. 82 and my recording of it is an LP, Angel/EMI S36419.
Close in sleep o weary eyelids,
Soft and blissful!
World, I stay no longer,
I have no part of you
That my soul can want.
Here must I expect only distress
But there, there will I behold
Sweet tranquility and utter peace.
There are different kinds of deaths, tragic deaths, sudden surprising deaths, long, wearying drawn-out deaths, peaceful death in one’s sleep. However death meets us, our responsibility in faith is to be ready for it. That is the message I get from the story of Simeon, that he was ready for his death. He had the sense that God had been faithful and that he, Simeon, could die peacefully and with a sense of satisfaction. Whoever wrote the words that Bach set to music captured some of that peace of Simeon’s, to my mind anyway.
May your faith make you ready to meet death at any time and may you find that peace of Simeon.
Grace & peace
Geoff
