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Spiritual readings        "Greetings from Whittier Presbyterian Church"

July 2006    

July 5, 2006

Here’s a nice quote from the end of an article about the Christian Church by Gordon Atkinson, in the June 27, 2006 edition of “The Christian Century” magazine.  He is writing about people who use the church or their faith as a tool for their own ends, often to the detriment of the church and its reputation.  Think Jim Jones or Jim Baker, or any number of others who have smeared the reputation of the church.

  “There is no response that can easily undo harm done in the name of religion by those for whom religion is such a tool.  There is no protection we can seek that will not destroy us by removing our vulnerability, which is, after all, our greatest power and most precious inheritance.  We therefore must carry their reputations along with the reputations we have rightly earned.

Our living must be right enough, our devotion deep enough and our love strong enough to speak for itself.  We will have to be large enough to swallow what they have done and still carry on with our work.  And all of this must happen without us becoming defensive or wasting our time explaining ourselves or answering for their sins.

“It is a high calling, this business of being the church.  We are called, like Simon of Cyrene, to take up crosses that are not our own.  Burdens are laid upon us by those who cannot bear them themselves.  And we are instructed not to strike back or respond in kind, but instead to open the arms of the church and display our own wounded hands and side.

            It has been given that our lives should bear witness to the presence of the Holy Spirit.  So we pray earnestly that our lives will indeed be a good witness.  But at the end of the day, the Spirit of God speaks for itself.”

  Having to bear the smears and ridicule of people for the “bad apples” in the larger church is not my favorite way of bearing the cross.  I’m not sure I have a ‘favorite’ way, come to think of it.  But this helps me remember the fuller meaning of following a crucified God.  May you find the strength to bear with the sins of others more gracefully, as God bears with yours.

Grace & peace

Geoff

July 7, 2006

Richard Foster is a great spiritual writer, who, probably more than anyone else, got me started in pursuing spiritual practices.  In his book called “Devotional Classics; Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups”, Harper San Francisco, 1990, Foster adds his own comments on the many writers he has excerpted.  Here are his remarks after excerpting from Julian of Norwich.

  “Did you notice that the end result of Julian’s experiences was to be drawn into a deep understanding of the goodness of God?  She, in fact, called the experience of the goodness of God “the highest form of prayer.”

This is a hard reality for us moderns to enter into.  We have been taught that “the good life” resides in everything and anything but God.  Discipleship, the cross, obedience—these are hardly words that we associate with goodness.  And because we cannot see the goodness of rightness, we fail to see the goodness of God.  But perhaps, just perhaps, we can take a cue from Julian—and the psalmist—to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”

  Foster refers to Psalm 34:8.  Sometimes we are indeed caught between the enticements of our culture and the promises of God.  But, to extend the metaphor of tasting, think of the contrast between lousy fast food and a gourmet dish that has lovingly been prepared with the finest ingredients.  The fast food is easier, but the gourmet dish tastes better (not to mention is better for you) because it has all that work put into it.  Discipleship, the cross, obedience, etc. may be out of fashion, but their end products are much better.

May you experience some of God’s gourmet food this day.

Grace & peace

Geoff

July 11, 2006

What words do we use to talk about God, who is inexplicable, deeper than our finite minds can comprehend and greater than our words can express?  This has been a topic much on my mind as I read and preach from the Bible.  I have been a little amused, and saddened, at one of the latest tempests in the teapot known as The Presbyterian Church, USA.  This tempest revolves around the language of the Trinity, the particularly Christian way to speak about God.  The L.A. Times has covered the action of the Presbyterian Church on this subject a couple of times in the last couple of weeks.

The doctrine of the Trinity (with which the Christian church has struggled for centuries to express) is perhaps the most difficult part of our faith to understand, let alone explain to someone else.  Part of both the humor and sadness I’ve experienced over this issue has been the number of people who have little to do with the Christian Church, (except for how it can further their political aims) who are willing to weigh in on the debate.  One of the saddest cases, as quoted by the L.A. Times is a Southern California Pastor who, commenting upon the variety of analogies offered in the report (Here Is the link to the full report if you want to see it:  http://www.pcusa.org/ga217/newsandphotos/ga06086.htm) said “You might as well put in Huey, Dewey, and Louie.”  I hope he was misquoted.  If not, shame on you pastor, you should know better.

One of my favorite phrases of the last few months is “mistaken literalism.”  If we take the metaphoric language of “Father, Son & Holy Spirit” as anything but metaphor, anything but an attempt to put into language that which is beyond language, we get into trouble.  That’s what mistaken literalism is, taking something meant to be a metaphor or symbol and making it concrete or literal.  When that happens our faith, its integrity, its strength, its ability to speak to those deep parts of our life, is compromised.  To trivialize other people’s search for faith, particularly within one’s own church family, is to show a distinct lack of charity.  The church should be a safe place for those with faith seeking understanding.  Alas, we Presbyterians do not provide that sometimes.  Lord have mercy upon us.

What language do you use to address God?  I hope you feel you can express yourself in such a way not to be embarrassed or judged by your choice of words.  God’s grace is there for you, no matter how articulate you are.

Grace & peace

Geoff

July 14, 2006

The American religious landscape has seen lots of shifting over the last generation or so.  Here is a reflection upon part of that shifting from Kathleen Norris.  It comes from her book, “Amazing Grace; A Vocabulary of Faith” Riverhead Books, 1998.

  “At an interreligious conference of Buddhist and Christian monastics held not long ago at a Trappist monastery, a reporter asked the Dalai Lama what he would say to Americans who want to become Buddhists.  “Don’t bother,” he said.  “Learn from Buddhism, if that is good for you.  But do it as a Christian, a Jew, or whatever you are.  And be a good friend to us.”

Sit with this awhile.  What in this comment outrages or repels you?  What attracts you?  Where do you find yourself resisting what he says?  Where do you find yourself assenting?  And where does it lead?  The Dalai Lama is not Miss America, and does not say what we want to hear.  His remarks go to the painful paradox at the heart of religious inheritance:  “whatever you are” is what you are born to and raised in.  What matters is transformation, the life you make of it.  And that is up to you.”

  This little story and her reflection upon it are examples of why Norris has become a popular spiritual writer.  This is a nice reminder of the potential (perhaps the mandate) for transformation that our faith contains.  What do you make of YOUR faith?

May you find God’s presence transforming you today.

Grace & peace

Geoff

July 18, 2006

Here are two prayers of the Danish Philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, from a book of his prayers edited by Perry Lefevre, University of Chicago Press, 1956.  They seem to go well together, and are arranged next to each other in the book.

  “Father in Heaven!  Thou hast loved us first, help us never to forget that Thou art love so that this sure conviction might triumph in our hearts over the seduction of the world, over the inquietude of the soul, over the anxiety for the future, over the fright of the past, over the distress of the moment.  But grant also that this conviction might discipline our soul so that our heart might remain faithful and sincere in the love which we bear to all those whom Thou has commanded us to love as we love ourselves.”

“Thou who hast first loved us, O God, alas!  We speak of it in terms of history as if Thou has only loved us first but a single time, rather than that without ceasing Thou has loved us first many times and everyday and our whole life through.  When we wake up in the morning and turn our soul toward Thee—Thou are the first—Thou has loved us first; if I rise at dawn and at the same second turn my soul toward Thee in prayer, Thou are there ahead of me, Thou has loved me first.  When I withdraw from the distractions of the day and turn my soul in thought toward thee, Thou art the first and this forever.  And yet we always speak ungratefully as if Thou has loved us first only once.”

 I find it encouraging (and sometimes humbling) to know that any love I have was given me by God and that God’s love in Christ is an ongoing thing, continually reaching out to me and to the world.  May you feel, and pass on, some of that love today.

Grace & peace

Geoff

 July 21, 2006

What is the connection between spirituality and evangelism?  Dr. Ben Johnson, in his book “95 Theses for the Church”, CTS (Columbia Theological Seminary?) Press, 1995, makes the connection like this:

 “Evangelism at its heart involves passing the faith on to a new generation or to a generation that has bailed out on the church.  In either case these persons do not know or embrace the faith and need effective guidance in the art of Christian believing and living.

“Art” stands in contrast with “mechanics.”  For too long belief has been more mechanical than artistic.  We have given persons the creed, the confessions, or the proper texts and requested their assent to these faith formulations.  But, if we understand Christian believing as an art, we make room for intuition and imagination, for individuality and spontaneity.  Art involves the whole person and not merely the rationality of the person.  “We are his workmanship, created for good work in Christ.” Ephesians 2:10.

 How does your prayer life spill over into telling others about your faith in Christ?  How much that happens may be one indication of how deeply into our hearts our spiritual practices go.  May you find an artistic way to tell others about Jesus.

Grace & peace

Geoff

 July 25, 2006

I’m always looking for new resources on the Psalms, for use in my personal devotions.  One recent acquisition is “The Psalms;  Meditations for every Day of the Year” by Joan Chittister, Crossroad Publishing, 1996.  In reflecting on Psalm 24, she writes about longing.

 “Longing, you see, is part of life.  The only question is, what do you long for?  Don’t be glib about the answer.  Look down deep inside yourself.  What is lacking when you feel empty?  What are you really thinking about when you’re suppose to be thinking about something else?  That’s what you’re longing for.  Find it.  It’s the key to your problems in the present and the energy you have for the future.

            “Nobody is ever completely happy, completely satisfied.  That’s not because we’re failures.  That’s because we’re built that way.  We’re supposed to want more—or why would we ever want God enough to go through life with a restless eye, watching.  Be grateful for your longings.  They are what take us to the next step in life and there are many to be walked before we’re whole, before we’re finally home.

            “Someplace along the way in life we all need to learn to long for God, for what really counts.  The hard thing, the good thing, is that life itself will teach us that.”

 What do YOU long for?  What has life taught you so far?  Provocative questions.  May you do some of the work today you need to do to answer those questions for yourself.

Grace & peace

Geoff

July 28, 2006

Following last Tuesday’s email on longing, here is another very short piece on longing.  It comes from a poem by Swedish poet Anders Frostenson, set to music on the CD “Lamento;” complete organ works for Soprano & organ by Torsten Nilsson.  BIS CD-924.  It is part of Nilsson’s work “Three Chorales to texts by the poet Anders Frostenson.” 

Not what I have, not what I am, I wish to see and know.

Give me, O God, a day from Thee like light in me,

Your longing in my heart.

Knowing what our longing(s) is/are is one thing.  But to know the longing of God—ah that can be bliss!

May you see beyond what you already know into the heart of God’s longing for you.

Grace & peace

Geoff

For more on BIS recordings, see their web site:  http://www.bis.se/index.php

For Frostenson:  http://www.kilpinen.org/FROSTENSON,%20ANDERS-S.htm or

http://hymnal.blogspot.com/2005_06_01_hymnal_archive.html

For Torsten Nilsson, go here and click around:  http://www.mic.stim.se/avd/mic/prod/micnews.nsf/Web/EngFront?readForm