email: whitpresby@charterinternet.com
Spiritual readings "Greetings from Whittier Presbyterian Church"
July/August 2004 Maya Angelou “I Am A Christian” EmmyLou Harris’s “The Pearl” Macquarrie on Infallibility A 9 year old in a labyrinth Keb Mo on “God Trying to Get Your Attention” Artress/Sheldrake on Pilgrims, not Tourists John A.T. Robinson on Persons, not Individuals. Etty Hillesum on inner peace Here’s a poem by Maya Angelou that one of our church
members forwarded to me. Ms.
Angelou is a powerful writer and I was pleased to find this simple, basic
statement of faith. I
AM A CHRISTIAN By Maya
Angelou When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not shouting..."I'm clean livin!" I'm whispering..."I was lost. Now, I'm found and forgiven." When I say..."I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need CHRIST to be my guide. When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need HIS strength to carry on. When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess. When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it. When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain, I have my share of heartaches So I call upon His name. When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow. There is a simplicity and basic character to this
poem that I appreciate. It reminds
us of the honesty we need and the grace God gives.
That is a nice balance. May
you find the balance of honesty and God’s grace you need in your life this
day. Grace & peace Geoff Emmylou Harris has been a favorite singer of mine for
years, partly because there is usually at least one song per album that speaks
of Christian faith. Here are the
lyrics from “The Pearl” off her album, “Red Dirt Girl,” Nonesuch CD
79616-2, released in the year 2000. O the dragons are gonna fly tonight They’re circling low and inside tonight It’s another round in the losing fight Out along the great divide tonight We are aging soldiers in an ancient war Seeking out some half-remembered shore We drink our fill and still we thirst for more Asking, “If there’s no heaven, what is this hunger
for?” Our path is worn, our feet are poorly shod We lift up our prayer against the odds And fear the silence is the voice of God And we cry Allelujah, Allelujah We cry Allelujah Sorrow is constant and the joys are brief The seasons come and bring no sweet relief Time is a brutal but a careless thief Who takes our lot but leaves behind the grief It is the
heart that kills us in the end Just one more old broken bone that cannot mend As it was now and ever shall be amen And we cry Allelujah, Allelujah We cry Allelujah So there’ll be no guiding light for you and me We are not sailors lost out on the sea We were always headed toward eternity Hoping for a glimpse of Galilee Like falling
stars from the universe, we are hurled Down through
the long loneliness of the world Until we
behold the pain become the pearl Cryin’ Allelujah, Allelujah We cry Allelujah And we cry Allelujah, Allelujah We cry Allelujah Some of you may know how to download this song off the
Internet. Or you might want to buy
the CD or at least listen to the song over the Internet. “If there’s no heaven, what is this hunger for?” is a
line of great appeal to me, a modern equivalent of St. Augustine’s “Our
hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”
It captures the desire we have for God, a desire that we so often try to fill with idols and
the “goods” of the world. How
do you try to satisfy that hunger? May
you get not only your daily bread, but also that bread from heaven, which
endures for eternal life (John, chapter 6.) Grace & peace Geoff How do we understand the Bible's role in our lives?
Is it the word of God, or a guide, or a list of suggestions, or
infallible in all matters? The
answer to this question places us somewhere on a broad spectrum of Christian
belief. I had an opportunity
recently to review again the book “Christian Unity and Christian Diversity”
by John Macquarrie, Graduate Theological Foundation, 1996 ( originally printed
by SCM Press, London, 1975). This
paragraph was originally set to address the issue of the infallibility of the
Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. But
as I read it, I could apply the thinking to claims of Biblical infallibility as
well. See what you think. “With great courage, Hans King was written:
‘We should like to substitute for the term ‘infallibility’ the term
indefectibility.’ We should be
clear, however, that this is not just substituting one term for another, but
abandoning one concept for another. By ‘indefectibility’ is meant the persistence of the
church in truth, the fact that it is constantly recalled to truth from whatever
errors may have overtaken it. It
has this indefectibility because the truth of Jesus Christ persists in it and
finally because God himself has called it into being for his own purposes.
The indefectibility of the church is really a corollary of belief in God." I found this articulation refreshing as I consider
the various attitudes toward the Bible that I encounter in my ministry.
With this concept of indefectibility, I can listen to other viewpoints
towards the Bible and realize that what points I can agree with and what not,
will “all come out in the wash” as the proverbial expression goes.
God’s truth is bigger than any one of us or any one perspective on the
Bible. The task of the whole
Christian Church, is to keep that truth of God out there in front of us all.
We all have our roles to play in that, whether we are liberal or
conservative, Bible scholars or Christmas-Easter Christians.
We need to stand on our own positions, but we need to be open to God’s
word to us from wherever it comes. May you find the grace to be open to God and the courage to
express God’s presence in your life. Grace & peace Geoff This has been “Labyrinth Week” at the church and on
Wednesday I had a small group of children on the labyrinth.
The kids were attracted and curious about this big thing, like a rug on
the floor. It was a novelty to
them. When turned loose, they raced
around it, laid out like a butterfly in the center of it and clowned and
pantomimed on the path. It was
typical behavior for children. I
had them “get serious” for a while and walk in and pray at the same time.
When the group was asked after their walk if they heard any answer to
their prayer, a 9 year old replied, “No, I was too busy talking to hear
anything.” Out of the mouths of
children often comes a truth that we adults miss or mis-label.
That comment would be a fit description of much of our prayer life,
wouldn’t it? Don’t we often find ourselves talking in prayer much more
often than we listen? I know I do.
Let me be clear that a major part of prayer is to ask God for help,
strength, comfort, even to ask for some particular things.
Most 9 year olds have long lists of things they want!
But all of us face challenges in life that are greater than our ability
to meet them. We are to ask God for
help. Yet the need for us to listen
is often emphasized less than our natural drive to ask or talk to God.
Listening better is often the purpose of spiritual disciplines.
That is certainly the case with the labyrinth.
God speaks more often than we are ready to listen.
May you never forget to ask God for what you need, but may you also make
the time and space to listen for God in your life as well. Grace & peace Geoff How do we know when God is speaking to us?
We would all like a definite answer to that question.
Here is a light-hearted approach to the question.
It comes from a song entitled “God Trying to Get Your Attention” from
the CD “Slow Down” by Keb’ Mo,’ a Blues artist on Sony Music
Entertainment, Okeh CD 69376, 1998 Well you might be saved You might be reborn You might own a car With a big loud horn Maybe its just news On your television Or it might be God trying to get your attention Are you an engineer Working on a farm Or a Casanova With a whole lotta charm It might be a mouse Living in your kitchen Or it might be God trying to get your attention. Mr. Moore's song goes on in that vein, repeating the
refrain, “Or it might be God trying to get your attention.”
How many events and encounters in life, “… might be God trying to get
your attention.”? It takes paying
attention to the world around and inside of us to prepare us to hear God
speaking to us. What do you do to
help yourself pay attention to your world?
Do you catch God trying to get your attention?
May you find God’s presence in your life this day. Grace & peace Geoff One of the books I read in preparation for Labyrinth Week
at WPC was “Walking a Sacred Path; Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual
Tool” by Lauren Artress, Riverhead Books, 1995. She has a section in the book entitled “Rediscovering the
Act of Pilgrimage” where she has these words: “In June 1992, I attended the international
Transpersonal Association conference in Prague.
The program was called Science, Spirituality and the Global Crisis.
One of the speakers, English biologist Rupert Sheldrake, was asked where
he would begin to effect change in the world.
How could people begin to grapple with the global crisis?
He said” I would change tourism into pilgrimage, help tourists become
pilgrims. Chills went up my spine.
What is the difference between a pilgrim and a tourist?
I sat in a church in Prague contemplating this question.
Watching people enter the church, I observed that tourists take pictures.
Pilgrims may also, but they go farther:
they sit and meditate, some kneel in prayer, some light candles…..The
pilgrim participates, the tourist observes.” These words of both Sheldrake & Artress struck a
deep chord in me. For decades
I’ve not wanted to travel as a “tourist,” no matter what the sights would
have been. I’ve always wanted to
go and live in another country or location, for at least a week at a time, to
really participate in the local life. Watching
the Tour de France this month, I think how I would like to go live in a French
village and ride up one of the mountain stages. These words helped me understand that what I’ve wanted all
along has been to be a pilgrim, not a tourist.
To expand the metaphor, I approach life as a pilgrim, not a tourist.
To participate in the spiritual life of a location adds to the pilgrimage
aspect. May you find the
opportunities in your life to more fully participate in what God is doing in
your location. Grace & peace Geoff I picked up an old book the other day, “The Body; A Study
in Pauline Theology” by John A.T. Robinson, SCM Press, 1952.
In it I found this distinction in language that was helpful to me.
I’ve updated some of the language. “Our redemption today means our release to become,
not individuals—for in independence we are powerless in the face of the giant
State—but persons, who may find rather than lose ourselves in the
interdependence of the community.” We are persons, not individuals. There is a quality to the word “person” that gives me
comfort as well as a foundation upon which to think about myself and those
around me. An individual can be
either a person or a thing. There
is no such ambiguity about a person, it is human, beloved by God and capable of
finding his/her self. I would much
rather be treated as a person than an individual.
God may love things, but I’m certain God loves persons.
Isn’t it interesting the role words can play, and the difference that a
particular choice of words can make? Do
you know that YOU are one of those persons that God loves?
May you be reminded of that today. Grace & peace Geoff No emails for the rest of August. I’m on vacation. In preparation for the labyrinth events I attended this
last weekend at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, I read “Seven Whispers;
Listening to the Voice of Spirit” by Christina Baldwin, New World Library,
Novato, CA, 2002. As introduction
to the chapter entitled “Maintain Peace of Mind” she has this quote from
Etty Hillesum, a young Dutch Jewish woman and something of a mystic, who
perished in the Nazi death camps during the Second World War. “There is a really deep well inside me. And in it dwells God. Sometimes I am there to. But more often stones and grit block the well, And God is buried beneath. Then He must be dug out again.” That is a nice image for the way life gets in the way
of our spiritual life, or as Ms Baldwin might say, life gets in the way of
spirit. All of us know what is
being talked about here, the pressures upon us to conform to life as the world
would have us live. The Rev. Dr.
Lauren Artress, who led the labyrinth events I attended, reminded us that the
advertising world works hard (and, I would add, spends much money) at trying to
keep our attentions spans limited to about 10 seconds, before we are encouraged
to move on to the next stimulus, the next desire, the next thing we want or
should have. What tools do you
have, do you use, to dig God out of all the stuff, the stones and grit that
block the well of eternal life that God offers?
The labyrinth is one such tool, as is prayer, bible study, worship,
fasting, confession, hospitality….the list goes on.
We are blessed to live in a time when there are more and more tools
available to help us dig our way clear, to keep the well of God’s spirit open
and yielding. What tools do you
use?? Grace & peace Geoff
