email: whitpresby@charterinternet.com
Spiritual readings "Greetings from Whittier Presbyterian Church"
June 2008
|
Do not condemn, do not scold, but bless |
|
|
Naming a church |
|
|
Theology of a name |
|
|
Bolsinger: As God is, so the church should be. |
|
|
Bolsinger: forming exceptional Christians and communities |
|
|
Vision of a holy city |
|
|
City reality, Brandt paraphrase of Psalm 68 |
|
|
Worship as play |
Meditation
Last Friday’s email addressed the difference between the righteous and the unrighteous. Here is another one in that vein, from “Psalms Now”, Concordia Press, 1973.. It is a paraphrase of the Psalms by Leslie Brandt. Excuse the exclusivist language.
The man who chooses to live a significant life
Is not going to take his cues
From the religiously indifferent.
Nor will he conform to the crowd
Nor mouth his prejudices
Nor dote on the failures of others.
The last three lines reminded me of the little mantra I’ve been using from last Friday’s selection from Bonhoeffer, “Do not condemn, do not scold, but bless.” Where do you find the opportunity not to scold nor condemn, but bless?
Grace & peace
Geoff
Errata: the quote in Tuesday’s email from Leslie Brandt’s paraphrase of the Psalms was from Psalm 1.
Meditation
We are in the process of considering a new name for our church. We were “First Presbyterian Church until the late 50s or 60s, when we became “Whittier Presbyterian Church.” Now, with our merged situation, it seems appropriate to consider what name might fit our current merged state. Here is a reflection on name from Frederick Buechner from his book “Wishful Thinking; A Theological ABC,” Harper & Row, 1973.
“BUECHNER. It is my name. It is pronounced Beekner. If somebody mispronounces it in some foolish way, I have the feeling that what’s foolish is me. If somebody forgets it, I feel that it’s I who am forgotten. There’s something about it that embarrasses me in just the same way that there’s something about me that embarrasses me. I can’t imagine myself with any other name—Held, say, or Merrill, or Hlavacek. If my name were different, I would be different. When I tell somebody my name, I have given him a hold over me that he didn’t have before. If he calls it out, I stop, look and listen whether I want to or not. In the Book of Exodus, God tells Moses that his name is Yahweh, land God hasn’t had a peaceful moment since.”
Though he is talking about his own name, some of Buechner’s thought can apply to other objects or situations. In our case what attachments do we have to the name of our church? Why do we have those attachments? Do those attachments still fit with the church of today? Or are they related to the church of yesterday? What should we be known as now? These and many other questions with be addresses in the weeks and months to come, as we consider our name as a gathering of faithful Presbyterian Christians.
What names are the most important to you? Why?
May the God we know in the man named Jesus bless you today.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Meditation
Here is another reflection on names and naming. This comes from “A Theological Word Book of the Bible” edited by Alan Richardson, Macmillan, 1966. This entry was written by O. S. Rankin.
“In the thought of the ancient world a name does not merely distinguish a person from other persons, but is closely related to the nature of its bearer…The name therefore is conceived of as possessing an infinitely greater degree of reality and substantiality than as a mere sign of identification.”
Most of us accept and use the name we are given at birth, though I’ve known people to take on new and different names. Many men and women who become monks and nuns are given a new name as they take their vows. Buildings and streets are named for people, and then renamed in later years. So, how should the name of a church reflect the life and mission of that church? That is the question we wrestle with this week at our church.
Do you have any special names that you have taken on to reflect some change in your life or your perspective, or even to reflect movement by God in your life?
May the God we know in the man named Jesus bless you today.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Meditation
One of the pastors in our presbytery, the Rev. Tod Bolsinger, has written a book based on his Ph.D., entitled “It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian: How the Community of God Transforms Lives,” Brazos Press, 2004. Here are some of his opening words.
“In this conversation, I want to help move to the forefront of our thinking an ancient biblical imperative. It hasn’t been rejected so much as ignored or forgotten. But it is critical nonetheless:
As God is, so the church should be.
As God does, so the church should do. (With the result being…)
The more the church is like God,
The more individual souls will become like Christ.
That little quatrain could be a wonderful breath prayer or mantra, used to open meetings, classes, even worship services. Do you find your church performing that role, of mediating God to God’s self, to the church’s self, to the world?
May you find God’s peace and inspiration this day.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Meditation
Here’s another piece from Tod Bolsinger’s book “It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian: How the Community of God Transforms Lives,” Brazos Press, 2004.
“The primary purpose of this book is not to stimulate theological argument, but to influence change at the level of congregational daily living. It is offered for the specific intention of assisting pastors and church leaders to create the kind of Christian communities in which God mystically transforms believers TOGETHER into the likeness of Christ as the primary means for reaching a lost world. Indeed, forming people into exceptional Christians—persons able to model Christian faith effectively to seekers—requires forming exceptional communities.”
I appreciate much the way Tod works at making the local church the place for spiritual growth. I think that is as it should be. We certainly work at it at our church. How about yours?
May you find God’s peace and inspiration this day.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Meditation
I’ve been active in the city of Whittier in various capacities, including regular prayer at City Council meetings. I’ve always appreciated the way the vision of the coming of God’s kingdom in the Bible is in the form of a city, the new Jerusalem of the book of Revelation. Here is a vision for a heavenly city from “Psalms Now”, Concordia Press, 1973.. It is a paraphrase of the Psalms by Leslie Brandt.
“There will be clean air to breathe
and pure water to drink.
There will be better schools for the young,
hospitals for all who are ill,
and jobs for those who seek them.
Everyone will feel needed and loved in such a city:
the child, the laborer,
the executive the senior citizen
There will be dignity and freedom and equal rights,
whatever one’s ethnic or economic backgrounds.
There will be homes to live in
and parks to play in.
There will be libraries and theaters
and halls of learning.
There will be a place for everyone to live
and work and learn and rest and play.
And people will have time for one another.
That certainly is a wonderful vision for a city and we can tell how far short of that vision most cities fall. Our little city of Whittier falls short too, but we keep lifting up ways that it can be improved. This vision provides a goal that all of us can strive for in our towns and cities and its inspiring to know that this is what God has in mind for us as we live together in groups.
May you find the blessings God has for you today.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Meditation
Last Friday’s email was of a vision of the heavenly city from “Psalms Now”, Concordia Press, 1973, a paraphrase of the Psalms by Leslie Brandt. Here is a section later in the psalm that is closer to the reality of our cities. It is Psalm 68.
“But God does not rule over our cities.
Our streets are pregnant with crime.
The poor and dispossessed pack into ghettos.
Our schools are overcrowded and inadequate.
We choke on the air we breathe.
We stumble over our own litter and waste
We neglect the old and ignore the young.
We rush pell-mell from pillar to post.
And no one cares for one another.”
That certainly is a grim vision for a city. Alas it may be closer to reality than the quote from last Friday. This vision provides a picture that we should strive to avoid for it is not what God has in mind for us as we live together in groups. May the energy and good will of people be harnessed to move from this grim vision to the vision of beauty and blessing that so contrasts with this.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Meditation
I recently had an opportunity to review the book, “Setting the Gospel Free” by Brian C. Taylor, Continuum Publishers, New York, 1996. Here is a description of corporate worship that I like:
“(In worship…) the parish community gathers together, usually weekly, and we play. We use symbolic words, actions, costumes, special music, habitual greetings, a predictable order, and repeated phrases. Our liturgical play is a way of surrendering to a structure that can carry our deep, subconscious forces into relationship with our Creator, who can then work with them. Darkness and light, guilt, eternity, grief, and joy are all carried along and transformed by the play which we make. We don’t even understand what we are doing, but we know that in this play something is stirring that needs to be stirred.”
“Playing” may not be the way we would describe worship, but its an image we might want to try out. May you find the deep stirrings of your heart stimulated by the worship services you attend.
Grace & peace
Geoff
