email: whitpresby@mindspring.com
Spiritual readings "Greetings from Whittier Presbyterian Church"
March
2003 Emails
|
In memory of Mr. Rogers |
|
|
What would Luther say about war in Iraq |
|
|
Christian Century “Marks” (humorous) |
|
|
Gracie Allen, plugged in to God. |
|
|
Karabell on the Left Behind books |
|
|
Robert Muller on positive signs in the world. |
|
|
Jeremy Taylor on prayer life. |
|
|
Rolheiser on being a mystic. |
In honor and memory of Rev. Fred (“Mister”) Rogers, another selection from Tom Junod’s fine article in the collection “The Best Spiritual Writing, 1999” edited by Philip Zaleski, Harper, San Francisco, 1999.
“Once upon a time, Mister Rogers went to New York City and got caught I the rain. He didn’t have an umbrella, and he couldn’t find a taxi, either, so he ducked with a friend into the subway and got n one of the trains. It was late in the day, and the train was crowded with children who were going home from school. Though of all races, the schoolchildren were mostly black and Latino, and they didn’t even approach Mister Rogers and ask him for his autograph. They just sang. They sang, all at once, all together, the song he sings at the start of his program, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and turned the clattering train into a single soft, runaway choir.”
Sounds like a Zion Train to me!
A previous quote from this same article can be found on the web page under archived emails, the email for Feb. 7, 2003. May you give thanks today for those great souls who have made a difference in the lives of children the world over.
Grace & peace
Geoff
More on Mister Rogers on the web site later today: http://www.whitpresby.org/mister_rogers_memorial.htm
Christian Century magazine has a section now called “Century Marks” from which I’ve taken several of these emails over the years. The February 22, 2003 edition has one entitled “What Would Luther Say?”
What Would Luther Say? Martin E. Marty, who has completed a biography of Martin Luther for the Penguin Lives series, ponders what Luther might add to the debate over a preemptive war against Iraq. When papal and other authorities solicited Luther’s support for a new crusade against the Turks (Muslims), Marty says, Luther was emphatically and repeatedly negative. In fact, he counseled a form of civil disobedience: “Suppose my lord were wrong in going to war” Luther imagined a soldier asking. “I reply: If you know for sure that he is wrong, then you should fear God rather than men,…and you should neither fight nor serve, for you cannot have a good conscience before God.” Luther was especially adamant against supposing that “our side” has a monopoly on virtue. In fact, the real enemies were all on “our side,” and Luther names them: “greed, usury, arrogance (which bothered him most), arbitrary morality, tyranny of those in high places, unfaithfulness, evil.” Although Luther saw evil in Muslims, he also said they might, in fact, be more pious than most Christians.”
Food for thought in these troublesome times.
Grace & peace
Geoff
Here’s some more from Christian Century magazine’s “Century Marks,” the February 22, 2003 edition. This one is called “Christian One-liners.”
Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers.
It is easier to preach ten sermons than to live one.
People are funny: they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road and the back of the church.
Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.
Quit griping about your church; if it were perfect, you couldn’t belong.
If your church wants a better pastor, pray for the one you have.
Humor is one of the most important parts of a healthy personality, and that applies just as well to our spiritual lives.
Grace & peace
Geoff
One of my colleagues here in the Whittier area, the Rev. Bruce Bergthold, pastor of Hillcrest Congregational Church, had this in his newsletter a couple of months ago. It reminded me of some of the material I’d sent out around that time. (See the email of Dec. 31, 2002) With his permission, I reprint his pastoral article.
I came across the following story a few days ago and would like to share it with you. One of the greatest comedy acts in the history of show business was the beloved husband and wife team of George Burns and Gracie Allen. In real life, Gracie Allen was a bright, wise businesswoman, but she always played the part of a naïve, off-the-wall personality, sweetly simple in her approach to life.
On one of their radio programs, Gracie became very upset because her new electric clock kept losing time. Each day it lost lots of time, so she finally called a repairman. He discovered the answer immediately. There was nothing wrong with the clock. The only problem was that the electric clock was not plugged in!
Gracie Allen said, “I know that! I didn’t want to waste electricity, so I only plug it in when I want to know what time it is!”
That’s the way some people treat their faith, isn’t it? They are not plugged in to the power source! They only plug in when they want something! However, the message of the Bible is that God is our power source from whom we can draw incredible strength…but only if we stay plugged in!
Amen!
Grace & peace
Geoff
The Los Angeles Times Book Review section on March 2, 2003 had a review of the Left Behind series of books, which are loosely based in a few New Testament texts. The reviewer, Zachary Karabell ends his article, which is entitled “Danger Lurks in the Fringes,” with these three paragraphs. You can read the whole article at the LA Times Web site, but it takes joining them (which is free) and is somewhat of a hassle. You search the site and enter Karabell as your subject.
“The theology of “Left Behind” has been part of American Protestantism for more than a century, and some of the attitudes described above have been held dear by groups as far back as the 19th century Know Nothing Party and as recent as Pat Buchanan’s presidential bid. But only in the last 20 years have these groups become so politically powerful. They have found candidates sympathetic to their views, and they continue to press for policies that emerge from the theology of the end of days.
Yet there is no open debate about the virtue of these ideas as drivers of public policy and national security. Is a belief in the necessity of the ingathering of the Jews in Israel a good justification for U.S. foreign policy toward Israel and the Middle East? Are we more or less secure as a nation as a result of policy that may stem from that belief? Is the conviction that the U.N. is a prophesied prelude to the coming of an Antichrist-led world government a sound reason for bypassing the U.N.? And does the belief that world conflagration is inevitable lead to policies that make it so?
The “Left Behind” phenomenon should be a case of literature (and I use the word reluctantly) acting as a warning. The books can be ignored, as they have been, by a literary establishment that is geared toward assessing books as books, but they should not be left behind. They are danger signs. They are an expression of aspects of our culture that have the power to undo us. That doesn’t mean that they will, but these ideas ferment best in the dark. It is time to expose them to the light.
How is your biblical literacy? Do you have the knowledge and understanding to be able to argue with the premises behind the Left Behind series? Prayer and spirituality are a necessary part of our lives, but so is an understanding of what God says to us, and what God DOES NOT say to us, in scripture. May your spiritual life always be informed by God’s word in scripture.
Grace & peace
Geoff
With the outbreak of war in Iraq, there is much to be depressed about. But here is a ray of hope that is currently flying around the Internet. I am excerpting it and the full text of what I received in on the web page at http://www.whitpresby.org/muller_statement.htm
If any of you know its proper context, I’d appreciate hearing it. I want to give credit where credit is due but I found it so helpful in my own despair that I opted to put it up as is.
There
is a miracle taking place this very moment. A global mind change has shifted our
awareness….
"I'm
so honored to be here," he said. "I'm so honored to be alive at such a
miraculous time in history. I'm so moved by what's going on in our world
today." (I was shocked. I
thought -- Where has he been? What has he been reading? Has he seen the
newspapers? Is he senile? Has he lost it? What is he talking about?)
Dr. Muller proceeded to say, "Never before in the
history of the world has there been a global, visible, public, viable, open
dialogue and conversation about the very legitimacy of war". The whole world is in now having this critical and historic
dialogue--listening to all kinds of points of view and positions about going to
war or not going to war. In a huge global public conversation the world is
asking-"Is war legitimate? Is it illegitimate? Is there enough evidence to
warrant an attack? Is there not enough evidence to warrant an attack?
What will be the consequences? The costs? What will happen after a war?
How will this set off other conflicts? What might be peaceful alternatives? What
kind of negotiations are we not thinking of? What are the real intentions for
declaring war?"
War has indeed started since Dr. Muller made this statement, but nonetheless, I take some hope out of it. May you too, find some hope for a better world, even while the world is up to its same old tired tricks.
Grace & peace
Geoff
At the end of Dallas Willard’s powerful book, “The Spirit of the Disciplines” he quotes from Jeremy Taylor’s 1630 book, “Holy Living and Holy Dying: Together with Prayers, Containing the Whole Duty of a Christian.” That modestly {;)} titled book has this in the preface.
They that will with profit make use of the proper instruments of virtue, must so live as if they were always under the physician’s hand. For the counsels of religion are not to be applied to the distempers of the souls as men used to take hellebore; but they must dwell together with the spirit of a man, and be twisted about his understanding for ever; they must be used like nourishment, that is, by a daily care and meditation; not like a single medicine, and upon the actual pressure of a present necessity: for counsels and wise discourses, applied to an actual distemper, at the best are but like strong smells to an epileptic person; sometimes they may raise him, but they never cure him. The following rules, if they be made familiar to our natures and the thoughts of every day, may make virtue and religion become easy and habitual; but when the temptation is present, and hath already seized upon some portions of our consent, we are not so apt to be counseled, and we find no gust or relish in the precept: the lessons are the same, but the instrument is unstrung, or out of tune.
This is in line with the general theme of Willard’s book (see the emails of Jan. 14, 2003 and Dec. 31, 2002, archived at the web site http://www.whitpresby.org). Christian practices are just that, practicing what our faith requires, so that when it is required, we are in condition to respond.
May you be ready, well practiced, when challenges come to your faith.
Grace & peace,
Geoff
Karl Rahner was a popular German Roman Catholic theologian who died in 1984. the following statement was attributed to him: “The time is fast approaching when one will either be a mystic or an unbeliever.” For our purposes a mystic will be defined as one who has a direct experience of God in their life. How do we get that experience? Here is one answer from Ron Rolheiser’s book “The Holy Longing,” Doubleday, New York, 1999.
“Virtually all classical spiritual writers, from every tradition, suggest one road beyond all (others), private prayer. Among classical spiritual writhers, there is this leitmotif: In order to sustain yourself in faith you must regularly (most would say daily) spend an extended period of time in private prayer. Failure to do so, they warn, results in a certain dissipation of the soul, even when our sincerity remains intact. There is no way to stay in touch with one’s soul and to keep a balance there, outside of regular private prayer.”
It seems almost trite or common sense to say such. Yet how often do our schedules get the better of us, and the needed time for prayer gets overlooked? As we go through the Lenten season, I’m continually telling my congregation to try some kind of daily prayer routine in hopes that they may find they like it so much that they stick with it after Easter. Living a life with God is more possible than many of us think.
May you find God more present in your life in these trying times.
Grace & peace
Geoff
