email:  whitpresby@mindspring.com

Spiritual readings        "Greetings from Whittier Presbyterian Church"

Sept 2002 Emails

Sept. 3, 2002

 I bought a copy of the video of the “Lord of the Rings” since I missed seeing it in the theaters.  I watched it twice on my vacation.  I await the second installment, due out at the end of the year.  You may know that Tolkein was a devout Christian and was part of a group of Christian fantasy writers at Oxford University who called themselves the Inklings.  The group included C.S. Lewis and Dorothy Sayers, among others.  Dolores R. Leckey quotes a short song from Tolkein’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” in her article, “Pursuing Paths of Grace” which I quoted from in my last email.  Leckey’s article is found in the May/June issue of Weavings Magazine (http://www.upperroom.org/weavings/)  She says she imagines herself walking the streets of her neighborhood as though she were walking the streets of Galilee with Jesus.  She then joins Jesus in singing this song.

 The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with weary feet,

Until it joins some larger way,

Where many paths and errands meet,

And whither then?  I cannot say.

Perhaps you might say this is a strange ending for a religious poem, not ending us up in heaven or some other point of certitude.  But the poem indicates that though we do not know the destination, we have a sense of trust in the journey.  For us that means trust in God, who leads us through our journey.

 May you find that level of trust in God as you pursue your own journey of faith.

Grace & peace

Geoff

Sept. 6, 2002

 There is much in the air and over the airwaves these days of remembrance and observance of the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.  I went back to look at some of the material that I had prepared in these emails during that month.  Here is something that I thought still fits.  It comes from Gil Bailie, someone quoted often in these emails.  It is from a message he prepared after being asked by many of his readers to respond to the terrorist attacks.  If you would like to read the whole statement, go here:

http://www.whitpresby.org/gil_bailie_letter.htm

 “If those who crashed planeloads of innocent men, women and children into buildings full of innocent men, women and children seem to us to be moral zombies, we have allowed ourselves to become a nation of moral couch potatoes.   We exercise our moral judgment for the most part only when it s possible to moralize at the expense of impersonal institutions: the nation, the Church, the market, the media, etc.  Improving the math scores of the average American 10th grader is a snap compared to bringing the moral literacy of the whole western world up to where it needs to be if we are to face the challenges of the 21st century.  It is completely naïve to believe that we can do so without an accompanying religious and, yes, a Christian, reawakening.”

 We will hear much over the next week about remembrance and coping and processing that memorable day.  Indeed we are having a special observance in our worship this Sunday, as are all the churches I know about.  I believe Bailie is right on the mark and I pray that you, and the Christian Church as a whole, will have something of that awakening that is needed.

Grace and peace,

Geoff

Sept. 10, 2002

 The hottest news item these seems to be the beating of the drums of war by the current administration to justify an attack on Iraq.  I have been reminded of one of the emails I sent last year in October and I repeat it here because I think it was not only insightful but it is coming true in a eerie way

 Christian Century magazine of Oct. 10, 2001.  The article was titled:  “Reasons of State: What is Government For?” written by Robin W. Lovin, dean of Perkins School of Theology in Texas.  The title speaks of the state, but also offers a clear call to the church.  I’m going to excerpt from the article.  You may want to check the Century’s website for more info. http://www.christiancentury.org/

 “The concept of war, then, probably won’t be much help in thinking about what comes next.  That’s not to say that the military planners won’t need all their skill and experience, and it’s not to say that what comes next won’t seem like war to those who get caught in it.  Those who were in lower Manhattan on September 11 have already noted the similarity.  But politicians, civil servants and citizens need to think about what comes next in this conflict in some other way.  Otherwise, it may be impossible to know when to stop, and difficult to prevent the list of targets from expanding until it includes not just those who harm us but those who refuse to help us, and eventually even those who disagree with us.

“We will not succeed if we try to provide that security all by ourselves…..We will require international collaboration on a scale we have not yet seen.  We will need to take a real interest in the development and leadership of marginalized groups everywhere.”

“…The modern state, which has always accomplished its basic function of protection against violence by carefully controlling its own territory, will have to invent a new way to go about the task.  The state which will emerge in this new situation may be fundamentally different from the state we have known since early modern times.”

“The church will be different too.  But the church was here before the modern state, and the church will be here to establish a new relationship with whatever comes after it.  In the time of transition, the church has a large task to remind people of realities that are even more enduring that markets, communication networks and nations.  But the church would also do well to dust off the wisdom we’ve acquired about when it is appropriate to call something a war, and about what a state of any sort is required to do.”

 These challenging times call for us to think deeply about what is happening around us and what is being done in our name.  I pray our faith will be up to the challenge.

Grace & peace

Geoff

 For those who wish, you may review the material I gathered in response of September 11 at the web page at http://www.whitpresby.org/terrorist_attack_help.htm

Sept. 13, 2002

 One of the responses to Sept. 11, 2002 that moved me strongly was by Gil Bailie.  It was his letter in response to the attack that enabled me to discover him.  Thos of you who read these emails regularly will recall that it was his material that I used throughout Holy Week this year.  In the midst of all the reminders of the tragedy of last year, I have continued to review the material I found helpful at the time (at the website at http://www.whitpresby.org/terrorist_attack_help.htm)

Bailie’s article included this:

 For many years, I have written and lectured on the role of sacred violence in humanity s religious and cultural life.  Central to the old sacred system is the experience of catharsis.  But there are two kinds of catharsis, giving rise to two radically different forms of religious experience and cultural life.  On one hand, there is the catharsis experienced by those who, exulting in violence, see it as a sacred obligation, as God s vengeance.  On the other, there is the catharsis experienced by those who stand in heartrending silence before the terrible spectacle of the suffering and death of innocent victims.  Last Tuesday s tragedy produced both these forms of catharsis.  Even though a moral abyss separates them, however, each is capable of being transformed into the other.  Those who jeered so loudly for Jesus death, certain of a divine warrant for their violence, fell into silent consternation when he died asking God to forgive them.  Almost certainly, some who cheered at the televised replay of the World Trade Center catastrophe have by now similarly come to their senses.  On the other hand, those who cried almost with one voice Oh, my God!, and who dropped to their knees to pray or put themselves in peril rushing to minister to the wounded and sorrowing, these, too, can be seduced into the logic of sacred violence, eventually finding themselves, with their fists in the air, demanding vengeance, seeking another kind of catharsis.  Each of these forms of catharsis is accompanied by both religious feelings and a renewed experience of social solidarity.  Despite these similarities, they represent two different anthropologies.  It is the contest between them, and not the clash of Islamic and Western civilizations, that will shape 21^st century history, and the contest is taking place in each of our hearts.

 If those who crashed planeloads of innocent men, women and children into buildings full of innocent men, women and children seem to us to be moral zombies, we have allowed ourselves to become a nation of moral couch potatoes.   We exercise our moral judgment for the most part only when it s possible to moralize at the expense of impersonal institutions: the nation, the Church, the market, the media, etc.  Improving the math scores of the average American 10th grader is a snap compared to bringing the moral literacy of the whole western world up to where it needs to be if we are to face the challenges of the 21st century.  It is completely naïve to believe that we can do so without an accompanying religious and, yes, a Christian, reawakening.

 This is a call to the church to be the church in this most challenging of times.

Grace & peace

Geoff

Sept. 17, 2002

 I teach a Bible study at the church each year that comes from the Horizons magazine, a publication of Presbyterian Women.  This year we are studying the book of Ephesians in material written by Rev. Kay E. Huggins.  In discussing Ephesians 1:2 she explains Paul’s words “Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Captured by the words I use in my closing to these emails, I want to share with you how Huggins explains grace and peace.

 “By grace, God greets humans, enters into a covenantal relationship with Israel, opens the covenant to Gentiles, and in Jesus Christ creates a new and secure future…..Peace is, emphatically, a social concept.  This is the peace of the gospel that turns the world upside down.  Hostilities end.  Enmities vanish.  Strangers become friends.  What could not be imagined—humanity controlled by love rather than fear—is present!  The peace that flows from grace is more than a spiritual condition of serenity; this peace is a living reality.  Again, this is God’s doing and the small Christian congregations are amazed and connected by the greeting.

Grace to you and peace…announces God’s deeds, offers God’s presence, and presents a sweet taste of God’s transforming love to all creation.”

 On that note, I pray for you all

Grace & peace

Geoff

Sept. 20, 2002

 I subscribe to a bi-monthly cassette tape service that provides my automobile time with some learning and reflection opportunities.  It is the Mars Hill Audio Journal.  You can get information at http://www.marshillaudio.org/index.shtml.

The most recent edition has an “article” by Mr. David Jacobson on place and community, the importance of geography upon spirituality.  He makes the distinction that is found in the Greek language between the physical place and the meaning we attach to place.  The Greek has the word “topos” from which we get topography or topographical maps (like backpackers use).  The other Greek word that Jacobson points out is “chora” from which we get choreography.

            As I reflected on those two words I thought about the image of dancing in place, celebrating the place we find ourselves with dance.  I liked the image and was reminded of the hymn, “Lord of the Dance” which celebrates Jesus’ ministry as a form of dance.  It seems to me to be a wonderful image of how our understanding of God’s presence in our lives prompts us to dance, like David in 2 Samuel 6:14 and 21.

May your spirits be so lifted this day that you too feel like dancing in your place.

Grace & peace

Geoff

Sept. 24, 2002

Please note:  no emails until Oct. 8, as I will be on vacation

 I have a childhood friend with whom I’m still in correspondence and we share both an appreciation of and degree in English Literature.  He recently sent me a quote from the 16^th Century English Poet John Donne.  I pass it on to you all because I find it inspiring.  Alas, I don’t know the source.

 “If some king of the earth have so large an extent of dominion, in north and south, as that he hath winter and summer together in his dominions, so large an extent, east and west, as that he hath day and night together in his dominions, much more hath God mercy and judgment together:  He brought light out of darkness, not out of a lesser light; He can bring thy summer out of winter, though thou have so spring; though in the ways of fortune or understanding, or conscience, thou have been benighted till now, wintered and frozen, clouded and eclipsed, damped and benumbed, smothered and stupefied till now, -now God comes to thee, not as in the dawning of the day, nor as in the bud of the spring, but as the sun at noon to illustrated all shadows, as the sheaves in harvest to fill all penuries; all occasions invite His mercies, and all times are His seasons.”

 The language is somewhat old fashioned, but the ideas and the need behind them is contemporary.  God is there for us with a love as powerful as creation.  May you sense some of that love this day.

Grace & peace

Geoff