God In Our Midst

Who is God?  What’s God?  And how do we know that what we know about God is “right”?

    

I’ve heard people say before that it’s so interesting how, over the centuries “God” seems to like what we (as humanity in any given civilization) like and hate what we hate.   The idea here is that God is primarily and extension of us – of who we are, and what we believe – what we accept and reject.   

Slavery was accepted as a reality in the ancient world.  The Romans built an empire on conquest and slavery.   And before them, I can’t think of a civilization in the ancient world – prior to Rome – that didn’t rely in some way on slavery.  I’m certainly not a historian, and for sure not a specialist in the pre-Roman Ancient Near East, so I could be wrong.   But, none-the-less, slavery was indeed a reality in this time and place. 

So is it a surprise that the Israelites had a practice of slavery?  

They did.  

How do we know this? Well it’s in the bible.  For example, Exodus chapter 21 spells out how the Israelites were supposed to treat their slaves.  It starts in verses 1 through 6, with God telling Moses what Moses is to say to the people of Israel with respect to male slaves:   “These are the regulations you must present to Israel:  If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years.  If he is single when he becomes your slave, he shall leave single.  But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife must be freed with him (the assumption is she also becomes a slave when he does).   If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and had children by her, then only the man will be freed on the seventh year, but his wife and children will remain as slaves. (Because children and women really had no rights anyway – not much more than property) ”   But if the man wishes to keep his wife and remain married (and presumably keep his children also) he can do this by choosing to remain a slave… but if he does choose this, he also agrees to slavery…  for the rest of his life! 

The follow-on section of this chapter describes how a father may sell his daughter into slavery, how a man might marry a slave wife, and how and what might void a sale of slavery – women and children were more property than people.  The texts continue regarding personal injury, injuries to various types of property, including slaves.  The follow-on verses spell out the divine laws regarding what property-owning males may or may not do with various types of living property – including slaves – and what might be legal punishments should he go too far in his violence.          

There’s more, but the general gist is that slavery was totally acceptable – not just to the Israelites, but to God too!  If slavery was so morally repugnant and reprehensible to God – as we believe – why wouldn’t God just have come out and said, “Slavery is WRONG!  And this horrible practice is hereby ended!”  God had a chance to do that.  More than one actually!   But instead, the story goes on that God seems to go out of the way to provide some order addressing the details for proper slave ownership.   And nowhere in there is there even the slightest inkling that God didn’t like this practice. 

These verses, and others, seem to plainly condone slavery, and for centuries, this wasn’t questioned.  And until this practice was challenged more and more by a larger and larger portion of society, the good Christian people didn’t hugely question it directly, and for sure didn’t question God’s support of it. 

But finally, by the 20^th century most countries of the world had abolished slavery, and today for sure we consider it a horrifically immoral practice.  And interestingly – in direct contrast to the supporting scriptural references (once used to uphold the tradition) – God seems to agree with us.   Huh?!  

So, what is God’s position on slavery?  Well, that depends on which society we’re in, and in what time of history we find ourselves.  

“God’s” view seems to depend on the dominant view of the that society.  Almost like “God” is the externalized repository of our values and morals of the moment.  It’s like we upload our dominant societal values and morals into the “cosmic cloud” and claim it’s from God.   

Through most of Christian history, women -as a gender- had little to no voice.  Until we as a society started changing and adapting to the challenges of our new era, we church leaders seemed to point to God as the author of the “No Girls” rule.   But since the past hundred years or so, more and more churches have been allowing more and more female leadership.  

And since the early 70’s, our Lutheran church has even been ordaining women!   And interestingly, God’s good with it now.   Just ask God.    

Seems it’s hard to get away from the trap of having God reflect more what we want God to say about any given issue.  There’s the old joke that God made humanity, and we’ve been returning the favor ever since.  But “God” has to be more than just a giant cosmic mirror.   

While we do easily fall into the trap of putting words we want to hear in God’s mouth, I still have to say, there’s really is something Sacred out there.  From the beginning, we humans have always been searching for deeper meaning.  Our ancestors must have spent many hours staring up in awe at the wondrous universe above.  (BTW – If you’ve ever seen the Milky Way on a clear night, it really is inspiring!)  Our ancestors must have felt a deep connection with the life-giving earth… naming it Mother Earth or something similar, as a way of recognizing these intricate life-giving and nurturing relationships, all part of a grander web of life.  There’s records of some indigenous peoples perceiving ethereal energies in and around certain places, times, or events.  They -varyingly- believed our “world”, the space we occupy, is composed of more than just what’s measured and perceived through our physical senses. 

I knew an anthropologist once that shared with me there’s never existed any culture or society in the world (I assume that she knew of), that hasn’t had some sense of what we would call “religion”.   There’s never been a culture in our grand human experience on earth that has not believed in some kind of deity or deities.   

Through our perceptions of the “natural” world, we’ve always seemed to be open to something bigger than what we could perceive with our physical senses.  We as the species and genus Homo Sapien Sapien have always seemed to perceive some Sacred Presence or Presences within and without our realm of existence.  

God, the gods, the Holy Ones (or One), the Sacred Mystery(ies)… name “it” what you want…  we as a species have always seemed to find something (or things) beyond the realm of our normal lives… and found ways to reach out to “it” / “them”.

And given enough time, we’ve found ways to order these perceptions.  We’ve structured them in various ways to help us organize our societal and personal lives.  But the deeper take-away here for me is that the Divine World in which this Sacred Mystery dwells comes deep from within us – and from deep without us.   It is a wonderful part of us as a species.

Certainly it’s true in our day that “religion” is losing more and more relevance.  Particularly Christianity… particularly as we’ve understood it over the past thousand years… and particularly in the Western World of Europe and North America.  More are saying they are if not outright atheists, then at least agnostic.  (Theological “agnosticism” refers to the notion that barring any proof of existence, the reality of a god or gods is as yet an open question... and not necessarily a relevant one.) 

But I don’t think either the growing number of agnostics or atheists have given up on the sense that we should aim our communal lives towards some deeper, higher sense of ideals or values that provide our existences with deeper meaning.   I don’t think people in either group has lost a sense of “belief”… in life, in humanity, in good works, in making the world a better place, in whatever.  Meaning, unless a person is sociopathic or completely narcissistic, while they may drop a belief in God, I have hard time believing they have dropped a belief in anything bigger than themselves. 

Why? 

Why do we believe in something bigger than us?  Why have we always believed in something bigger than us?   

Because it’s in us to do so.   It’s in our DNA (physical and spiritual).  Now, I personally believe in God because I’ve felt and experienced the greater beauty and wonder of 

The Sacred Mystery (my term for this) through the physical world, through the powerful sense of love for my family.  There have been places and times where I’ve stood in mysterious awe of the natural world (like actually seeing the Milky Way or the sun rise sometimes), I’ve “felt” a sense of connection with the earth in general and some of its natural elements.  I’ve also heard other people’s moving stories of their experiences with this Sacred Mystery in their lives.  

I – like many others – have also had experiences from “behind the veil” so to speak… experiences not limited to the physical world of our senses.  I’ve had visions of animal spirits coming in the name of the Creator, I had a vision where I was gifted with a chant (in some cultures, God knows us not by our “names”- because names are temporal- but by songs, which are much more personal, deeper, and more permanent – in some traditions, God sings the universe into existence), I’ve been transported to other places not in body but in spirit.   

Yes, I do believe.  I believe there’s something Sacred out (and in) there, weaving its Sacred threads in and through and around all of creation.  Yes, there is a God, a Sacred Mystery indeed.           

But I also believe we have not altogether learned to distinguish what this Divine-ness is from what we want this Divine-ness to be (for us).  Again, there’s that trap… God made us in his image, and we’ve been returning the favor ever since.  If we want slavery… then would ya look at that… so does “god”.   If we think ordaining women is against the rules… then… who are we to question if “god” thinks the very same thing?!   “God” may have said homosexuality is a sin… but we thought it first. 

And how funny that “god” opposed these things in exactly the same places and times where society opposed them too.   And in places and times where these issues really weren’t issues… well then “god” didn’t seem to have an issue with them either. 

But some projections are good right?   For example – while we think murder is wrong, don’t we believe God opposes it too?  And wouldn’t we say God also opposes the abuse of children?   So how can we discern between the “holy” projections and the “not so holy” ones?  

Is there something we can go to for validation?  

Perhaps the bible? 

The biblical writings were written through and for a specific people, in a specific place and time in geography and history.  Most bible-believing Christians have no issue with eating shell-fish… even though it is strictly prohibited in the bible they purport to venerate.  Eating pork was equally sinful, but you can bet many are not about to stop eating ham sandwiches just because the Holy Bible tells them to!  

Some can make the case that the issues related to shell-fish and pork in the biblical era was really one of healthy food preparation.  Better to make a rule prohibiting these things than to risk illness.  Has God changed positions on these?

But some things we say still do apply – like the prohibition against murder.  God seems to have remained remarkably stable on this one.  But not on slavery – God now opposes this as immoral!          

So, what’s the right kind of projection and what’s not?  How can we discern the differences in God’s messages for us? 

Maybe it’s an issue of our growth and progress and evolution as individuals and societies.  Maybe it’s an issue of honesty – are we wanting to maintain some status quo (like slavery), or are we needing to work harder to be a better society (like the Civil Rights era)? 

Are we using God to justify some destructive practices (like our tendencies to alienate some group of people), or are we looking to God to help us identify and work towards a higher bar?  Are we needing an external source to justify our selfishness, our narcissism, our whims and desires?   Or are we projecting onto God our deeper hopes and aspirations for a better way of life, for a more just and deliberate society? 

Even if it is for higher ideals, maybe there is some projection there.  Still doesn’t make it any less holy!   Maybe all this projection stuff is a crutch.   But don’t crutches actually help someone in their healing process?  

What are we being healed for?   What is the call of the Holy in our lives?   Holiness, in its healthiest sense, calls us to be better than we are.  Holiness calls us to be better together, better than we can be by ourselves. 

I don’t question whether there’s something out there – something I now as the Sacred Mystery.  I think we as humans have always known this.   But I do question what we do with this notion of the Sacred Mystery… because it is also our propensity to bend it to our will, to manipulate it to serve our own twisted ends. 

It remains for us to work to be as honest and as forthright with not only this Sacredness in us, but ourselves as well.  It remains in us to identify and root out, to the best of our ability, the darknesses of our appetites for self-indulgence and power.  While we have it within us to work towards societies built on respect of differences, creating cultures of law based on justice and egalitarianism… these take constant work and vigilance.    

It is much easier to give way to practices that denigrate and impoverish all within the community – wielding the easy weapons of blaming others for issues we ourselves have constructed, creating systems and institutions built on the backs and blood of others, profiting off others equity, retaining our voices but denying others theirs, choosing who is good and who is bad based on nothing more than preferences.       

It is indeed harder to “do the right thing”.   It goes against our easier inclinations.  In fact, I would say, the “Right Thing” is never completely accomplished… it is something to strive for.  It is something to hold as an ideal ahead of us.  And if we have to project it ahead of us… then let it be so.  If we have to hold on to this as a crutch… then let it be so.  If this is what it takes to help us do the hard work of bringing out the best in us as a species… then let it be so.  And I pray that God is with us!      

Resurrection!

I love the season of Easter! It’s my favorite Church season. Probably because it also falls on my favorite calendar season – Spring. I totally get the connection between Resurrection and Spring! New Life! New birth! Of course this only works in the Northern hemisphere. And it only works in places where there’s a distinct and cold Winter that then leads to a warming up of Spring – you know, where nature seems to come back to life again after the seeming death of Winter. (Some places, while technically in the Norther Hemisphere, don’t have this kind of distinction… for example some places in the norther part of equatorial Africa.)

Anyway, I do love Spring, and New Life, and Resurrection! I love the idea of resurrection, because it’s true! First off, it’s a profoundly human thing! We – Homo Sapien Sapien – the human race, as a species, have always leaned towards looking for the proverbial dawn after a long dark proverbial night. Almost every culture has had some form of religion. I say “almost” because, while our historians and anthropologists may not know of a culture that has not had “religion” in some form, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one. We humans, from the beginning it seems, have always had a tendency to look “up”, to look “within”, to look to a deeper mystery of life we ended up calling “the gods”, or “god”, or “God”.

Our ancestors have intuited in some fashion the existence of a deeper sacred Mystery surrounding them. Our older ancestors attributed some “divine-ness” to the might of Thunder, or the majestic height of the Mountain, or the mysterious depth of the Ocean. Whether out of just mere respect, or out of recognizing some prior-existent sense of “other-ness”, we’ve imbued a sacredness to some moving elements of nature. Over time, others did this with the depths of the Mind, the Psyche. Still as mysterious, still as moving… but with religious ritual removed.

Did we – as a species – recognize the inherent meaning of something… a meaning already there? Or did we just imbue meaning to something that had none to begin with? It’s sort of a moot point, because we did it! All across the world. Over and over again! Perhaps from the very beginning of our species.

And over time, we ended up wrapping these elements of life with ritual and custom and practices. Some ended up becoming (from a “healthy persons” perspective – of our dominant world view) pretty harmful and destructive, while others are still meaningful to many today. We ended up building “religions” from these believes and customs. We ended up constructing theologies – understandings of the divine – around these religions.

Back to my point – I don’t know of a religion that doesn’t in some way -some how, some way- point towards a better “tomorrow” for its adherents to live towards.

And many religions have in their backgrounds a sacred story of the death and rebirth of a god, or many gods, or some divine being. There’s an element of resurrection in dozens of stories, of cultures; from the Central American Mayas to the Norse to the many Ancient Near Eastern religions (Egyptian, Babylonian, Jewish, Canaanite, Persian, and many more). Now, to be fair, there certainly exist distinctions between the various traditions regarding the nature of the resurrection… but there’s no denying this idea is there.

So, this is a pretty basic human tendency… to not only “see” some divine-ness out there – some how, some way. But also, as a species, we’ve also recognized – in some form or fashion – New Life… Resurrection! ...Becuase it’s in us to do this!

This is also profoundly a God-thing as well! Of course this is opinion (mine), but it’s not that far from what’s observed through history. It’s like we’re – as a species – hard-wired for this God-stuff! When did we -as human beings- start imbuing life mile-stones with meaning? When did we start recognizing sacredness in different elements of nature? When did we “invent” religion? Maybe it was always there in us to do these things. And it seems we did this all across the world. Now, we don’t have to agree with all the religions out there, but holy cow (see how I did that?!) we’ve always done this!

Sure, today we are able to scientifically explain how thunder and lightning work, and we can see that “up there” is just empty interstellar space. But plain ole thunder and lightning has inspired many an “enlightened” soul… and “just space”… I mean, even if you don’t believe in God, ya gotta be pretty dead inside to not have some sense of awe when looking up into interstellar beauty!

So, while some enlightened and rational “moderns” who’ve evolved beyond religion and gods, they also look at creation (or some elements of it) with their own version of a deep respect for the sacred. And even us “enlightened” ones… those modern cultures that seemed to have generally jettisoned religion and theism from their cultures, still have some sense of respect for the idea of New Life in their own way. They may have some national folk stories that lift up the idea of working through hardship towards a better life, some national themes of a better dawn coming from a dark night.

The oldest account of King Arthur comes from William of Monmouth -Historia Regum Britaniae- written in 1136. It tells the story of Arthur and Camelot. Who he was, where he came from, what he did for the people of the time (the ancestors of what would become the British people). Of course "King Arthur" as the story tells, didn't really exist. But that's not the point.

The point is that this is a story that tries to explain a "source" for the people of Britain AS the people of Britain. Arthur succeeds not only in uniting the kingdom, but uniting the people under one strong, wise and benevolent leader.

The story culminates in the battle of Camlan where both Arthur and Mordred are mortally wounded. Arthur is placed on a boat and floated down river to the mystical Isle of Avalon where his wounds are tended to. As with much of the story, Avalon lays in the mist between the world of humans and the world of the spirits. In this place, in this story perhaps, the mist is thin indeed. Arthur is said to be buried under a hill, where he and his knights rest… waiting to come to the aid of their beloved Britain when they are needed again!

Sure- we may recognize these stories as made up. But we may also recognize the deeper truth they represent! All this to say – we just can’t help it!

But that’s a Big Picture look. Let’s look a little more down to our own levels, where we tend to live and work. We’ve all experienced, and will continue to experience, our own deaths; the loss of a relationship, the loss of a job, the dark struggle of depression, an ending of some part of life… these or others, realities of deaths we’ve faced in our lives.

But we’ve also experienced resurrections in some form! If we look deep enough, I can’t imagine anyone NOT having had some kind of life-giving experience of a New Day! I have to believe we have all -in some way or other- felt the call to come back to life again come back to life again after some loss or other. This is also a Resurrection!

So, our story as Christians is The Tomb Is Empty! Alleluia, He is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! We say this, not only because we are human beings, but because we believe!

I believe in Resurrection! I’ve seen too much, heard too much, felt too much, experienced too much to NOT believe in resurrection! I’ve seen people who’ve struggled with addictions, who’ve felt the darkness of addiction… come back to life again! It doesn’t always happen, for sure… but it can! Resurrection – New Life is indeed a possibility!

Why did our immigrant ancestors decide to cross an ocean, embark on a dangerous journey, to come here to what would become the Unite States? Well, for whatever reason, you can beter bet they didn't do it on a lark! It's probably a safe bet to say they didn;t do this becaus they were bored. It's probably a safe bet to say they were looking to some form of "resurrection". Still today, across teh world, people leave everything they know; their social networks, their homes, their jobs (if they have any), a lot of their stuff... because they are looking for new life!

I’ve known some who’ve been in that terrible place after the ending of a relationship -either through death or divorce… but have been able to find life again! If resurrection is finding new life again, coming back to life again from the dead… then this is Resurrection!

Like green shoots of Spring slowly working their way through the softening ground after the apparent death of a cold dark winter… we have always had in us a propensity to slowly look for life… to slowly make our way back to life… after a season of death and destruction. We have the seeds of resurrection in us!

That’s why we -as a species- have told these stories of Resurrection! Over and over again, in all their varieties, in all the cultures, in all the places across the globe… we tell this story! We Christians have this story in the story of Jesus, that repeats this truth! Resurrection is real!

I wasn’t threatened when I recognized this… I was left in awe! I recognized the deep sacredness we humans have always had in us.

And in all this, I have been struck by the Redemptive quality of Resurrection… how in our lives, in our resurrections, we can come to recognize a sense of debt; debt to our families – our spouses/significant others, to our parents and grandparents, to all our ancestors who walked before us, who set the stage for us; debt to our friends – who supported us; debt to strangers maybe – who perhaps in particular moments, when the planets and stars aligned, helped us find light at the end of the tunnel.

Maybe as we grow in age and mature in wisdom, we come to recognize the significance of the redemptive mature of our resurrections… and recognizing the debts that go with them… debts that may indeed never be repaid, and as a consequence move us to a deeper sense of gratitude.

“I can’t ever repay this… but thank you! Thank you! Thank you for my life!”

A striking fictional visual expression of this is the movie “Saving Private Ryan”, from 20+ years ago. It’s a World War II movie that follows an Infantry squad that's tasked with finding and rescuing the only surviving son of a particular family, right after the Normandy invasion in June of 1944.

They go through adventures and challenges to get to this private – and they are able to save him… but at a cost, of almost everyone in that squad.

As the last battle is almost over, Private Ryan, who’s now safe finally, is at the side of the mortally wounded leader of the squad, Captain Miller. Miller looks at Ryan, and with his dying breaths, says; “Earn this! Earn this!”

The movie then shifts to Ryan, many decades later, an elderly man by now, walking along the grave markers of the Normandy cemetery. He finds the grave maker he’s looking for – Captain John H. Miller. And all his memories seem to come back.

He recognizes not only was his life saved, but so were the lives of his children and grandchildren – present with him at that cemetery. (Interestingly, the number of his family present with him there equal the same number of lives it took to save him.)

He falls to his knees in front of the marker – his wife and family a respectful distance to give him and the spirits privacy. His family may or may not have known any of the story of his rescue, but we – the audience – do know… we do know the cost for his life and the lives of all his descendants after him.

“Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. I’ve tried to live my life the best I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that at least in your eyes I’ve earned what all of you have done for me.”

By this point his wife has come to his side. He turns to her, “Tell me I’ve led a good life.” – Did I live well enough to honor their sacrifice? – “Tell me I’m a good man.”

She’s surprised at first, looking from her husband to the grave marker and back to her husband. Initially she's not sure what's happening. But then she becomes aware there’s something profoundly meaningful there to him.

“You are!”, she says.

In any resurrection story, I think there’s a redemption story – a story of the cost for New Life, and a story of how the unfolding New Life relates to that cost. And in this, we can’t help but feel a deep recognition of gratitude!

I dare ask you to think of a time you went through a death of some kind – a deep challenge, a dark night… and found the dawn breaking into a New Day for you later… a Resurrection. Your “coming back to life again” was probably the result, the help, of many others around you; their prayers, their holding you up, their working behind the scenes!

For sure, you may have done some hard work too! But more often than not, there’s so many others involved in our resurrections.

When I was first in the Army, I was part of a 12-man team. Among all our training and exercises, we also trained to compete in a yearly Ranger Challenge competition – testing our Infantry skills against teams from other units. The last event was a grueling 10 mile run with combat load (uniform and boots of course, load bearing equipment, our rucks filled with about 50lbs worth of basic soldier gear, and rifle).

It was grueling because we were competing against other teams, all of us trying to win. And to win, of course, we had to run as fast as possible. The rules were that during the run we had to stay together as a team – we had to start and end together.

I participated in about three of these competitions. One of those years, during the run, at about mile 7.5, one of the guys on our team just completely “lost it”. He must not have been drinking enough fluids, and for sure not replacing any of his electrolytes. He just stopped functioning properly – screaming, flailing, getting all crazy… then he just quit.

Well, mostly. From the waist up, he was non-functional. From the waist down however, he kept running (drive on!).

But... we did have a bit of a problem on our hands. So we quickly arranged ourselves to take up the slack. One of us held him up on his left side, another held him up on his right side, and I held up his ruck behind him… and as Forrest Gump said… we “just kept on running!”

This is a long story to talk about redemption and New Life – but it works! Sometimes people hold us up on our hard walk to Resurrection! Sometimes they hold us up on our sides when we can’t do it ourselves. Sometimes they pray for us when we can’t pray for ourselves. They do this because they love us. Because they love us… what they wouldn’t do for us!

And this is the story of our faith. What God wouldn’t do to lead the people to the Promised Land! What God wouldn’t do to bless the people. What God wouldn’t do for the people in the life of Jesus.

The cost paid for empty tomb leads to New Life!

This Easter story is a deeply redemptive one! It’s a way to tell us God’s love for us is deep enough, is profound enough, is wide enough… to lead to New Life. And at the cosmic level, that cost is already paid.

This story of the empty tomb is a way of saying to us, from God’s perspective – you… your resurrection… is worth ANY price!

 

LENTEN MOMENT

Considering today is the day we remember and commemorate Jesus's crucifixion here are a few things to look at; one is a poem - that touches in soul, while the other is a linked article that touches the intellect.

The poem is from a Franciscan Friar, Brother Scott Surrency, wrote a good poem for Good Friday - “Can you drink the cup?” It equally challenges our lives, while inviting us in to a new life.

Can you drink the cup?

Drink, not survey or analyze,

ponder or scrutinize –

from a distance.

But drink – imbibe, ingest,

take into you so that it becomes a piece of your inmost self.

And not with cautious sips

that barely moisten your lips,

but with audacious drafts

that spill down your chin and onto your chest.

(Forget decorum – reserve would give offense.)

Can you drink the cup?

The cup of rejection and opposition,

betrayal and regret.

Like vinegar and gall,

pungent and tart,

making you wince and recoil.

But not only that – for the cup is deceptively deep –

there are hopes and joys in there, too,

like thrilling champagne with bubbles

that tickle your nose on New Year’s Eve,

and fleeting moments of almost – almost – sheer ecstasy

that last as long as an eye-blink, or a champagne bubble,

but mysteriously satisfy and sustain.

Can you drink the cup?

Yes, you — with your insecurities,

visible and invisible.

You with the doubts that nibble around the edges

and the ones that devour in one great big gulp.

You with your impetuous starts and youth-like bursts of love and devotion.

You with your giving up too soon – or too late – and being tyrannically hard on yourself.

You with your Yes, but’s and I’m sorry’s – again.

Yes, you – but with my grace.

Can you drink the cup?

Can I drink the cup?

Yes.

And here the article (food for the intellect) with thanks from Dave D. for leading me to this!

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogerwolsey/2015/06/why-they-killed-jesus-2/

LENTEN MOMENT

Lenten Meditation

A portion of a recent message from our Bishop - a reminder to us all in this (church) time of seeing death AND life again as part of our reality!

Here is his timely quote from Arch Bishop Oscar Romero

“We do not celebrate merely a Christ who rose without us. We are empowered to rise with him to a new life - To become precisely those new people needed today.” - Oscar Romero

Lenten Moment

Here is a poem from Rumi, a 13^th century Persian scholar, theologian, and mystic.   He is well known in spirituality circles for his poems, calling the reader to a transcendence of institution, into a deeper union with the Holy.

Here is a Rumi poem entitled “I’ll Meet You There”:

I’ll Meet You There

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing 

and right doing
 there is a field. 

I will meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase 

“each other”
doesn’t make any sense.

By: Rumi

Lenten Message

There’s book from about 20 years or more ago entitled “A Long Obedience In The Same Direction” – by Eugene Peterson.  I was intrigued by the title…  A long obedience in the same direction. 

We are a nation of Seekers.  On surveys, and perhaps even in personal conversation, people often self-identify as interested in spirituality.  The Pew Research group, that organization that keeps their metaphoric fingers on the spiritual pulse of the American public, often reflects the US public as still very interested in spiritual matters while at the same time less and less committed to the traditional Institutional religions. 

We really do believe there are answers out there.  We really do believe there is something out there.  If only we could find that which we are looking for.  So we seek, we keep looking.  We as Americans still believe!   We do believe.  We’re still a people of “faith”…  “faith” being more and more what we want it to mean.  We look for God, for the Spirit, for the “answer”.  We do indeed seek.   

I remember reading somewhere that if “spirituality” (and things of the Spirit) were underground water, we’d be well-diggers.  We’d be looking for that water!   But, I remember the writer going on, we have had more and more of a tendency to usually not dig any one well deep enough to hit the water-table. 

We find a place that seems appealing and start digging.  But perhaps we get a little bored of digging in that place (maybe because we don’t see anything happening), so we walk over to another more attractive location and start digging for water there.  And if nothing very interesting happens there… we move on to another -in our eyes- more interesting place to dig.       

The write reflects on us as a spiritual culture, saying that while we as a whole have a tendency towards spiritual matters, we are less and less likely to commit to any one particular spiritual discipline long enough to gain the deepest measure of benefit from them – even if the tradition is one we’ve formed out of our own searching.  Before the well we’re digging has gotten deep enough, we’ve quit that well, and have started digging another one somewhere else. 

The writers’ point was we dabble in spirituality, without the long-term commitment to any one practice or discipline of spirituality.  Now this may not necessarily be true for us individually, but it seems to be a collective experience.   

But how can we know what “style” of spirituality fits us best unless we try them?  How can we know what “brand” of religion is the best one for us?  How can we commit to a particular discipline if we don’t know where it will lead?  How can we commit to a particular practice, if we don’t know whether it’s the right one for us?    

There really is so much out there to try!   They are indeed important questions – the answers to which can certainly help us on our spiritual journey.  I’m really not knocking this “discovery” process in any way.   But I also recognize that at some point in our maturation, we are called to find a place… and steadily dig in one location until we find that well of clear, life-enriching, water.  

I had a seminary professor that would often say, “the bible does not reveal its secrets to disinterested passers-by.”  Well, maybe it does a little, but I do get his point that – like anything worthwhile in life – depth comes from persistence.  And this is certainly true with matters of the Spirit as well.   

Polls seem to indicate we’re certainly not disinterested… but maybe more seeking without the discipline of patience – long patience. 

So, as Americans, we’re – generally speaking – not too attracted to a long obedience in the same direction.  It’s certainly fun and interesting to read the latest books on spirituality, prayer, meditation, etc.  But the truth is, reading books -and more books- about meditation (as interesting as they may be) can’t replace the years and years of practicing meditation… and gaining the benefits of this practice. 

There are indeed pros’ and con’s of both travelling as a tourist and of being a permanent resident of any particular place.  Seeing new places is fun, and there’s a lot to learn for sure.   But certainly the obvious difference is the permanent resident knows the place in a much deeper way… a way the tourist could never know.   One could spend a life “touring” – visiting, seeing new places (even coming back to some old places… for a while).  But usually after a while, we end up picking a place to life in– to actually live in.   

It’s certainly not a bad thing to read about different spiritual practices, or even to experiment with different disciplines… but I wonder more and more if that can’t ever replace a spirituality of a long obedience in the same direction.   

Spiritual practices are similar to travelling and living in other areas; each experience is different in its own way.  But if we wish to gain the longer lasting benefits and elements of a deeper experience, we must put the time in to learn what it feels like to “live” somewhere long enough.  We must be willing to put the time in to develop the disciplines of patient dedication.  We must be willing to invest the time of practice.  Like with international travel, while visiting can certainly be fun… the deeper wisdoms and benefits of long-experience in a place will always elude the tourist.      

A Long Obedience In The Same Direction

Certainly a growing challenge to us all… but -like wells- the benefits are deep and plentiful!   

LENTEN MOMENT

   Simplicity

         Another message of our 

                     Lenten journey.

A moment...   

               ...just a moment...  

                         to remember to simplify.

It's always a challenge 

        in our lives 

                 to Simplify:

                          

                         

    But it's a challenge 

         worth pursuing.

                     It's good for 

                        the mind,

                        the heart,

                        and the soul