Pastoring 101
30 Oct 2011 4 Comments
in Bible Essays, Fundamentalism, God, Malachi, Matthew, Teaching, Thessalonians Tags: God, Malachi, Matthew, Pastoring, teacher, Thessalonicans
Often it is hard to figure out why certain readings are put together. Not so today. Today we have a veritable teachers manual of what a good pastor is.
I am reminded that a week or so ago, I watched part of a “Family Values” summit here in Iowa. Of course all the major GOP candidates came to speak.
Each speaker, candidate or local politico, invoked God, acknowledging that first and foremost each and every person there looked to God as their true leader.
They then went about talking against marriage equality, and against universal health care, and against a worker’s right to unionize, and against EPA standards that protect our water and air. God
And I saw the audience nod and look to each other and smile, always reassuring each other that this indeed was God’s will–the things they were for and those they were against.
It probably wouldn’t do any good, but they, each of them, would do well to read and pray upon the words chosen for the lessons of this day.
Our good friends who see themselves as righteous and God-abiding are wont to tell us what God wants. Having talked with a good many of these born-agains, I know the litany. Paul, they tell me, (who oddly is quoted by the fundamentalist far more often than Jesus) makes it abundantly clear that the duty of a “good Christian” is to admonish and correct those in error. They would be failing in their duty to remain silent. Silence is acquiescence, quite simply.
When questioned as to the possibility that their truth may not be the truth, they scoff. No way! They assert with all sincerity that God has spoken quite plainly in their translation of the bible (usually the KJV). God does not hide his desires, he states them plainly. There is no need of any learned person to tell them what God says; a person of pure desire will hear the Word correctly. Learned biblical scholars, after all, have a goal: to be paid, and to be held in esteem as better than other interpreters.
Yet, a good deal of biblical space is given over to warnings about false teaching. It is this conundrum that the average fundamentalist faces: how to tell the false from the true. And the answer they have chosen is to trust their own instincts.
Of course that works fine, except that we are human beings who, so psychologists and sociologists tell us, are motivated to believe all manner of things that empirically are provably false. We chose to believe things often because it “works for us” satisfying some need that we may only be dimly aware of.
In Malachi we are warned:
You have turned aside from the way,
and have caused many to falter by your instruction; (Mal 2:8)
In Psalm 131 we learn how to approach God:
O LORD, my heart is not proud,
nor are my eyes haughty;
I busy not myself with great things,
nor with things too sublime for me.
Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted
my soul like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap,
so is my soul within me.
In Thessalonians Paul models the perfect Pastor:
We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children.
With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you
not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well,
so dearly beloved had you become to us.
You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery.
Working night and day in order not to burden any of you,
we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. (1 Thess 2: 7-9)
And finally, we have Jesus, the Great Teacher who tells us exactly how to be:
“The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people’s shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’;
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mt. 23: 1-12)
If we would model the Master, we are humble, we assume that we are but children in terms of our knowledge of God’s ways, and we never presume to “teach” others. We lead by the example of our lives, giving our vision of God as we understand, but not as teacher. Rather we are fellow travelers. We don’t have all the answers, and we perceive the spark of God in all our brothers and sisters and eagerly look to them to teach us as well.
We take the warnings seriously, both those of Malachi and all the others found throughout both the Hebrew and New Testament. Things like, “God’s ways are not your ways,” “God sees to the heart” , “Care for the log in your own eye before worrying about the splinter in your neighbors”. These all reference a warning that we mere mortal humans cannot speak for God.
All we can do is to try to live honestly and forthrightly according to the pitifully small understanding we do have.If we can understand on that one thing, then we will shun any idea that we have any basis for telling anyone else what they should do or not. Surely we have the right and duty to separate ourselves from those who hinder us by speaking things that seek to harden hearts and justify mistreatment of others “in the name of God.” But, we are on shifting sands when we take that as a license to teach others the way of righteousness.
Amen.
What Do We Expect?
04 Sep 2011 4 Comments
in Faith, Fundamentalism, God, Theology Tags: Faith, fundamentalism, God, theology
I’ve said this a few times (to say the least) before. Fundamentalists create more atheists than other atheists ever will. I was never quite sure why, but the answer is really pretty darn obvious.
Fundamentalists deal in absolutes. The Bible IS the word of God. It is absolutely true in every single respect. There can be no contradictions and no errors. Of course when proven not to be the case, the shattered believer applies the same demands on non-fundamentalist faith–proof. And none is forthcoming, so they throw up their hands.
If there is no proof, then there is no basis for faith.
But really, fundamentalists are much akin to atheists in their thinking. Atheists always point to reality as that which can be proven. A science experiment either works or it doesn’t. It’s true or false. Something, someday, might be more true, but it seldom turns out utterly false.
The same is true of liberals and conservatives. Conservatives know what has worked, and what hasn’t. They KNOW and they don’t want to venture into not-knowing. They don’t like to take chances. They don’t like not knowing anything, so they often structure a world that contains only known things and they declare unknown things unworthy of thinking about.
Liberals don’t mind not knowing. They actually know that some things they may never know, other things will become known in time. They aren’t afraid of taking chances, especially when what is known produces outcomes that don’t work so well.
Liberals make fine progressive believers. They aren’t afraid of the fact that they may never know God in any significant way. It’s okay. It’s okay even if God isn’t real in the end. Believing and living a life based on belief is not a bad thing. As they see it.
Conservatives think that silly, and so do fundamentalists. So they set out to create a God that they CLAIM is knowable, fully. And they know God, or so they claim. They feel relaxed, confident, and somewhat puffed up by the fact that they KNOW.
The person who has had the fundamentalist theology explode into a thousand pieces asks what is not possible. They want answers that will fully satisfy them as their bible-thumpin’ ministers used to. And when they don’t find that, since living in the unknowing, is part of being a believer, they mope, and get angry, they argue, and they pout, and in the end they throw up their hands in disgust. The atheists are right–believers have no answers.
I don’t mean to make fun of or deride these folks. I feel deeply saddened that their personal, shall we say, brain pattern demands certainty. It is perhaps they way they are structured. Some seem to make the change, but most don’t. Not that I can see.
Buddhists are, in my opinion, rather expert in living in the moment, and not wasting much time worrying about knowing. If you can’t know you will be alive in five minutes, there isn’t must you can be sure about. There is much wisdom in that.
I’m in a place and time where I’m not giving nearly the attention to faith that I should. But maybe the point is that I shouldn’t be at all concerned. God offers me relationship, gracious and freely. Since I believe that, I expect God understands quite perfectly when my life becomes chaotic to the point that I only seek him for peace and sanity, and little more.
So, I’m okay with the limits on my prayer, meditation and reading of spiritual things. It will return when life is less hectic, of that I am sure. I don’t know if my notions are accurate or not, but there is nothing I can do to find out anyway.
God is there when I need it. At least that is what I feel, and what I believe. And in the end, what else is necessary?
Amen.
Is That Hubris or What?
07 Aug 2011 2 Comments
in Faith, Fundamentalism, God, Spiritual Growth, Theology Tags: atheists, Darwin, evolution, fundamentalists, God, theology
A few nights ago we watched a movie called “Creation” which focused on the life of Charles Darwin in the years leading up to his epic book. If the portrayal was accurate, Darwin agonized over writing the book, in part because he knew it would be seen by some as a direct challenge to God’s existence.
Darwin himself was unsure of what his findings meant. He was tortured by the possibility that it did indeed mean, as some of his more “enlightened” friends suggested, the “death of God.” This played heavily on his mind since his wife was a firm believer whose sensibilities he had no desire to harm.
Obviously we know that he did write “Origins of Life” and it did set off the firestorm he expected.
What is ironic to me is that as I watched, I once again realized that the atheist and the fundamentalist are but two sides of the same coin.
The atheist says, my senses and mind cannot betray me. The bible is untrue, God is dead. The fundamentalist says, my bible is true, God is true, my senses and mind betray me.
I find both positions utter hubris. Both claim man’s stellar reasoning to be the apex of existence. The atheist does this quite openly, proclaiming that the universe is utterly knowable by the human mind, and indeed all things are knowable. There is thus no need for a supreme being who guides and orchestrates life. We came to be quite naturally, and the “sky is the limit” in so far as the future is concerned.
The fundamentalist hides her hubris. Although giving lip service to a superior being, it is one that is defined by the fundamentalist. It is infamously contained within the pages of a book, and is self-defined by that fundamentalist.
Both agree, that both evolution and God cannot be true. Both, in utter arrogance chose one side or the other because they, in their superior believing minds, believe that their constructs of God are unquestionably right.
Yet there is another way, and a way that I would argue is the way of the true believer. Confronted with Darwin’s findings, this person recognizes that we must be willing to trust in our senses and the abilities of our minds, otherwise life is simply chaos. There is no meaning at all if life is reduced to haphazard occurences that follow no “rules.”
Yet, learning is an ongoing proposition. We learn and adapt. We learn and we change. We learn and we discard, replace, and revise. That is the way of human history.
So no learning is sacrosanct. And the true believer quickly realizes that this must apply to both the bible and her conceptions regarding God. Confronted with the apparent paradox of Darwin and the Bible, she recognizes that she must delve more deeply into the mystery of sacred text. She must learn of its human origin and the circumstances. She must place the book against the ongoing discoveries of history and find the points of mesh and tension.
Most assuredly, the true believer realizes that if God is God, then we are in a process of learning to understand that God, and that perhaps it is not possible to do so fully in life. The Bible becomes then a text of others efforts to understand God and the reflections of their meditations. Those are our guides as we pursue God in our own ways.
The true believer thus concludes that whenever there is an apparent confrontation between God and science, that it is only appearances. It only goes to show us that we still have not uncovered the glory of God in its fullness. For there is nothing in human experience that can be in conflict with God.
Recognizing our own fallible powers of reasoning is the first step in truly beginning to see our Creator. For only by being totally open to all the possibilities, are we available to be guided by God’s grace. The atheist and fundamentalist are never open, they have already tied God up in a nice box with appropriate ribbons and bows–turning the Godhead into either a child’s toy or an individual caricature of their own making.
I always find it so ironic. Those two groups, whose greatest vitriol is reserved for each other, have more in common that all the rest.
Amen.
Who is Christian?
31 Jul 2011 4 Comments
in Fundamentalism, Theology Tags: Christianity, fundamentalism, Norway, theology
Following the horrific events in Oslo, Norway, and the ensuing rhetoric about it, this question came to me. Who indeed is Christian?
As you will recall, long before much in the way of facts were uncovered, a shocking number of pundits and “journalists” speculated freely that Al Qaeda had struck innocents once again. Once the alleged perpetrator began to talk, all this changed, and we learned that the actor was a self-proclaimed Christian and fundamentalist. His written screed backed this up, with illusions to the Crusades.
As we have now come to expect, the Right was furious. How dare this madman do his evil deeds in the name of Christianity? In fact, some of these misguided folks claimed that they were the “true victims” since the Left now would use this crime to attack the far-right cause. Indeed the terrorist named several anti-Muslim activists in this country as being an inspiration to him. So the extreme right had reason to be concerned.
Other’s unbelievably, still wanting to put a Muslim face on this tragedy, said that the actor “had a point” in suggesting that multiculturalism was a disaster for Europe, and by inference for America as well. This tactic was rather soundly condemned: how can you uphold anything that comes from a crazed killer?
But perhaps the most profound result was people like Bill O’Reilly, pundit for Fox “News” who proclaimed that the Norwegian killer was “no Christian”. He claimed that one was not entitled to that title merely by saying it, especially when one’s actions belied any real understanding of the teachings of Jesus.
Of course, Mr. O’Reilly has never had any problem with calling Middle Eastern terrorists, “Islamic Terrorists” simply because they were of the Muslim faith or claimed to be. One begins to smell a lack a rat here.
But the question remains. What constitutes a Christian? The question of course can equally be asked of Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and any other faith tradition.
Who gets to decide when one is acting or talking or thinking within the acceptable parameters of one’s tradition?
I, for instance, would argue that The Westboro “Christians” aren’t Christians at all, or one’s whose understanding of Christianity is deeply flawed. I and many others sometimes refer to fundamentalist Christians as Christianists, to signify that they use and distort biblical passages in order to serve their personal views of the way the world “ought to be.”
Other’s argue that Mormons are not “true” Christians. And the list goes on and on.
The point is, that the majority of Muslims throughout the world might well argue that those who engage in terrorism are misguided and self-serving in their interpretation of the Qur’an, and are not “true” Muslims. Perhaps that is said by some portions of the Jewish community. There are Buddhists who engage or have engaged in violence. Are there Buddhists who would argue that they are not “true” Buddhists?
So the question remains, who decides?
There is no human answer here of course. The ultimately satisfying answer can only be, that God will and does determine this issue, if it is of any importance at all. We, individually or in community cannot know the mind and spirit of any other person. We cannot judge what faith means to them, or how they interpret it.
Is the man who killed Dr. Tiller a Christian? He would certainly, and does claim that he acted to defend God’s word. Were the Inquisitionists Christians? Were the Crusaders? The KKK? White Militias? All have killed in the name of God.
Again, we mere mortals do best to leave that alone. Nothing is served by trying to “protect” one’s sect of Christianity by claiming that this or that one “doesn’t belong to us.” The truth is that fundamentalism is not a Christian thing, nor a Muslim thing, nor even necessarily a religious thing. It is a state of being, in which the believer thinks that he/she has the answers to whatever issues matter to them. They have interpreted correctly and those that disagree must be defeated. The manner of their defeat can be many things, but for a fringe it can and will include violence.
It is this that is opposed, and not the thinking itself. I am well able to accept your self-serving interpretations as long as they remain yours and not ones you seek to impose upon me by force.
If the Norway shooter believes he is Christian, then he is entitled to do so. He’s not my vision of one, but I am not the decider. And neither is anybody else.
Amen.
It’s Always a Process
10 Jul 2011 4 Comments
in Bible Essays, Faith, Fundamentalism, Isaiah, Matthew, Romans, Spiritual Growth Tags: Faith, growth, Isaiah, Matthew, parable of the sower, Psalms, Romans, spirituality
Readings:
Is: 55:10-11
Ps: 65:10,11, 12-13-14
Rom: 8-18-23
Mt: 13:1-23
What these readings have in common is process. We sow seeds, rain falls, crops grow and are harvested. Even the reading from Romans suggests that process is the key. Creation is a process that is being worked out in time.
Typically, what is garnered from Matthew’s parable of the sower, is that we must be the fruitful seed. We must take the Word, let it enrich us, grow in us and we must then use it to facilitate the creating desire of God. And that is perfectly true.
Yet, it also bespeaks something about our faith and how it prospers or not. I often wonder how a fundamentalist reads this parable. Surely they don’t see themselves as seed that has fallen on rock or the path. They see themselves as seed that fell into rich soil. They do not let the cares of the world, or the vicissitudes of life interfere with their dedication to Jesus and the Gospel. They remain committed to their understanding of the Word.
But I suggest there is another way to look at the parable and the readings in general. They don’t necessarily relate to one’s tenacity in committment to “spreading the Word” but rather to the process of being in faith.
And what we see here is change. There is a process being announced. Seed, rain, soil, each is needed. The seed bursts forth, becomes a plant, sets seed, produces its fruits, and then is harvested. It’s not simply a matter of sowing day in and day out. It’s not merely a matter of reading the same passages again and again and reminding ourselves of the standard meanings.
Growth and change signify each of these readings, and that means ourselves as well as our duties to spread the “good news.”
To cast in iron the meaning of any parable or any passage is to stop growing. And to stop growing is death. We can wave the banner of faith, but if it is a faith that is stagnant, unyielding in its interpretation, then we are failing quite simply to honor Jesus’ words.
Faith is messy as some have suggested. It is, and should be full of starts and stops, turns, flips, inquiry, doubt, doubling back, and throwing up our hands in confusion. We should get angry sometimes, we should find deep peace at others, joy often, confidence–in other words, faith involves the entire panoply of our emotions.
Faith is a living thing. For we are in the process of a creation, one that is still ongoing, still unfolding. And we are deeply a part of that process. The very evidence that our world is not as it should be is all the evidence we need. It is not complete because we are not complete.
Faith is work. It’s not easy nor always pleasurable. Talk to those of advanced spiritual growth and they will explain all the months and sometimes years of deep meaningless agony that must be fought through. To the degree that we attempt to avoid that, but painting a picture of faith as steady and unchanging, we contribute to the stalling of creation unfolding from us. We become the rocky soil, the path where fruitless sowing has occurred.
It is like walking along with a handful of seeds and each step turns to concrete before us. We can sow seed all day long, and we will produce nothing. The vessel is sterile, and can generate no life.
That is what seems to me is the fundamentalist. The fundamentalist has deeply erred in concluding that any question, any confusion about what the Word might mean, is not faith and thus must be avoided at all costs. Fear becomes the stick that guides the fundamentalist.
We must realize that we are in process as believers. It is okay to say, I don’t know. It is okay to say, I can’t agree with that this seems to say, therefore, I must dig deeper to uncover its meaning. It is okay to conclude that perhaps the writer was wrong! But it is right to seek answers that satisfy one’s heart, because that is the truest location of good judgment.
It is all about growth. Jesus called his disciples to grow out of their old thinking into new thinking, and in doing so, he shows us how to as well. Remember, on more than one occasion Jesus made clear that there was ever so much more to tell and to learn, more than he had time for in his short time in our world. So he taught us a method–simply love your God with all your heart, mind and soul, your fellow human being as yourself, and be servant to all.
That is how we grow: by each day making a new effort to proceed throughout that day mindful of those directives.
Amen.
Related articles
- Audio Readings July 10, 2011 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (sacredheartcatholicchurchcrosbytexas.wordpress.com)
- 7/10/2011 Bear Good Fruit (richbrownforewords.wordpress.com)
- Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (prepareformass.wordpress.com)
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I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
22 May 2011 8 Comments
in Fundamentalism, God, Prayer, Spiritual Growth Tags: Faith, God, prayers, spiritual growth
I was about to start my morning prayers and petitions, when suddenly, I just sighed. What good was all this? I mean, every day, I pray that “all who are hungry are fed” and of course, they aren’t.
Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t questioning whether God hears or why God doesn’t answer. I’ve long ago worked through all that “stuff.”
If God grants prayers, such as “cure Robbie’s cancer” but he doesn’t answer a similar prayer for an equally deserving victim, then, well, a lot of twisting has to be done.
We have to fall back on trite phrases such as “God’s ways are mysterious” or “we can’t know God’s plan,” or “God had other plans for ________.” They don’t satisfy. In fact the whole issue of how a loving God can allow such unspeakable pain and suffering in the world needs be addressed.
I believe prayer is efficacious because it brings us into direct, knowing, conscious contact with God, and because it makes us feel better to share our burdens and fears. I believe God does work in the world but not by miraculous cures. Rather he operates through those persons who open themselves to God working within them, as them. We do the miracles by allowing God to use us.
My sigh was in the forgetting of all this, more than anything else, and realizing that prayers can become formulaic and mindlessly offered. As such, they fail to achieve any purpose at all. So my sigh was much more to my own failure to make the moment sacred as anything else.
Life is not easy, not for anyone. There are long stretches perhaps when mostly things go okay, but problems, big or small will always be just around the corner. My family has run into one in the last few days. It will work itself out in time–patience is what is really needed.
As I found myself about to ask God to “work this out, and quickly too!”, I recognized my error. Back up girl, rewind.
God is not going to “work this out” God is going to be there in the messiness of life with me. It is how I decide to handle the “problem” that matters. How I do this will define just how much I trust in God’s presence in this problem.
The question becomes: Where is God in this trouble? How do I choose to respond to pressures to fix it. How to fix it? In what manner to fix it? Other people will be affected, or could be. How I see God, and what I see God to be, determines the choices I will make.
Seeing that God is squarely in the picture changes everything. It becomes the main factor in decisions.
My prayer becomes one of asking God to help me remain open to his transforming work within me. My goal is to do his will in all things.
I am always bemused by those who demand proof that all their faith is not in vain. This usually from ex-fundamentalists. No longer able to cling to a book of Holy Writ to give them specific answers to specific questions, they still demand that through some means of logic or reasoning God be perfectly deduced.
Fool me once, they say. Not again will they fall for faith that is not a sure thing.
Well, don’t count on it happening. Faith is messy. It’s full of sureties tested and found wanting, by insights gained, and lost, by faith soaring and at times pitifully weak and transparent.
I am so thoroughly convinced that it must be this way. Our relationship with God is of little value and is certainly not authentic if handed to us as a fait accompli. It is the mountain we must climb. We are not God, we are not entitled to this perfect unity of creature and Creator by simple virtue of being alive.
This is not some punishment being imposed by God, but rather it is God calling us forth to be really and truly human, something we have but a glimmer of. We sense we are much more than we see ourselves as, yet we don’t know how to become that on our own. God does. Jesus showed us the Way.
Believers by virtue of being such, don’t get a free ride. We don’t get to cut to the head of the line. Our lives are as chaotic and filled with ups and downs as anyone elses. We simply know that deep within us God waits for us, always offering wisdom, solace, and peace. We have a place to turn where we are never turned away.
Amen.
The Hand of God
05 Apr 2011 7 Comments
in Faith, Fundamentalism, God, Lent, Sin, Spiritual Growth Tags: Faith, fundamentalism, God, inerrancy, Lent, Love
I have spoken often about fundamentalism. It is, in my opinion, a deeply dangerous and destructive methodology. It has been my opportunity to visit a number of blogs devoted to those who have come through the dark night of fundamentalism.
It is not a pretty picture. Never have I seen people so pained, so wounded, so mistrustful. They feel, and quite legitimately I might say, betrayed.
Some are so locked in pain and betrayal, that they are no longer seeking, as they claim; they are defending their newly discovered errancy of the bible. Those, I have had to release, because my offerings are not helpful, they trust only their own conclusions and that is probably correct at this point in time.
It is said, “to be a fundamentalist, you have to have a book. And then you have to forget that book has a history.” R. Joseph Hoffmann [h/t to Do You Ever Think About. . .]
What is ironic is that in discarding the inerrancy doctrine of fundamentalism, most ex-fundies don’t discard the rest of the ideology. They now “prove” errancy by the same literalistic interpretations that they just discarded. They buy into the fundamentalist claim that if the one thing is errant, then the whole book is suspect and worthless, and “your faith is a sham.”
One would think that once you have faced the betrayal, you would throw out every single tenet propounded by such practitioners. But for whatever reason, as I said, this is not the case.
I came across a poem, written by one who is truly seeking for a new way. She is intelligent, well read, and I think past the searing pain of her past. I have found many of her posts deeply moving and thoughtful. She asks good questions. She listens carefully. She wrote this poem, that bespeaks some of the things I have mentioned. I reprint it here. Do go and see her blog and offer her support.
My field of view within Christianity is littered with weeds.
Where some see God’s grace, I grieve for the un-elect.
Where some praise God’s sovereignty, I shudder at eternal conscious suffering.
Where some shun apostates, I resonate with their questions.
Where some obtain solace in their Bibles, I find confusion.
Where some worship with joy, I am riddled with anxiety.
Will I be able to see a flower where I once saw a weed? [Like A Child]
The first two lines especially bespeak a reliance on “old fundamentalist” teaching. At least to me. For there is nothing in the bible from which one must conclude that there is any “elect”, nor is there any reason to conclude that there is any “eternal conscious suffering” imposed at least from outside one’s own mind. One can argue from literal readings I suppose that this is the case in both instances, but the more reasoned and exegetical majority opinions don’t suggest these severe conclusions.
If I may, let me write a response:
Where some grieve for the unelect, I see God’s creation as Good where all are welcomed.
Where some shudder at eternal conscious suffering, I see God’s loving embrace, wiping away every tear.
Where some are plagued with questions, I welcome each one as searching to probe deeper into the mystery.
Where some find confusion in the Bible, I find an unending fount of insights being refined and yet to be refined, awaiting.
Where some are riddled with anxiety, I take comfort in the mystery to which we are invited.
Please understand, I respond, not to cast down the heart-felt feelings of another, but to offer how I view the world. I can but pray that those who are in pain, find solace, and hear again God’s voice, for I promise, it is there, in the very places it has always been–everywhere.
Amen.
Living Water
27 Mar 2011 5 Comments
in Exodus, Fundamentalism, God, Jesus, John, Lent, Romans, Spiritual Growth Tags: "the way", Jesus, Lent, water
Water is foundational to Christianity. It arises in the very beginning of Genesis, as the watery chaos depicted in Jewish cosmology. It is turned from this dangerous foreboding entity to life-giving gift throughout both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.
In today’s readings, water features prominently. God reminds humans that he gives life, and he alone saves life. When the people are without water in the desert, God brings forth water from the rock at Meriba and Massah, and it “flows” for the people. [Ex 17:6]
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, God’s love is “poured” into our hearts. [Rom 5:5].
And in Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus tells us:
“but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life.” [Jn 4:14]
Notice that Jesus refers to the water springing up “inside” and “welling up”. These are important indications that Jesus is speaking of something very different from what the woman understands. She is giddy with joy; in the next verse she asks for this “water, so that I may never be thirsty or come here again to draw water.”
She takes Jesus quite literally, as do his disciples a bit later when they urge him to eat, and he replies that he has “food to eat that you do not know about.” The disciples ponder whether “someone has brought him food.”
It’s all quite amusing in one sense.
Yet, something very serious is about, and the Samaritan woman does seem to see that. She goes into the village and tells everyone about this man who has told her “everything she has done.” She becomes in the eyes of many a theologian, the first true apostle.
Sometimes I wonder what Jesus thought as he witnessed the “fundamentalism” of his disciples and those whom he taught. Taking his words literally when he sought to speak of deeper things, things of the heart. Jesus was talking about inner transformation and the water and food are metaphor for his words which lead us to growth.
So eloquently he offers us that if we listen to his words, accept “the Way”, we will have a spring within us, welling up to a journey’s end in eternal perfect union with God.
Did he chuckle as his disciples whispered about someone sneaking him food? Did he smile softly as the woman hoped for relief from her daily trudge to the well for water? Certainly these feelings would have been tempered with a degree of sadness.
As one reads and rereads the scripture, especially with the help of expert biblical exegetes and theologians, one I think, begins to tease out the depth of the real teachings of Jesus. His teachings were so radical, so “outside the box” that few if any understood them in their totality.
Arguments are made that John perhaps “got it” and certainly many believe Mary Magdalene did, as well as some of the more gnostic writings.
If we see Jesus teaching as mostly an interior change of being, and as a pathway to union with God in the closest sense, than many difficult passages open up to us to a deeper more metaphorical reading.
When Jesus speaks of water as becoming a spring and welling up within and that his food is that which they don’t know about, we see clearly that we are being asked to surrender to a new way, or “the Way.”
Today, look within and drink from the spring that wells within you.
Amen.
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What Have You Done?
06 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Bible Essays, Deuteronomy, Faith, Fundamentalism, Jesus, Lent, Matthew, Romans, Spiritual Growth Tags: bible essays, Deuteronomy, Faith, Matthew, Romans, works
We are a silly species when you really think about it. Really we are. More to the point, we are a people of convenience. We tend to interpret the world and especially our “values” and our “principles” in ways that make things easy for ourselves.
I think of the movie the Godfather, which portrayed, correctly or not, the Italian mafia. The men plotted by day the demise of other men or the stealing of their property, but on Sunday they genuflected and crossed themselves as they accepted communion. Convenient?
I few days ago, a commenter on another blog related that after a woman had said really nasty things about the President in not repeatable graphic fashion, he asked, “and I suppose this is an example of Christian charity?” The woman responded with a certain self-righteousness, “God will forgive me any sins I have just by asking him to.” Convenient?
The readings today, remind us that our self-serving definitions and interpretations may not serve us well at all. The words of Moses come to us in Deuteronomy 11:18.26-28.32.
“See I set before you today a blessing and a curse: a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord our God that I enjoin on you today; a curse, if you disobey the commandments of the Lord your God and leave the way I have marked out for you today, by going after other gods you have not known. You must keep and observe all the laws and customs that I set before you today.”
Moses makes it clear: DO right, don’t just mouth right. Obedience is an action, not an afterthought. You don’t have a perpetual “get out of jail” free card.
Now, I don’t believe in literal concepts of heaven and hell. I believe that we seek unity with God. That is the goal. To have God perfectly present to us in every moment. That is the unity of singleness that Jesus achieved and attempted to teach us. That is how we are as Spirit, and it is how we are able to be in our humanity. If we work at it–actively.
When we emulate the teachings of Jesus, we move toward that unity and we find peace and joy in our lives. When we go it alone, acting out of our baser evolutionary beginnings, we generally spend a lot of time in fear, and that is not a happy state to be in.
Yet, we don’t like to think about these Jesus truths. Why? Because we are busy going after other gods as Moses put it. We are intent on money, and fame, and fortune, and things. And so we turn to what Paul appeared to say to the Romans:
“[We] are justified through the free gift of his grace by being redeemed in Christ Jesus who was appointed by God to sacrifice his life so as to win reconciliation through faith since, as we see it, a man is justified by faith and not by doing something the Law tells him to do.” (3:21-25.28)
So many of our believing friends love words like this, since it “lets them off the hook.” Paul appears to say that works, or DOING mean nothing, it is pure faith that saves. And we all know the types don’t we? Those who invoke God every third sentence, yet don’t ever seem to DO anything that suggests they have gotten the message. Jesus is avoided, Paul seems much easier to follow.
Yet, if read carefully, Paul only means that faith is a gift freely given. And we cannot, truthfully, work out way into heaven. Yet, he also tells us that those who have accepted their faith and really believe what has been preached, NATURALLY act it out in various good works.
And this is precisely what Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-27:
“It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?’ Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you, away from me, you evil men.”
Don’t in other words strut around the streets and church pews spouting my words, shouting your faith to the heavens. DO what the Father wants. Feed the hungry, tend to the sick, free the imprisoned, clothe the naked. DO the works of LOVE. DO, not say. DO, not judge. DO, not preach. DO, DO, DO.
It strikes me today, as Lent approaches, that doing is a better way of experiencing this most important of seasons. Doing rather than “giving up X”. What are you planning this Lenten season? What can you DO to evidence your faith and your seeking?
Love, It’s Just About Love
20 Feb 2011 6 Comments
in Bible Essays, Biblical Study, Corinthians, Faith, Fundamentalism, God, Jesus, Leviticus, Mary Magdalene, Matthew, Spiritual Growth, Theology Tags: bible essays, biblical studies, God, Jesus, Kingdom, Love, Mary Magdalene, theology
I’ve been mulling over something I read on a blog all week long. I knew I wanted to write a reply of sorts, but wasn’t sure exactly what I should say.
I’m still not sure.
But today’s readings and something else I’ve been working on, all, as God perhaps intends, come together to suggest answers, or at least a profitable way of looking at it.
I will give the quote in full:
…For most of us, our religious community seems far more important than our religious community’s theology. That is, people attend church largely to socialize with their friends and acquaintances in the congregation; somewhat less to worship their god; much less to learn about their god; and almost never to think critically about their god. Yet, many proselytizing atheists focus on critical thinking. That might be like trying to use a carpenter’s pencil to lever a house off its foundation. On the other hand, if I ever want to convert people to atheism, I’ll first hold a social.
Painful statement, yet there is truth in it. Yet, I feel no need to defend against it. Much. I’m aware of polling that suggests that atheists know more about the contents of the bible than do believers. And I have no reason to quarrel with it. Yet, I know that that should not be very comforting, to atheists, because what most atheists “know” about the bible is seen through the lens of fundamentalism. The point out all the errors, the contradictions, but they really don’t understand anything about how it was gathered together into the distinctive writings that eventually found their way into a canon. Much of their error finding is irrelevant to scholars, and explainable.
I’m a good deal less troubled by the idea that going to church is mostly a social event. You hear that a lot from atheists. But that’s not something to defend against, but rather something to embrace.
We do socialize in church, and that’s a good thing. For in that action, we enlarge our circle of “neighbor” if indeed it is not limitless to begin with. For practical reasons we only have time for so many neighbors, those to whom we are beholden to offer our help even when it is awfully inconvenient. Church socializing forms those new friendships and ties. It brings into the circle those we care for and about. It helps us to love our neighbor as ourselves. That’s a good thing.
The rest? About critical thinking arguments being wasted on the believer. Well that’s just plain mean, untrue and not worth further comment.
Today’s readings are:
Lev 19:1-2, 17-18 1Cor 3:16-23 Mt 5:38-48In Leviticus, Moses listens to God who tells him to tell the people to be holy as I am holy. You must love your neighbor as yourself.
Similarly, Paul reminds us that we are God’s temple, and that we must respect God’s temple, both ourselves and others.
Jesus speaks in Matthew and he tells us that we must not hate, we must love our neighbor, even when our neighbor is unkind, hurtful, or worse to us. We must give to whomever asks (something extreme right-wing religious might make note of as they argue that universe health care is wrong since it gives to some who are not worthy to receive).
Jesus reminds us that God makes the rain fall on the righteous and the wicked equally. Again, perhaps we might remember that before we are so quick to claim that hell awaits those whom we find evil.
But the over-riding point Jesus attempts to make is one of love. Love conquers all, hate never can. It but creates more hate, distrust, fear. All negative. All cutting against the neighbor concept.
I’m reading a wonderful book about Mary Magdalene. It draws heavily on the so-called gnostic gospels of Thomas, Mary, Peter, and the Gospel of John. It requires a lot of reading between the lines, a fair amount of reordering one’s thinking. It suggests that Jesus, along “his way” diverted from the Nazarite path, the aesthetic path he began, and ended in a more Eastern approach. More Buddhist, yet not.
His was the way of self-emptying. A concept well-known to anyone who is a believer. Paul talks of this in Philippians 2:9-16. He understood Jesus, perhaps better than did the writers of Mark, Matthew or Luke.
It’s all about kenosis, self giving. Similar to the Buddhist way, of letting be, giving up, but not, the denial of all as transitory. Rather it’s the giving all, and in that very process, receiving all, being all, being totally, wholly human.
Having never been an inerrantist, I have difficulty understanding the former fundamentalist. They accept that the bible is not inerrant, but they now have trouble seeing it as having any value. It is no longer trustworthy as conveyor of God’s “WORD.”
The bible, remains to me, (as other sacred texts do as well) as repositors of man’s highest achievement in enlightenment. We are able, as we progress, to tease out sometimes those things that point to a greater truth, one they didn’t even realize they spoke of.
Everything I read and study, helps me to see Jesus, and God more clearly. It all, to me resolves itself into love. Love was the vehicle Jesus pointed to as the means to the Kingdom. As Cynthia Bourgeault suggests, it is the vertical axis connecting ourselves to the infinite. It is what, she theorizes forever connected Mary Magdalene to Jesus in a way far superior to any of the other apostles.
She got it, and many others have followed in her footsteps and His. It’s just about love.
