Sometimes Having it Darker Brings Light

The Gospel passage for this coming Sunday has a phrase which is well known by anyone who has a Christian background as well as many who don’t; ‘Physician heal thyself’.  This is the phrase in the King James Version (KJV) of the bible.  Unfortunately, the version of the bible which is used in my corner of Christianity, as well as many others, The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), has translated it ‘doctor cure yourself’.  Now, I was taught when studying theology that the NRSV is a ‘better’ translation of the original Hebrew and Greek than the KJV and perhaps it is a more accurate rendering of the original languages in English.  However, that does not mean it is ‘better’ in every sense.

To my ear and eye, ‘doctor cure yourself’ just doesn’t have the same resonance as ‘physician heal thyself’ (or even yourself).  Both physician and doctor have essentially the same meaning in the context of the passage.  We can argue about the difference between cure and heal but the overall effect of the KJV is one that resonates with people and is very clear in its meaning.

Another example which comes to mind is the beautiful phrase, ‘through a glass darkly’.  The whole phrase in context is, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (I Corinthians 13:12).  Regrettably, it is translated in the NRSV, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly.”  Again, it is, I am sure, a more accurate translation but it loses so of the beauty and impact, the poetry of the passage.  Indeed, seeing through a glass darkly ironically shines a light on the phrase. 

My complaint is not that language changes and is made perhaps easier in some ways to comprehend.  Rather, my complaint is that it is in danger of being left without life and is no longer life giving.  An example of a modern retelling of the Lord’s Prayer is an example of how modern language can keep the impact and perhaps even enhance the effect of what is being said.  This is the new version of the Lord’s Prayer which from the Anglican Church of New Zealand prayer Book:

Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and for ever. Amen.

There is poetry and consequently impact in this language.  Admittedly this can lead to some confusion until the new language becomes more familiar.  While I was studying theology, our class attended a conference.  One of my classmates was helping to lead worship during the conference and was supposed to lead the assembly in the Lord’s Prayer.  The New Zealand version was printed in the service bulletin and she led the assembly in that prayer but did not realize it was the Lord’s Prayer and so, being dutiful, she led us in the more traditional version in our prayer book.  I am sure she did not make that misstep again and the new version became indelibly etched in her memory, as it has been in mine as a result of that occasion and other tomes when it has been sued in worship quite effectively.

I will close with a quote from Richard Rohr, “Metaphors give us access to the transformative power of God (Bruggeman).  Metaphor/poetry opens us to more possibilities of God and God’s action”.  This is needed now more than ever.

Blessings on your journey.

The Great Comma and the Great Commandment

Last time I wrote about love being more important that doctrine.  If that is the case what do we do about the creed(s)―the statements of faith that are supposed be a foundational statement of belief that all Christians hold.  It is one of the parts of the worship service that most Christian denominations include.  Indeed, those that do are considered to be credal Christians.  The Anglican Church of Canada has both the Nicene Creed and Apostles’ Creed in the Book of Alternative Services.

The creeds are statements of what Christians are supposed to believe about God and Jesus.  However, as has been pointed out by Richard Rohr (who has become my go to guy on things theological and religious), they leave out what Jesus did in his public ministry which is primarily what the Gospels speak about; his miracles and parables and other important things in his life.  Rohr states:

If you worship in one of the liturgical Christian traditions, you probably know the opening words of the Apostles’ Creed by heart:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell;. .

But have you ever noticed the huge leap the creed makes between “born of the Virgin Mary” and “suffered under Pontius Pilate”? A single comma connects the two statements, and falling into that yawning gap, as if it were a mere detail, is everything Jesus said and did between his birth and his death! 

In Christian theology we have the Great Commandment, "you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  The Great Commandment, therefore, is an important part of what is represented by the Great Comma. IT is through Jesus life that we are shown the Way to live; it is love in action. 

If love is more important than doctrine i.e. belief, then Jesus life, is what we should be paying attention to as a model of how we should love one another.  I must be honest and confess that I am somewhat ambivalent about the creeds and having people recite them in our worship services.  Our prayer book does make it optional with the instruction that the celebrant may (my emphasis) invite the congregation to recite it.  On the one hand, it is foundational and states the things that all Christians are supposed to believe in, including the virgin birth and the (bodily) resurrection.  However, the creed can be a stumbling block to those who have trouble with these and other statements of faith.  Personally, I can reconcile the statements in the creeds with what I believe and statements such as the virgin birth mean what I intend them to mean; to take the lead from Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland, “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”

That being said I do not believe that the creed should be an impediment for people being part of a Christian community.  Jesus certainly had short shrift for impediments and stumbling blocks, “It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble”.

That does not mean that I agree that Christian clergy should believe anything and everything including being atheists as in the case of Gretta Vosper who has been confirmed as a United Church of Canada minister and who is a self declared atheist―but that is for another discussion. 

So, you can see from this the mine-field, or perhaps I should say mind-field, doctrine can lead us into.  In conclusion, I believe (that is creedal language) that we should focus on the Great Comma and the Great Commandment rather than the Creeds, as important as they are. 

Blessings on your journey

Love is More Important Than Doctrine

A few weeks ago, I read something which resonated with me.  It was the statement (unfortunately I can’t remember the source), “love is more important than doctrine.”

Reflecting on this statement, I believe that it captured the essence of the Christian message, at least the message of Jesus Christ.  When he was asked what is the greatest commandment, his reply was all about love:

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” ³¹The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ (Mark 12:30-31)

So, if that is the Great Commandment, why do Christians pay more attention to doctrine than the commandment of our Lord and saviour?  On reflection I think that it is because doctrine is easier to get our heads around and actually follow than it is for us to actually love God and consequently to love our neighbours.  Make no mistake about it, this idea (commandment) of Jesus is truly radical.  Richard Rohr noted this recently in one of his daily meditations:

Of the many radical things said and done by Jesus, his unflinching emphasis on love was the most radical of all. Love was the greatest commandment . . . his prime directive—love for God, for self, for neighbor, for stranger, for alien, for outsider, for outcast, and even for enemy, as he himself modeled. The new commandment of love [John 13:34] meant that neither beliefs nor words, neither taboos, systems, structures nor the labels that enshrined them mattered most. Love decentered everything else; love relativized everything else; love took priority over everything else—everything. (Richard Rohr January 3, 2019)

I noted above that it is easier to follow doctrine than to love.  I do believe that is true; it may be easier but has certainly led to a great deal of trouble in the Christian church(es) in the past two thousand years.  That is probably true of most, if not all, religions―but not being a religious scholar, I can’t state that as a fact.  In modern times the Anglican church certainly has spent a lot of time and energy on points of doctrine.  The most recent one is the doctrine of marriage and should be marriage canon be amended to include/permit marriage of same-sex couples.  This issue is important to many people, including me.  So, the reality is that even though love is more important; indeed, the most important thing, we are not going to avoid arguments, and worse, over doctrine.

The best approach, if not the way out of this quandary was put forward by the Primate (head) of the Anglican Church of Canada, Fred Hiltz in a sermon he preached on the proposed changes to the marriage canon of our church, stated that the way forward in what seems like an impossible divide was to disagree in love.  This, I believe, captures the essence of the idea that love is stronger than doctrine.  The most important thing is to continue in loving relationships even when you disagree on things that matter deeply to you.  If we can understand that staying in a living relationship is more important than agreeing on doctrine, we will be following the Great Commandment of Jesus. 

This, of course, is not easy, but who ever said following Jesus Christ would be easy?  I know, I know, some of you are probably going to quote Jesus back at me, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  I have struggled with that one over the years and still am trying to resolve that with my struggle to follow him.  However, I do know in my heart that love is more important than doctrine.

Blessings on you journey.

Engaging Scripture

Happy New Year and Happy Epiphany.

Lorna and I were on a retreat over Christmas from December 23^rd to 26^th.  This was a first for me and also for Lorna.  The retreat was held at the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in Toronto, which is an Anglican order (yes there are Anglican monastic orders).  The subject of the retreat was a Christmas theme, Images of the Nativity.  It was led by one of the members of the order, Sister Constance (Connie)It used the method of Lectio Divina and Visio Divina.  I was aware of Lectio Divina as a spiritual practice; this means divine reading (things do always sound more mysterious and esoteric when you use Latin).  It is a method of engaging a text (scripture or other writings) to go more deeply into it and explore how it speaks to you.  I was not aware of Visio Divina.  However, it uses the same technique to explore images i.e. pictures and icons rather than text. 

As I noted, in the retreat we used a method which combined both approaches.  We took a scripture passage related to the nativity and explored it using the Lectio Divina method as a group (also a first for me).  Then we engaged with an image which had that narrative as its subject.  For instance, staying with Epiphany which we celebrated yesterday, we engaged with the account of the visit of the magi in Matthew and then engaged with a painting of the event.

There are the steps we followed in both taken from the material provided in the retreat:

Lectio Divina

First step:            Read or listen to the scripture “with an ear of your heart” as Benedict would say.

Second Step:      Meditate – notice what you hear or read, what words or phrases or images jump out at you, and consider their meaning.

Third Step:          Pray – speak to God about your response to the scripture; ask what God desires of you – or desires to show you in the scripture; listen for any words from God, or feelings that may speak of what God is drawing you towards or away from.

Fourth Step:       Rest in God’s presence, perhaps aware of the scripture you have read/heard but not evaluating or thinking about it.

Visio Divina

First Step:            Gaze -  look slowly, over a period of time “with the eye of the heart”

Second Step:      Meditate – notice what you see; write it down in your journal without putting an interpretation on it.

Third Step:          Pray – Speak to God about what you have seen and its meaning for you – or draw you response to the painting, asking God to reveal what God desires you to see.

Fourth Step:       Rest in God’s presence looking at the painting momentarily but inwardly gazing on God.

Here are the scripture passage and the image which we engaged with in the retreat.

Matthew 2:1-12 The Visit of the Wise Men

2In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men* from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising,* and have come to pay him homage.’ 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah* was to be born. 5They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
6 “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
   who is to shepherd* my people Israel.” ’

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men* and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising,* until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped,* they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

                                               James Tissot, Journey of the Magi ca. 1894