Success

Lorna and I recently saw the movie First Reformed.  It is a movie about a struggling pastor who has to face his own demons who unfortunately doesn’t do it well.  I’m not sure I would recommend it because there are many flaws in the movie including the ending which is a cop-out.  However, there is one scene which I will refer to because it is a great example of the message behind the Gospel lesson.  In the scene the pastor is meeting with a group of teenagers at the near by Baptist Mega Church.  He is the pastor of a small struggling historic church that the Megachurch sponsors. 

One of the teenagers shares her family struggles; her father has just been laid off as the factory here he works has closed down and moved overseas.  She wonders why God has allowed this to happen because her father is a faithful Christian who attends the church and tries to live a good Christian life.  Another teenager pipes up and says he is tired of worshiping a God who does not allow His followers to succeed.  The pastor doesn’t give much of a response.  He had a great opportunity to tell that boy that Jesus did not come to give us the success as defined by the world.  His success is one in which we love one another as he loves us. 

That pastor did not help the teenager to have eyes to see who Jesus is and ears to hear the message that Jesus came to give us.  As Christians we are not called to succeed as the world defines it.  Success for us is to love one another.  Jesus comes to give us the balm in Gilead to heal our sin-sick souls and to heal the sin-sick world.

The Gospel of Mark gives and account of a man who was deaf and could not speak – he was tongue tied.  Jesus heals the man and he immediately is able to har and can speak.  We have an account of the power and the compassion of Jesus in healing a man that could not hear and consequently could not speak – he was tonged-tied.  You might imagine that the man would be singing the praises of Jesus, the miracle worker after this but Jesus does a very surprizing thing.  He charges everyone present to tell no-one. 

People who knew the man would of course be asking what was the source of this miracle. So why would Jesus have commanded that people not speak of it?  I believe that Jesus knew that people who heard the news would misunderstand what had happened.  Someone who heard about Jesus’ miracles who had not encountered Jesus would focus on the miracles performed by Jesus and not his message.  They would come to him with the misplaced hope that he would miraculously cure them of what ailed them physically.  However, Jesus came to heal them spiritually. 

That is not what Jesus was here for.  He certainly did perform many miracles.  However, they were a demonstration of what he message was not of the message itself.  They were small examples of what was going to happen.  They were signs of the kingdom which God the Father through Jesus was going to bring about on earth.

We need to take heed of the message of Jesus not to get caught up in the hope of miracles.  We need to have eyes to see and ears to hear what to true message of Jesus is.   We need to ensure that we don’t get caught in our desires for Jesus to come and give us all that we desire.  In the words of the great, tragic Janice Joplin, Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?  That is falling into the trap of hoping that we will have success as the world defines it. 

My favourite definition of humility is that the truly humble person is one who sees clearly.  That can be rather confusing.  It was for me when I first read it.  However, if we see ourselves and others clearly, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear clearly the message of Jesus.  We will see we are Children of God.  We will see that all we have comes from God and that the love of God does not depend on our success as the world defines it.  We will hear the great commandment of Jesus to love one another as he loves us and we will speak that truth to the world and not be tongue-tied.  If we do not understand that, Paul tells us, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” 

For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and their ears are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes;

so that they might not look with their eyes,

and listen with their ears,

and understand with their heart and turn—

and I would heal them.” (Matt 13:15)

Faith and Humility

Lorna and I attended the funeral of an acquaintance this week.  I hesitate to call her a friend because I did not know her that well.  However, on reflection, I believe she would have considered herself to be my friend as she was probably a friend to anyone she met.

Although we did not know Claire that well our paths crossed in a number of different ways while we have been here at our cottage.  Although you would not know it if you first met her, Claire was one of those people who made a difference.  She was part of her community in many different ways.

 I had been aware that she was Roman Catholic in faith but she did not let that be an impediment to quietly sharing her faith with everyone in the community.  One of her great gifts and loves was music and shared her talent as a singer and organist with church congregations beyond Roman Catholic ones.  Claire lived a life of service to her community in many different ways and shred that faith with people in her actions rather than her words. 

Claire died of a sudden illness but she was blessed to be able to have time to plan the music and scripture passages for her funeral which, as the priest noted, is a blessing to know what the person wanted in their service.  The service certainly had her stamp in these two areas.  The scripture passages were very appropriate to who she was and music that reflected her faith and her love of music.  The music was provided by members congregations with which Claire had shared her musical gifts.

The music, the scripture passages and the liturgy emphasized the faith which Claire lived in her life that she would share eternal life with her God and her saviour.  This must have sustained in in death as it did in life.  Claire was an example for all who knew her of faith in life and action.  

The small church, which was her parish home, was filled to overflowing with family, friends and loved ones more than filling the all available pews.  As a close friend of Claire’s noted, it was a great send off. 

Rest eternal grant her, O God, and let light perpetual shine upon her. 

Thoughts on Humility

My attention today is on the impending arrival of family at the cottage.  We have two grandchildren ages (almost) four and seven and their parents arriving later today.  There has been a flurry of activity primarily by Lorna but with my help getting the cottage and bunkie (my usual domain) ready for what will be a major shift in our routine.  Lots of high energy which has been pretty much absent from life here in recent years.  I await the arrival with baited breath and everything else that can be baited. 

My other thought this morning has been on humility.  My favourite definition of being humble is a simple one I came across many years ago.  It is, “to be truly humble is to see clearly.”  Quite simple and not simplistic but when I read it initially I did not quite see what the author was getting at.  How was being truly humble or humility seeing clearly?  What was It that was that the truly humble person was seeing clearly?

Well on reflection I began to see more clearly that what a truly humble person sees clearly is themselves; or more clearly what they see is themselves in relation to all of creation.  If anyone does that, no matter what they have been blessed with in life; talent or wealth or good looks or good fortune or ambition or energy, or what they have accomplished because of those gifts, they will be humble in the vastness and wonder of all that God has created.  They may give another name to the creator but they will realize that we are all a small part of an unimaginably great and finitely varied creation.

I came across another definition recently that expands on that original definition,” radical self awareness from a position of other-centeredness.  I believe this clarifies the idea in a way that is succinct and helpful.  The position of other-centeredness makes it clear that to be humble is to see where we belong in is relation to the world and all that is in it, people and nature in all is wonder and beauty. 

I believe that those who have made a true difference in the world are those that have had true humility.  They have been truly self-aware and were able to see their place in creation and have realized they are not the centre of the universe.  The ego naturally believes that it is the centre of the universe and strives to maintain that illusion.  The ego needs to develop a perspective from a position of other-centeredness i.e. its correct position is to serve God and not to try and have God serve the ego.  

   

I guess the connection between these two topics, grandchildren and humility, will be fully revealed as the visit unfolds.  I imagine that my ego will get the very clear example of begin other-centeredness for the next few days.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Pride and Pain

Last week I reflected on humility and noted that my favourite definition was that to be truly humble is to see clearly.  I had an interesting follow-up to that theme which began with listening to a fascinating podcast on the internet which I had heard about some time previously.  It is entitled S-Town.  The podcast itself is very engaging and I have gone on to listen to quite a few episodes (it is nice to have time to do this type of activity being at the cottage).  I began to listen to it a few weeks ago.  It is a fascinating exploration of the life of a most engaging talented individual whose life unfortunately spiraled down and ended in suicide.  If you are interested in checking it out it can be found at https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/this-american-life/stown/e/49575276

The theme song for the podcast is a haunting piece by the Zombies entitled A Rose for Emily.  I was and am fascinated by it an on exploration discovered it was based on a short story by William Faulkner.  Again, I was unfamiliar with this story.  Here are the lyrics to the song and a link to a performance of it by the Zombies:

The summer is here at last

The sky is overcast

And no one brings a rose for Emily

She watches her flowers grow

While lovers come and go

To give each other roses from her tree.

But not a rose for Emily...

Emily, can't you see (how the sun is shining again)

There's nothing you can do?

There's loving everywhere

But none for you.

Her roses are fading now

She keeps her pride somehow

That's all she has protecting her from pain

And as the years go by

She will grow old and die

The roses in her garden fade away

Not one left for her grave

Not a rose for Emily...

Emily, can't you see (how the sun is shining again)

There's nothing you can do?

There's loving everywhere

But none for you...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF55LNrHBSw

In turn I investigated the story A Rose for Emily and found it to be a sad tale of a Southern Belle in the post-civil war Reconstruction Southern United States who is unable to engage in life and, as the song say, she fades away and lives frozen in the past.  It is a true Gothic Tale with a rather gruesome ending which is not reflected in the lyrics.  The song does a wonderful job in capturing the essence of the story in a very few lines.

Now you may be asking yourself what this has to do with humility.  Well, as the song states, “She keeps her pride somehow. That's all she has protecting her from pain.”  Pride, of course is the opposite of humility.  In Emily’s case her pride kept her frozen in the past and prevented her from living life.  It is natural to feel pride in our accomplishments but as the old aphorism states pride goeth before a fall.  This is actually an adaption of the saying in Proverbs ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall’ (Proverbs 16:18). 

Pride can lead us into places which prevent us from living life as fully as possible and becoming the people that God created us to be.  One source defines it as, “excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God.”   It is one of the seven deadly sins and the extreme aspect of it is hubris, which the source notes, is the gateway through all other sin enters the mortal soul. 

Pride, as with other human characteristics can be tricky to deal with.  There is nothing wrong with taking pride in an accomplishment which you have striven for done well in.  It would be false humility to say, ‘oh it was nothing’ and dismiss it.  Just as it is would false pride to take credit for some accomplishment and maintain that it was done completely on own and not acknowledge all that enabled you to succeed.

One commentary on the Divine Comedy by Dante notes, “While the love that flows from God is pure, it can become sinful as it flows through humanity. Humans can sin by using love towards improper or malicious ends (Wrath, Envy, Pride), or using it to proper ends but with love that is either not strong enough (Sloth) or love that is too strong (lust, gluttony, greed).”  

As the song and the story tells us that pride can be a defense against pain.  That is the rub, Horatio.  It takes true humility to look at ourselves clearly see those parts of ourselves that we truly don’t want to acknowledge.  When we do that our pride will be injured.  However, take heart, it is only our false pride.

Blessings on your journey with all its twists and turns and dead ends and new beginnings.

Four Ways of Knowing

Last week I wrote about paradox and the truth that lies beneath opposites.  This week I want to explore different ways of understanding or knowing what lies at the heart of things.

How we understand the bible is a current critical issue among Christians and is behind many of the arguments and disagreements and worse that have arisen between different groups ̶ even within the same denomination such as Anglican.  The ongoing disagreement within the Anglican Communion around Same-sex marriage/blessing is at it foundation about how we understand the bible.  People on all sides of the issue can support their position by proof text i.e. taking biblical quotes that support their positions.  There are without doubt passages that give what appears to be direct support for opposing same-sex marriage. 

Those who support it can point to the idea that scripture is inspired by God but is not infallible.  They also point to context in which the scripture was written using in part the Historical Critical method which is s taught in many theological schools.  The also suggest the direction of the bible is pointing to a broader understanding of the relationships between people which is based on a different understanding of marriage which is in part based on new understanding and development of psychology.

It seems at times that the divisions which have developed are too deep to bridge and I do not want to argue either side of this argument.  Rather, I want to take a step back and look at an old way of understanding which has to a great extent been forgotten in this modern era.  Currently I have been reading, or I should day attempting, to make my way through The Figure of Beatrice by Charles Williams.  This is a wonderful exploration of the character of Beatrice in the works of Dante, especially the Divine Comedy.  It is by no means an easy read.  However, I alternate my reading with emersion in Detective Stories.  I am a late convert to this genre and have become an inveterate consumer of these stories while I am at the cottage. 

But I digress; Charles Williams writes about the four ways of in understanding employed by Dante which can be used to understand his work and especially the Comedy.  These were not unique to Dante but were in use in the late middle ages.  To quote Williams:

At the beginning of the second treatise, just before the theme of the Lady of the Window, Dante explains the four senses in which books may be understood.  They are the literal, the allegorical, the moral and the anagogical.  The first goes no further than the letter as it stands.  The second is the literal sense translated into and applied to things of the intellect, and as it were, abstract life; the third is the literal sense applied to the moral life; the fourth, the literal sense applied to what may be called the spiritual life. 

These concepts can be difficult to grasp for those of us who are not used to these different ways of understanding a concept or work.  Fortunately, Dante give an example as quoted by Williams:

He (Dante) takes the sentence: ‘When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a strange people; Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.’  He says of this: ‘If we consider the literal sense alone, the thing signified is the going out of the children of Israel from Egypt in the time of Moses; If the allegorical, our redemption through Christ; of the moral, the conversion of the soul from the grief and misery of sin to a state of the grace; if the anagogical, the passage of the sanctified soul from the bondage of corruption of this world to the liberty of everlasting glory,’

This may or may not help clarify the meaning of the example used but it shows how an example may be read in many different ways.  This does not clarify any issue to allow us to say, ‘ah, yes now I can use this to beat the other side into submission.’  Indeed, the example, could be used by either side of the same-sex marriage debate to support their position.  My purpose is not to support or oppose.  My hope is that it will show that more than one understanding can reside in the books of life and perhaps even reveal a deeper truth. 

Indeed, one of the guidelines for understanding dreams is that if you immediately think you know the meaning of a dream you are likely mistaken.  There are deeper meanings to be revealed for you when you explore it.  Indeed, there can be truth on many different levels.   In these times when divisions seem to be becoming deeper and wider, we all should take a step back and see if there is a message and a meaning which will reveal the truth beneath the surface that we perceive.  God does work in mysterious ways which are not always or often revealed to us without exploration. 

I invite you to explore the different ways in which your journey is revealing the truth to you.