A Rule of Life

I have been taking the Bible Challenge for about the last seven or eight months at the suggestion of our bishop at the time, Bp Linda Nicholls.  This is a website https://thebiblechallenge.org/ which enables you to “read” the whole bible in a year.  This is a seven day a week, fifty-two-week challenge - there is no sabbath rest in this challenge.  I put “read” in quotes because it enables you to listen to the bible passages each day rather than reading them – which I find a helpful way of taking this challenge.  This challenge is helpful for me as I am not as knowledgeable about some parts of the bible as I would like to be, and perhaps should be, given my education and experience as an Anglican priest.

I have just finished listening to the book of Ezekiel and was struck by the vision of the new temple which is recorded in that book.  This is a vision of a new temple to replace the temple in Jerusalem:

In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me there. He brought me, in visions of God, to the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. When he brought me there, a man was there, whose appearance shone like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway. The man said to me, ‘Mortal, look closely and listen attentively, and set your mind upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you; declare all that you see to the house of Israel.’ (Ezekiel 40: 1-4)

A vision like Ezekiel’s, would be significant enough and can be analyzed as you might a dream, exploring the significance of the temple and the other images which occur in it.  However, what is revealed in in the vision is a master builder’s plan for this amazing structure.  There is a hint of what is to follow with the scene that is set in this introduction.  The man whose “appearance shone like bronze” has a linen cord and a measuring reed.  What follows is an amazing picture of a structure which is given is such incredible detail.  Her is a small example of what goes on for in great detail regarding the design of the temple and the practice of worship in the temple:

 Now there was a wall all round the outside of the temple area. The length of the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length; so he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep. There were recesses, and each recess was one reed wide and one reed deep; and the space between the recesses, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end was one reed deep. (Ezekiel 40: 5-7)

Now, I am not a detailed person, rather being more comfortable with the big picture, so I find this level of detail to be rather hard to deal with.  If you are so inclined and like a visual representation, you can find the three dimensional plan of the temple on-line at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNmERZkT6JM.  This is helpful in getting a grasp of the detail provided of the vision.

There is much of what you might find significant in this vision or a any dream or vision like this.  What engaged me initially was the importance of having a detailed plan when you are considering the possibility of something new in your life.  This can be a new project you are undertaking or a new vocation or even a new way of living your life, in effect a rule of life.  For example, if you are wanting to have a deeper connection in your spiritual life, it is helpful and even necessary to work out how you are going to accomplish this.  Rather than just saying, “I want to be more (fill in the blank).”  How am I going to reach that goal, or to put it another way, what do I need to do to travel the path that will take me closer to that goal.  Many goals we might have cannot be reached once and for all.  However, we can begin that journey which will bring us closer to the goal.  If you want to have a closer relationship with the divine, what do I need to do.  Make a detailed plan on what you are going to do to follow that path e.g. what spiritual practices will you engage in.  There are many possibilities and you might want to engage more fully in the ones that you are currently doing and also try new ones to see if they can help you on your journey.   But as the dream/vision maker in Ezekiel’s vision demonstrated the more specific the better.

Now to practice what I am preaching – that is the challenge.

Blessings on whatever journey is truly yours.

Dreams, God’s Forgotten Language

Last Saturday, Lorna and I led a workshop entitles Dreams, God’s Forgotten Language at St. John’s-by-the-Lake Anglican Church in Grand Bend, Ontario.  As the title suggests the workshop is from the perspective that God speaks to us in our dreams.  We explored how, as in biblical times, God continues to speak to us through the means of our dreams.  The title of the workshop is based on a book by that title by John Sanford who is an Episcopal priest and Jungian analyst.  The workshop title is by way of the Haden Institute where I received training in leading dream groups which utilize the method and concept of dream work developed by Carl Jung.

The approach that we use recognizes that God spoke to many people in the bible through dreams in both the New and Old Testament.  I’m sure that anyone who has a basic familiarity with the bible can identify some occasions in which God spoke to people in and through their dreams.  Indeed, as Sanford notes, there are over seventy occasions in the bible in which God’s uses dreams to send messages to people or passages which refer to dreams and visions.  In the bible and in my understanding, visions are waking dreams.

Dreams come in the service of health and wholeness of the dreamer and in the language of that old Gospel hymn, they are a balm for our sin-sick souls.  However, unlike the people of biblical times, we no longer understand the language of dreams.  Carl Jung, building on the work of Freud, began to develop this language in a way that is compatible with our modern understanding of psychology.  In effect, the language of dreams is metaphor and symbol which make it a challenge for our logical minds to understand and comprehend the message which is contained in them for the dreamer.

There are many dreams which do not have a direct message from God as in many of the biblical accounts.  However, they give us information about where we are in our lives and how we can understand where God is leading us to become the people that God intends us to be.  We are all on a journey in which we may not be aware of what is our true destination or even when we have run into road blocks and have chosen the wrong route.  Dreams can help us find the right path for that journey.  There are many different ways in which can help guide us on that journey.  In my experience, dreams are one of the best ways.  Jung called that journey individuation. 

Blessings on your journey into becoming the whole person God created you to be.

Lest We Forget

Yesterday was Remembrance Day when we honour those who laid down their lives for our sakes in service to Queen and country in times of conflict.  I have the privilege of serving at Chaplain to Branch 341 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Parkhill, ON.  It was a busy day for Legion members.  We attended the Remembrance Day assembly at the North Middlesex District High School.  This undertaking is student led and it is wonderful to see the results of what must be a significant effort among all the many activities of High School life.  This was followed by the service pf Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Parkhill at 11:00 – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  It is gratifying to see the support by the community for this event – particularly the attendance by the students for the two elementary schools in town.  In the afternoon there was a service of Remembrance the Cenotaph in the smaller nearby community of Lieury. 

There was a time in my life in which I was more ambivalent about Remembrance Day and all that it represented.  I grew up in a family that did not embrace the tradition.  My father, who was someone who, I believe, viewed Remembrance Day as being focused on the militarization of our country rather than an occasion to honour those who had served and made the supreme sacrifice.  This is speculation on my part as, regrettably, I never discussed this with him.  That influenced my early attitude towards my attitude towards Remembrance Day.  However, I have come to understand that we can and must honour those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice but we must also hope and pray and work towards and world in which war is no longer seen as the answer to conflict between peoples and nations. 

I will close with the Prayer of Remembrance for Remembrance Day from the Chaplain’s Manual of the Royal Canadian Legion:

Almighty God, as You have gathered Your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give you thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storms of war into the peace of Your presence.  Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last, being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. 

Blessing on your journey.

All Hallow What?

In the last week, I was introduced to a new addition to the church calendar – All Hallowtide.  It is the marking of the three days of All Hallows’ Eve, All Hallows’ Day and All Soul’s Day.  I’m sure that makers it crystal clear for everyone.  Well actually, it probably is still like seeing through a glass darkly – to use the language from the King James Version of the bible.

Some of this is recognizable to the less that liturgically obsessed.  All Hallows’ Eve is better known as Halloween.  I hope everyone survived that occasion with more treats than tricks.  Halloween got its origins in the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.  The church, which was very good at co-opting festivals from other religions, in the 8th century Pope Gregory III declared November 1st to be the feast to celebrate all the saint of the church - All saints Day.   All Hallows’ Eve was the eve of All Saints which transmorphed in Halloween and took on many of the attributed of Samhain.  The approaching long nights of winter were dangerous days of witches, ghosts and goblins which had to be appeased by treats.

All Soul’s’ Day is the commemoration of all those who have gone before us whom we honour and owe a debt of gratitude.  One source I consulted notes that it had its origin in the Benedictine Monasteries of the 6th century which had the practice of, “a commemoration of the deceased members at Whitsuntide.” 

We have, therefore a celebration which can be considered an autumnal Triduum – I thought I would throw that little liturgical tidbit in make the glass even darker – calling on the inspiration of Leonard Cohen’s last album “You want it Darker”.  The great Leonard was someone who could be described as the prince of the bright darkness.  But I digress a little.  The Great Triduum is the liturgical name for the Feast of Easter comprising the three days from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday.  For those of you who are counting, I know this comprises four days, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday.  But it is considered by the church to be only three days going from the evening of Maundy Thursday to the Easter Vigil on Saturday.  Easter Sunday is the beginning of the Easter season in the church year. 

So, we have another Triduum – The three days of the autumnal Triduum in which we celebrate those who have gone before us and whom we owe so much and whom we can honour.  I realize that some may have little to honour in the lives of those who preceded them but all in all we are here in the world we inherited from them and like us they were flawed, imperfect people but they made us who we are, and hopefully we will work to make ourselves and the world better.   This was well stated by Br. Curtis Almquis SSJE, “The saints remind us that in the best of times and in the worst of times, life is possible and passable, and that we are not left alone. Today we remember all the saints, and they remember all of us.

 Blessings on your journey from the Autumnal Triduum to the Great Triduum.