A New Plan and A New Commandment

Last week I wrote about how God’s plan seemed to be much more specific and detailed in the Old Testament than the New Testament.  The instructions from God given to Moses on how to build the tabernacle were detailed down to the last jot and title.  Indeed, all the instructions in and around the law and how God was to be worshiped were extremely detailed.  However, the plan that we were given in the New Testament was, in comparison, a big picture approach which was built around the Great Commandment i.e. it all comes down to love.  That is all well and good, but how in God’s name are we supposed to manage that?  I find that to be a challenge; there are many people including me who find it a challenge to love as we are commanded despite our best efforts.

I received a comment on what I had written and I am always grateful for feedback.  I will quote the comment as I found it to be thoughtful and thought provoking, “I disagree that God is not a detail-oriented today. I think God is. God sent many prophets, gave us the law and the commandments, and then sent Jesus Christ, who established a church, filled with many saints and holy people. How much more detail do we want?”

I must agree, however, it seems that God does is working more indirectly in the New Testament and today, if I understand what the commenter is saying. Indeed, God does seem to be giving us a plan in different ways today than in the Old Testament.  That, of course, is what the new covenant in Jesus Christ is proclaiming and fulfilling.  Rather than a law which is incredibly detailed as in the Mosaic code, we have a law which can be summarized in the Great Commandment to love.  That does give us freedom.  We don’t have to worry about putting a step which is not in exact correct place.  However, with the freedom comes responsibility.  It is a responsibility which leaves a great deal up to us try and figure out what it means to love our neighbour and how we go about doing that.  Needless to say, this is not easy.  We need to discern on an ongoing basis if what we are doing is fulfilling that commandment and if not, how can we repent i.e. to turn around and get back on the correct path. 

I agree with the comment that God has also given us holy people to guide us in finding the path God intends for us.  Indeed, I recently attended a retreat which offered such help.  The retreat was offered by the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in Toronto.  It was entitled Praying With Evelyn Underhill.  Evelyn Underhill was one of those holy people who God sent us to give a guidance.  She was an Anglican mystic and spiritual guide who lived and practiced in England in the first part of the 20^th Century.

The retreat was different than many I had attended as it focussed on the practice of prayer rather than on transmitting information.  We were invited to do just what the retreat title said, to pray rather than to absorb a lot of information about Underhill and her life and teaching.  There was some of that but primarily we were to practice rather than being in what is more comfortable for me, a place where I can be in my head.  The approach which we were invited to participate in has three ways of praying which were taught by Underhill; Adoration, Communion, and Self-offering.  After a short introduction to each way we were given time to engage in that way.  Here is a brief summary of the three ways in Underhill’s words.

Adoration: “takes us out of ourselves, out of limited capacities and our own needs and emotions, sweeping us past all this to God as objective fact, as mysterious gift to us―sweeping us to a place where things of God enter the MIND.”

Communion: “The mystic is in love with God not in any idle or sentimental manner, but in the vital sense which presses at all costs through all dangers towards union with the beloved.”

Self-offering: “More is required of those who wake up to the reality than the passive adoration of God or intimate communion with God.  Those responses, great as they are, do not cover the purposes of our creation…The Church is in the world to save the world.  It is a tool of God for that purpose , not a comfortable religious club set in fine historical premises.”

On refection, the commandment of Jesus is where the rubber hits the road.  We have to come to that third step of self-offering which is the most difficult for me and probably for most people.  Most of us are not going to be able to jump to the third way without travelling the path through the first two.  However, the blessing that is offered by Evelyn Underhill and other holy and wise people is to give us a road map to follow on that journey.

Blessings on you journey.

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

Are you old enough to remember that 1970’s TV series, The A Team?  I am embarrassed to say that I remember it and even more embarrassed to admit that I did watch it a few times.  Actually a few times was all that was required because it was as formulaic as any series that has been on TV, which is saying a lot.  In any case, as I recall our intrepid team of heroes was headed by George Peppard who played John “Hannibal” Smith. The cast also included Mr. T who played one of the team members and was more memorable for his appearance than his acting, even in a cast noted for woodenness. 

I have engaged in this trip down memory lane because of one of the memorable lines from the show.  Our intrepid leader Hannibal would say in every show (indeed, it was the catchphrase), “I love it when a plan comes together.” I have been following a suggestion by my Bishop, Bp. Linda Nicholls, that every Anglican join in an exercise to read the bible in a year.  We are assisted in this through an on-line web site, The Bible Challenge https://thebiblechallenge.org/.  Now, I believe that this is an excellent suggestion because Anglicans are not generally known for their biblical knowledge and reading the bible regularly is something that can benefit every Christian.  In any case, being a dutiful priest, I am trying to follow that suggestion and have been doing so faithfully for a while.  There have been a number of passages that I had not been aware of and that have surprised me.  One that I found most interesting was the Old Testament passage for February 7^th, Exodus chapters 26 and 27.  This section of the book of Exodus goes into great detail about God’s command to Moses to built a tabernacle which would serve as a portable dwelling place for God while they were in the wilderness.

The detail that God gives to Moses in these chapters is quite amazing; for example, the passage begins with a description of the curtains which will form the dwelling:

“Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, [1] and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. 3 Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. 4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 5 Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. 6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole.

Note that God just doesn’t say make some curtains.  He gives instructions on the number, what they will be made of, their dimensions, how they will be attached and by how many loops, and so on.  This level of detail continues for all aspect of the tabernacle and all the equipment that will be used in it and all the furnishings.  God seems for this to be a very detail oriented divine being.  In this, God would agree with the immortal Hannibal Smith that it is necessary to have a plan if you are going to succeed.  God would also agree with Hannibal that God loves it when a plan comes together.

Now this is great for someone who is detail oriented.  I am not one who is accomplished at making detailed plans; I am more of a big picture person (at least that is my excuse).  However, I heartily agree that detailed plans are helpful and even necessary to being something to successful fruition.  I become rather frustrated when plans are not well thought out and are not very clear, as I am reminded whenever I try to follow an operating manual for computer software or the instructions for assembling something I have just bought.  As I have said in those times, the three most frightening words in the English language are, ‘some assembly required’. 

The point here is that God seems to be saying int his passage that here are the instructions for doing what I am commanding you to do, Moses.  And they seem to have been good instructions because, according to the account in Exodus, the tabernacle was built to the satisfaction of God; and God was not easy to satisfy in those days.  I wonder if God is any easier to satisfy today?  Perhaps we need a new set of instructions regarding how to fulfill God’s commandment.  God doesn’t seem to be as detailed oriented today as God was back in Moses’ time. 

We have been given the commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  However, we seem to be lacking a set of operating instructions how we are to do this seemingly impossible task. 

Well, perhaps God has more faith in us than we have in ourselves.  However, it hasn’t seemed to have worked out very well so far but we are called to keep trying.  Indeed, a quote by Samuel Beckett I heard this past weekend seems to apply, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better”.

God knows that we are going to fail in so many ways in our attempts to follow this commandment but we are promised forgiveness when that happens.  So, I would say keep on keeping on and love you neighbour even if he or she is not particularly lovable.  Then again, I am not particularly lovable at times either.   Perhaps we will fail better if we have a plan.  Perhaps it will actually come together. 

Blessings on your journey. 

Wash Me Throughly

The title of today’s missive is not a grammatical mistake.  It is actually a quote from the KJV of Psalm 51, “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”  The phrase came to mind when I was reflecting on the situation Lorna and I currently have regarding washing dishes. 

Our dishwasher gave up the ghost about a month ago.  My initial reaction was to get on it right away and buy a replacement.  This was somewhat out of character for me as I often don’t act proactively in getting things done.  However, I was ready and apparently willing to do so in this case.  Lorna had second thoughts about the desirability to take this action, precipitous or not.  This was in part because she was never pleased with the effectiveness of our dishwasher which we had purchased when we had the house built almost fifteen years ago.  It was a name brand (Maytag), but it never seemed to do a really good job.  We put it down to the water not being hot enough, which we had checked out, without success, or to the ineffectiveness of dishwasher soap these days for ecological reasons.  The dishes also became permanently cloudy over the years and all-in-all it was all-in-all dish-satisfying (sorry, I couldn’t resist) situation. I also can’t resist making a comment about seeing through a glass darkly. 

We had discussed the possibility of buying a new better dishwasher but hadn’t come to that dish-cision (the last one, I promise).  In any case, we decided (actually Lorna made the decision and I agreed as I wisely often do for the sake of marital bliss), that we would wash dishes the old-fashioned way for a while.  We have always (for five years) done this at the cottage because we do not have a dishwasher there (again, Lorna’s decision).  In any case it has turned out that it was the right decision (as Lorna’s often are) for a number of reasons.

First, it doesn’t take that long to ‘do’ the dishes for the two of us―about fifteen minutes once a day, usually after the evening meal.  Second, the results are much better and they are “throughly” clean.  Third, Lorna has always enjoyed the act of washing dishes (one of her interesting character traits) and I am quite happy to dry them so that works out well.  And last, and probably most important, we have some interesting discussions during this “quality” time together.  All in all, it is a very congenial and positive experience.  

The only downside that I have been able to come up with to date is that the dirty dishes do sit on the kitchen counter during the day.  However, this is not a big draw back for me as I am generally not bothered by a bit of clutter (as Lorna can attest whenever she passes my office). 

In any case, it raises the question about modern conveniences and what we have gained and what we have lost with their development.  It is a question I can consider “throughly” another time.

Blessings on your journey.

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