Thomas Merton & Chuang Tzu (2)

 "Personalism and individualism must not be confused. Personalism gives priority to the person and not the individual self. To give priority to the person means respecting the unique and inalienable value of the other person, as well as one's own, for a respect that is centered only on one's individual self to the exclusion of others proves itself to be fraudulent." (The Way..., p. 17)

I hope, in my life and work, to cultivate a culture of personalism with those I am given to know. It is a big ask, work for a lifetime (and then some!), and strongly counter to the prevailing forces of our time, magnified as they are by (anti-)social media.

1. Fearful conformism

If it really comes down to “me vs. everyone else”, then the two prevailing options that have manifested themselves so robustly really are the fruit of this tree - individualism. The first, selfishness, is the driving force of our [By “our” I refer to contemporary America. Yes, it is a gross generalisation. But it is also plainly present and “infects” a wide swath of our society.] politics, our economics, our religious practice, our foreign policy, our cult of “celebrity”, our willingness to embrace all kinds of contrary-to-fact ideas because they appeal to the self as singular and unique, worthy of indulgence and adoration.

The second, fearful conformism, is a particular problem among the young. Seeking a stable identity, they latch onto what their peers have collectively come to proclaim is the “good of the day” with as much fundamentalism as they ascribe to and denounce in their elders.

It is ironic, then, that at the heart of this individualism lies such a corrosive collectivity. We are angry and resentful because we have been influenced or told to be so by the angry and resentful social environment we immerse ourselves in.

The culture mirrors the politics which mirrors the culture. It is so very ugly, poisonous, and dehumanising. And then we think that pursuing artificial intelligence and genetic manipulation to create “better” (And no one is thinking this through, either. Where are the social philosophers and ethicists to think deeply and debate the nature of this “improvement”?) versions of ourselves either biologically or virtually is going to solve anything. It is indeed fraudulent.

A part of the cure doubtless involves a (re-)embrace of personalism. A few year ago, I read a book by Susanne Antonetta titled “A Mind Apart: Travels in a Neurodiverse World”. She has bipolar disorder and is friendly with a group of folks who have various mental health issues. She worries, as do I, that something unique and valuable will be lost to the world if medical science and treatments are eventually able to eradicate any such phenomena before they have a chance to appear in people.

    “Anyway, I have bipolar disorder and have to tolerate lots of odd, unruly things happening in my head....But with the challenges come the gifts. And the sense, often raised by my correspondents, that the word cure is the wrong word, and that we must begin to respect the mental processes of the individual, think in terms of helping to get the gifts to emerge while the challenges become as manageable as they can. We need to develop new terms of value and of tolerance, especially as medical work in the alteration of the gene makes possible the eradication of our kind.” (Antonetta, A Mind Apart, pp. 3, 9)

In like manner, there are over 6000 extant languages spoken on earth today. A statistic posted on NationalGeographic.com says that one language “dies” every 14 days. And with it, something of the culture, the history, the way of perceiving things, dies with it. That is a great tragedy.

I was going to continue on with two other subheadings: “the tyranny of the immediate” and “the abjuration of responsibility” both of which are symptoms of the above discussion and are exacerbated by our uncritical embrace of social “networking”, but I think I'll stop here with a simple clarion call to embrace a life of personalism, to reject the “vanilla-isation” (though I don't accept the pejorative of “vanilla” as a synonym for plain, basic, or uninteresting as I think it has a marvelous aroma and flavour...but I digress) of discourse, of humanity and to embrace the authenticity of those who don't fit in. Please don't try to advise or, God forbid(!), “fix” us. Just be okay with our existence and know that we are doing our best with what we have to work with and we would wish the same for you.

Thomas Merton & Chuang Tzu (1)

By way of preface to my ongoing remarks in this series, this is in no way any sort of “formal” engagement with Merton's text. Rather is it my engagement with some of the “nuggets” found in the text itself in a way that may only tangentially relate to the wider context in which they are given. This is, rather, some of the operative “background noise” present when I read the text.

[Sidenote: As has become apparent, I will owe a significant debt to the writing of Fr. Stephen Freeman here. His work, both on his blog “Glory to God for all things” and in his book “Everwhere Present”, has had a significant impact on my thinking and helped to clarify certain theological “issues” in a way that is both intellectually cogent and emotionally satisfactory.]

And so we begin...

"The fashion of Zen in certain western circles fits into the rather confused pattern of spiritual revolution and renewal. It represents a certain understandable dissatisfaction with conventional spiritual patterns and with ethical and religious formalism. It is a symptom of western man's desperate need to recover spontaneity and depth in a world which his technological skill has made rigid, artificial, and spiritually void. But in its association with the need to recover authentic sense experience, western Zen has become identified with a spirit of improvisation and experimentation-with a sort of moral anarchy that forgets how much tough discipline and what severe traditional mores are presupposed by the Zen of China and Japan." (The Way..., p. 16)

1. Dissatisfaction

I live with this daily. Some of it comes from within myself, much of it from outside. But it will not do to simply rehash a set of grievances after the manner of social media. Rather does it become a question of discerning what I can change or manage (very few things and in a very limited manner) and what I cannot (most things and all people). That is the reality of being human, of being finite, necessarily limited. Look, after all, at the destruction that is wrought by our limited power. Imagine if we had more, and that that "more" was not just a product of our delusion but a fact. Thank God for our limitedness.

"If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness." (2 Cor. 11:30 _ NASB)

Fr. Stephen Freeman, a veritable gold mine of quotable material, says this in an article titled The Power in Thought – It's Not What You Think: "The simple fact is that we do not know how to manage the world. We do not know what constitutes a good outcome. We do not have the knowledge to see the future, to understand and comprehend the collateral damage of our management. The only guarantee of the outcome of history (and our lives) is the goodwill of God....In the words of St. Maximus the Confessor: He who understands the mystery of the Cross and the Tomb knows the meaning of all things." (blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/ 2018/04/16/the-power-in-thought-its-not-what-you-think/)

2. The Technological void

The advent of computer technology and digitisation has made information more widely and readily available than ever. If I need something for academic research or teaching purposes, I no longer have to trek to the library, sort through the card catalogue, speak with the reference desk, and search through a book or periodical for what I need. It is all available through my computer and/or "smart" phone in the comfort of my home. In fact, such a routine as I describe, well within my own living memory and experience (and I'm not that old!) seems almost unthinkably quaint and inefficient.

And perhaps it is inefficient. But at what cost have we traded inefficiency for perpetual availability? The student has a myriad of distractions constantly at his or her fingertips. The office worker is always just a text message away. There is no longer a sense of the "end" of the workday. And there has been a "flattening" of the discernment of what is true, what is genuinely contributive to knowledge and experience, and what is merely a load of tosh generated by the emotive "wisdom" of the collective. Do we really now need Youtube and discussion fora to tell us what to think and how to react to our lived experience? Can we not even use the bathroom or walk down the sidewalk to the grocery store without the crutch of the smartphone?

There is currently no sign of stopping such "progress" either. Our humanity will continue to be degraded (it is an ontological crisis, which requires an ontological solution), we will attempt to incorporate ourselves further and further into our virtual "idols" and to anesthetise the institutional chaos, which we have created, with money, prescription drugs, wars, greed, useless politicking. 

God save us from ourselves!

Again, from Fr. Stephen: "Christ is far more than a good man who set an example, and more than a victim of social wrong-doing. The Christian story is far richer. The nature of sin is death, not mere social oppression. Death reigns over us and holds us in bondage to its movement away from God. It certainly manifests itself in various forms of evil-doing. But it also has a cosmic sway in the movement of all things towards death, destruction, and decay. Our problem is not our morality: it is ontological, rooted in our alienation from being, truth, and beauty – from God Himself. Broken communion leads to death. Immorality, in all its forms, is but a symptom." (blogs.ancientfaith.com/ glory2godforallthings/2020/11/15/the-gospel-of-progress-and-the-new-jerusalem/)

3. Authentic sense experience and self-discipline

Yes, I realise the great irony (in light of the foregoing) that I have conceived and posted these words with an electronic device on a digital medium. But these are simply convenient tools for me. When I have finished I will sip my tea, pick up a good book, and later take a walk in a park. Technology can be useful, but it can also be destructive and manipulative (which is what its creators are counting on – how else can they get you to believe that you need a new phone every year and that you should gladly pay $1000 for it!).

So I am advocating here for a renewal of sensory experience, a greater appreciation of the real world (there is nothing like the smell of fresh flowers, the feeling of the sun's warmth, the sights and sounds of the beach, a nice glass of wine and a good conversation with a friend about meaningful things), and a re-engagement with our humanity. This will take some conscientious practice. And then, when the virtual world collapses in on itself, you won't be so caught off guard and realise that life goes on without your ipad! To that end, I also recommend “Culture Care” by Makoto Fujimura.

Still alive...

Due to the press of business, posting here has been rather sparse for a while. In fact, traffic to this blog has always been minimal. I suppose that is the result when it isn't widely known, the topics are/have been rather esoteric, and the author is himself rather eccentric(?). But I find that processing through writing and editing helps to clarify my thoughts so if this is only helpful for me, so be it. 

By way of renewal then, I have begun reading Thomas Merton's (another eccentric, not always understood or valued by the ecclesiastical establishment - I have always been drawn to such people, they are after my own heart) The Way of Chuang Tzu and shall offer commentary on both Merton's introduction as well as the poetry in the book (that he has translated from other translations). I offer here Merton's own justification for my interest in his work: "I simply like Chuang Tzu because he is what he is and I feel no need to justify this liking to myself or to anyone else. He is far too great to need any apologies from me. If St. Augustine could read Plotinus, if St. Thomas could read Aristotle and Averroes (both of them certainly a long way further from Christianity than Chuang Tzu ever was!), and if Teilhard de Chardin could make copious use of Marx and Engels in his synthesis, I think I may be pardoned for consorting with a Chinese recluse who shares the climate and peace of my own kind of solitude, and who is my own kind of person." (The Way..., pp. 10-11) 

My next post will begin the dive into the Introduction. Stay tuned...

It's a sabbath...like it or not

Gen. 2:2-3"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made."

Here in April of the year 2020, a great portion of the planet is under some type of quarantine due to the outbreak of what has been called the coronavirus. While it is not as deadly as some other pestilences that have occurred throughout human history, it is certainly very contagious and, hence, some otherwise extreme precautions have been called for and, indeed, sensibly mandated.

Among the great hallmarks of contemporary economic theory and practice in the developed world is the two-fold principle of 'produce and consume at all costs'. Some of the progeny of this relentless system include targeted advertising to our personal communication devices that we keep powered on most of the time in order to keep up to date with information (God forbid that we 'miss out on something' - thus feeding into the narrative that we have an overriding imperative to consume, be it information or durable goods and investments), an increasing lack of well-defined boundaries between work and personal life, and few reliable social security structures to fall back on in case of illness, injury, or economic downturn that prevents being able to work. The system thus forces those, especially among the poor and not-well-connected, to continue to eek out a subsistence living while sick themselves and potentially contaminating a large swath of other people with whatever ailment they are carrying. Such a situation is not ultimately sustainable and, whether by virtue of concerted public action or uncontrollable compulsion, will be interrupted.

And now it has been. So it seems that we have, for a time, a situation that requires of us the impetus to stop and take stock of what it is we have been living like/for. And that is no bad thing. And it is not my purpose here to dive into economic or political theory. Rather, I am interested in how we as individuals and as Christian believers can respond to this circumstance that we find ourselves in, and that not by choice.

Our society, in many of its younger constituent members (and, yes, this is a generalisation, but anectodal evidence is strong in its favour) has become completely enthralled to the fast pace of technology and that has affected not only how they see themselves, but in the works and reactions they produce. In other words, our consumption has a profound impact on who we are, how we see ourselves, and how we relate to our fellows. Indeed, it has 'consumed' us. Movies and television shows have become much more 'intense' (and loud), there is a great impatience for the 'next big thing' to be developed and to discard that which it replaces, there is a serious increase in attention deficit disorders in young students and twenty somethings to the point that sitting still and being alone with one's thoughts is an almost unthinkable exercise. Our culture has become obnoxious, rude, loud, overstimulated, and ill-considered. The present virus has taken some of the teeth out of this monster that has been self-generating for some decades now. And that is a good thing.

For a significant minority among us have a hard time interacting with, let alone understanding or desiring to participate in, the frenetic pace that has arisen. We would prefer a nice cup of coffee or tea, a good book, a long walk, a meaningful conversation with a close friend, and/or some time to recover after having been to work/school/running errands that exhaust us. We may be used to feeling closed off from the great crush of humanity, able to fend for ourselves, not mind being alone with the thoughts that rumble through our own head-space, become resilient enough by the training of our nature/mental condition to not panic when something serious occurs that requires our adaptation to circumstance beyond our immediate control. That has been our whole life. It is a blessing, especially now, that may not have felt like one during the many long years of our trying to come to terms with ourselves.

It is now up to the majority to try and cope without some of the innate tools that we might possess. Thus, they will need patience and compassion as they struggle with the discomfort of being not-themselves. A sabbath is here, at the end of our man-made works, whether we like it or not.

Ex. 20:8-11 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."

There are at least a couple of significant things to notice here in this passage from Exodus. The first is that we, who are made in the image and likeness of God, are called to imitate Him in the conclusion of His creative acts. After the six days of creation, He stops to bless what He has done. And we can do the same thing by being more mindful of what we do and how we do it. Whether it is our work, our prayer, our interactions with family/friends/strangers (especially on the internet!), a certain casual unawareness has crept into our social discourse that allows us to keep people at a distance, comment on (read "disapprove of") some aspect of theirs and feel justified in doing so. Rather are we called to bless and to be a blessing to others. And it can be done, even if we disagree, even if the other party is objectively "wrong", and in those times when the wisdom of the Spirit calls us to say nothing at all. Then will we be able to stop and and to see the blessing in what we have done or avoided, which becomes another barometer for reading the condition of our own hearts and to understand more clearly what sort of conversion we are being called to at this particular time.

The other thing, which ties into the first point, is that "the stranger that is within thy gates" is also specified as being included in this sabbath keeping. It is a call to be both kind and generous to those in our midst, especially if they are hard to be kind to. You may be the agent of change God has called to help them become whole through your example and prayer. It is a fearful thing to obstruct the good purpose of the good God and try to replace it with our own sins and failures. A sabbath is here, at the end of our man-made works, whether we like it or not.

Mark 2:27 "And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."

In like manner after the Scribes and Pharisees who have, up to this point in St. Mark's Gospel, accused Jesus of forgiving someone's sins, not fasting, and breaking the sabbath, so their modern analogues in the secular world seek to shame people into altering their behaviour by criticising those who leave their homes (without knowledge or consideration of the circumstances involved) and those who have no homes (for not being in one! and for which all sorts of things are blamed but one of the  principle causes, the vagaries of the unrestrained free market which capitalises & commodifies everything in its wake and leaves those behind who cannot afford to invest in its "liberties".) It seems that the "professionally irritated" are among us in force as they were in the 1^st century. We can, however, be thankful that the modern day Reddit warrior has not, for the most part, set his sights on religious practice. Back then, someone was healed of a physical disability, a group of people - as likely as not alienated from the religious establishment of the day - have found someone who will accept them and lead them, hungry folks found a legitimate source of food. Today, people put themselves at risk to care for the needy. Are those really such bad things? Are they worthy of complaint?

It's a matter of priorities. If even the great David himself knows that the Torah is meant for his benefit, not to constrain him, how much ought we to be encouraged by his example and to take after it. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." (Matt. 5:17) In light of this, there is no good reason for the Scribes and Pharisees to be unsettled by Jesus or for us to be unsettled by the Coronavirus.

Jesus here shows us how to read and interpret the Scriptures properly. He, as the Incarnate Word, is the definitive reference point for all that has been written and that which is to come. The heart of the Gospels is the account of the passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus. Everything else about the narratives flows out from that. The same is true for the whole of the Biblical narrative. The Gospels themselves are the heart. The Epistles, Wisdom literature, Prophets, and Law are concentric circles surrounding the Gospels. The two outermost rings, Genesis and Revelation, the 'book ends' if you will, describe for us the relevant beginning and end of salvation history. And if these latter two seem confusing, filled with bizarre imagery and things that cannot be taken literally, well...think about what they are attempting to communicate: the life and creative power of the Omnipotent God and the response of His beloved creation to His own greatness. No small task, that.

And so, as we continue to live out our days and contemplate our existence and perhaps what sort of changes to our own lives we need to continue after the pandemic runs its course, it is critical that we keep in the forefront of our minds what our Christian profession entails. It is not the keeping of a specific liturgy, the right to assemble together in a public place, or reminding other people of their faults and shortcomings (chances are as likely as not they're already aware of those without your intervention). Rather it is believing in the Lord Jesus, holding the right faith according to the Creeds, allowing the Word of God to constantly take deeper root within our hearts, a consciousness that we are a communion of believers (even in the midst of separation) which both embraces and transcends the physical reality, and a living faith in the reality of the Resurrection, during busy seasons and during times of rest, whether chosen or enforced. A sabbath is here, at the end of our man-made works, whether we like it or not.

Trinity XXV

Daniel 3:8-30       Matthew 24:23-31

 

<><   <><   <><

 

Now that we are approaching the end of the Ecclesiastical as well as the secular year, the Scripture lessons in the lectionary focus, appropriately enough, on eschatological themes. Today we are being warned to redouble our faithfulness in the face of both a coercive civil power as well as the idolatry of false religion that has at its base not Christ, but the ego.

If you would once again follow me back in time, the original 1928 Daily Office lectionary indicates most of the third chapter of Daniel as the first lesson for Morning Prayer on this day, wherein is recounted the casting of the three Hebrew men into Nebuchadnezzer's furnace for refusing to bow down before an image he had set up, to wit:

"Then Nebuchadnezzer in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abéd-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzer spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abéd-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?...[I]f ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" (Dan. 3:13-14, 15b)

 

And I'm sure you know the rest of the story. The furnace was so hot that those charged with casting the king's victims into it and standing watch were themselves consumed by the flames, yet the three young men were unharmed. Nebuchadnezzer was so impressed that he released them and, in a great act of completely missing the point, now commanded the death and destruction of any who spoke ill of the God they worship.
 

And therein lies our own word of warning. For the first three hundred years of its existence, Christianity was an illegal movement persecuted by the civil authorities. Not only did it survive under such circumstances, it flourished after the pattern of Christ Himself who tells us in John 12:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." My friends, that is the 'natural' state of Christ's Church here on earth. I would suggest that what we have become so accustomed to seeing from a now centuries-long perspective, Church and State living peaceably side by side if not outright assuming each other's duties and obligations, is not the proper environment in which the Gospel can grow and prosper unaltered. What is in fact 'upside down' we have accepted as 'right-side up' because that is what we have been told (with varying degrees of insistence) and is the draught we have imbibed. It is far too early to tell, but perhaps things are now changing and Christianity will no longer effectively be an arm of the state. Many people are afraid of this. Well, let me be the positive contrarian and tell you that what can be a source of anxiety and panic is actually cause for rejoicing and greater hope. At this juncture in western history, Christendom (that symphonic and symbiotic relationship of Church and empire) has played itself out. And frankly, if I may say so, not a moment too soon! As we read in Psalm 146:3 "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." For they, like Nebuchadnezzer, will turn on you in a moment's notice and all the transitory money, power and influence that they can offer will still not be able to save you. "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God." (vs. 4)
 

"[I]f any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not." (Matt. 24:23) Joel Osteen would tell me that Christ is found in positive thinking and prosperity. I don't believe him. Dr. Creflo Dollar would tell me that Christ is found in possessing a great fortune. I don't believe that either. Arianism and Islam would tell me that Christ is simply a great creature (and, thus, incapable of making Atonement without a greater-than-he, external assistance). If the Church's teaching of the Scriptures is true, that simply cannot be the case. The former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church would tell me that Christ is found in the Millennium Development Goals of the U.N. They, of their very nature, lack the ability proclaim that Christ is risen. The great Christian empires, democracies and other secular governments have desired to tell me that Christ is present in absolute agreement with politics and constitutions, bureaucracy and legal compulsion, campaigns and backroom deal making. If a tree is known by its fruits, I don't believe that either. For what all of these contrivances give freely with one hand, they will eventually take away with the other after the fashion of Nebuchadnezzer himself. This is the fatal logic of the zero-sum game, of fear incarnate through threat of scarcity, of covetousness and the passion of desire that has marred our theological history from the beginning with the murder of Abel by his own brother Cain – a great sorrow that did not have to be so. In the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his book "Not in God's Name: Confronting Religious Violence", "God may choose, but God does not reject. The logic of scarcity- of alpha males and chosen sons – has no place in a world made by a God whose 'tender mercies are on all his works' (Ps. 145:9)."
 

One of my all-time favourite quotes from Fr. Stephen Freeman has to be: "The Kingdom of God has come whether we like it or not." And, if we're being honest, a lot of us don't like it because we cannot control its parameters and force it into the blindness of a singular lens, try as we might! The Kingdom of God is not synonymous with politics, economics, the 'successful' life of quiet desperation that so many people 'achieve' in the modern world, nor even with the heaven imagined by those who still dwell in the two-storey universe where we do our thing 'down here' and God is watching 'up there' where we will eventually get to after the terms of our contract expire, sufficient effort has been expended, or our anxiety has propelled us. That is all wretched, meaningless nonsense. And here, in the words of Dostoevsky's 'underground man' is where it can all go: "Because I only talk a good game, I only dream in my head, but do you know what I want in reality? That [it] all go to hell, that's what! I want peace. I'd sell the whole world for a kopeck this minute, just not to be bothered. Shall the world go to hell, or shall I not have my tea? I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea." (from "Notes from Underground") But, unlike the 'underground man' whose intent was to write off his fellow persons among whom he was not able to find his place, we are called by our Lord in similarly strong words to that single-mindedness of which He is both Author and Exemplar: "And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead." (Matt. 8:21-22) This is not a rejection, but a fulfilling in which all are invited to partake.
 

If it is found neither in empires nor in bureaucracies, neither in the practice and belief of much that is contemporary calling itself 'religion', do you wish to see the Kingdom of God as it actually is? Then you will find it right here during these numinous moments in the midst of the liturgy, you will find it in the persons of the poor and disadvantaged who still gladly give what they can and pray with thanksgiving, you will find it in your own heart when you freely love those who are become your enemy through their fault or yours. Mostly, though, you will find it not in the life of competition for position and anxiety over having 'enough' (of whatever it is you have been told to pursue), in the shame of comparing ourselves to others and bargaining for the merest scraps of information and recognition (looking at you social media!) That is the offspring of this modern society (and many others throughout history). But rather that Kingdom is to be found in the life of grace freely given through our baptism and continuous conversion to the Lord Jesus, in Whom alone is salvation and eternal life.
 

So, there is good news here. There is occasion and opportunity that has never existed here in the two centuries since the creation of this country.  Following the Lord Jesus will no longer automatically gain you advantage and preferment. But that's okay, for the two great principles are always true and present: Christ is risen and the Kingdom of God is come among us. Nothing else really matters. So it is quite right to pay the circumstances of our existence in the world no mind whatsoever. As we are instructed in 1 Cor. 2:6, "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought." And, we can also take courage that Jesus counsels us in John 21 against needless worry, comparison, and false choices (as if there were a scarcity of Divine love to go around) and shows us instead what we ought to be about: "Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me." (vs. 20-22)

Transfiguration

"For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

(2 Peter 1:17)

The Christian manifestation of God's glory begins its full fruition at Christ's baptism. As the Holy Ghost descends upon Him, we hear the voice of the Father declare: “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mk. 1:11) The three occurrences, or theophanies if you will, of this utterance all come at the most significant moments in Jesus’ ministry on earth and thus are not just "wow moments" chosen at random. They point to the three traditional roles ascribed to Him of prophet, king and priest. He is a prophet because He comes to tell us of the things of God through His preaching and healing ministry begun at the river Jordan. He is king because He is thesecond Person of the Blessed Trinity reigning forever in Heaven, manifested so dramatically on Mt. Tabor. He is a priest because He offers the one liturgical oblation, to which all the blood offerings of the Old Testament rites pointed, of Himself on the Cross.  Seeing their connexion, let us now consider each of these happenings in some more detail.

John's baptism, particularly of Jesus, has a significance both historical and analogical, and not simply because these are things that we have assigned to it. We are to see that Jesus' coming is going to completely transform and fulfill all that has come before by His participation in the lived Covenant given to Moses and developed by Israelite tradition. Now, it can appear problematic that Jesus here presents himself for a baptism of repentance. We who profess the orthodox faith say of Him in the Nicene Creed: "God of God, Light of Light, Very God of veryGod". Consider that in the grand scheme of Christianity (particularly with regard to the Cross and Resurrection, without which everything else becomes meaningless), a fallible god in need of conversion and repentance is entirely laughable and useless. Thanks be to God, that is not the case. Thus we are not in any meaningful way similar to the present day devotees ofa self-inflicted Mt. Olympus and the errant, fickle deities that have been enthroned there by pathological fiat. Rather does Jesus come to confirm His own humanity and to reaffirm the message of John. What John had been preaching to those gathered about him was in fact perfectly consistent with both the Old Testament prophets and the newly inaugurated  ministry of Jesus, to Whom all that had come before did indeed point and in Whom all would find perfect fulfillment. Herein is the glory of this first facet of the triple theophany recounted in the Gospels.

In the second instance, the Transfiguration, there is no seeming paradox to contend with. The Divinity of Christ is displayed before the eyes of the chosen Apostles, who are absolutely dumbfounded. As the perfect humanity of Christ is established and confirmed in His baptism, so does the Father confirm for us on Mt. Tabor that Heis pleased to throw the full weight of the Godhead in our direction, for our benefit. If ever there were any doubts in the minds of Peter, James and John, it has certainly been illustrated for them beyond the shadow of a doubt that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory.” The Gospels are showing us that yes, the two natures in the one person of Jesus Christ is in fact an authentic revelation, doctrine commended to the faithful as worthy of beliefand entrusted to the care of the Church to preserve for all ages.

The other thing to note about the Transfiguration is the topic of conversation amongst Jesus, Moses and Elijah. In a sermon about this subject the Rev. John Mason Neale, the great 19th cent. Anglican priest and hymnographer, said: "And what did they talk of? If wehad not been told, how different a conversation we should have imagined! We should perhaps have thought that they would speak of that kingdom which the LORD had come on earth to establish; that kingdom which shall never be destroyed, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail; that kingdom which shall be from sea to sea, and from the flood unto the world's end. Nothing less. 'They appeared in glory, and spake of His decease.' To talk of death in the height of this glory! To talk of a shameful death,-a death of agony,- amidst such brightness as the world had never before seen! Yes: but the text does not end so. They 'spake of His decease which He should accomplish.' What a wonderful word! When do we speak thus? We say that a man accomplishes deliverance from death, but to accomplish death itself,who would thus talk? It tells us how freely, how earnestly, our LORD set about His Passion, according to that saying of His: 'I have a Baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished.'... And that indeed was a glorious subject for a season of glory. This was a brighter and better vision than Moses had, when he gat him to the top of Pisgah, and beheld all the land which GOD had promised to His people. This was a nobler prospect than Elijah had, when the chariot was bearing him up above the clouds, and his mantle fell from off him." (John Mason Neale, Sermon XV, "The Three Tabernacles")

There are many facets of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ to fix our attention on. But no matter which you choose, they all lead to the passion, death and Resurrection. There is no getting around that, and that is a good thing. And so these instances of kerygmatic parallelism that we have noted in the Gospels are now brought to completion on Calvary by the centurion’s statement: “Truly this was the son of God.” (Mt. 27:54)  The Evangelists have collated pregnant instances of both the perfect humanity and the perfect Divinity of Christ and now show us that the redemptive work of the Cross is as efficacious as itneeded to be. The humanity of the Jesus who humbly submitted to St. John’s baptism is offered on the Crossin a perfect sacrificial act of love. The Divinity of Christ exhibited on Mt. Tabor is able to offer the perfect sacrifice and to have it accepted on our behalf. This is both something that only humanity could do and that only God could do. Take away one of these two elements and the whole scheme of redemption loses its potency, the remainder becomes nothing more than an empty ritual, a cosmic farce performed not out of love and mercy, but merely out of disinterested condescension or, what's even worse, a sort of sanitised blood-lust and wrath. In the words of Fr. Stephen Freeman: "For various reasons, some people are determined to make the economy of salvation to be linked with the Wrath of God. If you do not repent, then God will do thus and such... I have always considered this representation of the gospel to be coercive and contrary to the love of God. I have heard convoluted ways in which this wrath is interpreted to be 'the loving thing to do' but I do not buy it....But it is essential in our witness to the God Who Is, to always relate the fact that He is a loving God, not willing that any should perish. He is not against us but for us. This is utterly essential to the correct proclamation of the Gospel." (from "Glory 2 God for all things", God's Wrath, Jan. 15, 2009)

There is one more thing to note. On this day some 73 years ago, the world was forever changed when, in the context of a state of war, a nuclear bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. And whatever side of the debate you find yourself on as to whether this was a justified, proportional response or no, the fact remains that such action could only be taken within a grievously broken world wherein remain unconverted men who, above all else, desire power.  What, then, do we do with this? From an article two years ago in the magazine of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship, In Communion: "The Transfiguration is a promise to a broken world. A promise that all scars will be healed, all divisions overcome, all wars ended, and all souls restored. The Earth will no longer be a crucible of destruction, but the realm of the Kingdom. Atomic radiation will not shine forth from broken bodies, but the uncreated light from transfigured ones. Men will no longer aspire to harness the power of God, but will kneel before their king. There will no longer be cause to be afraid." (Nicholas Sooy, In Communion, Aug. 2016)

And so, as Jesus calls us each and every day to follow Him, we too can and must assume a portion of His threefold role as prophet by striving faithfully to live an authentic Christian life that will preach to others by our deeds and disposition, as priest by making offerings united to His of both praise and repentance, and as king by longing for the coming of His Kingdom which is indeed here among us as we are told by St. Mark: "...The time is fulfulled, and the kingdom of God is at hand..." (Mk. 1:15). And we know what our dignity both is and will be in His Kingdom: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might bepartakers of the divine nature." (2 Pet. 1:4) And then, when we come at last to our own particular death and judgment, our Father in heaven will be able to say of us, always on account of the work of His Son accomplished perfectly for us as we could never accomplish for ourselves: This is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased.

Trinity IX

"[The] holy Apostle Saint James, leaving his father and all that he had, was obedient unto the calling of...Jesus Christ"

"A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living." (Lk. 15:11-13)

As the Church celebrated St. James this past week on July 25th, three quick things of note occurred to me:

1. Whereas the Apostle James, who may or may not have caught wind of John the Baptist's preaching about Jesus, nevertheless surrendered his livelihood at a moment's notice to follow Him, someone he had no first hand knowledge of with no prior, contractual assurances about what the future would hold; the younger son, who had literally known his father and family his entire life and was bound to them by ties of blood and filial affection, was able (in effect) to wish his father's death to his face by asking for his stake of the inheritance and then remove himself far away from them to lead a life of self-indulgence along with, I am sure, many other carefully crafted plans for his own future enjoyment.

2. Whereas St. James was witness to the preaching and healing ministry of Jesus, the showing forth of the Divinity of Christ in the Transfiguration and the wonderful miracles of the feeding of the thousands and the raising of Lazarus from the dead; the younger son was forced into the worst of circumstances when the money he depended on ran out, had to take on undesirable work and, ultimately, had to come face to face with his shame and steel himself to beg forgiveness from those he had mindlessly cast aside as utterly worthless and literally dead to him.

3. But...here's the really good part. These things happened, and continue to do so today. And we can, I think, take great courage and comfort in the examples of both these men. Whether early in the day or late, whether before or after any of us have sinned, there is always room for repentance, forgiveness and the embrace of the Lord Jesus. As we learn in Matt. 20:14-15, "Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?" And with what great generosity is the gift given? It is almost shocking to our sensibilities, particularly our great regard for the 'fairness' of debt, vengeance and retaliation. "But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry." (Lk. 15:22-24)


"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev. 2:29) “and let all the people say Amen.” (Ps. 106:46b)

Brother Paphnutius - an ongoing parable (Part VI)

Except the Lord build the house, their labour is but lost that build it. (Psalm 127: 1)

<>< <>< <><

Disorder

June, 367 A.D. - the Egyptian desert

In the early afternoons it was the custom of Br. Paphnutius and the other brethren with whom he lived in close proximity to take a brief siesta in order to strengthen themselves for their afternoon work (and to avoid the hottest part of the day during the long desert summers!). One day, as he was just lying down on the floor (surely you weren't expecting a cot, bed, or other comfort), his head hitting the reed mat, he heard a loud "CRASH" followed by some language he hadn't heard or uttered in many a long year (well before his conversion in fact).

He got up to investigate and peered out the entrance to his cave only to find what he suspected, Br. Barsenuphius of Carthage (whom they had nicknamed "the loud one" as he was somewhat hard of hearing and thus spoke in a more voluminous manner than was generally necessary, not to mention being somewhat cantankerous and unsettled personality-wise).

Br. Barsenuphius was building himself a house (out of wood nonetheless - no damp, dingy cave for him) and thus intended to stay for a while, invited or not by the local community. He was for many years a tapestry merchant and thus developed a taste for comforts that had proven unshakeable upon taking up the monastic life. No one was quite sure which "Rule" he followed to maintain his monastic discipline, and no one dared ask him.

As far as anyone local knew (and had heard!), this was the third location he had tried to build his house upon and yet was meeting no success for his efforts. The ground in this area was notorously unstable for construction purposes. Even if you could complete a decent foundation it never remained stable and any walls you tried to build were invariably too crooked to set a roof on. He had been warned by other brethren in the area, but to no effect. Br. Barsenuphius was nothing if not stubbornly determined.

Watching this spectacle take place before him, Paphnutius couldn't help but admire the man's fortitude and constancy. It was unfortunate how ill-directed these were in him. It seemed so obvious to anyone looking at him from the outside what sort of mental disorder and chaos "the loud one" lived amidst. Could he himself see it?

This past Sunday during the midnight office, the Gospel lesson was the Prodigal Son from St. Luke 15. Who could soon forget the pathetic imagery of the younger son who not only had the audacity to ask his father for his portion of the inheritance (effectively wishing him a premature death), but also then to waste it on pleasures for himself? His older brother wouldn't have dreamed of doing something similar. He stayed on, toiling away for the estate. While the one grew penitent in the midst of his vice, the other grew immobile in his virtue, blinded by his sense of righteousness to the point where he couldn't even countenance the love and longing of his father for whom he had shown ostensible loyalty.

"Hmmm..." thought Paphnutius. "That house may yet be the death of Barsenuphius, or it may prove to be his salvation should it remain stubbornly resistant to completion."

The moral of (this part) of the story: It is not always easy to see things as they are, for a variety of reasons. We are really too "close" to ourselves to be able to render impartial judgement of our own motivations (for good or ill) and as we have ourselves as our primary frame of reference, those things which annoy and bother us most in other people are, as likely as not, simply a reflexion of that which we despise most about ourselves, whether we see it or not.

Also, consider those with mental illnesses whose perspective on things is, by its very nature, skewed from what is common or "normal". And then...be patient with yourself, be patient with other people, love God, allow yourself to be loved by Him, and then everything will become much clearer and easier to deal with.

To be continued...

Brother Paphnutius - an ongoing parable (Part V)

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit....But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." (1 Cor. 12: 4, 11)

"And he took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them, saying: This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me." (Luke 22: 19)

<><   <><   <><  

Remembrance

May, 367 A.D. - the Egyptian desert

It's been quite an eventful year thus far for one who has committed himself to a life of solitude and stability. The literal resurrection from the dead that had taken place in the community some months ago was still the talk of the nearby towns. Another trip to the Sfeerspons Skete had provided plenty of coffee to help enliven the early morning Vigils as well as a glimpse into their newly re-organised life. No longer saddled with an expensive property that they couldn't really afford, the monks of Sfeerspons (it was purchased by a developer and turned into trendy condos that cost twice as much as they ought to due in no small part to clever advertising that convinced people that marble and aluminum fixtures, as opposed to some elbow room and a yard, in a cramped space is what they really wanted) opened a coffee shop, some of them got married, all live on their own but support each other financially, and everyone is now a lot happier.

Walking back to his cave, Paphnutius was thinking about all these things and pondered the greatness of God's generosity, to wit:


Gifts have been, are continuing to be, and will be given to us. Even the most depressive and neurotic, though they may have to dig down deep, can see that (however subconscious) as an anchor and grasp it on the way to recovery.

On the other hand, it wouldn't be a gift if you couldn't say no.

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10: 10)

Thus in Genesis the thief has come, has stolen and maimed that which was (being as participated in by creation) by making it look at, consider, taste, and ingest something of its counterpart (non-being). But even this is not enough to blot out the memory, the anamnesis, of: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness". (Gen. 1: 26)

Thus, the full force of the Incarnation: "The mainstay, which we steadily keep, remains the anamnesis of Christ's redemptive work which permeates our existence and continuously transforms it. The anamnesis is not a simple intellectual function; it is an action. It has an incomparably wider spectrum, which includes the element of thought and makes it an existential, personal event. As members of the eucharistic community we recall again to consciousness the economy of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection of Christ, his ascension, and Pentecost. We live them. We share in them. We do this not through our own human abilities but through the grace of the Holy Spirit, through the uncreated energy of God which accomplishes the sacraments.

"Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor.11:24), the Lord ordered "on the night when he was betrayed" (1 Cor. 11:23). The continuously proceeding divine energy culminates in the sacrament of the eucharist which has for twenty centuries formed the pivot of a Christian's worship. In liturgical language, the term "anamnesis" defines the core of the eucharistic anaphora, the consecrated offering." - by Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and All Albania (http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/assembly/1998-harare/together-on-the-way-official-report-of-the-eighth-assembly/together-on-the-way-2-the-theme-turn-to-god-rejoice-in-hope/22-anamnesis)

This (John 10:10), more than a pious thought or a nice wish to have the material benefits of a mortal existence that we are told we should aspire to, is serious business (O man, look beyond thyself, step outside of time and schedule! There is no second storey!) and our life now is a life of both participation via membership in the body of the Church and her anamnetic practice and consequence via the final judgment which is the state where the last act of the human will takes place, i.e. we will clearly see who we really are and where we stand in the light of Christ, thus accepting our place either on His right or on His left.


Looking up, Paphnutius realised he had covered 10 kilometers without even noticing it. Almost home, yet place isn't really all that important. No matter where you are at, how you live and what you bear in remembrance in each moment - that is what makes all the difference. For we remember not ourselves, but He Who Is the way, and the truth and the life. Each day is a gift, that's why it is called 'the present'.

To be continued...

Depression

I've always had a hard time finding an adequate expression of how it feels to be depressed. A month or so ago I was re-reading Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and I came across the following. I thought to myself: "Yes! This! This is how it makes me feel."

Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it rose
upon no sadder sight than the man of
good abilities and good emotions,
incapable of their directed exercise,
incapable of his own help and his own
happiness, sensible of the blight on him,
and resigning himself to let it eat him away.

 

 

Thank God for medication. 

Oh Fudge!

"Though they curse, yet bless thou" (Ps. 109:27)

We are surrounded with profanity. I learned how to cuss at Catholic school! Using my faculty of speech in a way that always honours God and builds up other people is something that I struggle with. It is easy to swear when frustrated and upset, when feeling depressed or wounded (physically or emotionally), or just to add some emphasis or shock value to a conversation.

Even though they are not given physical, vocalised existence through the mouth, these words are formed and can linger and poison us perfectly well in the mind. If I lack confidence and courage to tell someone how I really think or feel or that I don't like what they have said or done to me, I can spend time reliving the scene mentally, this time demolishing them with my quick wit and thoughtful sarcasm. People I dislike are repeatedly shot through in my mind with all the things that I want to tell them, each dart being further and further inflamed by my unseen and uncontrolled desire.

And yet, for all the effort that goes into suchlike things, none of them are of God. Though we are surrounded by the bad example of others, we are not called to imitate it.

"Though they curse, yet bless thou"

Three words of sin and redemption

Attending this morning's Ember Day Mass, I was struck by three words in the General Confession: "We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed".

Thought, word and deed. Herein is the source, the very agency of conception and act, of our sins. Which of them have not first been conceived of in the mind, either willingly or by force of habit? Which of them have not either been spoken*, spoken of, or committed with the body?

If then these three are the agency of our sins, God, acting in perfect harmony with His plan of redemption (and in the same way as He takes death and makes it the key to eternal life via the Cross), does indeed call forth our healing through a total conversion of these very things and employs the self-same faculties to effect our repentance and conversion. Again, in our thoughts we conceive of (and are granted) sorrow and repentance within the metaphorical vehicle of our emotions - the heart. By our words and deeds, we express our contrition and our resolve to do better. These things that were formerly a conveyance of sin and death, now become a vehicle of faith and life. Beautiful!


*Speaking of words, I think that so-called "curse" words really are, in and of themselves (and not just in specific contexts or incidences) bad things. Consider the power of the word, spoken and conceived. We see both in Genesis and in the Gospel of John that the Word, spoken by God, bears in its very nature both creative and redemptive power. It is perfectly efficacious.We also, who bear the image and likeness of our Creator, in our ability to conceive of and communicate ideas that are understood by those who share our language and frame of reference, have been given a participation in this power; it is one that allows us to create and destroy.

What happens when you tell your spouse, your child or your friend "I love you"? Do not these three words have the power to build, nurture and sustain that relationship? On the other hand, what happens when you tell someone "I hate you"? Not only do those words destroy a relationship and something of another person (whether or not they admit to it) they also destroy something within the life of the one who utters them. This is confirmed in Matthew 15:18: "[T]hose things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man."

A season of forgiveness

In the Eastern Churches, the Sunday before Great Lent is celebrated with, among other things, Forgiveness Vespers. Though the foregoing is somewhat out of season, the Roman rite with its liturgical use of violet and suspension of the use of the "Gloria in excelsis" during seasonal Masses does give the time of Advent a penitential character too. As well, we are in the midst of the winter Ember Days that occur on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week when we are minded to fast and pray for the ministry of the Church.

With all that in mind, I wish now to ask forgiveness of all those to whom I have ever caused offense: by things which I said or did and things which I left undone or unsaid out of laziness or cowardice. If I have judged you or expected too much or too little from you, if I have been too focused on myself and not seen to your needs, if I have made of you an object for my own emotional consumption or satisfaction, I am truly sorry. It may not mean much to you (if you ever read this), but I will try to do better.

For Whitsunday

“Jesus said unto his disciples: If ye love me, keep my commandments” (Jn. 14:15). 

Something to think about today is the cultivation of the spiritual life, more specifically the idea of 'purity of heart' which is near and dear to the Christian monastic tradition from its very beginnings. You cannot serve God without a measure of self-control, and you cannot attain self-mastery apart from the grace of God. It is something that the Fathers of the Church understood to be indispensable to the spiritual life. They were given to understand their own weaknesses in the light of Divine purity clearly enough that they fled to the desert, either temporarily or permanently, to do battle with their demons and free their hearts to give themselves entirely to God. One of the early masters, Evagrius Ponticus, describes for us the gift of fear of the Lord in the context of the desert: “The fear of God strengthens faith, my son, and continence in turn strengthens this fear. Patience and hope make this latter virtue solid beyond all shaking and they also give birth to apatheia.”

The Greek term apatheia, or purity of heart, can be understood to include both moral and spiritual self-control. It is a virtue as well as a way of being and it is inseparable from the instruction in the Gospel to keep the commandments of God. As the desert Fathers were in it for the long haul, so are we. But instead of exposure to the harsh reality of the desert, our demons have many places to hide and disguise themselves in our bustle of activity. That is where the grace of the Holy Ghost is all the more necessary to us. In some ways, those of us 'in the world' face a much steeper climb on the road that is apatheia than those who have embraced the monastic life. Another take on this idea can be found in a sermon of Pope Gregory the Great, who offers us a helpful metaphor as well:

Whosoever abandoneth himself to unlawful desires, such an one plainly loveth not God, for thereby he setteth himself against God's good pleasure. Note the words: And my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Think, dearly beloved brethren, what a dignity it is, to have God abiding as a guest in our hearts. Surely if some rich man, or some powerful friend, were to come into our house, we would hasten to have the whole house cleaned, lest perchance when he came in, he should see aught to displease his eye. So let him that would make ready his soul as an abode for God, cleanse it from all the filth of evil works. (St. Gregory the Great, Homily 30 on the Gospel of St. John).

By the time we mature to the point of actively cultivating apatheia in our conversion, we are then able to make a true beginning in the spiritual life, as the desert fathers understood it. Everything that came before was simply by way of preparation, or house cleaning if you like. We may in fact spend a lifetime in the preparatory phases, but that’s okay. God is always generous enough to take us where we are at, and not where we (or others) might think we should be, and He knows that not all are able or intended to reach the heights of contemplation. And...we should depend on the grace of the Holy Spirit received at our baptism and confirmation. We can depend on it, always.

Let me follow this up with another quotation, this time from John Henry Newman:

Let us but consider how we have fallen from the light and grace of our Baptism. Were we now what that Holy Sacrament made us, we might ever 'go on our way rejoicing;' but having sullied our heavenly garments, in one way or other, in a greater or less degree (God knoweth and our own consciences too in a measure), alas! the Spirit of adoption has in part receded from us, and the sense of guilt, remorse, sorrow, and penitence must take His place. We must renew our confession, and seek afresh our absolution day by day, before we dare call upon God as 'our Father,' or offer up Psalms and Intercessions to Him. And, whatever pain and affliction meets us through life, we must take it as a merciful penance imposed by a Father upon erring children, to be borne meekly and thankfully, and as intended to remind us of the weight of that infinitely greater punishment, which was our desert by nature, and which Christ bore for us on the Cross (Newman, The Indwelling Spirit, sermon 19).

 

So, the quest for purity of heart, apatheia, is not a one-time deal. Neither is it always easy. But, we have been given all the resources that we need. God is not outdone in generosity, we see that time and again, cogently in the story of the first Christian Pentecost that was read in the Epistle this morning. This past week, in the course of receiving some spiritual direction, I was told that people often don't realise just how good and generous God is to us. As we read in the alternate Gospel given in the Prayer Book for today: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”  

“Jesus said unto his disciples: If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

Revelation 21: 5a

"And he who sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new'."

<>< <>< <><

 

How often nowadays are we told of the virtues of something being new, fresh or contemporary in contrast with former things as old, traditional or stale? This is not to say that newness is bad, unless perhaps it is the only quality considered worthy of (serious) discussion.

And yet, newness is not really something that is naturally attractive. The earthly ministry of Jesus was something very new in a lot of ways. And yet, because of the all-encompassing demand of Jesus that those who believe in Him are to take up their cross and follow Him (remembering all the places He has been), it took time, patience, miracles and grace to cement the twelve apostles into their new post-Pentecost identity as Christians.

Change is hard. Habits that are formed quickly can take a long time to be broken. Today while I was speaking with my spiritual father during the course of my regular confession, I mentioned something that is an habitual struggle for me (being too self-absorbed, not always being present enough to those around me). As part of his counsel, he advised me to consider the separation of the sheep and the goats from St. Matthew's Gospel (ch. 25: 31-46), paying particular attention (unlike the condemned in this narrative) to 'the least of these'. He then challenged me to think of where they show up in my own life and to reflect on that in the context of the Lord's Prayer, particularly "Thy will be done".

That is a petition that Christian people are wont to make on a regular basis. But do we really mean it? Do we see the full import of what we are asking for? It is indeed a petition for newness, for the sloughing off of the old man and the putting on of the new. (cf. Colossians 3:9-10)

Like so much else in this post-modern life of ours, there is the danger of seeing this as a one-time, binary process (going from being switched off to switched on) that isn't repeated. But that is not the case.

Life is a continual conversion, and it does not simply take place in the head or the heart (a contemporary form of gnosticism), but involves the whole of the human person. And it happens every day. It is axiomatic of the spiritual life that we are either progressing or regressing, there is no standing still. It is this forward movement that the desert fathers and those who follow in their tradition are seeking through their spiritual practices.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning". (Lam. 3: 22-23a)

There they are, just waiting for you to receive. But no one is forcing your hand, that is the way of love. And they are new, which can be both a great relief (I'm not too late, I didn't miss out on anything) and a bit frightening (I need to be honest with myself that in the past I have fallen short and am in great need). But there they are nonetheless.

Peace.

Mark 11: 12-21

"And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, [Jesus] went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' And his disciples heard it....And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons;...As they passed by in the morning, [the disciples] saw the fig tree withered away to its roots." (Mark 11:13-14,15b, 20)

<>< <>< <><

"There can be no doubt that this, without exception, is the most difficult story in the gospel narrative. To take it as literal history presents difficulties which are well-nigh insuperable." (Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, New Daily Study Bible p. 314)

Not the most encouraging start to what is, indeed, a difficult passage to understand. In his above commentary, Wm. Barclay treats as a unit the two separate parts (the cause and effect if you will) of the incident with the fig tree and then moves on to the cleansing of the Temple. While this seems a good and desirable way to treat this narrative, the fact that it is presented in context in two parts with Jesus' cleansing of the Temple interposed is not insignificant and I believe the arrangement of the text this way helps to unravel something of its mystery.

Firstly, this story takes place in the midst of the Passover season, so it would be around mid-April. Figs don't generally bear fruit until May or June, so no one would have expected there to be any on the tree. While there is no fruit, it is in leaf, so there are obvious signs of life and continuity.

Is this in fact an allegory for the practices of the Temple in Jesus' time? The leaves are there: the prayers and sacrifices continue, the letter of the Law is being fulfilled, as it had been since Moses commanded what he had received from the Lord. The fruit, however, is missing: the offering of sacrifices has been overrun with commercialisation and people coming to worship are being victimised by extortioners.

Just as no one would expect to see figs on the tree, did anyone really think the current practice of the Temple could/should be reformed?

Sometimes the only way to effect a cure is to completely cut off the disease. Thus, Jesus' dramatic action in overturning the tables of the money-changers is symbolically represented in the withered tree. The fig tree is then both 1. what the Temple had become through corruption and 2. a sign of its coming supercession thanks to Christ's self-offering on Calvary.

When the disciples notice the withered tree, likely still in shock over what had happened the previous day, it becomes yet another sign for them of who Jesus is and what He has come to do. I imagine Him asking them: Do you see now how serious your situation is? This tree and the Temple are in exactly the same state of being.'

One thing is clear, things could not continue on as they had. A radical change/fulfillment was necessary both in the externals of worship and in the hearts of all men.

Here is an interesting story:

"Flavius Josephus reports strange happenings in the final years before the outbreak of the Jewish War, all of which, in different and unsettling ways, heralded the end of the Temple....In A.D. 66 '[A]t the Feast of Pentecost, when the priests had gone into the inner court of the Temple at night to perform the usual ceremonies, they declared that they were aware, first of a violent movement and a loud crash, then of a concerted cry: Let us go hence.' Whatever exactly may have happened, one thing is clear: in the final years before the dramatic events of the year 70, the Temple was enveloped in a mysterious premonition that its end was approaching." (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 2, pp. 25-26)

Peace

Luke 5: 33-39

"And Jesus said to them, 'Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days'....But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins." (vv. 34, 38 – Revised Standard Version, 2nd Catholic Edition)

<>< <>< <><

How is the question of fasting resolved in the parable of the wineskins?

I have always taken the parable of the new/old wineskins to be an illustration of the problem that the scribes and Pharisees have in trying to shoe-horn Jesus into their religious framework: strict obedience to the Law (as they see it). Isn't it so easy to do that? We quite naturally develop a framework into which we can neatly compact our thoughts, words and actions and how we relate to other people and also how we "need" and expect them to relate to us. When they don't, what happens? No wonder there is so much offense taken and received, especially over an anonymous and comfortable medium such as the internet. So, the question is, how can we reasonably expect people to engage us on our own terms if we have not taken the time to explain what those terms are and expose them to the light of day to see how they stand up to our faith, our relationships, or other peoples' ideas and conceptions? Doing so is only scary if we reject out of hand the categorical imperative of all reasonable discourse: 'what if I might be wrong'. I think this gets to the root of the criticisms of the scribes and Pharisees.

The prescriptions of the Mosaic Law are not bad things in and of themselves. Fasting was, and is, a great good for those called to exercise it. [But, not everyone is called to exercise every discipline in the same way. If you are hypoglycemic, then fasting in any (and I hate to use the word because it can be taken the wrong way as an open invitation to comparison where none is needed or justified, but...) significant way is probably not an option]. These prescriptions as stated served their intended purpose until the coming of the Messiah. In Jesus, the former signs and types of the heavenly reality have given way to the real thing. Whatever came before has now to give way to that which it pointed to, but could never fully be. The new reality simply cannot be contained within anyone's previous conception because our human insights are necessarily limited by our finite condition. (Think: Doctrine of the Trinity)

So now, we no longer fast because of the letter of the Law, but because of our love and devotion to the One who fulfills the Law and calls us to a life of perfect holiness in imitation of His own.

It could also be thought of this way. We can think about and conceptualize "love" in the abstract. It is a concept that can fit neatly into our categories of thought and be contemplated without any serious mental gymnastics. But, once love becomes actualized in a relationship of two people, then the theory must give way to the reality which is tangentially related to our mental conceptions but oh so much more. It both fulfills and surpasses our mental expectations and is so wonderfully more complex in reality (Poof! There go those old wine skins!) than when it exists as nothing more than a platonic 'form' in the mind of the individual.

Peace

Finding our way

After the Roman persecution died down in the early centuries of Christianity, in the intensity of the Egyptian desert men and women sought the Lord. They came there to pray always, purify their hearts, slay their demons and give wisdom to those who sought them out. If you wished to become a follower of their tradition, you could ask your spiritual father for a "word" to meditate on, or digest if you will, in order to bring forth aspects of its meaning. This word could be just a single word or phrase from the Bible, something wise or edifying said by one of the saints of the desert, or the Jesus Prayer itself. (More on that later). So, in that spirit, here are some simple reflections on texts from Scripture. May they prove useful for you on your journey.

Peace.