Psalm Six

In Psalm 6 David is in bad shape.
"My soul is in deep anguish," he says to God.
"Turn, Lord, deliver me."
He goes on:
"I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping..."

David reminds God that if he dies he will not be any good to God.
He says, "Among the dead no one proclaims your name. 
Who praises you from the grave?"

At this point in Jewish history there was no hope regarding life after death.
There was the concept of Sheol--a kind of murky place where the shades of the dead wandered around. 
Not really a hopeful picture.
There was no heaven or hell; those concepts
weren't yet developed.
The Book of Job does offer some slight hints of redemption after death.

The only explicit reference to resurrection is in Daniel (one of the last books of the Old Testament to be written). 
In the last chapter of Daniel it says, "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."

Scholars talk about 'progressive revelation' in the Bible. 
That is, as history goes forward, new understandings come to light. Later generations have knowledge from God that earlier generations did not have. 
The plan of God unfolds little by little.

After the Bible is completed, the plan continues to unfold. 
There are some things that are becoming clear to us that were not clear to Paul, for example.
Paul never condemned the institution of slavery. 
But now, we do.
Paul seemed to be moving in the direction of full equality for women; but now parts of the Church of Jesus have come to understand the truth of equal rights for women. 
(And parts of the Church have yet to understand this.)

Other controversial issues can be seen in the same light. 
What once was a traditionally held belief is now left behind because of a clearer understanding the church is receiving.

If we were stuck back in Psalm six, we wouldn't have the hope that we now have in Christ.
David certainly had faith in God, yet his understanding was narrow. But thanks be to God that God broadens our minds and hearts. 
Here, I think, is where being 'progressive' is being in touch with the very movement of Scripture.

waffles

Today, after getting poked for a blood test, receiving a tetanus/whooping cough injection, and a prostate exam, I headed to a restaurant to get some cholesterol and fat. For some reason I had a hankering to go to the Waffle House. Now that there is no smoking in restaurants, the Waffle House is much more pleasant. I'm always amazed at the people who eat at Waffle Houses. It was pretty cold this morning, but a 70-ish man came in with a T-shirt and shorts on. I don't get it. Other people had on heavy coats. The waitresses seemed to know many of these people. They would greet them by their first names. I don't like it when a waitress calls me 'honey.' But she did. Anyway, I had a good waffle with bacon; and some coffee. She tried to fill up my coffee cup three or four times; but I wouldn't let her. One cup is enough. In the Waffle House people come in with toboggans on, and leave them on while they eat. I enjoyed my waffle. But I wish I hadn't looked over the counter where they were cooking.




[photo: my granddaughter, enjoying food]

Forgive

I heard Dr. Edward Hallowell speak at the Chautauqua Institute several years ago. His book Dare to Forgive offers helpful advice on the art of forgiveness. For example, he suggests that we respond to annoying or irritating people as if they are mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are annoying, but they are no big deal. Put on some insect repellent and go on with life.

The big insight I got from this book is how forgiveness involves grief. Think about it--when we forgive someone we lose something. We lose the opportunity to get revenge. We have to give that up. And any time we lose something significant, there is grief. Forgiveness, therefore, involves grief. To put it another way: when we forgive, we are letting go of the hope that the past will be different.

Dr. Hallowell reminds us that the great commandment from Leviticus to 'love your neighbor as yourself' is an anti-revenge commandment. The whole verse reads: "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Forgiveness leaves vengeance to God. God is the judge; we are not.

By forgiving others (and ourselves) we build bridges between people and bring people together. That's what the world needs. And that is what Jesus teaches us to do.

[photo taken by me at Chautauqua]

Your Buttons

I recently read a book by a Buddhist nun, Thubten Chodron. I disagree with Buddhist metaphyical teachings, such as reincarnation, nirvana, and the non-existence of God. But I have found Buddhist teachings on how to be a compassionate person very helpful for someone who wants to follow the Biblical command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

This book, Working with Anger, gives helpful guidance for those who want to recognize the destructive nature of anger--and want to decrease its destructive power.

Here are some principles:

>>>In order to keep people from 'pushing your buttons,' do internal research...learn what your inner sensitivities are and why they are there...learn to reduce your emotional attachments to certain beliefs about how people should act... and allow the buttons to shrink in size. Some people can become so spiritually skillful that their buttons disappear; they can no longer be offended by what other people say.

>>>Close the 'internal courtroom'... Inside of us is a prosecutor, judge, and jury. The more they work, the more anxious we are. Shut down the courtroom! Fire the judge, the jury, and the prosecutor. Give up your need to prove yourself right. If you don't need to prove anything, anger doesn't raise its head.

>>>Deal with false criticism calmly. Millions of people are falsely criticized everyday. It happens. It doesn't matter. Let it go.

>>>View your enemy/critic as your teacher. Our enemies give us the opportunity to practice patience, kindness, and calmness.

>>>Repay hostility with kindness. Easier said than done. But doing so is a form of taking power into your own hands and using it for good.

All of the above are actually Biblical principles. They sound very Jesus-ish. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can put these Buddhist principles into action and become more Christ-like.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for Buddhist guidelines for becoming a more compassionate person. As we follow you and allow you to live through us, keep us from being self-centered and self-righteous. You said: blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. May we be blessed. Amen.

Bowing

[photo taken at Gethsemani Monastery]

David says in Psalm 5, "In reverence I bow down toward your holy temple."

During the Protestant Reformation, bowing, kneeling, making the sign of the cross, anointing with oil -- these gestures were taken out of the worship service. It's now time to bring them back.

Using our bodies for worship and prayer adds to
the meaning of reverence and adoration. We Protestants have become afraid to pray with our bodies. We never kneel in church anymore. We never bow. We read the Psalms in worship where they say, "Let us bow down to t he Lord," but we don't bow down.

We need to embody prayer. The gestures of making the sign of the cross, anointing with oil, sprinkling water, kneeling, bowing, lifting up hands, etc, are Biblical gestures.

At the end of my prayers in the morning, I bow to God. It's a sign of reverence.

It wouldn't hurt if we bowed to each other out of reverence for the Christ who is in each of us.

angry

St. Paul, in Ephesians 4, gives this classic advice on anger:

"In your anger, do not sin. do not let the sun go down while you are still angry."

Paul is quoting Psalm 4.4. However, your Bible will probably not render Ps 4.4 that way. That's because Paul was using a different version of the Old Testament; namely, the Septuagint--a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The Septuagint does talk about 'anger.'
But check virtually all modern English translations of Ps 4.4 and you will get something like: "Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent" (TNIV). David is telling his enemies to tremble because of their disobedience to God and stop telling their lies.
Paul, using the Septuagint, applies Ps 4.4 to anger. He doesn't say it is sinful to be angry (though other parts of Scripture condemn self-righteous anger); but he advises that it is best to deal with our anger quickly rather than let it fester. We are tempted to sweep our angry feelings under the rug and not rock the boat. But angry feelings unexpressed (or better, unreported) do not go away; they become poison. Don't let that happen, says Paul. Deal with it now. Report your feelings. Tell someone. Talk it out.

At the end of Psalm 4, David says, "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." We sleep better if we are honest with each other, and unpack our feelings during the day.

A Diverse Jesus

Interesting article in the Christian Century (Nov. 4, 2008) about a new research group that was formed in 2003 under the sponsorship of the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, NJ. It's called the Identity of Jesus Project. They have just published a book, Seeking the Identity of Jesus. Another group, the Jesus Seminar, has been around for years. The Seminar is very liberal. This new group is more modest in its findings. Here are some of its conclusions:

1. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew.

2. The identity of Jesus is reliably attested and known in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

3. The entirety of the canonical witness is indispensable to a faithful rendering of the figure of Jesus.

4. In order to understand the identity of Jesus rightly, the church must constantly engage in the practice of deep, sustained reading of the texts.

5. To come to grips with the identity of Jesus, we must know him as he is presented to us through the medium of narrative.

6. The trajectory begun within the NT of interpreting Jesus' identity in and for the church has continued through Christian history.

7. The identity of Jesus is something that must be learned through long-term discipline.

On that last point St. Paul says: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death." (Phil. 3.10)

From the article: "Some Christians may fear that an emphasis on the wealth and diversity of traditional descriptions of Jesus compromises the gospel. Yet given the diversity of biblical witnesses to Jesus, orthodoxy actually demands that we speak about Jesus in more than one way."

I often think about the fact that if Biblical theology were simple, or meant to be simple, we would have only one Gospel (e.g., Matthew or Mark). But we have four Gospels. There is a diversity of point of view and presentation. 


To over-simplify the Biblical message is to be unfaithful to the Bible itself.

shield

Psalm 3.3: "But you, Lord, are a shield around me." (TNIV)

God as our 'shield' is mentioned a number of times in the Psalms.
Way back in Genesis God promised to be a shield for Abraham (Gen. 15.1).

Shields are usually in front of the protectee (as in the picture).
But David says that God is a shield 'around me.'
Imagine that. A shield that goes all around you.

When I go walking in our neighborhood I see some yards
with those invisible fences that keep dogs in the yard.
I always hope they are working so that some big dog doesn't
shoot out of the yard and bite me on the leg.
Perhaps we can imagine an invisible shield all around us as we
go about our day.
God's invisible protection wards off attitudes and words
and thoughts from other people.
Sticks and stones can break my bones, but....
Invisible protection.

Thanks, Lord.

God laughs

In Psalm two the nations are plotting against God. We might say, "The plot sickens." But how does God respond to this international conspiracy? He laughs. (see Ps. 2. 4)
I believe there is only one other place in Scripture where God-in-heaven laughs, and that is in Ps. 37.13. God laughs.

Many of us have been reared to intellectually conceive of God as an old man with a frown on his face. Now, when God laughs in the Psalms, he is laughing as an expression of judgment. The laughter is a scoffing, mocking laughter. So, it's not exactly a giggling God that we see. Nevertheless, to 'see' God's 'mouth' stretch into a smile is an important vision.

With the coming of Jesus into the world, the laugh of God becomes a smile of mercy. Perhaps we could say that Jesus is God's Smile.

We know God has a sense of humor. All we have to do is look around... Look at the funny looking animals he evolved. Look in the mirror.

I think comedians have a natural ministry to all of us. God blesses us through comedy. (Of course some comedians are so coarse that the funniness gets lost.) I remember reading a sermon by Reinhold Niebuhr that connects humor and faith. Laughter is a form of ecstasy--a 'going-out-of-one's-self.' To get outside of ourselves is a movement in the direction of faith and love.

Some of the very serious religious leaders of Jesus' day thought he had too much fun. Anyone having that much fun must be doing something wrong, they thought.

For me, learning to laugh at myself is an important part of my spirituality. Lately I've had much to laugh at when I look back at my anxiety about things--my worries and my fears and my anger.

I wonder why the words grinning and grace and gratitude all start the same way.

Leave

It's hard to let go. We hang onto traditions, to the known ways, to safe methods, to
easy solutions, to predictable outcomes.

But Christ calls us to surrender. "Into Thy hands..." is the Christian mantra.

Hanging onto our earthly securities is the habit of our lower nature.


In the natural cycle there must be death in order for new life to come. In our life of faith, the same is true.

As a leader I've had to let go of my attempts to change other people and their attitudes. I knew better; but my lower nature got the best of me. I'm learning to let go--to surrender to reality, which is to cooperate with the Holy One.

Sometimes our expectations have to die in order for God's will to be done. "I will not let go! I will not let go!" we cry. But we're wasting our breath. The wind of God will eventually blow us loose from our fears and illusions.

Baptized people have been grafted into Christ. It is that vital connection that gives life.

I'm still learning to let go.


[photo by me.]

No light without shadows

The changing leaves remind us of the transforming power of God. Someone has said that a 'saint' is someone who lets the light of God shine through their life.

I just finished reading Robert Johnson's memoir, Balancing Heaven and Earth. Johnson has been a major Jungian writer for several decades. Jungian psychology certainly goes outside the bounds of orthodox Christian theology. Nevertheless, Carl Jung's discoveries about our Inner Journey has its helpful aspects. Jung's way of framing the human experience appears to me to be authentic when he writes about Individuation, the Collective Unconscious, Archetyptes, introversion/extroversion, dream symbolism, etc. Robert Johnson's memoir nudged me to be more aware of psychological balance, God's providential guidance, and our need to wait on God.

Wholeness (and health) contains both light and darkness, brightness and shadow. Accepting of life as it is-- embracing ourselves as we are, warts and all--is the road to wholeness. Don't misunderstand--I'm not saying that we don't need to improve ourselves; there is always room for improvement. (In fact, someone has said that the largest room in the world is the 'room for improvement.') But to try and get rid of the shadow side of ourselves is to also snuff out the light.  


[photo taken by me at Carillon Park]