Practicing our faith

I've just finished re-reading a book edited by Dorothy Bass -- Practicing Our Faith. Having read it several years ago, I went back to it at this time because our joint Lenten Studies with Westminster this year will deal with 'Christian practices.' Brian and I are in the process of deciding which 'practices' we will cover during the five evenings during Lent. (We haven't set the day of the week yet.)

Each chapter of this book is written by a different author. The chapters cover these practices:

Honoring the body
Hospitality
Household economics
Saying yes and saying no
Keeping sabbath
Testimony
Discernment
Shaping communities
Forgiveness
Healing
Dying well
Singing our lives

And, of course, there are other practices not covered in this book.

The season of Lent is a time of intentionally growing closer to God. Focusing on the historical spiritual practices of the Church is one way of getting closer to God.
Let me share some random quotes from this book...

"Forgiveness is not simply a one-time action...it involves us in a whole way of life...Its central goal is to reconcile, to restore communion--with God, with one another, and with the whole creation."

"By the fourth century, governance and leadership of a certain kind [in the church] triumphed, largely because Christianity gained status as a universal imperial faith in an empire walking the edges of disintegration. To state it without nuance: stability won out over change, hierarchy prevailed over egalitarianism, male-held office triumphed over gender equality, power was more centralized than dispersed, and social, political, and economic privilege lodged with the few rather than the many."

"Jesus constituted his community around power turned upside down."

"The discerning person can tell when prayer is not genuine contact with God but a conversation with oneself; when apparent humility is actually a twisted from of pride; when a vision is really an hallucination and an ecstasy a psychosomatic disturbance; when inspirations are projections of suspect desires and when a vocation to celibacy is more a flight from intimacy than a call from God."

"The Holy Spirit eludes capture by any formula."

"On the Lord's Day the people of God celebrate a mock trial, in which the law is read, confession and testimony obtained, and the verdict once again given as it was once before all time."

"What is not good on Sabbath, or in Sabbath time? Not good are work and commerce and worry."

"It is a good deed for married couples to have sexual intercourse on the Sabbath Day."

"The New Testament word for hospitality: philoxenia, a love of the guest or stranger."

Quodlibet

While reading the journal Touchstone, I come upon the term "quodlibet," which is translated "whatever." That intrigues me. I google it. I find that it is both a musical term and a philosophical term.

What follows is from http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-quo1.htm

"Quodlibet" --Either a topic for (or exercise in) philosophical or theological discussion, or a light-hearted medley of well-known tunes.

What a shift of meaning this humble if slightly exotic term has undergone. Though the first sense has fallen out of day-to-day use, it is usually given in dictionaries because philosophers at times have cause to refer to some medieval quodlibet, as here in The Review of Metaphysics of June 2003: “In his Quodlibet III, disputed in 1288, Giles of Rome asked ex professo whether the will could move itself.”

These disputations, often on subtle points of logic or religious doctrine, were frequently exercises or improvised oral examinations for students, in the same spirit as moots (mock court cases) are for the legal fraternity. This may be why this Latin word was given to them, as it derives from quod, what, plus libet, it pleases, so roughly “what pleases you” or “as you like”. It seems to have had much the same idea behind it as the modern hand-waving whatever — argue away, the word seems to be saying, the result is of little consequence.

How it got from philosophy to music is intriguing, not least because it didn’t happen in English. In the late Middle Ages in Germany, quodlibet started to be applied to type of humour that featured daft lists of items loosely combined under an absurd theme — one example was objects forgotten by women fleeing from a harem. Something similar happened in France, where a quodlibet became a witty riddle — even today, avoir de quolibet means to produce clever repartee on demand.

The German idea of the humorous conglomeration was first applied to a musical composition by Wolfgang Schmeltzl in 1544 and the name later became the usual term in that language for facetious combinations of tunes haphazardly combined. Famous examples exist in works

by Bach and Mozart in the eighteenth century. In this connection it certainly lives up to the idea behind the Latin word, since the aim is to produce a humorous amalgam of tunes to please the audience.

While the disputational sense is recorded in English from the twelfth century, the musical one only appears in 1845 and was clearly borrowed from German.

***

So, a musical 'whatever' and a philosophical 'whatever.'

By the way, that question about the will -- can the will move itself? -- is a good one. The whole notion of predestination revolves around that question.

Whatever!

book of sermons

I've finished reading Reuben Swanson's book of sermons,
Bread? or Crumbs? Twenty-eight sermons...360 pages.

Swanson is a Lutheran minister and has done some scholarly work in the field of the Greek New Testament. His form of writing sermons on the page is unusual. It looks like this:

How mysteriously God works.
He breathes into us,
he inspirits us
as the waters of baptism are placed upon our brow
and we come alive in the Spirit.
God inbreathed us
in that moment of time when the waters of baptism
were splashed upon us.
At that moment you and I became a child of Go,
no longer a creature
shaped and molded from dust,
but shaped and molded in the image of our Father God.

This form gives a poetic feel to the content. He uses good metaphors and similes. As you can see by the quote above, he has a strong Lutheran sense of the objective nature of the sacraments. That is, they don't just symbolize something--they do something. So, when Paul says that in baptism we are put "into" Christ, that's what actually happens. We are re-positioned. We are baptized "into" Christ. That's how we get to be "in" Christ. The Lutherans take baptism quite seriously as the vehicle for salvation, believing that the promise of Christ is actually enacted when the Word and the Water are given according to the promise of Christ. Luther used to say he knew he belonged to God because "I am baptized." He wasn't talking about baptism as some kind of mechanical ritual; he meant that receiving the promise of Christ through baptism, he had actually received the promise. Baptism was for him the objective manifestation of the invisible grace of God in Christ.

When Baptists ask, "Have you had a conversion experience?" -- Lutherans say, "Yes, I had it at my baptism."

We Presbyterians are a little more ambiguous about baptism. Our official statements of faith and our official worship services say that we are washed of sin and born anew in baptism. But many Presbyterians think that sounds too Catholic. We have been influenced by the American pioneer spirit of individualism and evangelicalism. We think we have to have a subjective, personal 'experience.'

But the Lutheran understanding of faith and sacraments says that the objective 'experience' of baptism becomes a subjective experience of grace by our response of faith. Lutherans don't depend upon subjective feelings or subjective experiences. They depend upon the promise of Christ himself--which is made visible in baptism. I like that emphasis on the objectivity of salvation. It is a fact. It is finished. It is made manifest in Word and Water. Faith doesn't depend upon how I feel or what I experience; it is a fact whether or not I feel it or experience it. And the fact is made visible in baptism. There is something hearty and substantial about the Lutheran objectivity of the gospel.

I served as a Lutheran pastor for almost four years--St. Peter Lutheran Church. It was a wonderful experience. I found out that Lutherans have a clearer sense of their tradition than Presbyterians do. They don't complain about hymns that are hard to sing. But they also have that ecclesiastical disease: Wenditwab (We've Never Done It That Way Before).

Anyway, Dr. Swanson's book of sermons (he's in his 90's) was a good read. I doubt that anyone except preachers read books of sermons. I'm happy to say that I didn't go to sleep.

The sports pages

When I was visiting Jack and Jean the other day, Jean told me that she used to read the whole paper (newspaper), and Jack would read only the sports pages. But now she reads the sports pages too. The reason is that someone told her that she should always read the sports pages because with all the bad news you need to read about victory. And in the sports pages someone always wins.

I had never thought of the sports pages as a source of hope, but I guess they can be. Someone always wins.

St. Paul uses sports metaphors. He writes, "I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (1 Cor. 9.26-27)

Ultimately, we 'win the prize' because Christ has won the prize for us already. He came to gather the 'losers' into his kingdom and make them 'winners.' He has won the contest with evil.

Let the great words of Paul ring in your ears: "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks to be God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(1 Cor. 15.56-57)

Let's all read the sports pages.

John Updike

John Updike has died. A great author. I read his 'Rabbit' books and some others. My daughter and I went to hear him give a lecture in Indianapolis back in the late 80s. His faith was Protestant; his theology was Barthian. I've used his poem below in my preaching. It expresses a faith with theological guts.

“Seven Stanzas at Easter” from Telephone Poles and Other Poems by John Updike.

Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His Flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that — pierced — died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.

ecumenical car

A priest and a rabbi operated a church and a synagogue across the street from each other. Since their schedules intertwined, they decided to go in together to buy a car. After the purchase, they drove it home and parked it on the street between them.

A few minutes later, the rabbi looked out and saw the priest sprinkling water on their new car. It didn't need a wash, so he hurried out and asked the priest what he was doing.

"I'm blessing it," the priest replied.

The rabbi considered this a moment, then went back inside the synagogue.

He reappeared a moment later with a hacksaw, walked over to the back of the car and cut off two inches of the tailpipe.

The Lid

"Keep a lid on it." So goes the saying. "Don't leave the lid up!" Another saying. Usually said with more gusto. The ongoing male-female war. As St. Paul said in Romans 7 -- I know what I should do, but I don't do it.

Men can't ask for directions or remember to put the lid down. Change is hard. Chains are hard too. They work. Sometimes you have to take strong measures.

What goes up must come down. Or should come down. But if it doesn't even go up, well, there's going to be a mess. Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem.

I have another comment, but I've been told to keep a lid on it.

Good luck.

I found this in the newsletter of the Episcopal Church in Xenia:

"May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips. May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face; and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address. In simple words... May 2009 be the best year of your life!"

(the photo was not in the newsletter)

de te loquitur

Martin Luther said that the best way to read the Bible is always to assume de te loquitur, "it's talking about you." not your neighbor or someone else.

Granddady Simmons

Today (January 15) is the birthday of Naysa Simmons, born in 1774. His daughter was Martha Simmons. Her son was Joel Hunt. He had a daughter named Nancy Hunt. She had a son named Alonzo Pardue who had a daughter, Dorothy Pardue. She married Raymond Crawford, and their first of ten children was Christine Crawford. She married Ernest McLaughlin, and they had one son: ME.

Naysa Simmons is my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. He was 15 years old when the Constitution of the United States was ratified. Happy Birthday, Granddaddy Simmons!

We all come from somewhere. St. Paul said that we all descended from the same person. (Acts 17.26)

[photo taken in Carlisle]

caskets

There is a Trappist Monastery in Iowa that makes caskets. You are order them online. Hand made. Beautiful. Cheaper than your average funeral home casket. Different styles.

Paul makes an amazing statement. He says to believers in Christ: You have died; and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

We have already died!

We have been baptized into Christ's death (Romans 6). We have been crucified with Christ. (Gal. 2)

Hmm.

The Trappist site is:

www.trappistcaskets.com

Neuhaus

Father Richard John Neuhaus had died at age 72. He was a brilliant Lutheran pastor and scholar for many years. Then he converted to Catholicism and became a Catholic priest.
He was the editor of the journal First Things. I have subscribed to that journal over the years many times. It's an intellectual journal with articles about theology, politics, ethics, the arts, etc.
I read several of Fr. Neuhaus' books. The one that had such an influence on the cultural and religious debate in our country was The Naked Public Square. His book The Catholic Moment (1987) helped me get a better grasp of Catholic theology.
I found Neuhaus' writings to be intellectually stimulating. He became one of the leading religious spokesmen for the Neo-Con movement; and the term 'Theo-Con' became associated with him. His positions on some issues were more conservative than mine. But I appreciated the fact that he took thoughtful stances and spoke out of a comprehensive knowledge of Christian history and Christian thought.

the faith of science

Scientists have to have faith--faith that there is order in the universe. A biologist writes an article about two kinds of faith: scientific and religious. Not contradictory faiths, but complemenatary faiths.
Read the article here:

http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=vjbjz38zbm2ng3j9cl2hxydbfj1w2yfy

bumper sticker

Sighted on bumper sticker:

Lord, walk beside me with your arm on my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.

Michael Oher

While on Christmas vacation I read a fascinating book. At least fascinating to me.
I love professional football. I describe it as 'fast, violent chess.' Football is not just big men banging into each other; it is a very strategic game.

Michael Lewis' book Blind Side tells the story of Michael Oher, a large black guy who grew up in the ghetto of east Memphis. His mother was a drug addict. His father had been murdered. Michael roamed the streets and hardly went to school at all. But through a remarkable set of events he ended up at a rich, white, private Christian school where they took him under their wings and did the impossible. He was adopted by a wealthy, white family. Tutors worked with him non-stop. He was put on the football team. To make a long story short, Michael Oher has just finished four years at Ol' Miss as an offensive lineman. He is now a top prospect to be drafted by the NFL to make millions of dollars.

Michael Lewis' book deals with football theory--especially the left tackle position that has come to be a high-paying spot on NFL teams. He deals with a real human story that is truly inspiring (I found myself brushing away tears a couple of times). He deals with racism and social class discrimination in our nation--and in sports. He writes about the almost inevitable dead-end lives of highly talented people growing up in certain areas of the country.

I have recently read that this book will be made into a movie.

The human spirit is amazing.

Gray

"Thanks to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of human beings--either a liberal or a conservative."
(Kurt Vonnegut, "Cold Turkey," In These Times, May 10, 2004)

This blog is called 'amazing grays' because I believe there is two much Black-and-White thinking in our world.
To over-simplify life is to 'bear false witness.'
Life is complex; people are complex.

Consider race.
'White' people are not even white; they are beige.
'Black' people are not black; they are brown.

Conservatives and liberals are usually a mixture of both.
I can't put myself in a nice, neat niche.
On some issues I am very liberal; on others I am very conservative; on still other issues I am in the middle.
Ever read a good novel? It was good because the characters are complex, not wooden. Good literature mirrors real life, not some make-believe black-and-white world.

The best of people are partly bad.
The worst of people are partly good.
We are all mixed up.

But we continue to use labels for people.
When we use labels we are refusing to see people as they really are.

The ministry of Jesus was one of calling the best out of people.
Jesus knew that everyone is good (created in the image of God) and bad (refusing to reflect God's glory).
We are sinners; but we are good sinners.
We are good people; but we are good people who do bad things.

At our core we are good.
I base this belief on Genesis one--where God creates everything, then says, "It is good."
Our goodness came before 'the fall.' Therefore, our goodness is basic.
Of course, our goodness is now tainted by sin.
But sin is not our basic nature--goodness is.
Human existence is now an entanglement of virtue and vice; of righteousness and unrighteousness; of light and darkness.
To view anyone as all good or all bad is an inaccurate analysis.

Reinhold Niebuhr's writings are very helpful in this regard. He understood the ambiguity of individual and collective existence.

Life is gray.
I don't mean that there is nothing absolute. There is: God.
But human existence must be differentiated from God.
Life is full of amazing grays.
The amazing complexity and ambiguity of life makes it interesting.
It also means that everyone must depend upon the grace of God for salvation; for only God is absolutely 'unmixed' and pure.

Vonnegut had a point.
We need to stop using labels for people and recognize
the ambiguity we all live with.
It's never 'us' and 'them.' It's always 'us.'
Commonality cannot be denied.

Self-righteousness likes to maintain the Black-and-White distinction.
(I'm good, you're bad.... I'm right, you're wrong.)
It's fun to be self-righteous. I know.

norah with grammy

norah with a thought

norah with her feet

norah with teddie

norah with 'nilla

norah and cosmo her dog

xmas in ala

Christmas in Alabama.