I thought good news was supposed to be palatable…

St. Isaac the Syrian (ortodox icon)
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YouTube – MSNBC Host Makes Rob Bell Squirm: “You’re Amending The Gospel So That It’s Palatable!”.

Rob Bell squirming? I guess it depends on your perspective. I find the polemical and propositional tone of the interview embarrassing at its source more than its reception. I’d be squirming in my effort to remain polite. I haven’t read Bell’s book yet, but I recognise in his argument a proximity to the Eastern Orthodox stance – an understanding that I suspect many of his detractors have no clue about.

Many are the ancient pioneers of the church, along with Augustine, who thought about and reflected on the nature of God’s love revealed and experienced through Jesus. Why the west dips its lid only to Augustine is beyond me! Origen, Irenaeus and a host of others are well worth listening to. St. Isaac the Syrian in the sixth century writes “Paradise is the love of God” and he also writes “…those who are punished in Gehennah, are scourged by the scourge of love”. So the “fire” is the love of God, and we experience His love as either divine love, or as painful “scourge”. See an article from the Orthodox point of view at Heaven and Hell in the Afterlife, According to the Bible.

It would be a good exercise to compare/contrast Rob Bell’s thinking  alongside sound eastern Christian views that have withstood 2000 years of faith and practice.

Disaster fatigue? Donors keep dipping into their pockets

John Donne, one of the most famous Metaphysica...
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Disaster fatigue? Donors keep dipping into their pockets.

This article in the Sydney Morning Herald was written after Christchurch but before Japan! Every indication is that the phenomena of generous responses to sufferers of an unprecedented string of natural disasters continues.

Why is it so? Is it that the depths of sheer collective human empathy run so deep that we will never completely plumb the depths? If so, that’s an encouraging sign for the human race, especially the more well off side often castigated for its self-centredness.

Is it that on this planet ark we feel such a precarious hold on existence that a threat of annihilation to part is perceived as a danger to the whole, and that acts of generosity should be construed to be motivated by an unconscious urge for self-preservation? If so, and depending on one’s predisposition, this could be a heartening sign of the will and drive of the human species to survive. On the other hand, some might perceive this as a selfish motivation and a reduction of the human spirit to mere pragmatism.

So what’s the answer? Some will go into caves to contemplate – others will roll their sleeves up and get stuck into helping whatever way they can. Most will simply try to live their lives according to familiar routines, because this is the best way we know how to cope.

But John Donne was right: “No man [sic] is an island.” No-one remains unaffected. And we will continue to choose our responses.

Epiphanies of Grace launched

Dayspring Centre for Christian Spirituality & Counselling today launched Epiphanies of Grace: Poems and Psalms from the Dayspring community. The launch marks the tenth anniversary of Dayspring’s official presence on the Perth scene.

Dayspring began as a brave venture exploring the possibility of contemplative spirituality amongst folk from a largely conservative and evangelical context – a bit like mixing oil and water, some would wryly observe. Through its program of retreats, workshops, accredited coursework and an extremely well accredited spiritual direction program, Dayspring has acquitted itself well as an ecumenical ministry.

This has not been without its struggle. Dayspring has had its lean times – energy, money and personnel wise.

At the launch, I recited my Orchard Psalm from 2003 and I feel it describes Dayspring’s journey as well as my own at the time. It’s based on Colossians 1:3-14 and was written after helping with some work in New Norcia’s monastery orchard.

Lord, you not only would have me bear fruit
but you say it is already so…
As I look back over my labours and strivings
I see that these have come to nothing –
yet there is richness and fruit abundant –
all the outcomes of your grace!
Were all my strivings worthless then?
Or is there some symbiosis
between my poor labours
and the fecundity of your grace?

In the monastery orchard,
I see fruit trees and vines,
simply being what they are,
bearing fruit in rich fullness.
Yet we laboured to complete the frames
to protect the fruit from marauding fowl.
The frames and the labour that went into them
did not produce the fruit;
however, they guard and protect
what grace has given.
So, Father, may I see my labours –
a response to your grace, to guard and protect,
that all may taste the prodigality of your love!

The book is available from Dayspring at $20 AUS

Temptations – no big deal?

Temptation of Christ (The Temptation on the Mo...
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Temptation is a big deal because it looks like no big deal! Even for Jesus when he is tested by the devil out in the wilderness having fasted 40 days & 40 nights (Matthew 4:1-11) – right? Wrong!

How many times have I heard it said that the temptations were no big deal for Jesus because – after all – he was the Son of God and had the supernatural power to resist!

If this were the case – Jesus would fail to inspire me. If I am to follow his way I need to be confidant that he was homo sapiens in every way – including being tempted every way as I am.

Then there is the nature of the temptations themselves. Don’t focus on the acts – its not about overindulging on chocolate or cheating on income tax. I like what John Shea says about being pulled from expressing one’s true sense of identity when someone else hijacks the agenda. We are distracted from our course. It is the devil who is the initiator and driver of the discourse in the wilderness temptation stories.

It would be easy to focus only on my and the world’s material need – especially in the wake of disaster after disaster and as I watch repeated footage of the horrendous tsunami sweeping over Japan’s coastline. But even as we respond, we realise we need more than bread and shelter to fulfil our human destiny.

I could succumb to the strident demands for “proof of God” that are becoming more and more prevalent and waste a lot of time performing verbal and philosophical tricks that would do little more than entertain., but this distracts me from my true course of living generously from God’s Spirit.

I could put all my faith in the political party that seems closest to bringing about the kind of society that the Sermon on the Mount celebrates, but my focus then becomes displaced as the plumb line shifts and I am forced into compromise for the sake of expedience.

Jesus knew who he was – he had heard himself named and acknowledged as “the Beloved in whom YHWH (the Heart/Mind behind the universe – thanks Bruce Sanguin) is well pleased”. That’s why he beat the wilderness temptations – he was not distracted by arguably worthy but incomplete considerations.

But – is this not the identity of all who seek to follow his light?

This is where my sermon-crunching is heading for tomorrow.

Taking a reading tablet…

I’ve regarded myself as having kept reasonable pace with the techno revolution, but a Luddite corner of my soul has been resisting getting a tablet upon which I can read my e-books. I’ve been in love with books ever since I could read and I have walls lined with crammed bookshelves all the way to the ceiling. There is nothing like the feel of a good book, it looks inviting, it smells delicious, and the tactile adventure of turning its pages has no equal. Necessity has lately had me adding e-books to the catalogue.

This week no less than three colleagues have announced to me their conversion to tablets. And – horror of horrors – I am tugged in their direction! The appealing advantages include the increasing instantaneous availability of e-books, friendliness to the book budget, and the reduced pressure on the environment. Portability of a whole library of books at a reduced weight when travelling is also a strong selling point.

What of those of us who cling to the aesthetics of a tangible artifact? Well there are tablets that replicate the look and feel of turning a page – all that’s needed is a pheromone atomiser that releases the aroma of old paper at the push of a button.

So- to take a tablet or not? The jury is deliberating.

We did Ash Wednesday last night…

About forty of us gathered at the neighbouring church across the valley. We prayed and reflected to a stirring rendition of Psalm 51 by Evelyn Tubb (can’t find the track on the web anywhere!) and watched as our celebrant, Neville Watson, burned gum leaves to form the ashes with which we would be daubed. Gum leaves representing the political and social realities of the Australian community of which we are a part and which needs redemption.
There was a box of tissues. Take a tissue, Neville said, and wipe the ashes from your forehead if you intend them to be a show of pious ostentation, or if you fear that you will be called to account for your witness. Neither ostentation nor timidity are worthy of the road of discipleship. But if you would humbly walk the road and carry the challenge of learning from the Christ, leave the tissues in the box.

As the cover on the service sheet said:

The burning that generates the ashes
reflects misdirected passion
and the searing apathy
which renders hope barren
and suppresses change

To take the sign of the cross
is to allow oneself
to be stretched out wide
in solidarity with the Christ
and to believe that life can begin again

Firing up church and community connections

Pardon the weak headline – but there seems to be a thing about shop fires and church communities in our family affairs. Shopping centres and churches in town planning seem to have symbiotic connections. There are practical benefits like negotiated shared parking, one stop benefits for shopping and participation in church programs and the ambience that builds community as shoppers, business owners and church leaders relate to each other on a day to day basis. Then a crisis hits! The shopping centre burns down and the church is left to respond to a community that mourns the loss of a familiar “neighbourhood.”
It’s over two years since it happened to us and the story is told earlier on this blog (see also the stories that follow). Now it’s happened to the church where my nephew, Mark Riessen, leads ministry. The church has vacated its offices making them available as a shop front for the use of several service providers whose premises were badly smoke damaged. It’s a good news story hitting the front page of their local paper (go to March 9th edition).
Fires are devastating and one wonders what good can come from them. The trauma experienced by those concerned are answered, however, by acts of generosity and goodwill that might otherwise remain hidden. It is not the job of the church to provide these, but to recognise, stimulate, coax and encourage – maybe with a bit of modelling. The community at large discovers what is precious and what makes it a community.

Celebrating International Women’s Day

Today is well marked, but it is yesterday’s contribution from Native Wisdom for White Minds that seems apt. I quote it in full:

The assumptions that were made about the roles of Aboriginal women by these men were based on gross misconceptions. Women were regarded as having little authority in Aboriginal society. Such observations were made by the white men imposing their own cultural values on Aboriginal society.
– Maggie Kavanagh

When tribal people observe Western culture, they often state that the women and their work seem to have no value and that this bias is projected onto them as well.

In Western culture, women seem to believe that to be of value, they need to be of value in the same way men are.

What have we to learn from a culture where all work is valued and people are valued as they do it?

We have a lot to learn about what would happen if women were women and men were men and each did the work they were called to do.

It occurs to me the last sentence could be open to misunderstanding, particularly when taken out of context. It is the argument that has often been used by a patriarchal system to oppress women and keep them in subjugative roles. Shift the focus to “the work they are called to do” and there is the potential  for a vast shift in perspective, depending on whether one sees vocation as fixed or imaginatively creative. I celebrate the women (and men – but, today, particularly the women) who have broken barriers to imaginatively and creatively answer their calling.


A CRE teacher reflects…

I begin this year’s round of Christian Religious Education (CRE) classes at the local primary school tomorrow – this is in response to the national statutory permission for churches to negotiate access to Education Department schools for the purpose of “religious instruction” for 30 minutes per class per week.

The experience for a student is quite different from my day, when any untrained but enthusiastic volunteer could enter the classroom and give forth. I remember the dutiful but boring clergyman with the collar that came in and droned on from some book for half an hour. I also remember the delightful motherly woman who told great stories and knew how to engage and encourage us. We knew we mattered to her, collectively and individually.

To teach CRE today, one has to be trained to standards acceptable to the Education Department and observe a curriculum that is negotiated between the churches’ representative service provider and the school authorities. In Western Australia, the CRE curriculum works hand in hand with the values component of the school syllabus.

I experience more adrenalin stepping into a classroom than behind a pulpit. A classroom is a microcosm of the diversity and multiculturalism of our society and one can make no assumptions  about family background and experience. I do not have the luxury of assuming common motives and values where “religious education” is concerned yet there is the responsibility to assist each student along a learning pathway.  The 30 minute lesson strategy is to open up  for exploration a common experience – for example “What is it like to receive generosity? What is it like to offer generosity? What are situations where it might or might not apply?” We would then look at the contribution of the Christian tradition from Bible and people’s lives for further understanding. A period of ideas for application and reflection brings the session to a close. At such times I sometimes feel I receive more wisdom from the kids than what I impart.

The value of CRE is always under scrutiny by church and school alike. The school I serve is very supportive and considers CRE a valuable contributor to its ethos and educational philosophy. It is easy to rest on laurels in such a situation. At the age of 61, perhaps I should stop feeling nervous before entering a classroom – but if I did, I suspect that would be the time to quit teaching.