Thomas Merton - My Mouthpiece

As Moses needed Aaron as his mouthpiece, perhaps I am in need of a mouthpiece, perhaps of several mouthpieces. In my previous post, Archbishop Ndungane was my mouthpiece. In this post, I choose Thomas Merton.

The Living Spirit

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and will never leave me to face my perils alone.

"Well, Amen, In Deed, Guvner."

MadPriest has posted the entire text of a sermon given in Westminster Abbey by Anglican Archbishop Ndungane of South Africa.

I'm not going to post the whole sermon. I'll pick and choose, because I view portions of the sermon as pertinent to my post below, which I now see as lacking in both eloquence and right thinking, and yet, though I may have strayed off track, I ended up in the right place, in my humble opinion.

Archbishop Ndungane:

...The life of faith is first and foremost about our relationship with our God. It is not about how good our behaviour is. Nor does it hinge on how correct our theology is. Nor does it hinge on our stance on human sexuality. What God really cares about is whether we love him.

The first commandment is that we should love him, with all our heart and mind and soul and strength - that in the depths of our being we should yearn for him, and yearn to grow in love and knowledge of him, above all else. God loves us with an outrageous exuberance. He loves us far, far more than is reasonable or rational or sensible. He loves us to death - literally, to his own death, in Jesus on the cross. And the desire of this God, who is love, is that we should share in this overflowing, excessive and abundant love - with him, and with others.

....

Paul argues a similar point - it is by faith in Jesus Christ that we are justified. We are not saved by being orthodox in our theology, or good in our behaviour. What matters is whether Jesus is the touchstone at the heart of our lives. Our primary identity must be that of being 'crucified with Christ' so that 'it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.'

The first consequence of this is that by being united with him, we are automatically united to everyone else who is 'in Christ.' This is a gift of God, and it is a given. No matter how deep our divisions, we cannot change this fact. We would do well to remember this. The second consequence lies in remembering that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and he is the one who, by the Spirit, will continue to lead us into all Truth. Being led by him is what enables us to dare to tackle the difficult question of how to enunciate the eternal gospel truths in the changing circumstances of our world. In other words, being in Christ is what allows us to change our interpretation of Scripture.

I hope I have not shocked you by saying this! Please be reassured that I am NOT saying that 'anything goes' and we can make of Scripture whatever we like - or just ignore it where it suits us. But we have to be honest about this. There are areas of life where we have made great changes - not to Scripture itself, but to how we understand it. For example, it is entirely clear that slavery is accepted within the pages of the Bible. Even St Paul says 'Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called. Where you a slave when you were called? Don't be concerned about it!'

....

But we have NOT changed our position on Jesus, and I do not see that we could, and still call ourselves Christians. If anyone wants to pick a fight with me about my faith, let it be on the grounds of my relationship with Jesus, and my belief in who he is: the belief to which Scripture attests and the creeds affirm.

....

Jesus Christ remains the same, yesterday, today and for ever! So, even though some of the church is in turmoil over issues of human sexuality, that should never become the touchstone of orthodox belief. Rather, let the heart of your faith be your love for God, responding to God's love in Christ for you.

Archbishop Ndungane's wisdom and eloquence shine forth the light of Christ.

I did pick and choose large chunks of the sermon, because I believe that it's nearly perfect. I cannot speak as the archbishop does, so perhaps, I should not speak at all. Perhaps, I should allow my life to reflect the light of Christ, or not, whatever is the reality.

However, there's a part of me that says that a humble Christian in the pew, without great knowledge or scholarship, with no position of power whatsoever, may be permitted a few words.

Thanks to MadPriest for the title of this post.

I Did It My Way

The web site, Homosexuality and the Bible, put together by Mennonite, Loren L. Johns, was a great help to me as I tried to work out my views on same-gender sexuality in relation to the Bible. Johns says:

Although my attempt in these pages has been to represent fairly and honestly the best arguments on both sides of this issue, I would like to say at the outset how I personally approach this matter. This issue has proved to be one of the more intractable issues the Mennonite Church has faced. Official church documents clearly call for celibacy on the part of gays and lesbians while also calling the church to remain in loving dialogue as we continue to study the Bible on this issue.

It seems that Johns comes down in favor of the Mennonite Church's call for celibacy, but I believe that he does present the issue, both pros and cons, in an even-handed manner. In a three-column format, he lays out in the first column all the Scripture passages that remotely or possibly reference same-sex sexuality, however tenuous the connection might be. In column two, he gives the interpretation for the passage that demonstrates why it indicates that same-gender sexuality is wrong. In the third column, he explains how another interpretation could show that same-gender sexuality is not necessarily wrong.

When GC 2003, voted consent to the consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire, I agreed with the vote cast by my bishop, Charles Jenkins, who voted against consent. But I could not forget that a majority of the Episcopalians in New Hampshire wanted him for their bishop. Why shouldn't they have him?

As I said in the first of my Confessions,

As the controversy continued to swirl around, I decided to search out the references to homosexual behavior in the Bible. The source that I found most helpful was from the website of Loren L. Johns, a Mennonite. The Gospels, which, to me, are the heart of the Bible, are, as you know, silent on the subject of homosexual practice. Either Jesus did not mention it, or the writers of the Gospel did not think it important enough to include in their accounts of his life and teachings.

Now some will argue about the inclusion or exclusion of certain passages from Johns' list, and others may argue about his interpretation of the pros and cons. Folks have told me that the centurion's servant was really his sex partner and that Jesus' healing of the servant meant that he approved of their relationship. I am not convinced about that, but I am not a Scripture scholar, and I could be wrong.

The passages from the Old Testament were, for me, rather easy to dispose of, because there are so many laws and instructions from the OT that we do not follow today.

I moved on to the New Testament, Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation. For me they were less then completely persuasive, because they include instructions and traditions that we no longer follow with respect to such issues as slavery, women in leadership, women covering their heads, and women keeping silent in worship.

Although Johns puts his list in the sequence that the books appear in the New Testament, I saved the Gospels for last, because I see them as the lens through which I read the rest of the Bible, the heart of the Bible. The Gospels were, for me, the final word. Jesus says nothing about same-sex sexuality. He says a good deal about love and faithfulness. If the proscription against sexual activity between persons of the same sex is vital to the faith life of his followers, why did he say nothing about it? That was most persuasive to me of all.

Whatever the combination of nature and nurture that causes a person to be attracted to members of the same sex, whatever the science - and I believe that we don't yet have all the scientific answers - I'm convinced that being gay or lesbian cannot be reduced to a "lifestyle choice".

Upon thinking and praying further, I came to the conclusion that, since my God is a loving God, that he loves his whole creation, why would he create persons who are attracted to members of the same sex, with the same strong sexual desires as persons attracted to the opposite sex, and expect them never to act on those desires, to live lonely lives bereft of love, and companionship, and faithfulness to another? The God I know and love would not do that.

My friends, this was the path the I traveled, and it is not one that I urge on anyone else. This is my story for better or for worse, from one without great knowledge or scholarship. I may have taken wrong twists and turns. Indeed, I may have come to conclusions based on interpreting the evidence wrongly. I am not lesbian or gay, so I cannot speak from experience. Everything I see in the Jesus of the Gospels points to his welcoming and including all who wished to follow him and help build God's Kingdom on earth.

Whatever mistakes I may have made in finding my way - mostly on my own, with very little advice or counsel - I believe that I came to the right conclusion in the end. I sense the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout as I made my way, and, for me, I believe there's no turning back.

I offer this story humbly, with full knowledge that it is, no doubt, full of imperfections, nevertheless, I thank God for where I am now, and those of you who read this, I thank you for your patience.

From Stephen Colbert

68% of Republicans do not believe in evolution.

Only 6% of monkeys believe in Republicans.


(This is from memory and may not be a direct quote, but the statement about the Republicans is true. I have not been able to verify the monkey poll.)

Going At It Like Rabbits

From the Associated Press:

MILAN, Italy - Wild hares at Milan's Linate airport seem to have only one thing on their mind, and their excessive mating and growing numbers have blocked takeoffs, landings and radar systems.

Officials on Sunday mounted a daylight raid to keep these furry creatures off the runways, part of a twice-annual capture to keep the airport population under control.

It seems that wild hares have similar habits to their smaller kin, the rabbits. "Habits" - "rabbits". There's a lagniappe rhyme for you.

If you think this post resembles a post from another well-known blog, keep this thought in your mind, "Of course, I could be wrong."

I felt the need of something light.

Haunted Vets

From the Washington Post:

Army Spec. Jeans Cruz helped capture Saddam Hussein. When he came home to the Bronx, important people called him a war hero and promised to help him start a new life. The mayor of New York, officials of his parents' home town in Puerto Rico, the borough president and other local dignitaries honored him with plaques and silk parade sashes. They handed him their business cards and urged him to phone.

But a "black shadow" had followed Cruz home from Iraq, he confided to an Army counselor. He was hounded by recurring images of how war really was for him: not the triumphant scene of Hussein in handcuffs, but visions of dead Iraqi children.

In public, the former Army scout stood tall for the cameras and marched in the parades. In private, he slashed his forearms to provoke the pain and adrenaline of combat. He heard voices and smelled stale blood. Soon the offers of help evaporated and he found himself estranged and alone, struggling with financial collapse and a darkening depression.

....

At a low point, he went to the local Department of Veterans Affairs medical center for help. One VA psychologist diagnosed Cruz with post-traumatic stress disorder. His condition was labeled "severe and chronic." In a letter supporting his request for PTSD-related disability pay, the psychologist wrote that Cruz was "in need of major help" and that he had provided "more than enough evidence" to back up his PTSD claim. His combat experiences, the letter said, "have been well documented."

The evaluators turned down Cruz' request for disability pay, because they said that his condition pre-existed before he joined the Army and because he had not proved that he was in combat. So now the troops must prove that they were in combat? Does no one in the Army keep records?

Once celebrated by his government, Cruz feels defeated by its bureaucracy. He no longer has the stamina to appeal the VA decision, or to make the Army correct the sloppy errors in his medical records or amend his personnel file so it actually lists his combat awards.

"I'm pushing the mental limits as it is," Cruz said, standing outside the bullet-pocked steel door of the New York City housing project on Webster Avenue where he grew up and still lives with his family. "My experience so far is, you ask for something and they deny, deny, deny. After a while you just give up."

We send the troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, put them in danger of death and maiming, and then, if they get home in one piece, but require emotional or psychological help, we deny them the treatment they need.

Along with the recent exposés of conditions in military facilities, such as Walter Reed, comes the story of the lack of care for those wounded emotionally and psychologically. The story is not really new. It's been floating around for a while, but the WP pulls it together well.

Perhaps, the WP redeems itself a little for front-paging many stories beating the war drums in the run-up to the Iraq War and burying in the inside pages, Walter Pincus' stories about those who offered dissenting views to the rush to topple Saddam. The dissenting stories were there; I was reading them, but, apparently not enough others were paying attention to slow the madness.

"The paper was not front-paging stuff," said Pentagon correspondent Thomas Ricks. "Administration assertions were on the front page. Things that challenged the administration were on A18 on Sunday or A24 on Monday. There was an attitude among editors: Look, we're going to war, why do we even worry about all this contrary stuff?"

See how that goes? Good for them that we have this story of the denial of mental health care to veterans laid out on the front page. I don't know about you, but a story like this is nearly unbearable for me. The word comes from on high, "Deny, deny, deny."

Veterans Affairs will spend $2.8 billion this year on mental health. However, we spend $200 million per day on prosecuting the war in Iraq.

They occupy every rank, uniform and corner of the country. People such as Army Lt. Sylvia Blackwood, who was admitted to a locked-down psychiatric ward in Washington after trying to hide her distress for a year and a half [story, A13]; and Army Pfc. Joshua Calloway, who spent eight months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and left barely changed from when he arrived from Iraq in handcuffs; and retired Marine Lance Cpl. Jim Roberts, who struggles to keep his sanity in suburban New York with the help of once-a-week therapy and a medicine cabinet full of prescription drugs; and the scores of Marines in California who were denied treatment for PTSD because the head psychiatrist on their base thought the diagnosis was overused.

We have a shameful history in our treatment of Vietnam veterans, and we should know better the consequences of denying help that is urgently needed.

Jeans Cruz and his contemporaries in the military were never supposed to suffer in the shadows the way veterans of the last long, controversial war did. One of the bitter legacies of Vietnam was the inadequate treatment of troops when they came back. Tens of thousands endured psychological disorders in silence, and too many ended up homeless, alcoholic, drug-addicted, imprisoned or dead before the government acknowledged their conditions and in 1980 officially recognized PTSD as a medical diagnosis.

So why do I bother taking note of this story? The WP has many more readers than the small band who gather here, folks who very likely agree with me already. Maybe I do it for me, because I find the story so hard to take in, so hard to bear, that writing about it helps a little.

Happy Father's Day!

HIGH FROM THE EARTH I HEARD A BIRD

High from the earth I heard a bird;
He trod upon the trees
As he esteemed them trifles,
And then he spied a breeze,
And situated softly
Upon a pile of wind
Which in a perturbation
Nature had left behind.
A joyous-going fellow
I gathered from his talk,
Which both of benediction
And badinage partook,
Without apparent burden,
I learned, in leafy wood
He was the faithful father
Of a dependent brood;
And this untoward transport
His remedy for care,—
A contrast to our respites.
How different we are!


Emily Dickinson

What A Scoop!

Tad Lincoln in James Prideaux's The Last of Mrs. Lincoln with Julie Harris, at the Kennedy Center Opera House and the ANTA Theater on Broadway (1972-3)

I do believe I missed my calling as a journalist. Of course, this one was thrown into my lap by the subject himself. Once I had the first bit of information, all it took was a little stalking on the internet to find the picture above.

Here I was thinking, "What on earth will be the subject of my next post? I have nothing. Is my life as a blogger finished, done?" I wasn't in the mood to post about the feast day of Joseph Butler, the sermon-writer and refuter of Deism. We had so many feast days this week, that I was worn out with dealing with saints.

Then I find this in my comments:

In the shameless past-self-promotion vein... in my former life as an actor I performed ages ago (1972) before our nearest thing to royalty: Pat Nixon and Julie Eisenhower, who sat in the presidential box at the Kennedy Center opera house in DC. The play, in its pre-Broadway run, was about another First Lady: The Last of Mrs. Lincoln, with Julie Harris in the titular role. I was Tad Lincoln, the youngest surviving son, who died towards the end of act one. In any case, after the performance, Miss Harris was whisked away by the Secret Service to meet the "royalty" and had her picture taken with them (they both towered over her). When the framed photo arrived some weeks later at the theater in NY, I happened to be present as Julie unwrapped it. She smiled and said, "This will prove to my mother that I've finally made it!"
Thanks for evoking these off-topic memories, and I hope you don't mind the sharing... and glad to hear the other Julie is perhaps having a change of heart about the direction taken by the GOP -- the party of Lincoln!

My friends, the picture is of Tobias Haller, with none other than the great actress, Julie Harris, Yes, the Tobias whom many of us know and love, exercising another of his many gifts. As I told him one day in the comments at his blog, In A Godward Direction, God had chosen to give him an unfair share of gifts. He's a parish priest, a theologian, an artist, a poet, a musician and composer of music, and, his learning notwithstanding, he preaches lovely, accessible sermons. And he's nice to old ladies. I'm sure I'm leaving out a gift or two.

Now we learn that in another life, Tobias was an actor and got to associate with celebrities. It's just too much. Life is surely not fair. However, Jesus had no patience with his followers who complained about the lack of fairness. Remember the parables of the prodigal son and the laborers in the vineyard?

Also, as I said when I complained to him about unfairness, Tobias gives his gifts freely, which is the very reason that God gives each of us gifts.

Tobias, I didn't ask you about this first, because I wanted to surprise you, or shock you, or something. If you don't like it, I will take it down

Feast Day Of Evelyn Underhill

This is late and borrowed, but I want to take note.

From James Kiefer at the Lectionary:

Evelyn Underhill was born in 1875 and grew up in London.
....

Miss Underhill (Mrs. Hubert Stuart Moore) taught that the life of contemplative prayer is not just for monks and nuns, but can be the life of any Christian who is willing to undertake it. She also taught that modern psychological theory, far from being a threat to contemplation, can fruitfully be used to enhance it. In her later years, she spent a great deal of time as a lecturer and retreat director. She died on June 15, 1941.

Poetry by Underhill

To go up alone into the mountains
and come back as an ambassador to the world,
has ever been the method of humanity's best friends.

The windows of Christ's Mysteries split the [Light] up into many-coloured loveliness, disclose all of its hidden richness...make its beauty more accessible to us...And within this place we too are bathed in the light transmitted by the windows, a light which is yet the very radiance of Eternity.

The readings for the feast day are particularly beautiful. Here are excerpts:

From Psalm 96

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

From Wisdom 7

For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;
because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
For she is a breath of the power of God,
and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.
For she is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.

From John 4

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’

PRAYER

O God, Origin, Sustainer, and End of all your creatures: Grant that your Church, taught by your servant Evelyn Underhill, guarded evermore by your power, and guided by your Spirit into the light of truth, may continually offer to you all glory and thanksgiving, and attain with your saints to the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have promised us by our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever.

I am so very pleased that the Book of Wisdom is included in the Lectionary in the Episcopal Church.

READINGS:

Psalm 96:7-13 or 37:3-6,32-33
Wisdom 7:24--8:1
John 4:19-24

TGIF

Voila! I have just returned from my monthly visit to my hairdresser for a wash, cut, and style for a grand total of $18, $15 for the service and a $3 tip. If I may say so myself, I look quite nice. I wish I could fix my hair as my hairdresser does, but I have no gift for styling hair. My poor daughter had to learn to do her own hair at a young age, because her mother was so lacking.

Well, TGIF, and we don't have to be deeply serious and hard at work all the time. However, I must say that since I've retired, the days seem to run together, except for Sunday, the go-to-church day. We retirees can be thankful for every day.

Of course, I know that some of you out there love your jobs, and never think TGIF. And there are those among you who work weekends, like the many priests and pastors in my vast readership, and others who toil away for the benefit of the rest of us, like our staunch Presbyterian friend Ed, the simple village organist.

While I was at the beauty shop today, a young woman with a little boy toddler was there. My hairdresser had a lavender plastic spritzer bottle on her counter. The young boy wanted that bottle badly. He kept going back to try to get it, as his mother repeatedly told him that he could not have it and led him away.

Now, I'm going to get serious again. Is the young boy toddler's intense desire for the lavender spritzer bottle proof-positive that he will grow up to be gay?