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April 26, 2005
The Countdown to Narnia begins...December 9th
I won't be sitting in line months or weeks, or even days early for any movie, but I definitely will be gearing up with excitement each passing day as the release of the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe gets closer.
I just hope that the movie will be able to capture even a part of the magic of these books.
Check out these short featurettes.
Posted by Admin at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. -- Jim Elliot (missionary)
I think it's about time that someone has made a movie about the lives of Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint and Roger Youderian. I just didn't expect the major driving force and financier behind it to be someone who has never been to a movie in their life. Check out this fascinating story in Christianity Today about Mart Green, who is now founder and CEO of Mardel.
The movie, Beyond the Gates re-tells the story of these five men who were speared and hacked to death by the Auca Indians in Ecudador, after some attempts at befriending them.
Probably the most famous of them was Jim Elliot, who was married then, to the now present Christian author and speaker, Elisabeth Elliot.
Their story is an amazing story, and I'm interested at what this film will be like.
Posted by Admin at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2005
A New Kind of Old Christian
Well put piece by Brian McClaren.
He's right. When we refer to what a Christian should look like, who are we talking about? I know most of us would say Jesus, but is that really how we live our Christian lives. Depending on where you stand at times, can often color your outlook. I see Christianity very differently as a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary than someone from another seminary. I see Christianity very differently as a member of a PCUSA church, than someone from a non-denominational church. I see Christianity very differently not only living in America, but also living in California, in contrast to the rest of the world and the rest of the country.
I agree that there must be both "pioneers and settlers" in Christianity, and I think that the two help bring stability to the whole.
Posted by Admin at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)
Wal Mart Seems to be stuck in the middle
The topic of Wal Mart was a lighthing rod on my recent mission trip to Mexico, and so I would be interested in your perspective on this article, and on this topic.
There are those on one side who think Wal Mart practices business in an unethical way from low wages, to sweatshops. And on the other side are those who believe Wal Mart promotes family values and brings an affordable alternative for families.
So I wonder if the question is not really about Wal Mart, but more about capitalism in general. Not a question that says capitalism is all bad or good, but rather that asks, what are the ethics involved in capitalism? How can one operate ethically in a consumer society that always demands the lowest price, at the expense of a working class? How does one operate ethically in a system where anonymity is commonplace: Where we buy our products without any thought to the worker?
For now, I will not ban Wal Mart, or stop shopping there. I am not informed enough on this issue for me to make any sweeping statements. Though I have to say, I probably only go 1-2 times a year if that. But I know that I must be made more aware of moral responsibility as a Christian, as a consumer.
Posted by Admin at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
Discipleship: Coming Out of the Crowd and Ascending the Mountain
"If we would follow Jesus we must take certain definite steps. The first step, which follows the call, cuts the disciple off from his previous existence. … The first step places the disciple in the situation where faith is possible. If he refuses to follow and stays behind, he does not learn how to believe."
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer/ The Cost of Discipleship
Discipleship has been a topic that I have been wrestling with a lot. Mainly because discipleship is such a buzzword (much like community). Everyone talks about wanting discipleship in the church, in their lives, but sometimes I wonder if we really understand what it means. We have ideas, but I think that lot of our ideas about discipleship are more cultural, than they are Biblical. We tend to think of discipleship in terms of steps, which in return will produce results. Immediate results. We want it now. Instant discipleship. Eugene Peterson discusses this issue in his book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society. The title sums up the message of discipleship, which is a "long obedience in the same direction." Interesting that Peterson uses the phrase of the German philosopherFriedrich Nietzsche from his book, Beyond Good and Evil, where he states, "The essential thing in heaven and earth is . . . that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results . . . something which has made life worth living." Discipleship is not something that allows for shortcuts. If shortcuts is what we want, than discipleship is not for us. It does not allow for that.
The word disciple (mathete in Greek) means someone who is a "learner...who is apprenticed to another." In discipleship, we are learners, who learn from Jesus Christ. When we follow Him, and take up the call of discipleship, we become apprenticed to him. Like any apprenticeship, it involves close study, long hours, trials, experiments, successes and failures. It involves a close intimacy, often involving one on one learning, or small group learning. Apprenticeship is just not something that can be done in a large group. Discipleship becomes impersonal and non-intimate when it takes place in a large crowd. I would even argue that discipleship for the most part can not take place in a crowd.
You understand this in your own life. When you were in college (or those of you in it now) you may have had a large lecture hall with hundreds of students, and you were lucky if you even showed up to class. Now my students just take the notes from online, and may occassionally show up to the class. Not much apprenticeship or learning takes place in this environment. That is why when students become more serious about their major and begin to think about graduate school or a future career, they tend to want to take up a teacher assistant position, or intern in an environment where they can get hands on experience. The same is true of discipleship. We only truly learn what it means to follow Christ when we move out of the crowd and into a more intimate and relational environement where learning, and apprenticeship can truly take place. There are many reasons for this, though I will take them up in another post.
But the call of Jesus Christ upon our life is a call that moves us out of the crowd and into a relationship with Himself and others, where we live and learn together what it truly means to follow Christ. No text teaches more thoroughly on discipleship in my opinion than the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. It begins:
Matthew 5:1-2 (NIV)
The Beatitudes
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:"
There is this idea where Jesus sees the crowds that are now following Him. And who can blame them. His popularity by this point has begun to grow, as he has moved from town to town healing people, casting out demons. And so the crowds follow Him. But for true discipleship to take place, I believe Jesus sees that there must be this calling out of disciples away from the crowd, away from the masses. And so the passage again says (this time in the Message):
Matthew 5:1-2 (The Message)
You're Blessed
1When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down 2and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:"
Interesting nuances that Peterson brings out in the text. Jesus sees huge crowds following Him, and so he climbs a mountain, calling out to those who are truly committed to Him, to follow Him. This is where the crowd and disciples are separated. This is where committment and discipleship is separated from group thinking and popularity contests.
These disciples whom He has called will be His companions that He lives in close, intimate relationship with. He will be their teacher, and they will be apprenticed to Him as they learn what it means to be a disciple. I believe this is how discipleship often begins. Jesus has put a call upon your life, and He is asking you to step out of the crowd and away from the masses so that you can learn from Him. Discipleship can not be learned in the crowd, because it requires no committment...because there is no relationship in a crowd. But moving out of the crowd into a group, or into a one on one partnership, requires relationship. It requires committment.
Jesus has called you out of the crowd, up to the mountain so that He can begin a relationship with you, and teach you all that He knows. Not so that you can keep it to yourself, but rather, so you can go back down the mountain and become a teacher to those in the crowd. It is interesting that a mountain is what He climbed, and that those who wanted to learn from Him followed Him up, while the others stayed below. Climbing a mountain is hard work, so most of us don't climb. Discipleship is hard work, so most of us don't become a disciple.
The beautiful thing about this passage, and about discipleship is that it requires you not to live up on the mountain, only soaking in mountain top, camp experiences. Rather, it requrires of you that the true work of discipleship is in the world. So the disciples will not stay on the mountain, but will descend, and will go out into the world. Discipleship is a call upon your life that demands of you to go back out into the world, but this time as an apprentice to Jesus Christ, and not someone who is lost in the crowd. Jesus does not forget about the masses, but rather has given us some of the responsibility of being a disciple to them.
But more on this another time.
As we begin this dialogue on discipleship, there are some books I want to recommend. I have already listed above, Peterson's book, "A Long Obedience......." No one writes better on discipleship than Eugene Peterson. Where some pastors and theologians are content with programming and quick steps, and instant salvation, Peterson understands the long, hard, grueling work of following Christ, and of being a disciple and making disciples. That's why I recommend and love his new book, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology. It is amazing. Like discipleship, this book is a slow, long read, that must be thought through, and read over and over again. I must also talk about Dietrich Bonhoeffer because his work, The Cost of Discipleship, is one of the seminal works in this area. It transformed my life when I was in college, and it continues to do that.
Looking forward to the conversation.....
Posted by Admin at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2005
Changes to our website, blogs...and online sermons.
We are about to make some big changes here at The Quest, and the Director's Corner. Jared Kleier, the amazing student who has been doing our website has been working hard on a new design. I think our current one is great, but that's what separates me from Jared. Jared is able to see the future...how to advance the site...how to plan for more technological advances. Where all I do is click on an icon and add a blog. Thank God that Jared does our site, and not me. The new design will be more clean, simple to navigate, and will have added features. So stay tuned for that switch in the next two weeks.
We will also fix our address, removing the "8000" number. And we are working on an RSS feed. But you will still be able to access the new site with the old address, as it will be instantly re-directed. But stay tuned for this new and exciting move.
Also...we are beginning to upload all sermons from last week and the present onto our Media Page. This is a great advance for us that has been a long time coming. I don't particularly love hearing myself preach, but at least now we will have wider access.
Thanks for visiting our site. Jared, thanks for all the hardwork. We hope you will like the new changes in the future.
Posted by Admin at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)
The new Pope...good post from Summa Aesthetica
Cameron, who is Summa Aesthetica, and I, talked on the phone yesterday about the selection of the new Pope, and we both came to the conclusion: That this must be the right choice, because everyone in the mainstream media is up in arms about the selection. They've made conservatism to be some degenerative, and dangerous disesase. It is just so obvious that the secular world does not only not get conservative, Christian people, or their values, they are almost stupified, and fearful I think over the amount of power the Pope, and conservatives have in this world. Power in the sense, that Christianity is able to draw people together, in a unique way, to live a different life than what the world pushes for. That scares people. And after watching the morning TV show, "The View" this morning, it was obvious that the world doesn't get it, and they would rather bash the Pope if possible.
For some great reading on the new Pope, check out all the postings by Hugh Hewitt.
Cameron posted a great, and simple post this morning...below:
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Habemus papam!
(Preemptive apology...this post is necessarily short due to other writing deadlines)
We have a pope! Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was elected today by his fellow Cardinals to serve as John Paul II's successor. He chose the name Benedict XVI, which could be in honor of the previous Benedict, the WWI era pope who was a staunch opponent of the War and served as a reconciling figure between conservative and modernist elements of the Church. Or, perhaps he intended to invoke the memory of Benedict the great monastic figure whose rule became the standard pattern for Western monasticism (this was my initial impression before I read anything about Benedict XV, and it may be way off the mark).
The big question that is floating around: what should we think about the new pope? Was this a good choice? I am cautiously optimistic, for a few reasons.
I would like to think that we can be reasonably hopeful, trusting that the selection was in some way guided by Providence. I do not want to be too rosy on that point--there are plenty of examples that might give one pause.
Also, to quote a professor whom I respect: "I am not entirely sure what to think of him yet, but he has one thing going for him...all the right people hate him." The fact that he makes certain people nervous is a good sign. While I do not count myself an archconservative, I do not want someone in the driver's seat of the biggest church in the world who likes change for change sake. I am glad he is counted as a conservative, especially by people who would sell the soul of the church for the sake of relevance.
Finally, if he was a trusted advisor and friend of John Paul II, that says something important. I am more than willing to support Benedict XVI. May God guide him as he leads the Roman Church.
Click here for the rest of the article!
posted by Cameron Jorgenson at 8:00 PM | 0 comments
Posted by Admin at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)
addiction to the internet and fasting
I have always claimed that I'm not addicted to much...not tv, electronics, media, etc. Though books is definitely a strong addiction for me. But books are okay right...it's okay to be addicted to them, as long as I'm not addicted to anything else. (I'm joking of course). Well...then our internet at church went down last Thursday during our move across the street. And as of today it's still not up because of the damage caused to it during the move. So this blog comes to you courtesy of T-Mobile and Starbucks.
But what i'm really realizing about addiction, and more specifically mine, is that we really don't often know what we are addicted to, or what drives or compels us, until that thing is gone. I didn't think I was addicted to the internet, but since it has been gone, it feels like my life is falling apart to a certain degree. I feel like I can't work. I feel like I can't communicate. i feel like my life is on hold. I feel like I am out of touch, and now living in a primitive society without technological advances.
These are certainly exaggerations in my mind, because life goes on. But in hindsight of Lent and Easter, I am beginning to really appreciate more and more the importance of fasting from certain things in our life. We do not fast for legalistic reasons, but we fast to reposition our focus on Jesus Christ, and to make sure that He is the "driving force", the one who compels us in the way that we live. Rather than tv, music, fashion, interent....or yes, even books.
So after not blogging for several days, I have realized my addiction to the internet and to blogging. I have realized that we live in a culture that demands more and more from us, and once we can't deliver, then we are passed over. That is a hard compulsion, a hard force to fight, especially when our focus on Christ is in fierce competition with the world around us.
Hopefully our internet at church will be up and running today or tomorrow. Hopefully I can get on a better schedule, and blog like I want. But hopefully, I can learn to be in the position where Jesus Christ is guiding my life, and not the internet, and affirmation, and feedback from the blogs, from the media, from those around me.
What compels you? What drives you? Is it Jesus Christ?
Posted by Admin at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2005
The best theological bookstores around
As you know from my last post I have been having a book crisis....I'm trying to reduce my number of books and make a good effort at determining what books I really need and want, and what are simply on the shelf because they look good, or because my ego and pride won't allow me to get rid of them.
So I made an attempt yesterday at selling some books. About 300 of them. Now most of these are old. Really old. In fact, I probably didn't buy most of them....and the paper is pretty bad on a lot of them. And a lot are just out of date in regards to some finding and studies in theological areas.
Drum roll please.....I got $260 for them. This is good if you haven't tried selling old books before. And I guess if I was a good son I would split some of that money with my dad...or give it all to him since a lot of the books were ones that I inherited when he got rid of large chunks of his theological library.
All that to say, that I sold them at Archives bookstore in Pasadena. This is the most amazing bookstore if you have never been. They have the best, and largest selection of new and used books that I have ever seen. That is, in theology, philosophy, spirituality, etc. Archives is a store that sells and buys only books in these areas. So if you are looking to just browse for hours, or buy, this is the place. It is a dream for most book lovers.
The other great bookstore in the area is located at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Unlike a lot of Christian bookstores that you go to, these two stores carry all the great books, and you don't have to sift through a lot of the garbage that sometimes makes it in some major Christian bookstores. You know what I mean.
Visit these two stores, and you won't want to go anywhere else.
Posted by Admin at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2005
Moving......books, books, books...and our identity....
Life has been pretty busy recently...I am currently only about 10 weeks away from getting married..yeah....currently in the midst of closing escrow on our new house....and in the midst of moving my church office across the street as we will be in construction for about a year and a half.
And you know what that means...packing up books. What a pain. Moving books is a pain. And the more I move them, the more I realize the more I don't need some of them that sit on my shelf. I mean...really, when was the last time I read some of those books. But man....they look great on those shelves...right?
So realizing that I could do without some of my 2,500 plus books, I decided to pare some of them down so that I could sell them.
This is a tough chore. Very hard to let go of some things, but I realized a lot of it boils down to my pride...my ego. Honestly...I want people to walk into my office, my home...and think...man, Rhett is really, really smart. And that's so not a good reason to hang onto books.
Why is it that I find a lot of my identity in books? For me it's books...intellectualism. For you, it might be something entirely different. But we all place our value in some crazy things, and then get build our identity around it. Clothes. Looks. Gadgets. Relationships. For me, it just happens to be books which is probably a weakness for many seminary and graduate students.
And whenever I come to the point that I have put books..my library ahead of other things...such as God, I am reminded of a story from early church history. It is a story surprising that I cannot even locate through Google. So if you can, please let me know.
The early church father Jerome amassed such a great library that he had a dream one night. He appears in his dream before the throne of Christ, with Christ on the throne, and all his books in the background. And God asks him, "Do you love me more than these books." To which Jerome says, "I love you more." Jesus then picks up a flog and proceeds to flog Jerome on his back. So much so that the angels tell Him to stop. When Jerome wakes up the next morning he has stripes on his back. He then sells his library and gives all the money to the poor.
Jerome will later on collect a great library, but will be careful to make sure his heart is not in the same place as before.
I can not track the story down right now...but if you can...that would be awesome. It is something I remember from early church history.
And if you can link this story to me, I will send you a free copy of our college band's worship album.
Posted by Admin at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)
"orthodoxy a la carte"
One of my former students pointed me towards this article. Very interesting article....what I found as very interesting was the very last paragraph (below). Is that really true? Is that the biggest issue facing the Y generation? The issue of non-marital sex, and sexually transmitted diseases.
"However, although many of these young Americans worry about getting good grades and finding work after school, their biggest concern is the solidly "moral" issue of nonmarital sex -- 35 percent of Generation Y members are "very worried" about "getting a sexually transmitted disease," the study noted."
Posted by Admin at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)
April 08, 2005
Pope John Paul II's funeral...my mother's death, and funerals in general....
"When Christ calls a man he bids him to come and die." Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Knowing that the funeral of Pope John Paul II was going to start at 12:30am last night, I gave it my best effort to get everything done I needed to do, in order that I may watch it uninterrupted. For many of you, there are probably not many interruptions at 12:30am, but for me, a night owl, there is always plenty to do. And working with college students tends to keep me up late...not unusual to get those 12-1am random calls. Not for emergencies, but just to say hi and chat, since they know I am usually up.
But no matter how hard I tried to stay up, I eventually dozed off at 2am during the homily. It's not unusual for me to doze off during a homily or sermon (just kidding), but I thought I would make it. I guess I will just have to watch the re-runs though.
For some reason I have always loved watching funerals. From those who are not famous, to those on TV, or in the movies, or to those of super stature, such as the Pope. Death has a very equalizing effect on us, and funerals are the demonstration of that effect. No matter what we have accomplished, or what we have attained, death comes to everyone.
Maybe I have always been very interested in funerals because I have been to many...too many. I have been to my mom's funeral when I was 11...and was later a pallbearer at the funeral of her sister who died of breast cancer as well when I was 26. Because of those experiences I easily enter into the experience of death, and the emotions of those present at a funeral or graveside service. That was why I sat glued to the TV set during the funeral of Princess Diana, and was able to weep and grieve for her two sons as they followed her casket under such close scrutiny. That's why I was able to weep and be filled with joy when I was in Calcutta, India during Mother Theresa's funeral. If you do not think death has an equalizing effect, then you did not take notice of the diversity of people, rich and poor, at her funeral.
I have watched some amazing funerals from Richard Nixon's, to President Reagan's (on TV of course), and I think I am struck by many things, from the mourning, to the celebrating, to the symbolism.
I was struck by many things last night, but I had the overwhelming thought that we will never see anything like this again in our lifetime. Never again will we see so many world leaders together in one place; or so many religous leaders; or so many pilgrims. This Pope had the power to unify people in the midst of their differences. As I watched the service I was fillled with a sense of awe and reverence that I rarely feel in our own churches. The dignity, and reverence, and attention to detail that was carried out brought chills to my body. You don't get the sense that we are as careful, or stand in as much awe at times with the Word of God, as did these people. We walk into church and often completely ignore the sacredness of such a place, and mainly in the name of being hip and cool and casual and relevant. But to watch this ceremony I was brought to complete awe as I imagined what it must have been like in OT days to carry out the instructions of the LORD to such detail...such as in the building of Solomon's temple, or in the return of the ark. I was blown away by the beauty of the art and sculptures of Michelangelo and others, who created for the sake of beauty (and sometimes some pressure), and who took years and decades to complete a piece of art. Very different from our multi-purpose sanctuaries that we throw up overnight.
As Christians, funerals are much more than death, they are a celebration of a life well lived, and an opportunity to celebrate in the resurrected life. Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 15:12-19 of the importance of the resurrection, and that if we do not believe in the resurrection, then "Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."
But in watching this funeral last night I was reminded again of life that remains beyond our earthly state, and no one has brought that more to my attention than Pope John Paul II. I was struck by his desire to not be elbalmed, and to basically waste away in front of our eyes daily...a reminder that our body may waste away, but that our soul, our spirit, lives with God in heaven.
I remember when my mother passed away with very vivid detail...much more than I will share here. But I remember that early Sunday morning, as my dad came back from the hospital to let us know that my mom had passed away. She had been struggling for years. And I remember very vividly the anger, or sorrow that filled my brother and I as my dad wanted to take us to see my mom one last time. My brother and I did not want to go, but my dad insisted that we should, and that though we didn't understand now, we would one day appreciate going.
I remember standing in the hospital room looking at my mom's lifeless and pale body as everyone stood around her. It was a terrible thing for any child to have to see. But years later I am glad that my dad took my brother and I, because it is a reminder to me that though my mom's physical body had finally worn down, her spirit and soul was more alive than it had ever been. It was a reminder to me of the resurrected life. "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where O death, is your victory? Where O death, is your sting?" (I Corinthians 15:54-55). Out of death comes life...resurrected life.
But not everyone will get that. This mystery. This life out of death. Most will look at the Pope as someone who died in weakness, and had nothing to hand over in the way of possessions to people. But for those who know Christ, the life and death of Pope John Paul II is a powerful and vivid reminder of what it means to daily pick up our crosses and to follow Christ. To submit ourselves to the Lord in obedience. To not store up riches here on earth, but in heaven. As a reminder that real life, life abundantly is beyond this earth. A reminder that we need an eternal perspective, not simply an earthly one.
I believe the funeral of Pope John Paul II last night was a little glimpse of what heaven will be like one day. We get a beautiful scene in Revelation 7:9-17 of what the gathering of all people will be like.
Revelation 7:9-17 (New International Version)
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." 11 And the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
13 Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes–who are they, and where did they come from?"
14I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 Never again will they hunger;never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Hugh Hewitt links from his site these beautiful and closing words from the homily last night.
Totus Tuus
Cardinal Ratzinger's homily is a wonderful salute to John Paul II. It ends this way:
"He interpreted for us the paschal mystery as a mystery of divine mercy. In his last book, he wrote: The limit imposed upon evil "is ultimately Divine Mercy" ("Memory and Identity," p. 60-61). And reflecting on the assassination attempt, he said: "In sacrificing himself for us all, Christ gave a new meaning to suffering, opening up a new dimension, a new order: the order of love .... It is this suffering which burns and consumes evil with the flame of love and draws forth even from sin a great flowering of good." Impelled by this vision, the Pope suffered and loved in communion with Christ, and that is why the message of his suffering and his silence proved so eloquent and so fruitful.
Divine Mercy: the Holy Father found the purest reflection of God's mercy in the Mother of God. He who at an early age had lost his own mother, loved his divine mother all the more. He heard the words of the crucified Lord as addressed personally to him: "Behold your Mother." And so he did as the beloved disciple did: he took her into his own home;" (John 19:27)
-- Totus tuus. And from the mother he learned to conform himself to Christ.
None of us can ever forget how in that last Easter Sunday of his life, the Holy Father, marked by suffering, came once more to the window of the Apostolic Palace and one last time gave his blessing urbi et orbi. We can be sure that our beloved pope is standing today at the window of the Father's house, that he sees us and blesses us. Yes, bless us, Holy Father. We entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God, your Mother, who guided you each day and who will guide you now to the eternal glory of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
Posted by Admin at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
April 06, 2005
Tony Jones takes a "stab" at the critics of Emergent and who they are....
As you may have noted in some prior posts, I talked about some of the attacks upon Emergent, and what were some of the observations by Tony Jones. In one of his blogs at the Emergent Blog, Tony Jones makes another observation.
Criticism of Emergent, Part Deux
by Tony Jones
My earlier post on criticism of Emergent drew much response, including an interesting (and painfully drawn-out) debate over Calvinism versus Arminianism. I find it striking that these age-old arguments still have such interest among some people.
Well, if you get into the comments in the eighties or so, you’ll see that some people ask me (or Emergent, in general) to just come out and declare where we stand on certain issues like the inerrancy of scripture or open theism. D.R. even asks me to summarize briefly what I consider the gospel to be. (I can answer that one easily: the good new of/in Jesus Christ.) Others valiantly attempt to answer these questions, for themselves as supporters of Emergent, if not for Emergent itself.
(A brief digression is necessary here. Some in the “emerging church” movement, broadly conceived, are quite uncomfortable with the organization, Emergent, taking the lead in defining the conversation. Their unease is understandable, but I hope to put some of their fears to rest with this post.)
Well, I'm going to answer the questions, here and elsewhere, by not answering them. What I'm saying is that many are asking, why doesn't Emergent just place ourselves, why don't we just say where we stand on doctrinal, scriptural, and cultural issues?
I believe that the answer is a philosophical one, not necessarily a theological one. So here's my stab at it:
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is possibly best known for the "categorical imperative." He believed that there is a transcendent, objective moral/ethical obligation "out there." As human beings, our job is to figure it out, articulate it in contemporary language, and then apply it.
G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831), on the other hand, believed that moral/ethical norms come become known through a dialectical process of practice and reflection. As a result of this process, a "reflective equilibrium" is achieved.
So, it seems to me that many of the critics of Emergent at Kantian Christians -- they believe that there is a certain, correct, objective interpretation of God's truth as revealed in scripture and the person of Jesus Christ. If they can just get us to stake our claim, then they can see where we are relative to their position, and then they can label us as "conservative," "liberal," "evangelical," "mainline," "Calvinist," "Arminian," or any other well-established category.
Emergent, however, I dare say, is a very loose collection of Christians who are committed to Hegelian dialectical and Aristotelian practical reasoning [thanks, Chris]. That is to say, we want to carve out a place for conversation, dialogue, dialectic, and debate. We also want to place practice at the very center of theology. That is, theology isn't just about getting what we believe right; it's a rich matrix of what we believe and how we live that matters for the Christian faith. That's why we'll write books, but we'll also invite people -- including our critics -- to visit our churches and missions and new monastic communities.
Nota bene, Hegel's idea of dialectical reasoning is not a way to avoid coming to normative conclusions, but a different way to come to normative conclusions.
Blogs and books are only one place -- and a rather disembodied place; actually, hardly a "place" at all -- where this conversation happens. It happens more powerfully at events like the Emergent Convention, the Emergent Gathering, and the Emergent Theological Conversation. And the best place for this kind of conversation, no doubt are in local/regional cohorts and (drumroll, please) local churches!
For us to start taking positions on open theism, homosexual civil unions, or feeding tubes has a chilling effect on conversation. That may be the tactic that modern denominations want to use in the complexity of a postmodern world -- writing position papers and voting on their books of order at national meetings -- but we would rather carve out a little space for those who would like to solve these societal problems by reflective practice in real life.
Is this a cop out? Are we avoiding the issue? Are we not engaging our critics? I referred to Kant and Hegel above to show that the answer to these questions is, No. We are, indeed, refusing to answer Kantian questions posed by Kantian critics. But there is a long and rich tradition of dialectical/practical reasoning, and it is into that tradition that I believe we fall.
Posted on April 04, 2005 at 05:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (38) | TrackBack (1)
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The Mystery Surrounding the Pope
A lot of interesting things are floating around the internet right now regarding the death of Pope John Paul II, and some of the more curious circumstances. Hugh Hewitt posts an interesting email from a listener who sums up it up in the following:
"Hugh,
Really great web post today. I am curious as to whether, if at all, protestant evangelicals are hospitable to such things. But since you posted on the Blessed Faustina, Fatima, etc., here are a few John Paul mystical factoids for future reference.
* John Paul died Saturday at the conclusion of the mass of the Divine Mercy, which was being said in his presence on Saturday evening. This is a feast day instituted by the Pope following his canonization of Faustina. It also signals the conclusion of "Bright week", as the Church celebrates Easter as as week, not simply a day.
* When Padre Pio, the great Capuchin mystic and stigmatist (also canonized by John Paul) was nearing death in 1968, it was decided that the
hundreds of thousands of letters he had received over the years from people around the world asking for healings, and which were stored at his
monestary, should be destroyed, since much of what was written was subject to penitent-priest confidentiality. Before they were destroyed, Padre Pio went to the storeroom, plucked two letters out of the pile, handed them to a brother monk and said "save these two, they will be important someday." Both letters were written in the 1950s by an obscure Polish priest named Carol Wotyla, asking Padre Pio to pray for parishioners who were terminally ill. In both cases, it turned out,the person for whom intervention was sought experienced immediate, miraculous recoveries.
* John Paul was shot by Mehmet Ali Aga on May 13th, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. In 1984 John Paul fulfilled the Fatima request that the Holy Father, in concert with all the bishops of the world, simultaneously consecrate Russia to Mary. This had been attempted, in marginal and incomplete ways, by earlier popes in the century. After the consecration, the Vatican heard from Sister Lucia, the surviving Fatima visionary, that the consecration had been accepted. Shortly thereafter, Andropov (or whichever geriatric Stalinist was then in charge, I forget) dropped dead and Gorbachev assumed power.ÂTwo years ago, you may recall, the Church, with Lucia's permission, revealed the third and final secret of Fatima. It was a vision of the assasination attempt on the Pope, together with the martydom of other religious during the 20th century.
* Last but not least (for those who doubt that the Holy Spirit can be pretty proactive when necessary) shortly after his ascension to the papacy in 1978, Pope John Paul I startled his staff at breakfast one morning when he informed them that "he would not be Pope for very long." His explanation: he had had a prophetic dream the night before informing him that the conclave had disregarded the the will of the Holy Spirit, and matters needed to be corrected. Specifically, John Paul I told his confidants, the cardinals were supposed to have elected the cardinal who had been sitting behind him during the consistory. The cardinal who had sat behind him was Carol Wotyla.
And that concludes this week's edition of inside baseball ...
Like you, I am truly fascinated by the (non old-line denomination) protestant reaction to John Paul, as well as the reaction by non-christian people of faith around the world. Something historic is afoot here, and bears close watching. Glad to have you doing the observing.
Dwight"
And then there is this.
Posted by Admin at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
The Pope's writing on marriage and sexuality...
I am one who has not read extensively the works of Pope John Paul II. But everyone is telling me I need to. Maybe I'm intimidated by his mind, and the intensity I would have to approach his very intellectual writings. But I'm going to start, as apparently are many others as well from what I can read in the media. And many are translating his words to a broader audience as well.
Since we have just come off a series on sex, this seems like a good book to start with.
This review is interesting, and may encourage you to begin to read more of the Pope's writings.
Theology of the Body (the article is posted below)
"Theology of the Body"
Pope John Paul II on the biblical foundations of marriage and sexuality.
By Laura Merzig Fabrycky
Body and Gift:
Reflections on Creation
Pope John Paul II,
paraphrased by Sam Torode
Philokalia, 2003
74 pp. $10.95, paper
Purity of Heart:
Reflections on
Love and Lust
Pope John Paul II,
paraphrased by Sam Torode
Philokalia, 2004
86 pp. $13.95, paper
When George Weigel published Witness to Hope (1999), his bestselling biography of John Paul II, he made a plea for more accessible secondary literature that explored the pope's groundbreaking theological work on the human body and marital relations as "an icon of the interior life of God." Weigel anticipated correctly that this teaching would have explosive reverberations throughout the world: "These 130 catechetical addresses, taken together, constitute a kind of theological time bomb set to go off, with dramatic consequences, sometime in the third millennium of the church."
Sam Torode is an accomplice, if you will, in this benignly subversive enterprise. Already credentialed in the field through Open Embrace (Eerdmans, 2001), a Protestant consideration of natural family planning co-written with his wife Bethany, Torode takes language typically reserved for philosophers and theologians and makes the pope's insights available to the general reader.
I am grateful for his efforts, although some may want to go straight to the source, which is The Theology of the Body: Human Love in the Divine Plan (Daughters of Saint Paul, 1997). My introduction to this theology was through Catholic friends who talked about it as if they were on fire with good news, irrespective of their marital status. One gave me a copy of The Theology of the Body, and—expecting to be pulled in with similar verve—I was surprised to find myself working hard through dense reflections. Along with the valuable work of Christopher West, who has labored to explicate the theology of the body to a more popular audience, we now have Sam Torode to thank for offering such lucid re-workings, the first two installments in a four-volume set that will, when complete, present the entirety of The Theology of the Body in an "everyday English" version.
Evangelical Protestants who pick up these books in their local Christian bookstore may be skeptical or suspicious. The very term "theology of the body" is likely to set off alarms. What are these books really about? Contraception? Not exactly, no. This theology is not primarily about opposition to contraception, although the logic in favor of non-contraceptive marital union is easier to understand after encountering this teaching. In fact, the pope's theology of the body is not primarily about sex. It sets sex in a larger context, addressing the whole person, dividing joints from marrow in the way it tackles lust, "nuptial meaning," and masculinity and femininity. It is a fundamental account of the place of "human love in the divine plan."
If anyone could spark this conversation among evangelicals, it is John Paul II. As John Grabowski points out in his foreword to the published addresses in The Theology of the Body, the pope teaches what he does about marriage and sexuality from a foundation of biblical revelation, not natural law, thus arguing in terms familiar to evangelicals.
John Paul II began this conversation to weekly general audiences on September 5, 1979, concluding them in 1984. The first "cycle"—which Torode has published as Body and Gift—opens by reflecting on the passage from Matthew 19, where the Pharisees question Jesus about Moses' teaching on divorce. Refusing to be trapped by the artificial boundaries the Pharisees placed on the debate, Jesus points them back to the Book of Genesis: "Jesus replied, 'Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning' " (Matt. 19:8).
How has it been, then, from the beginning? God created us male and female—as individuals, naked and unashamed. We were created for relationship, reflecting his Trinitarian essence. We were designed to be given, spent, and poured out to others, not to use and abuse others to gratify ourselves. The hardness of our hearts in sin and separation has made abuse of the other ubiquitous. Through marriage, we participate in a mystery, reflecting how God relates to and loves himself in the Trinity, where each person mutually submits to and loves the other fully. Therefore, we are called to withhold nothing from our spouse in the same way the Godhead does—not just by God's law, but by our very design as humans in the image of God.
In the "becoming one flesh" of sex, "each takes the other in, expanding the meaning of self." Only in such self-giving marital love can a man or woman make sense of himself or herself as a gift; it is a perversion of marriage—God's creation of marriage—to do otherwise. We are not our own. Procreation, God's invitation for us to join him as co-creators, is the procession of life springing from the mutual love of the two who are one flesh, in the same way that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Although this volume does not address contraception directly, the theo-logic flows from here—to deny one another by refusing to be open to procreation points to deeper spiritual trouble. It is a withholding of self from the one person with whom you image the Trinity. It is to deny the nature of God's creation of marriage and "being known."
The parallel is not exact, but it may be helpful to think of this teaching as typology, much in the same way that Jonathan Edwards saw Scripture and history as packed with typologies of Christ's work of redemption, with salvific types poking out all over. Catholics reading that last sentence will bristle, and they should. Sacramentality is not symbolism. It is the real thing—the invisible made visible. Or, as this text puts it: "Our bodies are sacramental—they make the invisible visible." And our bodies/ourselves only make sense as images of the divine. Torode's John Paul delivers this punch line early in the exploration: "Ultimately, man can only be understood in relation to God," and our lives as images of God.
In Purity of Heart, Torode unfolds John Paul's reflections on how the Sermon on the Mount bears on these relationships—man and woman to God, and man to woman. It is in our bodies that our "nuptial meaning" is revealed. By virtue of our capacity for physical unity, we learn that we can be a gift and even develop in our capacity to give ourselves. But the battle remains not in the body, but in the body's command center—the heart. Lust distorts the nuptial meaning of the body, makes objects out of subjects, and appropriates rather than unites. It is in the heart where that nuptial meaning is either nurtured and celebrated, or (as it's put in the original) "habitually threatened."
This is a "total vision of man," a comprehensive theological anthropology. The theology of the body expands the boundaries of our theological imagination, going beyond the "Christian gender debates"—who's in charge, who sinned first, and who gets to make the decisions in a family—and way beyond the debate of equality versus complementarity. Finally, the theology of the body gives an ethic to marriage as part of God's plan for our lives. It is not just a "chosen lifestyle." In the end, marriage and sex are God's, and we had better think of both as such.
Evangelical Protestants have worked hard to promote good sexual ethics, particularly abstinence before marriage, but discussion about the ethics of sex within marriage itself is another matter. Local bookstores offer a cornucopia of Christian sex manuals that rightly make up for years of prudishness, but they usually address positions rather than the heart's posture to God.
Marriage is not simply the arena where we get to "do it" legitimately, says the theologian of the body. God has something to say about "it" just as much as he has something to say about sin, redemption, and the restoration of all things. We have lifted marital sex high, but perhaps we have not plumbed its depths, embracing the spiritual and physical responsibilities that it demands. We have taken gifts and treated them lightly, and we are reaping the whirlwind through broken and spiritually bankrupt marriages in the church.
Even more disconcerting, treating sexual addictions and dealing with the effects of promiscuity is big business in the Christian subculture. It's definitely a business we should be in, but we should be careful of restricting ourselves to thinking in "sin management" categories, as Dallas Willard would put it. Sexual confusion is nothing new in the church; think back to Paul's dealings with the Corinthians. But that it is such a big business—from "Every Man's Battle" conferences to online sex addicts discussion groups—indicates that we Christians are swallowing just as much brackish cultural water as our non-Christian neighbors. Our minds need renewing as much as our bodies. The good news is that the theological time bomb Weigel alluded to has reverberated even in evangelical circles. A friend of mine who works at Focus on the Family manages a website called PureIntimacy.org, which in May of this year was re-launched with articles revealing just how far the pope's work has reached beyond the Catholic Church. May it continue to bear fruit.
Laura Merzig Fabrycky is a research associate with the Ethics and Public Policy Center and an mts student at Virginia Theological Seminary. She and her husband, David, live in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Copyright © 2004 by the author or Christianity Today International/Books & Culture magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Books & Culture.
September/October 2004, Vol. 10, No. 5, Page 28
Posted by Admin at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)
U2 in concert and worship of God
The lines seem to be blurred at any U2 concert. One walks away wondering who or what was being worshipped. For many, it is an opportunity for hero worship. There is no better frontman than Bono, and there is no bigger band than U2. You wonder at the things he does on stage at times that almost seem ridiculous. But he is Bono...he can do whatever he wants on stage and it is cool. We all have momentary thoughts of what it would be like to be the frontman for the most popular band on the planet. We could lay down on stage like he does, and it would be cool. But if we tried that minus the rock star status, we would not be cool.
Last night I had the blessing, and yes I will use that word....the blessing of seeing U2 for the second time in my life. The first was in 2001 at Staples in Los Angeles, and about three and half years later I found myself in the same location, only this time the seats were much better.
U2 played to a packed out house for a little over two hours. And after one long set and two encores I walked away wondering what had exactly taken place. You see, my experience at U2 last night was one of the most worshipful experiences I have had. And not the hero worship of Bono, though I think he is cool. But a worship experience that was transcendent, pointing me to a greater reality. Pointing me to God. I had these same feelings the last time I saw them so I was wondering if it was just a fluke, or if there was something about U2, about Bono, about what they sing and talk and preach about.
So I headed into last night's show with as much anticipation and enthusiasm as I often do on Sunday morning worship. There is something about being around people who are all together to worship something. Sometimes it is God, sometimes it is a person, or sometimes it is various things in our life. Whether we are in an "official" church building, or an "official" church worship service, does not keep us from worshipping other things, just as being at a U2 concert does not keep us from worshipping other things...or from worshipping God.
There were many obvious differences between Sunday morning and the show last night....or were there really. People dressed pretty much the same. I'm thinking that is not a good thing considering some of the outfits on saw on people last night. People looked the same, though U2 draws more ethnically diverse and diversity in ages in their audiences. Last night there were Sunday worship people in the midst, looking for something bigger than themselves, and larger than life. Just as on Sunday, there are concert going people in our midst, looking as well to something larger, something bigger than themselves. The only difference...Bel Air to my knowledge has not decided at this point to vend out beer and McDonalds during its services on Sunday.
There are people who know, and who don't know God who come to worship on Sunday, or who come to church, and we attempt to point them to God. There are people who know, and who don't know God and who come to U2 concert's, and they are pointed to God. There are some obvious theological disagreements that I have with Bono, as there are some obvious theological disagreements that I have with The Church at times. But I do not not think for one second that Bono or U2 is pointing us to God. But the question then becomes more or less....Who is this God that U2 is pointing to? I believe it is the God of the Bible, but I also believe that U2 is pointing to a more ecumenical God than a lot of us may be as comfortable with.
U2 closed their final encore last night with a few songs. But the final two songs were "Yahweh" and "Psalm 40." Sure, there were a mix of religions in the audience, and sure people may have been worshipping different things, but U2 seems to be one of the few "secular" bands who is very blunt about God in their life. I have never heard 15,000 plus people in my life singing out the name of Yahweh in my life...never. Most of them probably didn't know who Yahweh is as well. Or maybe we should be more careful about yelling out His name. And I have also never heard 15,000 plus people sing a worship song taken directly from the Psalms as well...Psalm 40.
In the remaining minutes of the show as Bono belted out "sing, sing a new song", the audience replied to his cry with a "sing, sing a new song" in unison. And as I looked around I noticed everyone's hands in the air. Not the type of hands in the air that you see at a ball game....but the hands in the air that you see at church on Sunday mornings. And then I looked up and noticed that my hands were raised as well. It has taken me 30 years to get to the point where I can raise my hands in freedom to God in worship and feel comfortable, yet it has only taken me two U2 concerts to feel that same freedom. What is up with that?
As U2 and the audience repeatedly belted out "sing, sing a new song" Bono took off his cross necklace, and strung it from his microphone. And slowly he picked up the spotlight and placed it on the floor under the microphone as the light shone brightly through the necklace and straight into the air. One by one each member left the stage as it slowly got more and more dark and the only remaining light was that from the beam shining up on the cross and to the "heavens." As the members left one by one, and as the audience's chorus got louder and louder, Bono took the necklace from the mircophone, putting it back around his neck and walked off stage. The audience continued singing, and even after the final member, Larry Mullin Jr., the drummer, exited the stage, the audience continued in it's chorus of "sing, sing a new song," until it was finally broken up by music over the PA system, and the raising of the lights.
It was an amazing closing, to an amazing show.
And I left with a lot of questions about "worship in church" and "worship in other venues." And I was left wondering why we often try to make so many concrete distinctions, when the lines often seem so blurred at times. I'm not saying there shouldn't be distinctions, but how is it that our "Sunday morning worship" times in our culture can feel much more like a show, than the "worship experience" one has at a U2 concert..that was intended to be a show? Or was it intended to be a show? I think Bono and U2 have bigger things in mind.
So I'm left wondering about all kinds of thoughts I have regarding worship? What do we consider "worship" and "sacred" and what is not and "profane?" Do we limit our worship to God, to only places and times and events where there is some safe designated avenue for the outlet of our worship? Like 11-12pm on Sunday mornings? Can one truly worship god in the midst of 15,000 fans, Christian and non-Christian? Even if the intent of Bono and U2 was not to point to God?
So again...I will look forward to seeing U2 in the future, as I believe like so many others that seeing U2 in concert and worshipping God in the midst of it all, is so much like what we do on Sunday mornings. The environment has changed, but our hearts our in the same posture as we offer our praises up to God.
I am very interested in hearing anyone's thoughts on this. On whether or not you agree or diagree? Have you been to a U2 show? Did you go to the one at Staples on Tuesday night? Thoughts on worship in general, etc., etc
Posted by Admin at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2005
Summa Aesthetica tells us why we all should be reading the Pope...beautiful post!
Cameron over at Summa Aesthetica has a beautiful and wonderfully written post on the Pope, and why his writings are a must read for EVERYONE!
I have copied the whole post below.....but please visit Cameron's site for amazing and thoughtful reflection.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
On losing a great man
Yesterday the world lost a great man. I lost a hero.
It was inevitable that his age and health would finally get the best of him. Even the strongest eventually fall. And, I suppose, in light of the chaos that surrounded the death of Terri Schaivo, it was good that Pope John Paul II would die as he did. He was not whisked off to the sterility of a hospital. He chose to die at home, with "family" at his side and tens of thousands of "friends" on his doorstep.
He was a man of the times, an actor built for the largest stage. He understood people's need for a hero--an icon--to point the way to Christ in word, image, and presence. Yet, his persona was not mere propaganda, nor his actions just statecraft. He was real through and through.
A friend reminded me the other day that I had not fulfilled my promise to post a reflection about why evangelicals ought to read Pope John Paul II. While this list is brief, it would be wrong to miss this opportunity to give a great man his due:
On issues of life John Paul II was consistent. He had a coherent theology of life that went beyond an assertion of rights. So often the life conversation comes down to a shouting match between those asserting the rights of the unborn versus those asserting the rights of a mother. Pope John Paul II reminded us that Jesus called himself "the way, the truth, and the life." Furthermore, as a special creation made in the image of God, a human being is a unique manifestation of this life that demands our protection. The gospel itself is the message of life, because Christ came to give "abundant life." So when the Pope denounced abortion and euthanasia, it was because of his theological convictions about life. Even though he too uses rights language, clearly, it is only as an act of translation into secular language. His real convictions are theological in nature. This is why he went beyond abortion and euthanasia to question the use of capital punishment, the all too easy use of military force, and the instrumentalization of human life. His war was against the culture of death. (Interested? Read "Evangelium Vitae")
Beyond this, the Pope wrote brilliantly about politics and social justice. His was a moderate vision. He grasped the "via media"--the elusive middle way that allowed him to accurately diagnose the ills of modernity. With Leo XIII a century before him, he pointed out the pitfalls of radical socialism and unfettered capitalism. While he reaffirmed the value of private property, he clearly denounced the naivete of those who would turn the market loose to run itself, devouring the poor as another expendable resource. He stood up bravely to the liberation theologians who would politicize the gospel to the poor in the form of a Marxist revolution, just as he stood up to the neo-conservatives who would skip over Christ's repeated commands to care for the poor for the sake of an internalized piety without addressing unjust social structures. (For more on this see "Centissimus Annus")
Also, the Pope wrote beautifully about Mary. His encyclical about Mary was revolutionary for me. It enabled me to understand, for the first time, this cornerstone of Catholic devotion. More importantly, it forced me to realize that many of my opinions on this topic were based on nothing more than mistaken assumptions. This encyclical ought to be required reading for all protestants, especially those who are deeply suspicious of Marian devotion. (Take a look at "Redemptoris Mater")
Consider also his extensive and creative use of scripture, which I think is an intentional attempt to reach out to Protestants and demonstrate that Catholics read the Bible too. The result is a theologian worthy of serious consideration by all Christians.
All of this feels a bit academic, and inappropriate, to me at the moment. John Paul strikes me as one who was not meant to be debated about, but someone worth meeting--perhaps over coffee, definitely over bread and wine. It saddens me that I did not get to meet him. There are few people I would have like to spend time with and become more like.
A final reflection on this amazing life...
I am reminded of Dylan Thomas' Poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night." I think it might be instructive about what we have seen with the death of Pope John Paul II:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, Rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage Rage against the dying of the light.
The Pope had a fierce love for life. He fought for life in general. When it came to his own, he fought hard as well. But when it became clear that he would soon die his tone shifted. Because of the hope he found in Christ he could face his own death with dignity and embrace the momentary suffering.
Here is a quote from an article from a news story that relates a widely reported scene from the day before his death:
On Friday morning, John Paul asked aides to read him the biblical passage describing the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross, the path that Christ took to his Crucifixion and burial, Navarro-Valls told reporters. The pope followed attentively and made the sign of the cross, he said.
John Paul also asked that scripture of the so-called "Third Hour" be read to him. The passage is significant because according to tradition, Christ died at three o'clock in the afternoon.
"This is surely an image I have never seen in these 26 years," the usually unflappable Navarro-Valls said.
Choking up, he walked out of the room.
Pope John Paul II lived an exemplary life and he died an exemplary death. May we all be as faithful to our vocations as he was to his.
Click here for the rest of the article!
posted by Cameron Jorgenson at 11:06 PM | 0 comments
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April 03, 2005
My trip to Mexico, the Catholic Church, and the Pope....
I have just returned from being in Mexico City the last eight days. I will be reflecting on this experience over the next week, but I need a day or two of downtime as I am a little overwhelmed with the intensity and exhaustion of the experience. Whether it was working with Mother Theresa's Sisters of Charity orphanage, or working with the poor in the rural areas, I have had to process a lot. This was coupled with lectures on liberation and transformational theology, economics, capitalism, politics, etc., etc. So I am processing a lot.
But I wanted to post this today. Ever since I lived in Guatemala for three months in 2001 I have had a growing respect for the Catholic church, its people, and especially the Pope. These feelings are especially reaffirmed everytime I come back from a trip to Mexico or Latin America.
This last trip was even more impactful upon me than some of my previous experiences, and I know it really affected my students in some very deep ways. Many of them, who previously were only able to think in stricly Protestant and Evangelical terms, were exposed to the Catholic Church in a way where they have been forever changed.
I ask that you would be in prayer for the Catholic Church who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. I ask that you would be in prayer for the election of the new Pope who will not only have big shoes to fill, but will also be a very important person in shaping the future of the world we live in.
When I read I Corinthians 12 I can not help but think of this passage in terms of the global church. I believe that as Americans we are so often very egocentric, especially in our churches. We tend to think of many members, but one body, in terms of only our local congregation, our small group, or a national demonination. But I believe that Paul is speaking in terms of the entire Church...globally. It is important that we realize that as Protestants we are only one part of the Chrisitan body, and that we should take interest in, and be in prayer for the other members or our Christian body, especially the Catholic Church as it is in the midst of a very difficult time.
I think it would be amazing to see the election of a new Pope from Mexico, Latin America or Africa especially in light of what is happening in those countries. This would be an even more amazing move given the geography, the statistics, and future of the Christian Church as written about in Philip Jenkins book, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity.
This is a very important time for the Catholic Church as it reflects not only on the death of the Pope, but as it remembers the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980.
As I read Mark Roberts Epilogue on the Roman Catholic Church (in full text below) I was very moved by his thoughts. Please read his post below, and please be in prayer. The world, and the Church has lost a great man.
Epilogue: Prayer for the Roman Catholic Church
Part 16 of the series: "The Protestant Mary: Reflections on the TIME Cover Story"
Posted at 11:45 p.m. on Friday, April 1, 2005
I hadn't expected to continue this series today, but I also hadn't expected that Pope John Paul II would be on his deathbed today. It would seem odd if I were to jump into some new topic given the theme of my recent posts (Protestant-Catholic unity) and what's happening right now in the Vatican.
All around the world tonight people are praying for the Pope. Among Roman Catholics this reflects their deep love for this particular Pontiff, whose energy, faithfulness, and worldwide travel (well over 100 countries) have made him extraordinarily popular. Those of us who are not Catholic can surely offer prayers of thanks for this man and his worthy accomplishments, among which I would number: his brilliant writings on many topics, his fervent opposition to communism and secularism, his persistent defense of Christian sexual morality, his efforts to bring reconciliation between Catholics and Jews, his powerful example of forgiveness (of the man who shot him in an attempt to kill him), and his regular proclamation of Jesus Christ.
Throughout the world today leading Catholic cardinals are heading to the Vatican in anticipation of the Pope's imminent death. They will be present for an official period of mourning and numerous masses that accompany such a traumatic event within the Catholic Church. Though it's easy for outsiders to see all of this as official church business, I expect that the cardinals will experience deep personal sadness as well. Even though this Pope's centralization of power has distressed some church officials, they still feel a personal love for John Paul II. Of course the majority of these men were appointed by this Pope, who appointed more cardinals than any other Pope in history (well over 200). In this way he has shaped both the present and the future of the Roman Catholic Church, including the character of his successor.
It might seem odd to begin now to pray for the process by which the next Pope will chosen, but I think now would be a good time to start doing so. I'll bet, in fact, that this has been central to the prayers of John Paul II in recent days, since he has had a major hand in shaping the process by which his successor will be chosen, not to mention the constituency of the electors.
The Pope, as you may know, is elected by an elite group of Cardinals, who meet in a Conclave about two weeks after the death of the former Pope. After being sworn to secrecy, they begin an election procedure in the Sistine Chapel (after it has been carefully swept for electronic bugging devices!). Through a series of votes, they finally elect a new Pope, usually by a 2/3's majority, though John Paul II has instituted a new rule whereby a deadlocked Conclave could eventually elect a Pope by a simple majority. (I wonder what this rule change tells us about John Paul's perception of the next papal election, if anything.) During the election, which can last for many days, the world knows very little. Smoke signals (literally) from the Vatican indicate only that a vote has been unsuccessful (black smoke) or successful (white smoke). (For a more detailed discussion of the procedure for electing a Pope, see this Encarta article or this piece from catholic-pages.com.)
I am beginning now to pray for God to be with the cardinals who will soon make what may turn out to be one of the most important decisions in the first part of the 21st century. No matter what you think of the Catholic Church or the Pope, you must acknowledge that his position is one of the most influential in the world. As I pray for the cardinals, I'm asking:
The interior of the Sistine Chapel, with Michaelangelo's Last Judgment on the front wall behind the altar. It seems fitting that the election of a Pope should take place in a room filled with such incredible art that depicts the great events in biblical history. Voting under the watchful eye of Christ the Judge would certainly help one to be humble and discerning in one's vote!
First, that God comfort them in their grief over the loss of their leader, pastor, and brother;
Second, that God prepare them spiritually for the crucial task of electing a new Pope;
Third, that God guide their deliberations and their voting so that the next Pope will be, like King David, a man after God's own heart, and therefore a force for God's kingdom in the world;
Fourth, that this next Pope will help to unify all Christians in Christ and in our core confession of faith even through our theological and institutional differences will remain.
As you may know, part of what is intriguing about the election of the next Pope is the possibility that this person might come from the Southern Hemisphere, either Latin America (where 40% of the world's Catholics live) or Africa (which has a large and growing Catholic population). Personally, I think it would be amazing and wonderful to see new leadership emerge from one of these continents. But geography, however intriguing, is not the main thing. The main thing, I believe, is godly, Christ-centered, Spirit-led, and biblically informed leadership. I pray that the cardinals will choose this sort of person to lead the Catholic Church into this new century.
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