Father Ron’s Blog

I am always fascinated by how the poetry of Mary Oliver moves me.  she can speak deep spiritual truths just by writing a few words.

In her work "Messenger" she beings by saying "My work is loving the world." That work is more than just Mary's, rather it is an invitation for all of us to join in that work of loving the world.

Just yesterday, as I was teaching a confirmation class and as we spoke about the aspect of God as creator (and recalling the Genesis stories) I said to them "Tread carefully as you walk through the world. God has deemed creation good, and those whom you like an dislike God considers holy."  It's all related...we are connected, we are holy, and our primary work is not what we think it is...rather we are called to love the world.

Here is Mary Oliver's work The Messenger:

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird-equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect?  Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,
which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is that we live forever.

Yours for the reign of God,

Ron

....through all our lives we are faced with the task of reconciling opposites which, in logical thought, cannot be reconciled...How can one reconcile the demands of freedom and discipline in education?  Countless mothers and teachers, in fact, do it, but no one can write down a solution.  They do it by brining into the situation a force that belongs to a higher level where opposites are transcended--the power of love...Divergent problems, as it were, force us to strain ourselves to a level above ourselves; they demand, and thus provoke the supply of, forces from a higher level, thus bringing love, beauty, goodness and truth into our lives.  It is only with the help of these higher forces that the opposites can be reconciled in the living situation.

--E.F. Schumacher

Here is a story to break your heart.

Are you willing?

This winter the loons came to our harbor and died, one by one, of nothing we could see.

A friend told me of one on the shore that lifted its head and opened the elegant beak and cried out in the long, sweet savoring of its life which, if ou have heard it, you know know is a sacred thing, and for which if you have not heard it, you had better hurry to where they still sing.

And, believe me, tell no one just where that is.

The next morning this loon, speckled and iridescent and with a plan to fly home to some hidden lake, was dead on the shore.  I tell you this to break your heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world.

--Mary Oliver

Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of hope--not the prudent gates of Optimism, which are somewhat narrower; not the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense; nor the strident gates of Self-Righteousness, which creak on shrill and angry hinges (people cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through); nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of "Everything Is Gonna Be All Right." But a different, sometimes lonely place, of truth-telling about your own soul first of all and its condition, the place of resistance and defiance, from which you see the world both as it is and as it should be, as it will be; he place form which you glimpse not only struggle but joy in the struggle.  And we stand there, beckoning and calling, telling people what we're seeing, asking them what they see.

--Victoria Safford

I was thinking tonight of the great movie "Babbette's Feast" and how her wonderful meal took a bunch of dower Puritans and gave them joy.

Joy in the Christian context is a most mysterious thing, indeed.  Much of the time it makes no sense not only to those who do not believe, but to others who do believe.  Here are a few examples of joy that are abiding no matter the circumstance:

Remember the last words of Bishop Hugh Latimer to Nicholas Ridley as they were being burned at the stake?  "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

Or who could forget the book attributed to Francis of Assisi, The Little Flowers of St. Francis?  Page 29 of that book sites a most joyful moment.  Frances says:

"When Brother Bernard reached the final hour of his departure, he had them sit up, and to the bretheren standing round he said:

Dearest brethren, I do not wish to say much to you, but you should bear in mind that my condition now will be yours some day, just as you hold the same vocation.  I found in my soul that I would not have renounced the service of Christ for a thousand worlds like this.  For every sin I have committed, I accuse myself before my Saviour Jesus Christ and you, I beg you, dearest bretheren, love one another.

"After these words...he lay back on his bed, and his face shone with a great joy, astonishing all about him. and in that happiness that joyous soul, with the victory before promised him, passed to the joys of the blessed.  To the praise of God."

Finally, I recall a piece by the Catholic saint, St. Claude Colombiere.  A nun was fearful of facing God at the end of her life and Claude told her something to this effect: "Do you know what I would do if I were so close in giving an account to my Lord?  I would be joyful in knowing that God's grace was so powerful. A soul who knows no sin does not show the greatness of the Lord."  It's a paraphrase, but nonetheless what he said.

I know the joy of salvation...and I know the holiness found in death (having been with many in their dying).  But there is a depth and a richness to Christian joy that escapes my words and in part, my understaning.

I'm not sure who said this, but I recall reading once that "We do not comprehend the sacraments; they comprehend us!"  I feel the same way about the mystery of joy give by God's spirit.  It comprehends us, not we it.

Yours for the reign of God,


Ron

When was the last time you heard a sermon about holiness? Why has this Christian characteristic fallen off our radar? I remember asking this question years ago when I was in seminary. I was told "It's so...Mom and Poppish!"

Really?

From what I can tell, holiness has been eclipsed by mission and by the various calls to action within the church.  Those calls to action may very well indeed be holy work, but in and of themselves are not necessarily holiness.

I imagine that holiness is also one of those many words that have fallen out of the venacular for many Christians...not much different than other words that seems to have evaporated, like: salvation, righteousness, justification...you get my drift?

The quality of holiness is not something I ready to let go of, mostly because I strive for it in my life.  I want so desperately to live into the fullness of the image of God, and because I know myself, I know that I'm not even close!  Dr. J. W.C. Wand, former Bishop of London named holiness in a way that speaks to my heart when he said "holiness is not the laborious acquisition of virtue from without, but the expression of the Christ-life from within."  In other words, holiness has to do with our character and more importantly, a character shaped and formed by Christ himself.  The self I live in the interior and the self I show to the world matter.

Each Sunday at St. Clare's I close with a blessing that was written by one of the Canadian bishops (I wish I could recall which one) which reads as follows:

May the Lord Jesus who loves with a wounded heart be your love forever more.
May the Lord Jesus who serves with wounded hands help you to serve.
May the Lord Jesus who walks on wounded feet walk with you to the end of the road.
Look for the face of the Lord Jesus in everyone you meet; and may everyone you meet see the face of the Lord Jesus in you.
And the Blessing of God Almighty, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer be upon you and remain with you always. Amen.

In that blessing is a desire for holiness within and without...to not only try to live with it, but to look for it outside of one's self in the face of Christ the stranger.

One last thought on holiness from within. John Stott (whom I have some trouble with theologically) in his book Christ The Controversialist said somthing I think worth chewing on. It may provide more questions than answers but it's worth thinking about.  He said: "The Christian should resemble a fruit-tree, not a Christmas tree!  For the gaudy decorations of a Christmas tree are only tied on, whereas fruit grows on a fruit-tree.  In other words, Christian holiness is not an artificial human accreation, but a natural process of fruit-bearing by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Yours for the reign of God,

Ron

Years ago, a friend and I spoke about the love we had for our children.  The conversation ran the gamut from sacrifices made to hopes, ambitions and dreams.  He then said something to me that was startling and no amount of caution could persuade him to think otherwise.  He said "You know Ron, I want to do every thing I can to make sure my child has everything she wants." My mouth was open for a moment and then I said "Everything?"  He replied "Everything, she deserves the best because she's my little girl!"

For many of us this friends assessment of how to love a child is just that: give them everything they want.  However, love as I understand it, seeks the highest good for the beloved.  I think giving a child everything they want is not only wrong but it makes for a spoiled child.  How does one learn to appreciate things when you get everything you want?  How does one stand in relationship with the poorest of humanity when one never knows need, longing, or not having?  As Mother Teresa said, "The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and deserted by everybody." How does a child learn to stand on it's own when it has spent its entire childhood growing up believing that anything it wants can be theirs?

The Houston Police Department put this Twelve Rules for Spoiling a Child out some time ago.  I find that much of it is still relevant especially in rearing a child.  Here are the points:

1. Begin at infancy to give the child everything he (or she) wants. In this way he will grow up to believe that the world owes him a living.
2. When he picks up bad words laugh at him.  This will make him think he's cute.
3. Never give him any spiritual training. Wait until he is twenty-one and then let him decide for himself.
4. Avoid the use of the word "wrong."  It may develop a guilt complex. This will condition him to believe later, when arrested for stealing a car, that society is against him and that he's being persecuted.
5. Pick up everything he leaves lying around, books, shoes, clothes. Do everything for him so that he will be experienced in throwing all responsibility on other people.
6. Let him read any printed material he can get his hands on. Be careful that the silverwear and drinking glasses are sterilized, but let his mind feed on garbage.
7. Quarrel frequently in the presence of your children.  In this way they will not be too shocked when the home is broken up later.
8. Give a child all the spending money he wants.  Never let him earn his own.  Why should he have things as tough as you had them?
9. Satisfy every craving for food, drink and comfort. See that every sensual desire is gratified.  Denial may lead to harmful frustration.
10. Take his part against neighbors, teachers, policeman.  They are prejudicial against your child.
11. When he gets into real trouble apologize for him yourself by saying "I never could do anything with him."
12. Prepare for a life of grief. You will be likely to have it.

Yours for the reign of God,

Ron

System theory tells us that there are (at least) three different types of people in the world in regards to stress: those who like to create it, those who like to elevate it, and those who like to dampen it.

No matter what side of the stress coin you find yourself there's one thing I know that adds to our stress level like no other: holding on to a grudge.

Coming back to systems theory for a moment, I find that grudges are not only emotionally charged, but like all charged emotions found in Systems Theory, have the power to reach out and hurt not only the person from whom they emminate, but the person for whom they are directed at.  Emotions are like radio waves...we can't see them, but they are there.

Selwyn Hughes, in her devotional Everyday With Jesus makes it even clearer.  She wrote: "Walter Alvarez, a medical doctor and counsellor, says: 'I often tell my patients they cannot afford to carry grudges or maintain hates.  Such things can make them ill and tire them out.  I once saw a man kill himself inch by inch, simply by thinking of nothing but hatred for a relative who had sued him.  Within a year or two he was dead.'  A grudge or a resentment is sand in the machinery of life."

So what's a soul to do who has been so wounded?

Let it go!

Grudges are toxic, dangerous, and threaten not only the spiritual life of a person, but a persons body as well.  Letting it go frees the body, the mind, and the spirit.

One more example from Hughes.  She writes: "I read the story of a Japanese boy, who, a few years after the Second World War had ended, entered a public speaking contest and announced his subject as 'The Sacredness of Work'.  Some of the people smiled at his choice of subject, but when they herard the story behind it their smiles turned to tears.  His parents and home were burned to ashes in the atomic bomb explosion at Nagasaki. He was the eldest of three surviving children, and together they knelt in the ashes of their home and prayed to know what to do. One of the children said:'I know what we can do-we can work.' So they set to work, gathering bits of tin and boards, and soon they had a little hut in which to live.  They could have nursed their grudge and become gloomy; instead they forgave, forgot and went to work."

Care to be free from the pain? Let is go!

Yours for the reign of God,

Ron

Be gentle

When you touch bread.

Let it not lie uncared for--unwanted.

So often

Bread is taken for granted.


There is so much beauty in bread:

Beauty of sun and soil,

Beauty of patient toil,

Wind and rain have caressed it,

Christ often blessed it.

Be gentle

When you touch bread.

                                               Old Scottish Verse