Trinity Archives

On The Sin Of Evil Speech

2009-04-02T09:16:00.001-07:00

Jesus tells us to not judge, because we'll be judged (by Heaven) with the severity with which we judge other people. The criteria by which we judge others will be the same criteria by which we are judged. [ Matthew 7:1-2] Now that's a horrifying thought!

Saint Paul writes, Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. [Romans 14:19] Psalm 39:1 puts it this way, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin....”. The problem is, of course, that religious people are renowned for evil speech. Perhaps it's like this; people who are fairly well educated about right and wrong and sin and virtue are able to say bad things about others with greater technical precision.

But on the other hand, almost everyone spews forth bad things about other people, even if by accident. Indeed, the Talmud teaches that no one is so holy, so spiritually advanced, so self-disciplined as to always avoid saying something negative (even if with extreme mildness) about someone else at least once a day, if even by implication. I know it's hard for me, and the many television programs focusing on politics certainly don't help people avoid evil speech! From where I stand, most political speech certainly violates the commandments against evil speech and lying, by commission, omission, exaggeration, or twisting the truth.

James, the brother of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the first leader of the Christian Church wrote in his epistle [James 3:5-10] teaches,Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. Yes, the tongue is also a fire, a world of injustices is incorporated into our very bodies along with the tongue, which besmirches the entire body and inflames the whole cycle of our existence with a flame from Gehenna. Just think: all kinds of animals, birds, snakes, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by human beings, while the tongue, that disorderly menace full of deadly venom, cannot be tamed by anyone. With one and the same tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and then turn around and curse the human beings made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth issue praise and curse. That can't go on, brothers and sisters.

But what about someone who actually does something wrong, or stupid, or annoying? Is it all right to talk about it? The answer is, no. Not really. He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates the best of friends. [Proverbs 17:9] Except in the case of actual crime or endangerment, one ought to adopt Jesus' principle of treating others as you yourself would want to be treated, or spoken about.

Of the 44 sins enumerated in the Yom Kippur liturgy of confession, 11 of them are about evil speech and talebearing. All forms of what we call gossip (whether positive or negative) are included in the three kinds of evil speech to be avoided:

The first is Rechilus, talebearing, mere gossip. Leviticus 19:16 You shall not go up and down as a talebearer among your people. A talebearer is someone who goes around telling other people things he has heard about or from others. This is really hard! Especially if it's something interesting. In the stricter interpretation one shouldn't even mention really nice news about someone else, because you don't know how the information will be used down the information pipeline. If the “nice” information you've imparted is used to harm someone on down the line, you participate in that harm.
The second is Lashon Ha Ra, evil speech, malicious gossip. This is when that which is said about another person is something negative or detrimental. As well as the previous passage, Leviticus 25:17 says, You shall not wrong one another. This is traditionally interpreted as having to do with avoiding harm to other people, but especially by speech.

The third violation is Motzi Shem Ra, lying malicious gossip. Lying gossip is when that which one relates about someone else is false and harmful. This is ruining someone's name, and equivalent to murder. The Ten Commandments forbid false witness, as just one example out of many.

Christians often think, wrongly, that they are no longer obligated to obey what God has commanded. This only applies to Jewish ritual law. The moral law of the Old Covenant is still in force. For a Christian to actually think that it's morally permissible to speak ill of someone only attests to either ignorance of the Christian Faith (Love your neighbor like yourself...etc), or that one holds the heretical idea that what God explicitly forbids in the Bible is actually permitted.

But adhering to God's instructions regarding our speech is really HARD! When I get impatient or passionate about something it's very, very difficult to keep my mouth shut, and inevitably I regret it later. How well will I do with evil speech, especially after writing all this in a newsletter which goes out to almost 400 people?

Everyone struggles with all the human weaknesses, but we have to try, and keep trying. We're saved by grace through faith, but we have to actually do something, respond to God's loving will for us. Imagine a world without backbiting, without gossip, without character assassination. Where does it start? It starts with us; with you and with me.

Ash Wednesday

2009-02-24T22:23:00.001-08:00

Don't be led astray; worldly affairs are just a dream-
because of its composite character, all creation is illusory.

Power and wealth are like dewdrops on a blade of grass-
they form in a single night, and evaporate in the morning.

Youth and strength is as transient as a bubble about to burst-
even as it comes into being it begins to disappear.

Nothing whatsoever in life is stable or permanent,
so why be deceived, thinking the ephemeral is enduring?

All that comes together must part in the end-
this is the truth of the nature of things.

Instead, focus on what will carry you to the other shore
and center yourself in Jesus, the Messiah who is deathless.

Ash Wednesday 2009

2009-02-24T17:59:00.000-08:00

Ash Wednesday is tomorrow. It has a particular theme which is one most people avoid, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

On September 11th, 2001, we all watched two airliners plunging into the Twin Towers. Much of the horror and fascination of the event lay in the viewers' realization that the lives of many thousands of people hung in the balance at that moment, and that a high proportion those had seen their last day on earth. We were all tremendously saddened, and also forced to contemplate the brevity and value of life.

“Teach us to number our days rightly, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” - Psalm 90:12

As a result of that terrible scene, suddenly more Americans started participating in organized (as distinct from disorganized) religion. Churches experienced a noticeable uptick in attendance. But, as may be expected, over time people drifted away from what was, at best, a temporary phenomenon.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that as time moves forward energy is inexorably less available and that therefore the overall tendency of everything in the material world is to run down and fall apart. The natural world is subject to "a bondage of decay" which St. Paul pointed to Romans 8:18-25. And, as anyone who owns a computer will tell you, the information content of systems also decays over time. In order to bring order out of increasing chaos further energy and programming information must somehow be supplied. So, if you have a laptop, for example, you need to recharge the batteries from time to time, and also get the software fixed.

If I may continue my metaphor, Ash Wednesday and Lent are an injection of energy and programming information into your increasingly entropic spiritual life. It happens every year on a regular cycle so that each of us has an opportunity to enter into the Lenten re-energizing and reorganizing process together. Group efforts are generally more helpful because we have the chance to encourage each other. The Holy Spirit supplies the spiritual energy, and the accumulated wisdom of the 3000+ year old Judaeo-Christian tradition gives us a fix for our spiritual software. The energy which is supplied depends on your willingness to enter into the process, as is the organizing context, the process of Lent itself.

The current economic downturn, some say, could have been avoided. The current Prime Minister of Great Britain claimed, at one time, to have made financial crashes like this impossible. Such assertions run counter to the general principle of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, just as the idea that you and I are not ever going to need regular injections of energy and organization in or spiritual lives is obviously untrue. Even cars need tuneups!

God exists outside of time, as well as participates in time. Only the Divine is not subject to decay and dissolution. St. Paul writes in his Letter to Timothy, “...godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”

“Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.” - Psalm 39:4 “Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.” - Job 14:5

The preceding two quotes from Job and the Psalms weren't put in there as warnings or threats, they're encouraging wakeup calls for all of us. Will we heed them, or will we just keep sleep-walking toward oblivion?

On The Beginning Of Lent

2009-02-19T21:49:00.001-08:00

Christian spirituality is best defined as a relationship with God the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Organized religion is the system you use to strengthen and uphold that relationship. A lot of people diss organized religion, though I can't figure out why. The opposite of organized religion is disorganized religion, which generally makes people think they're going somewhere spiritually - though for the most part they're not – in fact all they're getting is nice feelings and being reassured they're 'good' people.

The inner life of the Spirit is something to which everyone must make a serious commitment. You all know that in the area of outer religious life and inner spiritual experience I'm not a minimalist, I'm a maximalist. Every single person on this earth is supposed to make a total commitment to Christ and ALSO to growing in spiritual depth as well as serving others with compassion.

It's my role to urge everyone to continue moving forward in their spiritual lives, to never slacken the pace, and to never ever give up. In that sense, I guess, my job as a spiritual guide is to be like a Cheer Leader, or a Marine Drill Instructor - without the yelling and cussing.

Personally, I'm sort of glad when Lent comes. It's during the winter that I tend to go for the carbohydrates and sweet things. When it's hot and bright outside I am happy with vegetables, fruits, a bit of meat and dairy. But come winter.... So, it's good that Lent comes this time of year on more than one level. In midwinter I need some support when it comes to self-discipline, and that's an aspect of the usefulness of organized religion. Religion helps provide external context for inner development. Since the earliest times the Christian religious system has emphasized fasting.

In Matthew 9:14-15 we read, “Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

Fasting is a spiritual practice which draws you closer to God. It isn't always about not eating, but rather, fasting is voluntarily abstaining from certain acts or activities and also taking on certain acts and activities. On Ash Wednesday, according to the practice of the Historic Church, we receive ashes on our foreheads as a Biblically recommended mark of humble repentance. But then you must wipe the ashes off as you leave church in order to avoid scandalizing others by pridefully displaying your humility and repentance, thereby losing the heavenly reward promised to the humble and penitent (as Jesus would put it ).

Then there's God telling us in Isaiah 58:6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

It's very, very important that no one think, even for a moment, that doing good somehow diminishes the absolute necessity of repentance and committing all your life to Christ. At the same time, repentance and commitment does not mean that you get a free pass from doing acts of justice and mercy.

A rather simplistic definition of fasting means reducing the amount of food you eat, and/or avoiding certain foods for specific time periods. Lent is a Church season of repentance and self-denial. It fits into the Christian religious system as crucially as Christmas and Easter are seasons of celebration. Part of the practice of denial of self is fasting from food -or foods- and also from specific activities, especially sin!

At Trinity Church we're really good at doing compassionate activities. We are one of Hospitality House's founding churches. At the last Hospitality House we had 16 volunteers serving and a total of 22 people who brought food. As a church body we also support the Emergency Action Coalition, the Nevada City Food Closet, the Kellermann Foundation, Bwindi Community Hospital, the Batwa Development Program, and the Pygmy Education Fund.

Gluttony is the opposite of fasting. I often hear people in social situations describe their past lunches and dinners (but seldom breakfasts, for some reason) in loving detail. Sometimes it's just a way of making small talk, of being communicative, making a personal connection. Sometimes, however, it's a disturbing indication of that person's life orientation. Gluttony isn't just overeating and drinking, or eating delicious and artistic culinary creations. Gluttony is eating just for pleasure, the pleasure of pleasing one's self physically and psychologically without reference to God, who is supposed to be the central reference point of everything you do.

Yes, you can eat to the glory of God! We eat to God's glory on important feast days of the Church, like Christmas and Easter, for example. Eating to the glory of God can take place when you eat to celebrate what God has done, either in the liturgical year, or in your own life, eating a meal in celebration of a birthday or some blessing you have received. At that time, eating while keeping God's mighty blessings in mind is a particularly powerful kind of prayer. The food itself, in a sense, becomes a means of receiving God's blessing.

Christianity is an incarnational religion Every Christian is must strive (with the help of God) import his or her faith in every detail, without exception, into daily living. We can eat to the glory of God any time at all, so long as we remain mindful of His presence at the heart of our eating, and the joy we take in His presence in our lives. It goes without saying that no human being can manage to be a perfect vessel of the Holy Spirit. That's what repentance -correcting in flight- is about. Going off course is not a big deal. Recognize that you drifted off course, make a correction, and keep moving forward. On Ash Wednesday we formally make a new beginning in the quiet solemn liturgy.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good; happy is the man who takes refuge in Him”, Psalm 34.8 encourages us. This particular text urges everyone, by using the word 'taste”, to experience God in the most personal inner way. No one else can experience what something actually tastes like in your stead. Equally so, no one can experience God in your life except you. Inner experience of Christ-in-you and faithfulness to that experience is the essential key point in the entire Christian life.

Using your physical tastebuds to give yourself mere sensory and convivial pleasure without reference to God is not unlike using any other sense to mindlessly please yourself without reference to God. So, therefore, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride, which are the seven deadly (or capital, which means soul-killing) sins is the doing of -or even focusing on- those things in and for your earthly self alone.

The seven capital sins are summed up in the last one on the list, pride. Pride is putting yourself first in your life, and putting God and everyone else, everything else, second. Pride cuts you off from an authentic relationship with God and other people. Pride, it is said, is the source off all sin. Pride is called the reason for Lucifer's fall.

Fasting from food is a good starting point during Lent. Lent, which is forty days long, is sort of like practicing anything for forty days. It helps you make a start which you can carry over into the rest of the year. Some people fast on Fridays year-round, to commemorate Good Friday, and to give themselves a weekly spiritual reminder. Perhaps on that day they fast from meat, or from other foods, like dessert.

Fasting is supposed to be joyful! You are doing a profound spiritual practice in order to diminish your false ego, your pride, and to thereby draw closer to God. What's not to like about that?

I'd suggest two aspects of fasting for each person at Trinity Church to work on this Lent. First of all, fast from food (reduce your food intake a bit and finish your meal while you still feel somewhat hungry, or cut out a certain kind of food or foods) and also fast from the sin of evil speech (saying bad or denigrating things about anyone at all). If you discover you've set your (food) fasting goal too high, don't give up, just lower it a bit. Take on something as well, like going to Stations of the Cross, praying more on a regular schedule, and reading an edifying book. During Lent I say all the Psalms aloud each week, a certain number each day.

As for evil speech, it is the sin most condemned in the Bible. There are over 2500 commands in both the Old and New Testaments to avoid speaking evil of another person. At my own house, whatever I repeat most often to my kids is what I most want to be done, or not done. If God says in the Bible to avoid something thousands of times, what do we think that means? Indeed, in saying something bad about someone else you break 31 different commandments. That's why Jesus said that evil speech (inaccurately translated as mere “gossip”) is worse than murder.

Don't forget, as you fast from food during the week, that Sunday is always the Feast of the Resurrection. On Sunday you're dispensed from your food fast on that day and can, as a special act of worship, deliberately eat what you've been fasting from, but always eat to the glory of God!

Making Friends With Adversity: Part 3

2009-02-19T21:46:00.001-08:00

Learn to make adversity your friend.

To use medical terms, there are two kinds of adverse circumstances; acute and chronic. Acute adverse circumstances are, for example, losing your job or having pneumonia. With a bit of skill and patience you will leave them behind. Chronic adverse circumstances are, as an example, long-term unemployment, ongoing physical disability or caring for an elderly or disabled relative.

The difference between adverse circumstances and adversity itself is that circumstances are outward, while adversity is the experience of those circumstances. Coping with major types of adversity -especially the longer-term ones- might require a visit to your doctor and discussing antidepressent therapy, which can be very helpful. Also, a counselor should be considered, as well. Large muscle movement, in other words, exercise, is a completely natural aspect of coping with adversity.

There are a lot of strategies, both outer and inner, to help deal with adversity. When you're in the midst of hard times it's very hard to keep a postive perspective, and you must constantly make an effort to do so, but not on your own. Consult God, your mind and soul, your priest, your doctor, and a therapist. The first three are something you should always do, and don't be shy about looking at the last two options, as well, depending on the severity of the experience.

We Americans are famous for our impatience. We want instant gratification. We want solutions to our problems not just today, but yesterday! But life isn't like that, and so frustration, anger, and depression often ensues.

Learning to make a friend of adversity in its various aspects ranges from little tricks to deal with your immediate feelings to longer-term points of view which make addressing adversity easier and more effective. An important aspect of adversity is that you can use it to fast-track your spiritual life.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) said, “There is a way that everything can be turned into good.” But in order to do that, you have to stop, look, and listen- sort of like the advice I was given when as a small child I was taught how to safely cross a street.

You may be some place quite ordinary and feelings of distress begin to well up within you like a fountain, filling you with sadness and anxiety. As well, suddenly you can notice have a deep longing arise, desiring the problem or quandry to be over and done with. Right then, stop where you are. Don't move on, look inside yourself and listen to what your thoughts and feelings are saying.

Stop what you're doing for a moment (if it's safe to do so), because otherwise you will probably interrupt your self-examination. Stop and focus your attention directly on the feeling itself. Recognize that it really doesn't exist anywhere except in your head. Then, look not at the problem but on the feeling of longing for a solution, which is really an appeal for help. Turn that longing into a prayer, simple straight from your heart, whether in your own words or wordlessly lifting the feelings themselves up to God.

Be totally honest with God. Don't bother acting noble or putting your prayer into fine words. As regards matters of your inner life -you spiritual life- don't put on airs. Be who you are, since you can't fool God anyway, like you can put up a false front for other people, and putting on airs with God falsifies your side of the relationship, and doesn't help at all.

You can also make it a practice to spend time reading the Psalms aloud. Make them into your own prayers. When the Psalmist speaks of his enemies, regard those as your own negative thoughts- frustration, anger, depression, despair. Your real enemies are not outside you. What drags you down is actually inside your head, and your heart. Ask God to expel the negativity within you. Visualize in your mind's eye your negativity leaving your body, and confidence, health, and happiness showering down on you and everyone connected with you as a rain of blessings from Above. Keep doing that practice over and over as you read the Psalms.

Look at life the way a farmer does his fields. Take the long view. Patience means, first of all, sticking with the viewpoints and spiritual practices which do good, and not walking away from them. Farmers plant seeds in the ground, and wherever its possible they feed and water the seeds and the plants which grow from them. Farmers can't afford to be lazy about their fields. The fields have to be seen to day after day. Weeds, which would otherwise choke and kill the crop must be kept at bay. Getting the crop to a point where it can be harvested takes time, watchfulness, and effort.

One of the damaging wrong ways people see the doctrine of Salvation by Grace through Faith is the thought that we have no part in it at all, and therefore no effort we can do to make things better is either possible or necessary. But, of course we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit's work in us. If you make no effort in response to God speaking quietly (or shouting loudly!), that is a sure sign that you have to turn around your life then and there and do something.

Farmers have the advantage of having learned from experience. In England, our house was bounded by wheat fields on two sides. The farmer, Stephen Jackson, knew what to do and when to do it because he had been on his land since he was born. We, on the other hand, are doing something new in our lives- learning to make a friend of adversity, and growing “until all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God's Son, and until we attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in the Messiah.” [Ephesians 4:13] To do that takes time, effort, and patience. Until we have grown into the full standard of development in the Messiah everything is a type of adversity to be overcome, with the help of the Holy Spirit living and moving in us.

On the other hand, there is a quicker way of going about addressing not only adversity, but addressing most questions about day to day life. Last week we had a Men's Retreat at New Clairvaux Monastery at Vina, north of Chico. The monks there are Cistercians of the Strict Observance, otherwise called Trappists. The Trappist monk's rule of life includes the classic Benedictine trinity of manual labor, study, and prayer. As well, they promise strict obedience to the Abbot (thereby slaying the false ego) and to live in community with their brother monks. The Trappist spiritual life is based on constant recollection of God... keeping God at the forefront of your mind, not forgetting Him, ever. That takes practice, of course, but it is a goal toward which each monk sets his heart.

When we arrived at the monastery I talked about what it is like being a monk. When you enter the monastic life your old life is over. In former days some Orders had a kind of funeral service for the new monk's old life, since he was entering -being born into- a new one. In a sense, when you enter the monastery you don't have a future any more. You certainly aren't going to have a career climbing one rung of a ladder upward to some kind of worldly goal. Your past is gone, also. You only have one purpose, one question to be asked, “Lord, who do You want me to be right now?” You ask that question one moment, and the next moment, and the next, and the next, until you die, whether that is in an hour or seventy five years. Time no long means anything. Only the present moment with God is of any importance. “Lord, who do You want me to be, right now?”

We who live in what is called “the world” have a tendency to get caught up in visions of the future (which never comes about in just the way we want), and memories of the past, both good and bad, which is gone forever. In many cases, we forget who God wants us to beright now, not in the future, not in the past, but NOW. Ask God the question, “Who do you want me to be at this moment?” The answer is usually clear. It has to do with character, with behavior, with attention to the presence of God in your heart. That's the best and quickest response to adversity. Just keep asking the question time after time after time, moment by moment. Then, respond intuitively. You already know what is your response should/could/can be.

Men especially, and also since the advent of the feminist movement (my grandmother was a Suffragette), women as well, reflexively see living in terms of doing, of accomplishment. People are always asking God what they are supposed to do but far less often ask who they should be. American culture insistently urges us to compete, achieve, and win in comparison to other people. That's not a wholly bad trait, for sure. But what you do all too often accomplished without a corresponding concentration on character development. A great number of political figures in every nation are perfect examples of what happens when a person emphasizes accomplishment over character.

Accomplishment is something relative to time and circumstance. Being – who you are as a person – is an aspect of a spiritual state, and that is beyond time and circumstance. You can't really choose to be rich or powerful or healthy or intelligent and simply make it happen, but you can choose to be noble, good, and kind. Those last qualities are the ones which last. The former are mere temporal and transient goals. The latter partake of eternity. Being compassionately in touch with real life while simultaneously plugged into eternity is the entire point of the inner life of any Christian.

An important part of inner spiritual practice in the Cistercian tradition is what is called Interior Silence. Interior Silence isn't a special Trappist practice. It happens quite naturally, all by itself, when your mind is cleared of turbulent images and thoughts and you reach a place of rest and peace in the divine presence. Interior Silence isn't a blankness or boredom. It's can be compared to diving underneath the waves and currents of a stormy sea and finding a depth without disturbances. Interior Silence can be likened, as well, to an awareness of living within God's radiant all-creating light and life. At first, it's too much to expect to remain there (though that's the long-term objective), but when you surface again and then dive back down into the depths of your soul, with perseverance you learn how to get where you want to go.

Interior Silence is the ultimate way of making friends with adversity. Your, my, our perception of so-called adverse circumstances is relative. The notion of 'adversity' is related to an ultimately false notion that something is outside God's love and plan for us. It's also part of the chatter which goes on in the thinking (discursive) mind which projects itself into the future, looks back toward the past, and generally ignores the presence of God here-and-now. Interior Silence shuts up that chatter, or at least makes it pipe down a bit for a time. Interior Silence also helps you put things in your life into a proper perspective, and diminishes the emotionally overwhelming quality of mental distress.

Ask God “Who do you want me to be?” Don't try to force an answer, or get all tangled up in discursive thinking. Simply rest in God's presence. Spend time in Interior Silence while you are doing something that involves manual work, like washing the dishes, folding laundry, pulling weeds, chopping wood, fixing the car. Get used to paying attention to God's presence more than you pay attention to other things. If something else requires a bit more concentration, keep aware of His presence out of the corner of your spiritual eye. If at first there are places or situations where you are more aware of the divine presence, spend time there cultivating your apprehension of God. Then practice importing the experience you have in sacred time and sacred space into ordinary and more challenging life situations.

You can maintain Interior Silence not only in a retreat setting or in sacred space. You can find it and maintain it, with the help of God, in any situation... even when you're talking to someone, or working at your job, or sitting at a dinner table in conversation with other people.

Ultimately, the ceasing of needless mental chatter will occur and you'll feel a sense of genuine freedom. Then the mental chatter will arise again, you'll notice it (eventually!), correct in mental flight, and rest again in God's loving arms. Interior Silence -being present with God- doesn't rely on exterior silence or quietude. Interior silence is an art, not a science. Each person has to discover how it works in his or her personal situation. There are various methods by which to get there, but it's best to work with a spiritual director to do it. I can help a bit, or I can give you the names of other people who can also assist you.

Adversity, you see, is not just some kind of adventitious circumstance to be attacked, eliminated, and discarded. Adversity is the sure and certain path to arriving at mature Christian adulthood. One of the 5^th century Fathers of the Desert said, “It is by adversity that some souls are shipwrecked, and through adversity others are crowned.”

Making Friends With Adversity: Part 2

2009-02-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

Learn to consider adversity your friend

For many people, it's much easier to put up with adversity, and even to learn important truths from hard times, than it is to accept love and care and help when it's needed.

At the heart of what we consider unfavorable conditions is the fact of change. However, often the change in question isn't something we ordinarily consider good , pleasant, or even helpful, though for some reason it's necessary that it be experienced.

Any kind of change should alert you to the essentially empty nature of things as they are, that everything in this world is a compound of different factors which are always temporary. It's always a bit of a surprise to see your first gray hair, even if you've expected it.

A few years ago I experienced a bout of gastric reflux. Scott Kellermann ordered some tests at the hospital and after getting the results he gave me the information that I already knew, that my reflux would always be there in the background and I'd have to be careful. Then he added that my esophagus would only be getting wider, and he asked, 'What do you think about that?' I responded with a wry grin, 'Impermanance I have met you!' I've gotten used to not eating too much as a result, which is good for me, anyway.

Thirty-one years ago I got really, really sick, and the changes which resulted were profound. Though I can be somewhat athletic today, then it was questionable if I'd even be able to walk normally ever again. What I discovered, paradoxically, was the secret of how to be happy even when I'm miserable.

Underneath those rather mundane self-discoveries was the necessity of coming to terms with inevitable change. Our country, our world, is always challenged in that area, especially now that most people - including us - have to adjust to change which we're tempted to see as a rise in unfavorable conditions.

But no matter what, every one of us will get sick, get older (if so ordained by God), and die. Almost every person I know who is of a certain age says, 'I don't mind dying... it's just the process I want to avoid.' Our late friend Joan Stubblefield was feeling pretty good a couple of weeks ago. She'd bought season tickets to the Opera, and booked a nice holiday. Then one night she got in bed, went to sleep, and woke up in heaven, as it is said. That's a very rare blessing, rare enough that we regard it as so expectional that it's worthy of note, and envy!

Probably 98% of all of us at Trinity Church will have to learn to live with increasing weakness and frailty before our departure for The World To Come. We'll have to learn to accept help, which for many people - especially men - is commonly regarded as humbling (and some even see it as degrading). But, there's no getting out of it, those things must be faced. But that's not bad, it's good!

A lot of people over the years tell me that they feel useless when they're old, or weak, or bedridden. That's to be expected, since we're taught that it's doing things - giving - that is valuable, not receiving. Receiving love, receiving help, is humbling. It destroys our false notions of independence, and neutralizes the poison of false pride. At that point the inner life becomes a tightrope on which we balance between a false sense of entitlement (which is a particularly destructive form of egotism) and feelings of utter worthlessness.

However, people who need love and care are immensely valuable! They have a terribly important ministry that no one else can do!

In my day-to-day life people often treat me with a degree of kindness and respect which I do not feel myself entitled to receive. It's embarassing and humbling to a degree which most people can't imagine. Here's a story which illustrates how I see myself:

In the Middle Ages there once was an old woman who was very devout. Her son would go to the big city once a year to buy things for their village. Before he left one autumn she asked him to get her a relic of a saint to put on her simple altar at home.

So, her son went to the city nad sold his crops, bought a few things, and rode home. As he approached his village he saw his mother's house and suddenly remembered her request. Horrifed, the son wondered what to do. He stopped his horse to think for a minute, his head hanging down in dejection, and noticed a dog's skull by the side of the road.

Jumping down from his horse, he pulled a back tooth from the skull. Then, he wrapped it in a nice piece of cloth, put it in a little gilded box, and triumphantly gave it to his beloved mother, telling her it was a tooth of the Holy Apostle Barnabas!

His mom joyfully took it into her house and used it as something to focus on during her prayers. Her friends came over and prayed with extra fervor in front of the important Christian relic. Pretty soon all the cows and sheep in the village started giving birth to twins, people were healed of their illnesses, and the faith of all the villagers rose tremendously. In thanksgiving they built a big new church for their village which everyone joyfully attended. So that's the origin of the saying, 'If you have enough faith, even a dog's tooth will do miracles.'

When you are sick, or weak, or in need of help, and you let your brothers and sisters in Christ minister to you, you are giving them a very rare and powerful gift. Your giving them the chance to practice the Christian virtues!

Throughout the Bible, God declares it a major, major Command (not a recommendation or bit of advice!) that we should visit the sick, assist widows and orphans, and help those in need. Jesus said in Matthew 25,

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

So, is that an adequate example of why it is so important to let people (even your relatives!) be of service to you? By doing so you're enabling them to grow in the Christian life. While you're being humbled - maybe even a bit embarassed - by their service they are learning humilty, love, generosity, self-sacrifice, and patience, just like you are! It's a symbiotic spiritual relationship, and completely necessary. Without people to love and serve and respect where would the Christian Community be? Nowhere.

It's even better if you don't have much money or are otherwise unable pay them back with dinner or gifts. Then your kind friends will be rewarded by God the Father Himself in The World To Come, as Jesus teaches repeatedly. And, no matter how bad you feel or incapacitated you are you can pray for others. If you're in the hospital, homebound, or in a rest home you can imagine it's your hermitage or monastery, and you can pray, which is among the most important ministries of them all.

All of us are necessary parts of the Divine Ecosystem. No one is useless. Everyone is essential. We all must make friends with adversity in order to fulfill what God wants us to do.

Making Friends With Adversity: Part 1

2009-02-19T21:42:00.000-08:00

Make the best use of unfavorable conditions.

Learn to consider that adversity is your friend.

Everybody knows that parents who spoil their children aren't doing their kids any favors. As Hebrews 12:6 says that God disciplines those whom He loves. Unfavorable conditions -of whatever kind- are not necessarily bad. They're an opportunity to grow! Learning to live with less has many spiritual, as well as economic, benefits. When a person begins to feel entitled to what some people call the good things in life, he or she generally experiences an ego inflation. Ego inflation results in a distancing from authentic relationship with God and other people. This, to say the least, is not a good thing.

As well, such a person becomes dependent on continued material prosperity to prop up a false notion of his or her quasi-omnipotence. On writing that sentence, I'm reminded of a recent news story of a suicidal suicidal investment advisor in Florida whose favorite photo of himself was of him surrounded by his gorgeous wife, top of the line BMW, and private airplane. Proverbs 16:18 assures us, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

Throughout human history, throughout our own lives, it's often hard to really believe that after summer comes winter. Every empire believes it's eternal, but whatever is the product of time and circumstance will inevitably disperse after coming together. Winter is colder than summer, and to my mind a bit more consistently challenging. In order to sprout in the spring, seeds often must be chilled, or even frozen. But, in the words of the former nun, Monica Baldwin (1893-1975) who spent 28 years in a strictly enclosed convent, “What makes humility so desirable is the marvelous thing it does to us; it creates in us a capacity for the closest intimacy with God.”

Being buffeted -even squashed- by economic conditions does not have to be a terrible tragedy. Even if you've taken your eye off the spiritual ball, so to speak, God has a way of getting through to you. Sometimes God whispers, sometimes He shouts. There are more than a few people at Trinity Church, even, who have “lost” their house and yet have rebounded financially, but more importantly they've found their spiritual lives mysteriously enhanced. But it's not really so much of a mystery, however, is it?

How do you make adversity a friend? First of all, by not fearing it, not giving unfavorable circumstances power over you by fearing it. If you experience fear in the face of adversity, that's normal. But, considering the matter further you can recognize that what's being threatened is your desire to have things your own way, and that the situation is thereby threatening your false concepts of yourself and what you're entitled to. All of us are human beings, all of us are equal in the sight of God. When something you regard as bad happens either look to see how you've helped it come into being (like going too fast can result in an accident or a speeding ticket), or understand that you are participating in a natural process of change (like sickness, old age, earthquake, storm, or economic downturn). No one and nothing on this earth lives forever or lasts forever, even so-called bad times!

Second, recognize that through adversity you have an opportunity to grow in ways that you not have had otherwise. St. Paul in Romans 5:3-5 puts it this way, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

James 4:8: “Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you.”

Another Anniversay

2009-02-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday was the twenty-seventh anniversary of my ordination to the Sacred Order of Priests in Christ's One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and I still feel as if I'm just beginning to get an idea of what to do. Being a priest is not only my job and part of my identity -who I am- but according to the teaching of the Church since the earliest times, it's an aspect of my very being, my ontology. Baptism, Confirmation, and Matrimony change us just as deeply and irrevocably.

So, being a priest, and a parish priest at that, what's my job?

My foremost job is to study the Bible, just as study of the Holy Scriptures is every Christian's primary task. Since I'm the main preacher at Trinity Church, my task is easier, since it's a big part of a major assignment which comes due for me every Sunday morning. As well, I have to study other parts of the Bible, as well, so that I can better understand and address what God is saying to me, us, and the world. So, I've immersed myself in the sources of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, which are Jewish! And my study has been in the primary texts, the Tanach (Old Testament), Talmud, the early and later commentators, and especially the Hasidic movement which revivified Jewish life since the 18th century.

Sermon prep: I start by reading material from my own library on Monday, and then as the week foes on graduate to checking out various often obscure commentaries on the internet, then finally read several sermons on the same readings. I basically do that for all my Bible studies.

Second, my job is to be a man of prayer, and keep my connection with Jesus Christ as open as possible, 24/7. This is true of everyone, as well. Ideally, I suppose that three sessions of prayer, meditation, and contemplation of one and a half hours each would be best. Unfortunately, apart from the demands of ordinary daily life, I'm not able to discipline myself to do that outside of a retreat environment, though if I really, really put my mind to that it would probably be possible. So, I try to pray all the time, instead. While talking to people, listening, reading, driving, I make an effort to keep the words “Jesus remember me” revolving around and around in my heart by repeating the phrase in the back of my mind at all time. While doing that, I put my mind in my heart, and spiritually stand before God... even while sitting down!

Since I can think about two things at the same time, -most people can, and do- like working on this Rector's Rumination and simultaneously consider the best moment to get up from my seat and make some tea, I can use the back part of my mind, where trivial thoughts mysteriously arise and dissipate, to do something really useful, like pray. Doing that, a person can pray pretty much continuously, not losing sight of the presence of God.

Also, I try to do a couple of retreats a year, one at least as a solitary retreat. I have my own spiritual director, and also consult other experienced people as well.

The third part of my job is to be a spiritual teacher, to be a guide for others through the jungle of this world. Alas, I'm not always perfect in my discernment and understanding, and so must constantly make a supreme effort to grow in understanding and wisdom, and encourage everyone I deal with to decide what they, not I, think is best.

Though I've known some of the great spiritual personalities of the 20th century, I keep in mind that the fact that the only true guide is certainly not them or me, but the Holy Spirit living in the hearts of His people and that we all are only a fallible resource, is the best perspective. Being a spiritual teacher takes place everywhere... at SPD Market, on Broad Street in Nevada City, at Caroline's Coffee in Grass Valley, or the Tack Room in Penn Valley.

Being a spiritual teacher is not only my job, it's the job of every Christian person. Your every interaction with another person (nothing is left out when I write this) is your spiritual teaching. Your life is supposed to be a signpost on the road to Jesus. Your life points toward Him.

Sometimes that teaching requires conversation. I wait for the right opportunity (which generally comes sooner than later), and then interject a question about the person's past encounters with God. The conversation then goes on from the position of something they've already experienced, not me talking about a topic about which they've only heard rumors.

C.S. Lewis mentioned somewhere that much of our spiritual teaching is not about words, but it's done in the context of who we are as people. One of the most common criticisms of Christianity by non-Christians is that we say one thing and do another. That's true, but all religious and non-religious people are hypocrites. No one can live the tenets of their belief system perfectly. It's our duty, however, to at least try to do so! The most important part of anyone's spiritual teaching is how they live. As St. Francis of Assisi once remarked, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.”

Also, I'm supposed to be communicating intellectual information as a facet of my job. I study constantly! Ask my wife or kids. Having an important 'assignment' (which is to say, my sermon) which is due every Sunday at 8 AM is a big incentive. The information I convey is expected to point pack to the source, and not stray from the spiritual Truth which was handed down from us from the Holy Apostles, from the extraordinary men and women of our faith, the Saints, and the teachings of the Ancient Undivided Church. Keeping to that principle makes what is taught reliable.

Information can be expressed in new ways, perhaps, but it must not wander far from the headwaters of the River of God. That's why I describe myself as orthodox, neither 'Conservative' or 'Liberal'. I'm not afraid of change in the least, but I won't tamper with what has been handed down from the Apostles into my weak hands just because I don't understand it. Drink from the Source, where the water is freshest, and in the middle of the stream, to avoid pollutants coming from the riverbanks.

Finally, the Church from the very beginning has set apart certain people to act on behalf of everyone in performing the ABCs... Absolving, Blessing, and Consecrating. Pronouncing God's forgiveness to His penitent People (Absolution), Blessing them in the Name of the Holy Trinity, and Consecrating and performing the Sacraments of the Church, which are outward and visible signs of God's inward and spiritual grace.

These are most often expressed in liturgical (ritualized) actions of the Church, and have since the earliest times been lead by Bishops and Priests. They consecrate Bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, they Baptize, Bless God's people, their homes, and objects used in the Christian life, and effect permanent changes in people's lives through Baptism, Marriage, the Sacrament of Healing (anointing with oil), exorcise (with permission of the Bishop, of course), assuring God's Absolution of sins toward those who repent, and participate, on behalf of the whole Church, in the Ordination of the three Orders of Sacramental Ministry... Bishops, Priest, and Deacons, though it is only Bishops who ordain.

However, keep in mind in an emergency anyone can Baptize, and certainly any time any Christian can hear another person's Confession to Christ, give guidance, and reassure that person's of God's love and forgiveness. Any Christian can lay hands on another person and pray for his or her healing.

As a matter of fact, most of what I do is something everyone else at Trinity Church could and should be doing right now, as well. Parents should bless their children individually every night before they go to bed, for example. Just make the sign of the Cross on their foreheads and say 'God bless you and keep you.' Every person can and should be a guide to others, and also preach the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ in all aspects of daily life. As a matter of fact, I can think of lots of people at Trinity who do this!Every Christian is a Priest in prayer, standing with upraised hands before the resplendent Face of God Himself in intercession for others and the whole world.

The Bible tells us that we are are all Kings (noble by our Birthright as God's adopted children) and Priests. And since He has made us so, let's all do our best to live out that reality.

Oh, yes, and another job I have is as an administrator, but that's not really in the job description set forth in the Ordination rite, but it takes up some of my time. Thanks be to God we have several better administrators at Trinity!

These past twenty-seven years have been a fruitful time of service, by God's grace. It's been a time of being the person who God has called me to be. I've made so many humbling and educational mistakes, and been able to be a part of the lives of so many wonderful people who have taught me a great deal. Everything that happens in life, no matter what, can be a part of your spiritual practice.

Jesus has called everyone at Trinity Church to be His ministers, not just me. I couldn't even begin to do it all. Thank you for being my co-workers in the Fields of the Lord, and for being my friends.