Tuesday, December 29, 2009
A Grotesque Geometry of Love
In her book, 'The Geometry of Love,' Margaret Visser takes one church, Sant'Agnese fuori le Mura (i.e. St. Agnes outside the Wall) in Rome, and tells us what it means.
In reviewing it, Joe Woodward of The Calgary Herald (Saturday October 28, 2000) said: "Visser was prompted to write a book on the meanings of church adornments by a visit to a tiny Spanish church. A local guide was showing a Japanese tourist the building, commenting on its various features.
Meanwhile, the foreigner was staring aghast – 'as well he might' – at a horrific, life-size carving, painted in brilliant reds and blacks, of a bleeding, tortured man, nailed to two pieces of wood. Yet, when he wordlessly gestured toward this grotesque artwork, the guide simply smiled and mentioned the date it was carved."
In reviewing it, Joe Woodward of The Calgary Herald (Saturday October 28, 2000) said: "Visser was prompted to write a book on the meanings of church adornments by a visit to a tiny Spanish church. A local guide was showing a Japanese tourist the building, commenting on its various features.
Meanwhile, the foreigner was staring aghast – 'as well he might' – at a horrific, life-size carving, painted in brilliant reds and blacks, of a bleeding, tortured man, nailed to two pieces of wood. Yet, when he wordlessly gestured toward this grotesque artwork, the guide simply smiled and mentioned the date it was carved."
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Bless Me
Bless me, O my Christ,
Be Thou my shield protecting me,
Aid my steps in the pitiful swamp,
Lead Thou me to the life eternal;
Aid my steps in the pitiful swamp,
Lead Thou me to the life eternal.
- Peighid Ni Cormaig, in 'The Carmina Gadelica'
Be Thou my shield protecting me,
Aid my steps in the pitiful swamp,
Lead Thou me to the life eternal;
Aid my steps in the pitiful swamp,
Lead Thou me to the life eternal.
- Peighid Ni Cormaig, in 'The Carmina Gadelica'
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Celtic Encompassing Prayer
The compassing of God and His right hand
Be upon thy form and upon thy frame;
The compassing of the High King and the grace of the Trinity
Be upon thee, abiding ever eternally.
May the compassing of the Three shield thee in thy means,
The compassing of the Three shield thee this day,
The compassing of the Three shield thee this night,
From hate, from harm, from act, from ill,
From hate, from harm, from act, from ill.
Be upon thy form and upon thy frame;
The compassing of the High King and the grace of the Trinity
Be upon thee, abiding ever eternally.
May the compassing of the Three shield thee in thy means,
The compassing of the Three shield thee this day,
The compassing of the Three shield thee this night,
From hate, from harm, from act, from ill,
From hate, from harm, from act, from ill.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Present
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light
and renewal to those who work with you
and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of
refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
and renewal to those who work with you
and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of
refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
Windy
I Feel the Winds of God
I feel the winds of God today
Today my sail I lift
Though heavy, oft with drenching spray
And torn with many a rift
If hope but light the water's crest
And Christ my bark will use
I'll seek the seas at His behest
And brave another cruise
It is the wind of God that dries
My vain regretful tears
Until with braver thoughts shall rise
The purer, brighter years
If cast on shores of selfish ease
Or pleasure I should be
Lord, let me feel Thy freshening breeze
And I'll put back to sea
If ever I forget Thy love
And how that love was shown
Lift high the blood red flag above
It bears Thy Name alone
Great Pilot of my onward way
Thou wilt not let me drift
I feel the winds of God today
Today my sail I lift
- Jesse Adams 1906
Friday, July 10, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
N.T.'s Theology
" . . . The Jewish story and the Greco-Roman allusions and confrontations meet like two tectonic plates, throwing up the craggy mountain range we call New Testament Theology."
- N. T. Wright
- N. T. Wright
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
God of All
Our God is the God of all,
The God of heaven and earth,
Of the sea and of the rivers;
The God of the sun and of the moon and of all the stars;
The God of the lofty mountains
and of the lowly valleys.
He has His dwelling around heaven and earth,
and sea, and all that in them is.
He inspires all,
He gives life to all,
He dominates all,
He supports all.
He lights the light of the sun.
He furnishes the light of the night.
He has made springs in dry land . . .
He is the God of heaven and earth,
of sea and rivers,
of sun, moon and stars,
of the lofty mountain and the lowly valley,
the God above heaven,
and in heaven,
and under heaven.
-St. Patrick
Our God is the God of all,
The God of heaven and earth,
Of the sea and of the rivers;
The God of the sun and of the moon and of all the stars;
The God of the lofty mountains
and of the lowly valleys.
He has His dwelling around heaven and earth,
and sea, and all that in them is.
He inspires all,
He gives life to all,
He dominates all,
He supports all.
He lights the light of the sun.
He furnishes the light of the night.
He has made springs in dry land . . .
He is the God of heaven and earth,
of sea and rivers,
of sun, moon and stars,
of the lofty mountain and the lowly valley,
the God above heaven,
and in heaven,
and under heaven.
-St. Patrick
Columba’s Affirmation
Alone with none but Thee, my God,
I journey on my way;
What need I fear, when Thou art near,
O king of night and day?
More safe I am within Thy hand,
Than if a host did round me stand.
My destined time is fixed by Thee,
And death doth know his hour.
Did warriors strong around me throng,
They could not stay his power;
No walls of stone can man defend
When Thou Thy messenger dost send.
My life I yield to Thy decree,
And bow to Thy control
In peaceful calm, for from Thine arm
No power can wrest my soul
Could earthly omens e’er appal.
A man that heeds the heavenly call!
The child of God can fear no ill,
His chosen dread no foe;
We leave our fate with Thee and wait
Thy bidding when we go.
Tis not from chance our comfort springs,
Thou art our trust, O king of kings.
- St. Columba
(trans. unknown)
I journey on my way;
What need I fear, when Thou art near,
O king of night and day?
More safe I am within Thy hand,
Than if a host did round me stand.
My destined time is fixed by Thee,
And death doth know his hour.
Did warriors strong around me throng,
They could not stay his power;
No walls of stone can man defend
When Thou Thy messenger dost send.
My life I yield to Thy decree,
And bow to Thy control
In peaceful calm, for from Thine arm
No power can wrest my soul
Could earthly omens e’er appal.
A man that heeds the heavenly call!
The child of God can fear no ill,
His chosen dread no foe;
We leave our fate with Thee and wait
Thy bidding when we go.
Tis not from chance our comfort springs,
Thou art our trust, O king of kings.
- St. Columba
(trans. unknown)
The Christ of Nature
The Christ of Nature
He loved cherry sunsets growing heavy on the branches of the evening;
He loved bud coloured dawns opening from the east’s earth.
He loved the sea, green in its happiness, seeking the shore;
He loved to see it languishing back stonily from its crest to its groove.
He loved the character of birds, the flock that trusted in His Father;
He loved lambs, the most skilfully fashioned: the lambs,
the most innocent in their nature.
He loved the beasts of the borders: the ones that dwelt in the wild;
He loved their sure dependence on that which the wilderness provided.
He loved wheat shivering as it became golden and heavy headed with nourishment;
He loved the fortressed mountain country, the desolation where peace grew.
He loved the earth, loved it as a lover, because it is God’s earth;
He loved it, because it was created by His Father from nothingness to be Life’s temple.
- Donald Evans, Cread Crist, Cyhoeddiadau Barddus, 1986
(trans. Cynthia and Saunders Davies)
He loved cherry sunsets growing heavy on the branches of the evening;
He loved bud coloured dawns opening from the east’s earth.
He loved the sea, green in its happiness, seeking the shore;
He loved to see it languishing back stonily from its crest to its groove.
He loved the character of birds, the flock that trusted in His Father;
He loved lambs, the most skilfully fashioned: the lambs,
the most innocent in their nature.
He loved the beasts of the borders: the ones that dwelt in the wild;
He loved their sure dependence on that which the wilderness provided.
He loved wheat shivering as it became golden and heavy headed with nourishment;
He loved the fortressed mountain country, the desolation where peace grew.
He loved the earth, loved it as a lover, because it is God’s earth;
He loved it, because it was created by His Father from nothingness to be Life’s temple.
- Donald Evans, Cread Crist, Cyhoeddiadau Barddus, 1986
(trans. Cynthia and Saunders Davies)
Lord, be with us
Lord, be with us this day,
Within us to purify us;
Above us to draw us up;
Beneath us to sustain us;
Before us to lead us;
Behind us to restrain us;
Around us to protect us.
- St Patrick
Within us to purify us;
Above us to draw us up;
Beneath us to sustain us;
Before us to lead us;
Behind us to restrain us;
Around us to protect us.
- St Patrick
Monday, June 22, 2009
A Prayer from the Hebrides
The Gospel of the God of life
To shelter thee, to aid thee,
Yea, the Gospel of beloved Christ
The holy Gospel of the Lord.
To keep thee from all malice,
From every dole and dolour;
To keep thee from all spite,
From evil eye and anguish.
Thou shalt travel thither, thou shalt travel
hither,
Thou shalt travel hill and headland,
Thou shalt travel down, thou shalt travel up,
Thou shalt travel ocean and narrow.
Christ Himself is shepherd over thee,
Enfolding thee on every side;
He will not forsake thee hand or foot,
Nor let evil come anight thee.
To shelter thee, to aid thee,
Yea, the Gospel of beloved Christ
The holy Gospel of the Lord.
To keep thee from all malice,
From every dole and dolour;
To keep thee from all spite,
From evil eye and anguish.
Thou shalt travel thither, thou shalt travel
hither,
Thou shalt travel hill and headland,
Thou shalt travel down, thou shalt travel up,
Thou shalt travel ocean and narrow.
Christ Himself is shepherd over thee,
Enfolding thee on every side;
He will not forsake thee hand or foot,
Nor let evil come anight thee.
Monastic Life Ideals
Could we live, ourselves, with the ideals of (at least aspects of) "those humble yet august souls, who dare to live upon the very confines of the great mystery, waiting between the world closed to them and heaven not yet opened, turned toward the daylight not yet seen, with only the happiness of thinking that they know where it is, their aspirations directed toward the abyss and the unknown, their gaze fixed on the motionless gloom, kneeling, stufefied, shuddering and half borne away at certain times by the deep pulsations of Eternity."
- Victor Hugo, 'Les Miserables"
What would I do if I was 'half borne away at times by the deep pulsations of Eternity?
- Victor Hugo, 'Les Miserables"
What would I do if I was 'half borne away at times by the deep pulsations of Eternity?
Colonies of Heaven
The Monastery - "that singular place, from which, as from the summit of a lofty mountain, we perceive, on one side, the abyss in which we are, and on the other, the abyss wherein we are to be; it is a narrow and misty boundary that separates two worlds, where the unfeebled ray of life commingles with the uncertain ray of death."
- Victor Hugo, 'Les Miserables'
- Victor Hugo, 'Les Miserables'
Friday, June 12, 2009
Move On
You who would travel the highway of faith
Do not look back, do not stay,
You who have grasped the great circle
Trust God, the world will own His day.
Do not try to recapture, but do not devalue
The vintage once you knew.
The Gospel ever explodes yesterday's vessel,
The wine comes fresh for you.
Two meet, three meet at a turn of the road
Travelling with the one Lord.
Each must move on within the same circle
True together to His Word.
You who would travel God's great highway
Unmapped, ahead, heaven's way,
With the One, with many never at rest,
Do not back nor stay.
- Mervyn Wilson, quoted in The Celtic Way, Ian Bradley
Do not look back, do not stay,
You who have grasped the great circle
Trust God, the world will own His day.
Do not try to recapture, but do not devalue
The vintage once you knew.
The Gospel ever explodes yesterday's vessel,
The wine comes fresh for you.
Two meet, three meet at a turn of the road
Travelling with the one Lord.
Each must move on within the same circle
True together to His Word.
You who would travel God's great highway
Unmapped, ahead, heaven's way,
With the One, with many never at rest,
Do not back nor stay.
- Mervyn Wilson, quoted in The Celtic Way, Ian Bradley
New Eyes for Home
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
- T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets, 'Little Gidding'
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
- T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets, 'Little Gidding'
All Nature Speaks . . .
There is no plant in the ground
But is full of His virtue,
There is no form in the strand
But is full of His blessing.
There is no life in the sea,
There is no creature in the river,
There is naught in the firmament,
But proclaims His goodness.
There is no bird on the wing,
There is no star in the sky,
There is nothing beneath the sun,
But proclaims His goodness.
- Ancient Irish Poem
But is full of His virtue,
There is no form in the strand
But is full of His blessing.
There is no life in the sea,
There is no creature in the river,
There is naught in the firmament,
But proclaims His goodness.
There is no bird on the wing,
There is no star in the sky,
There is nothing beneath the sun,
But proclaims His goodness.
- Ancient Irish Poem
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Desperate to Get In
When Dalls Willard was asked: 'How do you do “evangelism-discipleship?”' - He responded: "My short answer: You ravish people with the blessings of the Kingdom. You make them hungry for it. That's why words are so important; we must be wordsmiths. You use words to ravish people with the beauty of the kingdom. It's the beauty of the kingdom that Jesus said was causing people to climb over each other just to get in. People become excited like the pearl-purchaser. They will give everything to get in."
Sounds like all that we seek might be about far more than mere religion or 'church-work' . . .
Sounds like all that we seek might be about far more than mere religion or 'church-work' . . .
Friday, May 15, 2009
A Cornish Bendiction
Re bo Dew ha lowena genes pupprys! (may God and happiness be with you always!)
My maternal ancestor, John Partridge was born ca 1815 at Bodmin, Cornwall. He was a tin miner who came to Devon, where he married Mary Henley (b. ca 1821, Kingsteignton) who was then living in South Bovey, in the parish of Bovey Tracey.
My maternal ancestor, John Partridge was born ca 1815 at Bodmin, Cornwall. He was a tin miner who came to Devon, where he married Mary Henley (b. ca 1821, Kingsteignton) who was then living in South Bovey, in the parish of Bovey Tracey.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Daring to Live THE PRAYER
OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME.
It is by God that we live and move and have our being. Apart from Him we cannot exist. Our recognition of His Presence, Power, Provision and Protection (in all of life) is essential. Without Him we are nothing - we can do nothing, we will be nothing; indeed, we shall cease to be at all.
YOUR KINGDOM COME; YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
God wills to, and will, re-establish all aspects of His rule, in all aspects of life and in all places in the cosmos. Once more the earth is beginning to resound and to resonate with His creation (and re-creation) purposes. Despite all the seeming evidence to the contrary, each day God's people - hopeful, Easter-resurrected people, see evidences of Kingdom coming.
Beginning with Persons and with a People (and all through the One in Christ who redeems, releases, restores, resources them), God reclaims from the Enemy what was willfully submitted over to him, in our early-days Rebellion - resulting in the brokeness, sickness, incompleteness and estrangement of the world - and of so much within it that still reveals sin's taint and stain on the earth. But the flow has been reversed in Christus Victor, through His triumphant life, death, resurrection and ascension and as Christ-followers believe and live out new life in the midst of that flow. As when He was present with us (having pitched His tent for awhile among us - cf. John 1:14), Jesus claimed: 'The Kingdom of God is among you; the Kingdom of God is near you,' - so Kingdom people, Easter-resurrection people also (may now) go into all rooms and spheres of creation, there to announce with boldness that 'the Kingdom is near, the Kingdom is present. This happens daily - or it is supposed to, as we believe, go, act .. .) as an obedient, sent, ruled-over People (persons individually and more so, collectively, together as the Church) shows up among the peoples and places of the earth, showing and telling the Good News of God's reign. Thus, the Church proclaims and reveals (and again makes incarnate) the Presence of God in Christ, begotten anew by His Spirit, as He lives and reveals Himself among and through the 'concrete' and gifted expressions of each member of His Body, and through the Body as a whole.
GIVE US TODAY OUR DAILY BREAD.
Paramount to Kingdom coming and to God's purposes is the Creation Purposes God has had, and continues to have, for this world, for each inhabitant, whether living creature or inanimate object (from macro to micro). The Creation will be restored. Indeed, it groans still, awaiting the full redemption of God's people (though this has begun in Christ and where the Church takes seriously once again, in and through the Second Adam, it's Creation and Re-Creation mandate). O the potential for the More, already, though the fullness of what is longed for is yet to be (revealed). God feeds his people and His world with what is needed for surviving and thriving - for beauty, joy and delight in His purposes. As Calvin put it, God is as interested in sewer-systems as sanctification - i.e. for the health of cities and the restored wholeness of all creation, as for the cleanliness of the soul (and indeed for the whole being of each individual) for whom Christ died and came to release so to be fully Human once more. The context is daily and in the now of our lives. We live in space and time - and we may (and are to), through prayer and prayerful-faithful, living pull down (or into from the dimensions of the spiritual Real) into this space-time continuum, the realities and provisions of the Eternal. We borrow from tomorrow. We receive all that we need for today from the storehouses of the Eternal, which is very near us, had we eyes to see, and faith to believe. Heaven on earth living (or earth lived as permeated by Heaven) is possible as fore-taste even now, because it is filled with and animated by God's Glory and with that Food, both physical and spiritual that daily we need.
AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS.
Not only is our creaturely purpose restored and made possible (albeit incomplete still in its manifestation (but still present in its Reality) and even in our taking seriously the possibilities), so also are our spiritual needs are met through the provision of God in Christ, and as applied by His Spirit to His willing and obedient servants. We seek the forgiveness of our sins, both as individual and as a collective humanity, for we all have and continue to come short of God's glory and purposes, we continually missing the mark, we continually leave undone the things we ought to have done and we keep doing the things we should not do. We have unclean lips (cf. Isaiah 6) and we live among a people of unclean lips. Our only hope is the eternal (and daily) Grace of our Lord Jesus, as typified in Isaiah's temple vision, by the Angel's taking (with tongs) a live coal from off the altar and touching our lips (as he did Isaiah's and, indeed, by purifying all of us - both once for all and daily and continually, through the provision of God in Christ at Calvary).
Yet, it is not enough that we have our own spiritual needs met, and those of our new friends and companions - fellow-travelers in the Way, the Church of the Living God. Indeed we are concerned with both the vertical AND with the horizontal of our personal relationships and accountabilities; so we are to forgive as we are forgiven. We forgive others (and those beyond our own family and friends) as we would ourselves be forgiven. We seek to forgive and to receive forgiveness from the people, within the Body and without, whom we harm and neglect in so many ways - again, by doing things towards them that we should not do, and in not doing things towards and for them that we (brother and sister keepers as we all are) ought to have done.
AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL (ONE).
Our spiritual and physical well-being - our very lives calls for God's protection (and so from Him we humbly ask it) as well as risky, faithful, obedient living with Him. When we dare, we will suffer; where we risk, we will fail; we will get hurt. Our very lives are at stake. And although in some ways we are to take on Satan's Kingdom, plundering it (as He is bound in the sense of no longer 'deceiving' (i.e. having full or primary sway over 'the peoples' as in times of old-covenant living, when otherwise God's primary purposes, light and love was displayed through God's People Israel), we do live in great danger. Christians are involved with Christ in a kind of mopping-up operation (as in post-D-day Second World War motifs - but not yet VE Day). In these times, until the full and final Revelation of Jesus as Lord on the Great Day of His return, we can still be harmed, maimed, even killed - as God wills or permits, for humankind's greater good and His Glory. Whether in attack or defense-mode, believers in pursuit of faithful obedience in the world and realms where the Evil One still retains significant power and influence, still need protective armour (as per Ephesians 6 images and realities). We are still too easily seduced and we succumb easily and readily, sadly still, when we venture forth, or lag behind in our own strength, land when leaning upon our own resources and understanding.
But our Lord said, 'I saw Satan fall . . .'. and He tells us apprentice-disciples that 'all power is given Him (Christ) in Heaven and earth; therefore, as you go - make disciples . . .' So, our missional vocations and tasks for all of life compel us to live so as to lovingly touch the lives of others: intentionally sharing the Good News, attending to our world and others as we go - knowing that Christ is Present always with us and within us, by His eternal, ever-present Spirit. We are subject still to temptation and to serious hurt through the wiles and devices of our Enemy. Yet still we may go in the promise of Christ's Presence and the protection of His Purposes. And after all, no Christian can finally be 'threatened by heaven' but rather live in the faith-full knowledge that not only here and now we may know His Presence but also live daily in the Hope that we shall be with Him, for neither life nor death can separate Him from those He loves.
FOR THE KINGDOM IS YOURS - AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY.
Like a bracket, God's Kingdom (and with it His attending Presence, Purpose, Power and Shekinah) surround this His world, the universe and all people, places and things within it. Beyond space and beyond time, as well as within space and within time, God alone reigns supreme. His Kingdom shall never end; His purposes will never cease; His promises will never fail. Not ever. So it is - has been from the beginning (as we comprehend space and time) - and before; and so shall it ever be - beyond all time. Amen and Amen.
FOREVER.
AMEN.
It is by God that we live and move and have our being. Apart from Him we cannot exist. Our recognition of His Presence, Power, Provision and Protection (in all of life) is essential. Without Him we are nothing - we can do nothing, we will be nothing; indeed, we shall cease to be at all.
YOUR KINGDOM COME; YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
God wills to, and will, re-establish all aspects of His rule, in all aspects of life and in all places in the cosmos. Once more the earth is beginning to resound and to resonate with His creation (and re-creation) purposes. Despite all the seeming evidence to the contrary, each day God's people - hopeful, Easter-resurrected people, see evidences of Kingdom coming.
Beginning with Persons and with a People (and all through the One in Christ who redeems, releases, restores, resources them), God reclaims from the Enemy what was willfully submitted over to him, in our early-days Rebellion - resulting in the brokeness, sickness, incompleteness and estrangement of the world - and of so much within it that still reveals sin's taint and stain on the earth. But the flow has been reversed in Christus Victor, through His triumphant life, death, resurrection and ascension and as Christ-followers believe and live out new life in the midst of that flow. As when He was present with us (having pitched His tent for awhile among us - cf. John 1:14), Jesus claimed: 'The Kingdom of God is among you; the Kingdom of God is near you,' - so Kingdom people, Easter-resurrection people also (may now) go into all rooms and spheres of creation, there to announce with boldness that 'the Kingdom is near, the Kingdom is present. This happens daily - or it is supposed to, as we believe, go, act .. .) as an obedient, sent, ruled-over People (persons individually and more so, collectively, together as the Church) shows up among the peoples and places of the earth, showing and telling the Good News of God's reign. Thus, the Church proclaims and reveals (and again makes incarnate) the Presence of God in Christ, begotten anew by His Spirit, as He lives and reveals Himself among and through the 'concrete' and gifted expressions of each member of His Body, and through the Body as a whole.
GIVE US TODAY OUR DAILY BREAD.
Paramount to Kingdom coming and to God's purposes is the Creation Purposes God has had, and continues to have, for this world, for each inhabitant, whether living creature or inanimate object (from macro to micro). The Creation will be restored. Indeed, it groans still, awaiting the full redemption of God's people (though this has begun in Christ and where the Church takes seriously once again, in and through the Second Adam, it's Creation and Re-Creation mandate). O the potential for the More, already, though the fullness of what is longed for is yet to be (revealed). God feeds his people and His world with what is needed for surviving and thriving - for beauty, joy and delight in His purposes. As Calvin put it, God is as interested in sewer-systems as sanctification - i.e. for the health of cities and the restored wholeness of all creation, as for the cleanliness of the soul (and indeed for the whole being of each individual) for whom Christ died and came to release so to be fully Human once more. The context is daily and in the now of our lives. We live in space and time - and we may (and are to), through prayer and prayerful-faithful, living pull down (or into from the dimensions of the spiritual Real) into this space-time continuum, the realities and provisions of the Eternal. We borrow from tomorrow. We receive all that we need for today from the storehouses of the Eternal, which is very near us, had we eyes to see, and faith to believe. Heaven on earth living (or earth lived as permeated by Heaven) is possible as fore-taste even now, because it is filled with and animated by God's Glory and with that Food, both physical and spiritual that daily we need.
AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS.
Not only is our creaturely purpose restored and made possible (albeit incomplete still in its manifestation (but still present in its Reality) and even in our taking seriously the possibilities), so also are our spiritual needs are met through the provision of God in Christ, and as applied by His Spirit to His willing and obedient servants. We seek the forgiveness of our sins, both as individual and as a collective humanity, for we all have and continue to come short of God's glory and purposes, we continually missing the mark, we continually leave undone the things we ought to have done and we keep doing the things we should not do. We have unclean lips (cf. Isaiah 6) and we live among a people of unclean lips. Our only hope is the eternal (and daily) Grace of our Lord Jesus, as typified in Isaiah's temple vision, by the Angel's taking (with tongs) a live coal from off the altar and touching our lips (as he did Isaiah's and, indeed, by purifying all of us - both once for all and daily and continually, through the provision of God in Christ at Calvary).
Yet, it is not enough that we have our own spiritual needs met, and those of our new friends and companions - fellow-travelers in the Way, the Church of the Living God. Indeed we are concerned with both the vertical AND with the horizontal of our personal relationships and accountabilities; so we are to forgive as we are forgiven. We forgive others (and those beyond our own family and friends) as we would ourselves be forgiven. We seek to forgive and to receive forgiveness from the people, within the Body and without, whom we harm and neglect in so many ways - again, by doing things towards them that we should not do, and in not doing things towards and for them that we (brother and sister keepers as we all are) ought to have done.
AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL (ONE).
Our spiritual and physical well-being - our very lives calls for God's protection (and so from Him we humbly ask it) as well as risky, faithful, obedient living with Him. When we dare, we will suffer; where we risk, we will fail; we will get hurt. Our very lives are at stake. And although in some ways we are to take on Satan's Kingdom, plundering it (as He is bound in the sense of no longer 'deceiving' (i.e. having full or primary sway over 'the peoples' as in times of old-covenant living, when otherwise God's primary purposes, light and love was displayed through God's People Israel), we do live in great danger. Christians are involved with Christ in a kind of mopping-up operation (as in post-D-day Second World War motifs - but not yet VE Day). In these times, until the full and final Revelation of Jesus as Lord on the Great Day of His return, we can still be harmed, maimed, even killed - as God wills or permits, for humankind's greater good and His Glory. Whether in attack or defense-mode, believers in pursuit of faithful obedience in the world and realms where the Evil One still retains significant power and influence, still need protective armour (as per Ephesians 6 images and realities). We are still too easily seduced and we succumb easily and readily, sadly still, when we venture forth, or lag behind in our own strength, land when leaning upon our own resources and understanding.
But our Lord said, 'I saw Satan fall . . .'. and He tells us apprentice-disciples that 'all power is given Him (Christ) in Heaven and earth; therefore, as you go - make disciples . . .' So, our missional vocations and tasks for all of life compel us to live so as to lovingly touch the lives of others: intentionally sharing the Good News, attending to our world and others as we go - knowing that Christ is Present always with us and within us, by His eternal, ever-present Spirit. We are subject still to temptation and to serious hurt through the wiles and devices of our Enemy. Yet still we may go in the promise of Christ's Presence and the protection of His Purposes. And after all, no Christian can finally be 'threatened by heaven' but rather live in the faith-full knowledge that not only here and now we may know His Presence but also live daily in the Hope that we shall be with Him, for neither life nor death can separate Him from those He loves.
FOR THE KINGDOM IS YOURS - AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY.
Like a bracket, God's Kingdom (and with it His attending Presence, Purpose, Power and Shekinah) surround this His world, the universe and all people, places and things within it. Beyond space and beyond time, as well as within space and within time, God alone reigns supreme. His Kingdom shall never end; His purposes will never cease; His promises will never fail. Not ever. So it is - has been from the beginning (as we comprehend space and time) - and before; and so shall it ever be - beyond all time. Amen and Amen.
FOREVER.
AMEN.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Heaven: What and Where is it?
"Heaven is not a far-off, other-worldly place we go when we die for which we have no context. Heaven is simply the realm in which God works and governs, and he is bringing heaven to earth. When the Jewish people in the time of Jesus thought of God’s future Kingdom, they expected it to be real and tangible. Jesus challenged their political motives and how that Kingdom would come, but he did not discredit the concrete nature of their hopes. God’s Kingdom is flesh-and-blood real. The New Jerusalem that John describes in Revelation is not some fantasy land; an artificial façade like something you would see at Disney World. It is our world, totally renewed and restored to God’s original intent for humankind." (from Michael Fisher's blog: 'The Mustard Seed). I think this is very close to the truth - if not fully so.
Biblical Lenses of Creation
The subtitle of this book is "Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview," and as the book develops, the author clearly aligns himself with the Dutch Reformed school of thought. This school of thought is best represented by Abraham Kuyper and there is a real sense in which this book can be viewed as an introduction to Kuyperian thinking.
Wolters begins the book by defining what a worldview is. He distinguishes "worldview" from the academic disciplines of theology and philosophy. He says that one may need specialized education to engage in theology and philosophy, but a worldview is something that everyone has, regardless of education. He defines a worldview as "the comprehensive framework of one's basic beliefs about things."
He goes on to say that a Biblical worldview is to understand the world through the biblical lenses of creation, fall, and redemption. Chuck Colson's book "How Now Shall We Live," takes the same approach.
What is unique about Wolters book, and this is a theme that runs throughout, is his distinction between structure and direction. Structure refers to the way something was created. In other words, everything has a structure - the family, government, labor, etc., all have a structure given to them. Direction refers to their movement toward or away from God.
He shows that many Christians tend to reject the structure of a thing, when they should be dealing with direction. For instance, he speaks of human sexuality. Many Christians view sex in a negative light. However, sexuality has a biblical structure, i.e. it was created by God for a purpose and is to be pursued according to that purpose. To reject sexuality out of hand is to reject God's created order, or structure. It is the direction of human sexuality that we are to engage, not the structure. We are to seek to redeem it, pointing it in a godward direction.
Wolters goes on to develop these themes through looking at how the fall affected the created order (structure) and how redemption affects it. Redemption is concerned with reversing the effects of the fall. Because the scope of redemption is as wide as the scope of the fall, there is nothing in all of creation that is irredeemable.
All of this leads up to an explanation of the Kuyperian notion of sphere sovereignty - which states that no societal institution is subordinate to any other. In other words, the church is not subordinate to the state, nor vice versa. This applies to all institutions - family, education, etc.. If I read him right each institution has a created structure and though they are not subordinate to one another, they are subordinate to God's laws. Hence, all can and must be redeemed - i.e. put in a godward direction.
-- from a review of: "Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview" by Albert Wolters
Wolters begins the book by defining what a worldview is. He distinguishes "worldview" from the academic disciplines of theology and philosophy. He says that one may need specialized education to engage in theology and philosophy, but a worldview is something that everyone has, regardless of education. He defines a worldview as "the comprehensive framework of one's basic beliefs about things."
He goes on to say that a Biblical worldview is to understand the world through the biblical lenses of creation, fall, and redemption. Chuck Colson's book "How Now Shall We Live," takes the same approach.
What is unique about Wolters book, and this is a theme that runs throughout, is his distinction between structure and direction. Structure refers to the way something was created. In other words, everything has a structure - the family, government, labor, etc., all have a structure given to them. Direction refers to their movement toward or away from God.
He shows that many Christians tend to reject the structure of a thing, when they should be dealing with direction. For instance, he speaks of human sexuality. Many Christians view sex in a negative light. However, sexuality has a biblical structure, i.e. it was created by God for a purpose and is to be pursued according to that purpose. To reject sexuality out of hand is to reject God's created order, or structure. It is the direction of human sexuality that we are to engage, not the structure. We are to seek to redeem it, pointing it in a godward direction.
Wolters goes on to develop these themes through looking at how the fall affected the created order (structure) and how redemption affects it. Redemption is concerned with reversing the effects of the fall. Because the scope of redemption is as wide as the scope of the fall, there is nothing in all of creation that is irredeemable.
All of this leads up to an explanation of the Kuyperian notion of sphere sovereignty - which states that no societal institution is subordinate to any other. In other words, the church is not subordinate to the state, nor vice versa. This applies to all institutions - family, education, etc.. If I read him right each institution has a created structure and though they are not subordinate to one another, they are subordinate to God's laws. Hence, all can and must be redeemed - i.e. put in a godward direction.
-- from a review of: "Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview" by Albert Wolters
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Lifting Sail
I feel the winds of God today; today my sail I lift,
Though heavy, oft with drenching spray, and torn with many a rift;
If hope but light the water’s crest, and Christ my bark will use,
I’ll seek the seas at His behest, and brave another cruise.
It is the wind of God that dries my vain regretful tears,
Until with braver thoughts shall rise the purer, brighter years;
If cast on shores of selfish ease or pleasure I should be;
Lord, let me feel Thy freshening breeze, and I’ll put back to sea.
If ever I forget Thy love and how that love was shown,
Lift high the blood red flag above; it bears Thy Name alone.
Great Pilot of my onward way, Thou wilt not let me drift;
I feel the winds of God today, today my sail I lift.
---- Jessie Adams
Though heavy, oft with drenching spray, and torn with many a rift;
If hope but light the water’s crest, and Christ my bark will use,
I’ll seek the seas at His behest, and brave another cruise.
It is the wind of God that dries my vain regretful tears,
Until with braver thoughts shall rise the purer, brighter years;
If cast on shores of selfish ease or pleasure I should be;
Lord, let me feel Thy freshening breeze, and I’ll put back to sea.
If ever I forget Thy love and how that love was shown,
Lift high the blood red flag above; it bears Thy Name alone.
Great Pilot of my onward way, Thou wilt not let me drift;
I feel the winds of God today, today my sail I lift.
---- Jessie Adams
Thursday, March 26, 2009
God's Truth
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.
- Gerard Manley Hopkins
Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.
- Gerard Manley Hopkins
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Coming to Faith and a Passionate Love of God
Late it was that I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new; late I loved you! And, look, you were with me and I was outside, and there I sought for you and in my ugliness I plunged into the beauties that you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you. Those outer beauties kept me far from you, yet if they had not been in you, they would not have existed at all. You called, you cried out, you shattered my deafness: you flashed, you shone, you shattered my blindness, you breathed perfume, and I drew in my breath and I pant for you; I tasted, and I am hungry and thirsty: you touched me, and I burned for your peace.
- St. Augustine of Hippo
- St. Augustine of Hippo
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Numinous
Emily Dickinson wrote that 'Nature is a haunted house - but Art is a house that tries to be haunted.'
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Positive Integration
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless yet be determined to make them otherwise.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, quoted in 'The Opposable Mind' by Roger Martin.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, quoted in 'The Opposable Mind' by Roger Martin.
Wisdom
By three ways we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, whih is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.
- Confucius
- Confucius
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
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