Cycles of Renewal

There is something so refreshing about the cyclical nature of nature. Today, on the 31st of August, I am full of nostalgic memories about years gone by; previous beginnings, previous renewals. For that is what I feel at the “precipice” of September. I feel that life is about to be renewed. I suppose this sense was imprinted early on- with school starting from as far back as I can remember on the day after Labor Day.

Today I sat out on my back patio, with my one-and-a-half year old Ezra, sitting happily on my lap, feeling very grateful for the blessings bestowed upon me. Today has been yet another perfect day here in Central Oregon; where the sky is clear and blue more than 300 days a year. But even today there is a hint of golden harvest in the air; both in the scents swirling about and in the quality of light cast upon the Juniper and Pine trees surrounding us. These are promises that fall is coming soon; indeed that fall has already begun.

It’s interesting isn’t it? We like to draw these straight lines around things- to make them more palatable, more comprehendible, more categorizable. And yet, life resists this kind of boxing. Autumn might “officially” begin on September 23rd, but according to my senses, and according to the cycles of my cultural experience, it begins closer to September 1st. And according to the cycle of nature, God’s imprinting on the Earth, the seasons are always emerging, always fading.

One wonders about how this might apply to our sense of theology. Is it as cut and dry as we make it out to be; as we have been taught to make it out to be? Or is it, like the cycles of nature, always more elusive than our categories like to acknowledge; or know how to account for?

One last thought about cycles of renewal: I remember studying the Old Testament in University in the late 90’s and learning about this sense that, to Israel, Yahweh was as much Re-creator, Sustainer, Renewal Agent, as he was Creator. Again, only in our compartmentalized, clinical western conceptions do we focus so much on “ultimate beginnings” that we forget about the beginning that was today, that was this morning; that will be dawn that brings us tomorrow.

And I think we miss out when we choose to map our reality with these abstract, absolute categories: ultimate beginnings, ultimate endings. We focus on the Garden of Eden and the new Jerusalem, and spend little time being present in the time in-between; which is of course, sacred beyond imagination.

Life is not just a journey from A to B, it is a blessed sojourn; breathtaking like the view from a train transversing the Rockies or the Alps. When one is on a trip such as these (I’ve been blessed to experience both), one does not contemplate the end of the world, one focuses on the transcendent present moment; overwhelming with its mysterious, eternal implications.





Pursuing Theoligical Humility: The Example of Thomas Merton

I have written before about the hope that the emerging stream of the Church would chose humility as a chief goal. This humility takes various forms. Of course, we of postmodern sensibilities certainly recognize the limitations of the Enlightenment experiment; of placing too high a confidence in the ability of man to determine truth through reason alone. This is one form of humility. It is not so much a humility regarding God’s revelation as it is a humility about our ability to interpret it, render it, represent it.

Many caught up in the fabric of modernism still misunderstand this about Christians raised in a postmodern milieu. We do not doubt God. We have doubts about mankind’s ability to see, know, experience God, clearly. That is not to say that we avoid trying. That would be a pendulum swing too far the other way. We just believe in holding our convictions with the humility necessitated by our limited understanding as finite beings.

This should not be seen as a bad thing, as a negative thing, as something that should be corrected. It’s just the natural state of things. And to be honest, it’s more in line with the kind of understanding the early church held. It is this kind of theology of humility which has led the eastern stream of the Church to speak of God in the negative, as much, if not more so, than in the positive. In many ways it is easier and more accurate to assert what God is not, rather than what He is. And when we do speak of Him in the positive, we do so knowing we only approximate His likeness.

In my mind, one extension of this humility should manifest itself in an evolving theology over time. I’m not speaking so much of our collective theology, though that too has shifted with progressive revelation. I’m speaking more of our personal progression/transformation as spiritual beings following Christ; growing in our knowledge of God and of His Creation over time. Put simply, if we are being spiritually formed, we should grow wiser as we grow older. I think it would be so refreshing to see people publishing works, ten, twenty years into their “theological careers” offering corrections, qualifications, etc, of former conceptions.

In fundamentalist circles this would come across as sheer blasphemy. Shifting theology is shifting sand- and that’s bad, right? In such fundamentalist circles, every shift necessarily leads to a slippery slope. And we all know where things go from there.

Thankfully, not everyone sees shifting perceptions of God as necessarily negative. Thomas Merton is a historical figure who modeled a lifestyle of humble self critique. Always a prolific writer, Merton spent a fair amount of his latter days on the Earth correcting things he wrote earlier on in his career. In his piece titled, Poetry and Contemplation: A Reappraisal, Merton writes,

“Ten years ago I wrote an article called 'Poetry and the Contemplative Life'… In its original form, this article stated a “problem” and tried to apply a rather “crude” solution which at the time, was rather widely discussed by people interested in religious verse, and at least by implication, in religious experience. Many of them were inclined to accept the “solution” that was proposed. Others widely rejected it because of its somewhat puritanical implications.”

“As time passed I have found that the confident pronouncements made in my early writing lay more and more heavily on my conscience as a writer and as a priest, and while it is evidently impossible to correct and amend all my wrong-headed propositions, at least I would like to revise the essay of 1948…”

Merton follows this up by suggesting that the “solution” proposed in his earlier essay was really the answer to what was a poorly conceived understanding of “the problem” to begin with . Merton concludes,

“…the earlier problem was, largely, an illusion, created by this division of life into formally separate compartments, of “action” and “contemplation”. But because this crude division was stated so forcefully and so frequently in my earlier writings, I feel that it is most necessary now to try and do something to heal this wound and draw together the two sides of this unfortunate fissure.”

What a witness to humility. I certainly hope this can serve as a model for those of us involved with the emerging church. Brian McLaren certainly has begun to lead us by similar example- holding himself in highly humble regard. Even when critics have hurled unfair (as well as some fair) criticisms his way, Brian has consistently chosen to respond graciously, reminding us that the point is not merely to be “right”, but to be good.

And how does one measure goodness? Well, humility will take you a long way along that continuum. Humility begets goodness, and vice versa. Humility is one of those paths to spiritual transformation to which no short cut exists.





Emergent Emergence at the Local Level

So yesterday was a fun day because I was able to put an Emergent face to a name when Tony Jones, circa Emergent Village and Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, came out to Bend to meet with some of us involved in church leadership here. There was about ten of us altogether- representing several different churches from Central Oregon.

A few of us are hoping that this initial gathering might morph into a regular meeting, an Emergent cohort for Central Oregon if you will. We’ll see. Tony’s presence had a galvanizing effect. We’ll see where things lie once he’s out of town and it’s up to “the locals” to make the meetings happen. I certainly hope we’re not so enthralled with the big names (I’m sure Tony would laugh and maybe cringe to hear his name mentioned in such a way) that we can’t carry on the conversation amongst ourselves.

There were numerous issues discussed. Some of the people present - who were a little less familiar with Emergent Village - asked (almost reluctantly- after all we are soooo postmodern aren’t we?) for a core, defining value behind EV. Not surprisingly, Tony smiled, shrugged and said “friendship”. He said anyone was invited to participate in the conversation provided that they enter the fray willing to engage in honest dialog- rather than for mutual indoctrination sessions (my words, not his). Of course, that's not to say that strong convictions are not allowed.

Later on the conversation touched upon shared mission, rather than theology, as a common call to fellowship. Tony shared a story where he and Doug at Solomon’s Porch approached John Piper about the possibility of joining Piper's group to do some community service in their area. Tony and others had been impressed with the impact Piper’s church was having on the community. Piper’s response was that they could only do mission together if they agreed on the gospel. When asked what he meant by that, Piper replied, “well, the atonement”. When asked about what aspect of the atonement he was referring to he replied, “well, propitiatory atonement”.

After Tony finished the story, someone in the group commented that its ironic that we’ll meet, hang out with, do life with, non-Christians pretty much regardless of what they believe. But when it comes to brothers and sisters of the Faith, we set up these hoops and hurdles before we’ll even share a coffee, let alone break bread together.

In my mind the bottom line problem with Piper’s response is that it suggests that- to even associate with other Christians we must first be able to subscribe to every aspect of their theological underpinnings. How bizarre. Sounds like religiosity to me. I don’t mean to judge Piper alone. This is clearly a disease spread widely throughout western Christianity. I myself remember spending plenty of time in this state of mind early in my Christian walk.
Isn't it funny how something that seemed so common-sensical and natural in yester-year, can seem so counter-intuitive, mis-directed and downright un-Christlike today? I guess that’s what happens when you abandon Enlightenment-inspired assumptions; the entire framework of your reality shifts.





On Postmodern Protest and a Revolution of Living

Part of the postmodern protest is a reaction against society’s utilitarian designs on individual citizens. Put simply, the power structure that is our culture would like us to become perfectly “nice” individuals, serving the smooth functionality of the overall homogenous system. By “nice” I mean people who serve the consumerist structure without question; who work, live, and play within certain prescribed norms, and above all else, who pay homage to the one moralist absolute: do not make a judgment against anyone (provided his or her belief system works smoothly as a subset of the dominant paradigm).

To a great degree, even the thoroughly modernized western Church has at times bought into this worldview- to a point that is of course shameful. The Mainline Protestant "civic religion" of the 20th century is a prime example.

But of course, one must remember, Jesus was a revolutionary. And he came to inaugurate a revolution. Although, even here we have to be careful not to interpret through society’s definition of a typical revolution. While the gospel certainly has implications for the way we run our society, it is primarily a revolution of the heart. Only by cleaning each individual cup on the inside first, can we hope to achieve the end Jesus was preaching for the collective exterior.

One aspect of our contemporary societal power structure has to do with the degree to which we acknowledge “principalities and powers” working “behind the scenes” of the smooth functioning machine of our culture. To pay too much attention to this dimension of reality is to take one’s focus away from the aims of the consumerist machine. And the existing power structure frowns on that.

Sometimes all that one needs to become attuned to these principalities and powers - working via the illuminating nature of the Holy Spirit of course - is a resource that calls them to one’s attention. Because, oftentimes, these spiritual powers can be like the image hidden in the white noise. We don’t see it before we are told to look for it. C.S. Lewis’ the Screwtape Letters was a remarkable tool in this regard. By reminding us that there are spiritual advocates working against our spiritual progress, and even pointing out a few possible “methods to their madness”, Lewis brought this dimension to light for countless Christians over the last century.

The Mountain of Silence is a book that accomplishes a similar feat from the perspective of Eastern Orthodoxy. Learning from the perspective of Father Maximos, a monk on Mt. Athos in Greece, helps us westerners - so caught up in the cogs and wheels of our secularist system - to see the true purpose behind our lives. According to Father Maximos,

People are confused. They think that the aim of our existence is primarily to become good human beings, or to become moral, socially well-adjusted, and well-balanced personalities… This pietistic notion is not the essential purpose of the Ecclesia. It is a gross misconception. What the Ecclesia primarily teaches is the means through which a human soul may attain Christification, its saintliness, its union with God. The ultimate goal is to become perfect as our heavenly Father in Heaven is perfect, to become one with God. Christ didn’t come into the world to teach us how to become good fellows, how to behave properly, or how to live a righteous life in this world. Nor did he come to offer us a book, even if this book is called the Bible or the New Testament… He came to give to the world Himself. To show us the Way toward our salvation.” (The Mountain of Silence, p. 119)

No doubt there are some thoughts here that would give some evangelicals pause. But I think a clarification of the meanings of certain terms would put those concerns to rest- for many anyway. As I’ve mentioned before, because Eastern Orthodoxy is coming from such a different paradigm, one cannot sit down, study a doctrine statement, and expect to have gained much of anything in terms of real understanding. The Orthodox would be the first to tell you “immersion is required”.

But getting back to the thoughts of Father Maximos, there are some real gems in there: 1.) the definition of human purpose AFTER meeting Jesus, 2.) the proper, balanced role of Scripture within the life of the Christian Church, 3.) the nailing to the cross of “niceness for niceness’ sake”.

So stand up, be counted as a revolutionary. But understand that the revolution begins on inward ground; and that humility alone can condition fertile soil.



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