Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Disappointment with God (John 11) - Bob Ekblad

Continuing to expect Jesus’ healing here and now is often harder than writing it off as unrealistic or something to be awaited on the other side of death.  Everywhere I travel lately I meet people and communities crippled by disappointment.  

A man in Iceland prayed for days that his sister would come back to life after a drug overdose.  A pastor of a church in the UK died of cancer in spite of massive prayer efforts.   A close friend’s Pakistani Christian friend who advocated for minorities was gunned down in Islamabad in March.  I myself have been discouraged by the slew of revenge killings in a Honduran community dear to my heart—and now by a close friend’s decline in a long prayer-bathed battle against cancer.   What disappoints do you have, small or big?

“How many of you have been disappointed by God?” I asked a group of inmates back in July.  Many were honest enough to admit frustrations at God not apparently answering prayers: their girl friends’ refusal to turn away from drug habits or the courts denials of their requests to be admitted into drug court rather than going straight to serve long prison sentences. Others were afraid to admit their disappointments—especially at a time when they really need God’s help.  Many assume that being honest with God might get you on God’s bad side. 

Thomas Merton and Nouvelle Theologie by Ron Dart

If I can unite in myself the thought and the devotion of Eastern and Western Christendom, the Greek and the Latin Fathers, the Russian with the Spanish mystics, I can prepare in myself the reunion of divided Christians. From that secret and unspoken unity in myself can eventually come a visible and manifest unity of all Christians…. We must contain all divided worlds in ourselves and transcend them in Christ. 

Thomas Merton -- Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander 

I

Historic Context

The centre of Thomas Merton Studies in Canada, since the historic 1978 ‘The Thomas Merton Symposium’ in Vancouver, British Columbia, has been on the West Coast. The Thomas Merton Reading Room is at Vancouver School of Theology (where the symposium was held), and most on the national executive of the Thomas Merton Society of Canada (TMSC) live on the West Coast of Canada. There is, therefore, a thriving interest in Merton on the West Coast of Canada.

There have also emerged in the last decade from the West Coast two challenging books from the probing mind of Hans Boersma from Regent College: Nouvelle Theologie and Sacramental Ontology: A Return to Mystery (2009) and the more popular Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of a Sacramental Tapestry (2011). These two books have brought into sharp focus the essential role the 19^th-20 century New Theologians of the Roman Catholic church played in calling the church back to her grounding, rooting and ancient sources of renewal. The Roman Catholic tradition had become stalled and frozen, in many ways, in the Tridentine paradigm and confessional commitment, between the 16^th century and Vatican II. There was a narrowing between Trent and Vatican II within the much fuller and deeper Roman Catholic way. The earlier 16^th century humanists such as John Colet, Thomas More, Erasmus and Juan Vives, for example, had a broader understanding of their faith than Tridentine Catholicism. Erasmus was even put on the Index at Trent and remained there until Vatican II.

The Biblical Basis for Listening Prayer by Brad Jersak

by Brad Jersak

We are often asked about the biblical basis for listening prayer. This is largely what Can You Hear Me? by Brad Jersak, attempts to share. Reading that book in its entirety will give readers a fuller sense of the biblical, historical and practical foundations for listening prayer.

First, while I absolutely believe there is a biblical basis and New Covenant expectation for listening prayer, the Bible itself never demands a biblical template for every kind of ministry God calls us to. Further, in our experience with Christian skeptics, those who demand a biblical proof text seldom satisfied in any case.Having said that, I would point those who are open to what the Bible says about listening prayer in these directions:

1. Check out the many biblical promises that God will speak to us. Note those texts that describe conversation with God, especially where they are embedded within the New Covenant promises. i.e. What has been provided for every believer because of Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension and the outpouring of his Spirit. E.g. Jer. 33:1-3, John 10:1-5; John 16:12-16; Rev. 3:20. These passages and scores of others suggest, model and even command us to listen to God’s voice and converse with Him.

2. Second, check out the many passages promising and commanding us to see God with the eyes of our heart. The Bible actually treats ‘beholding the Lord’ as a primary means of transformation (2 Cor. 3:16-4:6). I often start with a word study of the terms 'Behold' and 'Lo,’ words which most often mean, 'Gaze, on purpose and with love, using the eyes of your heart' and especially 'at the Lord Jesus.' Again, beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus is an invitation and prescription found in John 14, John 16 (the words 'see'), Eph. 1 (eyes of the heart), Heb. 12:1-2 (fix your eyes on), or Col. 3:1-3 (set your 'minds' on). In Rev. 3:18ff, we are commanded to ‘get eye salve so you can see,’ and then immediately beckoned to 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.’ In Rev. 4:1-2, John obeys, 'So I looked, and there was a door…' where he is invited to ‘behold the throne and the one sitting on it.’

3. Once the Bible convinces us that we are to hear and see the Lord with the eyes and ears of our hearts, the question is ‘where?’ In our hearts. Within our hearts, we have the privilege of prayer life marked by an ongoing interactive meeting with the Lord Jesus. Our hearts are a context or venue where we can commune with God. We see many examples of this in the Bible: Often, writers welcome us to come before God on his throne, in our hearts: Dan. 7, Col. 3, Eph 1, Heb. 12 and Rev. 3 ... All of these describe the throne room of God as a meeting place with him, but the encounter is happening within our hearts or minds. Other passages describe us ‘seeing’ the Lord at the Cross (esp. Zech. 12, and also Heb. 12).

King David's interaction with God through Listening Prayer

In Psalm 23, this type of in-heart interaction is exactly what David does: He meets with the Good Shepherd in contemplative, listening prayer through various contexts: green pastures, quiet waters, paths of righteousness, valley of the shadow of death, banquet table, and the house of the Lord. We can copy David’s practice by visiting all of the places he describes, but also, we can do better than that: we can emulate David’s practice and live it by establishing our own heart-places. God reveals places within that are familiar and safe for us, in the same way David experienced them, but tailor-made from our own lives.

Listening Prayer helping heal emotional and spiritual hurts

4. So now we're hearing and seeing the Lord in a context of our hearts. Question: would he also want to be Lord of the places in my heart that are damaged ... the memories where I store pain, shame, anger, etc. I.e., What does MY ‘valley of the shadow of death’ look like? When Jesus says, 'Lo, I am with you always,' we learn this: a. ‘Lo’ means look with the eyes of your heart; b. ‘Always’ means ‘always has been and always will be’; c. ‘Always’ includes my painful past; d. I amcommanded to 'Lo' (look for) Jesus in those places. How? By asking, 'Where were you? Would you show me? What do I need to know there? What do you want to do there?’

5. What is the biblical basis for the what, the why and the how of God’s healing work in our painful pasts and hurting memories? I typically look to such messianic passages as Isaiah 53 (forgiveness of sin and removal of sorrow), Isaiah 61 (lifting burdens and giving gifts in their place), speaking truth to our lies (Jesus said, ‘the truth will set you free’ in John 8:32), and freeing from every kind of bondage (Isaiah 58:6-7). In this last passage and in Luke 4:18-21, we see this as the ministry of Jesus and later hear him commission us: ‘As the Father sent me, so I send you’ (John 20:21).

6. I would also add that even without any of the above, we still have the John 14-16 Last Supper promises where Jesus is very clear about the ministry of Christ’s disciples (including us): the Holy Spirit would counsel us, guide us, speak to us, and lead us into all truth. Although I am thankful for God’s written word, Jesus' promises in the New Covenant never mention the Bible's guidance or instruction. It is Jesus’ guidance through the ministry and voice of the Spirit to the Church. The Bible says a lot about inner healing ministry, but that is not where we learned it. The Holy Spirit showed us as we stepped out and followed the living Jesus into it. How do we know that it was the Holy Spirit? Jesus again gives us a biblical basis for knowing:

Listening Prayer - Look for the fruits

7. We know by the fruits that come from listening prayer ministry (John 7:16-21). I would look to this and other texts where we are told to judge ministries by their fruit. As listening prayer is practiced, are people being healed and delivered and transformed? Are they listening more attentively to Christ and growing in character, obedience, faith and love for God. If so, then it is a work of God. This has been our very consistent experience over the last couple of decades, such that we believe God has called us to both do and to share and to train others in this ministry. If you sense a similar call, please look further into ours and others’ resources on listening prayer.

 

Merton's Apologies to an Unbeliever by Robert Inchausti

Believing means liberating the indestructible element in oneself, or, more accurately, being indestructible, or, more accurately, being.

Kafka’s Diaries

In the year he died, the Trappist monk and best-selling author, Thomas Merton, published an essay addressed to “Unbelievers” apologizing for the inadequacy and impertinence of what had been inflicted upon them in the name of religion. It was not just because the manipulative antics and “vaudeville” of the defenders of the faith embarrassed him but also because it seemed to him that their “defenses” constituted “a falsification of religious truth.”¹

“Faith comes by hearing, says St. Paul, but by hearing what?” he asked. “The cries of snake-handlers? The soothing platitudes of the religious operator? One must be able to listen to the inscrutable ground of (one’s) own being, and who am I to say that (the atheists’) reservations about religious commitment do not protect, in [them], this kind of listening?”²

To read the rest of this article, click here. (UBP)

 

Compassionate Fire -- Review by Ron Dart

Review: Compassionate Fire: The Letters of Thomas Merton & Catherine de Hueck Doherty (Indiana:  Ave Maria Press, 2009) ed. Robert Wild.

I owe much to Catherine

 Thomas Merton

Father Louis, in some strange mysterious way I never quite understood, was in part my spiritual son.

Catherine Doherty

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was one of the most significant writers on the contemplative life in the 20^th century, and his life and writings continue to have a meaningful impact on the lives of many. Catherine de Hueck Doherty (1896-1985) was almost twenty years Merton’s senior, but when they met at Friendship House in Harlem (NY) in 1941, a friendship was birthed that lasted until Merton’s untimely death in 1968. Robert Wild edited two books on Catherine de Hueck Doherty in 2009: Comrades Stumbling Along: The Friendship of Catherine de Hueck Doherty and Dorothy Day as Revealed through Their Letters and Compassionate Fire: The Letters of Thomas Merton & Catherine de Hueck Doherty.   

Steve Bell's "KIN-DNESS" - Interview / review with Brad Jersak

Steve Bell is a seasoned, Juno Award winning song-writer / musician based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In recent years, his thoughtful folk messages have caught the notice of symphony crowds with touring performances backed by a variety of city orchestras. But behind and beyond the pristine quality of his musicianship and lyrics, Steve stands in the tradition of Canadian artists with a heart for integrating spirituality and justice (Bruce Cockburn for example). He is involved in humanitarian work both locally and nationally. In a recent interview with Bell, I asked him to share the backstory to his social concern. Two items from his childhood especially caught my attention.

Déjà vu: Alexandria and Antioch

This past week the Lower Mainland in British Columbia has been abuzz with a visit by N. T. Wright. Wright has thoughtfully challenged the reformed and evangelical clan to be more deeply reformed and evangelical.

Wright’s more catholic approach to the reformed exegetical tradition has challenged a way of doing exegesis. But, has it? I will return to this question shortly. There is no doubt that Wright has taken to task the Packer-Piper position, and he has done so in an informed manner. All are agreed that the Bible is the foundation and authority, but it has become obvious that how the Bible is interpreted is another form of authority. Why are some books in the canon elevated and others subordinated, some texts prized and others demoted, some sections cherished and others ignored? There are, therefore, two levels of authority both within the Old and New Testaments: the Bible and its interpretation. It is this deutero-canonical authority that Wright is, rightly so, questioning. There are those that so equate Bible-interpretation that they do not know the difference between the authority of the one and the questionable authority of the other. But, let us move on.

Does God Punish? by Fr. Michael Gillis (Holy Nativity Orthodox)

     Thomas Hardy says of the main character in The Mayor of Casterbridge, Michael Henchard, that “misery taught him nothing more than the defiant endurance of it.”   What does misery teach us?  What can it teach us?  Can it teach us more than just the fact that we must endure it?

     This is a tricky topic, for suffering is a mystery--a mystery in the deepest sense of the word.  We all suffer, some much more than others; and some suffer under the same circumstance that others would consider a blessing.  

     A lot depends on expectation.  The one who expects pain and finds only discomfort rejoices.  The one who expects luxury and finds discomfort is miserable.  We can be cheated or abused by a stranger and think little of it, but cruelty or mere neglect from someone whom we expected to love us leaves painful scars that last a lifetime.  Suffering and misery are never good, and yet good may come of it.  Misery does teach us, but what we learn depends a great deal on us.  

Freedom is Constrained: Brief Thoughts on the Freedom Problem by Eric H. Janzen

In some ways human history can be summed up in the search for freedom.  Not only to be free, but more profoundly, what it means to be free.  The path goes something like this: if we can figure out how to be free we will as a result be happy, satisfied, and fulfilled.  The search for freedom, as you can imagine, has followed many different routes each attempting to define those elusive elements needed to ensure true human freedom.  Ancient and modern philosophers, most religions and spiritual systems, science, technology, and social systems have all sought the answer.  After thousands of years and diverse propositions the world has come no closer to a real answer, for every human effort invariably fails to provide the freedom that the human heart is seeking. 

'We are free,' many have claimed, 'yet we are miserable', they conclude.  'We are free,' they say, 'yet we are corrupt' they realize.  Oppressive systems have attempted to impose control on societies valuing order over personal freedom, leaving populations far from happiness.  Democratic or 'free' societies have placed freedom so high upon a pedestal that restraint of any kind is revolted at, yet they are amongst the most depressed populations in the world.  To do as I want when I please is the order of the philosophical day, but it has not led to happiness.  One might conclude that 'freedom' is a kind of will'o'the'wisp, an illusion always just out of reach and that true happiness is also an illusion fooling us all as we grasp at empty air pursuing it through a dark forest.

The Beatitudes by Brian Zahnd

People have asked for the “BZV” Beatitudes. So here they are.

Blessed are those who are poor at being spiritual,
For the kingdom of God is well-suited for ordinary people.

Blessed are the depressed who mourn and grieve,
For they create space to encounter comfort from another.

Blessed are the quiet and content, the humble and unassuming, the gentle and trusting who are not grasping and clutching, for God will personally guarantee their share when heaven and earth become one.

Blessed are those who ache for the world to be made right,
For them the government of God is a dream come true.

Blessed are those who give mercy,
For they will get it back when they need it most.

Blessed are those who have a clean window in their soul,
For they will perceive God when and where others don’t.

Blessed are the peaceful bridge-builders in a war-torn world,
For they are God’s children working in the family business.

Blessed are those who are mocked and misunderstood for all the right reasons,
For the kingdom of heaven comes to earth amidst much persecution.

BZ

(The painting is The Sermon on the Mount by Fra Angelico)

 

Renovare and Ressourcement: Deep and Deeper -- by Ron Dart

I did my Masters in Christian Studies (MCS) at Regent College from 1979-1981. I was a Teaching Assistant (TA) of Jim Houston, when at Regent, and we had many a lingering and searching discussion about the classics of the Christian contemplative tradition. Jim had lived with Nicolas Zernov (an important leader in Orthodox-Anglican Sobornost dialogue in England), and Jim met often with C.S. Lewis. The broad catholic evangelical tradition that Jim was shaped and formed by was grounded and rooted in the best of the classical and patristic tradition, and it was this sensitivity to both the riches of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions that was at the core of Jim’s commitment to the renewal of Christian spirituality.

I was quite taken, when at Regent College, by the publication of Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline (1978). I avidly read, absorbed and did my limited best to put into practice many of the leads Foster offered in his book. Celebration of Discipline was, in the late 1970s-1980s, one of the more important books doing the rounds in the spirituality circuit. The disciplines, if practiced aright, were meant to renew and deepen the faith journey. The sheer success of Celebration of Discipline launched Foster in a way he probably did not anticipate. I was, when immersed in the insights and recommended practices of the book, doing much study in the Classical languages of the Greek East/Latin West and the contemplative theology and  ascetic life style of the Fathers (Abbas) and Mothers (Ammas) of the church. I soon came to see that Foster’s traditions approach to the Tradition had a questionable and most modern and protestant read of the Great Tradition. I will return to this later.

From Abba Isaak the Syrian (c. 700)

From Abba Isaak the Syrian:

Even if such words as wrath, anger, hatred, and many meager others are pressed into speaking of the Creator, we should not suppose that He ever does anything in anger or hatred or zeal.

Many such figures are employed in the roiling span of Scripture, provisional terms far removed from Who He Is.

Even as our own, relatively rational persons have already been tweaked, increasingly if slowly made more competent in holy understanding of the Mystery -- namely, that we should not take things quite so literally, but should suspect (concealed within the corporal surface of unlikely narratives) a hidden providence and eternal knowledge guiding all – so too we shall in future come to see the sweep of many things to be quite contrary to what our current, puerile processes afford us.

-- Saint Isaac of Nineveh

In Conversation with Islam -- Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

Faith, Freedom and the Human Vocation

Archbishop Lazar Puhalo Abbot of the Monastery of All Saints of North America 

Civil Liaison for the Orthodox Church of Canada

An Invited Paper

The Risale-i Nur: Faith, Morality and the Future of Humankind

An international conference of The Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture

I

THE LAMP OF BELIEF 

(The illumination of the soul)

    For those of us non-Moslems who have recently been introduced to Sa’id Nursi, his writings are enlightening. The more I read of his thought, the more attracted to him I become. His views and concepts should especially resonate with Orthodox Christians whose formation is rooted in the spiritual milieu of the near and Middle East.

        Had I been able personally to dialogue with Nursi, I should want to have begun with a discussion of "relationships as the manifestation of belief and faith." When we in the Orthodox Christian community speak of "energies," this is precisely what we are referring to, so let me begin with a few words about energy as relationship. In both physics and Orthodox theology, this is the essential meaning of "energy." "Energy" is the manner in which our inner person relates to God and to other human beings. The uncreated energy of God is the manner in which He establishes His relationship with us. We call this uncreated energy of God "grace." The energy with which we establish our relationship with God, we refer to as "faith." Faith is a higher fruit of "belief," for belief opens our hearts toward God so that we can receive the illumination of faith by means of grace. Our energies form the mode in which we relate to other human beings, and this relationship is truly appropriate only when we have a vital relationship with God.

        In the Signs of the Miraculous (V3, p.50.), if I understand Nursi correctly, he tells us that belief in God shines a light into our minds that allows us to seek a reconciliation with our own conscience. Belief is ultimately a gift to those who seek it. Once established in us, belief — which has opened for us the possibility of a relationship with God — provides us with consolation in the face of adversity, and the strength to endure even in the midst of suffering.

        In the Orthodox context, we would refer to this light or lamp of consolation in belief as "the Holy Spirit." Though we express this gift in different forms, the end result, the "relationship" is the same. Here, then, we begin to see the fount of loving dialogue. Nursi would lead our souls to the green pastures that are ever verdant even when the world around us is perishing from spiritual drought and desiccation. This is a quest which is mutual for both Orthodoxy and Islam.

To read the rest of this article, Download Faith_Freedom_Archbishop_Lazar

Ron Dart: Reviews of 'My Journey with Father Alexander' (2006) by Juliana Schmemann and 'Warning to the West' (1975) by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

It was with much anticipation that I picked up and read through Juliana Schmemann’s My Journey with Father Alexander. Alexander Schmemann (1921-1983) was surely one of the most significant Orthodox theologians in North America in the second half of the twentieth century. The Orthodox journey taken by Schmemann from Estonia (roots being in Russia) to France (St. Sergius Theological Institute) and finally to the USA in 1951 is a touching and telling tale. Juliana Schmemann has an eye for endearing details, and the life of Alexander and Juliana unfolds in an inviting manner. The missive is not long, but the text and many photographs enliven the gentle but committed life of Father Alexander in a way that few could. 

Peccatum Originus - poem by E. H. Janzen

Peccatum Originus 

Circling this tree we wondered

what mystery lay behind

the fruit of our question

We put distance between us

and the boughs heavy with temptation

branches reaching out like hands and talons

to gather us in like

fish fighting the shame baited barbed hooks

so brutally adorned with lures of light

that draws us without an chance to escape

And coming round again

we are surprised, feigning innocence

in the face of the partaking, the peeling,

of the cursed answer.

"Testing faith: redeeming Christians from themselves" - Reflective Review of L. Huskinson's 'Nietzsche' by Brad Jersak

“Testing faith: redeeming Christians from themselves”

A Reflective Review of Lucy Huskinson’s Introduction to Nietzsche

 

Nietzsche’s Test of Faith

 In Lucy Huskinson’s brilliant, all too brief missive, An Introduction to Nietzsche (SPCK 2009), she assesses and affirms the value of engaging Friedrich Nietzsche’s thought for Christianity. Huskinson’s Introduction prepares readers who hope to dip into Nietzsche by avoiding reductionist caricatures that naively paint this great philosopher as either the devil incarnate or some sort of closet Christian. She maximizes what we might learn from Nietzsche by reminding us not to simply react to his provocations, but rather, to observe and diagnose our own instinctual responses to them.

Her final chapter is titled “Testing faith: redeeming Christians from themselves.” I wish that SPCK had used this chapter title on the book’s cover, for it is a great contribution to an urgent need of the day. In it, Huskinson sees Nietzsche’s primary target audience as Christians, provoking them to test the strength of their faith. By opening ourselves to Christianity’s harshest critic and facing into his deepest questioning, ones faith is ‘salted with fire—but salt is good’ and ought to be internalized (Mark 9:49-50). After Nietzsche’s fire tests the Christian heart, will any faith remain? He is doubtful.

Herein, we shall recount Dr. Huskinson’s clear explanation of Nietzsche’s ‘God is dead’ test, then proceed to testing the test for its criteria and assumptions—not to avoid it but to stoke it and shape it for those Nietzsche calls ‘the most serious Christians’—with one such Christian in mind. Namely, the early 20^th century French philosopher-activist-mystic, Simone Weil.[1]

Thomas Merton & C. S. Lewis: book reviews by Ron Dart

                            Thomas Merton & C.S. Lewis:

                                       Book Reviews

      I think that Thomas Merton could easily be called the greatest

      spiritual writer and spiritual master of the twentieth century in

      English speaking America….The only contender would be the

      enormous popularity of C.S. Lewis.   Lawrence Cunningham

           Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton pgs. 183-4

 

                     C.S. Lewis & Philosophy as a Way of Life:

A Comprehensive Historical Examination of his Philosophical Thoughts

                                      Adam Barkman (2009)

                      

                                           Soul Searching:

                              The Journey of Thomas Merton

                                   Morgan Atkinson (edited)

                                                   (2008)

 

We read, study and meditate upon the writings and lives of those fuller than ourselves so that we mature into the large and demanding issues of the soul and society. Our lives are raised to a higher level by heeding and hearing those who have gone further and deeper than ourselves. There is no doubt that C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton dared to plumb the depths and ascend to heights that few do, hence the fact they are held so high as icons of the 20th and 21^st centuries. The publication of C.S. Lewis & Philosophy as a Way of Life and Soul Searching ably and amply illustrate why Lewis and Merton have such an ongoing and perennial appeal for those who souls are searching for deeper waters to slake their philosophical and spiritual thirsts.

End of the Line by Brian Zahnd

This is an article I wrote for the May issue of Charisma Magazine at the request of the new editor, Marcus Yoars.

END OF THE LINE
By Brian Zahnd

God is shifting the church from one seasonal platform to another. Are we ready?

Western Christianity is at a critical juncture. Those who care deeply about the church are aware of this. Things are not as they once were. Things are changing. Dramatically so. Even if we don't understand what is happening, we can certainly feel it. There is an uneasy feeling throughout evangelicalism that everything is changing. Long-held certitudes are being challenged from both within and without the Christian faith. The way things were even ten years ago is no longer the way things are today. It's easy to be disconcerted by it all. 

In the midst of pronounced uncertainty it is tempting to succumb to nostalgia and pine away for some point in the past that we identify as the "glory days." But we cannot go back. The healthy practice of recognizing the contributions of the past and building upon them is not the same thing as a regressive attempt to return to a bygone era. This is the problem with revivalism. Too often it is a naive attempt to recapture a particular past. It's like a Renaissance fair-nice entertainment for a Saturday afternoon but you can't live there. An idealized memory of the past is not a vision which can carry us into the future. Nostalgic reminiscing about the past is for those who no longer have the courage to creatively engage with contemporary challenges and opportunities. All of this is related to the critical juncture we have come to in the course of Western Christianity.

Trying to be honest sort of prayer by Stephen Imbach

TRYING TO BE HONEST SORT OF PRAYER

Beloved and most gracious Lord,

Your substance is love.

From you only goodness flows into all creation.

I’m tired of relentless struggle,

wounds unchosen, unhealed.

Loosen my grip of self-focus;

to fall,

through the darkness of the unknown,

into the certainty of your loving embrace.

Do with me as you will.

I will thank you.

Crippled,

I offer myself to you,

desiring with all my heart to  love you without reserve

and to rest in you with boundless confidence.

For you, Love, are all I need,

now and forever more.

Amen!

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (conclusion and appendixes) by Eric H. Janzen

Conclusion

As I neared the end of writing this book I had coffee with a close friend of mine.  He told me a story about a young man that he had become friends with.  This young man left the Church because his experience of it had been of a surface faith.  He saw people calling themselves Christians, but living their lives as they pleased and caring little for those around them.  Sadly, this led to not only his rejection of Church, but Jesus as well.  He continues to be a spiritual man seeking God and attempting to live a spiritual life, but due to his experience of Church he wants nothing to do with Christians and thus nothing to do with Jesus.  How many of us know people like this?  Too many have encountered Christians not living out the culture of the kingdom and have as a result not encountered Christ.  This story is why I care about the things I have written.  That my friend’s friend was at the gate and walked away because of those within breaks my heart.  It should break your heart as well. 

Of Crushed Angels and Single-Stringed Ouds by Karin Dart

 Back in the late nineties I remember sitting at a table outside in our back yard pouring over two programs of study leading to two different Masters degrees. One was the counseling degree being offered at Trinity Western and the other, the Christian Studies degree being offered at Regent College, where my focus would be courses in spiritual formation/spiritual theology. I still vividly remember how alive my heart would feel when I looked at the courses on spiritual formation. I knew which university I was meant to apply to and what a rich experience that wound up being. I had the opportunity to sit in on lectures taught by Jim Houston, Eugene Peterson, Bruce Hindmarsh, three people who held the chair of Spiritual Theology at different points in the history of Regent College. It is also a way of hinting at just how long it took to complete the degree along with marriage and family commitments, raising two very lively children and my involvement with our church community.

Around the same time, from my ongoing connection with my spiritual director, Steve Imbach, I realized that my true heart vocation was in spiritual direction and Steve agreed to take me on as his apprentice. This was before Soulstream, an organization that Steve founded, even began to officially offer classes in spiritual formation and spiritual direction.

Gandhi and Grant -- Review by Brad Jersak

Barua, Arati (ed.), Gandhi and Grant: Their Philosophical Affinities. Delhi, India: Academic Excellence, 2010).

Review

I recently received a first edition copy of Arati Barua's collection of scholarly essays comparing and contrasting Canada's George Parkin Grant with India's Mahatma Gandhi. The book features contributions primarily from Indian and Canadian scholars and serves to further promote the interfaith dialogue that both Gandhi and Grant modelled and championed.

The book opens (see end of review for contents) with a concise introduction to George Grant by biographer William Grant and a piece on the "Motive for Coincidence between Gandhi and Grant" by Gandhi expert, Ramjee Singh. As the reader proceeds through articles by some top Grantians (Christian, Dart, Emberley, Kaethler, et al), it becomes apparent that the affinities between Gandhi and Grant are neither superficial nor contrived. In spite of their very different backgrounds, their faith-based philosophies led to comparable, independently discovered conclusions and convictions.

Both men were prophets of dissent against the prevailing modernism of their age, critical of the way technology can dehumanize the masses as we lose the capacity for contemplative life and thought. They both opposed modernity's inevitable tyranny through Western imperialism and militarism in their quite different contexts. Gandhi the Hindu and Grant the Christian both embraced a synthesis of contemplative theology, political philosophy, and their public outworking toward a just society. They lived as promoters of nonviolent resistance to moral darkness and opposed political oppression in costly and courageous ways.

Am I Missing Something by Joe Beach

'Christian' Militia in the News

This morning, I read about the arrest in Michigan of eight "patriotic Christians" who had plotted to bomb a funeral service of a policeman. On the same day, I received another email about the "pray for Obama" bumper sticker - this time from my sister (who's really a very committed Christian, intelligent, etc. A wonderful person). So I wrote down these thoughts:

Most of us, by now, have heard of the bumper sticker going around which reads: "Pray for Obama - Psalm 109:8”. It’s may be a trivial example of how ugly some of us Christians have become in recent years – but it’s also a horrific example. The full passage, which is supposed to elicit satisfying chuckles from us when we look it up, reads “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow." As my friend likes to say, “yeah, funny… but not in a HA-HA way.”

The Matrix of Liberalism: A Seven Act Drama - by Ron Dart

“Liberalism was, in origin, criticism of the old established order. Today, it is the voice of the establishment.”
--George Grant

“The end is in the beginning.”
--Plato

“I have found from many observations that sometimes our liberal is incapable of granting anyone else his own convictions and immediately answers his opponent with abuse or something worse.”
--Dostoyevsky

“The saint needed by each culture is the one who contradicts it the most.”
--G.K. Chesterton

1.
The Matrix of Liberalism

     All of us, whether we are consciously aware of it or not, think from a core of philosophic principles. It is from these seed thoughts, principles or ideas, that the fruit of various and varied ethical positions are taken. We live in a period of time in which many ethical positions are embraced, contested and questioned in our culture wars. Many is the hot button issue that, when articulated and argued in the public places, creates many a reaction. Ethical tribes and clans (and chieftains aplenty) have emerged to beat the drums for ethical positions on the political right, sensible centre and political left.

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (pt. 4) by Eric H. Janzen

Chapter Four

Transcending Culture

 I have attempted to show that kingdom culture is a spiritual culture revealed by God.  This culture comes out of his character, which is unchanging.  The spiritual culture of the kingdom is unchanging as well.  How the people of God are to live is a constant that does not change from era to era.  This characteristic of kingdom culture is markedly different from world culture, which is always in flux, changing and evolving.  This is important to understand for the community of Christ by the way it lives life fulfills its prophetic role in the world to reveal who God is.  Christians ought to be those who understand what God is truly like in character.  They ought to be those who not only know about God, but who know him relationally.  All the theology in the world does us no good if we do not know him.  At the heart of kingdom culture is this spiritual reality: we can be reconciled to God through Jesus and truly know him.  The Christian style of life revolves around this reality.  God has made it possible for us to have a genuine and real relationship with him.  

"The Christian Platonism of Simone Weil" and "Exiles from Nowhere" - Reviews by Brad Jersak

Book Reviews by Brad Jersak 

    E. Jane Doering and Eric O. Springsted, The Christian Platonism of Simone Weil (Notre Dame: UND Press, 2004.

     Alan Mendelson, Exiles from Nowhere: The Jews and the Canadian Elite (Montreal: Robin Brass Studio, 2008). 

In reviewing these two scholarly gems, I read them from a particular perspective. I am at the fledgling stage of George P. Grant research, with a special interest in enucleating the animating core of his life as a contemplative theologian and Canadian ‘prophet.’ One cannot hope to understand Grant’s work as a philosopher, political scientist and activist apart from the context of his Weilian Christian Platonism, for in his spiritual journey out of the dark cave of modernity (think Plato), Simone Weil was truly his ‘Diotima.’[1] Further, Grant’s emergence as one of Canada’s preeminent thinkers must be understood in light of his progressivist liberal pedigree. From that point of view, a book of essays on Weil’s Christian Platonism and a history that situates him among Canada’s intellectual elite are must-reads.

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (pt. 3) by Eric H. Janzen

Chapter Three

Divided Loyalties

The Church has been facing a crisis for some time now, a crisis surrounding the question of relevance.  Its critics claim that the Church and the Gospel have ceased being relevant and meaningful.  Many have sought to answer this crisis by searching for ways to connect with the culture outside the Church, a challenge to say the least.  Some programs and plans may have limited success in drawing some into the Church, but the question regarding the crisis needs some kind of answer: why has the Church and the Gospel lost its relevance in a world so desperately in need of both Christ’s community and message?  Part of the answer, though it is surely a complicated one, lies in understanding that Christians are called to a way of life.  Their style of living is to be culturally distinct from the world they find themselves in.  It is this way of life that makes the Church the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  The Church needs to recall its spiritual culture and live according to it in order to be relevant, which will give the treasure of the gospel which they hold real meaning in today’s world.

Discernment: Testing My Own Voice by Brad Jersak

DISCERNMENT: TESTING MY OWN VOICE

In recent days I have been thinking about our dialogues with God and how we weigh them. I started noticing that when the prayer conversation alternates: God, then Brad, then God, then Brad, and son on, I was diligent to test what God is allegedly saying. I test to see whether the voice of God is really God or not God. I check that voice according to the three-legged stool of the Word, the Body and the Spirit, as recommended in Can You Hear Me? Tuning in to the God who Speaks.

But I neglected to test MY voice. And why should I? After all, it’s my own voice, isn’t it? Or is it? But when I began to categorize the themes that came under the umbrella of ‘my voice,’ I noticed something. On the one hand, there was the voice that agrees with and responds to God in faith. We could call that the voice of my ‘true heart,’ or the voice of the ‘new creation,’ or the ‘new me.’

On the other hand, there are these other voices that I assumed were my own as well: The voice of condemnation (beating myself up) that would then trigger the voice of self-pity (feeling sorry for myself), and the voices of shame, self-hatred, fear, worry, anger, and so on. In my head, I would hear and say, ‘I am afraid; I am angry; I don’t like myself; I’m not worthy,’ etc. Perhaps you know those voices as well.

Reconciled to What? by Brad Jersak

Reconciled to What? Personal and Public Reconciliation in Canadian Aboriginal Context
by Brad Jersak with thanks to the Honourable Iona Campagnola

Recently, I was honoured to attend a gathering hosted by the Lytton First Nation, entitled ‘Bright New Day’ Workshop. The facilitators of the event were John McCandless and Chief Robert Joseph. Approximately sixty registrants attended, half of whom came from a variety of Aboriginal communities and organizations, while the other half represented a wide range of governments and businesses that have a stake in building relationships with the First Nations communities. It seemed symbolic that the modern facilities selected for the event were unfinished but that could enjoy meeting in one large circle within a tent with a grass field as the floor. Significant too was the fact that we were situated on the grounds of what had once been St. George's Residential School, with all the loaded history that its memory carries. To have a conference on reconciliation among such people in such a place was a profound experience that I will not forget. Before I go on, I want to thank the Lytton First Nation for welcoming me to the traditional territories of the N’Laka’Pamux Peoples. You treated me with great hospitality and respect.

"Called out of darkness" - by Brad Jersak

My friend, Kevin Miller, spoke at church last Sunday. He shared about some of the joys and sorrows of being a movie screenwriter. I laughed as I heard about his encounters with some famous characters: shaking Chuck Norris' hand, getting eye-contact with the pope, duking it out with Ben Stein, and getting sued by Yoko Ono. But when he shared from the heart about how a series of deep disappointments can lead to a sense of broken trust with God, I sobered up quickly. He was preaching right to my sadness.

In my disappointment, I know that I lost confidence in God's way of running this buggered up world and at times, took it upon myself to take his place--with disastrous effects. I have seen my capacity to fail others miserably and know the hellish pride of self-loathing. It's easy for me to get stuck there, because that place opposes the very core of God's message. Kev related how our old friend, Tyler, had challenged him to stop and to just spend time "soaking" in worship and just listening to God. Sounds simple, but the resistance to engage that way was itself instructive. He recommended sitting quietly and listening to Kim Walker's "Oh How He Loves Us" ... repeatedly, until a message came through.

Bob Ekblad's 'A New Christian Manifesto' - Review by Brad Jersak

Bob Ekblad, A New Christian Manifesto: Pledging Allegiance to the Kingdom of God, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.

Review by Brad Jersak

After my first encounters with the theo-praxis of Bob Ekblad, recounted so vividly in his previous work, Reading the Bible with the Damned, I could only wait impatiently for the arrival of his New Christian Manifesto. I was not disappointed.

In this work, Ekblad demonstrates his acumen as a master bridge-builder and integrator. Specifically, he bridges the best of world-class biblical theology and front line pastoral practice. He integrates the social prophetic world of liberation theology with the charismatic prophetic world of the modern renewal movement. Text meets testimony, mind meets heart and authentic prayer finds its way into the world of the poor, the immigrant, the gangster and the prisoner. In short, Bob brings the good news of the Kingdom of God, preaching a decentering word to the powers (a la Brueggemann), and inviting those on the margins to the banqueting table of God.

Beyond Cynicism: the Renewal of Prophetic Purity - by Brad Jersak and Peter Helms

Intro:

As the apostolic / prophetic movement has become increasingly bizarre, many who were told to simply bless everything are now deeply disillusioned. In these days when renewal meetings, alleged outpourings and flamboyant leaders have reached a point of crisis, it is tempting to throw up our hands, become cynical and opt to retreat to a safer, saner spirituality. And yet we know in our hearts that we can't go back to a Christian faith without the presence, power and voice of God. Neither dead orthodoxy nor practical deism can provide a harbour for us. Some are simply walking away from the faith altogether. Is that really our only option? How do we stay open to the Spirit? How do we restore prophetic purity? How can we continue to engage in authentic experiences with God without becoming wacky? What if we were to recalibrate our faith practice and renew prophetic purity?

Eagle River/Anchorage and Thomas Merton: Forty Years After (1968-2008) by Ron Dart

Merton grew and developed over the years, in an interior sense, more deeply than anyone I know, and came to be recognized as the leading mystical writer in the English-speaking world.  Robert Giroux 

I

September 18/Eagle River

Alaska-the Convent of the Precious Blood-surrounded by woods, with a highway (too) near. The woods of Alaska-marvelous-deep in wet grass, fern, rotten fallen trees, big leaved thorn scrub, yellowing birch, stunted fir, aspens. Thick. Humid. Lush. Smelling of life & of rot. Rich Undergrowth, full of mosses, berries-& probably (in other seasons) flowers. The air is now here cool and sharp as late November in the “outside” (ie. “the States”) (“lower 48”).

Thomas Merton (p.10)  

Calling All Gardeners -- by Al Sergal

Jesus poured His Spirit upon all flesh.  

The Farmer cast His seed – Jesus and His Holy Spirit – upon all humanity.  He gave His only Son to save the world – the entire eschatology of humanity.

God has birthed in all of us a portion of Nazareth – this everlasting seed of hope.  

We, like the philosophers and farmers before us must behold this new birth in everyone that we meet.  This seed of hope is present in every person who walks on this earth.  This was God’s promise from the very beginning.

Solitude: the Place of Embrace -- by Rev. Mike Stewart

It takes faith to go on a path to be completely alone with God. Faith, and a fair amount of courage. Faith, because the outcome of a time of solitude is completely in God's hands and courage because we are often afraid to face God on His own terms and to face ourselves in the raw nakedness of our souls. Brennan Manning makes the comment that it is better to stand naked in the truth than to stand clothed in falsehood. In times of solitude and silence {the two go together} we are naked before God and before ourselves. Ever since we lost paradise in the garden of Eden mankind has preferred to stay hidden and clothed. But the voice of our Creator recorded in Genesis chapter 3 continues to echo down through the passages of time calling out to us, "where are you?" Where are we indeed? Usually hiding somewhere. 

"I Will Diminish": Humility as the Prophetic Benchmark

“I pass the test … I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel” (Lord of the Rings, II.7, p.357).

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less” (John the Baptist, Jn 3:29f).

I think the most ironic phrase in the English language is, “I was humbled.” When we use it, we might as well say, “I felt really proud.” But I get it. I was humbled recently to have lunch with pastor and author, Vern Heidebrecht. I.e. I felt proud to be invited into his company. In fact, I was actually humbled in that I had that “I’m-not-worthy” feeling to have someone I consider as a seasoned man of God treat me so graciously. And this will be part of my point in this article.

On Crucifying the Prophetic Ego -- by Brad Jersak

Follow-up to “Pied Piper Prophets”

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. Jn 3:29f

One of the great difficulties for truly prophetic people is when they hear from the Lord and are called to deliver a message, if the church leadership doesn't receive the word or respond in the way that the prophet sees fit. In those moments, it can feel like the church is rejecting the word, rejecting the prophet and rejecting the Lord's will. And this may even be true.

"Follow Your Heart!" Really? -- by Brad Jersak

“Follow you heart.”

There’s something about this bit of proverbial wisdom that sounds so right, so refreshing, so healing. To those who’ve shaken free of the restraints of religious moralism or experienced the bankruptcy of rationalism, the rediscovery of one’s heart is a thrilling find indeed. To uncover this precious gift from beneath a thousand layers of emotional limestone is, in a deep way, to be born again. And what a wonderful surprise to find out that perhaps the human heart is, at its core, not some monster to be destroyed, but a pearl to be reclaimed and cherished.

And so we hear this anthem, this slogan—Follow your heart!—from the impassioned lips of many an anointed guru or [self-]appointed prophet these days.Yet something about this popular phrase has given me pause.

Love it to death! by Richard Rohr

Jesus is our guarantee of God's promise.  What happened in his body is the pattern of what must happen in all of the cosmos. We are making up in time, in our body, what happened in thirty-three years in the body of Jesus. We are optimistic because we look at him to see the final pattern.

 

To be a Christian means to be an optimist because we know what happened on the third day. We know that it worked, that Jesus' leap of faith was not in vain. His trust was not in vain, and the Father raised him up. He trusted enough to outstare the darkness, to outstare the void, to wait upon the resurrection of the third day, not to try to create his own but to wait uon the resurrection of God. The Scriptures and early Church seldom said Jesus "rose" from the dead. They always said, "God raised him up!"

Thomas Merton and the Mountains: Contemplative Cartographer

         Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
                                                                        William Blake

         He has not learned to think like a mountain
                                                                         Aldo Leopold
                                                              A Sand County Almanac 

         Can Aldo Leopold’s ecological conscience become
         effective in America today?
                                                                        Thomas Merton
                                                                      ‘The Wild Places’

There is a long line and lineage of contemplatives in the West and East that have turned to the mountains, white peaks and ancient spires as places to slake a deeper thirst and find a site for the soul to know a more meaningful quies. This reality has been well tracked and traced in evocative and visual mountaineering classics such as The Mountaineering Spirit (1979) and Sacred Mountains of the World (1990). Poets on the Peaks: Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen & Jack Kerouac in the North Cascades (2002) makes these connections, also, and we know Merton had an affinity with the Beats. My missive, Thomas Merton and the Beats of the North Cascades (2005), connects the dots between Merton, the Beats and mountains. Even the most casual read through these books make it most clear that there is a connection between mountains and the contemplative quest for meaning and depth.

Thomas Merton: the Contemplative Dilemma by Ron Dart

The time will come when the pursuit of contemplation will be a subversive activity. Daniel Berrigan - America is Hard to Find

1 Merton and the Contemplative Quest    

Thomas Merton turned to the Roman Catholic Tradition, and to the monastic and Cistercian way within such a Tradition, in search of an older and forgotten contemplative path. The vita activa had come to dominate the modern world, and the vita contemplativa had been banished or subordinated to the active life. In short, Martha had trumped Mary, and there were serious consequences to be faced in both soul and society as a result of this inversion of the ancient and time tried way.

Gems from Tilly - Interview, review and excerpt by Brad and Dominic Jersak with Meg Tilly

After my review of Meg Tilly’s work, entitled “A Spirituality of Courage and Hope,” she graciously responded to some questions that I hadn’t seen others pursue. Herein is the interview, along with a review of Porcupine written by my son, Dominic, who is 11 years old, and a powerful sample of prose/memory from Meg that she’s lent us from her blog site (www.officialmegtilly.com).

Porcupine – Review by Dominic Jersak (11)

Porcupine is a book about a 12 year old girl and her siblings. Their father was killed by ‘friendly fire’ in a war. Their mother eventually drove her family to the other side of Canada to live with her grandmother. There are many small events in this book that tie it together to make it a great book. 

The morals and some strong themes of Porcupine were courage, being helpful, and forgiveness.

"You Are Who You Pretend to Be" by Brad Jersak

    “Be careful who you pretend to be, because you are who you pretend to be.”    (Kurt Vonnegut)

Recently, I spent an afternoon serving coffee and cake at Mission Possible, a drop-in centre for the homeless in East Vancouver. I took the enjoyable role of delivering goodies to the table where those with disabilities sat eagerly waiting. On handing what I regarded as an unspectacular angel-food square to one senior visitor, he threw his hands in the air and shouted joyfully to the heavens, “The Lord saves his best for his servants!” His face glowed with gratitude through bright eyes set in deeply wrinkled skin and framed in a beautiful white beard. I took this as an invitation.

JURIDICAL VENGEANCE OR CO-SUFFERING LOVE by Metropolitan Antony

JURIDICAL VENGEANCE OR CO-SUFFERING LOVE
A More Positive Exposition for the Moral Content
of the Dogma Of Redemption^[i]

In order to provide a completely Orthodox interpretation of the dogma of redemption for people interested in theological questions, it is necessary to produce a feasible work in which the interpretation of this dogma is the central thesis. Therefore, we will present our treatise in the same order as we have presented it in public lectures and class discussions, that is, by observing what constantly occurs before our eyes in life.

Winter Readings by Brad Jersak

I'm frequently asked what I've been reading lately and what books might be worth curling up with by the fireplace. As I manage my mental health through the trials of winter drizzle, seven books came to the fore. Some made my heart warm, others made my blood boil, all of them made me think and feel in important ways. The following are my very brief reflections (and aha! moments) on:

Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI
The Shack by William Young
The Evangelical Universalist by Gregory MacDonald
God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
God at War by Gregory Boyd
The God of Intimacy and Action by Tony Campolo and Mary Albert Darling
Covenant of Peace by Willard Swartley

Hearing God's Voice: Unwrapping the Four Packages by Brad Huebert

What does God’s voice sound like? 

That’s a great question, and I’m going to answer it fairly clearly throughout the next twelve pages. I wish I could just say, “You’ll know it when you hear it,” but I can’t, because people hear God speaking all the time and don’t clue in. If I could show you a computer log that recorded how many times God spoke to you – and how – and when – I’m absolutely positive that your jaw would hit the floor. 

Watchmen versus Watchdogs by Brad Jersak

Many of the newsletters and articles that I’ve written throughout 2007 have been a repetitive reminder to the church that these days call for an upgrade in our discernment. I’m convinced that we must vigorously test the spirits (1 John 4:1-4) to see whether their messages originate in God. We do this both to guard ourselves from swallowing that which is toxic AND to avoid dismissing that which is essential. Sifting for truth enables us to watch for and watch out: we want all that God has for us—we want only what God has for us. 

That being said, one of my intercessors alerted me to the distinction between two types of discerning watchers. In prayer, she was shown the vast difference between those whom God has appointed as “watchmen” and those who’ve appointed themselves as “watchdogs.”

Methinks he budged: An evening with J.I. Packer by Brad Jersak

We don’t often get to meet our heroes in the faith. But after twenty-five years, I did have the privilege of a face-to-face encounter with one of mine: Dr. J.I. Packer. He is much taller than I’d imagined, more energetic than I’d expected and every bit as charitable as I had hoped. And even knowing that I am on “the other side” (his phrase) of the atonement debates,1 he generously signed the presentation page of my new ESV Bible and later acknowledged me as a brother.

Thus began an evening of revelations (hosted by House of James2) that started with the topic of Christian unity and climaxed in a discussion of evangelicalism’s current hot button topic: penal substitutionary atonement. As he shared, Dr. Packer made it clear that on the core points of classic Reformed Puritan tradition, he has not budged. Yet when he tenderly presented his sense of the Father’s heart towards Jesus during the crucifixion, I think we all felt God’s presence in the moment. On this point, I believe that the good doctor moved beyond the Reformers so as to carry the discussion forward in important ways. As I take up Dr. Packer’s exhortation to test the truth of his words, I hope to suggest how this is so.3

Cynic or Prophet? What’s the difference? by Brad Jersak

Cynical Prophets and Prophetic Cynics

In recent years, I’ve had the joy of pastoring many fine prophets, some highly gifted, some deeply wounded, and some with a potent combination of gifts and grief. I’ve know the sorrow of watching broken prophets decline into cynicism and the joy of walking cynics forward into their true calling as prophets. In some ways, cynics and prophets are exactly opposite; in other ways, there are virtually identical. Maybe they are the flesh and spirit manifestation of the same gift.

THOMAS MERTON: The Contemplative Dilemma by Ron Dart

The time will come when the pursuit of contemplation will be a subversive activity.     Daniel Berrigan,

America is Hard to Find 

1. Merton and the Contemplative Quest

Thomas Merton turned to the Roman Catholic Tradition, and to the monastic and Cistercian way within such a Tradition, in search of an older and forgotten contemplative path. The vita activa had come to dominate the modern world, and the vita contemplativa had been banished or subordinated to the active life. In short, Martha had trumped Mary, and there were serious consequences to be faced in both soul and society as a result of this inversion of the ancient and time tried way.