Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Clarion Book of the Month: Excerpts from The Recovery of Love by Jeff Imbach

The Recovery of Love: Four Contemporary Mystics Address our Contemporary Crisis of Intimacy
by Jeff Imbach (Fresh Wind Press, 2005).

from page 82-83

It was common in the Christian circles in which I grew up to reduce love to a discussion of the distinctions between the three greek words for love: agape (self-sacrifice), phileo (familial affection), and eros (passion). By dissecting the word into discrete categories it was possible to elimnate the dangerous and end up with an innocuous but religiously acceptable ideal of love. Seen this way, love became tame at best and hopelessley guilt-producing at worst.

 

John Donne on Mercy and Justice

"[I]n every work of God there is mercy and justice, so, as they presuppose one another. And as in his created Elements, so in these there is a condensing and rarifying, by which they become and grow into one another. For often that action which was principally intended for a work of Justice against one Malefactor, extends it self to an universall Mercy, by the Example. And the children of God know how to resolve and make liquid all his Actions. They can spie out and extract Balmes, and Oyles from his Vinegers; and supple, and cure with his corrosives. Be he what he will, they will make him most Mercifull, if Mercy be then wholsomest for them. . . . And in like manner out of his Mercies they can distil Justice, when presumption upon Mercy needs a corrective" (Essays in Divinity 62-63).

The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren

The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth the Could Change Everything
by Brian McLaren (Nelson, 2006)

Review by Kevin Miller

Just in time for the cinematic adaptation of The Da Vinci Code—Dan Brown’s scandalous, bestselling novel about the “secret history of Christ”—comes a new book by emerging church guru Brian D. McLaren that helps clarify why millions are intrigued by such unorthodox interpretations of Christ.   

Rather than attempt to refute The Da Vinci Code, however, McLaren argues that the popularity of Brown’s book and the “shared frustration with the status-quo, male-dominated, power-oriented,cover-up-prone organized Christian religion” it expresses should prompt some serious self-examination among believers.

The Myth of Proportional Violence by Brad Jersak

Just War Theory: “Just War” is a idea and tradition developed by philosophers (e.g. Aristotle and Cicero) and theologians (e.g. Augustine and Hugo Grotius) in an effort to establish a platform of ethics for war and peace. “Just War theory” seeks to define ethical parameters of justice in the context of war. I.e. the justice of resorting to war (jus ad bellum), just conduct during war (jus in bellum), and justice in the peace agreements which terminate a war (jus post bellum). 

"Honour" by Michelle Wiebe-Santschi

A while ago, I started getting frustrated with some of the things that I was hearing people saying about people with disabilities.  I didn’t like hearing people in my community referred to as “residents” or “the disabled”.  These are my friends.  These are my brothers and sisters.  I just wanted everyone to be equal, for each one of us to be given a fair chance, to be treated as worthy human beings.  I don’t like there being “us” versus “them.  …I vented to those around me and to the Lord.  He answered my questions with one word.  The word that God kept bringing to mind was “honour”…both as a verb and as a noun. So I started to think about what this word meant.  What does it mean to honour someone?  What does it mean to give someone honour? And what does it mean to take away somebody’s honour?

Excerpt: "WHEN THINGS FALL APART" by Pema Chodron

Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Shambala Classics, 1997).

Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing.  We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved.  They come together and they fall apart.  Then they come together again and fall apart again.  Its just like that.  The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen:  room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

When we think that something is going to bring us pleasure, we don’t know what’s really going to happen.  When we think something is going to give us misery, we don’t know.  Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all.  We try to do what we think is going to help.  But we don’t know.  We never know if we’re going to fall flat or sit up tall.  When there’s disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story.  It may be just the beginning of a great adventure….

Paschal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

This past Easter, by the Orthodox calendar, I attended my first Eastern Orthodox Midnight Mass. It was a splendid celebration, adorned with many candles, icons, robes and multi-lingual shouts of "He is risen / Truly He is risen." The fifty-some pages of liturgy and endless signs of the Cross eventually led us to an enormous ethnic supper at sometime after 3:30 a.m. I was honoured to be invited to the festival by the Archbishop Lazar Puhalo.

The high point for me was the following sermon, the Paschal homily of St. John Chrysostom (a fourth century church father)...

Andy's Letter by Wayne Northey

Andy’s Letter

An unpublished novel by me treats of violence and nonviolence as a major theme with hell a subtheme. It is entitled Chrysalis Crucible, and tells the story of a young evangelist’s coming of age on the short-term mission field in West Berlin. 

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 78.  Please also read “Violence and Nonviolence – (Parts I and II)”, and “Excerpts Re. Hell – Parts I and II”.

If you are interested in dialogue on this, please feel free to contact the web administrator with your e-mail address and comments. I will then respond to you at my discretion. Thanks.

Another Dire Prophecy Unheeded: Eisenhower's Farewell Address

My fellow Americans:

Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.

This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.

Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.

Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the Nation.

The Evangelical Sanhedrin and Republicanism: Promises and Perils by Ron Dart

Introduction

George Marsden has suggested that the growth, vision and ideals of the Evangelical movement in the USA after WW II makes it, in many important and significant ways, a informal denomination (‘The Evangelical Denomination’ in Evangelicalism in Modern America). If this is the case, and I agree with Marsden on this point, who are the leaders and organizations that have defined, shaped and guided this denomination? It is the leadership in a movement that is the Sanhedrin, hence the title of this essay. And, what are the promises and perils of the Evangelical Sanhedrin? There is no doubt that leadership is essential for any movement, but what is the relationship between the Evangelical Sanhedrin, Evangelicalism and the republicanism tradition?  This essay will unpack this troubling and perennial dilemma both within the USA and Canada.

War and Hell by Wayne Northey

War and hell are inextricably interlinked in Christian history and theology.  Below are some thoughts about both, with relation to a movie and a book.

I.  The Christian and War: Reflections on “Saving Private Ryan”

“War is hell”, observed Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman.  And Steven Spielberg dipped us right into its fiery midst in his 1998 summer release.

War is indeed hell.  Yet, in the long history of the Christian Church, apart from the earliest era, every war engaged in throughout Christendom has been supported by the Church on both sides of the conflict.  How in the name of Jesus can this be? What, for starters, of Christ’s express words?: “Love your enemies (Matt. 5, Luke 6).”  Further, how can Christians do an end run around Jesus’ explicit teaching by reverting to Old Testament endorsement of war when Jesus flatly said?: “So in everything [except war?], do to others [except your enemies? - see Matt. 5:43ff] what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets (Matt 7:12).”; and “... ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor [except your enemies?] as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matt 22:37-40).”   

The Mumbai Bombs by Wayne Northey

July 12, 2006
21780 18th Ave.
Langley  BC
V2Z  1P8
[email protected]
(604)533-9767 (home)
(604)859-3215 (work)

Dear Editor:

    Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter MacKay predictably was the pot that called the kettle black in (otherwise legitimately) condemning the bombing horror in Mumbai this week.
            Last July Prime Minister Tony Blair likewise as hypocritically called the London bombings “barbaric attacks.” On September 1, 1939, President Roosevelt similarly wrote to the major powers that aerial bombing of civilians had “profoundly shocked the conscience of humanity” and was “inhuman barbarism.” He later as disingenuously referred to the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour as a “date, which will live in infamy.” President Bush joined the pharisaical chorus in designating the September 11, 2001 attackers “evildoers.” 

Allow the Poor Man to Save You by Brita Miko

This article appears as a chapter of Brad Jersak's Kissing the Leper.

God sells righteousness very cheap to those who are eager to buy: namely, for a little piece of bread, worthless clothes, a cup of cold water and one coin.1

                               Abba Epiphanus

This began with a taste of heaven and hell. This began with a taste of peace and torment. This began while giving birth to my second child. The doctor broke my water just before 7 a.m., and my baby was born at 8:22 a.m. That final hour was contraction upon contraction. Labor is not the kind of pain that makes you cry; it’s the kind of pain that makes you gasp and writhe and cry out “O God, help me!” It’s also the kind of pain that makes you pass out—which I did, twice. Those unconscious moments of bliss during otherwise conscious pain were what started me thinking…

Islam: A Religion of Peace? by Gord Nickel

-Gordon Nickel has a PhD in the earliest commentaries on the Koran and teaches in British Columbia.

Published: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 in National Post

The problem of Muslim radicalization has been on the agenda of all nations since 9/11. But Canada faces a unique dilemma because the doctrine of multiculturalism is seen as intrinsic to our national identity. The recent disruption of an alleged homegrown Islamist terror plot has caused many Canadians to ask: How can multiculturalism -- which preaches tolerance above all else -- be squared with a militant, intolerant creed that demonizes non-believers? This week, the National Post presents a week-long series of articles examining this question. In today's second instalment, Gordon Nickel examines the claim that Islam is inherently a 'religion of peace.'

Uh Oh! The Absolute Truth? by Eric H. Janzen

Truth. Seems like a simple enough word. When we look at it written down it is a short five letter construction that has no appearance of menace, no hint of the conflagration of debate it has the ability to set off. Yet, it is perhaps one of the most important words of our post-modern era.

I am deeply fascinated by truth. I think about it often, especially in the early morning hours when my inability to sleep has me pondering questions such as “Is it possible to formulate a singular and accurate description of reality?” I know that most people reading this may have just groaned or mocked me, but such questions occupy my head, and to be honest I enjoy them. The question of absolute truth is one that I come to again and again, and I believe it is an important one. Particularly for Christians this question is not one that can be taken lightly. Jesus does not allow us a laissez-faire option. He routinely made claims and promises that demand acceptance or rejection.

The Voice of Christ: Sweet and Salty by Brad Jersak

I was meditating on perceptions about God's voice that float around out there. To some, their experience of the prophetic message has been harsh, judgemental, and condemning. They relate strongly to wrath-of-God texts and visualize roaring, hairy prophets and flying spittle. Indeed, I’ve run into many a bleeding lamb who suffered abuse at the rod of messengers purporting to speak for God.

Others encounter a version of God's voice that seems too nice, continually evoking God’s love in syrupy forms that seem as banal as a “Precious Moments” figurine (and just as apt to sit dusty on a shelf). I received two emails this week that challenged me on that, warning me against hearing and teaching a sugar-coated version of Christ as we engage in “listening prayer.” As I’ve tried to discern the real issue in the company of some wise counsellors, what came was a balanced acknowledgement that the voice of Christ is both sweet and salty, but neither bitter nor sour (Rev. 10:10 notwithstanding).

Die With Me: Pickton, Jesus, and Me by Brita Miko

(This piece began in a newsgroup. Brad Jersak’s words are here, enfolded in mine. All italicized words are Brad’s). 

Life is not theoretical. The reality of life is lived. Hard lived moment by hard lived moment. Moments of beauty. Moments of grace. Moments of agony. Moments of terror. We are inside it and it is inside us. 

The life of Christ is a life happening in these very specific particular moments, or it is not happening at all. It doesn’t only happen in the mind, like a disembodied Word. It is incarnated again and again, born anew into every circumstance. It is for everything or it is for nothing at all. It is always true or it never was true. The lived reality is where we must know it and receive it and be it. It cannot be magical words for another world. It must be the way through in this one. Or it is no way at all. 

The life of Christ is the life I believe I want. Most of the time. But sometimes, I become scared. I get scared by what the life of Christ might mean. Now is one of those times. 

Diverging or Converging: Nuancing the Emerging Church by Brad Jersak

In response and as a follow-up to Ron Dart's article on the Emerging Church, I would like to add the perspective of someone who rubs shoulders with, and is occasionally labelled as, "emerging church." First, thanks to Ron for your excellent article on the "emerging church" movement. I'd like to respond by nuancing some of their ecclesial trajectory and the challenges they face.

As a champion of the historic church, you tend naturally to assess the emerging church as it evolves relative to the stability of the great streams of Christian faith (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican). You correctly note that much of the emerging church movement continues to be a further fragmentation in the long history of schism wrought by the sixteenth century reformers. The splintering ad nauseum is absolutely a sign and symptom of rotten concrete in the foundations (termites in the hull, no doubt). And so, to an observer such as yourself who deems the great ships of faith to be more reliable in the face of history's spiritual storms, the tiny independent churches that continue to multiply must appear very fragile and hardly sea-worthy.