Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Ron Dart's 'The Spirituality of John Cassian' - Reflections by Denys Scully

The Spirituality of John Cassian was written by Ron Samuel Dart, an Anglican layman from Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.  Dart’s 2006 book is a published rework of his Master’s thesis, earned from Regent College in 1981.  (After his first M.A. Dart earned a second from the University of British Columbia, completing then a thesis on “Origen and Anthony,” two men who played a key role in Cassian’s life and ministry.)  Dart is a professor of philosophy and religious studies at University of the Fraser Valley in BC.  He is a prolific writer and teacher who regularly engages the “politics” of church and society in a refreshing but classical manner.  In his personal life Dart commonly exerts his Anglo-Catholic belief and commitment through his mentoring and ecumenical efforts as well as his contemplative practices.  He is also a Thomas Merton scholar, a poet and a mountaineering expert and instructor.  He says clearly in the Preface that he wrote his book out of a commitment to the Church Fathers’ “…more mystical, contemplative and existential way of doing theology in opposition to a more rationalist, confessional and scholastic way of doing theology that dominated much of the Western Tradition” (1).  He was also drawn to Cassian’s “…wise, sane and ecumenical…” thought and theology that brought together the best and wisest of the patristic East and West “…in a transformative way” (2-3).

Psalm 2 -- A Sermon by Josh Giesbrecht

Psalm 2

The Reign of the LORD’S Anointed.

 ¹ Why are the nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing?
² The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
³ “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”

 ⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
⁶ “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

 ⁷ “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
⁸ ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
⁹ ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

 ¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
¹¹ Worship the LORD with ^[l]reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
¹² Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

What is this psalm saying?

• The Messiah will rule over the earth
• God is not threatened by our kings and empires

Great! But then it also seems to say:

• When we rebel against God, he is furious with us
• If we don’t acknowledge the Messiah we will “perish in the way” of his anger

How One Book Can Change Our Contemplative Posture in the World -- Review by Jeff Imbach

F.S. Michaels’ book, Monoculture: How One Story is Changing Everything, is a small, very accessible, yet profoundly moving description of the impact of the ascendancy of the Economic Story over other stories we have always taken for granted in our society.  A resident of B.C., Michaels was succinct and clear enough to be the 2011 winner of the NCTE George Orwell Award for outstanding contributions to the critical analysis of public discourse.  I mentioned the book in a previous essay  and thought it might be helpful to come back to the book more carefully. 

A monoculture is the underlying belief structure and values for decision-making that is based on one over-arching master story. Medieval Europe was a monoculture based on religion.  Religion determined decisions that affected all areas of life.  We now live in a Economic Monoculture that determines everything on the basis of economics. 

Eye-Deep in Lies -- Brian Zahnd

Eye-Deep In Lies
by Blindman At The Gate

Why is it that if we dare to envision a world without war
(A hope offered humanity by the prophet Isaiah bar Amoz)
We’re considered hopelessly naïve or even treasonous?

Why is it that everyone knows Jesus taught the way of nonviolence
(Just read the Sermon on the Mount and you’ll see what I mean)
Except those who most vociferously call themselves Christians?

Why is it that a clear renunciation of war is called cowardly
(Suggest killing enemies is not the way and see what happens)
When following the crowd has never required any courage?

Why is it we’re suspicious of those called peacemakers
(Ask brave Daniel Ellsberg, he’ll tell you all about it)
When the One we worship is called the Prince of Peace?

Why is it we believe the coming of Christ will bring the reign of peace
(For we do confess that someday the lion will lay down with the lamb)
But in the mean time act as if we must preserve war as long as possible?

Why are those who renounce war and embrace peace called stupid
(“The poor dolts don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain”)
When Einstein said, “I’m not only a pacifist, but a militant pacifist”?

Why am I even bothering to talk about the topic of peace
(“Shouldn’t he be preaching the gospel or something?”)
When I know good and well it will only cause me grief?

A fellow who goes by the weird name Blindman at the Gate composed this brief meditation after learning that the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs reports that 18 combat veterans commit suicide every day.

(The painting is Isaiah by Marc Chagall)

 

A Great than Solomon -- compiled by Brian Zahnd

A Greater Than Solomon - Matthew 12:42

Ecclesiastes is a divine revelation of the vanity, futility, emptiness and absurdity of life apart from a relationship with the living God. Ecclesiastes it is the natural, earthly wisdom of the sages and the philosophers—(Solomon, Socrates, Siddhartha and Schopenhauer)—it is not the greater wisdom of the Son of God.

Question # 1: Is life meaningless or is there a purpose?

Solomon (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity

Everything is meaningless, says the Teacher

Jesus (John 18:37)

You say that I am a king and you are right.

I was born for this purpose.

I came to bring truth into the world.

Everyone who loves truth hears my voice.

A Contemplative Response To Our Present Economic Super-Agenda -- Jeff Imbach

A Contemplative Response To Our Present Economic Super-Agenda

“When civilizations start to die they go insane.”  So begins a recent piece by Chris Hedges.  “Let the ice sheets in the Arctic melt,” he says. “Let the temperatures rise.  Let the air, soil and water be poisoned.  Let the forests die.  Let the seas be emptied of life.  Let one useless war after another be waged.  Let the masses be thrust into extreme poverty and left without jobs while the elites, drunk on hedonism, accumulate vast fortunes through exploitation, speculation, fraud and theft.  Reality, at the end, gets unplugged.”  Hedges argues that the quest by a bankrupt elite in the final days of empire to accumulate greater and greater wealth in the face of less and less to exploit leads to mounting repression, increased human suffering, a collapse of infrastructure and, finally, collective death.

Review of Anna Yin's 'Wings Toward Sunlight: Poems' -- by Ron Dart

Anna Yin,  Wings Toward Sunlight: Poems, 2011

We had the experience but missed the meaning. -- T.S. Eliot

There is poetry that speaks to the head but never touches the deeper recesses of the heart, and there is poetry that massages the heart but does not really challenge the probing and questioning mind. There is poetry that is so abstract that the seeking soul can become lost in an inner or historic maze, and there is poetry that evokes and awakens, in a tender and suggestive way, the deeper longings of the human soul. Wings Toward Sunlight is poetry of the latter kind. But, there must be an inner quietness and attentiveness to receive the insights offered.

Review of Milton Acorn: In a Springtime Instant -- by Ron Dart

Milton Acorn: In A Springtime Instant: Selected Poems, James Deahl (ed.), 2012.

Milton Acorn (1923-1986) was the most dynamic, controversial and prophetic Canadian Anglican political poet in the latter half of the 20^th century. Acorn was a poet who spoke to the people of Canada and did so in an accessible and not to be forgotten manner. The fact that Acorn was awarded by significant Canadian poets, the Peoples Poet Award in 1970 and the GG Award in 1975 speaks its own convincing language. Who was this poet who offended the trendy left by taking a definite stand on the Pro-Life issue yet offended the political right by opposing capitalism, militarism and American imperialism? Who was this unique Canadian nationalist who flirted with the ideological left but when day was a done was a conscious Red Tory?  Who was this High Church Anglican that was convinced that the purpose and end of the grandeur of the liturgy was justice and peace in the streets and for the working class people? Who was this herald and pioneer in the 1950s of the ecological movement?

Anatheism: Returning to God after God -- Ideas (CBC radio) with Richard Kearney

Public discussion of religion tends to polarize between two extremes: religious fundamentalism, and the aggressive atheism of such writers as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. But much of what people actually believe falls somewhere in between. It is subtler and more tentative. David Cayley explores the work of five thinkers whose recent books have charted new paths for religion. Part 1: Richard Kearney,(Anatheism: Returning to God After God).

To download the interview, click here.