Our faith journey is often and necessarily so aided by waymarks, markings or cairns along the pathway of life. Such waymarks might be thinkers once dead but whose ideas live, creeds, communities, lectures and, more to the pertinent point, those we have interacted with on the journey. We each and all, for different reasons, can reflect on people who have come into our lives at specific seasons (some shorter, some longer) that act like waymarks for us where there often is no clear path or trail. There have been many people in my life that have been important waymarks, and three of them have died this year. I would, briefly, like to highlight each one of them.
When I was doing my Masters of Christian Studies (MCS) at Regent College between 1979-1981, I had the good fortune to take many courses in Church History with Ian Rennie (1929-2015). Many consider Ian to be one of the pre-eminent Canadian Church historians of the latter half of the 20th century. Ian had an encyclopedic mind and a generous and kindly pastoral heart. Many were the hours I spent in his office as a result of doing formal and guided studies with him. Much of my interest at the time was in Patristic thought (which was not exactly front and centre for a Presbyterian—of which Ian was), but Ian patiently and in a most curious and inquisitive manner, journeyed with me as we read and pondered the contemplative insights of many of the Desert and more Urban Christian contemplative theologians. When thesis time arrived, Ian Rennie and Jim Houston were my supervisors and examiners. The thesis was on “The Spirituality of John Cassian” (perhaps one of the most important contemplative bridge theologians between the East and West). Ian left Regent in 1981 (the same year I did). Ian went to Tyndale in Toronto to become the academic Dean. I continued my academic journey. The final years of Ian’s life were not easy. Alzheimers, week by week, month by month, stole his mind and by the end of his earthy journey, mind and body had shrunken to but a shell—such a slow and sad end for such a generous, gracious and good man.
When I arrived at Regent College in 1979, my growing interest was in Christian spirituality as an antidote and corrective to systematic, biblical and historic theology. I was, above all, interested in the relationship between God and the ongoing experience of humanity with God. It was the contemplative theologians (past and present) who, in a mature and wise manner, integrated the human longing for God with God’s longing to be united with humans. Contemplative theology has a significant existential dimension to it, and one of the first books I read when at Regent that pointed the way to a deeper and more demanding notion of contemplative theology was Kenneth Leech’s Soul Friend: The Practice of Christian Spirituality (1977). Henri Nouwen (who I corresponded with) wrote the “Introduction” to Soul Friend. Kenneth was part of a larger community of Anglo-Catholics with a more radical political bite to their contemplative theology---Rowan Williams was part of the group in his early years. I devoured most of Ken’s books, and when in England in the 1990s, I stayed with Ken in East London. He took me on a retreat he was leading, and I have lovely photo of Ken and I under a painting of Thomas More (actually many photos of Ken and I in different places). Ken modelled for me a way to understand the subtle and complex integration between spirituality, the church and a form of in the trenches and grass roots prophetic politics. Ken, as an Anglican priest, had many an affinity with Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Dorothy Soelle, Jim Wallis and John Howard Yoder. Ken (1939-2015), like Ian Rennie, died slowly this year--Ken of cancer---not an easy or restful way to come to the end of the journey
My third waymark along the way is Fr. William McNamara (1926-2015). Fr. William was affectionately called “Abba Willie”. Abba Willie wrote passionately about the mystical life but his commitment to the communal mystical way was grounded in an earthy vision of the faith journey—there was no dividing of spirit and matter in Fr. William’s many published books, retreats led and community lived in. Abba Willie, as a Carmelite, modelled new ways of being a contemplative community. I have an extensive correspondence with Abba Willie and many from the Spiritual Life Institute. Again, Fr. William was never in robust health much of his life and his final years, like Kenneth Leech’s and Ian Rennie’s, were not the kindest---his body slowly deteriorated even as his spirit sought to live fully—certainly no health, wealth, triumphalistic or Disney endings to their committed lives.
The faith vision of Ian Rennie (Presbyterian), Kenneth Leech (Radical Anglo-Catholic) and Abba Willie (Carmelite RC) have each offered me ways of understanding the faith journey in a more comprehensive way and manner. All three men died this year. I look back at the waymarks they have been for me on my all too human journey through time and am most grateful for them.
Amor Vincit Omnia
Ron Dart
A truly nice tribute to those who inspired you in your faith journey. May such inspirations continue and not be forgotten.
Posted by: Idrian | October 22, 2015 at 11:07 PM