Christian Spirituality and the Incarnation

"Christian spirituality is the study and experience of what happens when the Holy Spirit meets the human spirit.   This definition is not meant to exclude God’s contact with the entire person, including the body.  Indeed, Christian spirituality is profoundly incarnational, since that meeting-place between spirit and Spirit, that holy tryst, finds its example par excellence – indeed, its proto-type and its cause – in Jesus, the God-Man.  Our Christian story is the marvelous drama of a “holy tryst” – a holy meeting in which God, through His very own love, brings humanity (spirit, soul, body) to Himself.  …Let us not hope to find a spiritual life unconnected to that one tangible, wondrous place in which perfect God and perfect humanity are joined.  In observing the tendencies of the contemporary search for spirituality, we must beware of that wrongheaded quest  for “religious experience without faith…a religion of pure experience.”  (Dupre and Wiseman, p23) .  Such a quest recently has been proposed to the troubled Anglican faith community by Bishop Michael Ingham, who, in his Mansions of the Spirit, cautiously valorized an “esoteric” search for that  mystical experimental point beyond doctrine where “all faiths meet” (pp.119-23).  But to do this is to place that One from whom are all things and in whom all things converge in a subordinate position; it is to miss the staggering import of the unique and revolutionary Incarnation of God the Son.  It is to worship experience, and not that One from whom all experience flows."   

Edith Humphrey, Ecstasy and Intimacy: When the Holy Spirit meets the Human Spirit, pp17-18

Holy, Holy, Holy,...what?

I followed the recent changes to the Roman Missal with some interest.  This was in part because I read that one blogger said the new missal wording brought the Roman Catholic English translation more in line with the English wording in the Book of Common Prayer:  “And with your spirit,” and “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts.”  I think that the Roman Catholics can be excused for messing up after the fervor of excitement resulting from Vatican Two.  But I am not sure as much grace should be accorded to the avant garde liturgists of Anglican stripe who somehow deemed the Roman mistranslations (Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might) needed to be incorporated into the Anglican liturgies under the premise of ecumenism.  And that is the only reason I can seem to find for the corruption of the Sanctus.  An excellent article on the mistranslation of the Sanctus in the Roman Missal after Vatican Two, and the importance of correcting it, from a Roman Catholic priest can be found here: 

 (http://www.adoremus.org/0602Sanctus.html)

Now don’t get me wrong here.  I cannot read Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, but I can read the Scriptures.  And in those Scriptures, if the translators of the KJV, ASB, RSV, etc  are correct, then the scriptural source for opening of the Sanctus, Isaiah 6.3 is “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts.  This is a far cry from the rather inaccurate translation of “God of power and might.”  

Two things stand out for me. 

One is the thought that for the sake ecumenical uniformity we are willing to almost unthinkingly depart from our own rich heritage, a heritage well rooted in the ancient Church.  Secondly, we are willing to disengage the Scriptural witness from our liturgy, which seems to be a most un-Anglican thing to do.  I can cite other examples of this disengagement of the use in Scripture for our worship such as one bishop here in Canada who has authorized a ‘special rite’ wherein the proclamation of the Word actually allows for the opting of an appropriate secular reading to be used instead of an appropriate Scripture reading.   Imagine having a part of the service called “the proclamation of the Word,” and not having any Scripture read.  But I digress. 

The point I want to make here is that we have clearly made a mistake in allowing Ecumenical fervor to sway us in embracing erroneous wordings in our divine Eucharistic liturgy.  Comments on the adoption of the Ecumenical Lectionary (The Revised Common Lectionary) might also fall into this category.  Let’s be honest here, if we were truly interested in embracing ecumenical relations with the Romans and the Greeks then there are many innovations we simply should not have embraced so quickly.  By all appearances we have wanted to eat our cake and have it too, and we know that that does not work.  Instead, I feel that we have lost much of our Anglican Identity, which is directly tied to our liturgy.

I am left with the following question: Within the Anglican milieu, how does one ‘back up’ once a mistake is realized?  The Romans, with their hierarchy of authority were able to very easily redact their liturgy.  We Anglicans appear to entirely lack any mechanism for this.  I fear it is up to our ‘chief liturgical officers,’ and again I fear few really don’t seem to care.

To this sad reflection I invite my readers to have a look at the idea being brought to the forefront recently for the need of a “New Oxford Movement, “ by a priest in Ireland blogging under the heading Catholicity and Covenant.  The post is called, “a Retrieval of Riches – the potential of a New Oxford Movement.”  

 Found here: http://catholicityandcovenant.blogspot.ca/2012/05/retrieval-of-riches-potential-of-new.html

 

I like to call it, “the de-newal of Anglican Liturgy.”  Done right, such a de-newal, such a new Oxford movement, might just bring us back to the most holy God, in truly holy worship where we joyfully declare with the angels and archangels, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, Heaven and Earth are full of your glory!!

Lord have Mercy,  Brian

Missing in Action - The Prayer of Humble Access

W E do not presume to come to this thy Table,

O merciful Lord, Trusting in our own

righteousness, But in thy manifold and great

mercies. We are not worthy So much as to gather

up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the

same Lord, Whose property is always to have

mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, So to

eat the Flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, And to

drink his Blood, That our sinful bodies may be

made clean by his Body, And our souls washed

through his most precious Blood, And that we

may evermore dwell in him, And he in us. Amen.

The Prayer of Humble Access in the Book of Common Prayer

I have been reading the book, "Grand Entrance," by Edith Humphrey, who reminds us that all worship, but especially the worship of the community in the Eucharist, is a grand entrance into the Heaven/Earth presence of God the Almighty: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Such an entrance calls for humility and preparation by the entire community.  Reflecting upon the Tridentine liturgy (pre-Vatican 2) she says,

“The action of entering by the way of the Lord is complimented by the idea of God’s entrance into the human realm, a dynamic we have seen everywhere in both Western and Eastern liturgies.  Especially prominent in this regard is the prayer of humble welcome, said by both the priest and the faithful prior to the reception of communion.  “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof:  But only say the word and my soul will be healed.”  This prayer, based on the humility of the gentile centurion, may be considered as a Western cousin to the Eastern prayer of reception, which looks to the  faith of the thief upon the cross: “Like the thief I will confess you, Remember me, O Lord.”  It is also paralleled, in both reverence and its intent, by the Anglican “prayer of humble access,” framed by Cranmer on the basis of several of the preparatory Sarum prayers: “We do not presume to come to this thy table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own goodness, but in thy manifold and great mercies.”  The people identify themselves, in these three related prayers, with examples of the faithful from history who have come from marginal backgrounds but who have been received by the deep love of Christ.”

From “Grand Entrance; Worship on Earth as in Heaven,” by Edith Humphrey (p. 120)

We are missing this reminder of Godly approach to the mysteries of the Sacrament in our Book of Alternative Services.  At least I miss it!  I wonder who thought we didn't need this humble reminder? 

Lord have mercy,  Brian+

Whose Service is Perfect Freedom

The other day I say an impressive sight:  a man walking with his dog, but no leash was evident.  It was impressive because there were plenty of distractions, both people and cars.  Yet here was this rather remarkable dog walking along stride for stride with his owner.  They came to the busy corner (and yes there is a busy street corner in Gander – it was there while waiting for the left turn arrow that I observed the man with his dog) and the dog looked up at the man to see what he was going to do, noticed he was going to take the turn, and without missing a beat turned and continued on.  Remarkable.  

I felt that the dog was devoted to (‘loved’) his owner and was intent on staying with him, while the owner must have felt pride and joy in the trustworthy companion.  They were free with each other, enjoying each other.  The sight immediately reminded me of a phrase in the second collect of Morning Prayer, “…whose service is perfect freedom.”   

A few years ago I was attending a provincial synod where a professor from our theological college was appointed to lead the morning Bible Study.  She asked the group of bishops, clergy, and laity, “Why do we serve God?”  My first and enduring reaction was, “How could an Anglican not know the answer to that question?”  I’m not saying that we shouldn’t explore why serving God IS perfect freedom, or how not serving God enslaves us, but the professor continued with some rambling prose that in my opinion missed the mark, speaking about the trendy social justice themes of current Anglican bent.  The answer, the truth of the Scriptures has been presented to us for generations in the great contemplative rhythm of Anglican worship, “Whose service is perfect freedom.”    I wish that I had seen that beautiful mutt walking WITH its master prior to the meeting.  It would have been an excellent analogy.  As I recall, Jesus did not call his disciples friends until they had exemplified significant devotion and obedience.

O GOD, who art the author of peace and lover of concord,

in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life,

whose service is perfect freedom:

Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies;

that we, surely trusting in thy defence,

may not fear the power of any adversaries;

through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

LORD have Mercy,  Brian+

Faith - Growing up

A Prayer for Children
Now I lay me down to sleep;
I pray the LORD my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake;
I pray the LORD my soul to take.  

A Prayer for Adults
O LORD Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
who at this evening hour didst rest in the sepulchre,
and didst thereby sanctify the grave to be a bed of hope to thy people:
Make us so to abound in sorrow for our sins,
which were the cause of thy passion,
that when our bodies lie in the dust,
our souls may live with thee;
who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
one God, world without end. Amen.  
                   From the Compline service BCP

Resurrection Faith

A farmer’s donkey fell into a well. The farmer was thinking that it would be less expensive to bury the donkey there, than to bring him up. He invited some of his neighbors, and they started shoveling soil into the well. In the beginning, the donkey let out loud cries. But then he quieted down. A miraculous thing happened: Every time they shoveled soil in the well, the donkey was coming further up. At the end, he came out of the well. The moral of the story is : The more that dirt is thrown our way, the more we are supposed to rise! Thanks to Again and Again

We Long To Inhabit Worship

“I didn’t get anything out of this morning’s meeting . . . that song . . . her sermon” is not a refrain that I have heard often in the Orthodox context.

There is, of course, a just retort to such complaints: “The question is—what did you put into it?” The corrective is all very well and good. After all, one of the definitions of liturgy is that it refers to people’s (laos) work (ergon)—laosurgy. However, this counterresponse (“What did you put into the worship?”), though a helpful corrective, leaves us trapped in the same world of thought: worship, we assume, is something that people perform, and so it asks to be evaluated. We are to judge its success, according to aesthetics, or theology, or relevance, or utility, or arnestness, or effort. But there is something in our heart that yearns for more than this evaluative approach to worship. Prompted by God’s own Spirit, we long to be taken out of ourselves, even out of our role as judge. We long to inhabit worship instead of treating it as an object. We long to meet with the One who is the lover of each one of us and of the whole Church, his bride. We look to rejoice as God’s glory fills the temple. Such a meeting surely takes place only at God’s initiative, and not because of our creative, emotive, or practical interventions.

By Edith Humphrey, Grand Entrance: Worship on Earth as in Heaven,

The Pedagogy of Daily Prayer

I came across this absolutely wonderful video by Bishop Anthony Burton, former bishop in Canada, now rector of a parish in the United States. In it he speaks of the benefits of the spiritual system (pedagogy) of daily prayer as found in the Book of Common Prayer. It is Part 1. I'll post part 2 as soon as it comes out. If you are interested in developing your spiritual discipleship, this video is almost a must for you to watch and pray about.

Found Here

Blessings, Brian+

PS Of course, here in Canada, our BCP is the 1962 version.

Pedagogy and the Anglican Way

When I was studying for an Education Degree I was required to take several methodology courses. These courses were designed to help the teacher understand and use methods for teaching specific courses. Drawing on understandings of the cognitive development of the students, and moving from the concrete to the abstract, the teacher would lead and help students discover ‘new’ knowledge. The use of a methodology, or a pedagogy, is evident in sports. A good coach devises the practice routine to develop and improve the individual skills and the team skills. The coach sets the pedagogy for the team, and those teams that rise to their best are those in which the individual members understand their part in being the best that they can be as a player, and their role within the framework of the team.
It should be self-evident that those coaches or teachers that do not have a strong pedagogy, or have a confused pedagogy, will not bring out the best in their ‘disciples.’ This I believe is part of what has happened to the Anglican Way. It has been forgotten among many of us clergy and bishops, and thus the people of the church that the Anglican Way is a pedagogy for the development of the individual Christian and corporate body towards holiness. This individual and corporate holiness is the hallmark of a healthy fellowship in Christ.
One brief example should help make this point clear. Part of the Anglican Way that develops a strong koinoni, united fellowship in Christ, is the use of a deliberate daily lectionary. This lectionary exists in both the BCP and the BAS (Book of Alternative Services) though they are different (koinonia Konfusion). The deliberate use of a daily lectionary helps the individual have a focused and systematic approach to reading the Bible, and that systematic reading is well incorporated within the seasons and worship of the Church, thus developing a strong koinonia.
Many of us clergy and laity have taken a very protestant and individualistic approach to private prayer as if it does not have an impact on the koinonia of the Church. I believe we Anglicans need to garner a deeper understanding of the pedagogy of the Anglican Way, for I feel it would help strengthen our faith and unity.

I shall write at a later time on other aspects of the pedagogy of the Anglican Way as I understand it.

Comments are welcomed.

Blessings, Brian+

What is it I love when I love you?

“What is it I love when I love you? Not the beauty of a body nor the comeliness of time, nor the luster of the light pleasing to the eyes, nor the sweet melodies of all manner of songs, nor the fragrance of all flowers, ointments and spices, not manna and honey, nor limbs welcome to the embrace of the flesh – I do not love these when I love my God. And yet it is a kind of light, a kind of voice, a kind of fragrance, a kind of food, a kind of embrace, when I love my God, who is the light, voice, fragrance, food, embrace of inner man, where there shines into the soul that which no place can contain, and there sounds forth that which time cannot end, where there is fragrance which no breeze disperses, taste which eating does not make less, and a clinging together which fulfillment does not terminate. It is this that I love when I love my God.”

St. Augustine, Confessions

God Be, or Not Be: What answers our questions?

"Think about it: every function that was once performed by religion can now be done by something else. In other words, if you want to explain the world, you don’t need Genesis; you have science. If you want to control the world, you don’t need prayer; you have technology. If you want to prosper, you don’t necessarily seek God’s blessing; you have the global economy. You want to control power, you no longer need prophets; you have liberal democracy and elections.

If you’re ill, you don’t need a priest; you can go to a doctor. If you feel guilty, you don’t have to confess; you can go to a psychotherapist instead. If you’re depressed, you don’t need faith; you can take a pill. If you still need salvation, you can go to today’s cathedrals, the shopping centres of Britain — or as one American writer calls them, weapons of mass consumption. Religion seems superfluous, redundant, de trop. Why then does it survive?

My answer is simple. Religion survives because it answers three questions that every reflective person must ask. Who am I? Why am I here? How then shall I live? We will always ask those three questions because homo sapiens is the meaning-seeking animal, and religion has always been our greatest heritage of meaning. You can take science, technology, the liberal democratic state and the market economy as four institutions that characterize modernity, but none of these four will give you an answer to those questions that humans ask."

Fr. Johannes Jacobse

It is the great light of the Incarnation that brings good news. These three questions have an answer. The answer was promised, came, lived, died, and rose again. And we are called to live the answer by living in the light of the humble Christ.

LORD have Mercy. Brian+

Celebrating Christmas

"This is our present Festival; it is this which we are celebrating, the Coming of God to Man, that we might go forth, or rather (for this is the more proper expression) that we might go back to God – that putting off the old man, we might put on the New; and that as we died in Adam, so we might live in Christ, being born with Christ and crucified with Him and buried with Him and rising with Him. For where sin abounded grace did much more abound; and if a taste condemned us, how much more does the Passion of Christ justify us? Therefore let us keep the Feast, not after the manner of a heathen festival, but after a godly sort; not after the way of the world, but in a fashion above the world; not as our own, but as belonging to Him Who is ours, or rather as our Master’s; not as of weakness, but as of healing; not as of creation, but of re-creation." (St. Gregory Nazianzos in “On The Birthday of Christ”, O Logos Publishing, pg. 3)

Thanks to Father Ted's Blog http://frted.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/celebrating-christmas/

Advent: Irrelevant or irreverent

Has Advent become irrelevant in these post-Christian times? for the today Christian in the today world? Or have we today Christians in the today world simply become irreverent towards Advent? I think we know the answer. As the Gospel reading on Sunday ended, "And what I say to you, I say to all, 'Watch!'"

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may
cast away the works of darkness, and put
upon us the armour of light, now in the time of
this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ
came to visit us in great humility; that in the
last day, when he shall come again in his glorious
Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal; through him
who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

LORD have Mercy, Brian+

Morality and Beauty

Every fruit of the Spirit, every virtue, springs from the hope and joy that cherishes and delights in the beauty of God's creation in you and me.

Blessed Union

From the beginning, God in His providence planned
the union of man and woman.
There is no relationship between human beings
as close as that of husband and wife
if they are united as they ought to be.

~St. John Chrysostom (349-407 AD)

The Difference Believing in the Incarnate God Makes

"For those who, on the one hand, believe that life is merely an accidental economy of matter that should be weighed by a utilitarian calculus of means and ends and those who, on the other, believe that life is a supernatural gift oriented towards eternal glory, every moment of existence has a different significance and holds a different promise. To the one, a Down syndrome child (for instance) is a genetic scandal, one who should probably be destroyed in the womb as a kind of oblation offered up to the social good and, of course, to some immeasurably remote future; to the other, that same child is potentially (and thus far already) a being so resplendent in his majesty, so mighty, so beautiful that we could scarcely hope to look upon him with the sinful eyes of this life and not be consumed."
By David Bentley Hart from his essay The Anti-Theology of the Body, HERE

Living Bridge's

I have long enjoyed trying to 'see' spiritual allusions in various events or things. I saw one yesterday that I had to play to our Bible Fellowship group. Here is the link to the video:

Living Bridge

I especially love the allusion to Tradition. The father in the video understands the importance of teaching his daughter the ancient way of dealing with the very real and present danger of the world in which they live. He knows that the solution lays in the way of the past, carefully lived and followed in the present, for others in the future. I think that the Tradition of our faith is much the same.

Blessings, Brian+

Anglican Reintegration

"The unification of outward order can never move faster than the recovery of inward life." Michael Ramsay in THE GOSPEL AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

How is your prayer life? Mine has been poor of late. On again and off again.

Lord have Mercy, Brian

"Effective prayer can be a struggle. So often when I approach my prayer time I find my mind distracted so that I simply go through a routine without any feelings. Usually, I memorize many of the prayers I say daily in addition to my intercessory prayers. Memorization etches the prayer in my mind making it available to me at any time.

What happens frequently, though, is that my mind takes control and begins to pray automatically This is not a good sign. Why? Because our prayers need to come from the heart with feeling and an awareness that we are engaged in a dialogue with God. We need to have the awe of His presence as we pray. An automatic prayer is not really a prayer. A prayer must come from the heart with feeling and understanding. I find I must continually remind myself of this. Too often I fall into the trap of just putting in my time to fulfill my prayer rule. It is not about the time we spend in prayer, but the sincerity with which we pray that is of the most importance."

From http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-struggle-in-prayer.html

Ego Interference

These comments by Abbot Tryphon ring with the truth of a life lived into the humility of Christ. The only thing interfering with this 'peace beyond understanding' is my selfish, demanding ego.

"We often find ourselves disappointed in life. The job we really wanted is given to another person. An associate at work doesn't invite us to the dinner party, yet invited a coworker and his wife. A person we'd love to have as a friend shows no interest and we feel rejected. The music director at church doesn't allow us to join the choir. Someone much younger gets the promotion, along with an increase in salary. You get the idea.

If we have peace in our heart, all these disappointments are meaningless. The man who has peace in his heart gives thanks to God for all things. Even illnesses and poverty can be embraced if we see all as allowed by God because He loves us and grants just what we need for our salvation.

When we approach all that comes our way with a gladsome heart, we gain that which is of the most profit. The treasure that is ours is one that nothing can take away, not even death. Glory to God for all things."
From The Morning Offering

Again, I was reminded of the paramount importance of the inner work of discipleship in this wonderful illustration:

"When an archer desires to shoot his arrows successfully, he first takes great pains over his posture and aligns himself accurately with his mark. It should be the same for you who are about to shoot the head of the wicked devil. Let us be concerned first for the good order of sensations and then for the good posture of inner thoughts."
~St John Chrysostom From Christ in our Midst HERE

It's time to go say my prayers: there is work to be done.

LORD have mercy, Brian+

Discerning Beauty

Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hidden there. Perhaps it was distorted, perhaps damaged, but it was beauty none the less, and what he did was to call out this beauty.
Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

Thanks to Salt of the Earth http://solzemli.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/metropolitan-anthony-bloom-on-seeing-the-beauty-in-each-person/