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Category: Spirituality

Vigilance-The Word of the Day

Published by mhelbert on May 30, 2012

This A.M. as I prayed, I spent time in confession/reflection. The importance of remaining vigilant began to develop in my head. Now, it seems that most folks think of avoiding sin and the lusts of the flesh when this word is spoken. “We must remain vigilant against…you fill in the blank.” But, I don’t think that’s the best way to be vigilant. Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, “But I say, walk in/by the Spirit and you will most certainly not fulfill the lusts/desires of the flesh” (5:16 my translation). The focus is the walking in the Spirit, not the avoidance of lusts or desires of the flesh. Paul did not say ‘don’t do this stuff.’ He said ‘do walk in the Spirit.’
Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God and all of the needs we have will be taken care of. He also told people to come and follow him. He did not tell them not to follow something or someone else.
We tend to focus on all of the behaviors and processes that we think should not be done. ‘Don’t do this. Don’t do that.’ That breeds legalism…and the letter of the law kills. But, Yahweh desires that we embrace the Spirit. If we are vigilant in our following and seeking, then the rest will look after itself.

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St. Patrick’s Lorica

Published by mhelbert on May 17, 2012

One of my favorite heroes of old is St. Patrick. Very little is actually known about him. And, there is even less writing or other artifact that can be confidently ascribed to him. There is a prayer that has become known as St. Patrick’s Lorica, or Breastplate that is around in various incarnations. I have chosen the one below to give a glimpse into a distant, pre-modern past. It’s unlikely that Patrick actually wrote this prayer, but one source stated that it is ‘Patrician to the core.’ What I notice is how all-encompassing the prayer is. Whoever wrote it was, as one person said, ‘a Christian Druid.’ This person understood clearly the interrelationship between humanity, the good creation of God, and the unseen world in which angels, demons, and Yahweh dwell. While much of the language is archaic, the prayer can help us to reflect on our relationship with these elements. Are they relevant to a post-modern, post-Christian culture? Could we, perhaps, get a better handle on our place as God’s eikons? Enjoy!

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

I arise today through the strength of Christ with His Baptism,
through the strength of His Crucifixion with His Burial,
through the strength of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
through the strength of His descent for the Judgment of Doom.

I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim
in obedience of Angels, in the service of the Archangels,
in hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
in prayers of Patriarchs, in predictions of Prophets,
in preachings of Apostles, in faiths of Confessors,
in innocence of Holy Virgins, in deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through the strength of Heaven:
light of Sun, brilliance of Moon, splendour of Fire,
speed of Lightning, swiftness of Wind, depth of Sea,
stability of Earth, firmness of Rock.

I arise today, through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to secure me:
against snares of devils, against temptations of vices,
against inclinations of nature, against everyone who
shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a crowd.

I summon today all these powers between me (and these evils):
against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and my soul, against incantations of false prophets,
against black laws of heathenry,
against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry,
against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
against every knowledge that endangers man’s body and soul.

Christ to protect me today
against poison, against burning,
against drowning, against wounding,
so that there may come abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.
Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of Christ. May Thy Salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

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The Obedience of God

Published by mhelbert on May 16, 2012

As I was driving to work today I was struck with something that I should have known, and is most likely known by folks a tad quicker on the uptake than I. This AM I read John 17. This has become known as Jesus’ High Priestly prayer. What came to my mind and hung around for awhile was that Jesus used phrases like, “the words that You gave me” and “You sent me into the world.” Jesus, who as the eternal Word of God, who has been with the Father and the Spirit always, who enjoyed glory as God the Son was ‘sent’ and ‘received.’ In the first he humbled himself to become obedient to the Father. In the second he was not completely self-sufficient, but was required to receive from the Father as a humble person must. Now, I’ve read the kenotic hymn in Philippians many times. And, I’ve heard how Jesus was obedient and faithful in his life and death. But, as I reflected on the Son’s love for the Father and the very good creation, I had my breath taken away as I began to see this played out in the incarnation. How good is God?! How great is Yahweh’s love and compassion for the world? I cannot come up with words to describe this wonderful gift that God has lavished on us. Why? Because of Agape. How can we not respond to one another, to those who we may consider “other,” and to the very good creation with the same agape and with gratitude?

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Believing the Unbelievable

Published by mhelbert on May 2, 2012

I enjoy reading blogs. There are several that I follow regularly. And, from these, I chase down others. I love finding out what other people are thinking, and how they are thinking. I learn from them what is important outside of my little corner of the cosmos. (I also learn how much I don’t know about, well, most things.)
On one of these little excursions, I found the following: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithforward/2012/04/how-to-live-as-a-christian-without-having-to-believe-the-unbelievable/#comments.It was posted by a person named Jim Burklo. You can check out his cv @ http://www.jimburklo.com/.
Anyway, in this post Burklo presented much of what can be described as progressive theology. Much of this thought is also found in the emergent church. I’m not going to review the post. But, I do want to think about it for a minute.
He wrote that what is important about following Christ is, well, the actual ‘following’ part. We should be more concerned about living the love of Christ over against believing all of the doctrine, dogma, (and I might add ‘drama’), that has grown up with the the Church over 2,000 years. He wrote,

“It really isn’t important whether or not you take the Bible literally, or whether or not you believe all the creeds word-for-word.  If they don’t make sense to you, don’t worry about them.  Don’t let dogma and doctrine get in the way of practicing Love, who is God … But repeating creeds is not the price of admission into Christianity.  Instead of caring whether the story of Jesus’ resurrection was a fact or a myth, let’s concern ourselves with things that matter.  Let’s care about our neighbors without jobs or health insurance, face the resentment in our hearts that needs to be released, struggle with how vote and be activist citizens, and learn how to bring our careers in alignment with our highest values.  Let’s gather in churches, soup kitchens, work-places, living rooms, and cafés to support each other in doing things that matter, and let go of old doctrines that don’t.”

I agree with him. There’s an old saying that states Christians are one of the few groups on this planet that regularly shoot their own wounded. We are, by and large, argumentative and spiteful. We stand on a plank and call it truth while the whole platform goes up in flames around us. And all the while, people die of starvation and thirst. They lose their homes, if they ever had one to begin with. They are raped, murdered, sold into slavery, oppressed and forgotten. Hey, folks…these are the ones Jesus came to save. Where are we?

But, there are some inconsistencies in Burklo’s presentation. He suggested that it is important to find a community of like-minded with whom to serve. It is important to practice spiritual disciplines and Bible study. Don’t these require some small seed of belief in something? Is not prayer a miracle of God’s grace?
By simply stating that we must work with the “spark of the divine that is in every one of us,” faith in what cannot be seen seems to be left out of the equation. If Jesus is not God, (part of orthodox doctrine), then why bother with the poor? They can fend for themselves in this survival of the fittest universe. If the invisible Ruach Elohim, the Spirit of God, is not brooding over and in the creation, then what ignites that spark of the divine within us? Why should we care for our neighbor? What difference does it make if Palestinians and Israelis blow each other up? Why should the rich not get richer?
I’m sorry, but I don’t put much faith in the human heart to do what’s good and just. I can, however, put my trust, and life, in the hands of the God of gods who alone is able to transform my heart of stone into one of flesh.

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Preserve us, O God

Published by mhelbert on April 26, 2012

This is the final part of the discussion on the “Our Father.” This has not been an attempt to present any kind of comprehensive understanding, much less, an exegesis of the prayer. It is simply food for thought and reflection. As a paradigm, the prayer allows us to contemplate our place before a loving and compassionate Father. Yahweh, who has allowed us to be adopted children of God, who has allowed us to be the sisters and brothers of Jesus, has given us this simple prayer on which to build our faith. My hope in these 4 short posts is that any who happen to read them will be encouraged to model their own prayers on it. To use their God given imagination to see into the depths of the Father’s love, compassion and concern for all of God’s children.

And do not lead us into a time of trial, but, deliver us from the evil one.          
Testing is something that we all experience. James wrote that testing proves our mettle. It builds and perfects our faith. The psalmist called on to “Try me and know my anxious thoughts.” Why, then, should we not embrace trials and testing? Why not expect that God, in all of the divine Wisdom, to try us and test us? After all, Jesus was tested in the wilderness and triumphed. This testing that Jesus instructed his disciples to pray that they might be spared is that from external powers. We may better understand it, “Father, do not take your protecting hand from us! Keep us from temptations from ungodly powers.”
We do not forsake the wilderness. It is the place where we are tried and tested, just as Jesus. The desert Fathers wrote about the aridity of the interior environment where the perfect faith was forged. We join with them in this. We agree with James and the psalmist in this. But, we must pray that Yahweh, the God who is near, will keep us and preserve us from the fiery darts and weapons of the enemy of our soul.

There is also a part of this plea that is eschatological. We pray the God’s hand will keep us from harm in the trials and tribulations that accompany the end of the age. Jesus saw this as immanent. The Kingdom of God was breaking into time and space, the end of the age was at hand. “Father, keep us from the persecutions and oppression that is to come. Through the righteous and just testing and proving of our faith, let us stand in Your strength and faithfulness when the time comes.”
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Abba, Forgive Us

Published by mhelbert on April 25, 2012

And forgive us our debts
“Abba, forgive us the debt of sin. We cannot repay this…ever.” Most of us will stop at this point. We jump forward to Paul and claim “Justification!” But, there is more to consider here. We are indebted to Yahweh for everything. Our pray can continue, “Abba, forgive…The debt of having been formed in the womb; of being given the precious Breath of Life. The debt of childhood play and skinned knees. The debt of 1st loves and 1st heartbreaks. The debt of experiencing life with family and friends. The debt of being alone and forsaken by family and friends. All that we are and have and experience are debts that cannot be repaid.
As we forgive those who are indebted to us.
Those who have outright wronged us. Those who have taken a small piece of our life; love; soul and spent it on trivia. Those who have stepped on our toes. Those who laughed when we cried. Those who stole a piece of our innocence and left a wound that scarred and remains with us to this day. Those who have rubbed us in such a way that callouses formed. “O Lord, let Your grace be on us to let go of anything, anything, anything that stands between us and our adelphoi. Let our souls be free from any hint of bitterness that may germinate from holding on to the debts of others. As we have freely received, we do freely give.”
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More from the Pater Noster

Published by mhelbert on April 24, 2012

In my previous post I started to look at the prayer Jesus taught his disciples as recorded in Matthew. I mentioned that the prayer has been viewed as a paradigm for other prayers. In its written form it appears to be what Richard Foster called a ‘simple prayer.’ That is, it contains the simple supplication of a person looking to have simple, basic needs met by God.
Today I want to look at this as it applies to the next phrase.

Today, give us the bread that we need.
 On the surface this appears to meet the criteria for ‘simple prayer.’ “O Lord, you know
that we have physical needs. Our very lives depend on the sustenance that comes from
your hand.” As we reflect, though, we can see that there may be more to this. In John 6,
Jesus spoke about the manna that Israel ate while in the wilderness. He said, “I am the
bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the
bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living
bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This
bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:48-51, NIV). A
couple things jump out at me. First, Israel received manna for the present day. God
literally provided ‘daily bread’ for them. This bread from heaven kept them nourished as
the trekked through the wilderness. It was received by faith. There was no guarantee,
other than God’s promise, that there would be manna in the morning. Every night they
went to bed hoping and trusting that when they awoke there would be God’s provision.
The second thing is that Jesus saw himself taking the place of God’s manna. He said,
“Hey, I AM the living bread! I AM the provision that brings and sustains life!” Like the
manna in the wilderness, Jesus also must be received in faith. We must ‘partake’ of this
living bread every day. What we received yesterday has passed into history. What we
may receive tomorrow is unknowable. “Today, Lord, we ask for the living Bread of life
that You provide. Today, Lord, give me Your body as true food that nourishes my soul.”
 There is much that we can meditate on in this single phrase. Our dependence; our need
for trust and faith; the truth about what is nourishment and what is not are all worthy of
our time and reflection.
May God fill you from the bounty of heaven’s storehouse.
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Our Father who is heaven…

Published by mhelbert on April 22, 2012

The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples has been recited and reflected on as long as there has been a church to do it. It has been said to be the “perfect prayer” by the Roman church. Monks, contemplatives, mystics and lay people throughout church history have pondered its simplicity and its profundity. From Teresa of Avila and Madame Guyon through Francis Fenelon and St. John of the Cross to us today, this prayer has been recognized as being a paradigmatic prayer. Countless faithful offer the words of the Pater Noster daily.
I have found great pleasure in this prayer. It stimulates my mind and imagination to ponder on the riches of our heavenly Father and how much we must trust and rely on God for everything. Over the next little while I’m going to share bits and pieces of this prayer. Now, I must say that this will not be some ‘magic’ bullet that will open the floodgates of glory through which all sorts of blessings will pour down. That’s been tried before…and found lacking. What this prayer does is allow us to bow our wills and present our neediness and poverty to God Almighty. With each phrase one is free to express whatever thoughts and musings come into the heart. Like I said, the prayer is a model; a superstructure that in the presence of the Ruach Elohim can be fleshed out to become a cry of supplication, a loud sound of praise, the peace and quiet of adoration.
The prayer proper is in bold italics. The translation is my own.

Our Father who is in heaven,
            Reveals both the immanence and transcendence of God.
            Yahweh is near, like a father. One who knows us better than we know ourselves
            One who patiently loves and cares for us. Yet, God is also in heaven. High above all
things, with wisdom that surpasses any that our tiny human souls can comprehend.
Yahweh lives with the Cherubim and heavenly creatures that worship and do the bidding
of God.
May Your name be revered,
            Your work and reputation. You, who parted the sea and fed Your people in the desert.
You, who conceived the stars and wonders of the heavens. You, who sent Your one and
only Son to us as one of us. I reverence You.
May Your Reign come,
            Yahweh, may Your reign and dominion stretch out into every region of the cosmos. Let it
touch the light of the heavens and encompass the floating debris of space. Let it reach
into and penetrate my soul; surround every cell; course through my veins; capture my
mind and imagination. Let me think thought and dream dreams that I could not imagine,
but You can.

Let Your will be done On earth as in heaven.
Here and Now; on this earth; in this time. May Your word, Your thoughts  – proceed from
your own glory to engulf all that Your hands have fashioned. May all of this, in return,
bow before Your glorious presence. Lift the veil! Part the curtain that hides Your heaven
from Your creation! Give to us, as well as the trees, rivers, stars, planets, creatures in the
sky, water and land a glimpse of Your glory. Glory that far surpasses the greatest
phenomena of the created order. For You are far above all of these.
This is a good place to leave this first part. Take time to reflect and ruminate on the text of the prayer. Let the Holy Spirit take you into the presence of God, past the gossamer veil that separates the heavenly realm from the earthly. Pray to the Father. Don’t simply speak to the air.
I hope that these meager thoughts can help to launch us into a deeper and more meaningful practice of prayer.
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Recovering Spiritual Formation

Published by mhelbert on April 19, 2012

While in seminary I had the pleasure of being introduced to spiritual formation through spiritual disciplines. I had read Richard Foster’s The Celebration of Discipline in the early 1980s. But, having been raised in a protestant tradition, much of Foster’s work did not really resonate with me.
However, I took some classes at ATS in spiritual disciplines that fleshed out what Foster had written about decades earlier. I was introduced to the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the early cenobitic monastics and Celtic monasticism. The practices of the disciplines found a home in my heart. Perhaps, though, the person who has influenced me the most is a recent player, Thomas Merton. I found in him a kindred spirit who was able to bridge the gap between cloister and the world. He was a contemplative who could relate to the culture at large in ways that were refreshing and profound.
This link post by Carl McColman from Patheos about current a resurgence in contemplative practice is interesting. While some may find the close proximity of Christian practice to others somewhat uncomfortable, it does reveal a depth of heart and understanding that maybe “it makes sense to say that Christians today who find meaning and value in contemplative spirituality really do owe a debt of gratitude to many non-Christian spiritual teachers, who, instead of seeking to convert Christians to their faith, instead helped Christians to rediscover the treasures in their own.”
http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Inter-religious-Spirituality-and-the-Contemplative-Renaissance-Carl-McColman-04-18-2012

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From the keyboard of Diana Butler Bass

Published by mhelbert on April 13, 2012

I read this today over at Huffington Post. It seems that this person is zeroed in on some of the issues that we are wrestling with today. I especially appreciated the way she frames the questions that people ask of religion and spirituality, “
Religion always entails the “3B’s” of believing, behaving, and belonging. Over the centuries, Christianity has engaged the 3B’s in different ways, with different interrogators and emphases. For the last 300 years or so, the questions were asked as follows:
1) What do I believe? (What does my church say I should think about God?)
2) How should I behave? (What are the rules my church asks me to follow?)
3) Who am I? (What does it mean to be a faithful church member?)
But the questions have changed. Contemporary people care less about what to believe than how they might believe; less about rules for behavior than in what they should do with their lives; and less about church membership than in whose company they find themselves. The questions have become:
1) How do I believe? (How do I understand faith that seems to conflict with science and pluralism?)
2) What should I do? (How do my actions make a difference in the world?)
3) Whose am I? (How do my relationships shape my self-understanding?)
The foci of religion have not changed–believing, behaving, and belonging still matter. But the ways in which people engage each area have undergone a revolution”
I agree that we can get mired in the past. The things that once were relevant and life-giving seem to have lost their luster. New positions and, yes, questions arise that demand our attention.

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