Seeing

I have heard it said that the logic of faith cannot be seen until the choice for faith has been made.  Then the truth and reasonableness of Christian beliefs gradually are revealed.  That has been my experience.

One Sunday the lectionary readings for that day included two of my favorite Bible stories—I Samuel 16: 1-13 and John 9—both of which talk about seeing.  The first is the story of Samuel’s anointing of David as king.  In that story Samuel is sent to Jesse to worship with him and his sons and from among them to anoint the one whom God has chosen to be the next king.  What I like is that God didn’t choose the eldest son, who had the family preferential position and looked the part, or any of the others who were logical choices.  Instead God chose the youngest, who was a mere herdboy (typically around 9 years old) and counted for nothing.

There are several things we learn about seeing.  One is that “the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (verse 7).  Furthermore we learn in the story that Samuel is enabled to see with God’s eyes.  Samuel knows when he sees the son that God has chosen.  He also sees during the whole procedure what is happening.  The others who are there see but do not see.  They do not yet understand what they have witnessed.

Similar insights are in the second story, a whole chapter in the middle of the gospel of John about a man born blind who is given sight by Jesus.  The strange thing is that when the man gains sight the people who have known him or know about him do not recognize him.  What they expect to be true keeps them from seeing what really has happened.  The questions they ask keep them blind.  Yet they assume that they are seeing.

On religious questions, in family relationships, in social justice issues, even in science (for example, notice the changes in medical and nutritional advice), how often we think we see when we are in fact blind.

Queries:

What details in the above stories stand out for you and what truth for yourself are you enabled to see?

Being blind in these stories has more to do with the heart than with the eyes.  How does your heart inform your eyes, or not?

Prayer:

In your imagination, put yourself in one of these stories.  Imagine that you are one of the characters or that you are an observer in the story.  How does the story unfold for you with you in it?

For further reference:

[Jesus answered,] “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Matthew 11: 5).

“for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5: 7).

Truth

In these days of fake news, bumper sticker slogans, and statements so brief they can fit into a tweet, there is not much room for truth.  We have a political climate intensely divided, with little agreement about the facts regarding any particular issue or even what the problem is.  Within Christian churches there is deep disagreement about scripture and its interpretation and about authority, leaving congregations who have worshiped together for decades torn and hurting.

What is the truth?  What can bring us together?  Propositional truth, factual truth, matters of reason have their place.  They help us observe, define, describe, and categorize.  They also tend to divide—either-or, it is or it isn’t.

Jesus said, “and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).  This Truth (with a capital T) gives the kind of freedom that leads to a fuller life, one led in harmony with God and what God has made so.  Friends (Quakers) are guided not by dogmas or creeds but by queries.  One such query asks, “How does Truth prosper among you?”  The query is searching out not whether the group believes in certain propositions but whether their faithfulness and practice bring them into spiritual unity (not unanimity).

Truth is a spiritual reality as real as “objective” reality, or more so, that gives meaning and life to everything.  It is not something just to be thought about or recognized; it is something to be entered into.  In A Language for the Inner Landscape, Brian Drayton, a scientist and a New England Friend, and his teacher William P. Taber, Jr., reflect on Truth:

 “Those who enter into this Truth, this reality, come to feel a sense of the divine harmony that holds our universe together and that operates in our own minds, bodies, and human society . . . . To be in the Truth, then, means that one can—and will—live out those standards of inward peace through outward gentleness, tenderness to all creatures, and the right and just ordering of human society exemplified by the life and teachings of Jesus.”

Perhaps if we sought after Truth instead of arguing about what is true, we would find a way to come together, grounded in Love, for the wellbeing of all.

Queries:

What is your experience of truth or Truth?

How or where does Love begin in you?

Prayer:

“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.  Lead me in your truth, and teach me….” (Psalm 25: 4-5a).

For further reference:

“Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding” (Proverbs 23: 23).

“Jesus answered, … ‘For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’  Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’” (John 18: 37-38).

Self-giving Love

For his 70^th birthday my husband Ralph wanted to have a party to celebrate all the people who have contributed to his life.  He invited over 150 people from near and far—family, people in our Quaker meeting, his friends from childhood and now, professional colleagues and other people with whom he worked, neighbors, and more.  Because he wanted them to have a good time, he arranged for food and entertainment, contacting a caterer and persuading some of his talented friends and family to present a few minutes of their music or poetry.

He didn’t want the party to be about him or to be himself the focus of attention—even having me be the emcee introducing the entertainers.  He wanted to get to visit with as many people as he could and to have them mingle, relax, and have fun.

What happened is that people visited with friends, got to see people they hadn’t seen in a long time, met strangers and found amazing connections, laughed, told stories, and enjoyed themselves in a very electric, heart-joining way.  Ralph’s dream came true—although he would like to have invited even more people he cares about.  That people chose to come and be a part of the gathering was a tremendous gift to him.  I call this experience one of self-giving love.  The mark of it was the kind of life and joy that permeated the event.

This is the Christian season of Lent in which we are invited to reflect on our lives to see what gets in the way of our freedom and ability to receive God’s love and to love as Christ has loved us.  Ralph and I are both very ordinary human beings with all the usual flaws, issues, and wounds, which weren’t absent in the planning or the party itself.  But how delightful to be a part of something that had the fragrance of something divine.

Queries:

What is the difference, as you have experienced it in your life, between self-giving love and letting oneself be run over?

How have you experienced love that surpasses all understanding?  What barriers might you erect to that experience and how might you be more open to it?

Prayer:

Lord, make me a channel of your love.

For further reflection:

“…as thou takest up the cross to thyself, and sufferest that to overspread and become a yoke over thee, thou shalt become renewed, and enjoy life, and the everlasting inheritance in that” (Isaac Penington).

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son…” (See John 3: 14-17).

Faith: Form and Tradition or Compassion and Justice?

At one point my Bible study group read Isaiah 58, and very shortly thereafter, in a daily lectionary reading, I read Mark 7: 1-13.  Both passages challenge the observance of proper religious practice forms instead of the true worship of the heart that includes justice.  Isaiah speaks of the people’s fasting while at the same time oppressing their workers and fighting with each other.  Mark speaks of the people following the tradition of the elders about washing their hands, yet dishonoring their parents.

Many of us can be critiqued by these passages.  Those who are good at following the traditions and the commandments, which are significant, may fall short in offering mercy, which is basic.   Pope Francis attempted to re-balance the Roman Catholic Church by calling for a year of mercy.  Those who focus on personal salvation and going to heaven, in the joy of that perceived good news, may fail to pay attention to how God calls us to live together as community—in the present, on earth.

Those who focus on faith as a way of life may care deeply about action and right behavior, giving too much attention to the self and forgetting the immanent and transcendent Other, thereby losing a sense of having good news.  Those who are spiritual and not religious may live with virtue but miss the power of story, the transformation that can come from it, and a relationship with the One who guides.

The challenge of these two passages raises in me the dilemma between contemplation and action.  Either extreme can get away from justice and mercy.  In a conflict situation my instinct is to want to try to reach across the divide and develop empathy and compassion for the other, learning from one another and appreciating the positions and concerns of each other.  But is that simply conflict avoidance?

Having chosen action, I sometimes have found myself and others with no grounding in the holy, functioning from judgment, self-righteousness, and superiority rather than from love—even being simply angry, mean, hateful, and insulting.

How helpful to have been given these two passages with the challenge of self-reflection and a search for faith that maintains justice and brings my heart to God!

Queries:

How do these two passages challenge you?

Is your faith self-focused or God-focused?

Prayer:

“To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  O my God, in you I trust. . . .Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths” (Psalm 25: 1-2a, 4).

For further reflection:

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (See Isaiah 58: 1-9).

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines’” (See Mark 7: 6b-7).

Commitment, Dedication, and Practice

My husband and I have been attending the sports games of our friends’ son since he was in elementary school.  In middle school he made the school basketball team and began to concentrate on that sport.  While I have enjoyed watching him play and cheering him on, I have to confess that I really didn’t think he had the instincts or skill to be much of a force for his team.

But when he got to high school things changed.  He decided he wanted to be a good player and spent last summer in basketball leagues and special camps—learning from coaches and practicing lots.  He now can dunk the ball, blocks are frequent (without fouling!); he runs the court and gets himself where he needs to be.  He scores and rebounds.  His high school team this year was second in their conference, and his contribution was a significant factor in their success.

Committing to something that matters to you and then following through—honoring the need to learn and to practice—makes a difference in what is possible.

Another friend has a gift for caring for individuals and the community.  She has a way of intuitively knowing who needs attention and how and when to give that.  Her care sustains and strengthens those she touches.  She knows of her gift and values the opportunities she has to care.  In the last years she has grown in her awareness of the importance of certain practices that sustain her and allow her to exercise her gift more fully.  She has learned that failure to honor her need for the practices diminishes what she can receive, hear, and give.

Off-and-on-attention to playing basketball or exercising a gift doesn’t give you all that is possible.  It takes dedication and care.  Having an attuned spiritual life also takes that kind of serious commitment and faithful practice.  You can have something regardless, because God is loving, gracious, and merciful.  But there is so much more if you make the commitment and attend to the necessary practice.

Queries:

To what, or to whom, are you dedicated and how is that expressed?

What do you need to do to sustain in you a faithful life?

Prayer:

“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.  Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long” (Psalm 25: 4-5).

For further reference:

“No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.   You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6: 24).

“. . . let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross. . .” (Hebrews 12: 1b-2a).