Devotional Spirituality: Part 6
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Count how many you can remember... and then check the bottom.
1. Blackjack chewing gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed bottles
5. Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (Olive - 6933)
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H Green Stamps
16. Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with levers
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulbs
20. Beanie and Cecil
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23 Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers
If you remembered 0-5 =You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 =You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt
PSALM 115: TRUSTING IN IDOLS OR TRUSTING IN GOD-Part 1
The Realism of Humility
John Ruskin believed that humility is the test of true greatness. He observed that "Really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not in them but through them." The wisdom literature of the Bible, with its emphasis on humil-ity and the fear of the Lord, would concur. The most prominent characteristic of biblical wisdom is the attitude of radical dependence upon the Lord that was epitomized in Jesus' statement that "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). By contrast, the fool is characterized by the arrogant attitude of autonomy that was captured in the last couplet of William Ernest Henley's poem, "Invic-tus": "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." The delusion in this sentiment is that we aren't the masters of even the next hour, let alone the next year or decade! I have grown fond of the saying, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans."
The first verse of Psalm 115 well expresses the biblical perspective: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, be-cause of Your truth." The better we understand that "Every good thing be-stowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17), the freer we will be to acknowledge that the glory is not from us but from the Lord.
The psalmist continues with these words: "Why should the nations say, 'Where, now, is their God?'" This psalm was evidently written during a time of weak-ness and demoralization in Israel's history, probably when the people were be-ginning to return from the Babylonian exile. The God of Israel was being taunted by the heathen who seemed to have the upper hand, but the psalmist re-plies with a spirited rebuttal. He begins with a powerful affirmation of the sov-ereignty of the living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases" (v. 3.) The true and living God is not subject to the whims and human desires. It is we who should conform ourselves to His desires and trust in His loving purposes even when we don't understand them, for this alone is the path that leads to life.
Whom Will You Serve?
The psalmist continues his response to the taunts of the heathen by contrasting the inanimate idols they make and worship with the personal God who made the heavens and earth. "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man's hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak; they have eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but they cannot hear; they have noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but they cannot feel; they have feet, but they cannot walk; they can-not make a sound with their throat" (vv. 4-7; cf. 1 Kings 18:27; Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 10:1-16).
DEVOTIONAL SPIRITUALITY-PART 6
The Practice of Sacred Reading
The ancient art of sacred reading (lectio divina) was introduced to the West by the Eastern desert father John Cassian early in the fifth century. The sixth-century Rule of St. Benedict that guided Benedictine and Cistercian monastic practice ever since, prescribed daily periods for sacred reading. In spite of the simplicity and power of this method of praying through sacred Scripture, it gradually fell into disuse and obscurity. Unfortunately, by the end of the Middle Ages it came to be seen as a method that should be restricted to the spiritually elite. As time passed, even monastics lost the simplicity of sacred reading as it was replaced by more complicated systems and forms of "mental prayer." In re-cent decades, however, this ancient practice has been revitalized, especially by those in the Cistercian tradition. Writers like Thomas Merton (Contemplative Prayer, New Seeds of Contemplation, Spiritual Direction & Meditation), Thomas Keating (Intimacy with God, Open Mind, Open Heart), Michael Casey (Sacred Read-ing, Toward God, The Undivided Heart), and Thelma Hall (Too Deep for Words) have been promoting sacred reading in Catholic circles, and Protestants are now being exposed to this approach as well. Lectio divina involves a progression through the four movements of reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.
Reading (Lectio)
In his study of monastic culture, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God, Jean Leclercq distinguished two distinct approaches to Scripture that were used in the Middle Ages. While Medieval universities were urban schools that pre-pared clerics for the active life, rural monasteries focused on spiritual formation within a liturgical framework to equip monks for the contemplative life. The scholastics approached Scripture by focusing on the page of sacred text (sacra pagina) as an object to be studied and investigated by putting questions to the text (quaestio) and by questioning oneself with the subject matter (disputatio). By contrast, the monastics approached Scripture through a personal orientation of meditation (meditatio) and prayer (oratio). While the scholastics sought science and knowledge in the text, the monastics sought wisdom and appreciation. Those in the schools were more oriented to the objective, the theological, and the cognitive; those in the cloisters were more oriented to the subjective, the devo-tional, and the affective.
Most contemporary approaches to Bible study have more in common with the scholastics than with the monastics. Recalling a distinction that was made in the first chapter, they are more concerned with informational reading than with formational reading. There is a legitimate need for both approaches, since an overemphasis on one or the other can lead to the extremes of cold intellectualism or mindless enthusiasm. But when evangelicals study Scripture, they typically look more for precepts and principles than for an encounter with God in the depths of their being. The practice of lectio divina can correct this lack of balance, because it stresses the reading of Scripture for spiritual formation through recep-tive openness to God's loving call of grace. Lectio is not an intellectual exercise that seeks to control and to gather information, but a voluntary immersion in the Word of God that seeks to receive and to respond. Spiritual reading melds reve-lation with experience. It is done in the spirit of the collect for the second Sunday in Advent in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer:
Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
May we learn to hear the Holy Scriptures and to "read, mark, learn, and in-wardly digest" them.
Suggestions for Reading
o Choose a special place (preferably away from your desk and other areas of ac-tivity) that is suitable for this purpose. Sanctify this space by reserving it as a regular meeting place with the Lord.
o Choose a special time in which you can be alert and consistent. Invite God to lead you to rearrange your life to allow more time with Him. This will be more a matter of making time rather than finding time. Making time for this purpose is a response to God's calling in a world of constant external demands. Although this will not work for everyone, I recommend exchanging the last hour of the night for an extra hour in the morning. (Most of us could redeem a significant amount of time by reducing and being more selective in our intake of television.) Whenever it is, give God your best time, when you are least sluggish, and when you can be quiet, still, and unpressured by outward hindrances.
o Consistency is critical, since there will be many temptations to postpone and neglect sacred reading. The benefits of lectio are attained gradually over a long-term process.
o Since lectio divina engages the whole person, your bodily posture is important. A seated position that is erect but not tense or slouched is best for the four movements of lectio. It is good to be fully attentive and alert without sitting in a way that will eventually impede your circulation or breathing.
o Try to be systematic in the way you select your Scripture texts. They can emerge from a daily Bible reading program or through the use of a lectionary that gives you daily Old Testament, gospel, and epistle readings. Or your pas-sages can come out of a devotional guide (I often use my Handbook to Prayer and Handbook to Renewal for this purpose).
o To avoid distraction in sacred reading, it is better to use a Bible without study notes. Use an accurate translation rather than a paraphrase (I use the Updated Edition of the NASB) for lectio divina.
o If Bible teachers and ministers did both sacra pagina (Scripture study) and lectio divina on the texts they select, it would greatly enhance their teaching and preaching.
o Keep the passage brief-do not confuse quantity with quality.
o It is also helpful to apply this method of slow, deliberate, and prayerful read-ing to other resources such as the creeds, traditional and patristic texts, and clas-sic spiritual books. Samples of some of these resources are available in Devotional Classics, edited by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith. Older literature has a way of challenging the biases of our modern presuppositions, if we will let it seep into us.
o Begin with a prayer of preparation: for example, "Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law" (Psalm 119:18) or, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14). Start with a clear intention to know God's will for your life with a fixed resolution in advance to do it.
o Slowly read the text again and again until it is in your short-term memory. Try making your first readings audible, since this will make them slower and more deliberate (bear in mind that in antiquity, reading always meant reading aloud).
o Seek the meaning of the text; ask questions. But come more as a disciple than as a collector of information. See Scripture as iconographic; that is, a verbal win-dow into the reality of life that turns your perspective around.
o Listen to the words in humility accompanied by a willingness to obey. Hear-ing the Word must be united by faith (Hebrews 4:2) with an intention to apply it in practice (James 1:22). Open yourself to be addressed by the Word in your atti-tudes, habits, choices, and emotions. There will be times when you resist a pene-trating living encounter with God, and these generally have to do with areas of disobedience. Thus, it is wise to examine your being and doing in the light of the text by asking, "Lord, what are You saying to me in this passage?"
o Remember that unlike ordinary reading, in lectio you are seeking to be more shaped by the Word than informed by the Word. This first step of reading pre-pares you for the remaining three movements of meditation, prayer, and con-templation. But the whole process should be infused with a prayerful attitude.
o Seek to avoid the usual pragmatic reflex that seeks to "net out" some immedi-ate nugget or benefit. Approach sacred reading with no conditions, demands, or expectations. The Word may not meet your perceived needs, but it will touch your real needs, even when you don't discern them.
A SAD TURNING POINT
Mohandas K. Gandhi was the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule and considered the father of his country. He is internationally es-teemed for his doctrine of nonviolence to achieve political and social progress.
Gandhi says in his autobiography that in his student days he was truly interested in the Bible. Deeply touched by reading the Gospels, he seriously considered be-coming a convert, since Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. One Sunday, he went to a nearby church to attend services. He decided to see the minister and ask for instruction in the way of salvation and enlightenment on other doctrines. But when he en-tered the sanctuary, the ushers refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go and worship with his own people.. Gandhi left and never came back. "If Christians have caste differences also," he said to himself, "I might as well re-main a Hindu."