Practical Mysticism

Evelyn Underhill’s “Practical Mysticism” has some interesting things to say about how we engage with the mysteries of prayer and the enrichment of contemplation. In particular, she points out that we should not pitch what we might define and the spiritual against each other. They are complementary, rather than different ways of doing things. As Underhill says, “contemplation and action are not opposites, but two interdependent forms of a life that is one–a life that rushes out to a passionate communion with the true and beautiful, only that it may draw from this direct experience of Reality a new intensity wherewith to handle the world of things; and remake it, or at least some little bit of it, “nearer to the heart’s desire.”” Contemplation is not a matter of escapism or irrelevance, but of bringing the eternal into ordinary, everyday matters, a critical part of a balance and fulfilled approach. Underhill recognises that to achieve this connection with any degree of success requires deliberate effort, but it is so worthwhile. “To “bring Eternity into Time,” the “invisible into concrete expression”; to “be to the Eternal Goodness what his own hand is to a man”–these are the plainly expressed desires of all the great mystics. One and all, they demand earnest and deliberate action, the insertion of the purified and ardent will into the world of things. The mystics are artists; and the stuff in which they work is most often human life. They want to heal the disharmony between the actual and the real: and since, in the white-hot radiance of that faith, hope, and charity which burns in them, they discern such a reconciliation to be possible, they are able to work for it with a singleness of purpose and an invincible optimism denied to other (sic) men.”

Inclusive Worship

The National Synod of Scotland of the United Reformed Church expresses its vision through a series of affirmations. I am exploring these in turn in a series of brief articles. This piece reflects on the second aspiration. As a Synod we aspire to practise inclusive worship. Our INCLUSIVE worship reflects a broad variety of sources and styles. Local churches offer weekly worship, regular celebration of Holy Communion and mark the stages of life in Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals. Worship is a key element in our following our Christian faith. It is the way in which we demonstrate just how much God means to us. Some of the best Biblical expressions of worship are to be found in the Psalms. For example: ‘Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendour’ (Psalm 29:2); ‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations’ (Psalm 57:9); ‘Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise’ (Psalm 66:1-2); ‘O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!’ (Psalm 95:1). These extracts from the psalms, along with very many others that could be cited, offer a clear indication that our worship is essentially a celebration of all that God is and that God does. Richard Foster emphasises this point (in Celebration of Discipline) commenting that “Praise brings us into worship. The psalms are the literature of worship and their most prominent feature is praise. “Praise the Lord!” is the shout that reverberates from one end of the Psalter to the other, Singing, shouting, dancing, rejoicing, adoring – all are the language of praise.” Of course, worship takes many forms. It can be exuberant and it can also be reflective and meditative, and a lot of things between those two. Particular elements in worship are the celebration of the sacraments, baptism, the mark of entry to the church, and holy communion, our following Jesus’ command to remember and God’s love for us as we share bread and wine, but also the rites of passage when we celebrate a marriage or remember a loved one at a funeral. Not all worship can be the best experience for every individual all the time; but we strive to engage in worship that fits each given context, and that therefore is inclusive, doing everything possible to be a good expression of relationship with God for those present. In public worship we give expression to our faith, mostly by singing hymns, praying, reading the Scriptures and preaching the Word, alongside the celebration of the Sacraments. However, other elements, such as reflective music, drama, dialogue and even silence, also have a part to play. We mark the Christian festivals, especially Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, but also other important moments in each year, such as Harvest and Remembrance, seeking to do so in ways that are attractive and relevant and that demonstrate the important underlying and inclusive concept that all are welcome.

It's Worth Struggling With Prayer

Martin Laird’s “A Sunlit Absence – Silence, Awareness and Contemplation” is a helpful reminder that prayer can be a struggle – and there is nothing wrong with that – though it is a struggle worth the engagement. As Laird comments: “When prayer becomes what orders our day, as something we attempt to live out of moment by moment, rather than the tail pinned blindly onto the donkey of daily life, then prayer will integrate us into itself.”

Unconditional Love

The United Reformed Church's National Synod of Scotland expresses its vision through a series of affirmations. I would like to explore these in turn, so this article reflects on the first aspiration. As a Synod we aspire to demonstrate unconditional love. We are an active Christian community which responds to the UNCONDITIONAL LOVE of God through celebrating the Christian Story in ways that bring meaning and hope to life. We seek to support each other in faith and doubt through caring. Martin Luther King, in his little book of sermons Strength to Love helps us understand what this means when he draws a clear link between love and forgiveness and with particular reference to Jesus’ exhortation that we should love our enemies, perhaps one of the most difficult standards that Jesus set. We tend rather to be people of revenge and find this call to unconditional love extremely challenging. Yet we need to take seriously our regular prayer, every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer: forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us (Luke 11:4). King writes: Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning. It is the lifting of a burden or the cancelling of a debt. …. Forgiveness means reconciliation, a coming together again. Without this, no one can love their enemies. The degree to which we are able to forgive determines the degree to which we are able to love our enemies. Nobody should pretend that unconditional love is easy. However, it is a critical part of the relationship that Jesus calls us to have with each other. I think we can be helped towards this if we consider some of the many things that the New Testament urges us to do towards one another. We are, for example, to ‘love one another’ (John 15:17); to ‘bear one another’s burdens’ (Galatians 6:2); to ‘encourage one another’ (1 Thessalonians 5:11); to ‘serve one another’ (1 Peter 4:10); to ‘pray for one another’ (James 5:16); to ‘greet one another’ (Romans 16:16). There is no doubt that the Christian story is a story of unconditional love. God’s generous grace offers abundant transforming possibilities. The question becomes how we even begin to reflect that in the way in which we live. Desmond Tutu reminds us of how God models this unconditional love and how Jesus, in what he did and said, points that out. Citing the familiar parable that we usually describe as that of the prodigal son, Tutu (in Hope and Suffering) writes: The Good News is that God loves me long before I could have done anything to deserve it. God is like the father of the prodigal son, waiting anxiously for the return of his wayward son, and when he sees this feckless creature appearing on the horizon, he rushes out to meet him, embrace and kiss him, not recriminating, but asking that the fatted calf be slaughtered, a ring be placed on his finger, and the best robe be put on him; and they must rejoice in a party to celebrate because this lost one has been found, this dead one has come to life again. That’s a model for unconditional love!

Holy Disruption with Mark

Really enjoyed my Advent choice of a book, Tracy Daub’s “Holy Disruption: Discovering Advent in the Gospel of Mark” – a fascinating reflection on how to relate Mark to the Advent season. Mark challenges us to think about difficult things and, as Daub says, “Participating with Christ’s transformative work requires a willingness to enter into the real-time apocalypses around us. In this world of violence, intolerance, and division, a world where global pandemics and the consequences of climate change threaten the welfare of our planet, God gives us a special task: being witnesses to hope. Faithful anticipation in the coming of Christ is found not in calculating the exact time of the Messiah’s return, but in witnessing to his hope and love.” She also says, “In truth, all is not well in most of our lives or in our world. Quite often the peace we attempt to create at Christmas is not genuine. It is a fake peace. Like faux pearls, or faux furs, or faux leather, sometimes the peace we settle for is a shallow imitation. We settle for this imitation because often we would rather accept a comforting lie than an uncomfortable truth.” Mark may have no nativity, but there’s a lot of incarnational stuff!

Bread of Angels

I always enjoy reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s books, and “Bread of Angels”, recently completed, was no exception. Sub-titled ‘Feeding on the Word’, it offers a series of helpful reflections on brief Biblical passage, often with challenging and insightful comments. As a good example, I like the little note on the story of Mary washing Jesus’ feet. Taylor writes: ““Mary got the message and acted on it. While some of those standing by thought her mad, or smitten, or (God forbid) wasteful, at least she and the one whose feet she rubbed suspected the truth. Where God is concerned, there is no need to fear running out - of nard or of life, either one. Where God is concerned, there is always more - more than we can either ask or imagine - gifts from our lavish, lavish Lord.” It is good to be reminded of the fantastic generosity of God.

Advent in the Holy Land

Back in 2011 I was able to spend twelve days during Advent in the Holy Land. It was a fascinating and moving experience to visit the places we remember at Advent and Christmas at that time of year. One of the first places we visited was Ein Kerem, the beautiful, though hilly, village where John the Baptist was born and grew up. Someone living there in John’s time would probably have been relatively well off. When we got there, we went first to a spring known as Mary’s spring – and there we were reminded of the importance of wells and springs in Jesus’ day, both for the water they supplied, but also because they were a gathering place for the women. They met at the well and there exchanged the news and the gossip. Today we have many more means of communication, but then it was important that they took the opportunities that were there to share news. Have you heard … ? Did you know ….? It is always interesting to reflect on what news we pass on. It is so easy to spread rumour and gossip, but what we are called to do is spread the Good News, the Gospel. Go and tell. I wonder what are the things that we are going and telling. What is it that we want to share? Ein Kerem is where Mary would have visited her cousin, Elizabeth – and there they were, both expecting babies, and both, it might be assumed, should not have been in that state. Why did Mary go to visit Elizabeth? Was it because she wanted to share her good news? Or might it just be that Mary was sent there to get her out of the way for a bit? How scandalous that she was unmarried and pregnant! And Elizabeth wasn’t much better. She was probably the source of gossip too. She was married all right, but you shouldn’t be having babies at her age. Having a baby should be a source of joy, but for both Mary and Elizabeth there was an element of scandal. How do we respond to the scandal of the Gospel? What do we do with those awkward things that come our way? Mary responded by writing a fantastic song, the one that we now know as the Magnificat – and on a wall in the grounds of the church, which marks Ein Kerem as the place where John lived, was written, as gifts from many nations, the Magnificat in very many different languages. There it was in Greek, in Hebrew, in Arabic. It was in Spanish and French, Swahili and English and very many more. The Magnificat has many important things to say to us about God’s care for the disadvantaged. He has performed mighty deeds …. He has brought down rulers …. He has filled the hungry …. Are we ready to listen? Are we ready to hear the message of liberation? What a joy to visit Bethlehem just ahead of Christmas! Just like that first Christmas, as Luke tells it to us, there were lots of visitors in town – only these visitors were not there on business, needing to register themselves for the census that was being undertaken. These visitors were pilgrims, wanting to see the place where Jesus was born, marked now, not by a stable or any other form of domestic or farm building, but by a church. This is an interesting church, not just because of what it marks, but because there has been a church on this site from very early times, and we were able to see something of the indicators as to how it had been adapted and added on to down through the ages. We were able to imagine a very tired Mary arriving in Bethlehem, desperately wanting to find somewhere to rest and then, almost immediately, discovering that the baby was on its way. We have cleaned up the story and made a pretty picture of it, but giving birth in a draughty and, almost certainly, messy stable, cannot have been something anyone would have wanted for their child and themselves. Being in Bethlehem and thinking back some two thousand or so years was fascinating. We only queued up some ten minutes or so to see the place believed to be where Jesus was born, but I am told it can take a lot longer. Why are there so many twenty-first century pilgrims who want to encounter this spot, when it was just a few shepherds in the first century. One of the things to learn is not to be in a hurry, and to realise that God’s time is always best. People were selling all sorts of things, but mainly souvenirs. I suspect there were lots of people selling things in Jesus’ time too, but they would more likely be food and the basic necessities of life. What do we spend our money on? What are our priorities? Perhaps we are helped to work that out when we pause to ponder where it is that God would have us be, what it is that God would have us do? At Bethlehem that first Christmas, that great thing that we often refer to as the incarnation took place. What does that mean for us here and now?