Leisure as virtue

David Steindl-Rast has commented that leisure is not the privilege of those who have time, but rather the virtue of those who give to each instant of life the time it deserves.

That is a valuable insight, especially today when everywhere life seems dominated by the constraints of time. Always, it seems, there is not enough time. Our lives are dominated by pressure, the rat race, demands which are all-absorbing. The plant has to run and, by the time that is taken care of, there is no time or energy for anything else.—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 115

A textual criticism thought

if you follow the harder readings, you will end up with an unintelligible text; if you follow the shorter readings, you will end up with no text at all.—Edward Hobbs, “Introduction to Methods of Textual Criticism,” in The Critical Study of Sacred Texts, ed. Wendy Doniger, Berkeley Religious Studies Series 2 (Berkeley: Graduate Theological Union, 1979), 19.

Gratitude is the key

Gratitude is the key to all. We come to personal healing and to reconciliation with others to the exact extent that we are warmed and vitalized by gratitude.

To rid ourselves of resentment, bitterness, jealousy and paranoia requires a powerful fire. Only the gratitude that flows from knowing that we are loved, loved despite wound and sin, is a large enough flame to burn wound from our lives.—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 99

Home!

Real love and real friendship are home—you do not go home from them! Whenever we experience love, however powerful, from which we need to go home, that love can be valuable and good in our lives, but it can never be a love upon which we can build a marriage or a truly intimate friendship.—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 67

Nostalgia is death

Nostalgia is an unhealthy depression, an adolescent sentimentality which leaves us clinging to the past so as to be unable to enter the present with verve and vitality. In the end it is a mummification, an unnatural embalming of something which is dead.—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 47

The prophet

To pray and do social justice is to be prophetic. But that’s a lonely and hard business. Prophets are persecuted, are powerless and are rejected. Because of this, it is all too easy to get angry, to feel self-righteous, to fill with bitterness, to become selective in our prophecy and to hate the very people we are trying to save.

When this happens, gratitude and joy disappear from our lives and we are unable to live without the need to be angry. Invariably, then, both our prayer and social action become perverse.—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 34

A bit of a double standard, no?

Why is it that a Christian may not, in good conscience, ignore the teachings of Scripture and the church regarding prayer and private morality, and yet she or he may, in good conscience, ignore the social teachings of Scripture and the church?—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 33

A bit of respect, please

I believe we need to cultivate a healthy appreciation of the holy presence of God in our midst, especially in our assemblies. There is no fear of God among us anymore. There is no holy hush that comes upon us as we supposedly sit before the living God. Our services and our singing are crude, coarse and borderline profane. All of it, in my opinion, is unbecoming of the Majesty of the glorious Christ whom we serve.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 211

A cancerous restlestness is consuming us

So much of our unhappiness comes from comparing our lives, our friendships, our loves, our commitments, our duties, our bodies and our sexuality to some idealized and non-Christian vision of things which falsely assures us that there is a heaven on earth.

When that happens, and it does, our tensions begin to drive us mad, in this case to a cancerous restlessness.—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 16

The contradictory call to life

Affluence and leisure have created a higher psychic temperature. These have focused us on interpersonal, sexual, artistic, athletic and scientific achievement. In a word, they have focused us on self-expression. In our culture meaningful self-expression is everything; lack of it is death. Yet it is this death that paschally we must enter.—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 13

Obscurity

In the end all of us live in obscurity, unknown, frustrated. Our lives are always smaller than our needs and our dreams. Ultimately we all live in small towns, no matter where we live; and save for a few brief moments of satisfaction, spend most of our lives waiting for a fuller moment to come, waiting for a time when we will be less hidden.—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 11

Spiritual exhaustion

We no longer see our longing as a congenital and holy restlessness put in us by God to push us toward the infinite. Instead it becomes a tamed and tame thing, domesticated, anesthetized and distracted. We are restless only in a tired way (which drains us of energy) and not in a divine way (which gives us energy).—Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten among the Lilies: Learning to Love beyond the Fears, 5

True knowledge

Man the knower pursues two related but distinct kinds of knowledge. As homo sciens, man the knower ofscientia, he tends to matters of fact, quantity, matter, and the physical realm; as homo sapiens, man the knower of sapientia, he shows his interest in the qualities of meaning, purpose, value, idea, and the metaphysical realm. If we are to have truth, neither kind of knowledge can be denied or ignored. The denial of the reality and importance of scientia is characteristic of the radical transcendentalism of Eastern religions, but today the even greater and more damaging imbalance is found in the pervasive radical immanentism of much Western culture and thought that attributes validity only to scientia. Enthusiasts of scientism fail to see that scientia is utterly dependent on sapientia for direction and meaning; their fervent attempts to pursue scientia in isolation from sapientia amount to a tragic rush into meaninglessness—the very antithesis of a genuine search for knowledge.—Michael Aeschliman, The Restitution of Man: C. S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism, 48

A means to an end, not the end in itself (Tozer for Tuesday)

I must caution here that the Bible is not an end in itself. We were not given the Bible as a substitute for God until we get to heaven. Rather, the Bible is to lead us straight into the heart and mind of God. Contemporary Christians do not seem to get this.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 207

Dehumanization

The danger of mechanized civilization, of an industrial and commercial society, is that it tends to degrade the distinctive nature of man by emphasizing speed, size, quantity, and the maximization of physical pleasure by applied technical power at the expense of more crucial human values. The catastrophically dehumanizing means by which the Industrial Revolution came into being was as apparent to Lewis as it had been to the great Victorian social critics before him.—Michael Aeschliman, The Restitution of Man: C. S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism, 79–80

A yawning chasm

Deterministic thinking eats away at the common reason: scientific thinking starts by scouring away superstitions and falsehoods, but then scientistic thinking, its appetite having grown after continual eating unrestrained by philosophical common sense, ends by devouring truths as well, leaving only the bones and orts of physical reality, with subject and object staring at each other across a yawning faithless chasm.—Michael Aeschliman, The Restitution of Man: C. S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism, 44

But what do you do with all that knowledge?

Second things suffer, as Lewis was fond of repeating, when put first. Science is a good servant but a bad master, a good method for investigating and manipulating the material world, but no method at all for deciding what to do with the knowledge and power acquired thereby.—Michael Aeschliman, The Restitution of Man: C. S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism, 33

The final post from Crucifixion

The greater part of the discussion in these pages has focused upon the communal, corporate, and cosmic significance of the cross of Jesus Christ. However, let no reader think that the apocalyptic and universal dimensions of the message leave no place for the faith and confidence of the individual believer. Several times in this book the reader has encountered an intimately personal testimony by the apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Galatia. For writer and readers alike, these words can be our heart’s comfort and joy, for now and for all the days to come, whatever befalls: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 611

<idle musing>
That's the final snippet from this book. Next up is a book I recently picked up at a thrift store: Michael Aeschliman, The Restitution of Man: C. S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism. It's out of print, so the link is to Worldcat, if you want to check it out of a library. That link also has a link to Google Books, in case you want to preview it.
</idle musing>

In the weakness of the cross

Unless God is the one who raises the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist, there cannot be serious talk of forgiveness for the worst of the worst — the mass murders, tortures, and serial killings — or even for the least of the worst — the quotidian offenses against our common humanity that cause marriages to fail, friendships to end, enterprises to collapse, and silent misery to be the common lot of millions. “All for sin could not atone; thou must save, and thou alone.” This is what is happening on Golgotha. All the manifold biblical images with their richness, complexity, and depth come together as one to say this: the righteousness of God is revealed in the cross of Christ. The “precious blood” of the Son of God is the perfect sacrifice for sin; the ransom is paid to deliver the captives; the gates of hell are stormed; the Red Sea is crossed and the enemy drowned; God’s judgment has been executed upon Sin; the disobedience of Adam is recapitulated in the obedience of Christ; a new creation is coming into being; those who put their trust in Christ are incorporated into his life; the kingdoms of “the present evil age” are passing away and the promised kingdom of God is manifest not in triumphalist crusades but in the cruciform witness of the church. From within “Adam’s” (our) human flesh, the incarnate Son fought with and was victorious gver Satan —— on out behalf and in our place. Only this power, this transcendant victory won by the Son of God, is capable of reorienting the kosmos to its rightful Creator. This is what the righteousness of God has achieved through the cross and resurrection, is now accomplishing by the power of the Spirit, and will complete in the day of Christ Jesus.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 611

It ain't enough!

Forgiveness is not enough. Belief in redemption is not enough. Wishful thinking about the intrinsic goodness of every human being is not enough. Inclusion is not a sufficiently inclusive message, nor does it deliver real justice. There are some things — many things — that must be condemned and set right if we are to proclaim a God of both justice and mercy. Only a Power independent of this world order can overcome the grip of the Enemy of God’s purposes for his creation.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 610

Tozer for Tuesday

Churches today are built upon the premise of entertainment and fun. And in some places it would be rather difficult to gain an audience unless you supplied them ample entertainment and fun.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 205

creatio ex nihilo and the crucifixion

The God who is able to create out of nothing is able to create faith where there is no faith, righteousness where there is no righteousness, life where there is only the finality of death. By now the reader will readily see the connection between these affirmations and the crucifixion. On the cross, the disciples’ faith was destroyed. Perfect righteousness was consigned to nothingness by an unholy collusion of the “godly” (the religious establishment) and the “ungodly” (the imperial Gentile authorities). The Giver of eternal life was put to death and consigned to hell.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 599 (emphasis original)

Not by (human) might…

Human agents can administer justice, up to a point, and human forgiveness can certainly — and often does —— carry with it the power of God. But actual rectification — making right what has been wrong so that the wrong no longer exists —— is impossible for human beings. The coming of the Day of the Lord (Old Testament), the new creation (Second Isaiah and Paul), the kingdom of God (the Synoptic Gospels), eternal life (John), the new Jerusalem (Revelation) will not be accomplished through human means, but only through the working of God.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 598 (emphasis original)

Enraged, but not surprised

That question sums up a good deal of the argument of this chapter, and it illustrates the willful blindness of all human beings — Gentiles and Jews alike — to the enormity and ubiquity of Sin. We should not be surprised that there is evil “in” any human being. We should not expect to see some great accession of righteousness to occur with the bar mitzvah or any other “call to the commandment.” We should not continue to be perpetually surprised that people “find so much evil” within themselves and others. We should never cease to be shocked, grieved, even enraged — but we should never be surprised, for “all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin” (Rom. 3:9).—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 589

But I'm not like them…

The Jewish community has every right to be protective of its ingrained, God-given concern for ethics and compassion. The problem among Jews and Gentiles alike, however, is the tendency for those who observe and comment upon wrongdoing to separate themselves from the category of ungodly perpetrator. This is the universal human way. It is our means of shoring up our dearly held conviction that we, the godly, are in a different position from the ungodly. This self-protective stance is enshrined in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee who prayed, “God, I thank thee that I am not like other men,” contrasted with the tax collector who cried out, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” It is the tax collector who “went down to his house justified rather than the other” (Luke 18:9—14). The thrust of Luke’s parable of justification is extended ad infinitum by Pau1’s cosmic conception of what the dikaiosyne of God can accomplish.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 588

A prophetic word

Gross quotes the philosopher Eric Voegelin, who writes that evil regimes are able to recruit “the simple man who is a decent man as long as the society as a whole is in order but who then goes wild, without knowing what he is doing, when disorder arises somewhere and the society is no longer holding together” (Gross, 156–57, emphasis added [by Rutledge]).—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 582n21

Regime change!

The term “regime change” emerged from an unsavory political context, but as an approximation of what the righteousness of God is able to do, we can capture it for the service of the apocalyptic drama. The old regime, in which the Powers of Sin and Death rule over the human race, will be definitively vanquished and “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay” (Rom. 8:21). This means that there is a new future in which those things that are possible only with God will become the only ultimate reality.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 580

Creatio ex nihilo

Abraham — an elderly man with a barren wife — has no human potential. Paul emphasizes that Abraham was chosen before he was circumcised (Rom. 4:10-11), which is Paul’s way of saying that Abraham brought nothing to the bargain; his election by God was ex nihilo (out of nothing). This startling announcement lies at the heart of the biblical picture of God. This is the foundation of all that Paul says about justification; it buttresses what Paul means when he says “there is no distinction” (Rom. 3:22-23).—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 576 (emphasis original)

Are we hearing the gospel?

We are able to participate in the working of God only because of his self-immolation on our behalf and in our place. It is not our spiritual journey that lies at the center of our faith; it is “the way of the Son of God into the far country,” as Barth calls it, claiming the language of Jesus’ parable in Luke 15:13. It is the journey of the incarnate One to us that enables our participation in the redemptive working of God. If this story is not told every time the people of God are enjoined to get busy, then we are no longer hearing the gospel.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 569

A particular way of life

Those who according to Paul are “in Christ” are called to a particular way of life that shows forth the power of his name, the boundless riches of his love, the merits of his death, and the sure and certain hope we have in his resurrection. This way of life is cruciform — that is to say, it bears the marks of Christ’s crucifixion (“Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” — Gal. 6:17).—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 566

Over my dead body!

Christ’s recapitulation of the human story does not simply invite us into the divine life. There is an objective reality about it; it has happened over our dead bodies, so to speak.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 565 (emphasis original)

There is a joy in the journey!

Whether they acknowledge it or not, everyone has habits, but only a few carefully craft their habits in order to enhance their spiritual growth and development. How few of God’s people really enjoy the fullness of their salvation! Many are satisfied with their destination, but they neglect the journey. The day-by-day experience of God’s presence is something totally foreign to many Christians.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 204