An alternate imaginary

How, in a relatively short period of time, did we go from a world where belief in God was the default assumption to our secular age in which belief in God seems, to many, unbelievable? This brave new world is not just the old world with the God-supplement lopped off; it’s not just the world that is left when we subtract the supernatural. A secular world where we have permission, even encouragement, to not believe in God is an accomplishment, not merely a remainder. Our secular age is the product of creative new options, an entire reconfiguration of meaning.

So it’s not enough to ask how we got permission to stop believing in God; we need to also inquire about what emerged to replace such belief. Because it’s not that our secular age is an age of disbelief; it’s an age of believing otherwise. We can’t tolerate living in a world without meaning. So if the transcendence that previously gave significance to the world is lost, we need a new account of meaning — a new “imaginary” that enables us to imagine a meaningful life within this now self-sufficient universe of gas and fire. 47 (emphasis original)

<idle musing>
I found this statement to be so true: "We can’t tolerate living in a world without meaning." So we create new meanings, new imaginaries—just like the ancient world did.

Think about that for a minute and then look at the new rituals we've created. How are they different from bowing down to Anu, Marduk, or Baal?

Just an
</idle musing>

Not necessarily the real world—definitely not the only option

Taylor’s point is that this is an imaginary — not that this is all just a fiction, but rather that this is a “take” on the world. While we have come to assume that this is just “the way things are,” in fact what we take for granted is contingent and contestable.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 46 (emphasis original)

Functionally disenchanted

Once we learned to distinguish transcendent from immanent, “it eventually became possible to see the immediate surroundings of our lives as existing on this ‘natural’ plane, however much we might believe that they indicated something beyond” (p. 143). Even Christians, we might say, became functionally disenchanted.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 44 (emphasis original)

But will it last? (Tozer for Tuesday)

God is working through His people, and what God works lasts. What God does not work will not last; and I do not care how much personality a man has, he cannot do immortal work, because he is a mortal man. He cannot think immortal thoughts, because he has a mortal mind. But if the Holy Ghost works in him and through him, He giveth to every man severally as He will. And it is the same Father working in us and through us.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 188

<idle musing>
A good word for our time. Back about 15–20 years ago there was a YouTube guy who was selling a blender. His tag line was "But, will it blend?" And he would proceed to show the robustness of his blender. It was quite popular among geeks. He would blend things like a new iPhone. Anything to get attention.

That's where the title to today's post comes from, "But will it last?" We build these huge artifices. God comes along and asks, "But will it last?," examining the foundation. If it isn't Christ, well, you know what a blender does to stuff…

Just an
<idle musing>

Two roads—not what you think

This version of Reform “levels” two—tiered religion by actually expecting everyone to live up to the high expectations of disciplined, monastlc life. But Taylor hints that another sort of leveling is possible: you could also solve the two-tiered problem by lifting the weight of virtue, disburdening a society of the expectations of transcendence, and thus lop off the upper tier or the eternal horizon. In fact, he seems to suggest that it was the first strategy of higher expectations that might have driven some to the latter strategy of lowered expectations. By railing against vice and “crank[ing] up the terrifying visions of damnation,” Protestant preachers effectively prepared “the desertion of a goodly part of their flock to humanism” (p. 75). One strategy of leveling the two-tier problem might occasion a very different strategy that would ultimately become exclusive humanism.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 38

O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art

285 O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art

1 O love divine, how sweet thou art!
   When shall I find my longing heart
   all taken up by thee?
   I thirst, I faint, I die to prove
   the greatness of redeeming love,
   the love of Christ to me.

2 Stronger his love than death or hell;
   its riches are unsearchable:
   the first-born sons of light
   desire in vain its depth to see;
   they cannot reach the mystery,
   the length and breadth and height.

3 God only knows the love of God;
   O that it now were shed abroad
   in this poor stony heart!
   For love I sigh, for love I pine;
   this only portion, Lord, be mine,
   be mine this better part.

4 Thy only love do I require,
   nothing on earth beneath desire,
   nothing in heaven above:
   let earth and heaven, and all things go,
   give me thine only love to know,
   give me thine only love.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not one of Wesley's better known hymns, only occurring in about 375 hymnals. I can't say that I recall ever singing it. Hymnary.org inserts a verse:

4 For ever would I take my seat
   with Mary at the Master's feet:
   be this my happy choice;
   my only care, delight, and bliss,
   my joy, my heaven on earth, be this,
   to hear the Bridegroom's voice!

</idle musing>

Lord Jesus, Think on Me

284 Lord Jesus, Think on Me

1. Lord Jesus, think on me
   And purge away my sin;
   From earthborn passions set me free
   And make me pure within.

2. Lord Jesus, think on me,
   With care and woe oppressed;
   Let me Thy loving servant be
   And taste Thy promised rest.

3. Lord Jesus, think on me
   Amid the battle’s strife;
   In all my pain and misery
   Be Thou my Health and Life.

4. Lord Jesus, think on me
   Nor let me go astray;
   Through darkness and perplexity
   Point out your chosen way.

5. Lord Jesus, think on me
   That, when the flood is past,
   I may th’eternal brightness see
   And share Thy joy at last.

6. Lord Jesus, think on me
   That I may sing above
   To Father, Spirit, and to Thee
   The strains of praise and love.
                         Synesius of Cyrene c. 375–430
                         Trans. by Allen W. Chatfield
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not a very popular hymn, only occurring in a little over 100 hymnals. I don't recall ever singing it. Cyberhymnal inserts a verse:

5. Lord Jesus, think on me
   When floods the tempest high;
   When on doth rush the enemy,
   O Savior, be Thou nigh!

</idle musing>

Everyday holiness

The result [of the Reformation abolition of monasteries, etc.] is that “for the ordinary householder” this will require something paradoxical: living in all the practices and institutions of [‘this-worldly’] flourishing, but at the same time not fully in them. Belng in them but not of them; being in them, but yet at a distance, ready to lose them. Augustine put it: use the things of this world, but don’t enjoy them; uti, not frui. Or do it all for the glory of God, in the Loyola-Calvin formulation” (p. 81). Religious devotion — and hence expectations of holiness and virtue — is not sequestered to the monastery or the convent; rather, the high expectations of sanctification now spill beyond the walls of the monastery.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 37

God of All Power and Truth and Grace

281 God of All Power and Truth and Grace

1 God of all power, and truth, and grace,
   which shall from age to age endure,
   whose word, when heaven and earth shall pass,
   remains and stands for ever sure;

2 That I thy mercy may proclaim,
   that all mankind thy truth may see,
   hallow thy great and glorious name,
   and perfect holiness in me.

3 Thy sanctifying Spirit pour
   to quench my thirst and make me clean;
   now, Father, let the gracious shower
   descend, and make me pure from sin.

4 Give me a new, a perfect heart,
   from doubt, and fear, and sorrow free;
   the mind which was in Christ impart,
   and let my spirit cleave to thee.

5 O that I now, from sin released,
   thy word may to the utmost prove,
   enter into the promised rest,
   the Canaan of thy perfect love!
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not one of Wesley's more popular hymns, occurring in less than 100 hymnals. Cyberhymnal adds some verses:

2 Calmly to Thee my soul looks up,
   And waits Thy promises to prove,
   The object of my steadfast hope,
   The seal of Thine eternal love.

4 Chose from the world if now I stand
   Adorned in righteousness divine;
   If brought unto the promised land,
   I justly call the Savior mine.

5 Perform the work Thou hast begun
   My inmost soul to Thee, convert;
   Love me, for ever love Thine own,
   And sprinkle with Thy blood my heart.

7 Purge me from every sinful blot,
   My idols all be cast aside,
   Cleanse me from every evil thought,
   From all the filth of self and pride.

9 O take this heart of stone away!
   Thy sway it doth not, cannot own;
   In me no longer let it stay;
   O take away this heart of stone.

10 The hatred of the carnal mind
   Out of my flesh at once remove;
   Give me a tender heart, resigned
   And pure, and. full of faith and love.

11 Within me Thy good Spirit place,
   Spirit of health, and love, and power;
   Plant in me Thy victorious grace,
   And sin shall never enter more.

12 Cause me to walk in Christ my way;
   And I Thy statutes shall fulfill,
   In every point Thy law obey,
   And perfectly perform Thy will.

13 Hast Thou not said, who cannot lie,
   That I Thy law shall keep and do?
   Lord, I believe; though men deny:
   They are all false, but Thou art true.

15 There let me ever, ever dwell,
   Be Thou my God, and I will be
   Thy servant; O set to Thy seal,
   Give me eternal life in Thee.

16 From all remaining filth within,
   Let me in Thee salvation have,
   From actual, and from inbred sin,
   My ransomed soul persist to save.

17 Wash out my deep original stain,
   Tell me no more, it cannot be,
   Demons, or men! The Lamb was slain,
   His blood was all poured out for me.

18 Sprinkle it, Jesu, on my heart!
   One drop of Thy all cleansing blood
   Shall make my sinfulness depart,
   And fill me with the life of God.

19 Father, supply my every need;
   Sustain the life Thyself has giv’n:
   Call for the never failing Bread,
   The Manna that comes down from Heav’n.

20 The gracious fruits of righteousness,
   Thy blessings’ unexhausted store
   In me abundantly increase
   Nor let me ever hunger more.

21 Let me no more in deep complaint
   My leanness, O my leanness, cry,
   Alone consumed with pining want
   Of all my Father’s children I!

22 The painful thirst, the fond desire,
   Thy joyous presence shall remove,
   While my full soul doth still require
   Thy whole eternity of love.

23 Holy, and true, and righteous Lord,
   I wait to prove Thy perfect will,
   Be mindful of Thy gracious word,
   And stamp me with Thy Spirit’s seal.

24 Thy faithful mercies let me find,
   In which Thou causest me to trust;
   Give me the meek and lowly mind,
   And lay my spirit in the dust.

25 Show me how foul my heart hath been,
   When all renewed by grace I am,
   When Thou hast emptied me of sin,
   Show me the fullness of my shame.

26 Open my faith’s interior eye:
   Display Thy glory from above,
   And all I am shall sink, and die,
   Lost in astonishment and love.

27 Confound, o’erpower me with Thy grace!
   I would be by myself abhorred;
   All might, all majesty, all praise,
   All glory be to Christ my Lord!

28 Now let me gain perfection’s height;
   Now let me into nothing fall!
   Be less than nothing in Thy sight,
   And feel that Christ is all in all.

Did a say a few? OK, a bunch! Charles always wanted to pack his hymns full of theology. Sometimes he took longer than other times : )
</idle musing>

A Division of Labor

First, the social body makes room for a certain division of labor. By making room for entirely “religious” vocations such as monks and nuns, the church creates a sort of vicarious class who ascetically devote themselves to transcendence/ eternity for the wider social body who have to deal with the nitty-gritty of creaturely life, from kings to peasant mothers (which is why patronage of monasteries and abbeys is an important expression of religious devotion for those otherwise consumed by “worldly” concerns). We miss this if we retroactively impose our “privatized” picture of faith upon abbeys and monasteries and imagine that the monks are devoting themselves to personal pursuits of salvation. The monks pray for the world, in the world’s stead. So the social body lives this tension between transcendence and the mundane by a kind of division of labor.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 32

Blest are the pure in heart

276 Blest are the pure in heart

1 Blest are the pure in heart,
   For they shall see our God;
   The secret of the Lord is theirs,
   Their soul is His abode.

2 The Lord, who left the heavens
   His life and peace to bring,
   Who dwelt in lowliness with men,
   Their Pattern and their King;

3 He to the lowly soul
   Doth still Himself impart,
   And for His temple and His throne
   Selects the pure in heart.

4 Lord, we Thy presence seek;
   May ours this blessing be;
   O give the pure and lowly heart,
   A temple meet for Thee.
                         John Keble
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1964 edition

<idle musing>
You might have noticed that there is no link on the Methodist hymnal. That's because the Internet Archive is down. I received an email last night from a notification site I subscribe to that let's me know when one of my accounts anywhere on the internet has been hacked. I don't reuse passwords (neither should you!), but it's always nice to know when a site you used has been hacked and credentials leaked. Anyway, it stated that the Internet Archive had been hacked and all the hashed passwords and account credentials had been leaked. So, I suspect that's why the site is down today.

If I were a conspiracy person, I would say that it is because the publishers don't like the site. But I'm not. I suspect it was a group looking to extort cash. (I'm leaving unsaid what some of you are thinking...)
</idle musing>