Just a change of masters (no, not a political post!)

There is a certain irony, however: while the therapeutic was meant to throw off the guilt and burden of spiritual responsibility, and hence the scowl of the clergy and confessor, “now we are forced to go to new experts, therapists, doctors, who exercise the kind of control that is appropriate over blind and compulsive mechanisms” (p. 620). In the name of securing our freedom, we swap submission to the priest for submission to the therapist.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 107

<idle musing>
Always looking for freedom in the wrong places… As The Who sang, "Get down on my knees and pray that I won't get fooled again." But we do.
</idle musing>

How Happy Are Thy Servants, Lord

328 How Happy Are Thy Servants, Lord

1. How happy are Thy servants, Lord,
   Who thus remember Thee!
   What tongue can tell our sweet accord,
   Our perfect harmony?

2. Who Thy mysterious supper share,
   Here at Thy table fed,
   Many, and yet but one we are,
   One undivided bread.

3. One with the living bread divine
   Which now by faith we eat,
   Our hearts and minds and spirits join,
   And all in Jesus meet.

4. So dear the tie where souls agree
   In Jesus’ dying love!
   Then only can it closer be,
   When all are joined above.
                         Charles Wesley
                         Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
I don't think I've ever seen a lower number of occurrences for a Wesley hymn. This one occurs in a mere six hymnals. And there are no variations, either. Just four verses.
</idle musing>

The move to victimhood

Consider, for example, two very different ways to account for evil. If we’re going to affirm ordinary life, then that needs to translate into some affirmation of the goodness of embodied, material life. But if we’re going to talk about the goodness of ordinary life, we also need some account of what goes — or has gone — wrong, some account of evil and brokenness. Taylor is interested in the significant cultural shifts in how we talk about this — from talking about sin to talking about sickness. These are two very different hermeneutics, two different ways of construing our current condition: the “spiritual” versus the “therapeutic.” “What was formerly sin is often now seen as sickness” (p. 618). The moral is transferred to a therapeutic register; in doing so we move from responsibility to victimhood.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 106–7

Here, O My Lord, I See Thee

327 Here, O My Lord, I See Thee

1 Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face;
   Here would I touch and handle things unseen;
   Here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace,
   And all my weariness upon Thee lean.

2 This is the hour of banquet and of song;
   This is the heavenly table spread for me;
   Here let me feast, and feasting, still prolong
   The hallowed hour of fellowship with Thee.

3 Here would I feed upon the bread of God,
   Here drink with Thee the royal wine of Heaven;
   Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
   Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven.

4 Too soon we rise; the symbols disappear;
   The feast, though not the love, is past and gone.
   The bread and wine remove; but Thou art here,
   Nearer than ever, still my Shield and Sun.

5 Feast after feast thus comes and passes by;
   Yet, passing, points to the glad feast above,
   Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,
   The Lamb’s great bridal feast of bliss and love.
                         Horatius Bonar
                         Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not a terribly popular hymn, only occurring in about 315 hymnals. Cyberhymnal.org inserts some verses:

4 I have no help but Thine; nor do I need
   Another arm save Thine to lean upon;
   It is enough, my Lord, enough indeed;
   My strength is in Thy might, Thy might alone.

5 I have no wisdom save in Him who is
   My wisdom and my teacher both in One;
   No wisdom can I lack while Thou art wise;
   No teaching do I crave save Thine alone.

6 Mine is the sin, but Thine the righteousness:
   Mine is the guilt, but Thine the cleansing blood;
   Here is my robe, my refuge, and my peace;
   Thy blood, Thy righteousness, O Lord my God!

</idle musing>

Self-sufficient…

We now inhabit this self-sufficient immanent order, even if we believe in transcendence. Indeed, Taylor emphasizes the ubiquity of the immanent frame: it is “common to all of us in the modern West” (p. 543). So the question isn’t whether we inhabit the immanent frame, but how. Some inhabit it as a closed frame with a brass ceiling; others inhabit it as an open frame with skylights open to transcendence.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 93 (emphasis original)

<idle musing>
I don't know about you, but I'm dwelling in one with the skylights open!
</idle musing>

Tozer for Tuesday

I think of the prophet Jeremiah. I find many men who are wandering around that are not any good, and many men who are the messengers and saints of God who are not wanted. You cannot always tell whether God is blessing a man by how many calls he gets, because many men get calls that if the truth were known about them, they would never be called anywhere, except to a court of law. Other men are God’s own saints but are not wanted.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 203

<idle musing>
He preached this sermon either in the 1950s or the early 1960s. You would think he was looking at the current state of the church (and society) in the United States. Celebrity pastor after celebrity pastor is being found out for hidden sin. One of the candidates for the US presidency is a convicted felon and a known sexual predator.

I guess Tozer was wrong about one thing: Their sins are known and they still get calls. What a sad state of affairs.
</idle musing>

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

324 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

1 Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
   and with fear and trembling stand;
   ponder nothing earthly minded,
   for, with blessing in His hand,
   Christ our God to earth descendeth,
   our full homage to demand.

2 King of kings, yet born of Mary,
   as of old on earth He stood,
   Lord of lords, in human vesture,
   in the body and the blood.
   He will give to all the faithful
   His own self for heav'nly food.

3 Rank on rank the host of heaven
   spreads its vanguard on the way,
   as the Light of light descendeth
   from the realms of endless day,
   that the pow'rs of hell may vanish
   as the darkness clears away.

4 At His feet the six-winged seraph,
   cherubim with sleepless eye,
   veil their faces to the Presence,
   as with ceaseless voice they cry,
   “Alleluia, alleluia,
   alleluia, Lord Most High!”
                         Litury of St. James
                         Trans. by Gerard Moultrie
                         Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
I was surprised to find that this mainstay of my upbringing is only in 175 or so hymnals! Another reason I'm surprised is that I've heard it on at least a couple of hymn collection CDs/albums over the years. Nevertheless, a good communion hymn.
</idle musing>

Consumer culture, the new church

What draws people away from traditional, institutional religion is largely the success of consumer culture — the “stronger form of magic found in the ever-new glow of consumer products (p. 490). As a result, the expressivist revolution (1) “undermined some of the large-scale religious forms of the Age of Mobilization” and (2) “undermined the link between Christian faith and civilizational order” (p. 492). In fact, “where the link between disciplines and civilizational order is broken, but that between Christian faith and the disciplines remains unchallenged, expressivism and the conjoined sexual revolution has alienated many people from the churches” (p. 493).—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 89

Beneath the Forms of Outward Rite

321 Beneath the Forms of Outward Rite

1 Beneath the forms of outward rite
   thy supper, Lord, is spread
   in every quiet upper room
   where fainting souls are fed.

2 The bread is always consecrate
   that friend divide with friend;
   each act of true community
   repeats thy feast again.

3 The blessed cup is only passed
   true memory of thee,
   when life anew pours out its wine
   with rich sufficiency.

4 O Master, through these symbols shared,
   thine own dear self impart,
   that in our daily life may flame
   the passion of thy heart.
                         James A. Blaisdell
                         Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
I don't recall ever singing this hymn—and it only occurs in about 17 hymnals. Seems he only wrote 3–4 hymns and was the president of a small liberal arts Christian college and "developed the vision of small liberal arts colleges sharing common facilities."
</idle musing>

In memory of the Savior's love

319 In memory of the Savior's love

1 In memory of the Savior's love,
   We keep the sacred feast;
   Where every humble, contrite heart
   Is made a welcome guest.

2 One fold, one faith, one hope, one Lord,
   One God alone we know;
   Brethren we are; let every heart
   With kind affections glow.

3 By faith we take the bread of life
   With which our souls are fed,
   The cup in token of His blood
   That was for sinners shed.

4 In faith and memory thus we sing
   the wonders of his love,
   and thus anticipate by faith
   the heavenly feast above.
                         Thomas Cotterill
                         Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Take a minute or two to read the author's bio, linked above. Seems he was a bit controversial—in a good way.
</idle musing>

Freedom from—or freedom for? There's a difference

We were in the library briefly yesterday, and I was looking over the new arrivals, as is my wont, and ran across this:

To be sure, it is tempting to think of liberty as us against the world, which the notion of negative freedom allows us to do. If the barriers are the only problem, then all must be right with us. That makes us feel good. We think that we would be free if not for a world outside that does us wrong. But is the removal of something in the world really enough to liberate us? Is it not as important, perhaps even more important, to add things?

If we want to be free, we will have to affirm, not just deny. Sometimes we will have to destroy, but more often we will need to create. Most often we will need to adapt both the world and ourselves, on the basis of what we know and value.… Virtue is an inseparable part of freedom.—Timothy Snyder, On Freedom, xiii

<idle musing>
Yep, "Virtue is an inseparable part of freedom." We seem to be forgetting that in our nation right now, where money is the be-all and end-all of value. But, as every empire has discovered, it isn't enough.
</idle musing>

Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness

318 Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness

1 Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness,
   leave the gloomy haunts of sadness;
   come into the daylight's splendour,
   there with joy thy praises render
   unto him whose grace unbounded
   hath this wondrous banquet founded:
   high o'er all the heavens he reigneth,
   yet to dwell with thee he deigneth.

2 Sun, who all my life dost brighten,
   light, who dost my soul enlighten,
   joy, the sweetest heart e'er knoweth,
   fount, whence all my being floweth,
   at thy feet I cry, my Maker,
   let me be a fit partaker
   of this blessed food from heaven,
   for our good, thy glory, given.

3 Jesus, Bread of Life, I pray thee,
   let me gladly here obey thee;
   never to my hurt invited,
   be thy love with love requited:
   from this banquet let me measure,
   Lord, how vast and deep its treasure;
   through the gifts thou here dost give me,
   as thy guest in heaven receive me.
                         Johann Franck
                         Trans. by Catherine Winkworth
                         Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Found in only about 120 hymnals, hymnary.org inserts a verse:

2 Now I sink before thee lowly,
   filled with joy most deep and holy,
   as with trembling awe and wonder
   on thy mighty works I ponder:
   how, by mystery surrounded,
   depth no mortal ever sounded,
   none may dare to pierce unbidden
   secrets that with thee are hidden.

</idle musing>

The fences are down

Indeed, the MMO [modern moral order] is the “ethical base” for the soft relativism of the expressivist imaginary: Do your own thing, who am I to judge? The only sin is intolerance. Here is where Taylor locates the most significant shift in the post-'60s West: while ideals of tolerance have always been present in the modern social imaginary, in earlier forms (Locke, the early American republic, etc.) this value was contained and surrounded by other values that were a scaffolding of formation (e.g., the citizen ethic; p. 484). What erodes in the last half century is precisely these limits on individual fulfillment (p. 485).—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 87

Jesus, We Look to Thee

310 Jesus, We Look to Thee

1 Jesus, we look to Thee,
   Thy promised presence claim;
   Thou in the midst of us shalt be,
   Assembled in Thy Name.

2 Thy Name salvation is,
   Which here we come to prove;
   Thy Name is life, and health, and peace,
   And everlasting love.

3 We meet, the grace to take
   Which Thou hast freely given;
   We meet on earth for Thy dear sake
   That we may meet in heaven.

4 Present we know Thou art;
   But, O, Thyself reveal!
   Now Lord, let every bounding heart
   Thy mighty comfort feel.

5 O may Thy quickening voice
   The death of sin remove;
   And bid our inmost souls rejoice
   In hope of perfect love.
                         Charles Wesley
                         Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not a terribly popular hymn for one by Wesley; it occurs in fewer than 200 hymnals. Hymnary.org inserts a verse:

3 Not in the name of pride
   Or selfishness we meet;
   From nature's paths we turn aside,
   And worldly thoughts forget.

</idle musing>

It's the storyline!

Taylor suggests that those who convert to unbelief “because of science” are less convinced by data and more moved by the form of the story that science tells and the self-image that comes with it (rationality = maturity). Moreover, the faith that they left was often worth leaving. If Taylor is right, it seems to suggest that the Christian response to such converts to unbelief is not to have an argument about the data or “evidences” but rather to offer an alternative story that offers a more robust, complex understanding of the Christian faith. The goal of such witness would not be the minimal establishment of some vague theism but the invitation to historic, sacramental Christianity.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 77 (emphasis original)

Jesus, Lord, We Look to Thee

309 Jesus, Lord, We Look to Thee

1 Jesus, Lord, we look to thee,
   Let us in thy name agree;
   Show thyself the Prince of Peace:
   Bid our jars for ever cease.

2 By thy reconciling love,
   Ev'ry stumbling-block remove:
   Each to each unite, endear,
   Come and spread thy banner here!

3 Make us of one heart and mind,
   Courteous, pitiful, and kind;
   Lowly, meek, in thought and word,
   Altogether like our Lord.

4 Let us for each other care,
   Each the other's burden bear;
   To thy church the pattern give,
   Shew how true believers live.

5 Free from anger and from pride,
   Let us thus in God abide;
   All the depths of love express,
   All the heights of holiness!

6 Let us then with joy remove
   To the family above:
   On the wings of angels fly;
   Shew how true believers die.
                         Charles Wesley
                         Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

Getting significance

The music moves us very strongly, because it is moved, as it were; it captures, expresses, incarnates being profoundly moved. (Think of Beethoven quartets.) But what at? What is the object? Is there an object?” (p. 355). Nevertheless, we can't quite shake our feeling that “there must be an object.” And so, Taylor suggests, even this disembedded art “trades on resonances of the cosmic in us” (p. 356). And conveniently, art is never going to ask of you anything you wouldn’t want to do. So we get significance without any ascetic moral burden.—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 75

O Where Are Kings and Empires Now

308 O Where Are Kings and Empires Now

1 O where are kings and empires now
   Of old that went and came?
   But, Lord, your Church is praying yet,
   A thousand years the same.

2 We mark her goodly battlements
   And her foundations strong;
   We hear within the solemn voice
   Of her unending song.

3 For not like kingdoms of the world
   Your holy Church, O God,
   Though earthquake shocks are threatening her,
   And tempests are abroad,

4 Unshaken as eternal hills,
   Immovable she stands,
   A mountain that shall fill the earth,
   A house not made by hands.
                         A. Cleveland Coxe
                         Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
A healthy reminder a couple of weeks before the United States heads to the voting booth. As strong as the United States seems, it's just an earthly empire that will eventually crumble and fall. As I read the other day, "the most powerful leaders in this world have an expiration date."
</idle musing>

Two sides of the same battle

Even believers end up defending a theistic universe rather than the biblical cosmos. Eliminating mystery as a consequence of Protestant critiques of allegorization (p. 330),“ even believers end up reading the Bible as if it were a treatise on such a universe; in short, you get the emergence of young earth creationism (p. 330). Indeed, we only get the so-called war between science and religion once the modern cosmic imaginary has seeped into both believers and unbelievers; at that point, “these defenders of the faith share a temper with its most implacable enemies” (p. 331). In other words, no one is more modern than a fundamentalist. This is why the “face-off between ‘religion’ and ‘science’ ” has a “strangely intra-mural quality” (p. 331). But this supposed “pure face-off between ‘religion’ and ‘science’ is a chimaera, or rather, an ideological construct. In reality, there is a struggle between thinkers with complex, many-levelled agendas” (p. 332).—James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 72

Tozer for Tuesday

I am quite astonished how we sing one way and believe another. I think we ought to go over our hymns, and the ones we have determined not to believe we should throw out and save ink and trouble. But if they are true, we ought to hold them to be true and if they are not we ought to say so.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 199