Call of wisdom and Roosevelt
In Proverbs 9:1-6, Sophia calls to the passer-byers “You that are simple, turn in here!” At this point she invites these simple people into her house so that she might impart the wisdom of God to them.
When this text was read on Sunday for some reason I could not get that quote from Eleanor Roosevelt “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.”
All I could picture was Sophia calling out to all of us in America who talk more about American Idol than American policy, “You that are simple, turn in here! Turn in here and I can help you move your simple mind, clamoring about people and events, to a great mind.”
Perhaps this is why Jesus spent so much time in parable teaching. It allows us simple minded people to hear about people and events, but at the same time challenges us to talk about the ideas behind these people and events?
Perhaps Jesus spoke in parables, not to be cryptic, but to call us to expand our mind… to become Great.
Sayings of Abba Anthony
Reverned Nancy Allen shared a story on Sunday from Abba Anthony:
Three Fathers used to go and visit Blessed Anthony every year and two of them used to discuss their thoughts and the salvation of their souls with him, but the third always remained silent and did not ask him anything. After a long time, Abba Anthony said to him, ‘You often come here to see me, but you never ask me anything,’ and the other replied, ‘It is enough for me to see you, Father.’
Here are some other stoires from Abba Anthony as well which I liked:
Abba Anthony said, “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, “You are mad, you are not like us.”
Abba Anthony said, “I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, ‘What can get through from such snares?” Then I heard a voice saying to me, “Humility.’”
A hunter in the desert saw Abba Anthony enjoying himself with the brethren and he was shocked. Wanting to show him that it was necessary sometimes to meet the needs of the brethren, the old man said to him, “Put an arrow in your bow and shoot it.” So, he did. The old man said, “Shoot another,” and he did so. Then the old man said, “Shoot yet again,” and the hunter replied “If I bend my bow so much I will break it.” Then the old man said to him, “It is the same with the work of God. If we stretch the brethren beyond measure they will soon break. Sometimes it is necessary to come down to meet their needs.” When he heard these words the hunter was pierced by compunction and, greatly edified by the old man, he went away. As for the brethren, they went home strengthened.
One day some old men came to see Abba Anthony. In the midst of them was Abba Joseph. Wanting to test them, the old man suggested a text from the Scriptures, and, beginning with the youngest, he asked them what it meant. Each gave his opinion as he was able. But to each one the old man said, “You have not understood it.” Last of all he said to Abba Joseph, “How would you explain this saying?” And he replied, “I do not know.” Then Abba Anthony said, “Indeed, Abba Joseph has found the way, for he has said: ‘I do not know.”
Quotes I have carried with me for years…
Scripture says no one knows the Father but the Son. Therefore, if you want to know God, you must not only be like the Son, you must be the Son.
-Meister Eckhart
If you tell me Christian commitment is a kind of thing that has happened to you once and for all like some kind of spiritual plastic surgery, I say go to, go to, you’re either pulling the wool over your own eyes or trying to pull it over mine. Every morning you should wake up in your bed and ask yourself; “Can I believe it all again today?” No, better still, don’t ask till after you’ve read The New York Times, till after you’ve studied that daily record of the world’s brokenness and corruption, which should always stand side by side with your Bible. Then ask yourself if you can believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ again for that particular day. If your answer is always Yes, then you probably don’t know what believing means. At least five times out of ten the answer should be No because the No is as important as the Yes, maybe more so. The No is what proves you’re human in case you should ever doubt it. And then if some morning the answer happens to be really Yes, it should be a Yes that’s choked with confession and tears and great laughter.
-Frederick Buechner
I do admit that for Christians to enter this subject honestly is to invite great anxiety. It is to walk the razor’s edge, to run the risk of cutting the final cord still binding many to the faith of their mothers and fathers. But the price for refusing to enter this consideration is for me even higher. The inability to question reveals that one has no confidence that one’s belief system one’s faith has already died. It one seeks to protect God from truth or new insights, then God has surely already died.
-John Shelby Spong
Culture Making, meet Gandhi…
Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it: always
-Gandhi
In light of this quote I ran across a section in the book “Culture Making” which I though was stated very nicely.
Nothing that matters, no matter how sudden, does not have a long history and take part in a long future. And like earthquakes, revolutions are much better at destroying than building. There is an important asymmetry here, whose roots go all the way down to the laws of physics: It is possible to change things quickly for the worse. It only took two hours after the collision between a 767 and the South Tower of the World Trade Center to destroy it. But no one can build the World Trade Center in two hours. The only thing you can do with Rome in a day is burn it.
The Revolutionaries – and terrorists – of the world put their hope in cataclysmic events. But even they are likely to be disappointed by the long-term effects of their actions.
-Andy Crouch (Culture Making)
I am not sure what to make of all this but I really like these two quotes.
Reflections on Rumi
Listening to the Speaking of Faith Podcast entitled “The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi” today and ran across a few lines which I wanted to lock away for the future.
If you don’t plow the earth, it’s going to get so hard nothing grows in it. You just plow the earth of yourself. You just get moving. And even don’t ask exactly what’s going to happen. You allow yourself to move around, and then you will see the benefit.
Something you (Fatemeh Keshavarz) wrote about whirling that was so gripping to me said, for Rumi, the whirling is one way to stay centered while moving.
Ms. Keshavarz: (translating) If anyone asks you about the houris, show your face, say: like this. If anyone asks you about the moon, climb up on the roof, say: “Like this.” If anyone seeks a fairy, let them see your countenance. If anyone talks about the aroma of musk, untie your hair and say: “Like this.” If anyone asks: “How do the clouds uncover the moon?” untie the front of your robe, knot by knot, say: “Like this.” If anyone asks: “How did Jesus raise the dead?’ kiss me on the lips, say: “Like this.” If anyone asks: “What are those killed by love like?” direct him to me, say: “Like this.” If anyone kindly asks you how tall I am, show him your arched eyebrows, say: “Like this.”
So the whole ghazal (above) is a description of the physical beauty of the lover, but at the same time, it’s a fairly long poem. At the end, it leads us to blind with envy the one who says, “How can a human being reach God?” Give each of us a candle of purity, say: “Like this.” In the end, human beings can get to that candle of purity and reach God, and all human beings can do that.
Quote
Christians are supposed not merely to endure change, nor even to profit by it, but to cause it. Harry Emerson Fosdick
What struck me about this quote is that I deeply resonate with the “Be the change you wish to see in the world” quote. Fosdick adds a layer onto this idea and reminds Christians are to actually cause change.
And as I look at my life I really wonder, each and every day, what change have I caused? Sure I might be able to say I have helped people to see alternate ways of being or thinking about Christianity, Jesus or God. But that is about the extent of what I feel I have caused.
There are several things I wish to cause to change in my immediate setting: shifting youth ministry from a single personality driven ministry to a contemplative ministry and developing a collation for young adult clergy to give not only suggestions on ways out of some of the problems we face but also committing us to doing something about them.
Both of these are big things for me. There are tons of administrative and background work. It will take a long time and will be a lot of work for me in the beginning. But in the end each of these will yield a greater good.
My problem with causing change is the change that I dream about is too big for me to dent. If only I was motivated to change the wall color in my house, I might be able to actually cause that change. These other dreams, I need help.
How do you get help for a dream?
MLK quotes to store in my mind…
In light of MLK day, I would like to submit some of the great lines from some of MLK’s works which have made an impression on me:
The American Dream June 6, 1961
“America has been something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against herself. On the one head we have proudly professed the principles of democracy, and on the other hand we have sadly practiced the very antithesis of those principles.”
“Civilization refers to what we use; culture refers to what we are… The great problem confronting us today is we have allowed our civilization to outrun our culture.”
“The practical aspect of nonviolent resistance is that it exposes the moral defenses of the opponent. Not only that, it somehow arouses his conscience at the same time, and it breaks down his morale.”
“The choice is no longer between violence and nonviolence; it is either nonviolence or nonexistence.”
Letter from Birmingham City Jail April 16th, 1963
“I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.”
“Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering that outright rejection.”
“Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love?”
“…after all, the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”
“If the church today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century.”
Where my mind is today…
“Christian nonviolence is not a strategy to rid the world of violence, but rather the way Christians must live in a world of violence. In short Christians are not nonviolent because we believe our nonviolence is a strategy to rid the world of war, but rather because faithful followers of Christ in a world of war cannot imagine being anything else than nonviolent.”
-Stanley Hauerwas interpreting Yoder’s pacifism
“Jesus did not bring a new idea : rather in him an old idea ceased being an idea at all and became a living reality.”
-John Knox
“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”
-Susan B. Anthony
“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is .”
“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
“There is enough for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed.”
-Gandhi
“If we have more than we need while someone else has less, then we are thieves.”
– Shane Claiborne
If the attitude we have toward water as a power source is the same as we have toward oil as a power source, then we will be in the same energy crisis in the future.
- paraphrased comments of Joan Chittister
“What you believe follows only after what you do.”
- Scott-Martin Kosofsky, a book designer and editor, decided to revise the “Book of Customs,”
In a time of economic anxiety…
“Anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity”
-Thomas Merton – No Man is an Island
