Ron Cole : off the map...navigating life.

Living...radical christianity::podcast with Jarrod McKenna

 

I first came across Jarrod McKenna a few years ago reading the writing of John Dear. You could also say that Jarrod is the Australian version of Shane Claiborne. I don't think Jarrod would mind the comparison, seeing as he and Shane are good friends. He is part of a radical element on the the fringe of the church that sees faith and works, the practice and action of faith as being critical. The teachings of Jesus put into practice must be lived out, as radically today... to dilute them, co-modify and embed them in western church culture is not the redemptive vision and imagination of Jesus. This radical fringe believes Christianity is in trouble because it has become to passive and culturally accommodating. They are stirring the luke warm pot of status quo Christianity.

Jarrod is also part of " Empowering Peace Makers in Your Community." EPYC is an exciting initiative to give young people the opportunity to learn about nonviolence in theory and application. In our troubled world, this is a timely offer. We must find ways of dealing with conflicts at the personal and political levels other than through violence.

Around the world there is an emerging generation of young leaders who are rediscovering the radical implications of Jesus message and are letting their lives speak of these alternatives to the cycles of violence, poverty and environmental destruction. 

I invite you and encourage you to listen to a recent podcast from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sunday Night with John Cleary where he interviews Jarrod McKenna. If your wondering what deep radical Christianity might look lived out today, Jarrod McKenna gives us a great vision, to encourage us all, to live and dig deep.

You can listen to it here, and come back...I'd love to hear your impressions.

Life...becoming prayer

A little book I read many years ago hugely impacted my prayer life. It's title is, " The Practice of the Presence of God " by Brother Lawrence. He was able to live his life in the reality of it being an unceasing prayer.

For Brother Lawrence, "common business," no matter how mundane or routine, could be a medium of God's love. The sacredness or worldly status of a task mattered less than motivation behind it. "Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterward I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God."

Brother Lawrence felt having a proper heart about tasks made every detail of his life possess surpassing value. "I began to live as if there were no one save God and me in the world." Brother Lawrence felt that he cooked meals, ran errands, scrubbed pots, and endured the scorn of the world alongside God.

… Brother Lawrence reminds me to chill… Here are the words I read this morning that resounded deeply in my soul space: “The holiest, most common, most necessary practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God, that is to take delight in and become accustomed to His divine company, speaking humbly and talking lovingly with Him at every moment, WITHOUT RULE OR SYSTEM and especially in times of temptation, suffering, spiritual aridity, disgust and even of unfaithfulness and sin. We must continually work hard so that each of our actions is a way of carrying on little conversations with God, NOT IN ANY CAREFULLY PREPARED WAY BUT AS IT COMES FROM THE PURITY AND SIMPLICITY OF THE HEART.”

I don't know why it is that we make prayer so difficult, to the point it becomes about place, position, constructing the right words...where it becomes a formula, a ritual. Worse, it can become a chore or work. But what would happen if it became life, almost to the point of our breathing being prayer. Would that be any less sacred.

Ok, pause for a second and breathe in the reality that you have been crucified with Christ [in Him you have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer you who lives, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in you; and the life you now live in the body you live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved you and gave Himself up for you. ( paraphrase Galatians 2:20 )

I think the seed of unceasing prayer is planted in that truth. I know there was a season where I meditated on those words before sleeping and upon awakening everyday. I didn't do it out of ritual, although it might appear that way, but it excited me. It was like kindling that I through on the fire of my imagination. The reality that through some profound mystery beyond my comprehension that Jesus dwells in me...and I can live out of the mystery constantly.

It becomes living in the reality of constant communion, not just Sunday morning in the taste of a wafer and a sip of wine, and when the taste fades communion is over till next Sunday. It's as if the reality of Jesus has been spliced into you DNA, and you spliced into his. Your whole day, your whole life, your comings and goings are all done in constant communion with Jesus. How does that make you feel? Does it make you want to live differently?

But more than anything it should move us towards lives of unceasing prayer, to the point all life is a prayer. Some thoughts I've had on prayer over the years that I hope don't seem to heretical are...

You don't have to always pray with words. You can be in situations, or conversations where thoughts can be prayer. Remember the Spirit intercedes when words are not audible.

If you pray for someone, or some situation like injustice, poverty, homelessness...be prepared to be part of the answer.

Raging, venting anger at the Divine is OK. Read the Psalms or Job. Go for it at the top of your lungs. Scream, exhaust yourself. Then...listen.

Help! is a great prayer. Like igniting a flare at a road side accident it might not seem like much at the time. The answer may be  strange, and untimely...so be alert.

You can pray with your body; you can breathe prayer;a hug can be prayer; touch can be prayer; tears and laughter can be prayer; your mere presence in someones life can be prayer. Coffee with Al can be prayer.

Singing, dancing, walking can be prayer.

Aligning life with creation, the waxing and waning moon and sun, the seasons of the earth, the plants and animals is prayer. Living in the interconnectedness of " all " life can be prayer. A congruousness of " creation sorrow ", when the boundaries between you and " all that is " disappears and you feel the pain, the wounds of creation...maybe you've had the feeling recently reflecting on the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gratitude and kindness are always prayers.

You do not have to have a belief system to pray. You do not have to have a fixed opinion about where the divine resides or if the divine as a noun exists. All our words and images are metaphors to help us connect with the mystery, the intimately known and unknown.

Dreaming can be prayer. Cooking can be prayer. Eating can be prayer. Making love can be prayer. This list could go on and on.

When you pray for someone you become, for a moment, a co-creator, a bridge, a conduit to an eternal source of profound mystery and life. Remember Grace. It is unconditional. It is radical. It is scandalous. It's uncontainable. It has no limits. It has no boundaries. If you even have to think about it...suddenly it has become something less

I remember those moments when I have seen someone without the filter of my hopes or concerns for them, which can all too easily take on the tinge of judgment or control. Those moments are startling, illuminating, humbling...they are moments of grace.

Pray with grace. Let your life become unceasing prayer. Become prayer...in unceasing prayer you become.

Shane Claiborne...the Simple Way...new monasticism

American Public Radio's , Speaking of Faith has an interesting program, Krista Tippet interviewing Shane Claibourne around the movement of New Monasticism. The program is just over 53 minutes and the conversation covers a broad spectrum of topics...The community " The Simple Way " he co-founded with 6 friends, social justice, evangelicalism, faith and politics, violence, community living, rhythms of life...and more. Interesting faith conversation weaved with a tapestry of great music of redemptive justice.

photo...Robert Terrell

In sort of a response to the podcast Mark Van Steenwyk writes an interesting post, " If you meet Christ on the Road, Kill him."  He reflects on the idea of sort of christian cult heroes, what happens when we try and emulate them...instead the fullness of Christ and the Gospel.  Again, I don't think Shane sees himself this way...more, I think Shane seeks to stretch small groups of passionate followers to live out the gospel in the poverty that surrounds them.

a faith community dreamt...

The poem quoted below names a vision for a life that gives expression to Celtic Christianity in the monastic tradition. That vision was first expressed by Saint Enda when he came to Aran at the end of the fifth century. It is a vision that was spread throughout Ireland by people who were influenced by Enda, and later it spread throughout Europe. That vision is still alive, fifteen hundred years later ó it still inspires and it still makes sense.

I wish, ancient and eternal King, to live in a hidden hut in the wilderness.
A narrow blue stream beside it, and a clear pool for washing away my sins by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
A beautiful wood all round, where birds of every kind of voice can grow up and find shelter.
Facing southward to catch the sun, with fertile soil around it suitable for every kind of plant.
And virtuous young men to join me, humble and eager to serve God.
Twelve young men ó three fours, four threes, two sixes, six pairs ó willing to do every kind of work.
A lovely church, with a white linen cloth over the altar, a home for God from heaven.
A Bible surrounded by four candles, one for each of the gospels.
A special hut in which to gather for meals, talking cheerfully as we eat, without sarcasm, without boasting, without any evil words.
Hens laying eggs for us to eat, leeks growing near the stream, salmon and trout to catch, and bees providing honey.
Enough food and clothing given by our Heavenly King, and enough time to sit and pray to him.

Celtic Monasticism...environmental faith

Jason Clark has a thought provoking post on Celtic Monasticism and the spiritual and theological connection, how they lived and cared for the environment around them. We as a people of faith have distanced ourselves from God the Creator and His words to us in the opening of Genesis;

26-28 God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them
      reflecting our nature
   So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
      the birds in the air, the cattle,
   And, yes, Earth itself,
      and every animal that moves on the face of Earth."
   God created human beings;
      he created them godlike,
   Reflecting God's nature.
      He created them male and female.
   God blessed them:
      "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
   Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,

The further we have navigated this long corridor of History, as people of faith those words are somewhere off in the distance, no longer audible...our responsiblity...is an environment in ruins.

Our legacy, a faith where redeeming souls is it's priority....and where a faith in redeeming God's creation just doesn't seem worthy. I have written on Celtic monasticism often, a faith life that concerned itself with earth just as much as heaven. Jason looks a Celtic Monasticism and asks questions...much needed questions that we as faith communities need to answer...

God is Green was recently aired on Channel 4. Presenter Mark Dowd put forward the premise that maybe the answer to our problems with the environment lay in the hands of the 4.5 billion followers of the main world faiths, that is Christianity, Islam and Sikhism.

I felt rather inspired by the Bishop of London and it inspired me to think quite deeply about God and the environment.

In this post I'd like to ask you your views on whether you think there a convergence of both the physical and spiritual ecological Christianity, particualry embodied in the growing popularity of the celtic christian tradition?

There has been a resurgence of all things Celtic since the early 1980's, none more so than that of Celtic Christianity.

This, I believe is an awakening call to the Christian in the street, to an environmental ethic and through this a recognition of the problems that our own planet faces.

The Celtic Church had a deep connection to the world around it. As farmers and labourers they would've understood the seasons, how to work the land which they tended and cared for. They could see the goodness of the creator in his creation; some early writings show a deep and vibrant love of the environment, an understanding of God at work in their surroundings and in their everyday life.

So taking those principles from Celtic Christianity how can we apply then to the twenty first century?

Read the rest of Jason's post ... Here.

Redemption....Dostoevsky

Brothers, be not afraid of men's sins, love man even in his sin, for that already bears the semblance of divine love and is the highest love on earth.

Love God's creation, the whole of it every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light. Love the animals, love the plants, love every thing.

And if you love everything, you will percieve the divine mystery in things. And, once you have percieved it, you will begin to comprehend it ceaselessly more and more everyday.

And at last we will come to love the whole world with an abiding, universal love.

(Father Zossima, Brothers Karamazov)

Merton...on neo-Monasticism

“The purpose of monastic renewal and reform is to find ways in which monks and sisters can remain true to their vocation by deepening and developing it in new ways, not merely sacrificing their lives to bolster up antique structures, but channeling their efforts into the creation of new forms of monastic life, new areas of contemplative experience.”

Thomas Merton from Contemplative Prayer

a rhythm of life...insecurity

Here is the spirituality of grace: living in the grace of God and living out the grace of God. The "caim" was the encircling prayer by which the Celts affirmed the presence of God with him in the circle. In other words, wherever he walked, God was with him, a reminder of God's presence and protection. The Celtic Way is rooted in the Incarnation, the deep awareness of Immanuel, "God with us." 

The "coracle" was the little craft by which they sailed from place to place. It is said that they would set sail and let the wind blow them, and wherever they landed was the next place for mission, blown by the wind of the Spirit. Here is a spirituality of trust and risk that is the very heart of living by grace.Theirs was a "spirituality and theology of the insecure". We need to become once again the people of the caim and the coracle, engulfed in prayer and moved by the Spirit.

An example of a Celtic caim (or circling) prayer :

Circle us Lord,
Keep love within, keep hatred out.
Keep joy within, keep fear out.
Keep peace within, keep worry out.
Keep light within, keep darkness out.
May you stand in the circle with us, today and always.

And a Celtic prayer that has always moved, from St.Brendan the Navigator as he set out on the stormy Atlantic, moved by the wind, tide and current...faithful God was with him, and God would be standing on the shores of a new land...

Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home?
Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea?

Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy,
without silver, without a horse,
without fame, without honor?
Shall I throw myself wholly upon You,
without sword and shield, without food and drink,
without a bed to lie on?
Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under Your yoke?

Shall I pour out my heart to You, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness,
tears streaming down my cheeks?
Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach,
a record of my final prayer in my native land?

Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict?
Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean?
O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea?

O Christ, will You help me on the wild waves?

monasticism...the power of context

Joan Chittester writes that Benedict intended to “...“to create a way of life immersed in the scriptures, devoted to the common life, and dedicated to the development of human community. It was simple, regular and total, a way of living, not a way of serving; it was an attitude toward life, not a church ministry. Benedict, in other words, is not trying to create a clerical system. He is trying to create a human family. He is not out trying to collect priests though he does recognize that a priest may well have a monastic vocation.”

Simple. Regular. Total. A way of living. Not a way of serving.

This nailed me with particular force this morning. Monasticism (the old or the new, cloistered or friar-ed) was never intended to be a program or an add-on. It is total. It is baptism. It is immersion... in a whole new way of being. This is a major part of the reason it has so much power to form us. It is what Gladwell calls the “Power of Context” in his book The Tipping Point. Context is powerful.

We can read all we want and study all we want and write all we want and blog until we are blue in the fingers but unless we have an environment that supports our formation we might as well be trying to push a boulder up a hill with a spoon.

As I think about monasticism, thanks to Kevin Rains for the above words...for putting it into context for me.

New Monasticism...MPR

Lighting candles as devotion. (David Silverman/Getty Images

My friend James Kingsley first gave me the heads-up about this over at " The Locals " here in Victoria. Minnesota Public Radio Host, Kerri Miller has a great podcast and conversation around new monasticism. It took awhile to come up with the link, due to MPR's audio site being down. But after an e-mail, and also discovering Kerri and her husband had treked around Vancouver Island last summer...we managed to get the link to the podcast...you can listen...Here.

A new generation of religious communities is springing up around the principles of "new monasticism," in which people live among and provide hospitality to those in need. Midmorning looks at how these communities work and their surprising influence on mainstream Christians.

Guests

Diana Butler Bass: has studied emergent congregations, including new monasticism. She's the author of "Christianity for the Rest of Us."

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove: runs the Web site, New Monasticism.org, which outlines the 12 marks or principles of the communities. He co-founded, with his wife Leah, Rutba House in Durham, North Carolina. He's the author of the book, "To Baghdad and Beyond."

Maria Kenney: part of Communality in Lexington, Kentucky.

Again Kerri, thanks for going out of your way, digging up the link...and for making us aware of this interesting conversation around monasticism that is still reverberating around faith communities trying to live faith more authentically.

Listen to New Monasticism podcast Here...courtesy of Minnesota Public Radio.