Crux Spiritual Direction

I was reading this morning about the Benedictine order and its various influences. One I found fascinating was the role the Benedictines played in labor-saving devices. After working hard at some physical task, the monks would have time to reflect. Some of that reflection was "there's got to be an easier way to do this!" Thus we have the invention of all sorts of medieval mechanical devices!. Pretty good integration of life and spirituality! What do you do in this regard? What do I do?

My son and I have been talking about whether something beautiful can also be immoral. What do you think and why?

Be good to your servant while I live,
that I may obey your word.
Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.

Psalme 119: 17-18

So often we try to do what God wants so God will bless us. This passage reverses that. Be good to me so that I can fulfill your law. Let me see the good in your law. I am a stranger on the planet. Let me know what you want.

There is a deep spiritual truth in these verses. What is the relationship of blessing to obedience? Of seeing, to understanding?

But Samuel replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams. I Sam. 15:22

The context is King Saul's rejection by God as King. Saul disobeys, holding back what he should have destroyed of the enemy's goods. Obedience to the rule of moral law. Very important in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

What lessons should we draw for building a worldview open to love and mystery from this passage? How should it change how we live our lives?

Morning prayer this last week or so has been about Samuel and the rise to power of King Saul. Samuel does anoint Saul king but then says to the people, "where did I wrong you? when did I take from you without paying that you felt you need a king?" It is something to ponder these days. What does true Christian leadership look like?

Something not given, perhaps, enough attention in the Christian faith is the ever presence of social relationships. In the creation myth, God makes adam, the mud person, and notes that it is not good for adam to be alone. So after looking high and low among the other animals for friend, God creates the woman, ishah from ish (the woman from the man). Even God's divine being is a trio of persons. What implications are there for the world when social life is at the very core of human existence? Any worldview related to Christianity will need to handle this deeply embedded notion.

In Judaism and other cultures, the position of honor from the powerful leadership is on the right hand of the powerful. The person on the right derives powerful from the person in the center. Given that, consider Psalm 109:29 and 30

I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth;
in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;
because he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to save his life from those who would condemn him.

What then is powerful given this image? Go.

What does it mean for religious folks to encourage their creative imaginations? What we imagine is not, of course, true. But it can deepen our intuitive understanding of the world around us and move us to action. What have you imagined about God today?

Psalm 89 reports that people are happy when they know the festal shout! What is your festal shout? How often do you shout it? I'd like to practice mine more often. How about you?

We live in difficult times morally. I woke up this morning thinking about what grounds our ethical or moral positions. Is it nature (pleasure/pain, for example) or a good structure found in the university itself (say, reason) or a God (or gods) who are good in their own right and made us so as well? Even if we know what grounds our ethics, we still need tools and methods by which we discover what those grounds are telling us. This is a subject a good worldview will cover and philosophy and various theological traditions have a good deal to say about these concerns. But we need to work at discovering them. What we are doing culturally today is a bit of a mess. Let's think about this together.

Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys' genius, passed away this last week. He once said that music is the voice of God. Augustine said that when you sing, you pray twice. Here's a song asking God's help for creativity. Creativity is linked to free will, free will is of the essence of the human person. A well-developed worldview includes some account of creativity, even if you don't see yourself as creative, you are. Let's celebrate it!

Come to us, creative Spirit
Come to us, creative Spirit,
in our Father's house,
every human talent hallow,
hidden skills arouse,
that, within our earthly temple,
wise and simple
may rejoice.

Poet, painter, music maker,
all your treasures bring;
craftsman, actor, graceful dancer,
make your offering:
join your hands in celebration!
let creation
shout and sing!

Word from God eternal springing,
fill our minds, we pray,
and in all artistic vision
give integrity.
May the flame within us burning
kindle yearning
day by day.

In all places and forever,
glory be expressed
to the Son, with God the Father
and the Spirit blessed.
In our worship and our living
keep us striving
for the best.

Lyrics: David Mowbray

Psalm 78, the first few verses:

Hear my teaching, O my people;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.
That which we have heard and known,
and what our forefathers have told us,
we will not hide from their children.

The psalm goes on to tell us about many of the ways the ancient people failed to trust God and complained that God wasn't doing enough.

There's much to learn here. Worth a read. But I was caught by the fact that the author does a couple of fascinating things just in these first few verses.

1. The author basically says history will be presented as parable. We might wonder about the relationship of history and fiction. I hope to write something more about that.

2. The author says we will not hide the stories from our children. When you read the psalm, you discover all the ways in which the people of God failed God. It is God, however, who is merciful. We need to tell our children of our own failures and seek the mercy of God with our children.

Food for thought.