A Search for the Extraordinary Ordinary Life
So our church is trying something a little fun, a little new (at least for us)
Click on the link, and you’ll see a page where you or anyone you know can enter any question you have, about anything. Our pastoral staff will compile the questions and use them to put together the next teaching series, trying to provide Biblical answers to the most popular types of questions.
Try it out! I’m really curious to see what they end up with …
Too much non-fiction, and I start craving a good story …
Icelander by Dustin Long
J recommended this one. It’s a McSweeney’s book, which if you are unfamiliar, means it was published by McSweeney’s Press. Now I’m not one to notice publishers either, but this one is unique. McSweeney’s was founded by writer Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius), and publishes a quarterly literary journal, an monthly magazine, a quarterly DVD magazine, an internet site with daily content, and books by well-known and lesser-known authors alike. To be a McSweeney’s book is a mark of high favor in certain circles, including J and his literary friends. They are esp. well-known for their promotion of PostModern Lit, which this short novel is a fantastic example of.
The novel is a mystery, bit of a satire of Agatha Christie, set in an unfamiliar but modern US. The narrator presupposes our knowledge of the backstory and the history of the main characters, because part of the premise is that their story is well known across the world (but is in fact part of the fiction of the book itself). The main character is known only as Our Heroine, and the use of the first-person perspective draws you into indentification with her. But mid-way through the book, the author suddenly starts to jump between characters, giving their first-person perspectives with part of the action that may or may not be chronological with the rest of the story. The narrator is yet another character, whose motives and feelings about the story are unclear. The narrator uses footnotes to connect the current action with this pre-supposed backstory, which adds to the detachment, as if we are reading a history. Combined with the first person narrative, this juxtaposition casts doubt on the perspective of the narrator and main character both and blurs the line between reader & author. It is a fun twist on the classic genre of mystery novels, and I highly recommend it.
The Final Solution: A Story of Detection (P.S.) by Michael Chabon
Another post-modern mystery story, also recommended by J (he knows what I like!). Michael Chabon (Wonder Boys, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) pays homage in this story to Sherlock Holmes and Sir Conan Doyle. The action takes place in England during WWII, and centers around a Holmes-like elderly detective and a young Jewish refugee boy. It is a more straightforward story than Icelander, but also leaves more mystery in the end than a traditional Doyle or Christie novel would have. It is short, light, and could be enjoyed somewhat easily by a younger reader, but I still really enjoyed it as a well told story.
Here’s that third little book I promised:
Conversing with God in Scripture: A Contemporary Approach to Lectio Divina by Stephen J. Binz
Lectio Divina, or Sacred or Holy Reading, is an ancient form of prayerfully reading the Scriptures. Though I didn’t mention it specifically then, I was reading more about this practice & was tying to emulate it part with my plans for reading the Psalms (still happening, though not always daily as I would like). So I was pleased to find a contemporary how-to. As a practice, it has similarilties to contemporary “quiet times” or Bible studies, but with a difference in emphasis. The four main parts are Lectio (reading), Meditatio (reflection), Oratio (prayer), and Contemplatio (contemplation). It was a practice started early in church history, with few rules or stipulations on how it had to be done. Unfortunately, in the 12th century, one writer sought to lay the practice out more clearly, with an example on how one could envision and practice “divine reading”, and as is so often the result, his text soon became the only way. “The Ladder of Four Rungs” (also known as “The Monk’s Ladder”) envisioned the 4 parts as a ladder, with the four steps as rungs on a ladder to God. Unfortunately this lead to a belief and practice that while the first rungs, reading & reflection, were accessible to all, the “higher” rungs of prayer & esp contemplation were only for more “spiritual” people & not for the common man. And a practice meant to be accessable to all, wholly adaptable & flexible as the Spirit moved, became stratified, codified, and regimented and eventually fell out of common practice.
I find it fascinating how this still influences us today, though we may be ignorant (as I was) as to where it came from. Growing up evangelical, I learned to do “quiet times” or group Bible studies with the majority of time spent on scripture study, a short reflection on how it should shape or change my life, and a quick prayer to tie it all together. The Scripture reading (at least for me) was fraught with peril as I was always afraid I wasn’t doing it “right”. Finding a book to unpack it for me, commentaries, word studies, exegisis. Meditation/Reflection was only on how this should practically shape my life, and as I relied upon myself to come up with something, anything I thought of seemed to fall flat. Prayer - most groups I’ve been in want to make prayer the focus, but it is then quickly neglected & forgotten, or is used as a time for lists of current needs without any connection to the just completed Bible study. The fourth part, contemplation, never entered the picture. The main problem with it all was I was always so concerned about my part - was I studying enough, or deeply enough, how much scripture do I read at a time, how do I come up ways to apply this today … It was so much about me, looking back now I see it was never really about listening to God (for me at least - I hope not so for everyone!).
Binz instead helpfully portrays the four parts as positions around a wheel. One part is not greater than another, but they all flow in and out of each other. In practice, we can move around the wheel from one to another and back again, but always each movement, as he calls them, should draw us back to the center, which is the Spirit of God.
I don’t know about you, but I find this approach to be very freeing - it’s so little about what I bring to the table, and just about creating a space to listen & respond. It still feels foreign. It still is hard to carve out that time. So much of the practice is sitting in quiet, not “doing”, and so my modern, always active spirit finds it hard to just stop. But maybe that is why I need it.
I guess I should stop thinking about it, and try to do it.
J and I spent an enjoyable couple of hours at a bookstore recently where I picked up three short little books. (We must be meant for each other, because for both of us, this is one of our favorite ways to spend time together.) Part of the appeal of each of the books was how they tied into themes I’ve already seen pop up lately. So contrary to my normal practice, instead of putting them at the end of the line, I jumped them to the top and read them all over the next 2 weeks. They are about 100 pages each, so here’s the first two, and I’ll write more about the third later this week:
Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying With Icons by Henri J. M. Nouwen
Nouwen is a spiritual writer of the late 20th century. From his website: “Nouwen believed that what is most personal is most universal”, and so his books are reflections from his life that tie into and illuminate universal truths. This little book looks at 4 Russian icons and shares his own personal meditations upon them. He looks at The Holy Trinity (by Rublev), the Virgin of Vladimir (artist unknown), The Saviour of Zvenigorod (also by Rublev), and the Descent of the Holy Spirit (artist unknown). I have a small copy of the first (see my post) and while I like having it on my desk at work, I am interested in how to “get more out of it”, so to speak. His reflections are not a how-to, but his thoughts on the icons gave me some good ideas. I think the main thing (for me anyway) is to use it to remind me of reality I already know, so just as a picture of my hubby or family reminds me of them and helps me keep life in perspective, so too the icon of the Trinity reminds me of God and to maintain his perspective on my life & my work. It also reminds me to pray more often, and when my mind does wander for a short mental break, I find myself reflecting on the mystery of the Trinity and how the Three -in-One continually invites us to share in their union.
The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel
I got this at the local Christian bookstore, but it is actually a Jewish classic, written in the 1950s. I’ve been interested in the Sabbath ever since listening to Jacob’s account of living Biblically for one year, and how the practice of keeping the Sabbath in particular impacted him even though he was non-religious. I’m not very familiar with Jewish spiritual writing or their liturgies, and so some of the quotes & stories were not as helpful to me in unpacking the issue. I would imagine that many of the people or stories he quotes would be as natural to other Jewish readers as I would find quotations from Augustine, Luther, or CS Lewis — i.e. I haven’t necessarily read all their works, but I would respect their opinions on many subjects just on the basis of who they are and what I know about their writings. And so I imagine it would be for his readers. And some of the Jewish mysticism also left me scratching my head a little. But there were a couple of points I really appreciated and will be pondering for some time:
1. He begins by discussing how we are spatial beings, and so we like to think about & control Things - things we can touch, taste, see. And we can’t do that with time, nor can we control time, so it scares us. We deal with our fear by trying to ignore time & focus instead on things. But God has placed us within time, and shows us how to rightfully order our time by consecrating events, seasons, days. As the church has recognized seasons in order to re-focus & prioritize our lives, so too God, in giving us the Sabbath, re-orders our days. Herschel writes, “The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal.”
2. The Sabbath we are to rest from our labor; the other 6 days we are to work, and so keeping the Sabbath also honors work. “The duty to work for 6 days is just as much a part of God’s covenant with man as the duty to abstain from work on the 7th.” How I often wish it was 6 days of rest & 1 of labor.
3. The holiness of time. He points out that time was the first thing God declares Holy — Genesis 2:3 “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy“. This really makes me pause. If someone were to hand me the Ark of the Covenant today, an item God declared holy, I think I would treat it with great reverence. And yet God gives us a holy day every week, and how often do I take no notice or treat it any differently.
Now as a christian, we believe the OT Sabbath obligations & rules no longer apply - Romans 14:5-8 “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” And so I do not wish to return to a strict ‘what can you do or not do’ mentality on Sunday. It is for freedom that we have been set free (as J often says).
But God declared the day holy long before the Mosaic rules & regulations about how to behave on the Sabbath. Is his designation of the day as Holy completely invalidated? I think the principle of ordering our life in God’s time, and choosing to live free of the chains of our culture and its emphasis on work, achievement, accumlation of things is still valid for us today. I see here a connection between the keeping the Sabbath and the sacramentals. Baptism and Communion are great conceptually, but to really take them into our life, we deal with water, bread & wine. Engaging our physical self with the spiritual reality. So too abstaining from work or purposefully denying specific activities one day a week connects our physical self with the spiritual reality that work is not our ultimate goal or purpose in life. To see ourselves in God’s eternal time.
So I’m trying to think of ways to apply this in my own life. Not “working” is somewhat misleading, as our employment is 5 days/week already. But trying to find ways to honor the day as holy. We try to spend Sundays with friends from church as a continuation of living & worshipping together. Not using the day in pursuit of earthly things, which for me means not shopping for myself. Minimizing TV. Spending time with others, reading, resting, playing with the pets. One area I want to grow in is preparation for the Sabbath — if I am going to try to avoid house work on Sundays (dishes, laundry), then I have to make sure to work the other 6 days, esp Sat. so that I can keep Sunday free from those concerns.
Anyone else have suggestions on how to keep the Sabbath?
Like probably many of you, even though I love to read & read a lot, I left many of the classics behind after finishing school. Why do I so often think they are too hard or not interesting? As I remind myself - they are taught in school for a reason - because they were written well & continue to move people - and yet, we allow them to intimidate us, thinking that since they are taught in school, we could never read them on our own.
Recently I was reminded again of the importance generations of believers have seen in the great Russian novels when reading about the life of Dorothy Day. She loved them, and repeatedly returned to them as a source of motivation and inspiration for her life of Christian service. I thought, hmmm, they are probably good & worth reading. I read one in school & actually liked it. Maybe I should read another … but I soon forgot about it as I moved on to other books.
Then J contemplated for a while the possibility of leading a book discussion group this summer through our church. Unfortunately this summer was not the time (we hope to lead one at some point in the future). But I was disappointed it didn’t happen for I was excited about one of the choices we considered, one of these big Russian classics, as I thought it would be helpful to have a group to read & discuss it together. And maybe having a group would provide the motivation to actually read it. But when we dropped it as an option, I put it back on the study bookshelf, thinking maybe some other time.
But then I was thinking about work/lunchtime reading. Since Lent ended, I’ve slowly gotten back into the habit of spending my lunch surfing the web somewhat aimlessly. And it leaves me feeling discontented and out-of-sorts for the rest of the day. And I realized work/lunch is a perfect opportunity to read bigger, more “difficult” books as opposed to before bed as 1. I’m awake, so I understand it better & I’m not having to re-read what I was half-asleep for the prior night 2. it’s easier to read a big book sitting at my desk than lying in bed, 3. time is limited, so I can take it in chunks, 4. I leave it on my desk & don’t bring any other options, so I have no choice but to keep reading every day. So I decided — let’s try to tackle that big classic on my own and see what happens.
Do you have a guess what it is? If you check the bookshelf regularly, you may have noticed when I added it.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky — it’s a new translation that is supposed to be fantastic. (Not having read any other translation, or the original, I’ll take their word for it.) I’ve been reading it for 2 weeks now, and while I have to keep a list of characters next to me to keep them all straight (Russian names are shortened or made into nicknames in ways that are not always intuitive to English readers), it’s not bad at all. Actually it is quite good & engaging. I don’t have much to say about it yet, as I feel like I’ve barely started (at 800+ pages, it’s a LONG book), but I’ll share more as I keep reading.
