Meditation XVII -- What to Wear

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

I have spent much of my Christian life loving the verse that comes after this, where Peter tells us that God will exalt us if we act humbly. Or at least that is the vision I have given myself of that verse. Then I note He cares for me, and that I need to be "sober" and watchful because the devil is out to get me. Or at least that is the vision I have given myself. I do not think these ideas are to be negated, but perhaps I should see a new layer to the fruit of this epistle to God's church.

What does it mean to "clothe" ourselves? Certainly it is more than the Christian t-shirts and jewelry I can easily put on, and which I can easily shed or rationalize when the "message" contradicts my action. The Bible is filled with metaphors about clothing. We wrap ourselves in garments, primarily to protect us from what is outside, and to cover parts of ourselves not suitable for public viewing. Way down on the reasons for wearing any clothes should be a desire to attract. It is not that beauty or the art of fashion is evil in God's eyes, but that these are less important.

I have no word or understanding how to put on such clothes as humility. I must consider what humility is. It is more than acting humble, though I see the value of trying such until humility is a part of the being and not merely crudely shaped behavior. It is not self-debasement, or dishonesty about one's gifts or talents. The only idea of humility I can understand is one which looks at the self in honest perspective. I may be very good at something, and judged by others as the best, but if so, it is only because of what God has given me. It is not humble to pretend the talent doesn't exist. It is sin to fail to acknowledge the Source of that talent. It may well be death to forget how quickly it can be taken away.

To say that "God opposes the proud" may well conjure visions of an angry Lord waiting to smite any who refuse to think with some child's view of humility. I know I have often thought in this verse of God being "against" those who do not think or act like me. But now, I cannot look at it this way. Oppose does not necessarily mean "against" (or "hates" as some have misunderstood). I wonder, instead, if I should not look at the word to mean "stands in the way of." I cannot speak for others, or certainly every situation involving proud individuals.But I can say that my own pride has often not only come before a fall, but kept me from standing at all. Perhaps God stood in my way, not to give me a barrier to bust through or an obstacle to navigate, but to wait out my stubborn self-kingship.

Let me not speculate on what it means for Christ to exalt me, but any lifting up without His Grace is doomed to be disastrous. Perhaps it is recent suffering -- suffering mostly from my own hand and head and not God trying to "push me down" -- that leads me to consider grace so highly. I know it has been the subject of my prayers more than ever in the past couple of years, maybe because it is the "daily bread" I have only begun to realize I need, and deep in my being really want.

Putting on a dress of humility may be uncomfortable at times. But the coat of Pride has been found wanting. It has contributed to nothing less than illness. If we want to be well, we must trust our Doctor.

Lord, help me to abandon my pride, and to wear the garments of humility. Cover me, God, and lead me in Grace. In Christ, Amen.

Lewis' Neglected Masterpiece

Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Of all the works in the C.S. Lewis canon, the one I think is most under-appreciated is The Screwtape Letters. In fact, I would say that this short, epistolary novel is also one of the most neglected literary works of the past century. I suspect it has flown under the radar because of a combination of two problems: On one hand there are those who refuse to see Lewis as anything but a spiritual teacher (though he would have scoffed at the idea, particularly concerning his fiction). On the other hand is the prejudice that modern literary scholars have toward Christianity. If it isn't Milton or Donne, they will have none of it, and even those two are eyed with suspicion.

The Screwtape Letters is a masterful tale of a senior devil (Screwtape) teaching his nephew (Wormwood) how to corrupt the person Wormwood is charged with drawing to Hell's Gates. This is done via what Lewis called "diabolical ventriloquism." Readers are reminded in the Preface that the devil is a liar, and should remember the book is satire--that Lewis himself is not advocating any such actions against the soul.

But because the book is satire, it is automatically pulled out of the hands of many modern readers who have had critical thinking surgically removed from their systems by politics, poor schooling, lousy instruction of the Bible, and a general distaste for reading of creative works spread by many sources. Thus, the book has been attacked by the religious and the anti-religious. References to Jesus Christ as "the Enemy" many bother those who have always considered Satan the nemesis. That the battle is over a soul many don't believe exists may be hard for others to take.

One could see the book as a sort of handbook on how people are drawn away from God, and thereby learn some sort of lessons from it. But this vision leaves the book looking like poor art, and merely a tool. We could see the book as a primer for those unacquainted with the Christian concept of sin. But then it would be merely an amusing anthropomorphic study. One might even look at the story as a portrait of fear and uncertainty during the tumult of war. But that only confuses those have no interest in looking within.

The Screwtape Letters does provide readers with a unique perspective on how the mind works, particularly the mind engaged in spiritual matters. Read in the right light, this book could appeal to people outside the Christian religion, and even those who are outside religion completely. However, it cannot, and should not be looked at as a definitive (or even partial) picture of Christianity or as a "witnessing tool." It helps the reader to know something of the basics of Christianity -- the story, not the doctrines -- but I don't think that knowledge is mandatory.

As satire, the humor in this book is likely to be lost on many readers. People looking for an easy to spot good guy versus bad guy tale or who are not used to the villain providing the narrative will have a very hard time laughing through this book. It is easy to forget that the most interesting characters are often the villains, and thus many cannot see their own foibles been lampooned, or worse, they may see them and instead of laughing at themselves, will be offended and toss the book aside.

As with a number of books by Mr. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters might be read considering its historical perspective. World War Two (called the European War by the author) is a backdrop for the story. Screwtape does comment on the war and differentiates it from other wars, and in fact differentiates this time in history from other times in regards to philosophy, education, and popular thinking. We could see the conflict as a metaphor for the spiritual warfare going on for the "patient," and also as a chaotic reminder of what it means to be "a house divided." I have always found it a little baffling and quite amusing that Screwtape keeps telling his charge not to get so excited about the pain and suffering caused by war, but at the end says that--spoiler alert you probably didn't need-- Wormwood has failed when the "patient" dies and goes to Heaven.

Included in many editions of this book is the fictional essay "Screwtape Proposes a Toast," written only a couple years before Lewis' death. Here the title character is not writing a letter, but giving a speech at the graduation celebration for the college where junior tempters are educated. The distinction made between Democracy as political idea (all are created equal) and democracy as philosophy ("I'm as good as anyone") is both hilarious and frightening.

The Screwtape Letters deserves greater recognition and attention. It might not be for everyone. But it should be attempted by most readers, and studied by a few.

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Meditation XXVI -- Accepting the Message

"I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

A great deal happens in this chapter from the Gospel of Luke. Jesus heals the servant of a centurion without seeing or touching him, all because the "outsider" who was said to love the Jews knew the power of God and understood the authority of Jesus. Jesus raises to life a man on the way to the tomb, the only means of support for grieving widow. He then answers the question of John about who He was -- though I wonder if the answer was not really meant for John's disciples. Later in the chapter we have Jesus trying to straighten the vision of his Pharisee host, by pointing out that the "sinner" attending to Him was forgiven "for she loved much."

But in the middle is Our Lord talking about the prophet John, and Luke's parenthetical phrase. Jesus tells those listening (and us if we want to hear) not only that John is fulfilling prophecy about the Christ, but also that as important as John is, those who are "least in the kingdom" are even greater. Then Luke notes the reaction: those who had been baptized by John not only accepted Jesus' words, but "declared God just." However, the religious leaders did not accept what Jesus said because they had not been been baptized by John.

Luke's phrase "rejected the purpose of God" is telling. The Pharisees and lawyers rejected God, not because they had reasoned against Jesus' arguments, but because they were not part of the group that had taken the step of being baptized. They certainly saw no need to publically acknowledge their sinfulness and participate in the ritual cleansing (not because they might have been against the ritual, but they surely weren't going to go to that wild man for it!). So again we see that truth and a desire for holiness play no part in the spiritual lives of these men, but whether or not the message comes from one inside their group.

Jesus said, "wisdom is justified by all her children." Some will accept only the reasoning of those in their churches, political parties, and cliques. And they will produce only more of the spiritually dead. Some will accept they are sinners and seek to be clean, seek God, wherever He is found. These are the sorts God built a Church (not church with a little "c") around. These are the ones for whom God builds a kingdom.

Lord, grant that we turn to You always, and that we hear Your Voice wherever You choose to speak to us. Amen.

Entertaining Story/Potential Missed

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ready Player One is a fine little story about young man in a virtual world trying to win a contest and trying to keep from getting killed, in the game and in the real world (which is strangely distant) in this book. From that description, it probably doesn't seem like much more than a novelized version of Tron, but the book is really much more exciting and interesting than I am making it out to be.

Ernest Cline does a good job drawing the universe and various "worlds" in the OASIS, where a contest/war is being waged for an item left by the creator of the OASIS. The player who finds it will become heir to the empire left by a ramped up Steve Jobs/Bill Gates/geek. In this book, that empire means pretty much the whole world, or what is left of it worth having. 

I'm told a movie of this book is in the works, and I'm sure, in the right hands, it could be a fine film. But I have some reservations. First, the author/narrator's obsession with the 1980s is, in a word, baffling. The story presents this decade as a golden age of all things artistic, when it was only a golden age for video games. References to terrible television shows and mostly (thank you, Rush) bad music, made me groan throughout the reading. Second, the out and out worship of James Halliday, creator of the OASIS, is disturbing. The protagonist (a teenager named Wade Watts) not only loves what the genius made and achieved, but even applauds his anti-social, psychologically destructive behavior. Had there been some sort of revelation that Halliday had realized that he was out of touch with his humanity, I might have been okay, but -- spoiler alert -- Halliday's approach to life is mirrored in the disciples who stumble only into their own human connections.

These objections are more about my personal preferences than the quality of the book. Ready Player One does suffer, just a little bit, with some of the stilted prose one finds in some first novels. And it reads, in some ways, like a formula road trip/buddy movie/coming of age story. But once the tale gets going, it really is an adventure. Wade Watts' quest is one that demands not only his considerable skill in gaming, but also requires him to learn about himself and how much growing up he has to do. He falls in love, of course, and has to figure out how his feelings connect to his goals. The obstacles Cline puts his character through (aforementioned 80s references aside) are clever and fun to read about. Of course, I was rooting for the hero, but I enjoyed watching as he worked to overcome his problems, not just by shooting bad guys, but by using his head. The part of the novel where Wade goes undercover was particularly engaging.

Chances are most readers will get more out the book than I did. Perhaps my disappointment is that novel could have been more than it is. Nonetheless, there is a lot of fun to be had in reading Ready Player One.

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Time and Learning--A letter to my students

If someone had invented a pill you could take or a drink you could consume that would pour knowledge into your heads, I suspect many of you would have already taken it, and would never need to take English. But until that happens, you will need to accept a very important idea: learning takes time. While there is no formula for how much time equals how much knowledge, I can say that a lack of time spent or time improperly spent has a great deal with how much you learn now and how much you will gain from that knowledge in the future.
 

I have seen a few of you addressing your attention to your cell phones (despite clear  rules against it). Yet none of the information of the course can be found there. Well, maybe not none. You might have an eBook version of the textbook, but other than that I can't think of anything you need the phone for in the short time class meets. The cell phone use happens during lectures and presentations, often by someone who asks me later to explain something I've just gone over. It happens during times of class I have devoted to research or writing, usually by people who run out of time to adequately compose and revise their essays or who complain that they could not find the information they needed. (Heaven forbid those students actually ask me to help them when they are stuck!)

I have seen some of you checking grades during class time. Now assuming you don't have a computer of your own or access to one (despite the hundreds of free use computers on campus), I can see where feedback on one assignment could help you with one you are working on. But come on! I see lots of people looking up grades only, but no feedback, all when they should be writing or while I am talking to the class. I see people looking up information for other classes. Could one of you explain to me how your grade on a history test will help you in my composition class? Could you tell me what your homework assignment in Sociology has to do the essay you are writing?

Very often, I see people reading. Now, as an English teacher, I cannot say reading is a bad thing. The problem is that people are reading material they should already have covered. They come to class unprepared, despite a clear schedule, and wonder why they fail quizzes or do poorly on assignments. They are rushing through the books hoping something will pop out at them instead of reading actively and thoughtfully ahead of time, and their essays reflect that lack of preparation. Some of you think I don’t know you are just trying to appear busy.

Of course, not everyone is guilty of these infractions, and if you are one of those who comes prepared, pays attention, and does her or his level best, making good use of the time and resources provided, then you should ignore what I've said above, pat yourself on the back, and keep up the good work.

But sadly, those students are the minority.

We are at a point in the semester where you have been given (yes, it is a gift) more time. Less class time is spent on lectures or discussion, and more is set aside for research and writing. You get to choose what to do with that time. I may seem to step away, but it is only to allow you to take what you have learned (or should have learned) and do your best (not my best) on the projects you have been assigned. I am a teacher, not a cop. That means, that when you have questions, I will do what I can to answer them and help you. When you turn in work that is less than what you are capable of, I will try to give you feedback to help you improve. I will not hover over you with a gun and force you to work.

You need to know that when you mess around with your cell phones, you are insulting your instructor.  You are saying that Facebook and texts are so much more important than your education and the people who have worked hard to bring you that education, you cannot wait an hour to pull them out of your pockets, purses, and backpacks.

You should know that when you use the computer for tasks other than what is going on in your class you have insulted the people who have made such technology possible. You tell them that your curiosity is more significant than the learning these technologies are supposed to develop.

You should be aware that when you are not prepared for class or spend your class time catching up, you are insulting your future employers. You are telling them that only your time is valuable, not theirs. You are saying that the attitude of "I'll get to it when I get it" is your philosophy of work and that the people who pays your wages should just suck it up.

Most of all, when you do these things, you insult yourself. You say that what you want to do right now is more important than the education you supposedly came here to receive. You put yourself away from the good discipline of learning to control your impulses, and you miss out on many of the rewards of a college education. You tell yourself, "I can always catch up."

 

But you rarely will.

 

Frailty and a Fallen World

Facing Nature by John Updike
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Best known for his fiction, John Updike was also a fine poet, whose verses bring the reader into the same universe as his prose. Updike here addresses themes of the body's frailty, how ages informs our vision of the flawed world, and our responses to all sorts of decay. His is an earthy and often humorous spirituality. These poems are also well crafted and accessible. This volume was a joy to read.


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Responding to Mercy

I'm not a fan of musicals. For the few I have been able to sit through, I have heard good music or seen a good story, and some have both, but I've never been able able to suspend enough disbelief to enjoy the genre as a whole. I have seen the fairly good Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush (non-musical) version of Les Miserables, but have not seen the musical on the stage. And the prospect of seeing the famous "Les Mis" after reading the book last year did scare me. Why would I want to experience such a rich and powerful story hampered by people belting out songs designed more to show off the voice than to advance the narrative?

But I found this movie -- all two and a half hours of it -- riveting. Sure, a few of the subplots are left out or minimized, but most of the story is left, and director Tom Hooper does a great job holding it all together. The music is moving, and the acting marvelous, and on and on so forth. You can read better analysis of those elements of the film elsewhere, so I'd rather focus on what intrigues me about this production.

I was awestruck with the stark look of some of the songs where the character is singing in front of a bare background with a single object to balance the frame in a visual sense while tilting the picture in a metaphorical sense. For example, Javert (Russell Crowe) sings with a statue of an eagle in the scene, which is appropriate because he represent the obsessive devotion to the law and the presumed -- and oppressive -- order it provides. Anne Hathaway, as Fantine, bares her soul and most of her hair and ragged clothes in singing the beloved "I Dreamed a Dream," focusing not only on the unfairness of her plight, but the emotional poverty she has been driven to. Perhaps Mr. Hooper is a bit heavy-handed. I don't care.

This story is about much more than good triumphing over evil. When I first read the book and at the beginning of the film, I had the sense that the story was about the how good can transform even people we might think have valid reasons to see the world through bitter eyes, such as Jean Valjean and Fantine. But the film and the book are about mercy, not only the showing of mercy, but the varied response to it. Valjean is forever changed by the bishop's decision, and responds by trying, humbly, to be that "better man." On the other hand Javert is twice shown mercy by Valjean and his inability or unwillingness to accept that mercy proves to be his real downfall.

I'm sure there are flaws in this movie that people who know much more about the art of film-making and musical theater can point out. However, this is the first time I have actually felt a musical should win the Oscar. Les Miserables is not merely an enjoyable movie; it can be a compelling experience.

Flash with Little Fire

A Flash of Inspiration: A Collection of Very Short Stories by Indie Authors by Helmy Kusuma

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I love flash fiction, short-shorts, twitter fiction, whatever you call it. There is something terrific about a tight, terse story. A good piece is like a punch in the gut or a flower in the barrel of a gun. Something visceral happens to the reader, as it does when a poem or painting makes one do more than smile at the cleverness of the artist.

And I wanted to love A Flash of Inspiration, a book composed by members of a Facebook group of independent writers. Independent writers should get more attention than they do, and a book like this could help. But it doesn't help.

Flash fiction should come across as natural, like fine conversation. It should not, however, read as if it was written in a flash. While there were some startling and well crafted pieces in this book, most were more potential than finished stories. That is, they could be good with more polish and care about language and images.

Many of these stories relied on shocking or surprising endings. That worked for a few, but for several the endings seemed more gimmick than gravitas. Not that I expect all seriousness. Laughter has heft too and great value.

These writers can write. The question is can all of them revise?


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Small, but very much alive

A Blackbird Sings: a book of short poems by Fiona Robyn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Anthologies of poems need introductions where simple volumes of a poet's work generally do not. I tend to roll my eyes and sigh in pain when a poet in particular feels the need to spend more than a couple of sentences explaining and/or defending her/his work. However, anthologies need a few words. This is even more true it seems when the collection is based as much on philosophy as form, as in the case of A Blackbird Sings. On the other hand, I wonder how much is too much. Compared to how much actual poetry is in this book, I am tempted to say the editors might have given us more than necessary. At the same time, I am hard pressed to decide what needs cutting.

As for the poems, most are quite a delight to read. Much of the aforementioned philosophy is about the poet taking a single still moment to write about, much like the ancient haiku, but with more vivid imagery and less reliance on rigid season words. Though a handful of pieces were a bit too cliched or wordy for my tastes, most leap off the page as if to prove the still life is the only real life.

The closing part of the book is a short instructional exercise in writing small stones, the type of short poems in the collection. This is not only for poets themselves, for any who recognize the need to slow down and observe the wonder of the world, if only a few moments of the day. I really don't think this is necessary for the book, yet I suspect some readers will be grateful for the information.

Overall, A Blackbird Sings is a reminder that poetry is alive and can transform the open heart.

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Not Just a Survival Story

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The narrator of Life of Pi tells us that his story will make its hearers "believe in God." I'm not sure any story can quite live up to that. However, this novel's journey certainly isn't limited to what the protagonist endures at sea.

The novel is divided into three sections. Each is named for a place, which is a bit ironic, since the protagonist's sense of place has been disturbed by the events of his life. In the first section, "Toronto and Pondicherry," we meet Pi as the adult looking back over his life and story. He tells about his desire to learn about religion and how he become Christian, Muslim, and Hindu at once. This part provides most of the comic part of the story, but also lets us in on what sort of person young Pi is before the tragedy that marks his life.

Part Two, "The Pacific Ocean," is the longest part of the book. It tells of the accident which brought Pi to be lost at sea with Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger. (On board the lifeboat is also a severely injured zebra, and orangutan, and a hyena, but they don't last long.) This is where the narrative really takes off, as one might expect. Having no nautical training or knowledge of survival skills, I cannot tell how realistic this adventure really is. However, Martel's narrator is so detailed about what he does to fashion a raft, catch turtles and fish to eat, and training the tiger, that I could not help but believe it all was true. The prose here is striking and vivid, better than the first section, the reader left to believe on the story's own merits.

The last section is called "Benito Juarez Infirmary, Tomatlan Mexico." It is here where Pi, after 227 days lost at sea, finally finds civilization. While recuperating in a hospital, he is visited by two men representing the Japanese company who owned the downed ship. They do not believe his tale of survival with a tiger and there is an interesting argument about what it means to believe. Pi offers a different version that seems more plausible, but even darker than what readers are likely to think actually happened. At this point, I'm not sure whether we are supposed to choose which version is real. I also cannot decide whether I like that an alternate story has been offered or why.

I can say that for most people the middle section of Life of Pi is going to be the part of the story that most readers will hang on to and remember. But the other two sections are important and keep this from being a mere adventure story. Without them, we only have an incredible physical journey. And most as most of our philosophies and religions teach us, the body is only one segment of the self.



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Recognizing The Beautifully Absurd

Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Tenth of December, George Saunders’ new book, is overwhelming. Reading these stories sometimes gives the effect that one is being pelted with foam bricks. You blink and jump at first because you realize you are being assaulted, but then you realize thrower isn’t trying to injure, just get your attention. That isn’t to say that cumulative effect isn’t painful, even though you pretend everyone is just playing.

"Victory Lap" is a bit confusing, not so much because of the three different points of view, but because it is not clear whether the central action of the story is a rape, a killing, or both or some other type of assault. Perhaps it doesn't really matter. One point of view is from the young girl who has been assaulted. Another is from the attacker. For me the most interesting point of view was from the neighbor boy who seems to have a crush on the girl and who has witnessed some of the event, but we are not quite sure what.

In "Sticks," a pole in the yard become where and how a father expresses what is on his failing mind. Like so many of Saunders' tales, it is both whimsical and sad.

"Puppy" is about a "family mission," led by a hopeful mother to get rid of a family dog it seems only the father doesn't want. The narrator says, "Love was liking someone how he was and doing things to help him get him better." This is a powerful story about the conflict inherent in trying to control one's environment as one gives in to the need for companionship, a theme I sensed from many of Saunders' stories.

Convicted murderers become participants in experiments on behavior and drugs in "Escape from Spiderhead," an engaging and disturbing story. Its tone is well-controlled, and the climax scary and a little beautiful at the same time. This is followed by another story with the absurdity of authority as a principal theme: “Exhortation.” Here a boss tries to encourage his underlings, via memo, to take a more positive attitude and stop second-guessing those in charge. Both stories are comic and tragic, revealing the logical conclusion of the Peter Principle.

In “Al Roosten,” a middle-aged single man participates in a charity auction and thinks of the many ways life has held him down. This is followed by "Home," the story of a court-martialed soldier returns to his wacky, dysfunctional family. When the protagonist arrives, he finds his mother and her recent husband have been evicted and that he isn’t trusted around his sister’s baby. People continue to thank him for his service to the country at the same time they add to his misery.

In “My Chivalric Fiasco,” a man is put in a difficult position when he realizes his boss has had sex with his co-worker. The question of whether the affair was consensual keeps coming up, but never gets quite answered. The protagonist finds out that doing the right thing has negative consequences, not only for him, but for the person he expects to save.

The collection closes with the title story, about an imaginative boy who falls through the ice in a pond after thinking himself a hero to a young girl, and is saved by a man with cancer who is trying to kill himself. The story encapsulates a number of themes found throughout the book: the flights and limits of imagination, the ugly reality of being a hero, the fragility of all existence, and how closely we are connected to people whose existence we are unaware of.

George Saunders' fiction may take some getting used to, particularly for readers who want their stories to have clear cut, happy or sad endings or characters we can easily "relate" to. But like the work of Flannery O'Connor, what we find with Saunders is that the more we look at his characters, the more we recognize them. Then what passes as absurdity becomes frighteningly real.



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Just When America Seemed Lost to the Grouchs

America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Certainly any fan of the The Colbert Report is going to enjoy this book, a zany extension of the television show. But will it be funny to those who don't watch the program? I suppose that depends on how much the reader is comfortable with satire. More and more people seem to take everything literally (thank you arts cutting jerks and literature killing legislators!), so I can't be sure.

I can say that I thought the book was very funny. Perhaps not as hilarious as the show, but funny nonetheless. Chapters on Jobs, Healthcare, and Elections will have fans of the show rolling. But I also enjoyed the sections on Food, Wall Street, and the chapter that should have ended the book "Easy Solutions." (The hysterical "I Am Drunk" chapter, I think, should have been in the middle of the book instead of at the end.)

All in all, this was a fun read. If there is anything Americans really need, it's more laughter. America Again delivers plenty of that.

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Meditation XXV -- Weeping

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

The resurrection of Lazarus is one of the most significant parts of the Gospel. Here we see the power of God to triumph over what seems final: death. Here the story of Christ's ministry turns as the chief priests and Pharisees no longer can abide with Him as a prophet and miracle worker, but now see Him as a credible threat to them and their "way of life." Here we see the God who took on our humanity and wept with grief.

We see something else: God who is troubled by our pain. Not only the pain of losing a loved one, but the pain that causes us to set a face to God as say "If only." If only God had done something else or been with us or handled things differently. Some of us don't want to question God, but our hearts betray us. We know God could have kept us and others from that pain, no matter what that pain was. Some of us will say, "Well, God has a plan in this tragedy," but that is little comfort to one who has lost so much or one who suffers so greatly.

Jesus knew what He was going to do (and not do) when He heard of the illness of his friend. Even as He tried to explain His actions to his disciples, he was met with confusion. Sweet Thomas, best known for doubting, even said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him!" Jesus knew that God would be glorified. Jesus knew that Lazarus would be restored to his sisters and the mourners would rejoice. This did not stop Him from being "deeply moved" and "greatly troubled" by the hurting hearts and soul crushing grief he saw around Him.

God understands everything. Nothing escapes His grasp or His notice or His plans for the future. The Scriptures are filled with stories where God took the worst people and situations and made things right. (And most Christians are testimony to this as well.) However, it is also comforting to know, at least for me, that He also hurts along with me, not because I need to see the Lord suffer, but because He cares about my suffering, even as I wait for His redemption.

Jesus, You endured humiliation I could never stand up to and torture I could never endure. You fought death and won, and continue to win over and over. Thank You for this, and also for standing with us as we grieve and as we question and as we look to You for answers it is not time for you to give. Remind us of your Presence as we await the glorious resurrection to new life. Amen.

Sequel of Communion Songs

I enjoy still Frio Suite,the first collaboration by Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy, so when I saw they would release another project together, I was very excited. Both are certainly master craftsmen of their instruments, and the first outing proved to be a tremendous collection.

However, when I first listened to WaterSky, I wondered where the guitars were. Half this duo is one of the greatest guitar players in the world, and I could barely hear what was happening. Sure there were some nice arpeggios and tender effects, but where was the skilled fretwork?

Then I adjusted my chair and found better speakers, and the effect was like getting new ears. Keaggy does play some awesome guitar here, meshing a little better with Johnson's keyboard to create a smoother palette, one suitable for meditation or one's own pursuit of the holy and/or the artistic.

Another fine element to this musical panorama is the percussion and vocal work of keyboardist Jeff Johnson. WaterSky may seem at first to be minimalist with its percussion, but careful listening reveals a sense of a heartbeat in the wilderness waiting on the voice of God.

"When We Were Young" opens the disc with a gentle keyboard melody reminiscent of the No Shadow of Turning, Similtudes, and Born of Water days. Keaggy's guitar on this and other songs reminded me of the classic Wind in the Wheat album. "To Somewhere Else" and the title track follow in these footsteps, segueing wonderfully to create an impression not so much of the ending of one song and the beginning of another, but that attention has been refocused as the undercurrent of spiritual longing remains the same.

Songs like "Air and Light" and "Thermal Dance" are among those where Keaggy's acoustic guitar might seem overshadowed. However, the playing here is more a second layer of beauty, like walking in the woods one way to enjoy the sunrise, only to walk back and take in the sunset.

Two of my favorite songs on this project are "When Cicadas Marched" and "The Cody Incident." In the former, Keaggy plays a unique sounding instrument called a cumbus. On the latter, the duo plays like two haiku masters, bouncing the sharpened melodies off each other in a tune that feels both structured and improvised. Both also change the tune and tempo, like soundtracks for the listener's inner narrative.

"Waltzing By Moonlight" wonderfully closes this set of what I can only call communion songs. Listeners are invited to make their connections to the Creator or the creative force as they understand it, to be still and let the heart and mind do its work or be worked on. WaterSky is not so much a follow up to Frio Suite as it is a sequel for the spirit.

Noetic Prayer and Verse

Love's Immensity: Mystics on the Endless Life by Scott Cairns
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Love's Immensity is a wonderful collection of sayings, encouragement, wisdom, and observations from many of Christianity's most influential mystics, all put into accessible and often time powerful verse by Scott Cairns. While some of the poems are a bit prosy for me, the overall collection is delightfully edifying.

Making poems of these wonderful words is certainly more than putting line in breaks in, and Cairns handles the task with the aplomb he puts into crafting his own marvelous verse. These poems are not only quite readable, but they seem to take into account the need to be aware of ones breathing and focus, as they not only discuss, but become part of the noetic prayer of the reader who is open to it. For those outside of religious tradition, I think the poems offer unique insight into the world of the mind and spirit.

I believe I will return to this book several times. For anyone on a spiritual journey, this volume is a fine companion.

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Meditation XXIV -- Facts

it [Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

In the well-known parable, the prodigal son returns home to his father after throwing away his inheritance and coming to the realization not only that his wasted life has brought him to ruin, but also that his father's servants are fed better than he is. He makes up his mind to go home, and prepares a speech of repentance. The father, upon seeing his son, throws his arms around the profligate and kisses him. Then he orders a feast to be prepared and they celebrate.

But the older son, the one who had been good, obedient -- righteous, if you will -- was resentful. We are told "he was angry and refused to go in" when his father encouraged him to join the party. Perhaps the "good" son has a point. What sense does it make to celebrate an adult who acts irresponsibly, who worries the father and throws away what everyone else seems to have worked for so he can live in debauchery. Those are the facts, and the older brother cannot see past them to the truth.

We might note that Jesus tells his parable in response to the charge that He "receives sinners and eats with them." He had already told the Pharisees and scribes "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." Does God then ignore the righteous, those who do good? No. Remember the father says, "all that is mine yours." The father does not say the son who abandoned him, who insisted on his own way and has reaped the fruit of his sin, has done right. The father does not accept the wrong. But he is happy to have his child (and what parent doesn't see the child in the adult?) back safely: "for this your brother was dead, and is alive."

There are facts and there is truth, and we should not confuse the two. The good son could only see the wrong, and not the repentant sinner. And how can we share the good news of Jesus if we only see sin and evil, but not the greater truth of what was done to reconcile all of us with the Father?

Lord, whether we sin or live in Your grace, You are with us and Your Love never fails. It is stronger than the riches You bestow on us or the blessings we think we earn. Make us mindful of your mercy and help us to celebrate every face that turns to You. Amen in Christ.

Meditation XIII -- Mercy

Whoever is wise will ponder these things,
   and consider well the mercies of the Lord.

  

I am not, whether by nature or upbringing, an upbeat, look on the bright side sort of person. Even when good things happen, I sometime look for the other shoe to drop right on my head. I could ponder this about myself or explore all sorts of theories of personality, but that is for another time. For now, let's say I'm not alone in this way of seeing the world.

What I can say is that most people so much ask "Why me?" concerning their suffering that eventually all suffering becomes an indictment of God. God allowed this suffering or caused that pain for this or that reason. Eventually the question becomes "Why, God, did You do this? Why did You let this happen to me? To those innocent people? To those I love?" I can then speculate, as so many do, or merely give up on God. We can decide He's mean or that He does not exist.

I must be honest. I am not equipped to answer such questions. Perhaps I never will be.

And perhaps I will not be able to quite answer another question, one that may well be even more important: Why is God merciful?

You see, we may be programmed in some way to avoid even considering first that God has mercy. I know that when calamity comes for me or those I care about, my first thought is so often to ask God, "Why this? Why me? Why them? What are You trying to get across to us?" It takes some time for me to consider that even amidst my woes, God has had mercy on me. God has been kind and generous to me and to others (even those who do not acknowledge Him.). A truth unseen does not become less true; however its power may not be evident and even diminished.

Father in Heaven, open us to seeing your beautiful, even if painful, mercy. Let us, today, realize how good You have been, especially when the world seems so lost. Amen.

After reading

The cat spread on the book in front of me. That book was my Bible, but I suppose I was done reading for the day. I cannot say I was still contemplating the words, but I was not ignoring them either, but perhaps I was expecting them to bounce inside me until something happened. What happened was the cat, who lay across the open words and rolled onto his back and looked up at me expectant.
    I obliged. I stroked his fur and bent my head to listen to him purr. I made a humming sound as I breathed in.
    Then I coughed, and suddenly felt the rawness in my throat I realized had been there some time. The cough, slight though it was, shook the cat, and he looked at me a moment, I was sure with the pinched look of the irritated. But cats can't make that face, can they? Or do they was look so when they stop purring?
    I bent my head against his.face, feeling the loose fur mingling with my beard. The purr returned. I lifted the cat up to my chest and listened.
    There were no other sounds but the fan and the scrape of my feet against the floor. My coffee sat cooling in its cup, and the cat and I waited for God to speak.   

What if we prayed?

When there is a calamity on the news, we are almost never there, but so often the horror of it strikes so deep in us, that we feel that we are. When talking heads are arguing over hot button issues, we inwardly argue with or right along with them, even though if we were honest, much of our lives would not be different no matter what the outcome is.

It strikes me that most Christians are more interested in issues than Jesus. They seem more in a hurry to prove a point than to allow Christ to reign. Too many Christians have become issues evangelists and have forgotten the very basics of Christian life, the most significant of which is prayer.
 
I wasn't ten minutes into watching news coverage of the horrible mass shooting in Aurora, when I knew what I would see as I logged into Facebook. People on all sides of gun issues were posting their thoughts about how things would play out if there were more guns or less guns or if laws allowed this or that. Most of the posts, on both sides, were downright illogical and silly. Then of course came the mocked up pictures and "ecards" with supposedly pithy witticisms that were really the same tired bumper sticker cliches that are really, to use another cliche, preaching to the choir.
 
And that cliche is apt, at least from what I could see, because most of these posts, vitriolic and vicious, came from Christians.
 
The urge was strong that day to respond in kind, as so many others did, with my own "reasoning" and explanations of facts. And had I done so, I would likely have spent the day engaged in a number of conversations that would have gone ultimately nowhere and done no more than alientate me from those I care about, make it hard for me to sleep and distract me from the work I had to do.

I chose, instead, to call on my Christian brothers and sisters to pray instead of posting their opinions. I tried to spend time in prayer specifically about this situation and everyone (yes, everyone) involved and affected. I do not write this to say I am an exemplary Christian. I am well aware of Our Lord's mandate to avoid praying in public or publicizing my spiritual life.And I certainly don't want to offer up some sort of formula or panacea for world peace. But I offer the question that perhaps most of us should ask about the controversies and chaos in the world: What if, instead, we prayed?

 
What if, instead of knee jerk reactions to the terrible things that happen and the horrendous people who have perpetrated and/or allowed them to happen, we took a few minutes to pray for the victims and their families. What if, instead of crying "Monster" toward person who had done something evil, we prayed for those who have become our enemies (don't pretend Jesus didn't tell us to do this), and for the families and friends who must live with the tragedy in a way we could never understand. What if, instead of placing and proclaiming blame to a politician or group or idea, for the hurt and pain that has come into our lives, we prayed for healing and wisdom and strength. What if we prayed for our leaders (another command of Christ) instead of emptying our brains with rhetoric? What if we asked for God's will to be done and for us to be at peace with it, no matter what it is?
 
What if, instead of reacting to the posts and proclamations on Facebook, we turned the computer off and prayed, for those we want to "correct," and for those whose opinions we agree with and feel compelled to add our own take to?
 
What if we looked to and relied on the Holy Spirit we say we believe in instead of (or at least before) we went searching the internet or our Bibles for something that backs up our position? Perhaps we need not only to get the mote out of our eyes, but the cross in our hearts before we let loose words we know in our hearts come from anger and fear as much as conviction.

 
I am not saying these opinions are not deeply felt or even wrong. I do not, in any way, want to minimize the importance of the issues we hold dear. But the truth is, if we are really honest with ourselves, most Christians do not put prayer first and foremost in their lives and when they do it is the perfunctory morning/bedtime prayers that are essentially the same unless we feel a personal attack or something is going wrong in our personal lives. And that is a good reason to take these matters to God in conversation. If they are personal enough to spread our opinions, they should be personal enough to talk to God about. And to shut up long enough to listen. If Christianity is to have the impact in the world we think it should, then shouldn't we want God's perspective and not our own?

Once, when I was trying to teach a class about research, I had a student who proclaimed, "I don't need to do research. I already know what I think." Sadly, more and more Christians take that approach to life. They already think they are right (and well may be), but forget that "being right" isn't enough. All the rhetoric in the world is useless if we are not centered on Jesus and willing to be silent sometimes and let God do the talking.



What did praying do for me? One of the first things it did was put me in a place of calm, where my emotions were not ruling me. One effect was that I did not attack the people who were posting things I not only disagreed with, but felt were harmful and sometimes hateful. I realized after a while that they didn't need correction as much as they needed Christ at the center. I found it easier, a couple of days later, to find more rational conversations and took part in those. 

And guess what, the fact that I did not participate in those conversations right away did not change anything. The dead still were dead. The criminal was still a criminal. The issue of gun control was not, as if it could be, resolved. But I was in a better place to listen to those I disagreed with and to express my thoughts. Or to just let things go.

Caliban's Senryu

The Collected Poems: 1945-1975 by Robert Creeley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wanted so much to love this book, because I have read several Creeley poems here and there and enjoy so much his collaboration with Steve Swallow (Home). But I could only like some of this massive collection. Much of it left me baffled.

I suppose what troubles me is that some of what I enjoyed in reading this book might well be said of poems I could not find much to get excited about. I love the haiku-like quality of several of the poems, and it is the short, compact pieces that got to me. However, several of the short poems just seemed to sit there. No image. No idea. Just words.

Despite the musicality of Creeley's work, several poems seemed to jumble syntax for its own sake and repeat words for no particular reason. Maybe I just missed it. But a few of the poems made me feel that E.E. Cummings and Williams Carlos Williams had created a kind of Caliban, at times tender, but often mumbling semi-coherently.

I did find some beautiful love/erotic poems. And despite my harsh reaction to my first reading, I do think I will need to return to this book and certainly to other Creeley collections. I haven't given up that I'll find more jewels.

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