Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest

Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest. This has been a favorite directive of mine for years. It comes from a collect in the Book of Common Prayer. The entire thing goes like this: 

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 236)

As I walked this morning, this verse came to mind and I thought about it in a new way; and that is, it is a progression that begins with reading the Scriptures. Without having done that, the entire thing falls flat-and there is no going forward beyond that; no way to mark and learn without having read them first, and no way to read them if one hadn’t at least heard of them first. (Notice the hearing comes first in the collect.)

This reading bit I think is a stumbling block for many of us: Taking the time to read what God says is the beginning-and not the end, yes it is a goal-but the culmination of this goal is getting to know the author. That is where the “inwardly digest” bit comes in. when we eat-whatever we eat, that something becomes a part of us, it is a building block (hopefully and not total junk-but that is another discussion), it is incorporated into our very being-it forms our cells and so grows us into who we are.

This is the inward digestion that is being called for in this prayer; that the Word might so become a part of us that it is integral to who we are, how we think, what we do, and how we perceive and respond to the world around us. For today, I pray that I might READ, mark, learn and inwardly digest the Word of the Lord-and so get to know the author in a deeper way. Amen.

Bless and do not curse

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - (Romans 12:9-21 ESV)

What shall we do with this? After all, we are called to live the good news. There are many opportunities to do something other than this-to revile, to complain, to dishonor others with our thoughts, our words or our actions. I read today of a murder depicted live on Egyptian news television. The response was not along these lines-and you might say “who can blame them/us/me?” But, this passage calls for a different response-“bless and do not curse.”

I find it interesting here that God knows our spirit well enough to give us this point: in this way “you will heap burning coals on his head.” Is it in knowing how these acts of kindness will be received that our vindictive nature would be satisfied? Obviously, there is more to this passage than that. How do we reconcile the gut reaction of our inner selves with this call to “bless those who persecute” us?

Yesterday evening a friend and I were conversing about not having our attitude shaped by others, not having our day ruined by someone else’s bad behavior, even if it was directed at us-or perpetrated in our vicinity. Normally this doesn’t rise to the level of bloodshed-but of course as the news is full of violent incidents it can come to that-what does Paul say in this letter to the Romans? He says not to be “overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Here is a passage a bit earlier in Romans: (Romans 5:1-5)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

What I suggested to my friend was: you don’t have to have someone else’s bad day. What Paul says here is similar and in another instance in 2 Timothy 4:7 he says “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” It is this finishing that matters-it is this fight that matters. In the end…we need to keep our eyes on Jesus-and all else will fade out of focus. Yes, still there-but not as important as knowing Him and following Him.

MTH thoughts-on feelings, marriage and society

At the risk of placing myself on the “wrong side of history,” I find I agree with Robert George when he says that: “the conjugal conception [of marriage] has historically been embodied in our marriage laws, and explains their content (not just the requirement of spousal sexual complementarity, but also rules concerning consummation and annulability, norms of monogamy and sexual exclusivity, and the pledge of permanence of commitment) in ways that the sexual-romantic domestic partnership conception simply cannot. Still, having adopted the sexual-romantic domestic partnership idea, and seeing no alternative possible conception of marriage, they assume—and it is just that, an assumption, and a gratuitous one—that no actual reason exists for regarding sexual reproductive complementarity as integral to marriage.”

I am not ignorant of the fact that many people-friends and family alike will not agree with this understanding. When considering whether this concept that marriage is just about emotional attachments and sexual attraction I find I do not believe it is one of permanence nor do I see it as a positive force for our society. As someone who comes from a family with a long history of divorce or “serial monogamy,” and having suffered through –or chosen divorce myself rather than the alternative actions that could have been taken I fully understand this emotional need to be loved and to love-and the need to “feel” that certain something. But guess what, I think I was wrong. I think I got it wrong and that unless we as a country rethink these ‘norms’ we are going to be revisiting a continuum of emotional/societal problems that develop out of this new understanding of what is acceptable.

If it is always up to the individual to decide how they “feel” then situations are always going to be up for grabs. ‘I don’t feel like it’ is reason enough to do whatever we wish. When children are told to go to bed to get enough sleep, to eat their vegetables, to grow up healthy and strong-if they don’t feel like it-then what can our response be; Oh, ok, sorry to have imposed our will upon you? Patients who are aged and infirm and at risk of falling out of bed or injuring themselves cannot be placed in beds with four sides-in the off-chance that they do not wish to stay safely in bed-we cannot impose our will upon them either. If someone gets tired of going to work-if someone gets tired of getting out of bed? What of these? They just don’t feel like it. Are we going to reduce our society to one that only addresses feelings? Will ‘you hurt my feelings’ be an offense punishable by law? You may not see these examples as related, but I am afraid they are. When feelings are elevated to the highest order of consciousness we put reason and thinking and working and striving in the background of all relationships. And there are two examples in the Bible that are brought to mind in this case.

The first is from Judges 21:25: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

If we all do what is right in our own eyes then no one else matters-only ourselves-and our feelings. We are very dangerously close to this, in my opinion; not one of us wishes to give over any of our control-not one of us wishes to have a King over our lives. The 70’s understanding of “if it feels right-do it” rules everyone and everywhere. I overheard a conversation and the parting remark between the two people was “she had to do what was right for her” this was not questioned –it seemed to make perfect sense –but my assertion is that it is just more of the same attitude that individuality trumps everything else. Yes, obviously we are all individuals with different wants and even different needs-but total anarchy of individual obsession and self-satisfaction is not a healthy direction for a society. In community we all need each other, and we need to have disagreements and work through things, we cannot always have it our own way. We all need to be able to distinguish between needs and wants; sure I want a brand new fast car, or not to get up and go to work-or to have a flashy famous job or …you name it there are wants we all would like to have fulfilled; wants for more money or to be taller or to be slimmer or to…you get the picture.

The second verse is Psalm 106:15: And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. When is enough not enough? If we have whatever we desire-what more is there? Many times I have seen people who get depressed after striving for something because they no longer have to work to attain it. People who lived together for years-decades even get divorced shortly after getting married because it didn’t feel right. The papers are full of stories of people who have won the lottery, and go broke afterward-this comes from getting everything they desire-having the ability to fill their endless list of “I wants,” they are not able to reach a point where they can say I have enough, I am satisfied. I have said it is good to have dreams and desires-to want something that is out of reach and that needs to be worked for-the striving is in itself a good thing-the result is not the end-the striving is the point.

What these two verses may have to do with a redefined concept of marriage is that I see it as another way in which we elevate feelings to a higher level than anything else-and a way in which we put no lord over our life-other than those feelings-and in the end if God gives us our request-we may find what we receive is a leanness in our souls. The old adage is “be careful what you wish for…you may get it,” is I think applicable in this case.

References

George, Robert, (July 19, 2012) Marriage, Religious Liberty, and the “Grand Bargain” http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2012/07/5884