New and old treasures

The Gospel for Evening Prayer is about treasure.  Treasures in the field and treasures in the house, even treasures from the sea caught in a net.  There is a householder who goes to retrieve old and new treasures upon understanding, or perhaps as he begins to deeply reflect on the meaning made available to him through the Gospel.  Why old and new treasures?

"Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto [who hat been made a disciple to] the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." (Matthew 13:52)

Now with the light of Christ, the old treasures look dear.  They are compatible with the new treasures.  The old and new work together.  The new makes the old complete.  The old is fulfilled in the new.

Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D.

As my homilist observed this morning, "Who can know about God unless he chooses to let us know?"  The book of Job puts it this way, as the Lord says:

"Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" (Job 38:2)

It has been revealed to us, this Catholic Faith, as says the creed of Saint Athanasius.

"And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance."

This is the God "who is there" (F. Schaeffer), not the god or gods or even nothingness that we might suppose, or  "project."  We do not have a choice in the matter.  And this God has come out of obscurity to reveal Himself in three Persons.

ymbren

I read this is very likely the etymological origin of the word "Ember" as in "Ember days."  Ymbren, Anglo-Saxon for something cyclical, a circuit, or a revolution.  There are four sets of Ember days throughout the year, relating to the four seasons - and thus predating or at least originally independent of the Christian faith.  Today is the last of the three Ember days following the feast of Pentecost.  This past Wednesday was the first, the second was yesterday, Friday.  Ember days are intended to be days of fasting and prayer.

Three measures of meal

Why three measures of meal?  I have read that this is a large quantity of meal and would make many loaves of bread - much more than would be required for an average family.

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." (Matthew 13:33)

The leaven affects the whole.  From the book of Exodus (Exodus 13) and 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5), leaven seems to have a bad reputation, or at least it is on the negative side of the analogy.  Here is it compared to the kingdom of heaven.  This is a beautiful parable that merits reflection.  Like the mustard seed parable which precedes it, it reminds us of the importance of tiny actions that have far-reaching consequences.  It reminds us, too, with this domestic setting, of the blessed pleasure of baking bread.

What we eat

Saying the "blessing" at table is actually more than just a pleasant (maybe old-fashioned?) convention.  We are truly asking for the sanctification of the food and drink we consume.  The blessing is serving a real purpose.

"For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." (1 Timothy 4:5)

Another point - thankfulness.  To summarize: it is "good" if we are thankful and ask God's blessing.

Humility, contentment, and wisdom

In these words of The Proverbs is contained wisdom that we all learn too late or not at all:

"Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices [feasting] with strife." (Proverbs 17:1)

 "A dry morsel and quietness therewith" is a phrase you should consider committing to memory.  Being content with little is not a lack of commitment to life, although it may indicate a lack of a certain kind of vain ambition.  Humility is understanding who you are and acting in accordance with that understanding - "quietness".  It is interesting that the proverb does not condemn a house full of plenty, but nonetheless associates it with strife.

Dixi, Custodium

We return again to the great Psalm of the frailty, brevity, and vanity of life, Psalm 39.  The acute and immediate sense of one's very existence and its transient nature are articulated in a deeply resonant way in this Psalm.  The Psalmist says his "heart was hot" within him, and while "musing the fire burned."

"Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth..." (Psalm 39:5)

I am reminded of Sartre's Nausea whose protagonist Roquentin is overwhelmed with his own visceral sense of existence.  The Psalmist in my view provides the canonical form for this deep sentiment that echoes through human history and philosophy.

An important exception

On this first day after the feast of Pentecost, we are reminded in Evening Prayer of a somewhat mysterious and sobering aspect of our relationship with the Holy Ghost.

"...all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men." (Matthew 12:31)

In our culture, blasphemy is a word with little serious meaning.   Blasphemy is typically expressed in language, isn't it?   We have just observed at Pentecost the divine importance of language to humanity.  Language enables understanding - itself a mysterious concept.  What do we mean when we say we understand each other?

Is this sin perhaps the sin of clear understanding, yet rebuking the meaning of the One sent as the Comforter?  To have the certain knowledge of the truth and still be defiant?  To refuse the comfort, the consolation of the divine Person.  To have perfect clarity of the consequence and yet act as if one were a challenger-god?  One wonders what kind of soul would be capable of such a sin.

White and Red

Today is the Feast of Pentecost, sometimes referred to in Anglicanism as Whitsunday, likely etymologically derived from "white sunday," white for the Holy Ghost.  The liturgical color for today is, however, red.  Red represents the flames above the heads of the Apostles as well as perhaps the blood of martyrs.  This is a complex feast day with many meanings, including, some say, the founding of the church.  It is at least a significant waypoint in the history of the church.  This is a day when the importance of human language is called out and its role in communicating the power of God.

"...and great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33)

Kneeling vespers

In this year of our Lord 2010, the Orthodox, Anglican, and Roman calendars have aligned through the season of Pascha.  Tomorrow is the feast of Pentecost for all three.

"...after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord." (Leviticus 23:16)

 In Orthodox practice, the vespers service for the eve of Pentecost is sometimes known as the "kneeling vespers."  The fifty days of Pascha (also known as Easter), the standing days, are over.  We now kneel, receiving the Paraclete, the one who consoles and comforts; the one who, with the Father and the Son, completes the Holy Trinity.

Time redeeming

You may come to a point in your life where these words of the Psalmist will deeply resonate:

"...do not take me away in the midst of my days..." (Psalm 102:24)

Our exposure to far-off grief and suffering through rapid media encounters notwithstanding, most of our lives are spent in a daily routine much closer to boredom and entitlement than the sentiment articulated in the Psalm.  But the psalmist has it right.   Saint Paul warns soberly that we should walk "circumspectly...,"

"redeeming the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:16)

We number our days for good purpose - to redeem that time for the wisdom granted us and the good works appointed to us.

The elevated purpose of speech

We talk a lot.  It is considered good to talk; anti-social not to talk.  People are talking to us or at us all day long.  The television and radio are talking.  People on cellphones are talking.  Saint Paul warns against talking that is "corrupt" and exhorts us to edify:

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (Ephesians 4:29)

My guess is that we oftentimes violate this very good advice by simply trying to be socially acceptable, to fit in, to not hurt the other's feelings.  There are those rare few, however, who can speak with edification in mind - and do so with complete sincerity and in a way that "lifts" the conversation.  Are you one of those?

The measure of the gift

Saint Paul writes:

"...unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of God." (Ephesians 4:7)

First of all, let's assume that the "us" in this clause can refer to us - specifically, you.  You have received something that is measured out for you only, a gift that fits you perfectly like a bespoke suit.  But it is better than what a tailor can do, even a very good tailor, because God is the measurer.  God the Tailor who already knows the measurements.  Who better than the Creator to know what fits?  It is like the yoke that is "easy" to bear - it fits perfectly.  God's knowledge allows this measure to align with those good works He has chosen for you to do.  This gift - your gift - is comfortable.

Yet you may be wondering why is it that you don't feel comfortable in life.  Perhaps you have not accepted or acknowledged this gift.  Perhaps you are ignoring it.  You may think this is a gift that should have "fixed" the things that are broken in your lives - if you have something broken in your life.  Well, it is even possible that some of that brokenness is part of the gift; or, at least the brokenness is not far from some grace that overcomes the brokenness.  You may even feel you don't need such a gift.  Everything is just fine; no need of any such gift.

Maybe the peace provided by the gift passes understanding.

We number, that is we consider, we mark, we study, we comprehend (all kinds of measures) our days in order to apply our hearts to wisdom.  What is the grace measured out to you in each of these days?  Grace intended precisely for you, not someone else.  Grace measured exactly for you.  How could you not use such a gift?

What does God see?

A day or so ago, we brushed up against the topic of "seeing" as used in scripture.  This was from the perspective of our various "seeing" interactions with our Lord.  This idea that we as men and women have limits to our seeing and hearing is often encountered in scripture.  Today, we have a perspective on what God sees.

"...the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (I Samuel 16:7)

This observation is made in the context of God selecting David (our beloved Psalmist?) as his anointed. You should all take heart, too, since God was so inclined to anoint a musician.

Practice

A good book that all of you should read at some point is one written by a 17th century French monk known as Brother Lawrence.  This Discalced Carmelite (no shoes for them) probably spent most of his time peeling potatoes and sweeping floors. The book is called "Practicing the Presence of God" and it's quite famous.  It is really a short, sweet book -  and a beautiful and powerful one.  The book re-states what scripture tells us today:

"...for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:9)

 What a remarkable idea - simply be aware of what is true!

Who can see?

It is another one of those difficult things for us to comprehend as men and women of any time or culture, but perhaps especially in our contemporary western culture.  We, whom God loves, have been given sufficient grace for our purposes (notably our salvation).  But in these last days (as the Gospel is proclaimed on Earth and has been for over 2,000 years) not all "see" equally and some not at all.  This does not seem especially egalitarian or democratic.  One may immediately think of this as evidence that Holy Scripture portrays a pre-Enlightenment, post-naturalistic, non-meritocracy.  Jesus turned and spoke to his disciples.

"...and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see." (Luke 10:23)

Scripture gives us special insight into many relationships and not all of these relationships are equal.  Everything in Holy Scripture is meaningful to us and "speaks" to us, as they say, but it should not be forgotten that the early disciples - whether the twelve Apostles (or eleven) or the seventy (or seventy-two) disciples (or Apostles as they are sometimes called by the Eastern church) - had special communication with our Lord.  We in the year of our Lord 2010 should be grateful that these special relationships existed as they are part of the mechanism of transmission for the Good News which we indeed can "see" - and are blessed by seeing.

Measure of days

Our blog takes inspiration from Psalm 90.  Today the reading returns us to this great Psalm.  We have been given a "measure of days" as the BCP puts it.

"Make us glad according to the days wherein thou has afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil." (Psalm 90:15)

 Is our life only a pouring out of affliction?  Has its content been through the years only evil?  It is true there is evil in our days, and affliction.  We share our existence with evil.  Why would we want to be glad about God measuring out affliction for us?  Or is this really what the Psalmist is saying?  The Psalmist is giving voice to measure upon measure of truth.  The truth of God's holiness is a cause and a category unto itself, or rather one that is beyond category and cause.  It is.  God the Father's actions are holy* and we do no other worthy action ourselves than be glad in God's actions, to acknowledge that God has acted.  The sharp bitterness of life itself is a gift.  We are tempted to think that we are like God (or some "equivalent") sometimes, or that God should be like us.   The Psalmist is saying (I propose) that God is God and man is distinct as His creation, that this divine relationship of Creator-created is true.  That in itself is close to the pinnacle of human understanding. Closer still to the summit is our hope.  We look for a hope - and that is our comfort, beyond this affliction.  Through our Savior and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, we have learned to have this hope.



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*The presence of evil in this world, the City of Man, in the context of God's holiness is addressed in a similar manner. We as humans lack the ability to comprehend the greater context, the true context of God's holiness.  It is as if we are given two pieces of evidence.  The first is our faith which is true.  The second is the world around us which is true.  Paul writes famously in Romans 8:28 that "all things work together for good to them that love God."  One way to think about this, perhaps, is that our first truth, that of faith, encompasses, swallows up the second.  There are not two truths, of course, only One.

Hannah

Hannah's song in the first book of Samuel enumerates reasons for thankfulness - reasons that are not trivial.  Hannah of course was giving thanks for the birth of her son, Samuel, but the thankfulness she shows goes well beyond the birth of a single child.  Or perhaps the birth of a single child encompasses these matters itself, matters of life and death, the state and the very existence of humankind.  In the words of the KJV, she admonishes early in the song:

"...let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed." (I Samuel 2:3)

Wisdom spoken through the words of a mother.

Ancient of days

Today we mark the Ascension of our Lord to heaven.  Today's Old Testament reading comes from the book of Daniel.

"...and, behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days..." (Daniel 7:13)

This expression, Ancient of days, calls to mind a contrast to our numbered days and the wisdom of Him whose days are without number and whose wisdom is beyond measure.

Exsurgat Deus

Today is Ascension Eve.  We anticipate the ascension of our Lord, recalling the transferring of Elijah into the heavens, but immeasurably more glorious, more meaningful, and more complete.  The Psalm appointed for Evening Prayer begins:

"Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered" (Psalm 68:1)

Exsurgat Deus!

Rogare

This is the second of the three rogation days before Ascension Day.  There is a curious and beautiful, definitely agricultural, tradition associated with these days.  Instead of "Earth Day" for those disconnected from the earth trying to return, these are days of deep connectivity with the earth, in a remarkable juxtaposition with our Lord's ascension.  The etymology of rogation is from the Latin rogare, to ask.  In the office of the Monastic Diurnal, the antiphon on the Benedictus refers to Saint Matthew:

"Ask, and it shall be given you..." (Matthew 7:7)

Go to the Lord in prayer and ask.

Determination

The psalmist often poses questions and explores scenarios that are on the edge of human capacity to apprehend.

"Has God forgotten to be gracious?" (Psalm 77:9)

In the face of great trouble or doubt the Psalmist digs into the existential darkness.  He answers his own question with determination and commitment:

"I will meditate on your acts and ponder your mighty deeds." (Psalm 77:12)

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And - today is the first in three Rogation days in preparation for Ascension day.  Ask for God's mercy.  Meditate on His creation, the Earth, and consider his mighty deeds in rain and sunshine.

We should all ask for this

We are vexed with many questions in this life.  There are puzzling questions.  There are ideas and actions that seem right and wrong almost at the same time.  Where do we turn?  I thought about this when I heard one of you asking a question today.  I didn't know the answer.  At least I didn't know an uncomplicated answer.  I had to ask myself, how would I learn the answer?  The chief means available to us for such things are prayer and the reading of Holy Scripture.  Today, James tells us to be joyful when we face trials - the KJV says "temptations."  Why?  Because these trials test our faith and produce endurance - or, as the KJV has it, patience.  We find ourselves in yet another variation of the "prove all things" theme.  This time, though, the proving is a trial, a test.  But there is some good news.  If we want to know how to resolve a dilemma, God will equip us with wisdom.  Scripture in this case tells us God will give us wisdom if we just ask for it.

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God...and it shall be given to him." (James 1:5)

We should all ask for this.

Prove all things - revisited

This is well worn advice, but I think it is rarely followed.  Don't follow the crowd.  Be your own person.  The advice is often closely associated with self-reliance and independence.  We in contemporary American society hold these things as virtues - or at least we tell ourselves we do.  It is my observation that those who are truly independent are quite unusual and their independence manifests in ways that are either not widely approved of, or, more often, subtle and not easily observed.  Popular wisdom is quite powerful and appears to reinvigorate itself with some variation of an old theme each generation.  It does so more frequently now that so many of us on earth (but not all) are so media-interconnected.  True independence, though, has another look to it.

"...strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14)

Yes, this is a warning that following the crowd is likely to lead you astray.  The corollary of "being your own person" does not follow in quite the way it does in popular culture, though.  This is another admonition to prove all things, to seek that objectivity that is available to us.  It is not self-reliance in the simplistic sense - nor is it "crowd-reliance."  What is it, then?  It is a testing against true standards.  It is using our rationality and freedom to know and to choose the gate that meets those standards.  Prove all things.  Prove with confidence and assurance.  Freedom allows us many choices.  The way is narrow that leads to life.

Friday diversion - Montaigne and Cicero

This Friday diversion really returns to the topic of two days ago, Prove All Things, but from a secular writer's perspective.  In his essay Of Repentance, Montaigne addresses the topic of virtue, vice, and conscience and calls upon the great Latin orator Cicero:

"You must use your own judgment...With regard to virtues and vices, your own conscience has great weight: take that away, and everything falls." Cicero quoted by Montaigne

Saint Paul tells us to prove all things relating to our thoughts and actions.   Neither Cicero, Montaigne, or least of all Saint Paul are appealing to our own ability in isolation to judge what is good or bad.  We are reminded in all cases of a greater objectivity that is outside ourselves.

Montaigne makes a further observation about our inner life, yet another facet to this admonition of proving all things:

"...but to be disciplined within, in his own bosom, where all is permissible, where all is concealed - that's the point." Of Repentance, Montaigne

Prove all things.

My charge as I read it in the Psalms

Today I read in the Psalms my hope for you my children:

"Now also when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation..." (Psalm 71:18)

Let me make known to you what I can, my children.  I am writing to you, my children.  Will you read what I write?

Prove all things

I have written, or at least implied, how Christianity is an objective way of looking at things.  To be more specific, while it recognizes the limitations of human understanding, while it encompasses essential elements of mystery, it is founded on objective truth in the common way we have always understood objective truth.  It is founded on empirical evidence.  Certainly that empirical evidence is also unfolded by theory - theology I suppose is the "theoretical" aspect of Christianity.  That is in the same sense that physicists use the terms.  The data are the data - as long as your measurements are sound.  The explanation of the data requires theory and theory is buttressed by evidence as well as self-consistent logic.  Scripture exhorts us to do nothing less in our life of faith.

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

Paul implies that we should passionately dig into the way in which we conduct ourselves and the specific guiding principles we use in life.  (And of course we should have guiding principles.)  These things should be tested with the instruments of faith - through reason.  Our faith is a gift, but that does not mean the truth itself is not objective.  When we know then what is good, what a joy it is to hold it fast; it is a solemn duty, but a happy one.

Bearing all iniquities

The high priest Aaron was instructed by the Lord to confess the sins of the people over the head of the live goat and then the goat was to be driven into the wilderness bearing all these iniquities.

"And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." (Leviticus 16:22)

The philosophical anthropologist Rene Girard and others have discoursed about something called mimetic desire which leads to a mimetic contagion contaminating a people with violence, darkness, and sin.  The projection of these sins onto an individual or a beast (the scapegoat) to be cast out is a resolution to this condition.  There are clear analogies to the death on the cross of our Lord.  The difference, as Girard points out, is that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, proving His innocence - and saving those who believe.

Measures of human suffering

Two of the psalms in the psalter for today call to mind the pouring out and flowing of an existential substance.  A flow beyond human measure, yet encompassing the measure of man.  How else can I say it?  Furthermore, these psalmist measures provide a fascinating contrast one to the other.

"You have noted my lamentation; put my tears into your bottle;" (Psalm 56:8)

Well, yes, the tears each of us has cried are not infinite in a purely physical sense.  But the grief we have felt is beyond our own measure.  The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his enemies, our enemies, the Enemy.

"Let them vanish like water that runs off..." (Psalm 58:7)

God captures our grief and accounts for it.   God dismisses the evil causes of grief to oblivion.  It is poured out not to be recovered.

The sparrow finds a house

Rightly or wrongly I identify with the lonely sparrow in the psalms.  An outsider, hopping and chirping, tilting its head, flitting away startled; hoping to escape notice from whatever threatens.  Today the psalmist says the sparrow has found a house:

"Yea, the sparrow hath found an house and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars..." Psalm 84:3

The goings on of the world continue, but we have comfort in the house of the Lord, and a place to carry out the essentials of life.

Darkness and light

Psalm 139, Domine, probasti, explores the the omnipresence of God.  Two verses from this psalm are often read at Evening Prayer.  I read them almost daily.

"If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light around me turn to night," Darkness is not dark to thee, O Lord; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to thee are both alike." Psalm 139: 10-11

 These are comfortable words.  How often do I say those words, "surely the darkness will cover me"!  The Lord, creator of light (Genesis 1:3), is not overcome by darkness.   The Psalmist earlier states, in the words of the modern BCP, how the Lord presses upon upon us from behind and before.  The Lord's presence is intense and sure.  As children we are sometimes afraid of darkness; in youth, darkness can seem to be a friend; in despair, darkness can seem to be our only companion - even the Psalmist says so.  In old age, we once again fear the darkness.  But the Lord is beyond light and darkness, comprehending all.  And the Lord is with us.