Imprisoned Splendor

Look! Here I am, caught up in the fragment of chronology, in this bit of bone and flesh and water which makes up my mortal body, and yet I am also part of that which is not imprisoned in time or mortality. Partaker simultaneously of the finite and the infinite, I do not find the infinite by repudiating my finiteness, but by being fully in it, in this me who is more than I know. This me like all creation, lives in a glorious dance of communion with all the universe. In isolation we die; in interdependence we live. -- Madeleine L'Engle

Glimpses of Grace: February 11; p. 37

The dividing line between Good and Evil

 An amazing quote from Solzhenitsyn in The Mockingbird web site:

As the enlightened among us demythify the chronicler’s stated justification for the mob’s violence, Sister Lange demythifies the greatest and most dominant myth in all of the world and in all of history: the myth of her own entitlement. This is the beginning of wisdom. I am reminded of Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag ephiphany, in which he:
…lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil.
If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

The Qualifications for God's Work

Slowly I have realized that I do not have to be qualified to do what I am asked to do, that I just have to go ahead and do it, even if I can't do it as well as I think it ought to be done. This is one of the most liberating lessons of my life.
Glimpses of Grace; p. 33; February 5

Spirituality Overview -- Following Jesus

When I speak about spirituality. I do not envisage something extraordinary -- a superior way of being a Christian that is open only to a religious elite or a more advanced stage in the spiritual life. I have in mind what is given to every faithful person. Christian spirituality is, quite simply,  following Jesus. It is the ordinary life of faith in which we receive Baptism, attend the Divine Service, participate in the Holy Supper, read the scriptures, pray for ourselves and others, resist temptation, and work with Jesus in our given location here on earth. By our practice of spirituality we are not raised to a higher plane above the normal, everyday, bodily life, but we receive the Holy Spirit from Christ so that we can live in God's presence each day of our lives as we deal with people and work, sin and abuse, inconvenience and heartbreak, trouble and tragedy. We are not called to become more spiritual by disengaging from our earthly life, but simply to rely on Jesus as we do what is given for us to do, experience what is given for us to experience, and enjoy what is given for us to enjoy.

Grace Upon Grace; p. 23

Our Teacher Pt. 2

But we have no need to climb up to heaven on our own. The triune God has come down to earth for us. His Son has become incarnate for us, embodied for us embodied creatures. He is now available to us through His Word. The Sacred Scriptures not only teach us about eternal life but also bestow it. We also have "the real teacher of the Scriptures," the Holy Spirit, who uses the Scriptures to teach us the things of God.

Grace Upon Grace; p. 16-17

Prayer, Meditation and Temptation

Luther proposed and evangelical pattern of spirituality as reception rather than self-promotion. This involves three things: prayer, meditation, and temptation. All three revolve around ongoing, faithful attention to God's Word. The order of the list is significant, for unlike that traditional pattern of devotion, the spiritual life begins and ends here on earth. These three terms describe the life of faith as a cycle that begins with prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit, concentrates on the reception of the Holy Spirit through meditation on God's Word, and results in spiritual attack. This, in turn, leads a person back to further prayer and intensified meditation. Luther, therefore, does not envisage the spiritual life as a process of self-development, but as a process of reception from the triune God. This process of reception turns proud, self-sufficient individuals into humble beggars before God.

Grace Upon Grace: p. 16

Our Teacher pt.1

Christian spirituality presupposes that we have been given the gift of eternal life and enjoy it now here on earth. No human teacher can teach us about that because no human teacher can give us eternal life. Nor can we gain eternal life for ourselves merely be reflecting on our experience of God, or even by interpreting the Scriptures in the light of our personal experience. In fact, if we attempt to gain eternal life with God through rational speculation and spiritual self-development, we will commit spiritual suicide. Those who use their reason and intellect to make a ladder for their devotional assent into heaven will, like Lucifer, plunge themselves into hell instead.
Grace upon Grace: p. 16