Posted on by Kurt Bodling

“Theology is the main requisite for entering into and embodying Christian wisdom. We read the Scriptures, but without theology, we understand only the letter and do not enter into the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We read the mystics, but without theology, we do not understand the profundity of their spiritual insights and enter into mystical experience. We have authentic moments of silence, meditation and prayer, but without theological exercise, our life will not become doxological, permeated by prayer and thanksgiving. Theology is the way to enter into God’s mystery.”

(Barban, Alessandro. “Lectio Divina and Monastic Theology in Camaldolese Life” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002, p. 50)

Rest assured that there’s still a place for theology in today’s world! All Christians need at least some theological knowledge so that they can work with the heart wisdom gleaned through the spiritual disciplines.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

awareness of the presence

“Richard Rohr reminds us that ‘we cannot attain the presence of God. We’re already totally in the presence of God. What’s absent is awareness.’ This is the core of the spiritual journey–knowing to discern the presence of God, to see what really is. But nothing is more dangerous than presuming that we already see when we do not.”

(Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015, p. 41)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

God’s presence in the present moment

“It is relatively easy to meet God in moments of joy or bliss. In these situations we correctly count ourselves blessed by God. The challenge is to believe that this is also true–and to know God’s presence–in the midst of doubt, depression, anxiety, conflict or failure. But the God who is Immanuel is equally in those moments we would never choose as in those we would always gladly choose.”

(Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015, p. 41)

The sacrament of the present moment, as spun out by Benner, is the recurring and deepening awareness that we are in the presence of God at every moment and location of our existence. God is omnipresent. God is eternal. There is no place or time that God is not. And therefore He is always with us; we are always with Him. The good times, the bad times, times of worship, at work, in school, at play, in the city, on the mountain, in church, on retreat, in traffic, at hospital or hospice, in prison or parkland, bedroom, barn, at sea, in the air … everywhere and everywhen. God is with us; we are with God.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

the journey IS the destination

“When applied to the spiritual life, the metaphor of a journey is both helpful and somewhat misleading. Helpfully it reflects the fact that the essence of spirituality is a process–specifically, a process of transformation. Unhelpfully it obscures the fact that we are already what we seek and where we long to arrive–specifically, in God. Once we realize this, the nature of the journey reveals itself to be more one of awakening than accomplishment, more one of spiritual awareness than spiritual achievement.”

(Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015, p. 3)

A journey, pilgrimage, or walk is something that takes time, evolves, progresses, processes. But then that means that we aren’t “there” yet, that we still have effort to expend, work to do. Instead, Benner says, we should be aware that we are even now in God’s hand in God’s land. You could say that in faith and in Baptism we are now exploring within the borders of God’s Kingdom. We have arrived at our goal. Now and not yet.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

staying afloat

“Our efforts to stay afloat — that is, our efforts to earn God’s love — are always counterproductive. We must simply open our spiritual eyes and see that we are in a river of God’s love and that our staying afloat and moving along are God’s responsibility. All we have to do is surrender.”

(Benner, David G. Surrender to Love: Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015, p. 62)

I’ve read that a drowning person being rescued by a lifeguard needs to relax and let the lifeguard do the work. Similarly, the sinner being saved by God needs to relax and let God do the saving. In either case, let your savior do the work. You’ll be better off for it.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

where we focus

“Perhaps not surprisingly, Christians who assume that God is preoccupied with sin tend themselves to adopt the same focus. … Unfortunately, while they may give intellectual assent to God’s love, they often experience very little of it.”

(Benner, David G. Surrender to Love: Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015, p. 22)

Benner make an interesting comment about the result of where we focus of our attention. We can either zero in on the Law, or on the Gospel. This is not to say that either pole is erased. Both are still there. But if we think of God first as a law-giver, Benner says we’ll likely be legalists. If we think of God first as our gracious Savior, we’ll likely be Gospel-oriented.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

what the Church is and does, part 3

“I believe that there is forgiveness of sin nowhere else than in this community and that beyond it nothing can help to gain it–no good deeds, no matter how many or how great they might be; and that within this community nothing can invalidate this forgiveness of sin–no matter how gravely and often one may sin; and that such forgiveness continues as long as this one community exists. To this [community] Christ gave the power of the keys, saying in Matthew 18 [:18 ], ‘Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.’ He said the same to Peter as an individual, representing and taking the place of one and only one church.”

Luther, Martin. “Personal Prayer Book” (1522) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968, page 29.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

what the Church is and does, part 2

“I believe no one can be saved who is not in this gathering or community, harmoniously sharing the same faith with it, the same word, sacraments, hope, and love. And that no Jew, heretic, pagan, or sinner can be saved along with this community unless he becomes reconciled with it and unites with it in full agreement in all things.”

Luther, Martin. “Personal Prayer Book” (1522) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968, page 28.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

what the Church is and does, part 1

“I believe that throughout the whole wide world there is only one holy, universal, Christian church, which is nothing other than the gathering or congregation of saints–pious believers on earth. This church is gathered, preserved, and governed by the same Holy Spirit and is given daily increase by means of the sacraments and the word of God.”

(Luther, Martin. “Personal Prayer Book” (1522) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968, page 28)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

deep presence

“Just as all sane men instinctively seek, in some way or other, the awakening of their true inner self, so all valid social forms of religion attempt, in some manner, to provide a situation in which each member of the worshiping group can rise above the group and above himself, to find himself and all the rest on a higher level. This implies that all truly serious and spiritual forms of religion aspire at least implicitly to a contemplative awakening both of the individual and of the group. But those forms of religious and liturgical worship which have lost their initial impulse of fervor tend more and more to forget their contemplative purpose, and to attach exclusive importance to rites and forms for their own sake, or for the sake of the effect which they are believed to exercise on the One Who is worshiped.” (Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. NY: HarperOne, 2003, pp 25-26)

Both the hermit and the Church should be seeking and allowing the inner true self. But, as Merton says, some ways of being/doing church have forgotten this central purpose. Those congregations, denominations, and individuals tend more towards legalistic re-creation of stale, static forms, towards the parroting of formulae. That is, they tend away from contemplation.