Posted on by Kurt Bodling

the Church paradox

“The biggest paradox about the Church is that she is at the same time essentially traditional and essentially revolutionary. But that is not as much of a paradox as it seems, because Christian tradition, unlike all others, is a living and perpetual revolution.”

Merton, Thomas. New Seeds of Contemplation. Introduction by Sue Monk Kidd. New York: New Directions Books, 2007, ©1961, p. 142.

There are so many paradoxes (or apparent paradoxes) in the spiritual life. This is just one more: the Church – that is, Christianity – is traditional and revolutionary. It is liberal and conservative. It is active and contemplative. And it is one.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

being Christian

“We who want to be God’s must be devout and holy so that God may not suffer because of our sin. If we won’t lead pious lives, he will punish us terribly and make us suffer for our sin. If we do not want to think of him as a God whom we must obey, then he, in turn, will not think of us as his people whom he must help and save.”

Luther, Martin. “Appeal for Prayer Against the Turks” (1541) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 234.

Christianity does bring with it some responsibility on our part. It isn’t a list of dos and don’ts, and isn’t a heavy burden or crushing legal obligation. It’s really more the responsibility to ‘act our part’ as freed, forgiven, loved beings; as people who are freeing, forgiving, and loving. With respect to God that means being devout, holy, pious, and obedient.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

when God thwarts our will

“God’s only purpose in thwarting our good will is to make of it a better will. And this is done when it subordinates itself to and conforms to the divine will (by which it is hindered), until the point is reached when man is entirely unfettered by his own will, delivered from his own will, and knows nothing except that he waits upon the will of God.”

Luther, Martin. “An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 47.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

spiritual dry spells

“Be content to remain in loneliness and isolation, dryness and anguish, waiting upon God in darkness. Your inarticulate longing for Him in the night of suffering will be your most eloquent prayer.”

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. NY: HarperOne, 2003, p. 103. (NOTE: the text belongs to 1959!)

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

living our lives

“The solution of the problem of life is life itself. Life is not attained by reasoning and analysis, but first of all by living. For until we have begun to live our prudence has no material to work on. And until we have begun to fail we have no way of working out our success.”

Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1958. (pbk ed 1999), p. 74.

In a kind of spiritual “just do it” Merton warns those who are forever preparing, forever waiting for the right moment, forever hanging back until they think all the pieces are finally in place. The only way to be prepared, to actuate the moment, to see that the pieces are in place, is to let God worry about all that kind of stuff. Just step out in faith that God will indeed take care of both the big picture and the details.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

the entry point

“The doorway into the silent land is a wound. Silence lays bare this wound. We do not journey far along the spiritual path before we get some sense of the wound of the human condition, and this is precisely why not a few abandon a contemplative practice like meditation as soon as it begins to expose this wound; they move on instead to some spiritual entertainment that will maintain distraction. Perhaps this is why the weak and wounded, who know very well the vulnerability of the human condition, often have an aptitude for discovering silence and can sense the wholeness and healing that ground this wound.”

Laird, Martin. Into the Silent Land : a Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation. NY: Oxford University Press, 200, p. 117.

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curiosity or scholarship?

“Curious knowers typically do not want to identify the knowledge they have arrived at as bearing an intimate link to their own persons or idiosyncrasies or place or interests; and they will certainly not wish to claim intimacy with what they study in the sense that a student occupying a world of gift and participation must. The curious, formed by mathesis, are always different in kind from what they are curious about, so their purpose is not to participate in what they study, but rather to isolate their object, and then to display it like a butterfly pinned in a display case. The voice the curious adopt in representing their knowledge will, therefore, avoid the first person, and will avoid, also, laying claim to the knowledge represented as though it were inextricably linked to the persona, charisma, or skill of the knower.”

Griffiths, Paul J. Intellectual Appetite: a Theological Grammar. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009, p. 149.

Griffiths makes a lot out of the difference between being curious and being studious and scholarly. He is in favor of the latter. Curiosity tends to be a mile wide but only an inch deep. Studiousness and scholarship is a mile deep no matter how wide it is.

Look again at his last sentence. He really does not like the stilted artificial voice found in most academic writing. You might recognize it: all third person and passive voice. Griffiths calls us to write like the knowledge we share actually makes a difference. The merely curious keep it at arm’s length.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

why pray?

“Why should I pray? Basically it is for the sake of praying. There is much else we might claim about prayer–it is for the sake of the world, it is for those in need, for the Church, for individual souls–all of which is true. But unless it is rooted in the boundless freedom of love and confidence in God, it is void and crippled. It has some effect perhaps, but lacks the current of grace and graciousness that flows from God.”

Quenon, Paul. In Praise of the Useless Life: a Monk’s Memoir. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2018, p. 5.

My note when I read this in Quenon’s book: We pray well when we are simply praying. It’s one of the things believers do. We don’t do it to get stuff (although that may be the result, or a result). We don’t do it because we are forced to, required to. We pray in order to be praying.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

can unbelievers commune?

“If someone cannot talk or indicate by a sign that he believes, understands, and desires the sacrament–particularly if he has wilfully [sic] neglected it–we will not give it to him just anytime he asks for it. We have been commanded not to offer the holy sacrament to unbelievers but rather to believers who can state and confess their faith. Let the others alone in their unbelief; we are guiltless because we have not been slothful in preaching, teaching, exhortation, consolation, visitation, or anything else that pertains to our ministry and office.”

Luther, Martin. “Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague” (1527) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 135.

The Sacrament of Holy Communion both expresses and creates community. Practice today varies. Some err on the side of inclusion (that it creates community), some at the other end of the spectrum (that it expresses an already existing community).

Note that Luther doesn’t refer to church membership but to faith as the thing that admits one to the table of the Lord. I think that he would have to exercise godly pastoral judgement in doubtful cases. While being faithful in carrying out the many duties of his pastoral office.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

grace and violence

“The delicate action of grace in the soul is profoundly disturbed by all human violence.”

Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1958. (pbk ed 1999) (p. 114).

Grace is God’s work and presence everywhere, even amidst violence. But our sinful violence (and I would say that violence is always evidence of sin) makes it harder to notice the presence of God’s grace.