HerbEly

Fifteenth Sunday: Finding Compassion

    As we listen to readings from the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear in Dt 30:10-14  that the command to love the Lord is written in our own hearts and we have only to carry it out.

    Then in Luke 10:25-37 we read that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus drives the point home by telling the story of the good Samaritan. On Sunday most of us will be reminded that the Samaritans and Jews were enemies and that our love of neighbor should extend to the undesirables and enemies in our world.

    The result of this preaching may be that many of us will feel inadequate and wonder if we will always fall short of the gospel command.  The question is: how do we get from where we are to a state of mind similar to that of the good Samaritan. Why was he able to see a naked, beaten up Jew - an enemy - as someone deserving of compassion, effort and expense? How do we find it in our own hearts?

    We don't know anything about this Samaritan, but we can speculate. Kathleen Norris, in Amazing Grace  writes that in the original Hebrew the word "salvation" has a worldly, not religious, meaning. It meant to find a safe path out of a narrow and dangerous place. This was surely the situation of the man in the ditch, beating and stripped by robbers. Maybe the Samaritan had himself been "saved' or rescued from a similar danger. If so, he would not have been able to pass the victim by, as did the priest and the Levite. Instead, out of gratitude for his own rescue the Samaritan "approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal,took him to an inn, and cared for him."

    It is very hard for any of us, to see another as suffering while we are convinced of our own moral and spiritual superiority.  It is only after we become aware of our own shortcomings, and our need for rescue, that we can begin to look on others as the Samaritan did. How do we do this? The best short description that I know is found in Thomas Keating's The Human Condition: Contemplation and Transformation.

Shaking the Dust from our Sandals

    The readings for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time present a vivid image of rejection! In Luke 10:5-12 the disciples are advised: "take off your sandals and shake the dust from them." Even your dust should be left behind. I can't imagine doing that - but it  does seem to be the ideal way to express contempt for the hard-hearted fools that would not listen.

    The action may seem less harsh if we recognize that the disciples have been sent into towns to heal the sick, bring peace and announce the coming of the Kingdom of God. What are they to do if the townspeople would rather remain sick than to accept healing? They should simply leave. Recall that in last Sunday's gospel (Luke 9:51-56) James and John wanted to call down lightening on a town that wouldn't listen. The sad part of it is that those who would rather remain sick will find that "it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town." 

    The lesson to me is detachment. We offer help and healing where we can. Our resources are limited and it is inevitable that some will not hear the good news. When that happens, we should simply move on. Shaking the dust from our sandals is not done to insult the town we are leaving. It is a reminder that we should not carry bad memories with us. Leave the baggage behind. There is work to do elsewhere.

P.S. Let's not forget that Isaiah 66 gives us a vivid image of God as nurturing mother.

Do We Have to Make a 180 Degree Turn?

    Our scripture readings for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time deliver a challenging message, one which challenges and fascinates. It is also one from which most of us would like to escape. Elisha (1 Kings 19:16-21)  gave up his career as a farmer, killed his oxen and used is plow as fuel to boil the oxen and gave the food to his people to eat. Then he followed Elijah. If that were not enough of a challenge we read in Luke 9:51-62 that no one who sets out on the journey and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

    While I admire the dramatic sacrifice, I find myself hoping that a similar action will not be required of me. Being willing to go to any lengths is fine. I may need to give up my old ideas in favor of better ones - but do I have to? Maybe the First Principle and Foundation  in St. Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises will offer an escape hatch:

The First Principle and Foundation
(St. Ignatius of Loyola, as paraphrased by David L. Fleming, S.J.)

St. Ignatius begins his Spiritual Exercises with The First Principle and Foundation. While not typically thought of as a prayer, it still contains much that is worth reflecting on.

The Goal of our life is to live with God forever.

God, who loves us, gave us life.

Our own response of love allows God's life

to flow into us without limit.

 

All the things in this world are gifts from God,

Presented to us so that we can know God more easily

and make a return of love more readily.

As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God

Insofar as they help us to develop as loving persons.

But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives,

They displace God

And so hinder our growth toward our goal.

 

In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance

Before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice

And are not bound by some obligation.

We should not fix our desires on health or sickness,

Wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.

For everything has the potential of calling forth in us

A deeper response to our life in God.

 

Our only desire and our one choice should be this:

I want and I choose what better leads

To God's deepening his life in me.

    If I read St. Ignatius correctly, we need to review each of the things/activities to which we are attached or attracted. If we are not bound by some obligation (family, promise to a community or ethical obligation to employer) we should be willing enjoy and use and appreciate them - or to set them aside if they are leading away from God. This may not be much of an escape hatch.

    I remind myself that what starts as a sacrifice - giving up old ways or ideas - becomes a transformation. The very energies that lead us in the wrong direction can be transformed into strength for the journey. Then we won't even want to look back.

Putting One's Corpus on the Line

As we get into the biblical readings for the Feast of Corpus Christi  - the Body (and Blood) of Jesus Christ, there are a number of meanings for the word “body”. I can barely begin to list them, much less write about the many subtle and profound theological discourses on each. We have:

• The physical body of Jesus, crucified and changed by the resurrection.

• The bread and wine  as body (1 Cor 11:23-26),  subject to multiple interpretations by Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist and other traditions. The tragedy is that what should be source of unity is a cause for division among us.

• Somehow we are all members of one body Eph 3:6  and as such are part of the body of Christ is this world. In this we may be able to regain some of the unity lost by our differences in understanding the Eucharist.

    It is in this last sense, being the body of Christ on earth that we can reflect on the words “for you” in 1 Cor 11:24.What does it mean to say “…my body that is for you.”? Knowing the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection we can only read this as his giving up his body in the crucifixion. As his body is for us, our bodies can be for others. There are many ways in which we put our bodies on the line for those that we love. Husbands and wives give up their bodies every day for one another. They do this in many ways caring for one another in sickness and health and in good times and bad. Mothers give up their bodies in pregnancy and childcare. Fathers give up their bodies in many less direct ways, often working to the point of endangering their physical and emotional health. Soldiers, sailors, police and fire officers are willing to give up their very lives for others. Professionals that they are, they train to minimize the risks that they knowingly accept in order to serve others 

    Last Monday we celebrated Mary’s Visitation to Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56). 

Mary put her body in the service of her cousin during those last months of her pregnancy.

St. Francis de Sales once wrote to a young person who seemed to be wishing for a highly dramatic and heroic way of putting his body on the line – through martyrdom. His words were to the effect that we should turn our attention to the sacrifices that are in front of us and do them cheerfully, lovingly and willingly. Good words.

We do have daily opportunities to put them into practice. We can restore Christian unity in many ways that, at first glance may seem of little significance. In attending college and high school reunions we are putting ourselves in position (both physically and emotionally) to renew the love that we have for one another.

            What better way to celebrate the feast of the Body of Christ than to renew our dedication t serving one another and the community at large? 

News Flash: Hypocrisy Rooted in High Morals

Live Science staff writer Jeanna Bryner tells us

Morally upstanding people are the do-gooders of society, right? Actually, a new study finds that a sense of moral superiority can lead to unethical acts, such as cheating. In fact, some of the best do-gooders can become the worst cheats.
Stop us if this sounds familiar.

It certainly does. This is but one more example of psychology rediscovering old truths. Bryner, doesn’t refer to it, but her article reminds us of Mt. 6:4-6

So that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

and of Luke 11:37-54.

Bryner suggests why people become hypocrites:

Past research has suggested that people who describe themselves with words such as honest and generous are also more likely to engage in volunteer work and other socially responsible acts.
But often in life, the line between right and wrong becomes blurry, particularly when it comes to cheating on a test or in the workplace. For example, somebody could rationalize cheating on a test as a way of achieving their dream of becoming a doctor and helping people.
In the new study, detailed in the November issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology, researchers find that when this line between right and wrong is ambiguous among people who think of themselves as having high moral standards, the do-gooders can become the worst of cheaters.

People who are striving to be good can easily fool themselves and overlook or rationalize character defects and shortcomings. As my teacher, Msgr. Chester Michael has suggested in his meditation on Jesus’ temptations in the desert (Luke 4:1-13), good people can fall prey to one of the "three P's" (Pleasure, Possessions, and Power). As we enter Advent, it is time to pause, consider which of the three is tugging on us, and resolve to practice one of the three remedies (fasting, almsgiving, and prayer.) Go here for a chart on how these are related.

Advent is a time of waiting for the One who can deliver us. As we practice, let us remember with gratitude that none of these temptations need have any dominion over us.

News Flash: Old Truths are Still True

Every now and then major newspapers treat us to new discoveries of old truths. Here are three:
• Living one day at a time really works!
• Gratitude is good for you!
• Leading by example works!

It’s easy to make fun of stories like this. The headline might read: University professor discovers biblical saying is true!!! Yet, the stories reveal new information, even as they fail to mention biblical texts that make similar points.

If you are dieting, budgeting, or just trying to get your Christmas shopping done on time, you are better off to “Count today’s calories …” writes the WaPo’s Shankar Vedantam. He quotes psychologist Carey Morwedge on choosing a shorter time span as our frame of reference when deciding how much we can eat:

The deeper question, of course, is why people choose particular frames of reference. Why not choose smaller frames of reference when it comes to money, time and food, which would allow you to regulate the amount you eat and spend, and make more realistic estimates of the time you need to finish important tasks?

Without their conscious awareness, people seem to choose frames of reference that supply them with the answers they want. By telling themselves they will not overeat at Thanksgiving, but deciding how much to eat based on a weekly or monthly total of calories, rather than a daily number, they get to overeat and feel like they are making a careful decision.
"When I was thinking about eating a sundae I would think of all the exercise I would do in a week and not the exercise I would do that day" to make up for eating the rich food, Morewedge said.

My own experience with Weight Watchers reinforces this. Keeping record of each meal encourages me to concentrate on hitting the point target for each day, not what I’m promising myself for the rest of the week. The old slogan of taking things one day at a time really does work.

We could have saved ourselves a lot of effort and trouble if we had just learned it when it was first preached (See Matthew 6)

11. Give us today our daily bread (and)
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

On to our next great discovery: Give Thanks. It’s good for you. In the Health section of the Washington Post Darrin Kolkow summarizes some of the recent work of positive psychology. Vietnam war veterans are less likely to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if they score high on tests for gratitude. Students with high marks on gratitude are much less materialistic. (If you like, there is a test for gratitude here.)

This research, one hopes, will prove useful in treating current and future veterans. It a lesson taught in Proverbs 15:13-15

13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.
14 The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.
15 All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast

.John C. Maxwell, in People do what People See discusses some revisions to his book, 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

1. Followers are Always Watching What Leaders Do
2. It’s Easier To Teach What’s Right Than To Do What’s Right.
3. We Should Work On Changing Ourselves Before Trying To Improve Others
4. The Most Valuable Gift A Leader Can Give Is Being A Good Example

This is all good advice. It is all too easy for us to deceive ourselves, giving advice unaware of our own shortcomings. it is all too easy to make a catalogue of everyone else’s failures whil overlooking our own. While reading Mr. Maxwell we might also ponder James 1:22

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Remember, it helps to eat for today, not promising ourselves that we will make it up through exercise or diet on Friday. Cope with stress by pausing to breathe and give a prayer of thanks. Ask God’s help in changing ourselves while we let everyone else grow in their own ways and on their own time.

Chuck Colson on Ayn Rand

It is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Like many adolescents of my era, I was very much captured by Rand. Later I learned that one was considered sophomoric when he could explain the entire world in terms of a favorite book.

It took a few more years to realize that Rand’s version of human nature made love – of neighbor, self, God, and country - impossible. The word solidarity made no sense in Rand’s philosophy of objectivism.

Rand’s book was widely read. As Colson notes

A 1991 Book-of-the-Month Club and Library of Congress survey asked members which book had most influenced their lives. As expected, the Bible finished first. Unexpectedly, Rand’s most famous book, the novel Atlas Shrugged, finished second.

Fifty years after its publication and 25 years after Rand’s death, Atlas Shrugged is still read everywhere from college campuses to Wall Street. Given its popularity and its impact, Christians ought to be acquainted with Rand’s work and, especially, her worldview.
…
In Atlas Shrugged and her other writings, Rand articulated a philosophy she called “objectivism.” Among other things, objectivism teaches that man’s “highest value” and “moral purpose” is his own happiness. ...By “happiness” Rand meant “rational self-interest.” For her, “virtue” consisted of doing what “secured” your life and well-being....

Where did that leave altruism and self-sacrifice? As vices….But without altruism and self-sacrifice, how do people relate to one another? Ayn Rand says through exchanges that promote mutual advantage, what she called a “trade.” In other words, as if each of the parties were businesses, not people.

Many, maybe most, people do not only on rational self-interest. If they did, it would be a cold and forbidding world, much like the hellish totalitarian society Rand claimed to be refuting. Fortunately, the human heart is capable of building connections with one another, even to the point of laying down one’s life for another John 10:11 It’s is called unconditional love.. Given the demands of unconditional love, it is easy to see why many would be drawn to a philosophy which does not require it.

Religion, Spirituality, Hell & the Crazy Father

Last week I heard a striking comparison:

“Religion is for people who don’t want to go to hell; spirituality is for people who have been there and don’t want to go back.”

The statement captures a valid and important insight – but I was reluctant to post it. People attach so many different meanings to the words, religion, spirituality that the statement is subject to misinterpretation. Posting it, I thought, would get me into comment hell.
The readings from last Sunday changed my mind. They proceed from the same insight. Let’s see how:

Salesian Spirituality

As part of my exploration of workplace spirituality I ran across this long (~26 page)article on THE SPIRITUALITY OF SAINT FRANCIS OF SALES by Mgr Francis Vincent. Here is an extract:

"We ought not to try to increase the number of our desires, or our exercises but the perfection with which we perform these exercises, seeking thus to win more by a single act (as we undoubtedly will) than by a hundred acts performed under our own initiative and affection."[22]
…
If perfection consists in doing what God wants us to do, wherever we may be, then no change of life is needed and holiness no longer is the exclusive privilege of cloister or desert. When Saint Francis first appeared, it was generally held that devotion, in the strict meaning of the work, belonged to specialists and that it was to be sought only in the cloister because communal life in the desert is no longer possible.
…
"It is an error, therefore a heresy, to want to banish a life of holiness from the company of military men, from the workman's shop... from the home of married people."[23]
…
.. What does this mean, if not that each of us must excel in his profession: the worker must be a good worker, the soldier must be a good soldier, the professor a good professor. In the eyes of our saint no one can be a good Christian if he "does not work hard at the duty of his charge."[25] So much a part must one be of one's profession that, when needful, one sacrifices for it spiritual exercises which are of themselves higher and holier. Not only must "the lawyer know how to pass from prayer to pleading, the merchant to bargain, the married woman to the duties of her marriage and the duties of her home";[26] but they must, when necessary, subordinate pious practices to the obligations of their state; without, however, allowing themselves to be deceived.
…
22. "Entretiens," VII.
23. "Introduction," part 1, chapter 3.
24. "Introduction," part 3, chapter 1.
25. Letter of April 20, 1610.
26. "Introduction," part 2, chapter 8.

Systemic Error in Washington Post's Use of Links

The Washington Post has adopted a practice of inserting links to Google whenever a story mentions a major person, place or topic. For example, if I were following this practice, I would insert this link every time I mentioned that I live in Charlottesville. While the practice doubtlessly increases the number of hits on Google's website - good news for Google stock owners - it does little to add context to a story.

I noticed that this story on the most recent Republican presidential debate completely missed the meaning of the phrase "road to Damascus." As a regular reader Terry Mattingly's (and friend's) weblog on how the press just doesn't GetReligion, I suggested the practice as a topic for their website. This posting on Oh, that Damascus road! is the result.

Thanks, Terry. We can only hope that our combined influence (yours is far greater) will improve the coverage at the Post. As you said:

But reader Herb Ely sent the GetReligionistas a note this morning that, if you stop and think about it, seems to break totally new territory. What if the computers at a major newspaper have been programmed in such a way that they don’t “get” religion? How’s that for confusing?