School of Chesed

Lent, by George Herbert

2011-03-12T06:01:00.000-08:00

Lent

Welcome deare feast of Lent: who loves not thee,

He loves not Temperance, or Authoritie,

But is compos’d of passion.

The Scriptures bid us fast; the Church sayes, now:

Give to thy Mother, what thou wouldst allow

To ev’ry Corporation.

The humble soul compos’d of love and fear

Begins at home, and layes the burden there,

When doctrines disagree.

He sayes, in things which use hath justly got,

I am a scandall to the Church, and not

The Church is so to me.

True Christians should be glad of an occasion

To use their temperance, seeking no evasion,

When good is seasonable;

Unlesse Authoritie, which should increase

The obligation in us, make it lesse,

And Power it self disable.

Besides the cleannesse of sweet abstinence,

Quick thoughts and motions at a small expense,

A face not fearing light:

Whereas in fulnesse there are sluttish1 fumes,

Sowre exhalations, and dishonest rheumes,2

Revenging the delight.

Then those same pendant profits, which the spring

And Easter intimate, enlarge the thing,

And goodnesse of the deed.

Neither ought other mens abuse of Lent

Spoil the good use; lest by that argument

We forfeit all our Creed.

It ‘s true, we cannot reach Christ’s fortieth day;

Yet to go part of that religious way,

Is better than to rest:

We cannot reach our Savior’s purity;

Yet are bid, Be holy ev’n as he.

In both let’s do our best.

Who goeth in the way which Christ hath gone,

Is much more sure to meet with him, than one

That travelleth by-ways:

Perhaps my God, though he be far before,

May turn, and take me by the hand, and more

May strengthen my decays.

Yet Lord instruct us to improve our fast

By starving sin and taking such repast

As may our faults control:

That ev’ry man may revel at his door,

Not in his parlor; banqueting the poor,

And among those his soul.

~George Herbert

Heavenly sunlight

2010-07-28T04:19:00.001-07:00

Walking in sunlight all of our journey;
Over the mountains, through the deep vale;
Jesus has said, "I'll never forsake you,"
Promise divine that never can fail.

Heavenly sunlight, heavenly sunlight,
Flooding our souls with glory ablaze:
Hallelujah, we are rejoicing,
Thankful for blessing, singing our praise.

Shadows around us, shadows above us,
Never conceal our Savior and Guide;
Christ is the Light, in Christ is no darkness;
Always we're walking close to Christ's side.

Heavenly sunlight, heavenly sunlight,
Flooding our souls with glory ablaze:
Hallelujah, we are rejoicing,
Thankful for blessing, singing our praise.

In the bright sunlight, ever rejoicing,
Pressing our way to mansions above;
Singing Christ's praises gladly we're walking,
Walking in sunlight, sunlight of love.

Heavenly sunlight, heavenly sunlight,
Flooding our souls with glory ablaze:
Hallelujah, we are rejoicing,
Thankful for blessing, singing our praise.

Words: Henry J. Zelley, William Kirkpatrick , Henry Gilmour (19thC) adapted
Music: George H. Cook (19thC)

Søren Kierkegaard on the Bible

2010-07-25T21:03:00.001-07:00

"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in ...the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."

~Søren Kierkegaard

Hat tip to Bryan Owen (via Facebook) and also at Creedal Christian

How to pray

2010-07-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

How do you pray?

I reflected on this question today in my sermon.

Here are N.T. Wright's thoughts on the question...

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

How do you set about praying? From our point of view, there is a fairly obvious order of priorities. We’re usually in some sort of mess, and we want God to get us out of it. Then we’ve usually got some fairly pressing needs, and we want God to supply them. It may strike us at that point that there’s a larger world out there. Again, we probably move from mess to wants: please sort out the Middle East, please feed the hungry, please house the homeless.

But then, once more, it may dawn on us that there’s not just a larger world out there; there’s a larger God out there. He’s not just a celestial cleaner-up and sorter-out of our messes and wants. He is God. He is the living God. And he is our Father. If we linger here, we may find our priorities quietly turned inside out. The contents may remain; the order will change. With that change, we move at last from paranoia to prayer; from fuss to faith.

The Lord’s Prayer is designed to help us make this change: a change of priority, not a change of content. This prayer doesn’t pretend that pain and hunger aren’t real. Some religions say that; Jesus didn’t. This prayer doesn’t use the greatness and majesty of God to belittle the human plight. Some religions do that; Jesus didn’t. This prayer starts by addressing God intimately and lovingly, as “Father”—and by bowing before his greatness and majesty. If you can hold those two together, you’re already on the way to understanding what Christianity is all about.

From The Lord and His Prayer by N. T. Wright (Eerdmans, 1996)

Hauerwas on "America's god"

2010-07-24T06:06:00.001-07:00

Stanley Hauerwas on the death of America's god...

Lots to think about here!

America's god is dying
By Stanley Hauerwas

ABC Religion & Ethics

America is the first great experiment in Protestant social formation. Protestantism in Europe always assumed and depended on the cultural habits that had been created by Catholic Christianity. America is the first place Protestantism did not have to define itself over against a previous Catholic culture. So America is the exemplification of constructive Protestant social thought.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer thus got it right when he characterized American Protestantism as "Protestantism without Reformation."

That is why it has been possible for Americans to synthesize three seemingly antithetical traditions: evangelical Protestantism, republican political ideology and commonsense moral reasoning. For Americans, faith in God is indistinguishable from loyalty to their country.

American Protestants do not have to believe in God because they believe in belief. That is why we have never been able to produce an interesting atheist in America. The god most Americans say they believe in is just not interesting enough to deny. Thus the only kind of atheism that counts in America is to call into question the proposition that everyone has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Awake, awake

2010-07-23T04:53:00.000-07:00

Awake, awake to love and work!
The lark is in the sky
the fields are wet with diamond dew
The worlds awake to cry
their praises to the Fount of Life
Christ Jesus passes by.
Come, let your voice be one with theirs
shout with the shout of praise
See how the giant sun soars up
God's gift for all your days!
So let the love of Jesus come
and set your soul ablaze.
To give and give, and give again,
as God's own grace is free
To spend yourself nor count the cost
To serve most gloriously
the God who gave all worlds that are
and all that are to be.

Music: Morning Song Kentucky Harmony (19thC)
Words: Geoffrey Studdert-Kennedy (20thC)
Sequence: Cathouse Pandemonium, Ltd.

Every morning mercies new

2010-07-14T04:41:00.000-07:00

Every morning mercies new
Fall as fresh as morning dew;
Every morning let us pay
Tribute with the early day:
For your mercies, God, are sure;
Your compassion does endure.
Still the greatness of your love
Daily does our sins remove;
Daily, far as east from west,
Lifts the burden from the breast;
Gives unbought to those who pray
Strength to stand in every day.
Let our prayers each day prevail,
That these gifts might never fail;
And, as we confess the sin
And temptation's pow'r within,
Every morning, for the strife,
Feed us with the Bread of Life.
As the morning light returns,
As the sun with splendor burns,
Teach us still to turn to You,
Ever blessèd Trinity,
With our hands our hearts to raise,
In unfailing prayer and praise.

Words: Greville Phillimore (19thC)
Music: Every Morning, Edward John Hopkins (19thC)

Psalm 21 - chesed ...

2010-07-10T04:54:00.001-07:00

Psalm 21

1 In your strength the king rejoices, O LORD, and in your help how greatly he exults!
2 You have given him his heart's desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
3 For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life; you gave it to him-- length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great through your help; splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
6 You bestow on him blessings forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them like a fiery furnace when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.
10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth, and their children from among humankind.
11 If they plan evil against you, if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.
13 Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.

Your heart's desire

2010-07-10T04:53:00.001-07:00

You have given him his heart's desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Psalm 21:2

I sometimes hear from other Christians that all we need to do is to "do God's will," and "walk in his ways," ... of course, this seems self-evident. Of course we know in our heart of hearts that what we should do is what God has made us for; that we should do God's will. Of course, it seems quite obvious that this is what we are to do. The question, of course, is having any earthly idea of what that is. Aside from obeying the commandments, aside from striving to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, it can be quite hard at times to know what to do. Do we tell a white lie when a friend just got a heinous haircut? Do we show our frustration at a coworker for not following through on a project? And, what about when the decision is between two "goods," how do we discern the greater good?

These are, of course, the tricky decisions of life - and whole fields of ethics have developed around how we should live. However, here in Psalm 21, one of the psalms appointed for this morning, we read an interesting phrase, "you have given him his heart's desire." This term, "heart's desire," is one that we use in common language, and I had forgotten that its roots were in the psalms. It also shows up in Psalm 20. God has given the just king his "heart's desire." What is our "heart's desire"? Something here to reflect upon, indeed. What is your "heart's desire"?

Assuming that we are listening to the "better angels of our natures," it would be, perhaps quite important to listen to our "heart's desire," for there in the deep and abiding desire of our heart may also be the desire of God. Deep in our own longing may be a piece of God's own longing for this broken world. Deep in our own desire may be the essence of joy and abundant life that God desires for us. What is the desire of your heart? What is the desire of mine?

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Psalm 20

1 The LORD answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion.
3 May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. Selah
4 May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans.
5 May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.
6 Now I know that the LORD will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.
7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God.
8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright.
9 Give victory to the king, O LORD; answer us when we call.

Psalm 21

1 In your strength the king rejoices, O LORD, and in your help how greatly he exults!
2 You have given him his heart's desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
3 For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life; you gave it to him-- length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great through your help; splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
6 You bestow on him blessings forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them like a fiery furnace when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.
10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth, and their children from among humankind.
11 If they plan evil against you, if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.
13 Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.

Awake, awake to love and work!

2010-07-09T04:43:00.001-07:00

Put not your trust in rulers

2010-07-04T05:23:00.001-07:00

Psalm 146 Lauda, anima mea

1 Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD, O my soul! *
I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
2 Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.
3 When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.
4 Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! *
whose hope is in the LORD their God;
5 Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;
6 Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.
7 The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind; *
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
8 The LORD loves the righteous;
the LORD cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.
9 The LORD shall reign for ever, *
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah!

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Put away the flags

2010-07-04T05:20:00.001-07:00

Published on Friday, July 2, 2010 by The Progressive
Put Away the Flags
Remembering Howard Zinn on July 4th

by Howard Zinn
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.

Is not nationalism -- that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder -- one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred?

These ways of thinking -- cultivated, nurtured, indoctrinated from childhood on -- have been useful to those in power, and deadly for those out of power.

National spirit can be benign in a country that is small and lacking both in military power and a hunger for expansion (Switzerland, Norway, Costa Rica and many more). But in a nation like ours -- huge, possessing thousands of weapons of mass destruction -- what might have been harmless pride becomes an arrogant nationalism dangerous to others and to ourselves.

Our citizenry has been brought up to see our nation as different from others, an exception in the world, uniquely moral, expanding into other lands in order to bring civilization, liberty, democracy.

That self-deception started early.

When the first English settlers moved into Indian land in Massachusetts Bay and were resisted, the violence escalated into war with the Pequot Indians. The killing of Indians was seen as approved by God, the taking of land as commanded by the Bible. The Puritans cited one of the Psalms, which says: "Ask of me, and I shall give thee, the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession."

When the English set fire to a Pequot village and massacred men, women and children, the Puritan theologian Cotton Mather said: "It was supposed that no less than 600 Pequot souls were brought down to hell that day."

On the eve of the Mexican War, an American journalist declared it our "Manifest Destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence." After the invasion of Mexico began, The New York Herald announced: "We believe it is a part of our destiny to civilize that beautiful country."

It was always supposedly for benign purposes that our country went to war.

We invaded Cuba in 1898 to liberate the Cubans, and went to war in the Philippines shortly after, as President McKinley put it, "to civilize and Christianize" the Filipino people.

As our armies were committing massacres in the Philippines (at least 600,000 Filipinos died in a few years of conflict), Elihu Root, our secretary of war, was saying: "The American soldier is different from all other soldiers of all other countries since the war began. He is the advance guard of liberty and justice, of law and order, and of peace and happiness."

We see in Iraq that our soldiers are not different. They have, perhaps against their better nature, killed thousands of Iraq civilians. And some soldiers have shown themselves capable of brutality, of torture.

Yet they are victims, too, of our government's lies.

How many times have we heard President Bush tell the troops that if they die, if they return without arms or legs, or blinded, it is for "liberty," for "democracy"?

One of the effects of nationalist thinking is a loss of a sense of proportion. The killing of 2,300 people at Pearl Harbor becomes the justification for killing 240,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The killing of 3,000 people on Sept. 11 becomes the justification for killing tens of thousands of people in Afghanistan and Iraq.

And nationalism is given a special virulence when it is said to be blessed by Providence. Today we have a president, invading two countries in four years, who announced on the campaign trail in 2004 that God speaks through him.

We need to refute the idea that our nation is different from, morally superior to, the other imperial powers of world history.

We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation.

This piece was distributed by the Progressive Media Project in 2006.

Howard Zinn died on January 7. Please read Matthew Rothschild's "Thank you, Howard Zinn," for more about his legacy.

© 2010 The Progressive
Howard Zinn (1922-2010) authored many books, including “A People’s History of the United States,” “Voices of a People’s History” (with Anthony Arnove), and “A Power Governments Cannot Suppress."

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Psalm 119:145-176

2010-06-30T05:10:00.000-07:00

Psalm 119:145-176

Qoph Clamavi in toto corde meo
145 I call with my whole heart; *
answer me, O LORD, that I may keep your statutes.
146 I call to you; oh, that you would save me! *
I will keep your decrees.
147 Early in the morning I cry out to you, *
for in your word is my trust.
148 My eyes are open in the night watches, *
that I may meditate upon your promise.
149 Hear my voice, O LORD, according to your loving-kindness; *
according to your judgments, give me life.
150 They draw near who in malice persecute me; *
they are very far from your law.
151 You, O LORD, are near at hand, *
and all your commandments are true.
152 Long have I known from your decrees *
that you have established them for ever.
Resh Vide humilitatem
153 Behold my affliction and deliver me, *
for I do not forget your law.
154 Plead my cause and redeem me; *
according to your promise, give me life.
155 Deliverance is far from the wicked, *
for they do not study your statutes.
156 Great is your compassion, O LORD; *
preserve my life, according to your judgments.
157 There are many who persecute and oppress me, *
yet I have not swerved from your decrees.
158 I look with loathing at the faithless, *
for they have not kept your word.
159 See how I love your commandments! *
O LORD, in your mercy, preserve me.
160 The heart of your word is truth; *
all your righteous judgments endure for evermore.
Shin Principes persecuti sunt
161 Rulers have persecuted me without a cause, *
but my heart stands in awe of your word.
162 I am as glad because of your promise *
as one who finds great spoils.
163 As for lies, I hate and abhor them, *
but your law is my love.
164 Seven times a day do I praise you, *
because of your righteous judgments.
165 Great peace have they who love your law; *
for them there is no stumbling block.
166 I have hoped for your salvation, O LORD, *
and have fulfilled your commandments.
167 I have kept your decrees *
and I have loved them deeply.
168 I have kept your commandments and decrees, *
for all my ways are before you.

Taw Appropinquet deprecatio

169 Let my cry come before you, O LORD; *
give me understanding, according to your word.
170 Let my supplication come before you; *
deliver me, according to your promise.
171 My lips shall pour forth your praise, *
when you teach me your statutes.
172 My tongue shall sing of your promise, *
for all your commandments are righteous.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me, *
for I have chosen your commandments.
174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, *
and your law is my delight.
175 Let me live, and I will praise you, *
and let your judgments help me.
176 I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; *
search for your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

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For the Right Use of God's Gifts

2010-06-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

For the Right Use of God's Gifts

Almighty God, whose loving hand has given us all that we possess: Grant us grace that we may honor you with our substance, and, remembering the account which we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of your bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Kindness

2010-06-26T04:34:00.000-07:00

Kindness gives birth to kindness.

~ Sophocles

(via @TheGodLight)

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Renew the face of the earth

2010-06-25T03:31:00.001-07:00

Alleluia. The Spirit of the Lord renews the face of the earth: Come let us adore him. Alleluia

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Kind words

2010-06-23T04:29:00.001-07:00

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.

Blaise Pascal

(via @TheGodLight)

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A cricket chirping

2010-06-23T04:23:00.001-07:00

A Cricket chirping
Rain falling off the moist trees
Hot coffee, is mmmmmmm.

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Chesed as...moments of home...

2010-06-23T03:58:00.000-07:00

Chesed as the moments of home....

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2010-06-18T04:20:00.001-07:00

Chesed!