The Incarnation: Jesus and vulnerability

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FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS: DECEMBER 30, 2007

Isaiah 63: 7-9 Psalm 148 Hebrews 2: 10-18 Matthew 2:13-23

FOLLOWING JESUS

Preached by Rev John Simpson, St Thomas Anglican Church, Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria

Author Peter Lord, was skiing in Colorado and saw some people wearing red vests with the words ‘BLIND SKIER’ on them. He thought, ‘I have a hard enough time skiing with two good eyes, how can they ski successfully with none?’ The answer was – they had a guide whose instructions they totally trusted and followed! As the guide skied beside them, he’d tap his ski poles together to assure them he was there. Then he’d say, ‘Go right! Turn left! Stop! Slow! Skier coming up on your right!’

What a picture. Life is like skiing downhill blind. We can’t even see five seconds into the future or the struggles to come

Following Jesus is like that. It is like skiing blind with only him to be alongside of us, to guide us. When Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph were living like this; new borns revolutionalize parent’s lives. And he did this to them. Then it was not long before they had to go with Jesus to Egypt to protect his life, the fragile and vulnerable life of an infant. Following the visit of the wise men to Jesus, Joseph is told to take him away, because Herod was seeking to kill him.

Herod was known for his ruthlessness and murderous acts. He had three sons killed to keep his crown. The Roman masters were equally as ruthless. They were known to raze a whole town and kill all that lived there, to warn other local towns. So for him to spill blood to keep power, did not bother him. It’s estimated that twenty children died within days. Matthew seeking to understand this by quoting an Old Testament passage of Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Rachael weeping and sobbing and loud lamentations.”

Often these ‘fulfilments' of the OT were allusions to already fulfilled prophecies, more like a poetic reflection. Then Joseph has two more dreams in which he is told to return to Israel, which he does. But on learning that one of Herod’s sons is ruling there, he takes the family into Galilee and the obscurity of Nazareth. Again Matthew sees in this an OT fulfilment, “He shall be called a Nazorean.”

He is trying to make sense of what this means if you follow Jesus the Christ. Basically I think he’s indicating to us: that God’s plan to restore us to himself will not be thwarted by evil.

As present day followers of Jesus, when we are confronted by evil, such as we’ve seen in this century, we are to “hold fast to our confidence in God and not give it away” (Hebrews 10 my paraphrase). To follow Jesus Christ we will have to go through the minefields of life, knowing that Jesus can show us how to negotiate our way, without loss of compassion; and actually doing something to help. Jesus, like the skiing instructor, will be alongside of us as we walk ‘blind’, by faith in him.

Following Jesus in vulnerability

Joseph and Mary were the equivalent of modern day refugees seeking safety in Egypt, from Herod’s cruelty. He takes his family there in obedience to the angelic message. Then again he is told to return; this time however he finds that one of Herod’s sons is ruling. So he goes to little known Nazareth, out of the way of Herod’s spies. Jesus coming was not free from the evils and heartaches that assail us. He, like us, is a vulnerable human being.

God did not give a special kit of things to protect him in his vulnerability – for that would have meant that he was not fully human. Instead the writer to the Hebrews tells us that:

Since the children share flesh and blood, Jesus himself shared the same things
Through death he destroyed the one who has the power of death…and freed all who all their lives were held in slavery, by their fear of death
Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.

This is a very different Lord Jesus to the one I was raised on – the One who appeared in those lovely pictures with him surrounded by adoring children. God took an immense risk in making Jesus to be fully human. He did not come protected by special influences emanating from his Divinity. Rather he meets the times of trial, the force of evil; with the same help each of us now have.

Think on this, The Christ of God was vulnerable because he shared in our flesh, flesh that had become so connected to sin. God lets him feel the full force of trials and suffering. To follow him means we have to hold fast to him in faith, and not be discouraged by evil, like the killing of Ms Bhutto, nor shrink back when the going gets tough. The late John Macquarrie, an Anglican Theologian of great note, speaks of Jesus facing the full force or brunt of human life, as “God’s letting-be”. Parents come to this, when they know they have to let go and let their young ones, meet their own challenges and live with them. God’s letting-be is not a passive thing. Rather it is God giving us the room to find and live out our life. God does not crowd us with good advice or keep trying to persuade us to do things his way! By giving us room, we find our true selves – warts and all!

Following Jesus is to let this vulnerability be, to follow its way, and so mature. It does not mean that I will not grieve or not ask him, “How come, God!?”

Following Jesus in the struggle

An article in the Age last Monday, headed ‘A man worth emulating’ was by a secular Jew, Leslie Cannold. In looking at the Jesus story she ventured that he was an outsider, one of the poor of his day, and considered illegitimate. Leslie sees Jesus as there for the needy, suffering, and lost among his own people. Others try to re-write the Story according to their culture. Often this reduces Jesus to a nice guy. The South American liberation theologians rightly see in Jesus, one who comes to liberate people from all that oppress them. He was on the edges of his society, considered from the point of wealth and power.

Yet this was and is his strength – his ability with the struggles of people, to fight against the temptation of the quick fix, to refuse the satan’s offer of quick power by worshipping it. He tasted all that is human, so that he could renew our human-ness. God plunged him into non-religious life, as a child with suspicion that he was born the wrong side of the bed sheets; the religion of the poor was looked down upon by the religious leaders. And they were powerless in the face of Rome. However he starts his ministry with the declaration that challenges religious protocols – “I have come to bring good news to the poor, release for the captives, to set at liberty those in darkness….” I wonder what Jesus would say about the dark episode in Australian politics, of the treatment of David Hicks?

Jesus struggles with these issues and had obviously thought them through. Full humanity for him meant:
Going to the unclean, lepers and tax-collectors; having women disciples including his mother, and some women who supported his work; going into pagan territory, healing many there, and finding more faith in them than among his own people. Some even suggest that he married that woman – Mary Magdalene!

Following Jesus has taken me out of my religious world. A friend remarked to me, after I’d been ordained some years, “john, you now swear, go to the pub for a drink and even tell risqué jokes!” I did not take this negatively! It was a part of my tasting the full humanity, following Jesus had shown to me.

Some years ago Chris and I were on holiday in Cornwall. We were walking down a country lane towards a bus stop; the wind was so strong you could lean into it. We stepped out of the wind’s force and sought relief. That was good. However we never moved…..forward. To grow like Jesus we have to meet the full force of the winds of life.

Conclusion: Following Jesus asks no more than that I love him with my all
Be vulnerable to all that is human
Be a struggler in the way of Jesus so as to minister to others

Another way of saying this is this prayer:
Day by day, Dear lord, three things I pray:
To see you more clearly;
To love you more dearly;
To follow you more nearly, Day by day.

ARCHBISHOP PHILIP FREIER'S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

The Archbishop and Childhood Depression

Please sign the Archbishop's Petition.

TO FIND OUT MORE, PLEASE GO TO THE EAGLE'S NEST

Wisdom - an inclusive view

Abhipanya at with bowl and robe has a post with which I resonate. How I wish more people in my immediate community of faith could background themselves with such wisdom to advance our conversation more! And I hope I can have such self-insight that will enable me to take the conversation further, too.

Advent 3: Gaudete Sunday: Rejoice - and again I say rejoice

To-day takes on a rosy hue. It is Rosy Sunday. Gaudete Sunday. Rejoice. Light the pink, rose coloured candle on the Advent Wreath.

THE MAGNIFICAT

Mary's response to the Angel

My soul doth magnify the Lord / and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded / the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth / all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me / and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him / throughout all generations.
He hath shewed strength with his arm / he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat / and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things / and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel / as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.

Simon Barrow

Simon Barrow has to be one of the busiest - and most talented - people around. He is Co-Director of Ekklesia. I am indebted to Simon and his blog, faithinsociety, for referring me to the wonderful thoughts of Reinhold Niebuhr expressed below. Simon, in turn, passed his thanks to Jane Stranz who blogs at Of life, laughter and liturgy.

Reinhold Niebuhr
Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime, Therefore, we are saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; Therefore, we are saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone. Therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own; Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.

Advent 2: Daring to Hope

SERMON PREACHED BY REV. JOHN SIMPSON

AT THE CHURCH OF ST THOMAS, UPPER FERNTREE GULLY
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT : DECEMBER 9th 2007

‘Daring to Hope’

What a theme! Hope is when I have a confident expectation that keeps me going, while I wait and work for it to come to pass! Remember the ‘waiting’ message of last week? “Practice creates Miracles”. I wait confidently; yet hope also calls me to dare to do something towards it.

I Practice; take a few courageous steps into the unknown. Like when we decided to have our new (yet old) home renovated and took the builder's advice to do more! Or when I’m on the internet and looking for a site, and at the bottom of my screen the words “unknown territory” pops up. It’s exciting, yet it’s scary! I’m confident and venturing into the unknown.

When I was ordained I had lots of utopian ideas, like those found in the first reading.

Are these great visions of peace and harmony among peoples just a fairy tale? No; they correspond to the deep longings of the human heart and point to God’s ultimate goal for us. Such visions nurture our souls and our hearts. They give energy to keep waiting, practicing and daring.

John Baptizer. Jesus Messiah : The Darer and the Doer.

John dared people to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matthew tells us that the Baptizer was the Voice, the Voice that dares all to “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths”. From his mother’s womb, John’s life was determined by his mission – for he is said to have leapt in her womb at the voice of Mary, the mother of the Doer, Jesus. His call was to prepare us. He did not seek personal fulfilment through his work. He came to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

In our own place and circumstances, we each have a role to play. It calls for some ‘daring-do’. The divine will and purpose, like a link in a chain, depends on each of us obeying the role God’s given to us. Many great things depend on us remembering that we are children of God – that we are divine beings. John Baptizer did what God asked of him – he recalled people to their true nature. He went out daring to do this. Later we are told he did not know Jesus, until he saw a dove descend on him at Jesus’ baptism

And what a result! Allowing for some exaggeration, the whole region around the Jordan and people from Jerusalem and Judea, came out to hear him. Big turn-out! A bit like Christmas Day at Midnight! Yet that was only the beginning. As they heard him, people were said to be, “On the tip toe of expectation”- just what Advent can be for us as we practise our waiting. Many were baptized, acknowledging they’d “missed the mark”, through forgetting they were God’s. John Baptizer dared, and many had a burden lifted – not in the temple or by the priests – but in the desert and by the Voice and baptism water.

If John was the Darer, Jesus was the Doer: he also came to be baptized. Jesus did this to identify with John’s mission and with the people seeking God’s coming. Together they brought Hope into view. Hope became the people’s new Horizon. The Voice did his work. John Baptizer saw the utopian vision beginning – it must have been exciting to see folk coming with a longing to hear the word of the Lord. And doing it for themselves!

How daring was John?

John showed courage when he took on the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism.
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Produce good fruit worthy of your repentance.” They were quick to condemn the non-religious and I think John threatened them with his tongue in his cheek!

“Vipers”! They were slithering down to the Jordan, and John was not afraid of them, even if they were poisonous. That takes some daring-do! Have you ever spoken boldly to someone to make the point? I have a few times. I once told the son of a friend, who was on drugs, that he was on the “road to hell’. He agreed - though his parent’s friends thought I was wrong! His mum and dad did not!

“Who warned you to flee from coming wrath?” Not a concept we associate with Jesus and God. Can God be said to be wrathful, angry with us? John did. Maybe he had a point, that hypocrisy and not loving others, displeases God. Certainly Jesus got angry on several occasions. I prefer to think of wrath as my receiving the consequences of my own actions. “What you sow, you will also reap.” What goes around, comes around.

“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘ we have Abraham as our father’.” In other words, ‘whatever your family tree, you’re on your own, here boys!’ Each one must be responsible for him or her self. This is a strong theme in Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Elijah – the one John is most like, fiery and challenging. You’ve been baptized as children of God – so bear the fruits of this Baptism. Live like the divine beings you are.

Taking responsibility for yourself is what’s being dared here. It can be mighty uncomfortable. It’s almost like shedding your skin, as snakes do, so as to grow into a new one. Yet, Utopia will be made up of those who are responsible for themselves, ready to shed the old skin and dare to do.

Being a Darer-Doer
This is to be a people of hope, followers of the Jesus Way. Courageous and responding to the deep longings God has placed in your human heart. Daring to act from the vision. Courageously taking up the cross to bring new life. Boldly being a voice for the vision of love, harmony and Jesus the Christ. “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone”.


Here’s some ways : “Practise Creates Miracles” So try making these ones!

• Remember each day, say to yourself, “I am a son, a daughter, of the Living God – I’m divine. When upset or distressed, stop and be calm. Remember who you are. And let the life of Jesus flow!

• Speak tenderly whenever you “hear” the deep longings of another person’s heart, they are part of God’s plan, a step they can take to bring more of heaven to earth.

• Speak more boldly than you usually do, when you hear a person going down a road that leads to death, to loss of dignity, of themselves.

• Be in touch with your own deep longings, take a moment each day to think “Have I been true to my hopes?” Share them with us. Ask how Jesus and John can guide you?

• Take responsibility for the things in others, that make you angry. These tell you the matters you do not like in you!

The Bird of Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
Did it ask, a crumb of me.

By Emily Dickinson
(from Sunday Liturgies)

God's Kingdom, Reign & Justice: Prison & Sentencing: Victims and the Oppressed

On Sunday, 25 November 2007, the Feast of Christ the King and the last Sunday in the Year of the Church, Jonathan Chambers - who heads Anglican Criminal Justice Chaplaincy in Victoria - delivered the following sermon at the Church of St Thomas, Upper Ferntree Gully.

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The Reign of God in Luke’s Gospel .
Feast of Christ the King 2007 UFTG
Nature of the Kingdom of God -What sort of Kingdom?

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Jesus’ Final Words to another human being before he died were to the Criminal beside him “….Today you will be with me in paradise”

The Kingdom of God is not something in the future- It’s NOW
“Today you will be with me in paradise”
Why would Luke finish this way?

What clue does it give us to the Nature of the Kingdom of God?

To understand the nature of this Kingdom, it is necessary to go back to Nazareth and the Jesus Manifesto, his campaign speech:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

And he rolled up the scroll,

gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.
The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Then he began to say to them,
Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

……“Today you will be with me in Paradise”
The Reign of God which Jesus declared and commenced with his ministry was about:
God’s Justice
Relief from poverty
Release to Captives
Recovery of sight to the Blind
Freedom for the Oppressed

In Luke, we see Jesus living out His Manifesto about the Reign of God - and what it looks like - in his life, ministry and teaching

Good News To The Poor
Magnificat
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

Beatitudes
Blessed are you who are poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.
But woe to you who are rich,

for you have received your consolation

blessed are you who are hungry now,

for you will be filled.
Woe to you who are full now,

for you will be hungry.

And then there were:

The Rich Man and Lazarus
Zacchaeus – the rich man who shares his wealth. Salvation has come to your house Today

Jesus was concerned about the gap between Rich and Poor
Luke was concerned about the gap between rich and poor in the Christian Community for which he wrote his Gospel.

Look at:
Housing at Docklands and the High Rise Commission Flats of Fitzroy or Flemington
Median Household Income in Braybrook is $575 pw
Median Household Income in Kew is $1850
(Median Household Income in Upper Ferntree Gully [where St Thomas’s is] is $1277)
25% of Victoria's Prison intake comes from only 13/647 in Victoria

The Reign of God is about the rich like Zacchaeus sharing wealth with the poor; and including the socially disadvantaged through equal education, maternal health care, adequate housing, employment.

Hugh Mackay in yesterday's Age spoke of reclaiming egalitarianism- a fair go - which was part of our Australian culture only 15 years ago.

Release To The Captives
Jesus brought release and community inclusion from captivity of sin. He included the sinful woman who anointed his feet; release and inclusion to the Leper; release and inclusion to the sick woman bent over for eighteen years; release and inclusion of the hated Samaritan Leper who returned to thank him for healing.

In the Gospels, Jesus didn’t spring anybody from prison.
But in the Book of Acts, Luke records four occasions when early Christians were released from prison by Divine intervention. Demonstrating God did indeed come “to set the prisoners free”

“Holding people captive” is a foundation of our Criminal Justice system in Victoria in the hope that paying people back with deprivation of liberty will deter them and others from offending again.
But 62% of those who go to prison will return.
The payback system.

How does it sit with Jesus command to love your enemies and do good to those who hate you?
If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also.

In the story of the Prodigal Son, contrast the response of the Loving Father and the Older Son to the Prodigal. We are challenged and overwhelmed by the generosity of the Father who doesn’t “give the prodigal what he deserves”

The wisdom of God’s Reign as shown in this story is demonstrated in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa following apartheid.
“Healing through truth telling”.

Jesus shows the futility of inflicting more harm in order to “pay the price for the harm done”
Walter Wink says:
“As a society we run the risk in endeavouring to fight evil with evil – of becoming the very evil that we hate”.

God’s Reign and Kingdom looks to the future and aims to restore and repair the harm done. It builds up. It doesn’t beat people into submission.


Recovery Of Sight To The Blind
I discovered that The Blind in Luke’s Gospel were not the physically blind - whom Jesus healed - nor the spiritually blind who regained sight like Zacchaeus.

The Blind were Scribes and Pharisees who always complained about anything Jesus did to help anybody. “Tut tutting”. They are like Older Brother who complains that the son isn’t getting what he deserves, or like the Pharisees who complained that Jesus was breaking the rules.

In Victoria, The Blind - as far as the criminal justice system is concerned - are the Community in general. Because what goes on in prisons is hidden, we don’t know – other than what the press tells us. Or what the Ombudsman reports, as we saw this week.

The Press, generally, only report newsworthy stories- ones that will reinforce peoples’ beliefs and, particularly, prejudices. They don’t portray people as someone’s son or daughter, but dehumanise them stereotyping them as “Monsters” and defining them by the crime.
Murderer, Rapist, Paedophile, Thief.
Truly dangerous serial offenders = 2%.
The rest are tarred with same brush.

So the public are blind to the true story - and so there are calls for tougher sentences and longer jail terms.

• Academic studies by psychologists, criminologists and sociologists point to the futility of locking people up.
• Anyone who works in the prison system agrees it is counter productive and makes people worse.
• Politicians associated with the prison system know that it’s costly and ineffective, but not one is willing to risk the electoral backlash if they appear to be “soft on crime”
  

With no other voices, other than the media, the Community continues to be Blind.
We like to believe it’s a Just system,.
Collusion terms are there like “Collateral Damage” in War.
We talk about:
Humane containment. Duty of Care. Modern prisons.
We hide the damage done by kidding ourselves we are rehabilitating
And we euphemistically call the govt dept ‘Corrections Victoria’ – when 62% return !

You can’t bring about a change of heart when you’re holding someone under force, isolated from the community. We each need community to survive.

The Reign of God is demonstrated by the story of the Shepherd who would care for each lost one so much that he would do the irrational thing of leaving 99 to go after that one. And when he finds it, like the loving father who found his son, throw an extravagant party.

The kingdom of God is not about condemning the lost by exclusion,

but by seeking them out, costly caring and celebrating –

even when they don’t deserve it.

To Let The Oppressed Go Free
The oppressed in the Gospels are those who are captive. To Roman and Jewish Laws- which were oppressive. Served law makers – not the people.

In the Criminal Justice system “The Oppressed” are the Victims of Crime- who, because of our legal process, don’t get a fair hearing. Crimes aren’t against a victim; they are offences against the State.
Therefore the only reason for involving a Victim is to call them as a witness.

Howard Zehr:
We don’t listen to what they have suffered and need
We do not seek to give them back what they have lost
We do not help them recover
We may not even let them know what has transpired since the offence.

Consequently, Victims feel that no justice has been done which recognises their loss. There is no closure .Which leads to anger, fear, and demands for vengeance.

Consequently Victims of Crime Groups are angry –
because they are oppressed

A Restorative Justice system, focussed on healing the wounds, with compassion as seen in the tender treatment of the Good Samaritan to the victim of crime on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho would go a long way to letting these oppressed go free.

A compassionate system which gave a place for victims to be truly heard and which still held offenders accountable to restoration could result in more Victims of Crime becoming Survivors of Crime.

The Reign or Kingdom of God as shown by Jesus actions and teaching in Luke are clearly at odds with the values of the Kingdoms of this world.

The Day of the Lords Favour, which Jesus declared began with his ministry
“Today this scripture had been fulfilled”.

If God’s Reign, which commenced in Nazareth is to continue, then WE are called too - as Christ’s Body to-day -to practice what we preach.

We are to do what we can to:

• Restore the poor.
• “Make poverty history” not just overseas but for the households of Braybrook who receive $570 per week
• Set the captives free.
• Work to find better ways of making offenders accountable rather than locking them up. Impossible? We did away with the death penalty. They said you couldn’t abolish slavery yet Wilberforce knew about the Kingdom of God. As did Mandela.
• Open the Eyes of The Blind.
• We need to let the Community know the truth about what harm prison does. We need to inform politicians that they will lose their seats if they let this injustice continue. Because God’s justice isn’t about payback. It’s about restoring right relationships.
• Let the Oppressed go free.
• We need to change the legal system – so that it is not combative with winners and losers. To change it to a place where victims are truly heard and offenders are truly held accountable. A place where people don’t just look at an offence and say : “this is what you will have to pay for breaking the law”, but instead we ask the Victim “what can we do to heal the damage, what can the offender do to bring restoration, what reparation should be made to the community, and what can we do to help prevent this offender from needing to offend again.”

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus’ final words to another human were addressed not to his disciples but to a criminal. Most of his followers had abandoned him. They were words of inclusion to the outcast who on his own admission was guilty - but who sought Jesus’ acceptance.
Today this scripture has been fulfilled
“….Today you will be with me in paradise”

Can we be as inclusive –
so that the Kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven.
Today?
I believe yes, we can –
as people who want to live in the Reign of God and God’s Justice.

Jonathan also handed out a document with the title Victoria's Prison Population: 2001 to 2006. It, along with its statistical documentation, can be found here. It is a publication of the Sentencing Advisory Council.

For more about Howard Zehr and his work with Restorative Justice, see here.

Travelling in The Way

Out walking the other day, I came across this Hut...
tucked away in farmland behind this fence.
A little used track runs beside the Hut.
The Hut itself is partly obscured and protected by a hillock.

Two things I think about from this:

The Hut is off to one side. Cars whizzing by on the busy bitumen road nearby would scarcely notice or be able to see The Hut. To take it in, its position, the track, the hillock, one has to make a conscious decision and go off the well-beaten bitumen. The Hut is simplicity itself and the track is not beaten bare with human passage. Come aside, it says.

The Hut is very much like me. Not the most attractive edifice to present to the world - and it is placed in obscurity. It is built of a durable, practicable material - one considered to be the iconic Australian vernacular. Basic features of The Hut have been broken or fallen into disrepair over time. Yet this very brokenness and disrepair allows the elemental in. It shares the fate of the rest of creation. The Hut's utility in its current state is questionable - but it is there to think upon, to remember and recall, and to ponder anew.

The silence and justice of God

Australia has just changed its government. For the last eleven and a half years there have been numerous injustices and cruelties perpetrated by the former government under a bigotted Prime Minister. For many Australians, we have been ashamed. We no longer understood or recognised our nation and so many of our fellow Australians who allowed such ignominy to go unpunished at the ballot box.

When people cry out to the heart of God for justice and yet nothing seems to change, it is very difficult. It is difficult to live through the continuing situation and difficult to understand why there is not a speedy recourse.

We have to remember that we have only a partial view of any situation. God sees the whole picture: past, present, future and personal.

Miss Eagle was not alone in wanting speedy redress, but she also knew that our God - who has a heart of and for justice - would do the job properly. As for Job, I know that our Avenger lives. Last Saturday was reckoning day. Our fellow Australians at last redressed the situation. Not only did our government fall in huge numbers, the Prime Minister became only the second PM to lose his own seat at an election. In short, not only did Australians hold their representatives accountable, they took responsibility for carrying out the task.

One of the interesting things in the election was this. There were a few people on the government side who spoke out for justice. In the main, these people retained their seats in spite of so many losses. There is a lesson in this that needs to be absorbed.

In short, when justice came it did the job well. I only pray that Australians will remain engaged in the political process to hold their representatives accountable. The words of Thomas Merton, below, seemed to speak to the situation under which so many people have had to bear up for so long.

To admit that this is a world to which God seems not to be speaking is not a renunciation of faith: it is a simple acceptance of an existential religious fact. It should not disconcert anyone who knows, from the Bible and the mystics, that the silences of God are also messages with a definite import of their own. And this import is not necessarily reassuring. One thing it may imply, for instance, is a judgment on the self-righteousness of those who trust in themselves because they are fully respectable and "established." It may imply a judgment of their affirmations and suggest that a great deal is being said by God in language that we have not yet learned to decode. Not that there are new dogmas being revealed: but perhaps things that we badly need to know are being told us in new and disconcerting ways. Perhaps they are staring us in the face, and we cannot see them. It is in such situations that the language of prophetism speaks of the "silence of God."
Thomas Merton. "Apologies to an Unbeliever" in Faith and Violence. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968: 211-212.

THE CAMPAIGNER'S PRAYER

I spent a good few hours letterboxing to-day. As I plodded along one foot in front of the other, I decided something more was needed, so some words came in rhythm with my steps:

May this house vote for justice at this election

May this house lobby for justice after this election

May this house have a heart for justice.

In Jesus Name

Amen

A Spiritual Compass

Every explorer on his or her journey needs to check the settings, the sense of direction. One can find oneself in new or strange territory. There is something unsettling. It can be difficult to feel centred and stabilised. For the Christian, this can be resolved and should be resolved by prayer, studying the Word of God, embedding oneself in a community of faith, listening to what the Holy Spirit might be trying to speak into one's life.

But there is an additional aid that Christians through the centuries have found helpful. It is the Spiritual Director. This article is a simple outline in answer to the question: Should you have a Spiritual Director?

Then there is the Companion in The Way - a fellow Christian who is not in the same relationship to oneself as a Spiritual Director; someone who is an equal, a fellow traveller, a confidante, an encourager.

My own experience - with one exception - has been that my spiritual direction has come from books, my own reading pursuits, and from God-given Companions in the Way.

The spiritual direction which has impacted my life in radical, transforming ways has had its origins predominantly in Catholic and Quaker writings.

Catholic writers:
The Cloud of Unknowing (Author unknown); William Johnston; Thomas Merton, Dom Cuthbert Butler, Walter Hilton, Julian of Norwich; Carlo Carretto

Quaker writers:
George Fox, Howard H Brinton, Hannah Whitall Smith, Rufus Jones, Thomas Kelly, William Barclay

Orthodox:
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (Anthony Bloom)

This does not mean that other writings have not been influential in my life. I am an avid reader and read widely on spiritual matters. The writers I have mentioned are ones who have affected my spiritual thought and practice so thoroughly, so radically that their influence is with me on a daily or weekly basis.

My Companions on the Way have had the same seminal effect:
Father Albert OFM, Cap; Aunty Alice with her bible and picnic basket; David, the Toowoomba Bible Teacher; Joan, a true sister in Christ; Richard, the radical Catholic priest - now former Catholic priest; Jim, from the Full Gospel Businessmen's Association and great lover of God; Pat, the Jesuit; Des, who taught me about citizenship in heaven - to name but a few.

And then there is the person who was my Spiritual Director for approximately two years. He came into my life in a Spirit-led way in early 1996. He is a man of international stature in his field, very well-known in his home town of Melbourne. He is a writer, a speaker, a counsellor, and long before anyone heard of blogs, he began his huge and popular website which is still forging on to-day. His influence on me was great. This was a stimulating and creative period in my life which, I feel, brought about a renewal, a new conversion. A country girl from Northern Australia had a whole new window on life opened to her.

Now, there is a possibility of another Spiritual Director in the offing. I was at an informal gathering of women in ministry last Thursday. This woman came late and sat down beside me. She is an elderly woman - even much older than I. She spoke about herself just a little and I felt in my spirit that this woman was to be my Spiritual Director. In spite of this, I might have left this intuition remain unspoken but at the end of the lunch we were conversing and she told me more about herself. Included in her verbal resume were the words "spiritual direction". So I spoke up. She was taken aback but open to the idea. The outcome, in short, is that we will meet for coffee to see if we "click" - an all important point in selecting a Spiritual Director/ee - and go from there. I believe that we will click. I will be surprised if we don't.

And why do I think I need a Spiritual Director?

I feel isolated in my community of faith. This says as much about me as it does about the dynamic of my faith community. People are always a bit stunned by the things I've done in my life and the places that I have lived. For those who have always lived a suburban life-style in a major city, my life does seem different and unusual. It has been lived at the coal face of much of the human condition. This tends to give one a very different set of priorities from those prevailing in white middle suburbia - and, in my circumstances, it is isolating.

My health is a destabilising influence in my life. I don't have what I would consider "big ticket" items - but I have a few chronic illnesses which are sufficient for my GP to make up a care plan. I go well for a month or two and then come crashing down and I'm out of action for a while. Then, I crawl out of my hole, try to make up for all that lost time, and get myself back into a routine of normalcy once again.

This, I'm sure, is all tied in with the ageing process which I liken to adolescence. Full of ups and downs and all over the place while you are on your way to somewhere but you don't know what the outcome will look like.

So what do I hope for in this possible Spiritual Director?

I want a Companion in The Way; a sounding board; someone to help me towards a more centred and stabilised life; someone to help me to keep my compass pointing True North; someone to nurture and nourish growth in my spiritual life and to help me get rid of that nice crop of weeds I have tucked away on the back block.

Bonhoeffer, Ethics and Kevin Rudd

Miss Eagle is thinking - hard. I don't know whether this will be the first or last post of this kind or whether this will the first post of a work in progress. I write four blogs. These blogs reflect the constant interests of a life of sixty-three and a bit years. The links are on the side bars. The blogs cover desert spirituality, social comment, home decor, and food. Into these blogs come other constants: books, film and television, rugby league football - particularly State of Origin, and - occasionally - craft and the refurbishment of furniture and furnishings.

The Eagle's Nest was the first blog but, as it progressed, it seemed too much of a jumble to put all my interests on one blog. As well, readers interested in one topic were not necessarily interested in any of the others. While there is occasional social comment in The Trad Pad and Oz Tucker which is relevant to their topics, I have - to this time - kept this blog free of social comment: a rant free zone.

But what I want to explore is in the manner of a spiritual reflection so this blog seems to be the most appropriate place to write about it. Elections for a Federal Government are due in Australia and are expected by December 2007. The government is a coalition of two conservative parties, the Liberal Party and the National Party. The major party of opposition is the Australian Labor Party. There are a few independents sitting in the House of Representatives. In the Senate there are a smattering of minor parties: The Greens, The Australian Democrats, Family First.

Our Prime Minister is John Howard. The Leader of the Opposition is Kevin Rudd. Until the last few years, religion has never been an issue in Australian politics as it is in the politics of the USA. Australians have never been fond of people who wear their religion on their sleeve. And they have been even less fond of politicians who display such a tendency. But this has changed or is changing. Pentecostal churches and their mega churches have acted as a lightning rod for this development.

Pentecostal churches have sought to mobilise their constituencies and have actually sought political power and influence. Politicians are always mesmerised by numbers and are only too happy to turn up to churches that can guarantee an audience of 5/6000 people.

John Howard was raised a Methodist. While he courts conservative Christians, there is little indication by the Prime Minister of his own faith in practice. We do not have any seminal statements of faith.

On the other hand, the Leader of the Opposition, Kevin Rudd, has been more overt about his faith and has actually bought into the debate of faith in public and political life. Rudd was raised a Catholic, lived in an Anglican college at the Australian National University (ANU) and married an Anglican. I am not quite certain but I believe he now attends an Anglican Church.

During Howard's tenure as Prime Minister, his government has been seen to implement policies which cut across Christian ethics:

1. Detention of refugees in concentration camp like facilities
2. Management of harsh immigration policies which have also scooped up Australian citizens into a disastrous web of detention and deportation
3. Questionable attitudes based on the ethnic origins of Australian citizens and residents
4. Xenophobic attitudes
5. Introduction of legislation which has eliminated a just balance of workplace relations between employer and employee
6. Failure to apologise to indigenous Australians for horrendous public policy such as that revealed by the Stolen Generations report, Bringing Them Home
7. Poor funding and administration of public policy issues relating to Aboriginal people.
8. A recent sudden interest in Aboriginal issues to the extent that the army has been sent to Aboriginal communities and constructive policies are being abolished at the stroke of a pen.
9. Failure to sign up to Kyoto and - until recently - denigration of anything to do with climate change or altering behaviour to save the planet.

This list is a short list and for more details of these and other similar policies and attitudes you, dear Reader, are referred to The Eagle's Nest.

Kevin Rudd was elected Leader of the Australian Labor Party on 4 December 2006. While he was a familiar face on Australian television, Australians are still getting to know who Kevin Rudd is and what he stands for. He is ahead in the polls and it seems likely that in 2008 Australian government will have changed hands and Kevin Rudd will be Prime Minister.

Among those who long for the Howard Government and its meanness to humanity and the environment to depart from the halls of power, there is mounting concern about the man who would become Prime Minister. Who is he really? What does he stand for?

These questions are commonly being raised because, on a number of contentious issues, Rudd has supported the Howard Government when great ethical questions have been and are integral to such issues. People refer to Rudd's "me-too-ism".

The latest evidence of this is in the area of Tasmanian forest policy where Rudd has indicated that he will not move away from the policy of the Howard Government. This is clearly because a powerful trade union supports this policy. A more environmentally friendly policy enunciated by Rudd's predecessor brought protests from this union and cost the ALP two seats in Tasmania.

To-day - and this is the catalyst for Miss Eagle's personal ethical reflection - Martin Flanagan is questioning Rudd's decision and relates Rudd's statements to his previous declared admiration for Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his ethics. Martin Flanagan is a distinguished writer and journalist and a favourite commentator of Miss E. He is the brother of the much-awarded Tasmanian writer, Richard Flanagan.

Miss Eagle has had half-a-lifetime of active political involvement within the ALP ( as candidate and political staffer) and the trade union movement (as an active member and a union organiser). She is in retirement. She resigned from the ALP six years ago. She keeps up trade union linkages particularly through the Your Rights at Work campaign. Miss Eagle thinks she can see what Rudd is doing. He is not going to be distracted from the goal - and certainly not when he is so far ahead of the Prime Minister in the polls. The Prime Minister is a master of what is known as "wedge politics" and Rudd seems to have developed some deft skills in avoiding the wedge.

When Rudd takes a me-too stand, it seems to have the effect of taking contention out of the political debate. Flanagan describes this aptly thus: The game he is currently playing with the Prime Minister is known in yacht racing as tacking.

So the ethical question is this:
Opinion polls are showing that a majority of Australians want a change of government. There are great moral reasons - in the view of many but not all Australians - why the Prime Minister should leave office. How ethical is Rudd's position of tacking, of keeping on track, on keeping the campaign ship on an even keel?

Miss Eagle has raised similar questions at The Eagle's Nest asking for Rudd to display his backbone, to let us know his vision, to let us know what are those issues from which he would never resile his position.

Is Kevin Rudd correct? Just as Bonhoeffer was prepared to accept the murder of Hitler as a necessary but lesser evil in the affairs of state, is Rudd's attitude of tacking and me-tooing his way to The Lodge a small price to pay, a lesser evil, to rid this nation of Howard's tainted governance? Is the failure to enunciate a clear, environmentally friendly forest policy less important than doing what it takes to rid the nation of the Howard Government?

Existential Jesus

Imagine, dear Reader, a reading group in an Australian academic institution. Most of the members are not Christians and yet they decide to read the Gospel of Mark and read it intelligently in a manner similar to the way the group would approach other texts. The deliberations of the group have now become the subject of a book, The Existential Jesus, by Professor John Carroll, a sociologist at La Trobe University here in Melbourne. Miss Eagle went to hear John Carroll speak last Thursday night at St Martin's Anglican Church at South Yarra. This is not the historical project of the Jesus Seminar. This is more like a Lectio Divina group style except that most of the group are secular and they are approaching the work intellectually, not prayerfully. The insights are remarkable and worthy of note. Make up your own mind.

Rumi and The Right Work

The Essential Rumi - Translated by Coleman Barks with John Moyne, A.J. Arberry, and Reynold Nicholson. Published by Castle Books, 1997.

The Melbourne Writers Festival program is out to-day. How can one ever get to everything that sparks attention! How can one ever afford it! Over at Barnabas quotidian, Barney has used a quote from Rumi. Top of Miss Eagle's list are two Rumi events. Check the information here and here. It is a challenging quote and gives much to ponder:

The Right Work

There is one thing in this world that you must never forget to do. If you forget everything else and not this, there’s nothing to worry about, but if you remember everything else, and forget this, then you will have done nothing in your life.

It’s as if a king has sent you to some country to do a task, and you perform a hundred other services, but not the one he sent you to do. So human beings come to this world to do particular Work. That Work is the purpose, and each is specific to the person. If you don’t do it, it’s as though a priceless Indian sword were used to slice rotten meat. It’s a golden bowl being used to cook turnips, when one filing from the bowl could buy a hundred suitable pots. It’s a knife of the finest tempering nailed into a wall to hang things on.

You say, “But look, I’m using the dagger. It’s not lying idle.”

Do you hear how ludicrous that sounds? For a penny, an iron nail could be bought to serve the purpose. You say, “But I spend my energies on lofty enterprises. I study jurisprudence and philosophy and logic and astronomy and medicine and all the rest.” But consider why you do those things. They are all branches of yourself.

Remember the deep root of your being, the presence of your lord. Give your life to the one who already owns your breath and your moments. If you don’t, you will be exactly like the man who takes a precious dagger and hammers it into his kitchen wall for a peg to hold his dipper gourd. You’ll be wasting valuable keenness and foolishly ignoring your dignity and your purpose.

Lives: radical and changed

Christian mystics do not dabble in altered states.

They seek radically altered lives.

From an interview

with Bernard McGinn

by Sarah Miller,

The Christian Century, 2003.

Discovered this posted at

Sacred Threshold

PolMin, along with the Victorian Council of Churches, the Uniting Church’s Commission for Mission and Anglican Church’s Social Resposibilities Committee is sponsoring a forum about Dignity at Work.

The guest speakers will be three minimum wage workers from the USA who are in Australia on an ACTU sponsored tour.

The forum is being held in the marginal federal seat of Deakin and forms part of PolMin’s Just Work campaign.

Dignity at Work Forum - Minimum Wage Workers from the USA speak out

Thursday 26 July 2007
2pm
St John’s Catholic Church
494 Maroondah Hwy Mitcham

If you require a .pdf file for printing, please email Miss Eagle

Tabling: Ancient Prayers and Blessings

I am indebted to Following the Ancient Paths for bringing to prominence the ancient prayers of the Jewish tradition - particularly those that relate to blessings before meals and after meals. Truly beautiful.

The Prayer of Charlemagne

Charlemagne by Albrecht Durer

The Prayer of Charlemagne

Creator Spirt, by whose aid

The world's foundations first were laid,

Come visit every pious mind,

Come pour thy joys on humankind;

From sin and sorrow set us free,

And make us temples worthy thee.

Attributed to Charlemagne, translated by Dryden

Life happens: Part 1

Table Setting at the first meeting of Dawn of Life, St Thom's, Upper Gully

There comes a time in the life of a blogger when what happens is life...life to be lived...life to be organised and planned...a life in which one must be enjoined, one must participate. This explains the absence of Miss Eagle.

Highlights of the absence are:

• Establishing a support group for widows and widowers at St Thom's. The group has chosen to call itself Dawn of Life.
• Attending a conference in the Anglican Diocese of Ballarat - Rural Ministry in the 21st century.
• Taking the opportunity to play tourist before and after the conference.
• And, while all this was going on, Miss Eagle was also planning and working on a Pray Vigil held on Wednesday afternoon from 1pm-4pm at St Thom's.

St Thom's is a smaller parish - approximately 125 people attend two services in Upper Ferntree Gully each Sunday. We are, like so many Anglican congregations, ageing. In the last twelve months or so, though, aged diversity is creeping in the doors. Miss E is overjoyed. You see Miss Eagle does not agree with these aged specific Gen X, Gen Y churches. Miss E heard recently about a couple turning up at St Hilary's Kew, Melbournes largest Anglican church - Anglican of the evangelical variety. They were re-directed to the service for those over 40.

Now Miss E has the view that we are the Body of Christ, that God does deal with people in families. How does age-segregation help with communication between the generations? Miss Eagle is 63, she is widowed, she has no grandchildren. But she delights in the babies and toddlers in the church. There's Georgia who is somewhere between 11 and 13 who is making wonderful progress in the guitar. There has been a quiet pleasure in watching Callum and Nicholas - the children of Susanne and Jonathan, our ministering couple - grow up and start high school. There is Claire who has grown up in the church and is now at university. It is wonderful to be able to stay in touch with her life and ambitions and plans. And this is a two-way street. Young people learn about communicating with older people. Surely, this is the way God works things out. Surely, this sort of community can be a gift to a broader more individualistic society.

So, in this parish with a substational ageing demographic, there are quite a few widows and widowers. Needless to say, there are more widows than widowers. Two of us were widowed at a young age: Miss E at 45, but Madelin even earlier, in her thirties with young children. Most are recently widowed. So, at our first meeting, we had only one man. The others were busy - so time will tell whether the others come along. If they don't, we may lose our one man and become an all female group.

We have made a good beginning. We are not a lonely hearts club and we are likely to carry on a range of activities: social, first person, speakers. Miss E wants to also guide people in to looking at the role of the widowed in the church - then and now.

...to be continued

A place apart and taking off our shoes

Glynn Cardy, an Anglican minister in Auckland, New Zealand, writes about spiritual experience at Lucky Bear.

Friends, Peace and Pine Gap

Miss Eagle has to-day received this letter and these photographs from Dale Hess.

______________
Friends,

I have just received these photos of the Quaker Meeting held at Pine Gap. To learn what is happening at the trial of the Pine Gap 4, click on: http://www.pinegapontrial.blogspot.com/

Best regards,
Dale
______________

From: Jessica Morrison
Sent: Monday, 11 June 2007 9:32 PM
To: Hess Dale
Subject: Quaker Meeting at the Gates of Pine Gap - was it the first?

Dear Dale

I thought Friends may be interested in this,

Jessica
________________________
On Saturday 9th June, 25 people attended a Quaker meeting for worship 20 kms outside Alice Springs. The venue was the front gates of Pine Gap, a US/Australian Joint Defence Facility (also known as a US spy base), and the site of many protests.

While this was the first meeting for worship, this group of activists were able to grasp the process quickly (apart from sitting still for so long!).

Ministry included:

• Hindu mantras;the query relating to seeds of conflict in ourselves;
• stories of civil disobedience by Quakers;
• that prophets went into the desert to find God and
• that we go into the desert to find the truth about our country;
• the nature of silence; and
• the experience to attend the base in listening, rather than broadcasting of our opinions.

We finished with the laying of a peace sign of flowers and holding hands.

Mystics and mysticism: a summation - #3

If we cannot follow them in the experience to which their mysticism led them, and cannot fully understand what they seek to tell us, we must remember that these inner experiences, these visions of Divine truth, are of their very nature indescribable and incommunicable. If but few can share in that mystic experience, it is perhaps because few are prepared to pay the price which the mystics have paid and to follow in their steps along the Mystic Way, for they have told us plainly that the Way is long and hard, and those would attain must be ready to die completely to Self in order to live unto God. Yet we may learn from them and gain something for ourselves from their revelations, for our own guidance and encouragement, if we should seek to share, in however small a measure, in that which they enjoyed in its fullness; they have at any rate shewn us the way, and whither it leads for those who will tread it unfalteringly till the end is achieved.

Are the mystics right then? I think we can but answer Yes, if Mysticism means the transcending of the temporal and the material for the sake of communion, even of union, with the Abiding and the Real; if it means dying to the old life of the natural man, with all its limitations and desires, in order to attain to the freedom of a new supernatural Life which is everlasting; if, in short, it means a real experience, here and now, of what we call Eternity.

From the Epilogue

An introduction to the history of mysticism
By Margaret Smith
Gordon Press, New York
1976
Reprint of the 1930 edition published by the

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London.

Mystics and mysticism: a summation - #2

Have they not rather justified it beyond all denial? Their testimony bears on the face of it the evidence of being founded on experience; they speak not by hearsay, but of that which they have seen and known for themselves. These mystics are no mere visionaries, unreliable, witnesses, but men and women of strong character, possessed of sound judgment, and for the most part of practical good sense. They were known far and wide for the sanctity of their lives, the saintliness of their characters. Often they were profound thinkers, the intellectual leaders of their fellows, and withal men and women of action, with great gifts for leadership and administration, who have made their mark in the history of religion and often-times in the history of the world. Their inward vision did not make them less capable of serving their fellow-men, rather it inspired them to a fuller and richer life for others in the world. Their mysticism was a death opening up the gates of life, it was creative in the fullest sense of the word; they were not content to abide alone, but in dying unto themselves they brought forth much fruit.

From the Epilogue
An introduction to the history of mysticism

By Margaret Smith

Gordon Press, New York

1976

Reprint of the 1930 edition published by the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London.

Mystics and mysticism: a summation

The mystics have given us their witness to the truth of the faith they hold; philosophers have set their seal to it, the Fathers of the Church have affirmed their belief in it; the seekers of the Orient have proclaimed in glowing terms their mystic creed; those devoted to the Religious life have found in Mysticism that which brings vital force in dogmatic theology; those who have lived in seclusion, together with those who have shared in all the activities of the busy world, men and women, saints and seers, poets and craftsmen, all alike have declared unfalteringly that the soul, already in this life, can and does enter consciously into immediate relationship with God. Have they justified their claim?

From the Epilogue

An introduction to the history of mysticism
By
Margaret Smith
Gordon Press, New York
1976
Reprint of the 1930 edition published by the

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London.

Leunig: The path to your door

Michael Leunig is one of Australia's great cartoonists. Michael is a spiritual man and insightful in his art, his text, his comment. Miss Eagle is currently listening to Billy the Rabbit which the gifted Gyan has set to music. The CD comes beautifully packaged with a little book of the poems which have been set to music. Here is the last, but not least:

The Path to your Door
The path to your door
Is the path within:
Is made by animals,
Is lined by flowers,
Is lined by thorns,
Is stained with wine,
Is lit by the lamp of sorrowful dreams:
Is washed with joy,
Is swept by grief,
Is blessed by the lonely traffic of art:
Is known by heart,
Is known by prayer,
Is lost and found,
Is always strange,
The path to your door.

Listening

Iona Abbey window Christine Sine

Sometimes in a lowly cell

In the presence of my God

I stand and listen.

In the silence of my heart

I can hear his will

When I listen

Despairing people flock to me

They expect that I can see the answers

They ask my advice,

They say I am wise

I answer that nothing can deceive me

If I stand alone and silently listen

For I am but a servant

Who is guided by his king

When I listen

Sometimes in a lowly cell

In the presence of my God

I stand and listen

This Celtic poem attributed to Columba comes from Christine Sine via Listening Point.

Modern ascetism: counter-cultural, radical, spiritual commitment

In the latest Eureka, Paul Collins writes about ascetism and radical spiritual commitment in an article titled Downsizing as a form of modern ascetism.

Into Great Silence: a meditation

On Monday night, I went into the Cinema Nova in Lygon Street, Carlton to see the much awarded Into Great Silence.

Into Great Silence is a documentary. Having said that, though, filmgoers need to be warned. This is not the usual sort of documentary. There is no dialogue. No explanations, no explanatory structure or mechanism. There is no film music. The only music is the Gregorian chant of the Liturgy of the Hours. It is long. 2 hrs 40minutes. The film itself is a meditation with the theatre and its patrons quiet, silent. This is an insight into the life of Carthusian fathers and brothers - arguably the most ascetic order of monks in the whole world - living in Le Grand Chartreuse (yes, they of the famous liqueur - Chartreuse) high in the French Alps near Grenoble. There. Be warned. If you can wear all this and still front up to the theatre, you are almost certain to find this film a positive experience.

The film varies from grainy celluloid style to high quality. Some scenes are great art - to take your breath away and wonder if you are in a movie house or an art gallery. There is an overall structure to the film. It relies on the seasons: winter-spring-summer-autumn-winter as the macro theme. Within that seasonal structure is the daily life of the inhabitants of the monastery: rising and going to choir through to the deep of night office. We see the young and the old: the newcomers and the old, old men. We see the eremetic life lived in the cells and we see the active and practical lives of the brothers who cook, who feed, who garden, who manage the livestock.

We are watching men who have sought the better portion. They have left all, as Jesus commanded, to follow him into a greater reality removed from a world of human made distraction.

An excellent review is here and here is more about the Carthusians which is helpful in dealing with some of queries people have unanswered in the movie. The Anchoress has a review here.

John Garvey, an Orthodox priest, has an interesting piece in the Commonweal of May 18. John saw the movie close to the period of the massacre at Virginia Tech. He threads both together. Here is a quote from his article that I found significant:
A lot of what followed the Virginia Tech massacre was predictable: editorials about gun control and the treatment of mental illness, interviews with people about the need for reaching out. Some students expressed their concern that they may not have done enough to help Cho, though it is not at all clear that they could have. All I can think about are the human extremes here: monks who spend their time in solitary silence before God, listening deeply; and someone weeping in his own howling, desperate isolation, one that turns to evil rage and the destruction of other lives. This is the range of human possibility: you can be a person who moves through silence toward the light, or you can be destroyed by darkness. There is nothing here about morality or moral choices. This is about what we are called to be, and about those things that assist or prevent us from getting there.

As I have said in the title. This film is a meditation. It tells, it displays, an alternative story: an alternative way of being in the world. We may not all enter the cell or live behind a monastery wall but many of us who see this film will resolve once again to be who we are created to be, to serve as we are created to serve, to love as we are created to love, and to live as we are created too live.