The Society of Saint John the Evangelist is also known as the “Cowley Fathers.” Today one of our retired clergy sent me the link to the podcast of their Rule. He says, “The first rule was written by founder Fr. Richard Meux Benson, in the 19th century at Cowley, near Oxford (SSJE was the first monastic group to start up in England after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries).” There are short 4 minute chapters and will be perfect for my short commute. I thought some of you might also find them of interest.
From their website: SSJE Audio Rule.
The Rule of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist
We Brothers welcome you to a share one of our daily practices: listening to and reflecting on a chapter of our Rule of Life.
Beginning on Ash Wednesday (February 25), a new chapter from our Audio Rule of Life, read by a Brother, will be available each day, along with suggestions for prayer and reflection.
- To listen to the SSJE Rule of Life, read aloud by a brother, click on the chapters to the right [CLICK HERE].
- To read a Guide to Personal Reflection, click here
- To Subscribe to the SSJE Rule of Life, click the subscribe buttons on the right [CLICK HERE].
- We welcome comments on each chapter.
- To purchase a copy of the book The Rule of Life, click here
The freedom to lament
I began writing this as a reply to John’s comment on my introduction to Lamentations, but I think I would like to move the discussion up to the level of a post. In so doing I hope that some of you who have counseled those in grief or gone through your own grieving and struggling will be willing to share how it is you (and perhaps have not) been able to be honest with God.
John’s comment:
We studied Lamentations on five consecutive Wednesday nights a while back. A passage I find especially moving is 1.12 – ‘any sorrow like my sorrow.’ I have used it at funerals to comfort a grieving family who may feel that no one else can possibly understand their personal grief.
There are a number of such passages in Lamentations and I am glad to know that you are able to provide comfort through the words. This is part of the reason I still work on Lamentations, because I believe we have largely lost the ability and understanding of lamenting in western Christianity. It is important that people know that it is ok to grieve, to cry out, and even to be angry with God. He is a big God and he can take it. Most of all, I believe God wants us to be honest with him, to completely open up our hearts and minds, no holding back; open up the fire hose and let it flow, fierce and angry.
John’s reference to funerals reminds me of what I consider to be one of the most poignant passages in all of Scripture. Every time I teach 2 Samuel and I come to the Bathsheba episode I always pause and comment about David’s response to their son’s death. The scene is incredibly powerful. David has accepted his guilt and asked for God’s forgiveness for his sins of taking Bathsheba and killing Uriah. But Nathan declares that the son shall die. David mourned for the child, even as he was still alive, David lay by his bed and fasted. The child died.
2Sam. 12.20 Then David rose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the LORD, and worshiped; he then went to his own house; and when he asked, they set food before him and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive; but when the child died, you rose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’ 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
As a parent, how can one read this and not be overcome with emotion? There are deep and penetrating truths in the episode. While we live, and while those around us live, we must pray to God to save. He is a gracious God who saves. Eventually, however, that time will arrive and in our grieving for our loss we may be assured that we will go to them. In this world we must break our fast, as hard as it may be, and it may be some time before we are able, but we must break our fast and continue to live and love in this world.
So far I have not officiated at a funeral. I have no idea what I would actually say in such a circumstance. I have of course been to several, but usually as a member of the grieving family. But I will keep these words and therefore I will have hope…
Bible Brief: Lamentations
It has not yet been put into final pdf format and when it does I will post a link, but I (finally) finished the Lamentations volume for the small pamphlets in the Bible Briefs series that Stephen Cook is editing! Since I think Lamentations is a rather good book for studying during Lent I thought I would go ahead and post my intro here. The audience for this series is Christian laity so don’t look for footnotes or heavy linguistic analysis. On the other hand, it was quite a different experience to write for this audience and I think it is will be reasonably useful as a devotional piece. I hope you enjoy it and can make use of it, for yourself or perhaps your community. (Once the pdf is ready I will direct folks there so that VTS and Forward Publishing will know how many downloads they have.)
Lamentations
The book of Lamentations is one of the smallest works in the Bible and yet one of the most powerful and enigmatic. Written in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 586 B.C.E. by the Babylonians, Lamentations expresses the grief and disbelief of those who lived through the horror and yet still looked to their God. Not just an outpouring of emotion, however, the book of Lamentations also contains a profound theological reflection and response to the problem of sin and suffering.
This incredibly thoughtful and thought-provoking work is often overlooked in Christian study and is rarely read in the lectionary cycles, either in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer or the Revised Common Lectionary. Perhaps the passage best known to Christians comes from Lamentations 3, which is an optional reading for Holy Saturday and is the basis of a famous hymn:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. (3:22-23)While this passage is a statement of the poet’s firm faith in God’s presence and mercy, it does not serve well as a summary of Lamentations. The book’s final two verses are perhaps a better encapsulation of the tone and temperament of Lamentations:
Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored;
renew our days as of old—
unless you have utterly rejected us,
and are angry with us beyond measure. (5:21-22)2nd Sunday of Advent – Expectations & Preparations
[This is sort of a "rough cut," intended as a detailed outline rather than a full narrative exposition. Still, feel free to read and comment!]
Second Sunday of Advent
Year B
RCLIsaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
We are just a few weeks away from Christmas Day and the children and perhaps more than a few adults are wondering what they are going to find in their stockings and under their tree when they wake up. What are you expecting? What are you waiting eagerly to unwrap and enjoy?
There is no doubt that anticipation is building. Even with our current economic struggles, people are pouring into the stores to snap up bargains. The ads on television and in the papers make even the most ascetic among us twinge with at least a bit of desire. As much as I would decry commercialism and the excessive lust that such advertisements induce, I think the anticipation and heightened state of expectation that it creates in us can and should serve as a reminder of what this season really is about, yearning for and expecting the coming of Jesus.
This is the season of expectation and preparation. As we discussed last week, advent, the Latin term means “coming,” denotes this season when we await the coming of the Messiah, God’s anointed one, who will bring us salvation from our sins, restoring our relationship with God. On the most obvious level we are, of course, remembering that Jesus the Messiah came to earth as a human baby born in a manger, but this season is also to be a time of preparation and looking forward to his coming again, as Christus victor, the conquerer of death. (more…)
First Sunday of Advent – “Creation groans as a woman in labor”
Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the (western) Christian year, and it was also my first opportunity to perform a baptism. It was a wonderful event made even more special because the baby is the child of some good friends of ours. Advent is a curious season in that we tend to think of it as “Christmas” when in fact Christmas and Epiphany do not begin until, well, Christmas. Advent is the time of expectation for the second coming of Jesus, not his first. I won’t go on more here, because that is the point of the sermon, but the challenge as I saw it was to do justice to our readings and the season while also celebrating the baptism of this child. I leave it up to you do decide how successful I was.
First Sunday of Advent
Year B, RCLIsaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37Baptism of AEC
This morning is the first Sunday of Advent. To many of us it means we have finished off (hopefully) the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers, put up our Christmas tree and decorations, and opened upon the Advent calendar, getting ready to watch Mary and Joseph make their way to Bethlehem. “Advent” means to arrive or come and we can be forgiven for believing that it refers solely to the birth of Jesus the long-awaited Messiah. In fact, this season of waiting and expectation, as our collect suggests, is not only a time when we remember Jesus’ birth on earth, but it is also a time of reflection and preparation for his coming again in the last days. This season is very much like Lent, a time when we are to be in penitential prayer, aware of our sins and Christ’s forgiveness and of God’s promise to bring his justice and judgment to this world when Christ returns again.
So we have our readings from Isaiah and Mark, readings very similar to those from Amos and Matthew when I last preached three weeks ago. Isaiah calls out to God to remember his people and bring judgment upon their enemies.
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence–Isaiah confesses that the community of faith has sinned, but asks God to remember his people. At the time of this prophecy Israel is living in exile, a community far from their homeland with the Temple of the Lord nothing but a forgotten pile of rubble. The prophet knows that Israel has sinned and that many no longer believe in the Lord and yet he affirms the faith of his people and calls upon God to remember them.
Yet, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD,
and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.We too are a people living in exile, waiting for Christ to return and fulfill his promises. Granted, this is a very comfortable exile. Even in these financially difficult times I saw a lot of wide screen LCD TVs moving out of Walmart and BestBuy this weekend. Most of us in this congregation are well-fed and have warm homes and well-paying jobs. But comfort like suffering can equally drive us away from God. Jesus has been a long time in his return and to suggest that complacency can and has set in would be an understatement. It is to this that Jesus speaks in our Gospel today. (more…)
