The Nature of Manufactured Want
In times of plenty, people easily demand things that they do not otherwise need. Many of our demands surprise us when confronted with the logic. I have spent several weeks reviewing literature regarding wastewater irrigation systems. At the close of finishing up my paper, the New York Times ran an article concerning water shortages in the southwestern United States. First I thought, “Aha! This article discusses why people should be aware of wastewater reuse strategies!” But as I read, I saw a more intriguing picture of the nature of human needs.
Las Vegas is pursuing some intriguing options to secure its water feature. One of the main initiatives by the city is “to encourage homeowners and businesses to eliminate their lawns in favor of the rock, grass and cactus landscaping.” But what are lawns doing in Las Vegas, a city housed entirely in the desert?
The lawns exist because the water resources existed. When people have ample supply, they can cultivate ample want. They can cultivate these wants to the point where the want lacks common sense. Having a lawn in Las Vegas becomes an issue of freedom and choice. The focus remains on the desires of individuals rather than on consideration of the environment.
Please note the frame here: the argument rests in context. What foliage belongs in the desert? How can we appreciate the desert’s beauty? How do we come to terms with living, and even with flourishing, in the desert?
Consumerism can distract us from a broader frame of contextual fit. While the environment always requires some modification to support human flourishing, we can fit our human-built world more closely to the context. And who knows? We may even approach decisions that offer promises towards justice.
A Musical Interlude
Enjoy
Reconsidering Wisdom
Today I read an encouraging story in the New York Times that discussed an educational turn around at a large school. Conventional wisdom for educational reform is that communities develop when students can be known individually and offered pathways that affirm their strengths, calling out the best in them. In public schools, this motto generally supports the idea that small schools are better. This school saw the task differently and has made great strides with over 4000 students.
What intrigues me about the article is that a student’s ability to read, write, speak and reason are regarded as every teacher’s responsibility. In particular, I am encouraged by promoting student reasoning. It can be a pain, for teacher and student alike, to learn how a student is reasoning. Writing does help the issue as it forces students to make even a small aspect of their thoughts transparent. Additionally, I cannot think of skills more important across disciplines than reasoning. The various academic fields offer different modes of reasoning.
I also appreciate how educators lent helping hands to one another. So often, being an educator means swimming against the current even when you don’t know what you’re doing. These educators worked together alongside of a common mission that spanned all of their fields. They helped each other recognize good writing and developed community amongst themselves… even within the span of the contract.
What do you think are critical aspects of schooling success?
The Mismatch between History and Engineering
Note to readers: This post is a classic post about what I actually do for work.
I often spend my time thinking about how engineers can be better engineers. To me, engineering is not strictly about particularly refined use of a technical tool as the technical tools come and go. Engineering is not about a specific discipline as disciplinary domains shift over time. Moreover, engineers need to find ways to work effectively across the engineering disciplines all of the time. It is not uncommon to have mechanical, electrical, industrial, and chemical engineers working alongside of each other. To me, engineering is about solving problems that have their roots in the material world.
But I have been spending a ton of time lately researching wastewater irrigation systems in a development context. I’m interested and intrigued by the idea of creating holistic water management scenarios at the household level in a way that honors human dignity. As I read, I’m convinced that engineers and historians have very different ways of looking at problems.
I know a little bit about being both an engineer and a historian. I majored in the former and minored in the latter in college. It’s hard to think about getting a history job so mostly I keep at the historical studies as a hobby.
When you are looking to piece together a story in history, there is a distinct bias towards choosing the simplest and most elegant story you can construct given the information that you have at hand. My work situates me predominantly in the middle medieval area (Europe between AD900 and 1300). This period of history has been widely popularized, and there is a lot of commentary to sort. The more voices you try to add to the conversation (looking for instance at popular sources for military history, imperial records, and traces of grassroots movements), the more likely you will find a compelling and nuanced story. Yet you come to distrust the likelihood of an impressive cover-up spanning all sorts of characters when you lack compelling evidence. The goal is a simple, compelling narrative that accounts for the evidence you have.
Yet engineers seem to lack an appreciation for the simple. As I try to parse through various recommendations for irrigation systems, I see documents that value the large scale. I have been working my way through scholarly papers and a few rather good books. One thing remains that quaint household solutions are generally disregarded. It boggles my mind against a backdrop of failed centralized attempts and known governmental corruption. The story simply doesn’t make sense in that it is only an engineering solution if it is rooted in some large-scale enterprise or enables a large-scale enterprise. But as I am doing my own research, I see a rather compelling case for how small-scale systems require some significant engineering work.
It has me thinking about engineers and their tools. And it will also be interesting to see how development conversations unfold around a different sort of academic.
Confronting the Impossible
Today’s Gospel reading brings us St Luke’s articulation of Christ calling the first disciples.
In this well-known account, Christ asks Simon and John to cast their nets into waters they know do not yield any fish. Simon’s response is interesting, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
This nevertheless is interesting because it shows that Simon remained intimately aware of the situation at hand. He had labored all night; he had nothing to show for his efforts. He accepts the reality of his situation. And he lets Christ speak into the situation.
I am reminded of the story of the three youth in the furnace. When confronted with the power of Nebuchadnezzar, the youths reply, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Again, we see a situation of dire reality. The youths know that the fire has the power to kill them. Yet again, they encounter God.
However, I think we can be tempted to say, “And they encounter God, and all goes well.” But Simon still had to cast the nets and the youths still had to enter the furnace. Day in and day out, we encounter seemingly hopeless situations that remain. We do not know what we will be called to do, especially when Christ is extending the invitation. In the case of Simon, Christ asked him to do something he had done hundreds of times before even in the immediate context of expecting no return.
Obedience and love are really the left and right feet of walking with Christ. Without moving both feet, it is difficult to succeed in following Him.
Ode to Bede
I have the Venerable Bede on my mind at the moment. I found this quote by him today:
Better a stupid and unlettered brother who, working the good things he knows, merits life in Heaven than one who though being distinguished for his learning in the Scriptures, or even holding the place of a doctor, lacks the bread of love.
Too often we can value the school of our head over the schools of the heart and the hands. As the celebrated church historian, Bede knew too well the failures of the community to manifest Christ’s love. It is easy to think good and loving thoughts, but it stands to be much harder to translate these thoughts into physical bread for the person we find ourselves with at that moment.
How can we translate what we profess into action?
Friday Forum: The Economy of Salvation
The Friday Forum on the blog is my attempt to answer any question, however ridiculous, that readers of the blog pose. It is my attempt to make this space a little bit different. I blog on topics related to the big ideas of culture, education, engineering and theology. Feel free to ask your questions!
Once again, I’m looking at a Friday Forum that invites my perspective across divergent Christian traditions in a way that makes me shudder. Disclosing one’s theological thoughts often invites disclosure of personal perspective that you do not typically volunteer in polite company. Incidentally, today the question invites considerations that highlight some of the understandings present in various Protestant traditions. I think it is only fair to spread the ecumenical love, and my good friend Aideen asked this particular question.
So, much like last week, we’ll start with an official disclaimer: In no way, shape or form am I trying to represent the mind of the Orthodox Church on this topic. I will offer exclusively my thoughts from my own observations that have been undoubtedly shaped by authors I have read and my own experience. People who have a better handle on the official sources on this question are welcome to offer their perspectives in the comments. I invite correction.
This week’s question is “Is salvation a one-time event where someone is permanently saved?” I think this version serves as a starting point of the question “What about once-saved, always-saved?”
Now, incidentally, this theological tenant emerges in a range of variant contexts that color the issue. One place this belief surfaces regards assurance of God’s mercy around sin. Someone is obviously beside themselves over something they have done that they believe separates them from God’s mercy. A well-meaning friend assures them that they do not need to seek salvation again, because once they have received salvation for the first time, then they never need to receive salvation again. The core issues actually present in this issue regard forgiveness and sin. Being distressed over one’s sinful condition is hardly something possible capable of separating us from God. Most commonly, this distress causes us to fling ourselves in God’s general direction. Not a bad reflex. And indeed, in the Creed we confess one baptism for the remission of sins. We do not get baptized over and over and over again each time we become increasingly aware of our sinful state.
Another place I see the concept of “once-saved, always-saved” invoked is in the context of a funeral. Generally, people are distressed over the untimely death of a loved one. They assert that they know that someone is in heaven because the person received Christ to be their Lord and Savior at a rally years before. The questions here concern love and grief. When confronting death, people often say things that otherwise have limited space in their theology. I encounter so many people grieving the death of a loved one who say things like “We know Grandma is with Jesus.” This concept has limited manifestation elsewhere in their doctrine as many of my friends are mortified over the possibility that Saints are resting in Jesus. But I think this statement actually points us to some helpful ideas when considering the economy of salvation.
Most people assert that they know Grandma is with Jesus because they know their grandmother to be a person who absolutely, positively loved the Lord with everything she possibly had. Stories of her commitment to Christ abound and fill the family with a joyful memory of her life that they can truly regard as eternal. Whatever the agony existed at the end of life, a clear commitment to Christ remains where it simply makes sense to assert that Grandma departed this life in friendship with Christ.
Consider a marriage. When a person enters a marriage, there usually is a definite beginning to that relationship. Most of the time, people recall many beginnings: the first meeting, the first date, the first “I love you,” the first kiss, the engagement, the ceremony, the first moment they “felt married.” to name but a few. Yet, there do exist things in this world that can tear down a marriage. It is possible to for a marriage to end; Christ Himself even permits divorce in the case of marital unfaithfulness.
But again, considering a marriage, there are a lot of intermediate steps that happen before someone is sleeping with another person. There are even things that are honest mistakes. Sometimes a spouse does need to apologize. Sometimes a spouse is not quite himself or herself because of illness. Love and forgiveness are part and parcel of a loving human marriage, to say nothing of the demands placed on Christians who are married. Marriage, while it has a beginning, definitely speaks to the idea of continuance if it continues to be a marriage.
Against this backdrop, it does not strike me as odd in the slightest that a person desiring baptism in the Orthodox Church is asked quite pointedly three times, Do you unite yourself to Christ? And when we consider ourselves as marrying the Heavenly Bridegroom, we do have the assurance that He is not going to be the one to leave.
Seeking Permission to Enter
For the past year, I have been making preparations to study in a different country. It is full of odd circumstances after odd circumstances, but things seem to be working out. Right now I am in the final stages of waiting for my visa to arrive so I can actually get on a plane. My paperwork is in order as best as I can determine. There is nothing left for me to do but hope that appropriate permissions from the relevant authorities are granted in a timely manner.
Border crossing is an interesting phenomena. As an American, I realize that my experiences in feeling anxious about my visa pale in comparison to people coming from other countries. I also realize that this experience is the first time I have encountered needing advanced permission to enter another country. For whatever reasons, various things matter and they matter differently to different people.
Speaking across different Christian traditions can seem a lot like talking to customs agents. Do you have the right vernacular? Are your papers in order? Do things match up? But customs agents, acting as custom agents, rarely travel. Acting as customs agents, only the current legislation matters. They do not particularly regard the story of the individual in front of them. I legitimately believe they tend to be people who want to try to help people be in the country in a way where the traveler can function well. I think they are important.
But I do think that conversations happen better when we assume the role of traveler. We don’t need to change our citizenship to travel, but we definitely ask different questions.
To create hope
How is it possible that you don’t love God? These are thoughts of the devil. Be quiet! What do you mean you don’t believe? Who brought you into this world? Why do you listen to what the enemy says? And why will you not be saved? No, my dear, stop it – with the help of the Mother of God, we will be saved. Because if we were able to accomplish everything on our own, we’d become prideful and would be even worse: “I have mental prayer, I give alms…” But if you see that you can’t do it, then you humble yourself more. The power of God is perfected in weakness (II Cor. 12:9). Do everything that depends on you. Pray more, confess more, go to church more often, partake of Holy Communion more often… And do not be afraid, because you will not go to hell. Fast until you are hungry. Read a spiritual book. Always say the Jesus Prayer and don’t forget the Mother of God. Let us from now on make a good beginning. We live with hope in the life beyond the grave.
-Elder Paisius of Sihastria & Sihla
Movie Review: The Least Among You
Normally, I am an absolute sucker for movies based on a true story. They tend to be movies rooted in the human experience in a way that strikes deep at the emotional core. Well-chosen stories have the ability to speak for themselves, even if not rendered by the best movie producers. I’m generally hesitant when it comes to Christian movies as the plot tends to be hokey and obvious. But when the chance came to view “The Least Among You,” the story of Richard Kelly’s journey as the first black man to attend an all-white seminary, I thought for sure I would be watching an impressive film.
In a word, this movie absolutely defied my expectations in that it was generally terrible. The broader story got lost in the midst of choppy editing and some badly constructed scenes. The movie failed to answer any of the questions that it raised: What happened in the life of the former missionary that turned her into a skeptic regarding the voice of God? What transpired to turn the heart of Kelly towards ministry? What is the deal with the character of this school? The only bright spot of the movie was Richard’s relationship with Samuel, the caretaker of the school.
The movie opens with a claim that the school only wants black followers. Yet Kelly as scripted seems to amount to anything but a leader. He is exhorted continually to try to get to know the people he has been charged to inspire, but he refuses. We find nothing to admire in Kelly as a leader except that he is willing to approach the podium to speak his mind. The true hero of the story appears to be his white roommate from Texas who rallies people behind Kelly’s cause of integration.
The thing is that I really wanted to like this movie. The stories of integration and racial reconciliation have so many characters and layers that I cannot help but be moved by a number of them. But I can’t follow a film that lacks a driving story line and some connective tissue between the scenes. I also know that while it’s not a powerhouse of film production, Lionsgate could have done much better with this film especially considering their movie Pride, based on the true story of Grady Harp.
Rating? 1.5 stars.
As a blogger I participate in Booksneeze, where Thomas Nelson Publishing provides me with free copies of the books and movies I review. I am not required to post a positive review and all of these opinions are my own.
Educating within a Fallen System
It has been an interesting day on the news feed. With so many people back to school, the news agencies are reporting in large part about what is being done to change a fallen system. The issue, in my opinion, is the difficulty of affirming individuality against a backdrop of desired communal outcomes. How do individuals fit within society? And how can institutions possibly respond to so many unique needs of individuals?
Systems invite considerations of expedient actions that can be exercised with fairness. However, while speed and fairness are necessary for actions within systems, they do not represent a sufficient condition. As such, I was very encouraged to see this opinion piece in the New York Times that advocates for reconsidering our K12 testing systems while retaining a level of pragmatic concerns.
Yet, it can be difficult when students encounter placement tests and discover what colleges think of their real abilities. The need for remedial education being on the rise, unfortunately is old news. But what can you do when the need for the classes is so great that apparently only large lecture classes allow for everyone who needs the course to take the course?
Inside Higher Ed ran an article today about the University of Florida trying to get creative regarding semester scheduling to accommodate the presence of additional students. Thinking about expanding class offerings in the summer time might also lead to changes in professors’ routines. Generally, summer is the dumping ground for good academic intentions as the pressures of conferences, publishing, and conducting research can crowd out other significant projects. Summer seems like a huge block of time to get things done until you actually get there as an academic. But perhaps shifting the academic schedule seasonally could create a seasonal shift in professors managing their teaching loads.
The responsibility of educating persons is a real one. No quick fix really exists, whether for students, teachers or the system as a whole. We are, after all, talking about a fundamental question of what it means to be in society. The process of learning shows that even as we try to discover who we are as individuals, we still need each other. And, it seems that people who try to take advantage of other people to get ahead of the game generally don’t achieve the originally-hoped-for results.
We Remain In This World
It is hard to try to pick a favorite part of the Liturgy. Yet, there is a special part of the Liturgy that remains without parallel in my eyes: the serving priests take the time to ask the people to forgive them of any sins they have committed. In monastic communities, I have witnessed the whole community asking for and offering forgiveness from and to each member of the community present. It’s beautiful. And every time I see this part of the service, I pause and I remember.
People screw up.
There is nothing new under the sun. And people continue to screw up. It doesn’t matter who the person is: whether they are a bishop, priest, deacon, chanter, reader, lay person, mother, father, child, male, female, employed, unemployed, married, single… people screw up. We get it wrong so much of the time. I get it wrong so much of the time.
Today the Gospel reading reminds us that we live in a sinful and adulterous generation.
Sometimes I wonder if certain categories of sinners exist exclusively to test and try the patience of the right-minded religious types. We have people that we can so easily bypass on our way towards extending grace and compassion to people. So many tragic things happen when people in the Church forget that the Church is a hospital for sinners. And so many other tragic things happen when people in the Church forget that the Church exists outside of Her buildings.
I read a story about an elder who wondered if his monks were worthy of God’s Kingdom. He sent the monks to prepare for a vigil several towns away. When they were on the road, the two monks encountered a man sick and wounded aside the road who pleaded them for their help. They refused saying they were on an important errand to prepare for the vigil. Later the elder passed by the same spot for he too was on his way to the vigil. The man cried out to the elder for help, but when the man realized the elder was all alone, he excused the elder from helping him as the elder was an aged man. Yet the elder insisted that he bring the man to a place where he could receive care, carrying the injured man on his shoulders. The elder strained with effort in the desert heat, but he remained determined to tend to the sick and wounded man. As he continued to carry the wounded man, his load got lighter… and it got lighter… and it got lighter until he looked back at the injured man he was carrying. The injured man revealed himself to be an angel. He said that God sent him to tell the elder that his monks were not worthy of God’s Kingdom because they failed to have love.
It’s easy to look at this story as an outsider, but I wonder what that elder felt. These monks unworthy of God’s Kingdom were his monks, his spiritual children. He had helped form them spiritually. And I think he approached that vigil service absolutely crest-fallen, entreating God for His wisdom, especially as he realized that he failed his spiritual children.
So we continue to pray for God’s mercy and illumination. May we walk with one another onto life everlasting.
On the beginnings of persons
Lately I have gotten to know some fantastic kids. I can barely go anywhere without meeting the newest additions to families, and it is more common to see the two-legged kind as opposed to the four-legged kind. I am presently preparing to meet four new people next February. This latest cycle of “Welcome to the ex-utero side of the planet” is particularly special as I prepare to greet my nephew.
I’m new to this whole aunt business and try to envision how settling in to this “cool aunt” role is going to be. Yet, I already marvel at the vocabulary required to introduce you to this fantastic little person forming in utero. Because incidentally, I lacked a way to introduce him that made sense until I knew that it was appropriate to call him my nephew.
Parents, on the other hand, have some flexibility. They are having a baby. They are welcoming their child. Yet, it is equally hard to begin to thinking about the rest of the conversation because invariably the discussion turns to names. Naming a child means providing a person with their called identity within the world. Our name allows us to turn our heads and respond to the person entreating us. Our name permits us a level of self-recognition that helps us navigate the world, knowing when it is our turn. And we have a rather distinct convention about boy names and girl names, even if those conventions change over time and even if I take rather imaginative joy in brainstorming lists that tend to throw the whole system. [As an aside, I was totally shocked when I first looked at an icon of St Hilliary and encountered an older, bearded fellow with intense eyes.]
Now admittedly, I am a person big on the pragmatics. How is the couple doing at the news? Is everyone healthy? Do things seem to be progressing normally? How may I be of service? Yet, there is something intrinsically not pragmatic about the joy of appreciating a new person as an incredibly special child of God, entrusted to the care of the parents and the broader community.
Because incidentally this story is not about me. This story is about a fantastic little person I hope very much to get to know over the course of many years. Yet, before I knew him to be my nephew, it’s really hard to introduce him to others. [For the record, I would be equally cool if a little niece surprised me.] But I couldn’t introduce him as “my child” or “my baby” because everyone would think me to be the pregnant or adopting one. “Baby, to be named later” doesn’t work very well either. But there is a question of discovery associated with the beginning of persons. And available vocabulary to keep the focus on them strikes me as rather peculiar.
Friday Forum: The Dangers of Ecumenical Tweeting
I have attracted a lot of new followers on Twitter lately who also are the type of people who read my thoughts here. Because I have an interactive Friday Forum feature on the blog, I thought I would ask if people had any questions they wanted to see me attempt. Within a few hours, I had a list of questions that rather shocked me as a random question. Yet it is cool to be able to interact with people on Twitter.
One question from a new follower sort of hit me square between the eyes. The question is Is grace created or uncreated? Incidentally, this question is often employed in theological dialogues to assert differences between Orthodox and Roman Catholic theology. It’s a question that invites accusations that you don’t understand your side of the argument nor do you understand the perspective of the other side.
Yet I am not an apologist, I don’t try to offer official Orthodox teaching on anything, I do not regard myself as an “Orthodox” blogger… but one of the other questions about the status of Superfund funding required research time that I just do not have at the moment.
So, official disclaimer up front: In no way, shape or form am I trying to represent the mind of the Orthodox Church on this topic. I will offer exclusively my thoughts from my own observations that have been undoubtedly shaped by authors I have read and my own experience. People who have a better handle on the official sources on this question are welcome to offer their perspectives in the comments. I invite correction.
When we talk about aspects of being created or uncreated, we have to look at first that only the Creator can be uncreated. Yet, we know God by all sorts of names. God is Love, He is Truth, God is Mercy. To assert something like Love is created is to assert that something absolutely synonymous with God is created. Therefore, it seems off from a Christian understanding to assert that Love is created. Now, we certainly have cases where love may be unseen, even seeming absent. Yet, I consider the task of Christians to manifest the Love of God, rather than to create the Love of God. When we manifest (literally display or show) something of God, we reveal what is already there.
With Grace, I think it exists on even footing as Love. Consider this benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” I daresay my liturgical friends know it, especially if “And also with you” or “And with your spirit” pops into your head almost reflexively. This particular benediction is taken directly from the end of 2nd Corinthians, and we see it a lot in liturgical prayer. It is a great blessing and connects us with three things God desires to share with us: grace, love, and communion.
All three of these things invite us to participate in the life of Christ. And in reality, it seems that liturgical practices exist to help us make a one-to-one connection of all of these things with Christ, particularly as we consider the nature of communion. When we manifest God’s love or God’s grace to another, we seek to manifest Christ. Thinking about love and grace help us to understand how imperfectly we manage this task. Indeed, I could up the ante a bit and say when we manifest God’s truth to another, we seek to manifest Christ. Yet so often manifesting truth seemingly requires an avoidance of manifesting love and grace. Similarly, manifesting love and grace often comes at the expense of manifesting truth. To avoid this seemingly inevitable dichotomy, I think we must consider becoming communities of the Cross.
So when we pray that God fills us with His Love, with His Truth, and with His Grace, it seems to be an entreaty that Christ comes to fill us. This idea that Christ filling us with His grace is about filling us with Himself rooted itself rather significantly in reflecting on the Angelus, a prayer that specifically recalls the Incarnation as recorded in Luke 1, and in praying this litany (incidentally, its source is the Vespers of our Lady of Walsingham)
Eternal Father, through your angel you made known your salvation to Mary. Full of confidence, we earnestly pray. // Lord fill us with your grace.
By consent of your handmaid and the power of the Holy Spirit, your Word came to dwell among us. Open our hearts to receive Christ as Mary the Virgin received him. // Lord fill us with your grace.
You look with compassion on the lowly and fill the starving with good things. Encourage the downhearted, help those in need and comfort those near to death. // Lord fill us with your grace.
You called Mary to be mother in the house of Jesus and Joseph. Through her prayers help all mothers make their homes places of love and holiness. // Lord fill us with your grace.
Mary was your faithful handmaid who treasured your words in her heart. Through her intercession let us become devoted disciples of Jesus your Son. // Lord fill us with your grace.
From this vantage point of Grace being Christ Himself, it makes sense to regard Mary as being “full of Grace.” I cannot imagine the idea of being literally pregnant with the Grace of God, but any time I stop to consider the idea of the uncontainable God dwelling in the virginal womb of Mary, I get goosebumps.
I think all too often, the idea of grace gets passed off as a question of “Who is God’s favorite?” and lumped together with the various gifts and talents that He gives us. Such thinking seems to strip God of His Grace and place it elsewhere on a level equivalent with “blessings.”
Made for Prayer
I am always on the lookout for strange things that speak to our human nature in a way that profoundly resonates with the experience of Christians throughout the ages. Yesterday, I came across this TED talk about our natural sleep cycle. It’s a talk that lasts for less than 6 minutes, and I really encourage you to take “the scientist’s” word for it rather than “the engineer who happens to be theologically intrigued”‘s word for it.
Over the last year or so, I have had the distinct privilege of meeting some rather fantastic monastic communities. Their faithfulness in prayer, particularly as it relates to observing their own rule in their cells, blew my mind. At least it did until I watched this TED talk.
Let me explain.
Jessa Gamble dropped a rather surprising sentence in her talk that observed when people live in the absence of artificial light and live near the equator, they generally go to bed at about 8pm, wake near midnight for a period of meditative contemplation, and then sleep again from about 2am until sunrise. This natural cycle maps amazingly well to the monastic prayer cycles of Compline before bed, the Midnight office at midnight, and Matins at sunrise. I never had any idea how monastics managed to keep with a prayer rule that incorporated the Midnight office until this TED talk introduced the idea that such a practice may be entirely natural.
Additionally, I thought it to be quizzical that our ability to observe such a natural cycle could be recreated if we avoid the artificial light in our lives. When I contrast the compact florescent against the Light of Christ, it is pretty clear which source should have the upper hand.
But then again, it is absolutely mind-boggling to think about not living in a land of artificial light. We schedule so much of our lives around the ability to stay in illumined spaces just that much longer to get all sorts of things done. What would it possibly look like if we considered asking God to illumine our relationship with artificial light, both in the literal sense of the bulbs around our homes and in the figurative sense of the various idols we have?
O God, teach us to pray.
In praise of the Enlighteners of the Christian West
With all of the discussions we have been having, I thought it most appropriate to offer a prayer of praise for those who brought the Gospel to the lands of Western Europe. Additionally, my friend Tim alerted to me of a meeting of the joint Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation happening next week. So I’m asking you if you are willing to commit in prayer for this meeting that the schisms may cease in a way that is done decently and in good order to bring us together, so we may again worship together in spirit and truth. Are you in?
And now for the praises:
The Holy Apostles made themselves enlighteners of the West through their untiring labours. For they put at naught the dark powers of the enemy and fearlessly spread the light of Christ in all places. And therefore they confessed the truth even unto blood and became worthy to hear from the mouths of all songs of praise like these:
Rejoice, Apostles of Christ, that strove to bring the Gospel to the lands of the West!
Rejoice, for ye above all others are the fathers and protectors of these places!
Rejoice, therefore, Holy Peter and Paul, Princes of the Apostles, for ye founded the first Church in the West!
Rejoice, for through you pagan Rome began to offer pure sacrifice to the True God!
Rejoice, for ye were shown to be fearless before all the terrors and persecutions of the unbelievers!
Rejoice, for at the end ye sealed your faith in Christ even with your own blood!
Rejoice, Holy Apostle James, son of Zebedee, who hast enlightened the Spanish lands!
Rejoice, for thy relics rest in these parts to this day, bringing great comfort to all!
Rejoice, thou too, Holy Apostle Simon the Zealot, who brought the faith in the Risen Christ to Britain!
Rejoice, for like all the other Apostles thou too didst receive death for eternal life!
Rejoice, Holy Aristobulus, who followed Saint Simon in preaching!
Rejoice, for thou didst become the first bishop of Britain and witness of Christ!
Rejoice, all ye Saints, that in the lands of the West confessed the true faith!
And the prayer:
O ye saints of the West, that in times of old confessed the true faith of our Saviour Christ and for it fought even unto death, thus making yourselves worthy of heavenly glory and heirs of everlasting life! Now do we, your unworthy successors, fall to our knees before you, and humbly beg you: as ye have boldly interceded for us before the throne of God unto this day, so from this time on do ye pray, O our beloved saints, for all the lands of the West! Pray that the Merciful and Long-Suffering God grant them forgiveness of sins and correction of life, and turn them, through His judgements, to repentance and the true faith for which ye sacrificed yourselves.
Again we pray unto you, O saints, for all the right believing faithful of the West who have need of your help and mercy: protect us with your prayers from all the temptations that befall us; strengthen us in the true faith and grant us zeal to preach it; guard us from all the wickedness of enemies seen and unseen; and show us victorious before the unfaithful, for the glory of God and for your honour. That through you, O saints of the West, the true faith may once again shine forth in the West with power, as it shone forth in times of old, and that the light of Christ may enlighten all.
And thus, O ye saints, who through Divine Providence have shown yourselves to us in these latter days, receive us also, as the workers of the eleventh hour, for your veneration. And pray for us, who unworthily sing unto you songs of praise, that our God, Who easily forgiveth, make us also partakers of heavenly bliss, granting us salvation, as the God Who is Good and loveth mankind. That thus, together with you, beloved saints of the West, we may sing unto Him and worship Him as the All-Merciful God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Holy saints of God, pray unto God for us.
Again and again, in peace let us pray unto the Lord.
To become a community of the Cross
Today in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches alike is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Fr James Coles has posted a wonderful reflection about the cross on his blog. In particular, his statement of “Nothing sets Orthodox Christians apart from the world and even other Christians than our devotion to the cross” made me reflect long and hard because of my particular love of Orthodox Christian’s devotion to the incarnation. And as I started thinking about the observation further, I appreciated the good swift kick to the head as I realized the Cross is everywhere. The Cross so permeates our worship that I can overlook its presence. It is even on the cover of our Gospel book! [And incidentally the Resurrection is on the back cover.]
Yet what does it mean to become a community of the Cross?
In the Christian news circuit today, I think several issues stand in the way of becoming communities of the Cross. Respected persons may frame these issues as a liberal versus conservative schism. More and more Christian communities measure their standards of orthodox belief related to positions on women’s ordination, abortion and homosexuality. Recently, in trying to discuss the unique nature of Orthodox oikonomia, I cited that the decision of the Anglican communion to ordain women significantly changed the prospective nature of communion with the Orthodox Church. Many persons bemoan the loss of the traditionalists in the Anglican communion, a sentiment recently expressed by Metropolitan Hilarion.
While these issues are important issues regarding approaching how God desires to bring healing to humanity, I fear that most discourse lacks the perspective generated when discussed among communities of the Cross. The Cross compels us to find our common status as fallen human beings at the breaking point of pain, sorrow, betrayal and abandonment. We hear the cry of My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? We come to a place of our only plea Remember me when You come into Your kingdom. We encounter words that bring Christians to their knees in an internal agony With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last. The Cross invites us to see that we have more in common with each other than we previously thought.
Something curious happens afterwards in the Scriptures. We begin to see people banded together in community around this mystery. The women came to the tomb. Peter and John run to the tomb. Luke and Cleopas walked on the road. The disciples wait in the upper room. The transforming witness of the people gathered in Christ’s name is the love they share with one another.
Now, many people use this line of loving one another as a means to enable all sorts of variant moral conviction to exist within the Church, leading to rather intense schism. But an intriguing aspect of the Christian life is that the Cross points us to our need to die to ourselves. However, as Christians die, we tend to do so within that same community, which perhaps is one reason why martyrs are held in high esteem.
So I think becoming a community of the Cross requires us simultaneously to die to ourselves while journeying together. Therefore, we must come to be models of personal repentance rather than moral condemnation of others. We must stand firm on the Gospel as being about Christ: His Incarnation, His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection and prepared to draw lines in the sand to protect the unique witness of the Gospel of Christ. We must hear the cries of people who feel they bear crushing burdens of an unwanted pregnancy or a life lived conceivably without a possibility of a loving relationship while simultaneously being willing to open our hearts, our homes, and our lives to those who seem to be impossibly other than ourselves. We must illumine policies and procedures using the light of Christ to see if we have roped off far too many ministries with the need for ordination and if we have somehow exempted those whom we have ordained from the transfiguring demands of repentance, love, and Christian service.
Then, may we be accounted worthy to take up our cross after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, joyously prostrating ourselves before Him.
Overcoming squeamishness
We live in a world where our big problems connect with other big problems. Challenges of food security, water, sanitation, energy and education compound together, often expressed in the incredibly large problem of poverty. Yet, when addressing these challenges, it seems common to consider them individually rather than collectively. Investigating schemes for wastewater irrigation underscores the point and speaks to our need to think creatively about viable engineering solutions.
Our general anxiety regarding wastewater in the developed world blocks some of our ability to think holistically about these challenges. Environmentally-aware areas of the world such as the European Union have embraced rigorous standards for wastewater reuse as measures to protect public health. Yet, policymakers created these regulations against a backdrop of highly-developed infrastructure systems designed to distance our communities from the reality of sanitation. Therefore, these regulations rely on state-of-the-art treatment modalities and speak to our overall fear of waste.
The realities in the developing world are rather stark. Open-pit defecation, carrying water gathered from questionable sources, and subsistence farming reflect normative practices. Sources of disease transmission elude many persons trying to make community improvements because nearly every known pathway is wide-open. Nearly everywhere you look, you can find evidence of fecal contamination, whether from humans or livestock. The standardized systems of the developed world simply do not exist. Moreover, the landscape littered with abandoned central infrastructure suggests the near-universal water and sanitation coverage continues as being wholly out of touch with many communities.
It strikes me as odd to assert that to change the paradigm, we must embrace reality. Regardless of what we happen to think about the issues, regardless of how our stomach may churn with disgust when we consider what actually happens, and regardless of our extant pipe dreams, we must consider that for a large population of the world “wastewater” is a concept that simply does not exist. The question remains: how can water scarce communities continue to use their limited resources productively in a way that improves their water, sanitation, and food security?
Within the context of development, developers tend to work on single projects with limited scope and quantifiable objectives. Therefore, a development project might be something like place 10 tap stands in a community or construct a demonstration plot using irrigation. Yet, agriculture projects enable developers to consider the community more holistically without losing the concrete objectives needed to complete the project.
Irrigation uses water for productive purposes. Hierarchically, productive purposes rank below consumptive and hygienic uses for water; although some researchers indicate that pressing for irrigation-related development projects often carries a gendered dynamic of inverting the relationship between hygienic uses and productive uses of water. Therefore, a systems-minded design of an irrigation project likely includes considerations of food security, water, sanitation, maternal and child health, and education.
Establishing appropriate procedures for water access and treatment forms a critical component of irrigation systems. In many situations, these procedures involve questions of water rights. However, water-scarce situations invite considerations of innovative water use, if we can consider the challenges in context. Working with a community to design an environment mindful of locally-useful agricultural productivity changes the nature of the development project. Inherently, developers have the options to say “What can be done to leverage this community’s resources towards agricultural productivity?” recognizing that water scarcity places many demands on the available water.
Best practices of modern farming in the developed world include regular irrigation and fertilization to maximize crop yields. Yet farmers have also moved away from manure-based fertilizer in favor of chemical-based fertilizer. Therefore, innovations that incorporate both human and animal manures in farming contexts meet with suspicion as these practices provide a means for feces to come into contact with food. Additionally, insistence of artificially high standards of wastewater used in irrigation blocks irrigation all together or diverts water from more pressing human health needs.
The challenges facing developers working on irrigation projects in the developed world center upon the need to mobilize resources in the community. Moreover, considerable efforts must be made to ensure project relevance. Viewing the projects more broadly as an agricultural project may encourage more holistic solutions, particularly as sanitation improvements may make the community’s agriculture more productive.
Thinking about the Church
I dipped my fingers into some theology that is significantly above my pay grade yesterday. It’s so easy to let a conversation develop about the different human aspects of existing in the Body of Christ. Yet, for what it’s worth, my own view of such conversations is that it is easier to talk about how we organize ourselves to be obedient to each other rather than about how we struggle together to be obedient to Christ. Is our church just a cultural reality? just the power trip of a charismatic leader? just a moral vanguard thinly veiled by our own hypocrisy?
I think these questions are rightly painful when applied to our own local bodies of affiliation. These questions are much easier to point in the direction of a Christian whom we regard as being other than ourselves.
Today’s Gospel features a well-known, well-wore passage of Scripture often touted on end zone signs as only the reference John 3:16. Yet it opens by considering the need for the Cross of Christ.
Incidentally, the need for the Cross of Christ comes from our tendencies to betray ourselves, each other, and God Himself. And I think the discussion of the Church loses all mooring if separated from Her King glorified on the Cross. So I think I’m going to leave you today by encouraging you to check out Steve Robinson’s reflection on betrayal, particularly the betrayal that comes via an attempt to exalt ourselves and save our own skins.
Lord call us to that common humility that allows us to bend down in worship before Your cross while glorifying Your holy resurrection.
The Challenges of 140 Characters
Twitter has really grown on me lately. You never know who you will meet or topics you will discuss. But it is a venue that facilitates rampant miscommunication as the messages very easily get crossed and truncated. Several months back I wrote a post about my discomfort with theological tweeting. This post explores more of the same as there are some subjects that are difficult to discuss briefly.
In particular, Twitter brings together a widely varied audience coming from all sorts of backgrounds. I also feel bad for anyone foolish enough to follow @FatherChristian, @NoWealthButLife, @3liSays AND me because tweets fly out at lightning speeds, even touching on some rather sensitive theological topics.
And here we have the challenges of 140 characters. See, these friends of mine are all devout Roman Catholics. We generally see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues. But as an Orthodox Christian, I consider there to be some rather significant theological differences between the two communions. Unfortunately these differing views can lead to confusion as the official words from the Roman Catholic side differ from the official words from the Orthodox side.
One official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church muddies the waters even in practice. Many Roman Catholic priests understand that the Roman Catholic Church permits Orthodox Christians to partake of Roman Catholic communion because Orthodox Christians confess the real Presence in the Eucharist. Some Roman Catholic priests I have talked to act legitmately surprised when I tell them that as an Orthodox Christian I cannot partake of Roman Catholic communion. On the Roman Catholic side, all is well; however, the Orthodox Church has a different view about what it means to be “in communion,” and Orthodox Christians can only commune within Orthodox communities.
Much of Orthodox ecclesiology depends on this central concept of “communion.” I resist calling communion an “idea” because it’s a lot more than a single idea. Communion involves the sharing of the mind, the will, and the heart. The Orthodox Church exists as a communion precisely because Her people at all levels commit to the process of loving and forgiving each other, even at the level of Her bishops. Fr Stephen Freeman, in my mind, has described this reality rightly as the “weakest ecclesiology of all.”
Moreover, the heart, mind and will of the Orthodox Church can never be expressed fully and exclusively in one person, one parish, or even one principality. The Greek Orthodox Church does not have a monopoly on being the Church, nor does the Russian Orthodox Church have a monopoly on being the Church, nor does the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople have a monopoly on being the Church. Yet, this statement cannot be understood as an absolute because we do have models of being the Church. In particular, the monastic communities (especially in highly regarded places such as Mt Athos) provide a universal model of what it means to be the Church. If I had to try to summarize my current thinking, to be the Church reflects life wholly immersed in Christ, where every fiber of the community’s being has been transformed through the ascetic disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving in such a way that exudes the Love and Truth of Christ.
This way of thinking is hard to grasp because it marries the modalities of mystery within certainty and certainty within mystery. And generally it works well when people are well-connected in time, space and presence. However, in cases where those connections are broken, it can be harder to form a unified framework.
The key place of unity for Orthodox Christians is the Eucharist itself. We celebrate the Eucharist as a family meal, striving to all become one mind as we partake of Christ. Additionally, many of the rubrics of the Church act to minimize the differences between the individual persons gathered at the Eucharistic table. Starting in the obvious place of the chalice itself, our bishops, priests and deacons can offer the prayers and gifts of the Eucharist to communicants. We commune all baptized Orthodox Christians (including infants) by placing communion in the mouth (most frequently by spoon). A common practice in many parishes is to commune our children first. Moreover, anyone who has been given a blessing can hold the napkin under the person’s chin (an incredibly important job especially if the priest is nervous or otherwise shaking the spoon).
Now, being of “one mind” does not necessarily mean sharing all thoughts in common. By way of analogy, consider the case of a child who has erred significantly in the eyes of the parents. The mother may opt for a harsh punishment while the father may opt for a more lenient punishment. Both parents are of the same mind that the child has erred. And both parents are of the same mind that a punishment is appropriate. Yet there is diversity in the thinking about what degree of punishment is most appropriate.
So it is with the Rule of the Church in the Orthodox Communion. A Rule is something that allows us to measure our progress as to how we are becoming of one mind. Some people look for a very strict Rule of obvious external identifiers: we use the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, we all observe the same saints on the exact day, we keep exactly the same fast holding to the letter of a standard such as the Triodion, we have been baptized by a priest under a right-believing and properly-ordained bishop, we always serve the services in a particular Church language, etc. However, the historic witness of the Orthodox Church looks to provide differing evidence as to the proper Rule of the Church.
One historic place of departure happens when we look at how something like the Liturgy develops. Broadly speaking, the Eastern Mediterranean countries consolidated their liturgical customs and became the “Eastern Rite,” or to others the “Byzantine Rite.” Typically the prevalence of these rites within Orthodox Churches have lead many people to attach the label of “Eastern” to “Orthodox” creating “Eastern Orthodox.” Yet, the Western European countries also consolidated their liturgical customs and became the “Latin Rite,” or if you want to be equally fair, the “Western Rite.” Indeed, there is such a thing as Western Rite Orthodoxy, where those parishes are in full communion with churches of the Eastern Rite. Personally, I have never been a fan of liturgical imperialism and believe that Orthodoxy flourishes when permitted in Her full expression. Therefore, there is some truth in the statement that “the Church has Eastern and Western lungs,” particularly when viewed from the vantage point of liturgical rites.
Another big concept to explore of how the Orthodox Church functions is to consider the very messy idea of oikonomia, a Greek word that indicates the economy of a household. As this idea gets employed more and more and more in ecumenical discussions, there is considerable concern amongst Orthodox Christians that the term is being abused (and that is putting it quite mildly). But, to offer a crude analogy, oikonomia is a measure of “smelling out” the Orthodox components of something. Some Orthodox Christians maintain very close relations with high Anglo-Catholic Anglican parishes because of their fraternal similarity. These Christians will often observe that until as late as 1972, Greek Orthodox Christians were encouraged to participate in the congregational assemblies of Episcopalians when unable to attend a Greek Orthodox parish. When the Anglicans started to ordain women as priests, the Orthodox bishops largely decided that the Anglican communion differed substantially from the Orthodox communion. In other words, this decision “changed the scent.” Yet, there remain to this day continuing Anglican bodies that do not ordain women. Some of these parishes have been brought into full communion with the Orthodox Church with the mystery of chrismation while simultaneously retaining their priests as priests without repeating ordination. Such decisions reflect careful considerations by the Orthodox bishops about how to exercise oikonomia.
While Orthodox ecclesiology is quite messy in practice, I find within it great reason to rejoice. I rejoice because the Orthodox Church encourages everyone to participate in the life of the Church. Everyone should be trained to “sniff out the scent” of the Church through learning to track the Gospel of Christ. It’s particularly important if a bishop tries to lead his flock astray. But such a view also tries to gift the individual persons in the Church with humility because it acknowledges that anyone could be in error. Our ability to stay together as a family depends on our ability to love and to forgive each other.
And at the end of the day, all we have left is “Lord have mercy.”
The Rhythms of Time and Place
I currently find myself in a season of extended travel. Since June, I have literally been in transit to my next destination. Yet, each place and each season has its own rhythm where I find I have to discern where the beats are to appropriately move to the music.
Every aspect of life is affected while in travel. Eating, praying, reflecting, sleeping, working, and writing all take different forms wherever you go.
Pardon me for my season of extended jet-lag, but I hope to reach my target destination soon.
Stories that need to be told
It bothers me that documentaries like Waiting for “Superman” need to exist. These projects indicate the desperation of trying to raise consciousness of an issue that has been going on for far too long. Documentaries can serve as a set of paddles to the human heart to restart a pulse that has been lost. But, unlike the singular burst of energy from the emergency life-saving device, sustained progress requires investment in the process.
How do you make an investment in educating the next generations?
Pledge to see the movie, and then you can take your $5 gift card to Donors Choose, a fantastic organization that helps teachers realize their dreams for projects, to choose a teacher you would like to support.
On humility
Humility is God’s robe. The Word who became human clothed himself with humility, and spoke with us in our human body.
-Saint Isaac of Syria
Beginning the day
Have you ever wondered why so many people begin (and end) their days with the news? We seem to be a people inexplicably drawn towards suffering, discord, and discontentment.
It is hard because so much of this rhythm feels entirely natural. The morning headlines greet you in your email, the morning news show inhabits your drive to work, the 6p and 10p television news reflect important parts of evening routines.
How much of our routines draw us towards suffering, discord and discontentment? Peace, something I am increasingly finding amidst stillness, seems almost totally opposed to the rhythm of the majority of my day. By my estimation, we lose touch with our sources of peace, trading the “real deal of peace” for its substitutes of information and pleasure. We enter into combat rather than seeking communion. We articulate differences as opposed to commonality. And for my own indictment, I very rarely structure my days around peace.
Interestingly, as I mused on these thoughts this morning, I stumbled across a spoken version of the prayer below. Thinking about beginning the day with peace, I found this psalm to be an apt reflection. It is from Prayers by the Lake, at number 16.
Arise O sons of the Sun of God! Arise, the merciful sun has risen and has begun to pour its light lavishly over the dark fields of the earth. It has risen to set you free from sleep’s gloom and terror.
Your sins of yesterday are not written out on the sun. The sun does not remember or seek revenge for anything. On its face there are no wrinkles from your forehead, nor is there any sadness, envy, or sorrow. Its joy lies in giving, its youth– its rejuvenation — lies in serving. Blessed are those who serve, for they shall not grow old.
What if the sun were to imitate you, my neighbors? How little light it would shed on earth, you misers! How bloody its light would be, you murderers! How green it would become with envy when it saw greater suns that itself, you envious people! How red with wrath it would become when it heard the profanities below, you short-tempered people! How yellow it would become with yearning for the beauty of the stars, you greedy people! How pale it would become with fear, if no one marked its way, you cowards! How dark it would become with worry, you worrisome worriers! How wrinkled and old it would become living on yesterday’s wrongdoing, you vengeful people! How astray it would go from the right way if it fought over rights, you auctioneers of rights! How cold and dead it would become, and how it would envelop the entire universe with its death, you preachers of death!
Oh how fortunate it is for the world that the sun will never imitate you, O sons and daughters of earth!
Indeed, the sun does not know many things as you do, but it does know two things eternally: that it is a servant and a symbol. It knows that it is a servant of the One who kindled it and that it is a symbol of the One who put it at His service.
Be servants of the One who illuminates you with the sun on the outside and with Himself on the inside, and you will taste the sweetness of eternal youth.
Be a symbol of the One who put you among the animals of the earth, and you will surpass the radiance of the sun. Truly all the animals around you will swim in happiness beneath the rays of your goodness, even as moons swim around suns.
Yet what are the sun and all the stars except piles of ashes, through which You shine, O Son of God? Piles of ashes that lessen Your radiance and sift it through themselves like a thick sieve? For indeed, in Your full radiance nothing would be seen except You, just as in total darkness nothing is seen except darkness.
O Lord, Lord, do not scorch us with Your radiance, which is unbearable for our eyes; and do not leave us in the gloom where one grows old and decays. You alone know the measure of our needs, O Lord, glory to You!
A Practicing Human 
Recent Comments