The Naked Now: Learning to See Like as the Mystics See

The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See by Richard Rohr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed reading this book and found one of Rohr's concluding remarks to be a profound catalyst for reflection. On page 159, he states, "You will seek only what you have partially already discovered and seen within yourself as desirable. Spiritual cognition is invariably re-cognition." He also admits that we are all plagiarists (in regard to wisdom), learning everything from someone else. I have much to plagiarize from his pithy illustrations and descriptive explanations of duality, contemplation, and spirituality! I have highlighted, underlined, added post-it notes, and written comments throughout this book. It will be one I return to for inspirations with which to communicate the goals of contemplative mindfulness. Chapters 12, "Change Your Mind," and 15, "Opening the Door: Great Love and Great Suffering," were some of the most noted sections of my reading.



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Starting a New Chapter

It feels very strange not to be back in Nashville with my nose buried in a book! Vanderbilt Divinity School started back up this week, and I'm here in Greeneville. I'm very happy to be home with my wife and churches, but I can tell I'm going to miss the camaraderie and discipline of school! I hope to try and stay in the scholastic zone somewhat. I plan on studying the GRE and brushing up on my Latin in hope of entering a PhD program at UT in the fall of 2012. We'll see how it goes. I also am trying to write some every day, and I'm using an online journaling program at http://www.750words.com. I'm also am in a book reading club with two VDS grads that are here in East TN. Hopefully, all these factors can help me stay on the path to reach my academic goals!

One month down

Well, the first month of my last semester at VDS is in the books. I must say that this is probably my favorite semester of them all. Collaborative Preaching has offered some provocative readings that are making me think about the priesthood of all believers, the role of dialog, hospitality, strangers, and the fluidity of guests/hosts. I'm starting a blog for my congregations to begin experimenting with John McClure's roundtable pulpit methodology. I hope it will increase dialog in my churches and allow for some theological reflection. We'll see how it goes!

It's been a while...

Wow. I think I have too many social sites to keep up with. This one has grown a little dormant!

I'm in the Vanderbilt Divinity School Library making sure I have all my resources for three papers that are coming due at the end of the semester in Ancient Near Eastern Literature (Doing something on Dreams in Ancient Egypt), Modern Homiletic Theory (Grabbed 4 VHS tapes from the Great Preaching Series to watch), and Senior Seminar Project (More contemplation resources for my work to introduce rural Methodist to Centering Prayer). It's going to be a busy week!

I'm waiting to hear from a few of my congregation members who are driving to Nashville for a mission project to feed the homeless and work with the Salvation Army's Angel Tree project tonight and tomorrow. Really looking forward to having them in town!

Wisdom for Lent

My spiritual mentor posted this recently. I think it is very timely for me in regards to school, ministry, and the upcoming season of Lent.

This excerpt is from Henri Nouwen's The Way of the Heart

“We enter into solitude first of all to meet our Lord and to be with him and him alone….Only in the context of grace can we face our sin; only in the place of healing do we dare to show our wounds; only with a single-minded attention to Christ can we give up our clinging fears and face our own true nature….[W]e come to realize that it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, that he is our true self….Precisely because our secular [and religious] milieu offers us so few spiritual disciplines, we have to develop our own. We have, indeed, to fashion our own desert where we can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions, and dwell in the gentle healing presence of our Lord. Without such a desert we will lose our own soul while preaching the gospel to others….[We] need to…set apart a time and a place to be with God and him alone….[L]ike all great disciples of Jesus, Mother Teresa affirmed…the truth that ministry can be fruitful only if it grows out of a direct and intimate encounter with our Lord” (20-21).

It's Super Bowl Sunday

Well, I must admit that I'm not too excited about tonight's Super Bowl. I'll watch it, but not with the fervor I would had Buffalo been playing....

Today was a great day at church. We had visitors at Carter's Chapel and a wonderful meal at Carter's Station today. I talked about spreading the gospel with this week's lectionary verses. We celebrate communion on the first Sunday of every month, so today was also special for that reason. I would like to celebrate communion every Sunday with my parishes. I hope to educated them more about our sacramental heritage as Methodist and talk about the theological and social implications sharing around Christ's Table brings to a community.

Well, I'd better get busy. If I want to watch the SB, I've got to knock out a paper for UM Theology on the hymn "Hark the Herald Angles Sing!" One of Charles Wesley's more popular hymns.

Thanksgiving Eucharist Reflections

This year, I've been wrestling to get through Pastoral Care at divinity school (a class with which I have a strong love/hate relationship). I remembered a line from one of the books I read for this class about reclaiming holidays for the Church. One of the holidays the author suggested we reclaim was Thanksgiving. She or he suggested we rename Thanksgiving as “Immigrant Appreciation Day” in honor of the Native American's who welcomed the European settlers to their land. As I began to think about this image in preparation for the homily, I found myself in an uncomfortable space. Were it not for the Native American's generosity, would we be here? And to think of how we have treated this race of God's children is unsettling. My Methodist History teacher mentioned in one of his lectures just a few weeks ago that Tennessee’s mythic hero Andrew Jackson was responsible for this country’s shameful act of "Ethnic Cleansing"--The Trail of Tears. How could I "celebrate" in light of this injustice? Had I not read that book nor heard this lecture, Thanksgiving this year would have been another mindless participation in national egoism, but this year, I found it much harder to enjoy.

I managed to find solace in Christ's invitation to His Table, and in the Epistle Reading that went along with the service:

2 Corinthians 9:6-15 (NRSV)
6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. 9 As it is written, "He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

I challenged myself and my parishioners to envision what Thanksgiving would look like if we were the generous host of immigrants today. What would our tables look like? Who would be seated around them? The inclusive language of verse 13 created a spiritual image of a Great Thanksgiving Dinner of which we soon partook! Placing myself as the needy alien in front of the bountiful table of the Lord was a humbling image. Holding out my hands to receive my daily bread was moving. I emphasized that we have received seed and as we put that seed to good use, the supplier of our seed will cause our supply of seed to multiply.

How do we play this out? One small way we are doing it is by bringing canned food items with us to each communion service which we then donate to the local food bank. Hanging from the arms of the cross in front of our sanctuary are plastic grocery bags filled with food for the poor: a powerful icon with the heart of Thanksgiving in front of our corporate face! May our celebrations in lieu of justice form us into prophetic extensions and voices against injustice.