Fourth Monday after the Epiphany
Thanks to April for her comments. I don't know the reason exact reason why Methodists leave out the descensus ad inferos, as a professor of mine liked to call it. To my knowledge no other denomination leaves it out. Oddly enough, in the United Methodist Baptismal Liturgy, there is a Apostles' Creed in catechism form (question and answer). There Methodists do say, "He descended to the dead." (UMH, p. 41).
Today is Faith Journey Narrative Day on the blog. I've traced my faith journey from age 4 (1949) to age 76 (2021). I'm running out. Today is about what is happening with me now. I don't know what I will do next week. Surely I'll think of something.
In the fall of 2019 I told my Sunday School Class and my Disciple Class that I would not be teaching any longer after May, 2020. Covid came along and my teaching ended a couple of months earlier than I had planned. My intent has been to move from an active life to a contemplative life. Now I need to explain what that means.
I'm using my own definition of these terms, somewhat with the help of the late Don Schoene of UUMC, who in late years moved from an incredibly active and adventurous life to become, in his words, a contemplative.
My definition is not the same as the standard definition of Catholics and Orthodox. My daughter-in-law's sister exemplifies that definition. She has been a nun since her teenage years, but not always a contemplative. She spent most of her career being a teacher and then a principal of a Catholic school, certainly a very active career. About six years ago she felt called to become a contemplative. She applied and was admitted a a novice to a small contemplative order. After a two year novitiate, she took her lifetime vows. She and her sisters in the order spend their days in prayer, organized around a disciplined daily regimen. which includes some specific non-prayer tasks (she is one of the convent's cooks). She never leaves the convent and has strictly limited contact with the outside world.
I'm not becoming that kind of contemplative. Mine is a less dramatic shift of life's focus. I am devoting considerably more of my life to prayer, that life of prayer being structured around The Daily Office, as is the case with contemplatives of all sorts, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestants. I've written a fair amount about The Daily Office in a few other blogs. I will talk more about it and give some examples in future blogs, the first of which will be this Friday.
It would seem that I have been slowly making this shift. I went from the very active life of a pastor, to a retired life with teaching and being a lector at UUMC, and now to a life without public speaking and with more time for prayer. This shift has not gone smoothly, in part because I don't really know what I am doing. Justin Coleman has been my spiritual advisor. He's an excellent help, but this is something new to him as well. I won't say that I'm floundering or lost. I have a fairly clear sense of direction, it's just that I've been very slow in this process of getting me where I want to be.
Writing this blog right now has answered, at least in part, what I shall be doing on future Monday blogs. I'll be detailing the process. Perhaps you can help me in the effort. It could be something different for us.
Faithfully,
Christian
2 comments:
Where do you want to be?
Great entry! I'm really glad you're not becoming a monk. You could also see yourself as one of the cooks, as you are Marianne's personal chef (I'm not sure if most of you other blog readers know this, but in addition to being an excellent Biblical scholar, teacher and preacher, my dad is an amazing cook. I suggested he post a recipe to go with the Bible study entries and he didn't go for the idea.)
I think this is a wonderful move. Some would see it as appropriate to this stage of life, when you're retired, but I see it as something that anyone can do at any time. Most of my Zen teachers, especially women, started in their forties. While most continued to hold some kind of "day job," including being social workers or one I just met who was an ESL high school teacher for her entire career, they turned their focus to an extremely contemplative practice, and eventually felt called to teach that practice to others.
I remember much of the family being totally puzzled and somewhat concerned by Jessica's sister's joining of the convent. She had been so successful! Why would she want to sit around in prayer all day? I was certainly not around for all the conversations and would not want to put words in anyone's mouth, but I did sense a great deal of confusion about Lisa's move.
It's hard, as an American with our focus on constant striving, to "justify" a life of contemplation, or even a half hour of it! I spend a great deal of time in meditation: every morning, two hours on Sunday with my Zendo, and now I am doing more as I become more serious about my Zen practice. A lot of people ask me why I do it, how I do it, or how I can spare the time. For some reason, unlike most things in life, I don't feel the need to justify it. It brings me peace, relief from pain and anxiety, and I like it. Some people like to watch TV. I like to sit in silence and preferably darkness and stare at a wall. To each their own.
As someone with a successful career behind you and at a socially acceptable age, I imagine even most Americans would say you should do whatever you darn well please. Prayer certainly is safer than many things you could do (like golf - you could get hit in the head with a golf ball!) I doubt that many people in our society, even dedicated Christians and church members, would understand why centering a life around prayer is important. I do.
I think this is wonderful Dad and I'm really proud of you for writing about it. I hope it gives your readers some things to think about in terms of their own prayer lives. In this culture it seems we need permission to do anything that is not visibly active: how can you spend time in prayer or meditation when you could be doing exercise videos, teaching, writing another book, the list goes on. You are a role model to many: sharing your contemplative journey will likely give others ideas of how they can incorporate prayer or other forms of contemplation into their lives.
I'm looking forward to reading more about the Daily Office and how you structure your prayer life. You've already got the cooking part down!
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