St. Bruno

Today, October 6, is the feast day of St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order.  While he is certainly nowhere near as famous as the saint we celebrated a couple of days ago (Francis of Assisi), because of my fondness for the kind of contemplative spirituality championed by St. Bruno, he is a particular favorite of mine.  Plus, this quote from St. Bruno is pretty cool, too:

""While the world changes, the cross stands firm."

 

St. Francis of Assisi

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle ~ St. Francis of Assisi.

Death and Life (Monday Morning in the Desert)

Words from a recent sermon by Victoria Osteen, the wife of famous preacher Joel Osteen, have circled around the internet the past few weeks, and have been picked apart by numerous other bloggers and commentators, so I apologize for jumping on that bandwagon.  (If you missed that story, the essence of her message was that we are to "do good for our own self" and not for God, because God just wants us to "be happy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koIBkYl0cHk).

In a world where Christianity has all but been eradicated in Iraq, where ancient Christian communities have worshiped for nearly 2,000 years, and where journalists trying to cover events in that region are being captured and beheaded, those types of messages emanating from American Christianity must seem quite peculiar to the rest of the world, to say the least.   In the spirit of Martin Luther's commentary on the Eighth Commandment (the one about bearing false witness against our neighbor, according to the Lutheran/Catholic numbering of the Ten Commandments), I won't say more, except to just offer this quote from an anonymous Carthusian monk:

"Death to self and life in God are inseparably linked: the one without the other remains sterile." (From p. 43 of "The Prayer of Love and Silence".

Ask, Search, Knock (Monday Morning in the Desert)

Today's reflection comes from an anonymous Carthusian monk, regarding perseverance in prayer:

“Once we have understood that God is disposed towards us as a father, confident perseverance in prayer is a natural consequence.

‘Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.’ (Luke 11:9-10).

The one who gives and opens is God. Ask, search, knock. Ask for everything, ask for the Spirit, seek God, knock at the door of the Kingdom (‘Lord, open to us,’ 12:25-7).  Knock at the door which is Christ, he who is the way to the Father; through his wounds we have access to the Father, who, the first, is seeking after us in his Son. ‘Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come to you and eat with you, and you with me’ (Revelation 3:20). So, when I pray, my prayer is only an echo of God’s prayer.  In that case, how could he refuse, refuse himself? What a mystery prayer is.”

(From “Interior Prayer” by a Carthusian, p. 29)

 

Lutheran Monastery Virtual Tour - A Return to Germany

Last year, I embarked on what I called a "Lutheran Monastery Virtual Tour", where I wrote about several monasteries and convents in the Lutheran tradition.  Judging by what Google statistics tell me, those posts are the most consistently popular posts on this blog, and each week, people arrive here by typing phrases such as "Lutheran nuns" and "Lutheran monks" in their search engine.  You can click on the "Lutheran Monastery Virtual Tour" tag at the bottom of this post to see all the previous stops on the tour.

During the Tour, I made several stops in Germany, where it appears there are more functioning Lutheran monasteries and convents than any other country.  A few months ago, the "Lutheran Forum" periodical published an essay by David Zersen, entitled "Lutheran Convents in Germany".  Of course, the article piqued my interest, and it offers fascinating insights into the history and current status of Lutheran religious sisters in Germany. (The following image is from the Lutheran Forum website - http://www.lutheranforum.org/extras/lutheran-convents-in-germany/ - you can see more pictures by going to the link):




Zersen's article contains the following summary of the state of German Lutheran convents, which summarizes why I think it is important for Lutheran monasteries and convents to continue their unique witness within our tradition:

"Today's Lutheran convents, challenged by changing social structures and new spiritualities, continue to explore the dimensions of the faith in both interaction and silence.  Margot Käßmann, former presiding bishop of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, notes how many people search for faith and meaning in esoteric religions, all the while forgetting that meditation and mysticism are not foreign to Lutheranism.  And Dorothea Wendebourg insists that by claiming their baptism and knowing that salvation is complete through faith in Christ, women will in freedom continue to choose forms of discipleship including communal life.  The Lutheran churches in German want to nurture this choice that has been so meaningful to women for almost five centuries.  Convents still have much to offer. Uda von der Nahmer, abbess at Stift Fischbeck, remarks, 'Tradition involves passing on the fire, not worshiping the ashes.'"

(You can read the rest of Zersen's article here: http://www.lutheranforum.org/extras/2014-1_38-41_Zersen_Lutheran-Convents-In-Germany.pdf).

The Contemplative Way (Monday Morning in the Desert)

Perhaps some people practice contemplative prayer to see visions or have dramatic experiences.  That is not the reason why Christians should practice contemplative prayer.  The reason why we are called to a life of contemplative prayer is to die to ourselves, follow the way of Christ, and to be drawn into the presence of God.  Regarding the contemplative way, Merton once wrote:


"The contemplative way is in no sense a deliberate 'technique' of self-emptying in order to produce an esoteric experience.  It is the paradoxical response to an almost incomprehensible call from God, drawing us into solitude, plunging us into darkness and silence, not to withdraw and protect us from peril, but to bring us safely through untold dangers by a miracle of love and power.  The contemplative way is, in fact, not a way.  Christ alone is the way, and he is invisible. The 'desert' of contemplation is simply a metaphor to explain the state of emptiness which we experience when we have left all ways, forgotten  ourselves, and taken the invisible Christ as our way." (From "Contemplative Prayer" by Thomas Merton, p. 92).

St. Jonathan Daniels

The news this week from Ferguson, Missouri, reminds us we still have a lot of healing and reconciliation to do in this country.  When I was on the Pine Ridge Reservation a few weeks ago, I experienced firsthand how events like the Wounded Knee Massacre still cast a long shadow on relationships between people of different races and ethnic backgrounds.

Today's saint, Jonathan Daniels, was a martyr during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s - as I wrote about last year (http://benedictinelutheran.blogspot.com/2013/08/modern-martyrdom.html), he was a an Episcopal seminarian from New England who answered Martin Luther King Jr.'s call for assistance, and he ended up on the wrong end of a shotgun blast as a result. 

After spending time in Selma, Alabama in 1965, Daniels returned to seminary, and would have lived if he had stayed there.  But, he felt God was calling him to return:  “[S]omething had happened to me in Selma, which meant I had to come back. I could not stand by in benevolent dispassion any longer without compromising everything I know and love and value. The imperative was too clear, the stakes too high, my own identity was called too nakedly into question...I had been blinded by what I saw here (and elsewhere), and the road to Damascus led, for me, back here.”

Why was he called to go back to Alabama, a decision which cost him his life? He also wrote:  "I began to know in my bones and sinews that I had been truly baptized into the Lord’s death and resurrection...with them, the black men and white men, with all life, in him whose Name is above all names that the races and nations shout...we are indelibly and unspeakably one."

On Pine Ridge, I learned that the Lakota have a phrase for the kind of unity that Daniels spoke about: "Mitakuye Oyasin", or in English, "we are all related".  May God give us the strength to follow the example of St. Jonathan Daniels, so that we may continue the struggle for justice, peace, and reconciliation. 

If you are interested in learning more about Daniels, you can watch an excellent documentary about his life here:  http://vimeo.com/14117023