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  • The Exegetical Captivity of the Book of Ruth

     

    Ruth
    This is an interesting list of names.

    Athalya Brenner

    Kathryn Pfister Darr

    Tamara Eskenazi

    Kathleen Farmer

    Marjo Korpel

    Kirsten Nielsen

    Katherine Sakenfeld

    Karin M Saxegaard

    This is another interesting and longer list of names

    David Atkinson

    Daniel Block

    Frederic Bush

    Edward Campbell

    Robert Chisholm

    Iain Duguid

    Daniel Hawk

    Robert D Holmstead

    Robert Hubbard

    Andre Lacoque

    Tod Linafelt

    James McKeown

    Leon Morris

    Roland Murphy

    Jack M Sasson

    K Lawson Younger

    The first list comprises women biblical scholars who have written a commentary or monograph on the biblical book of Ruth. The second list comprises men who have written a commentary on Ruth – the number of monographs by men would lengthen the list considerably. And my point is? Well I have several points.

    1. Around half of the women writing on Ruth write from within the Jewish tradition, and all of them, Jewish and Christian, take cognisance of feminist and womanist perspectives. Question: Can a man write an adequate commentary on a book in which women's experience is definitive and central in the story? Is gender irrelevant to how a person approaches a narrative text like Ruth?

    2. The list of men commentators covers almost all the mainstream series of Old Testament Commentaries in English. The exceptions are Nielsen in the Old Testament Library, Farmer in the New Interpreter's Bible and Sakenfeld in Interpretation Commentary. Question: when editors commission scholars to write commentaries on biblical books, do they consider the advantages of having a woman write a commentary on a book so replete with women's experience in a patriarchal society?

    3. Is gender relevant when choosing someone to write on a biblical text? Like Ruth, or Esther, or Song of Songs? What would a woman bring as scholar, and as woman, and therefore as woman scholar, to the approach and interpretation of any biblical text; but especially a text telling a complex narrative of women's life experience?

    4. I have looked at the most recent commentaries and those forthcoming – they are still predominantly commissioned to men. James McKeown, Robert Chisholm, Lawson Younger and in a month's time Daniel Hawk in the Apollos series; these are all recent, and written by men and they are all appearing in series within the evangelical tradition.

    5. Of those forthcoming there is Marjo Korpel in the highly academic HCOT series and Kandy Queen-Sutherland in the more accessible Smyth and Helwys volume. All else is commissioned to men.

    I know – books like Ruth and Esther were most likely written by men, and reflect the social structures and mores of their time. But surely in trying to explore and expound the meaning of such texts for the original readers, and in seeking the contemporary appropriation of these texts as part of the Church's Bible, it would make sense to value and actively seek those whose own life experience gives access to the complexities and anomalies in a book such as Ruth? Or is that unreasonable, special pleading, patronising, or what? 

  • Becoming the Gospel 1:Missional God = Missional People

    Those who know me will be aware I have an aversion verging on allergy to the word missional used as a ubiquitous adjective to anoint the latest programmes and strategies with biblical merit and mandate. I am absolutely and overwhelmingly convinced that mission lies at the heart of the church. The rhythm of worship and witness compels the pracvtice of mission. Worship draws us centripetally to the centre of our life in Christ, and then we are thrust centrifugally outwards to bear witness to the grace, love, mercy and reconciling purposes of God in Christ.

    And therefore I am persuaded that an entire approach to Christian dogmatics could, and perhaps should, be founded on the mission of God. Such a Dogmatics would be constructively elegant in its use of fundamental doctrine s drawn from the classic Christian traditions, would be essentially centred on the graced nature and salvific purposes of God, and would be ecclesially innovative and pastorally evangelistic, as the eternal saving purposes of the Creator and Redeemer God are worked through in the context of our own times and our own calling under God, and applied in an exploration of the essential practices of the community of the Christlike God.

    GormanI am currently reading my way through Michael Gorman's new book, Becoming the Gospel. Paul Participation and MIssion. I've read Gorman's earlier books and he is now a go to writer I have personally found a valuable and trusted guide through the New testament texts, in particular the letters of Paul. A major emphasis in Gorman's interpretation of Paul up till now is a word he virtually coined, or at least established as a powerful interpretive key to the letters of Paul – it's the word cruciformity. His book Cruciformity. Paul's Narrative Spirituality of the Cross is a careful and persuasive exposition of Paul's theology and practice in terms of the cross; all of Christian life is cruciform, formed and transformed through the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus. The existence of the church, and the life and lifestyle of individual Christians is cruciform, shaped and conformed to the image of Christ crucified and risen.

    From that starting point came a second book, Inhabiting the Cruciform God, in which Gorman developed further the conception of Christian existence as life liberated from sin and death through new creation in Christ. In that new creation the individual Christian and the community of the church are being shaped towards and come to embody the reconciling love and restorative forgiveness, and renewing grace and transformative justice and mercy of God. Once that quite dense sentence has been absorbed it is then easier to grasp the subtitle of this second book: Kenosis, Justification and Theosis in Paul's Narrative Soteriology. The theological content distilled into each of those words makes them potent with ideas and possibilities that enrich and expand our understanding of Paul's theology of Christian existence. I personally found this book profoundly helpful in the search for conceots that might aid my understanding and articulation of my own journey in Christ.

    It's no coincidence that Michael Gorman is a Methodist, who has deep roots in Wesleyan theology in which such notions as theosis, participation, kenosis and conformity to the image of Christ so deeply inform the understanding of justification and sanctification, and of anthropology and ecclesiology. Much of what Gorman is exploring and expressing is a Pauline justification for a particular understanding of the dynamic of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the revolutionary impact on the individual of the work of God in the human heart. I have to confess a deep affinity with much Wesleyan theology and spirituality, though not uncritically. So I have to confess also that much of Gorman's work is already congenial to me, takes me into familiar theological territory, provides substantial exegetical warrant for much that I already believe, and hope more and more to grow into.

    However what makes this third book so important, and worth a number of reflective review essays, is the word mission, and yes, the word missional, used theologically, carefully and always embedded in its exegetical and theological foundations in the biblicsal text. On page 9 is a succinct summary of what this book is about. In later posts I'll reflect on a chapter at a time, but for now here is Gorman's nutshell statement:

    "To put it simply: the cross of Christ reveal a missional, justifying, justice-making God and creates a missional, justified, justice-making people. Because the cross reveals a missional God, the church saved and shaped by the cross will be a missional people."  

     

  • Celebrating the Triune God 1. Blessed and Holy Three

    Trinity Sunday is for me one of the central Festivals of the Church.  In fact I think the doctrine of the Trinity is central to Christian thinking – dogmatics, ethics, spirituality and our dialogue with people of other faiths. This week we will have a daily theological reflection on the richly textured, revealing mystery, and renewing recovery of how we are caught up into the life of the Triune God through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. 

    The most famous icon of the trinity is Andrei Rublev's 14th Century masterpiece. To explain the beauty and theological delicacy of this is like ruining a meal by insisting the guest, while eating, should hear a chemical analysis of the ingredients and a psycholohgically reductionist account of taste and smell. So I leave the painting to be considered. The hymn that follows is an example of what we might lose if in our fascination with the new accessible praise song, we relinquish the hymns that articulate our faith with depth and range of thought and feeling.

    Angelsatmamre-trinity-rublev-1410 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Thou, whose almighty word
    chaos and darkness heard,
    and took their flight;
    hear us, we humbly pray,
    and, where the Gospel day
    sheds not its glorious ray,
    let there be light!

    Thou who didst come to bring
    on thy redeeming wing
    healing and sight,
    health to the sick in mind,
    sight to the in-ly blind,
    now to all humankind,
    let there be light!

    Spirit of truth and love,
    life-giving holy Dove,
    speed forth thy flight!
    Move on the waters' face
    bearing the gifts of grace,
    and, in earth's darkest place,
    let there be light!

    Holy and blessèd Three,
    glorious Trinity,
    Wisdom, Love, Might;
    boundless as ocean's tide,
    rolling in fullest pride,
    through the world far and wide,
    let there be light!

  • Hymns for Pentecost 6: The Forwardness of the Ego in The Hymn Book Index

    OK, it isn't a scientific piece of qualitative research but it did make me wonder a wee bit. In the Complete Mission Praise  where I went looking for the hymn I wanted for this post, only one (that is 1) hymn begins in its first line with "Holy Spirit". The number of hymns that begin with "I" and cognates of the first person singular (I'm, I'll) is eighty (that is 80).

    OK, it isn't the way to do theology either, number counting, but it does make you wonder. In poetry, letters, speeches, sermons, the first words spoken have a particular rhetorical effect, they hold an important place and are significant pointers to what is to come. So what is this about an 80 to 1 ratio of hymns that begin with "I" compared with the one, solitary, lonely, single line entry for the Holy Spirit?

    But then I counted the hymns whose first word is Jesus. That's better, there are 50 of them. This is getting interesting; what about God, how well does God do in the rhetorical numerical stakes? So I counted the hymns that begin with the word God and found 25 of them. So, 25 + 50 + 1 comes to 76. Oh, what about Father, our favourite theistic metaphor, and I discover there are 20 that begin with that name for God that has Dominical precedent! That makes 96 hymns begin with the names of God whether Father, Son or Spirit. But wait a minute, what about hymns that begin with Spirit and clearly refer to the Holy Spirit. That's better, there are 6 of them.

    But I'm still bothered by the sheer preponderance of the first person singular, 80 of them, and on checking I discover there are 51 that have "We" and cognates, making a final score of "I / We"  131 – and Names for God, "102".

    Me 131  v  God   106

    If that were a basketball score it would be a convincing win, but also a respectable losing score. I can't help feeling though, that in the hymn score, the better side lost!

    I did say it wasn't a peer reviewed, independently validated piece of qualitative research. But it did confirm my personal discomfort at the forwardness of the ego in our diet of songs that are meant to be hymns of praise to God. And I leave it there……

    The last hymn for Pentecost week comes from Christopher Idle, and is one that celebrates the pedagogy of the Holy Spirit, according to the Gospel of John:

     

    Spirit of holiness,wisdom and faithfulness,

    wind of the Lord,blowing strongly and free.

    Strength of our serving and joy of our worshipping,

    Spirit of God, bring your fulness to me!

     

    You came to interpret and teach us effectively,

    all that the Saviour has spoken and done;

    to glorify Jesus is all your activity,

    promise and gift of the Father and Son.

     

    Spirit of holiness,wisdom and faithfulness,

    wind of the Lord, blowing strongly and free.

    Strength of our serving and joy of our worshipping,

    Spirit of God, bring your fulness to me!

     

    You came with your gifts to supply all our poverty,

    pouring your love on the church in her need;

    You came with your fruit for our growth to maturity,

    richly refreshing the souls that you feed.

     

    Spirit of holiness, wisdom and faithfulness,

    wind of the Lord, blowing strongly and free.

    Strength of our serving and joy of our worshipping,

    Spirit of God, bring your fulness to me!

  • Hymns for Pentecost 5. What Language Shall I Borrow?

      Wren bookOne of the most outspoken and brilliant books on the use of gender exclusive language was written by Brian Wren, the title, What Language Shall I Borrow? It is a sustained argument against male dominated language in discourse about God. Whereas today for many the worry is "the feminisation of the Church", Wren's concern has always been the "masculination of God". Words like King, Lord, Almighty, Father, Protector are words about power, strength, and are all masculine in their pronouns. Wren's complaint is, if God is spoken of in language which is gender exclusive or predominantly masculine, then it reinforces patriarchal discourse which in turn contributes to social structures which marginalise women. Equally unacceptable to Wren is that such masculine discourse and male reinforced privilege takes on biblical and theological rationalisations, which are then a completion of a circle of exclusion centred on a distorted discourse about God.This makes it absolutely crucial that the words we sing in our hymns should reflect the wholeness of human experience, male and female, young and old, in all our ethnic diversity and psychological uniqueness.

    Edwards_Ruth_200x200pxI will never forget the first sentence of a prophetic paper delivered by Ruth Edwards (pictured) at the Aberdeenshire Theological Club around 1990. Ruth was at the time Senior Lecturer in New Testament Exegesis at the University of Aberdeen, and is a recognised authority on greek language and Johannine studies. She was also one of the first women to be ordained priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church. I was privileged as her friend to be invited to stand with her following ordination in the celebratory prayer. Her paper on the theology of God and gender stereotypes began with her observation that in the imaginations of many Christians, it seems the Holy Trinity consists of a dad, his boy and a pigeon!

    What followed was a carefully reasoned, biblically founded, exegetically persuasive and theologically combative exploration of the case for the ordination of women to Christian ministry. The foundation pillars of her argument were exegetical faithfulness to the biblical texts and a strong theological case for ensuring that our discourse about God was predicated on language which allowed for the full range of human experience. Metaphors we must have, but they must be rich and varied, faithful to the whole wide range of Scripture in their gender connotations. For that reason they must reflect the images not only of Father, King and Lord, but also of life-giving mother and self-giving birth, of protective tenderness and resilient resourceful parenting against all the odds and threats to her child. And much else. The prophets Hosea and Isaiah, the Genesis creation accounts, the example of Jesus in the Gospels and the contextual complexities of Paul's letters must all be weighed in to the exegetical and theological equations, and be allowed to contribute their metaphors, perspectives and diversities of discourse and context.

    The love that Christ revealed was no male macho toughness, nor was it the indulgent sentimentality that never challenges or confronts. It is a love that Christ revealed as living and working in our world. Brian Wren's hymn below plays with such ideas of living, active, creative love. And in that Divine Love we all recognise and acknowledge and depend upon, are all those other loves in our lives that nurture and steward creation, that nourish by self-giving, that defend and will die for love of the child. God loves like that, Christ said so, and showed so. The feeding of hungry children, the making of home and the welcome of stranger, these are not exclusively feminine actions and dispositions, but nor are they exclusively male. Brian Wren uses these and other metaphors to explore and explain the work of God the Holy Spirit. The result is this hymn.

     There's a spirit in the air,
    telling Christians everywhere:
    "Praise the love that Christ revealed,
    living, working in our world."

    Lose your shyness, find your tongue;
    tell the world what God has done:
    God in Christ has come to stay,
    we can see his power today.

    When believers break the bread
    when a hungry child is fed:
    praise the love that Christ revealed
    living, working in our world.

    Still his Spirit leads the fight,
    seeing wrong and setting right:
    God in Christ has come to stay,
    we can see his power today.

    When a stranger's not alone,
    where the homeless find a home,
    praise the love that Christ revealed,
    living, working in our world.

    May the Spirit fill our praise,
    guide our thoughts and change our ways:
    God in Christ has come to stay,
    we can see his power today.

    There's a Spirit in the air,
    calling people everywhere:
    praise the love that Christ revealed,
    living, working in our world.

  • Hymns for Pentecost 4. Is it Possible to Sing Condensed Milk?

     

    Our blest Redeemer, ere He breathed
    His tender last farewell,
    A Guide, a Comforter bequeathed
    With us to dwell.

     

    He came in semblance of a dove,
    With sheltering wings outspread,
    The holy balm of peace and love
    On earth to shed.

     

    He came in tongues of living flame
    To teach, convince, subdue,
    All powerful as the wind He came
    As viewless too.

     

    He came sweet influence to impart,
    A gracious, willing Guest,
    While He can find one humble heart
    Wherein to rest.

     

    And His that gentle voice we hear,
    Soft as the breath of even,
    That checks each thought, that calms each fear,
    And speaks of heaven.

     

    And every virtue we possess,
    And every victory won,
    And every thought of holiness,
    Are His alone.

     

    Spirit of purity and grace,
    Our weakness, pitying, see:
    O make our hearts Thy dwelling place,
    And worthier Thee.

    Sometimes a hymn doesn't have to be a great hymn, or brilliant poetry, to do what a really good hymn does – which is enable praise, inspire devotion, become a conduit of prayer, remind and recall the heart to its centre in God. The first time I sang this I was a recently converted teenager who up till then loved and lived in the music of the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Beach Boys, The Hollies, and had been immersed in the dynamic diversity of 60's music, with its daring innuendo, unabashed celebration of sexuality as integral to love, and which moved to the persistent beat and rhythm of a culture in process of irreversible metamorphosis. 

    I've never forgotten the culture shock in those first weeks of going to a wee Lanarkshire Baptist Church, and of an organ playing slowly, a congregation singing fervently, and the discovery of a strange new world of music that did things to your head and heart that took you to quite different places of human experience. This is a sentimental hymn, the metaphors are soft and comforting, and in my experience nearer to Herman's Hermits than to Mick Jagger complaining in public with unambiguous body language that he couldn't "get no satisfaction". 

    This hymn was written by a woman who preferred seclusion and quietness to society and activity.This particular Guide and Comforter, of whom she writes, seems to go in for non-assertiveness, and gentle persuasion rather like a Quaker engaged in earnest well-meaning conversation with a pumped up tattooed biker about his language and drinking habits. The hymn is laced with the language of human sympathy – tender, sweet influence, gracious willing guest, sheltering, holy balm, gentle, soft, calm, weakness pitying. If you're not careful this could taste like condensed milk spooned straight from the tin. And where it could possibly resonate with 21st Century cultural idioms and musical lyrics, or how our far more unrestrained emotional and psychological patterns of communication could cope with this alien restraint and tentativeness, I don't know. 

    Holy-spirit-dove-clipart-MiL759piaAnd yet. Every now and then I go back to this hymn. One of the reasons is the recurring Johannine echoes. The tender last farewell refers to John 14-17, and the scared desolation of disciples who had no idea how to cope with an announcement of death. The word "bequeath" is the last loving gesture of Jesus to friends he whose hearts he was about to break. The rest of the hymn is an exposition of that word "Comforter", in an older version, "Paraclete", the one who comes alongside to strengthen and suppport and help. In our language, the One who will be there for us. It's a hymn you have to be in the mood for, and maybe that mood comes seldom, and maybe the opportunity to sing it with a congregation is now a memory, and should stay that way, for it isn't used much now. Is it? But now and again when I come across this, I read it, and recognise underneath all the layers of my critical qualifications, a hymn that when allowed to speak on its own terms, bears witness to something important about God the Holy Spirit.

     

  • Hymns for Pentecost 3. A Keswick Hymn by a Classical Lexicographer.

    Edwin_HatchOne of the magisterial publications  in biblical studies is the massive Hatch and Redpath Concordance of the Greek Septuagint. Edwin Hatch was probably thought too liberal for promotion beyond the obscurity of his Oxford study. In addition to the monumental Concordance, he delivered both the Bampton and the Hibbert Lectures on what may seem like obscure corners of Christian scholarship. The Influence of Greek Ideas on Christianity was an early and brilliant attempt to present a picture of Greek life, thought and culture in the first centuries after Christ, and it remains a landmark study, dated now of course, but having established the cruciality of context in tracing the historical development of Christian thought.

    Well, that's all well and good. Another side of this humble lexicographer, whose knowledge of Greek, Hebrew and other ancient languages was extensive and deep, was his devotion to God and the sensitivity and simplicity of his personal faith. It is a salutary fact that the writer of this simple, dependent prayer, "Breathe on me breath of God", with its unembarrassed longing for holiness and purity of love, was penned by a man soaked in scholarship, assiduous in research, meticulous in his tracing and translating of words. The hymn has long been a favourite of Evangelicals, and was for decades popular at the Keswick Convention.

    I love this hymn, and often use it in my own prayers. I admire the writer for the way he integrated academic brilliance, disciplined scholarship and the deep aspirations of a heart devoted to God. His hairstyle however is something else!

    Breathe on me, breath of God,
    Fill me with life anew,
    That I may love what Thou dost love,
    And do what Thou wouldst do.

    Breathe on me, breath of God,
    Until my heart is pure,
    Until with Thee I will one will,
    To do and to endure.

    Breathe on me, breath of God,
    Blend all my soul with Thine,
    Until this earthly part of me
    Glows with Thy fire divine.

    Breathe on me, breath of God,
    So shall I never die,
    But live with Thee the perfect life
    Of Thine eternity.

  • Hymn for Pentecost 2. O Thou Who Camest from Above….

    I have sung this hymn in a choir, in a congregation, listened to it on headphones in my study, playing loudly in the car, and recited it quietly in my head at prayer. Sanctification is not determined by what we do for God, but by the work of God. The flame of faith can only be lit from outside and from above, and the Wesleys were passionate in their conviction that human salvation and holiness arises from the response of the heart, mind and will to the universal prevenient grace of God.

    PicassoNowhere in this hymn is the Holy Spirit mentioned, but everywhere is presupposed. Yet Wesley's sense of the full activity and of the Triune God in all the work and works of salvation means he prays without embarrassment to Father, Son and Spirit. That first verses is a distilled concentrate of human longing despite deep self-knowledge of unworthiness. The second verse is dominated by the presence of that long multi-syllabic "inextinguishable", preceded by one syllable words, and followed by the trembling return of the fire of God's love to its source, in every act of prayer and praise. Early Methodists saw themselves as glad tiireless workers for Jesus, as all serious disciples must be, so the order of the verbs is important, 'to work and speak and think for thee"; and that can only happen when Jesus confirms and makes the desires of faith strong. But obedience and faithfulness are the human side of living the gift of grace, guarding the holy fire, and stirring up the gift. Only then, ready for all thy perfect will, and only in the life fulfilled in love and holiness, is the giving of our lives in sacrificial service complete.

    And all of this is the inward work of the Holy Spirit, and the responsive love and obedience of the human heart in faithfully following after the one who came from above.

    1 O thou who camest from above
    the pure celestial fire to impart,
    kindle a flame of sacred love
    on the mean altar of my heart.

    2 There let it for thy glory burn
    with inextinguishable blaze,
    and trembling to its source return,
    in humble prayer and fervent praise.

    3 Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
    to work and speak and think for thee;
    still let me guard the holy fire,
    and still stir up thy gift in me.

    4 Ready for all thy perfect will,
    my acts of faith and love repeat,
    till death thy endless mercies seal,
    and make the sacrifice complete.

  • Hymns for Pentecost 1. Holy Spirit Lord of Light

    On Pentecost weekend I'm reading some of the hymns to the Holy Spirit that are rich theological celebrations of the Spirit of God.  For the next week I'll post one each day as an acknowledgement of the Giving Gift of God, The Go Between God, The Spirit of Life, The Light of Truth and Fire of Love, The Creator Spirit, and The Source of Life. These are titles of books in my library, and together they begin to open up the ruchness and diversity of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Creation, in the Church, and in us.

    1 Holy Spirit, Lord of Light,
    From Thy clear celestial height,
    Thy pure beaming radiance give:
    Come, Thou Father of the poor!
    Come, with treasures which endure!
    Come, Thou Light of all that live!

    2 Thou, of all consolers best,
    Visiting the troubled breast,
    Dost refreshing peace bestow;
    Thou in toil art comfort sweet,
    Pleasant coolness in the heat,
    Solace in the midst of woe.

    3 Light immortal! Light divine!
    Visit Thou these hearts of Thine,
    And our inmost being fill;
    Where Thou art not, man hath naught,
    Nothing good in deed or thought,
    Nothing free from taint of ill.

    4 Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
    On our dryness pour Thy dew;
    Wash the stains of guilt away;
    Bend the stubborn heart and will;
    Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
    Guide the steps that go astray.

    5 Thou, on those who evermore
    Thee confess and Thee adore,
    In Thy sevenfold gifts, descend:
    Give them comfort when they die,
    Give them life with Thee on high,
    Give them joys that never end.

    Amen.

  • Prayer – When God is the Faithful Friend who Keeps in Touch…….

    "Prayer is a gift of God, and a work of his grace…" Those words were written 50 years ago in a book with the telling title, Reality and Prayer. I like that connection. Sometimes prayer is wishful thinking, desperate pleading, meditative reflection and even faithful if passionless routine. I've done all these. Often enough I've thought prayer is something that starts with my decision, my inclination, my need. But here is someone reminding me it is God's initiative, gift, work, grace, invading my life, nudging my mind, kick-starting a relationship I'm in danger of neglecting.

    DSC01869The reality of prayer is a problem in a world where we've become used to scientific explanations, accustomed to problem solving by technology, presuming overall control of our environment, security and safety as built in mechanisms of a developed society. But that deeper reality beneath the surface of things, the presence and power of the God who is both beyond and in the midst, the sense of a personal Presence who seeks us and finds us – that is gift, grace, mystery. And it may be that the way we now live our lives compels the God who seeks us, to first wound our hearts with what the author of the Cloud of Unknowing called "a dart of longing love", in order for us to register on our everyday radar, the real presence of the God we are way too busy to make time for. 

    Faithful friendship is when someone is committed to "staying in touch", "thinking about you", "being there for you", and so the text, the email, the phone call, the card, becomes a sacrament, a hard copy of those emotions of care, affection, love, attentiveness, thoughtful kindness and many others that together sustain a relationship that has been allowed to grow into part of who we are. Prayer is the gift of the faithful friendship of God.

    Edwin Muir tells of just such a moment in his own life when God in grace and gift addressed the careless poet at bedtime, and re-awakened a friendship gone stale. It is one of the utterly authentic personal stories of being arrested by God.

    “Going to bed alone, I suddenly found myself (I was taking off my waistcoat) reciting the Lord’s Prayer, in a loud, emphatic voice  – a thing I had not done for many years – with deep urgency and profound and disturbed emotion.  When I went on I became more composed; as if my soul had been empty and craving, and were now being replenished, it grew still; every word had a strange fullness of meaning which astonished and delighted me.  It was late; I had sat up reading; I was sleepy; but as I stood in the middle of the floor, half undressed, saying the prayer over and over again, meaning after meaning sprang from it , overcoming me again with joyful surprise; and I realised that that simple petition was always universal and always inexhaustible, and day by day sanctified human life.”