This and That

I'm having a hard time focusing today, which I need to get past as there is so much to get done! Erin is on break and will be here this evening. We're spending most of the day tomorrow working on getting ready for a family shower for Baby Clinger on Saturday. :-) That will be fun!

But that means that I have just today to get things ready for Sunday morning--EasyWorship projection schedule and sermon--and I need to have a good start on my sermon for Sunday night. We're starting a new service at 5:30 on Sunday evenings ( called "Selah") and I found out that I was going to be preaching it too late to do one sermon for both morning and evening, so I'm doing double duty this week and next. :-(

I've read the last of Francis de Sales, but I'm to distracted by the rest of my day to reflect much on what he wrote. Ah, well, RIP Francis.

Peace, love and grace.

Changing Bitter to Sweet

STOP! This is the kind of theology that just makes me nuts! In the section titled "They Change It into Honey," Francis says, "It is true that devout souls encounter great bitterness in their works of mortification, but by performing them they change them into something more sweet and delicious. Because the martyrs were devout men and women, fire, flame, wheel, and sword seemed to be flowers and perfume to them. If devotion can sweeten the most cruel torments and even death itself, what must it do for virtuous action?"

I'm not sure how Francis is using the word "mortification," but it seems to me to be one thing to deprive myself of something I like and something else altogether to be subjected to "fire, flame, wheel, and sword" by someone else. I find it hard to stomach the thought that "cruel torments" are made sweet. Is it a good thing that people were burned at the stake or viciously slaughtered because of their faith? The fact that they had enough faith, a strong enough faith to withstand their torment gives me a goal to aim for in my own spiritual development, but the fact that they were subjected to something so horrible is still reprehensible and in no way sweet! And if Francis is using "mortification" in the sense of inflicting pain on yourself, than I can't even go that far with him.

We need to continue to strive for spiritual maturity and depth of convictions so that if we're called to martyrdom, we'll have the strength to withstand whatever pain and torments might be inflicted upon us, but having withstood them will not change their bitterness to something sweet.

Peace, love and grace.

Spiritual Agility

In today's reading, Francis says that, "devotion is simply that spiritual agility by which charity works in us or by aid of which we work quickly and lovingly....To be good a person must have charity, and to be devout, in addition to charity, he must have great zeal and readiness in performing charitable actions."

Hmmm....how does devotion help us work quickly and lovingly? That's a bit puzzling to me.

I'm wondering what's up with his concern over "being a good person." There are lots of good people all over the world. While I agree that charity is a primary trait by which we judge goodness, I would hope he see more to the Christian life than just doing good works.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when we hear Francis say, "....

Peace, love and grace.

Busted!

This morning I've moved on to reading an excerpt from Introduction to the Devout Life by Francis de Sales (1567-1622). Francis says that we all paint devotion with the lens of our passions. We think we're devout because we fast, but we don't see how our caustic remarks hurt someone. Or we pray three times a day, but then gossip about our neighbor.

He writes: "...many persons clothe themselves with certain outward actions connected with holy devotion, and the world belives that they are truly devout and spiritual whereas they are in fact nothing but copies and phantoms of devotion."

Ouch! That one hit me smack in the face!! It's one of the things I struggle with as a pastor. I may be wrong, but I have this notion that people look at their pastors and see people who are just a little bit closer to God than the average Jane or Joe. It's not something I try to foster, but perhaps I don't do enough to debunk the myth. Other than occasionally admitting my shortcomings in small groups and in sermons, I'm not sure how to do that. Maybe I need to call in the Myth Busters. Any suggestions?

Peace, love and grace.