American Teen, The Movie

I think so.

Any thoughts?

Looks like a helpful movie to get at what school is like for teens; the generalizations and labels that we seem to fall into; and it seems like a hopeful pic, as well. (I love the play off of Breakfast Club!! That was a revelatory movie for me some twenty years ago…)

Today we turn to the topic and critical discipline of stillness and the imperative that without stillness of the body - we can never achieve inner stillness. The pages of The Philokalia again are the source of our wisdom.

“He [or she] who wants to cross the spiritual sea is long-suffering, humble, vigilant, and self-controlled. If one impetuously embarks on it without these four virtues, he agitates his heart, but cannot cross. Stillness helps us by making evil inoperative. If it also takes to itself these four virtues in prayer, it is the most direct support in attaining dispassion. The intellect cannot be still unless the body is still also; and the wall between them cannot be demolished without stillness and prayer.” [St. Mark the Ascetic I, On Those Who Think They Are Made Righteous By Works, Sec. 29-31. As quoted in Selections From the Philokalia p. 165]

This movie gets at the heart of Christ and Christian practice from where I sit. This is challenging to say the least.

I dare say that unfortunately you will not hear the following tune on Christian Radio. It is a shame. I was listening to this tune penned by Andrew Peterson as performed by Michael Card from his recording entitled, The Hidden Face of God. As I was cleaning stalls in our stable I was struck by this tune - if I had heard it before, I hadn’t really listened. This release is a wonderful recording from Card - (which probably didn’t sell real well) but the center piece of the recording is Peterson’s tune!

As I listened I came to a fresh awareness of this desire in my soul: I long to be a part of a Christian community where discussions on the silence of God is a regular topic of discussion (where this song could be a “theme song” for a season). I long for the day when Christianity is unashamed of the mystery of God (not everything has to be understood, principle-ized, dissected and made into a “how to.”) and the paradox that He is the God who reveals and the God who “hides.”

The Silence of God (by Andrew Peterson)

It’s enough to drive a man crazy; it’ll break a man’s faith
It’s enough to make him wonder if he’s ever been sane
When he’s bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And heaven’s only answer is the silence of God

It’ll shake a man’s timbers when he loses his heart
When he has to remember what broke him apart
This yoke may be easy, but this burden is not
When the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God

And if a man has got to listen to the voices of the mob
Who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they’ve got
When they tell you all their troubles have been nailed up to that cross
Then what about the times when even followers get lost?
‘Cause we all get lost sometimes…

There’s a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
In the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
And He’s kneeling in the garden, as silent as a Stone
All His friends are sleeping and He’s weeping all alone

And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
In the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God

Weekly wisdom continues as we head into the sunny and stormy mid to late July. In the summer - the sky can be deceiving in one instance blue skies and in a matter of moments the atmosphere changes with dark clouds rain, hail and wind descending.

It is what came to mind as I read from the Philokalia this morning.

“I entreat you not to leave your heart unguarded, as long as you are in the body. Just as a farmer cannot feel confident about the crop growing in his fields, because he does not know what will happen to it before it is stored away in his granary, so a man should not leave his heart unguarded as long as he still has breath in his nostrils. Up to his last breath he cannot know what passion will attack him; as long as he breathes, therefore, he must not leave his heart unguarded, but should at every moment pray to God for his help and mercy.” [St. Isaiah the Solitary from I, On Guarding the Intellect, sec. 15]

Immanent and transcendent - truly the mystery of God.

Original Painting by Michael O’Brien

“Beyond Us (Only True God)”
Lyrics by Paul Baloche; from the album Our God Saves

Beyond us God within us
Revealed yet we see in part
Transcendent but so near us
Mystery dwelling within our hearts

Father Spirit Son
Only true God
Exalted three in one
Only true God only true God

Majestic God above us
Enthroned yet you wash our feet
Humble but so holy
All of creation bow when you speak

God of all things
God who saves us
God within us
You are God

The wisdom for today comes from Skylight Paths book, Philokalia (The Eastern Christian Spiritual Texts: Selections Annotated & Explained). The Philokalia is a very revered and important text in the Orthodox tradition. Briefly, philokalia is a greek word meaning, “love of the beautiful.” The work which bears this title contains stories and teachings from the monks on “the holy mountain.” The monastery on Mount Athos in Greece was/is known for it’s authentic spirituality, watchfulness, and practice of contemplative prayer - it was the combined wisdom from this well which flows to us through this ancient text (primarily from the 9th & 10th Century - although there are snippets from the 4th - 14th century that “sneak in”).

In the anonymous nineteenth-century Russian classic The Way of a Pilgrim, the pilgrim asks a staretz, or spiritual father, whether the Philokalia is “more exalted and holier than the Bible.” The staretz answers:

“No, it is not more exalted or holier than the Bible, but it contains enlightened explanations of what is mystically contained in the Bible, and it is so lofty that it is not easily comprehended by our shortsighted intellect. Le me give you an illustration. The sun is the greatest, the most resplendent and magnificent source of light, but you cannot contemplate or examine it with the simple naked eye. You would need to use a special viewing lens, which, though a million times smaller and dimmer than the sun, would enable you to study this magnificent source of all light and to endure and delight in its fiery rays. Thus the Holy Scriptures are like a brillant sun, for which the Philokalia is the lens needed in order to view it.” (The Way of a Pilgrim, p. 15)

So, take up the Philokalia and read it!

Our weekly wisdom from the Philokalia:

“Truly blessed is the man whose mind and heart are as closely attached to the Jesus Prayer* and to the ceaseless invocation of his name as air to the body or flames to the wax. The sun rising over the earth creates the daylight; and the venerable and holy name of the Lord Jesus, shining continually in the mind, gives birth to countless intellections as radiant as the sun.” (St. Hesychios the Priest; I On Whatchfulness and Holiness, sec. 196)

*The Jesus Prayer is a foundational practice in the Orthodox tradition which incorporates the following prayer into everyday living: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

There have been a few “defining moments” in my life. Moments that with their immediacy and completely distilled messsage speak loud and clear, shaping my life in a unique fashion. A couple of profound moments that altered my direction and outlook on life immediately come to mind: That moment on the Yellow Breeches in Grantham, PA gazing into a beautiful young woman’s blue eyes, right then I knew in my bones that I would marry L (and I did - and we took wedding pictures near that spot). A winter morning driving along route 28 between Midland and Catlett, VA when it became clear that doing the work of God was killing God’s work in me, and that I must walk away from full-time vocational ministry. A night in my bed when I realized my father’s voice would never hit my ears on earth again. Defining moments.

Some are joyous. Some are tragic. Each quietly causing a seismic shift in that inner part of you.

I was at Resurrection Center in Woodstock, IL back in August of 2005. It was on a summer afternoon when I made my way across the conference centers grounds. I was walking determined on reaching my goal. I had heard there was a hermitage on the property and I wanted to see it. I got a bit turned around and made some wrong turns, but my persistence won over my midguided steps and I found it; and the key to make entry.

After nebbing around the one room building I settled down in a wooden rocker and gazed out the large picture window. The space between this world and the next began to close in. In that little room in the middle of the woods in the middle of North America - I heard again the voice of my Maker. One word. Two syllables that shook my being. Five letters that embraced me with deep felt approval and acceptance. In that moment (or moments?) - few things could compete with my focus and alertness to an often forgotten term.

I haven’t and hope to never forget that short time in that little room.

I was reminded there that I am dear to my Maker. I found new purpose and new desire to continue on taking steps with and toward my Master. I found dignity and meaning in who I was. I “saw” this world and my place in it focused for a second.

A defining moment - defined by a two-syllable, five letter word, whispered by a still, small voice.

Abide.

At that instant - I most deeply wanted to abide. And it has made all the difference.

“Freedom is not whether we can do whatever we want, but whether we can do what we most deeply want.”

(I found that quote in that little room in the woods in Woodstock, IL - I don’t know who first said it.)

So last friday - 7/11/08 was the “Feast of Saint Benedict.” I didn’t take time to call attention to this last Friday… and no I wasn’t too busy acquiring my free Slurpee from 7-11 [I was unpacking and “catching up” from a return from vacation]. But I did want to highlight this great hero of The Church. A true reformist who availed his life completely to God and now 1500 years later we are still learning from his writings, his life, and those who followed in his footsteps. Can anyone say, “legacy.”

Over the past few years I have become increasingly attracted to Benedict’s writings and his challenge to live a counter-cultural life. Benedict has become a mentor from afar and he has taken me on quite a ride.

I have posted on Benedict in the past - you can follow the two links below on some of my thoughts on Benedict of Nursia.

Them Benedictines!

Benedict for Beginners

ora et labora.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore. [Psalm 121 NIV]