The Internet Monk Archives

Christian Wiman: Religious Despair as Defense

Note from CM: During my weekend at Gethsemani, some of the most insightful reading I did came from Christian Wiman’s luminous book, My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer. Here is one of the passages that gave me pause, for your meditation today.

* * *

Religious despair is often a defense against boredom and the daily grind of existence. Lacking intensity in our lives, we say that we are distant from God and then seek to make that distance into an intense experience. It is among the most difficult spiritual ailments to heal, because it is usually wholly illusory. There are definitely times when we must suffer God’s absence, when we are called to enter the dark night of the soul in order to pass into some new understanding of God, some deeper communion with him and with all creation. But this is very rare, and for the most part our dark nights of the soul are, in a way that is more pathetic than tragic, wishful thinking. God is not absent. He is everywhere in the world we are too dispirited to love. To feel him— to find him— does not usually require that we renounce all worldly possessions and enter a monastery, or give our lives over to some cause of social justice, or create some sort of sacred art, or begin spontaneously speaking in tongues. All too often the task to which we are called is simply to show a kindness to the irritating person in the cubicle next to us, say, or to touch the face of a spouse from whom we ourselves have been long absent, letting grace wake love from our intense, self-enclosed sleep.

Merton Musings: I do not see the road ahead…

Note from CM: Here is the prayer I am praying while at Gethsemani this weekend (coming back later today). Full report in the days to come.

* * *

My Lord God, I have no idea of where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

– from Thoughts In Solitude
by Thomas Merton

Merton Musings: On Church Bells

Note from CM: This weekend my hours will be marked by church bells. They ring from the tower of Gethsemani Abbey, calling the countryside to pause, look up, and acknowledge that redemption has drawn nigh. The first church I served had a small foyer inside the entry door where one could reach up and pull a rope to ring the bell. We rang it on Sunday mornings to call our little village to remember that God is in our midst and all are welcome at his table. As Thomas Merton reminds us, the bells are God’s watchmen, announcing Christ’s reign, which is available to all people, for the renewal of all creation.

* * *

Bells are meant to remind us that God alone is good, that we belong to Him, that we are not living for this world.

They break in upon our cares in order to remind us that all things pass away and that our preoccupations are not important.

They speak to us of our freedom, which responsibilities and transient cares make us forget.

They are the voice of our alliance with the God of heaven.

They tell us that we are His true temple. They call us to peace with Him within ourselves.

The Gospel of Mary and Martha is read at the end of the Blessing of a Church Bell in order to remind us of all these things.

The bells say: business does not matter. Rest in God and rejoice, for this world is only the figure and the promise of a world to come, and only those who are detached from transient things can possess the substance of an eternal promise.

The bells say: we have spoken for centuries from the towers of great Churches. We have spoken to the saints, your fathers, in their land. We called them, as we call you, to sanctity. What is the word with which we called them?

We did not merely say, “Be good, come to Church.” We did not merely say “Keep the commandments” but above all, “Christ is risen, Christ is risen!” And we said, “Come with us, God is good, salvation is not hard, His love has made it easy!” And this, our message, has always been for everyone, for those who came and for those who did not come, for our song is as perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect and we pour our charity out upon all.

– from Thoughts In Solitude
by Thomas Merton

Saturday Ramblings, March 22, 2014

Happy Saturday, imonkers. Those of us in the states are in the midst of March Madness, that time of year when athletic teenagers make obscene amounts of money for tv networks. And Monday was St. Patrick’s Day, of course. Did you wear green? Drink green beer? You know, if you were Hindu, the day would have been more colorful, for March 17 is the Holi festival (you know, where the participants throw colored powder on each other). Which U.S. state held the biggest Holi festival? Utah, of course. Where else?

You might have missed this story. None one of the major news outlets reported on it (shockingly) but the Vatican, working with Anglican and Muslims, has launched The Global Freedom Network to battle modern-day slavery. “Objectives include getting the G20 to condemn modern-day slavery, persuading 50 major corporations to commit to slavery-proofing their supply chains and convincing 160 governments to endorse a seven-year, $100 million fundraising effort to implement anti-slavery programs globally.”

The always informative Christian Post had an exclusive on the “ten fittest Christian leaders“.

A Florida woman is facing felony charges and up to five years in the big house for performing a C-section on a Rottweiler without using anesthesia.

From the freedom of speech is only for us department comes the story of a philosophy professor who argues that anyone funding and promoting a denial of climate change should be jailed. Of course, he breezily notes, “My argument probably raises an understandable, if misguided, concern regarding free speech. We must make the critical distinction between the protected voicing of one’s unpopular beliefs, and the funding of a strategically organized campaign to undermine the public’s ability to develop and voice informed opinions.” In other words, your freedom of speech stops when your wallet comes out. If you feel you have the right to promote your opinion then you are “misguided”. It’s a good thing we can totally trust people like this professor to determine things like what is a “strategically organized campaign”, what constitutes “undermining”, and when such activity threatens the “public’s ability to develop and voice informed opinions”. The comments on the site are interesting, at least those not “removed by moderator”.

Speaking of intolerance, did you see this quote? ““Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and if they are the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.” Who was this person equating right-to-life with “extreme” conservatism, and wishing to banish these extremists from the state? Some left-wing blogger trying to scare up comments? A radical talk-show host attempting to juice ratings? No, this statement was uttered by none other than Andrew Cuomo, who serves as Governor of the state in question.

By the way, I noticed Gallup’s latest poll on abortion has more people in the U.S. describing themselves as pro-life (48%) than pro-choice (45%). That’s a lot of extremists.

Bill Gates gave a long interview to Rolling Stone, and mentioned at the end that he and his family are practicing Catholics. He also noted that he is sympathetic to some atheist arguments, “But the mystery and the beauty of the world is overwhelmingly amazing, and there’s no scientific explanation of how it came about. To say that it was generated by random numbers, that does seem, you know, sort of an uncharitable view [laughs]. I think it makes sense to believe in God, but exactly what decision in your life you make differently because of it, I don’t know.”

First Things asked the question: “As a post-biblical vision of sex, gender, and marriage gains the upper hand in our society, should our religious institutions get out of marriage? Should priests, pastors, and rabbis renounce their roles as deputies of state authority in marriage?” Eight religious scholars (Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox, Baptist and Jewish) give their opinion. You’re probably not a religious scholar, but we’d love to hear your take on the question anyway.

Did you know that Pope Francis’ reforms are making the mob “very nervous”? Nervous enough that one anti-mob prosecutor has warned the Vatican of possible mob hits against the pope? Undeterred, Francis will preside over a prayer vigil dedicated to victims of mob violence in Italy and their families.

Their nickname means, “Western education is forbidden.” And now the Islamic extremist Boko Haram terrorist network has forced Nigeria’s Borno state government to close all high schools indefinitely amid fears of terror attacks. 85 schools will be closed, affecting nearly 120,000 students in an area that has the country’s worst literacy rates.

Russell Crowe got to meet the Pope. Kind of. He failed, however, to talk Francis into endorsing Crowe’s upcoming Noah movie. President Obama is set to meet with Francis next week, while today the Pope meets with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan — who supports Nigeria’s criminalization of homosexuality. Goodluck Jonathon will be accompanied by his wife, Patience Jonathon. Really.

Perhaps Francis and Obama can discuss last week’s list in Fortune Magazine of the 50 greatest leaders in the world. Francis tops the list. Obama isn’t on it. By the way, Bono comes in at 8 and Angelina Jolie at 21. And Chaplain Mike? Like POTUS, completely snubbed!

The Florida Lutheran Pastor was only joking. But now he has to pay for a dozen tattoos (of the church logo) on his parishioners.

Well, this surprised me. The NIV has been the best-selling bible translation for decades. But when surveyed about which Bible they actually read, the King James Version not only came out on top, it wasn’t even close. 55% said they read the KJV, versus only 19% for the NIV. Other translations scored in the single digits.

A church in Russia was closed by the government for not registering its Sunday School Class.

A new law in the works in Iraq (it was passed by the cabinet and sent to the parliament) would allow the marriage of eight year old girls. It would also give husbands the right to have sex with their wives without consent, give custody of children over age two to the father, and forbid women from leaving the home without her husband’s permission.

The always classy Urban Outfitters sold a “drunk Jesus” t-shirt for St. Patrick’s Day. Forbes notes, “Now aside from the Irish, Urban has also managed to offend Jews (thanks to a T-shirt with what looked like a Nazi emblem); Blacks (with Ghettopoloy, a boardgame replacing Boardwalk with Cheap Trick Avenue); and Native Americans (by infringing on patents for the word “Navajo”). Just earlier this year, it irked millions more with its slim, gray v-necked women’s shirt with “Eat Less” emblazoned on it.” Wow.

Finally, did you know Italy has a version of The Voice (the musical competition show)? The judges had a bit of a surprise when they turned around their chairs. We’ll end with that video.

Himself

Albert Benjamin Simpson (1843-1919) the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance was a leader of the church during the early days of the Pentecostal movement. As a result many of the big debates in the church were around the topics of holiness, sanctification, and the charismatic gifts of the Spirit like speaking in tongues or healing. In the middle of those debates he spoke very clearly. The Christian journey is not about seeking after new experiences, it is about seeking Christ “Himself”. Simpson wrote both a sermon and a hymn on the topic. Both are reproduced in their entirety below. Your thoughts and comments are welcome.

Himself

I wish to speak to you about Jesus, and Jesus only.

I often hear people say, “I wish I could get hold of Divine Healing, but I cannot.”

Sometimes they say, “I have got it.”

If I ask them, “What have you got?” the answer is sometimes, “I have got the blessing”, sometimes it is, “I have got the theory”; sometimes it is, “I have got the healing”; sometimes, “I have got the sanctification.”

But I thank God we have been taught that it is not the blessing, it is not the healing, it is not the sanctification, it is not the thing, it is not the it that you want, but it is something better. It is “the Christ”; it is Himself.

How often that comes out in His Word – “Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses”, Himself “bare our sins in his own body on the tree”! It is the person of Jesus Christ we want.

Plenty of people get the idea and do not get anything out of it. They get it into their head, and it into their conscience, and it into their will; but somehow they do not get Him into their life and spirit, because they have only that which is the outward expression and symbol of the spiritual reality.

I once saw a picture of the Constitution of the United States, very skillfully engraved in copper plate, so that when you looked at it closely it was nothing more than a piece of writing, but when you looked at it at a distance, it was the face of George Washington. The face shone out in the shading of the letters at a little distance, and I saw the person, not the words, nor the ideas; and I thought, “‘That is the way to look at the Scriptures and understand the thoughts of God, to see in them the face of love, shining through and through; not ideas, nor doctrines, but Jesus Himself as the Life and Source and sustaining Presence of all our life.”

Continue reading “Himself”

Random Thoughts: Past, Present, and Future

First today, let’s take a look back.

It used to be thought that today’s date, March 20, marked the onset of the “Black Death” in medieval Europe. In 1348, King Philip VI of France commanded medical faculty at the University of Paris to determine the cause of the plague moving rapidly toward the city. This was their finding:

We say that the distant and first cause of this pestilence was and is the configuration of the heavens. In 1345, at one hour after noon on 20 March, there was a major conjunction of three planets in Aquarius. This conjunction, along with other earlier conjunctions and eclipses, by causing a deadly corruption of the air around us, signifies mortality and famine.

– The Black Death
by Diane Zahler

Zahler goes on to describe how the doctors advised that the buboes (the swollen lymph nodes) on affected people should be treated by lancing and cauterizing them. This only succeeded in spreading the disease further. Other, equally futile remedies were tried over the course of the plague, but as Diane Zahler explains:

Nothing helped, of course. Paris lost as many as fifty thousand people. Many small French villages simply disappeared as their inhabitants ran away or died.

In all, it is believed that the plague killed between 75 and 200 million people in the 14th century.

The real source of the plague was not found until 1894, when the bacteria that causes it was discovered by Alexandre Yersin, one of a number of scientists studying the “Third Pandemic,” which had broken out in India and China.

The plague has never been eradicated. Today, scientists warn that a drug-resistant form of the bacteria could develop and become a major health threat.

But that will probably only happen if the planets align just right.

Second, let’s take a look at this day.

It’s the first day of Spring! Across the U.S., this has been the winter of the “polar vortex.” Here in central Indiana, we are within a couple inches of the snowiest winter ever recorded. Everyone is hoping that we’ve truly crossed over into a new season.

Unfortunately, the weather experts are telling us that the first days of spring will not be warming our hearts. The percentages on the map show the probability of below-average temperatures in the U.S. for the next ten days. If you live elsewhere, maybe you have better news.

All this talk about the weather brings to mind Heather Goodman’s brilliant post about how trusting in secular weather forecasters opens our children to the evil lies of Satan:

Genesis is not the only passage that godless scientists, liberals, and the education system disregard in reference to the point-blank truth which it states about the Creator. For the same God which inspired Genesis, is the One whose very speech is recorded in Job 38:

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war? (ESV)

Now, in this we can clearly see that God creates snow and hail, and piles them up in storehouses, somewhere in the sky. When there is trouble, He simply empties out the storehouses and the snow and hail come tumbling down to Earth. But meteorologists do not acknowledge that God stores up snow in some hidden place. Instead, they speak as though snow and hail are some sort of natural phenomenon, and that the snow and hail are formed SPONTANEOUSLY, during a storm – not stored up for the day of trouble, as the Bible clearly says….

Now some might say that storehouses for snow and hail are just some sort of poetic device, or a metaphor or something. But seriously – who wants to go sledding down that slippery slope? If you start considering the snow storehouses to be a metaphor, instead of God’s ordained method (not to mention accurate revelation) about where snowstorms come from, then how do we know if ANYTHING in the Bible should be taken literally? Today, it will be metaphorical snow storehouses, tomorrow it will be a metaphorical six days of Creation, and before you know it, we’ll be talking about a metaphorical Jesus. What justification would we then have to distinguish between what should be read symbolically or culturally, and what should be read as actual history? Anyway, it’s totally sloppy exegesis to even suggest anything is metaphorical in the Bible unless the Bible itself clearly says, “this is a parable” or “spiritually speaking…” or something, because God wouldn’t let anything as important as knowing how to read the Bible be anything but completely self-evident and spelled out like that.

So, beware. The biggest enemy to our children and our society is not evolution; because we all know about that threat and thankfully we now have lots of “Creation Science” books and seminars to explain how science has distorted the truth how God created our world which is clearly spelled out in scripture. No, the true enemy to our thinking is coming from unnoticed corners, not the least of which is the darkened corner of The Weatherman’s Studio.

Finally, let’s look ahead to next year.

Next March, John MacArthur will apparently be calling another huge segment of the Christian Church heretics. He and the usual suspects will be getting down to brass tacks and taking on the topic of all topics for conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists:

Inerrancy.

In an interview, MacArthur says they will be following up the 2013 Strange Fire conference with a year-long emphasis on inerrancy, followed by next year’s conference, which will be a summit on the subject. According to Pastor John:

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, released in 1978, set the standard for inerrancy. Since that document was produced 36 years ago, a new generation has arrived that needs to be brought in line with the truth. Current publications demonstrate that the true doctrine of inerrancy is under attack. Some of these attacks are subtle while others are more blatant, but anything that undermines the absolute inerrancy of Scripture destroys the foundation of all Christian truth. Trusting the Bible is everything. Next year’s Summit will address this crucial issue, and give it the attention it deserves.

Here’s the promotional video.

You know the appeal already: The Church will rise or fall on this doctrine. Everything else depends on it. Those who deny this teaching will have hell to pay.

Cue the music.

2015 Shepherds’ Conference Summit from Grace Community Church on Vimeo.

Adam McHugh: And God Gave Wine

The Psalms tell us that the Lord gives wine to gladden the human heart. That is one scripture I have absolutely no problem obeying. All kinds of gladdening happen every time I open a bottle of wine. The image of clusters of ripe grapes that will be crushed, fermented, bottled, and poured into glasses makes my heart exult. I love learning about wine, smelling wine, looking at the bottles in my wine refrigerator, finding the perfect wine and food pairings, and introducing people to new wines.

If I never drank another glass of wine, I can honestly tell you that my passion would not change. Wine, for me, is not about the consumption of alcohol. The effect that it has on my body is insignificant in comparison to the meaning and the depth that it brings to my life. Wine has become a ruby, or straw, colored window into the past, into a rich and diverse history of men and women who looked into their wine glasses and found romance and poetry and beauty and God. It has become a pilgrimage companion, accompanying me to places in the world where vines are not just plants but sources of life, where place is not just where you are standing but who you are. It has become a looking glass into the future, as I have come to envision heaven not as an ethereal realm but a vast table where the wine will flow freely and the nations will laugh openly.

The thing about wine is that it was not made nor conceived of by humans. It was discovered. Wine happens. Probably around 8,000 years ago, a woman left a bunch of grapes in an open container for a few days, and the grapes on the bottom started to release their juice. When she returned, she noticed that the grapes had changed. They smelled different, they tasted different, and they made her feel different. What she did not know was that when the grapes were crushed and exposed to oxygen, the yeasts swirling in the hot wind could do their work and convert the sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide. What she did know was that the partially crushed grapes tasted so much better than usual.

To the ancients, then, wine was considered a miracle of God and thus used in sacred rituals and meals. The biblical tradition is not shy about its passion for wine. The Psalmist sings that the Lord gave “wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart,” inspiring northern Italian chefs for millennia to come. When Moses dreams of a Promised Land he proclaims that God “will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you.” Wine, it seems, is a fruit of God’s blessing, a silky symbol of his lovingkindness. A Promised Land is not truly promising unless it produces a harvest of ripe grapes that make a full-bodied wine.

Centuries later the apostle Paul would scold his protégée Timothy for only drinking water and direct him to “take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” Wine in the ancient world was prized for its healing effects, because the combination of alcohol, acidity, and healthy bacteria were an antidote to the untrustworthy elements of their diet and the impurities of their water supply. Today, the antioxidants and other elements that are present particularly in red wines are considered to be components of a healthy diet, when taken in moderation.

For all its sober cautions against overindulgence, the Bible regularly chooses images of wine and grapes and vineyards to represent the covenant relationship between God and his people. The fruitfulness of the people and the faithfulness of their God, or conversely, the withering of the people and the judgment of God are embodied in vineyards and harvests and wine presses. The covenant reaches its climax in the events of one evening, in which a man, hours before he is betrayed, puts a cup of wine into the hands of his friends and says “This is my blood.”

Continue reading “Adam McHugh: And God Gave Wine”

Goodbye, Angry Young Prophet?

In the last year or two, I have been deeply convicted by God that my angry-young-prophet days are over, to be replaced by a helpful, Bible-teaching spiritual father. Those closest to me have said they recognize a deep change, which has been encouraging because I hope to continually be sanctified by God’s grace. I understand that people who saw or experienced my sin during this season are hurt and in some cases have not yet come to a place of peace or resolution. I have been burdened by this for the past year and have had private meetings one at a time to learn from, apologize to, and reconcile with people. Many of those meetings were among the most encouraging moments in my time at our church. Sadly, not all of those relationships are yet mended, but I am praying that God is gracious to get us to that place of grace. Now that others have come forward, my desire is to have similar meetings with those who are willing.

– from Mark Driscoll Addresses Mars Hill Church

* * *

Mark Driscoll has written a frank letter to his congregation. In it he confesses that he has been an unhealthy and immature leader. He acknowledges his own shortcomings in knowing what to do about fulfilling his responsibilities and admits that there have been times when he acted sinfully in his anger.

Driscoll then outlines some of the changes that have made in leadership structure at Mars Hill to allow for more wise counsel and accountability. However, he confesses that changes were not always made in good ways, and that many people were hurt in the process.

He addresses the recent controversy about using the company ResultSource to market his book Real Marriage. Driscoll claims no bad intent in using them, but now regrets the choice. He says he won’t do it again, and he has asked his publicist to stop using references to the NY Times bestseller list in publications.

What got my attention the most was the next part of Mark Driscoll’s letter:

Second, in recent years, some have used the language of “celebrity pastor” to describe me and some other Christian leaders. In my experience, celebrity pastors eventually get enough speaking and writing opportunities outside the church that their focus on the church is compromised, until eventually they decide to leave and go do other things. Without judging any of those who have done this, let me be clear that my desires are exactly the opposite. I want to be under pastoral authority, in community, and a Bible-teaching pastor who grows as a loving spiritual father at home and in our church home for years to come. I don’t see how I can be both a celebrity and a pastor, and so I am happy to give up the former so that I can focus on the latter.

When I was a new Christian at the age of 19, God spoke to me and told me to do four things. Today, I see that calling as:

Love Grace and our family — Preach the Bible — Train leaders (especially men) — Plant churches. Other things may be good, but I do not have the time or energy for them right now. My family and our church family need me focused and energized, and that is my deep desire. Therefore, I will be spending my energies growing in Christ-like character by grace, staying connected to Grace and our kids, loving and serving Mars Hill Church which continues to grow, teaching the Bible, and serving Christian leaders through such things as blogs and podcasts at Resurgence. Starting this fall, I will also be teaching at Corban University and Western Seminary in Bellevue to invest in young leaders. For a season, I want to pull back from many things in order for us to focus on the most important things: glorifying Jesus by making disciples and planting churches as a healthy, loving, and unified church, with our hands on the Bible and our eyes on Jesus.

In order to focus on his most important callings, Driscoll has committed to taking a break from using social media, cutting back on speaking and travel, doing fewer interviews, and working with his publisher to figure out a less intense writing schedule. He calls this a “relief” and says he wants to use this important season in his life to invest in matters of highest priority.

These decisions have been worked out, says Mark Driscoll, with his “Senior Pastor” Jesus Christ, his wife Grace, and his Board of Advisors and Accountability.

* * *

My take?

Good letter. Right things said and said well.

Some of my fundamental opinions haven’t changed. I still think the ecclesiologies and systems in which pastors like Mark Driscoll function are deeply flawed and I can’t see myself ever recommending a church like Mars Hill. I also continue to have a number of disagreements with Driscoll’s teaching and theology. I wonder if we will see any changes there.

But with regard to this letter, it is not my place to question Mark Driscoll’s sincerity, or indeed, express any opinion on something he wrote personally to his congregation.

Others will not be so reticent. Some will take a cynical view and see this as pure damage control. Others will automatically reject the possibility of change because they wouldn’t believe anything good could come from Driscoll even if a dove descended from heaven and God spoke his approval out loud. Loyal supporters will cheer and urge the haters to stop hating.

I try to be as fair as I know how to be in a situation like this. The guy wrote a good letter. I hope he follows up on it. I hope he becomes a better pastor. I hope the church becomes more healthy and mature. I hope in forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace.

I hope great grace will be upon us all.

How We Become Human

I know, as a tenet of my faith, that Jesus’ incarnation, death, and resurrection somehow have set me free from death and given me new life. I know that God says that he will take away my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh. But I can’t say I understand how that happens or even how it looks in human terms. Recently, though, I may have gotten a glimpse at part of the process.

Our normal pew at church is more than halfway around the Stations of the Cross, which are displayed up and down the side walls. On the other side of the church, bas relief panels show the earliest steps leading up to the Crucifixion, but from where I sit the scenes show Jesus stumbling and falling, wounded and exhausted. I really don’t like looking at them and usually turn my eyes away. Sometimes the depictions make me feel angry, sometimes depressed and disgusted with the whole human race. But on a recent morning, for some reason, my usual defenses were breached. I looked closely at the images of Jesus collapsed and crushed, and I felt pity, overwhelming pity, for – well, for God.

It seemed like hubris, to pity God, as if I were above him somehow and condescending to him. Then I remembered the trial depicted in To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman, was asked why he had approached and interacted with her. “I felt sorry for her,” he said – and we know at that moment that Tom was doomed regardless of the facts of the case. That a black man would dare to feel sorry for a white woman – poor trash or not – was insupportable to the all-white jury. Tom, being black, could not be thought of a human in the same way they were. They could not stand the realization that pity made Tom Robinson truly human in a way that most people in the courtroom weren’t. In that aspect he was like Jesus, who pitied the people who had it in their power to put him to death.

It occurred to me, in the quick glances of the Stations of the Cross that were all I could endure: God gave himself to us partly in order to be pitied. The Maker of the Universe, the Holy, the Almighty, became a baby and a victim of our sin and injustice so that we would pity him. Maybe my pity is the first sign that my heart of stone is turning into flesh. Maybe my new life is not just the result of Christ conquering death, which inspires feelings of gratitude and joy. The new life is also being bought for me daily by his weakness and suffering, which inspire me to pity God himself.

Lent with Bob Dylan: John Wesley Harding

The year 1967 saw yet another reinvention of Bob Dylan.

After his early days as a protest singer, Dylan morphed into a folk-pop artist, moving from “Blowin’ in the Wind” to “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and sparking the kind of mixed reactions he has garnered for five decades. Then in the mid-60s, he plugged in and started playing rock-n-roll to concert crowds that lauded and booed him in equal measure. Dylan became an international rock star that people both loved and hated, who produced spectacular music and lived large at a drug-fueled frenetic pace, his every move in the spotlight.

Then in late July of 1966, Bob Dylan had a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, NY. In an article about the accident and its aftermath, Tony Scherman wrote:

The accident was Dylan’s means of escape from an unendurably fast-paced, pressurized life. As he said in a 1984 interview, “When I had that motorcycle accident . . . I woke up and caught my senses, I realized that I was just workin’ for all these leeches. And I really didn’t want to do that.” At some point during his convalescence he realized that he wanted a much more tranquil, family-centered life.

The singer remained out of the public’s eye, shut up in Woodstock for a year and a half, recuperating and reorienting his life and career. During that period, several important things happened for Bob Dylan. He had married at the end of 1965 and his first child was born in January of 1966. His wife Sara had their second child in July of 1967, about a year after the accident. Dylan was becoming a family man.

Bob Dylan was also reading the Bible more regularly during this season of his life. In Clinton Heylin’s biography, he quotes Dylan’s mother as saying: “In his house in Woodstock today, there’s a huge Bible open on a stand in the middle of his study. Of all the books that crowd his house, overflow from his house, that Bible gets the most attention. He’s continuously getting up and going over to refer to something.” Biblical themes and language became a significant influence on the music he was making at that time.

In 1967 he and his backup band, The Hawks (later, The Band), jammed together in secluded Woodstock. These sessions would become known as The Basement Tapes, and The Band’s first album, Music from Big Pink featured many of the songs they had worked on together. Key to our discussion here today is that there was a big shift in the kind of music Bob Dylan and his friends were playing. They were returning to a more basic, rootsy sound, leading the way for a host of performers in the 1970s who would take up folk-rock and Americana styles. Dylan again was ahead of the curve. For 1967 was the year of “psychedelic rock,” the “summer of love,” the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album, and the emergence of “hard rock” groups such as Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The music Dylan was about to release could not have been more different and so again he went against the grain.

Another event in 1967 which had an effect on Bob Dylan was the death of Woody Guthrie in October. Early in his career, Dylan had called Guthrie, “the true voice of the American spirit,” and committed himself to becoming “Guthrie’s greatest disciple.” Later that year, Dylan would come out of his self-imposed exile and release an album that exemplified that commitment.

The album, released on December 27, 1967, was called John Wesley Harding. It featured, once more, a completely reinvented Bob Dylan.

No one knows exactly when he wrote the songs for JWH, but in the fall of 1967, he carried them down to Nashville, met with producer Bob Johnston in the Ramada Inn, played the songs for him and suggested that they use only bass, guitar, and drums to accompany his voice and harmonica. (Later, they would add a bit of steel guitar to a couple of the songs.)

So, with Kenneth Buttrey on drums and Charlie McCoy on bass, Bob Dylan recorded John Wesley Harding, requiring only three stints in the studio and about nine hours of recording time.

After he had begun listening to the record, Ralph J. Gleason of Rolling Stone called JWH “a warm, loving collection of myths, prophecies, allegories, love songs and good times.” The record couldn’t have been more different than Dylan’s previous release, the riotous Blonde on Blonde. John Wesley Harding was a complete, unexpected departure in its music and attitude:

Its songs have a narrative structure, with characters that have faces and names. Many of these characters are outsiders and outcasts, who offer lessons or examples for the listener.
Its lyrics as well as the music and accompaniment are more spare, shorter, and direct. Surrealism is absent, replaced by stories, sentiments, and even moral lessons.
It reflects biblical passages and themes. One author found 61 biblical allusions on the record. All Along the Watchtower is based specifically on Isaiah 21:5-9. It is said that Dylan himself called this record, “the first biblical rock album.”
It translates these themes through language and situations that reflect Americana.

The Bob Dylan who sang the songs on John Wesley Harding looked different. Gone was the wild hair, the sunglasses, the thin, wasted look of debauchery. Instead, his face appeared fuller, his eyes clear, his demeanor relaxed and at peace.

Bob Dylan would not tour again for seven more years. After John Wesley Harding, he would continue to confound his followers by releasing, of all things, a country record called Nashville Skyline.

I’ve lost track of how many times Bob Dylan has reinvented himself, but amazingly, he remains a person and artist who still garners interest in 2014. The changes that took place in him back in 1967 tell a remarkable tale of an artist who found strength to go against the crowd and even the person he had himself become so that his life and art might grow and develop.

* * *

Well, what has this all got to do with Lent? you ask.

I think it shows the possibility we all have to “reinvent” ourselves, or in Christian terms, to be remade and re-formed — a classic Lenten theme.

It also shows that what it sometimes takes for that to happen is an intentional withdrawal from the life we know so that we can discover the life we are meant to have. Lenten practices are designed to help in this process.

It speaks to the power of the Bible to reshape our thinking, our language, our work. Bob Dylan may not have “become a Christian” through these experiences, but the Bible definitely had a profound effect on him. One can see how its stories and words utterly transformed his lyrics, music, and entire songwriting approach at this time in his life. Lent can be a time to let the Bible work change in us.

Guess what I’m listening to during these days of Lent?