"The Great Commission" vs. The Great Contradiction

Monastic Life… Apparently for some people, this is ideal. I fail to see why it is so great. Sure, Christ was a homeless dude who hung out with his twelve buddies, but I don’t believe that he called us to get rid of everything, hole up in a building and never get out again. If we are following his example, then yes, by all means, go ahead and sell all you have. That isn’t where the problem is.

I don’t think there is any reason to stow away from the world around us. Jesus didn’t say, “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me, now sell all you have, move away from the people around you and don’t show them any love other than pray for them.” He DID say to go to all peoples of the world and spread the Gospel. It seems that these monasteries were bringing people in to do the opposite of what they said they believed. It doesn't help the lost if we live on UM's campus for the rest of our lives and never show them the love of Christ that we claim to have. It just seems backward.

I found our discussion of the concept of evil according to Augustine and Boethius fascinating.  After all, when we retouched on this discussion in class on Tuesday, it again sparked major discussion, so I want to work through some of the thoughts on this one.
If God is good, and God is the creator of all things, how did evil come about?  Is evil a living, tangible thing, or is it merely an absence of God, and absence of good, merely a lesser good?  Both Augustine and Boethius agree that if God is good, He cannot create evil.  So, where does evil come from?  These early christian philosophers agree that evil s merely an absence of good, as darkness is the absence of light, and cold is the absence of heat.  This got me thinking about what God explicitly calls good and not good, so naturally I turned to the creation story in Genesis 1. God calls everything that He made "good," but calls one thing "not good."  What in this perfect world is not good?  The lack, or absence of something:  The lack of companionship for Adam.
So, is evil actually "not good"; is it the lack of goodness?  I'm not sure if I'm totally convinced, but interesting thoughts :)

P.S.: Commented on "The Greater Good."

A Life without Laughter?

Today the question was asked to a couple of people if they would be able to live by Benedict's Rule and be a monk or a nun. While there were some things I think I could survive with such as not having to worry about what clothes I'm going to wear or not having to own any private property or even not having to worry about the awkward conversations at the dinner table there was one thing in particular that would probably cause me to get kicked out of a monastery.

In the section title "The tools for good works" there was a part where it talks about being careful of everything you do including what you say. It says that you must, " Guard your lips against harmful or deceptive speech. Prefer moderation in speech and speak no foolish chatter, nothing just to provoke laughter; do not love immoderate or boisterous laughter." I am completely on board with guarding what I say,  I unfortunately have no control over my laugh. I could not imagine life without laughter or someone not cracking a joke every once in a while. I would be seen guilty of loving "boisterous laughter" because I simply just love to laugh!

The Bible talks about laughter and it says in Ecclesiastes 3:1-4  "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." It also says in Psalm 126:2 "Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.'"Laughter is clearly evident throughout the Bible and for me it is always a feeling of joy and happiness. It is not something done in a sinful way. Having to live a life where I had to control my laugh and not make a joke to help put a smile on someone's face is simply a life I would not want to live. Laughter is a gift from God and a way of expressing joy that everyone should be able to experience on a daily basis.

p.s. commented on Rebekah Dye's "Hastening towards Heaven?"

Persecution for the sake of Justice

One of the tools for good works in the Excerpt from Benedicts Law states the verse Matthew 5:10, “Endure persecution for the sake of justice.”  I think this verse is very important not only to the monks who’s existence came about due to persecution of their civilization but also to the modern day people. So many nations despise Christians for a number of reasons. From the beginning of time Christians have dealt with persecution. The Hebrews struggled with it for the majority of their existence. Once upon a time, the United States of America was lead by a Christian government system, but that has slowly faded away. As Christian citizens of the United States of America, we now have the freedom to worship any way we want to as long as it doesn’t interfere with government. This is a form of persecution; however, we must learn to endure this persecution for the sake of justice. One day there will be no more injustice. Genesis gives us some insight to the future.  Genesis 3:15 says, “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. You will strike his heel but he will crush your head.” We might have some hostility between us and the rest of the world, but in the end none of this will matter. Our persecution will no longer exist because someone greater is coming to free us from that persecution. Praise the one who is greater than he who is in the world!

I commented on Danielle's blog!

From Boethius to Benedict

It is strange to me to see how one goes from Boethius and the happy life to Benedict's rule. They don't necessarily seem as if they oppose one another. Boethius is trying to reconcile the pains of this world to achieve happiness, and he does this through philosophy. Philosophy rationalizes natural desires as bad, ultimately calling us to give up false goods and to pursue the true good. This pursuit for Boethius was never truly described in detail, only by motives and desires. For the monks, it becomes the most practical way of life, so that in everything they might be pursuing the true good, which is God. I tend to look as many things with a skeptical eye, so while the original intent of the monks sound good, they could be taken to the extreme. If the intent of this monastic vow is to grow closer to the Lord, especially in a time of desolation, it is great. As long as their desire is knowing the Lord intimately, that is awesome. Legalism seems like a dangerous threat, though, for unless you have a love of the Lord your good works and abstinence from worldly things is meaningless. I think this is admirable and that we can learn from it, but I could not partake in it myself.

Commented on Rebekah Dye's

A Blast From the Past

Correct me if I am wrong, but I cannot help but see a very noticeable comparison between the Monks and the Old Testament Jews prior to the period of kings.  The Jews had a complicated set of rules and regulations that existed to help each Jew live a more healthy, god-centered life.  The Mosaic Law served as the guidebook to the Jewish life.  Jews did not typically pursue the hearts of other nations; instead, Jews only accepted new-comers in the event that they came by their own choice or were conquered by the sword, issued according to God's command.

[Fast forward to the time of the Monks]

Benedict's guidebook for the livelihood of Monks is interpreted as a national law for all within the monastery (like the Mosaic Law was for all Jews) and is intended for individual sanctification.  While he based most of his rules on Christ's teachings, Jesus was not a Monk.  He rarely secluded Himself, and when He did, it was only for a short time before multitudes of people crowded around Him again.  Jesus did not live in solitude whilst praying to the Father; instead, He was actively doing work among the people of the world (hence, the Great Commission)  This is not to say that Monks aren't honoring God, but it seems to me that they are doing it in a way that resembles ancient Jewish worship.  Their focus is not spreading the gospel and intermingling with the world; instead, they seek to live holy and pleasing lives to God by removing all distractions.

Hastening towards Heaven?

Tonight I'm going to cheat a little and talk about something from tomorrows reading.
While reading the excerpts from Benedict's Rule, I found one point he made extremely challenging and necessary for every day living.

In the except entitled, "Tools for good works" Benedict says, "Live in fear of Judgement Day and have a great horror for Hell. Yearn for ever-lasting life with holy desire."

I really loved this because how often do we get caught up in living for the here and now? How often do we as Christians push aside the thoughts of Hell because we are already saved from it?

We should always remember that Hell is a place to be feared, reverenced, and even respected. A very real, scary place. It IS important to remember that we ARE already saved from it, but it is necessary to remember just how scary it is, so that we will go out and share with others how to be saved from it.

We must ultimately live with Heaven on our minds. The excerpt ends with a question..."Are you hastening towards your Heavenly home?" We must be reminded that our goal is to press on, towards our Heavenly goal. We are to live each day, thinking about eternal things and remembering how important they truly are as opposed to earthly things.

P.s. I commented on Becca's post from last weeks reading, "Water in the Well"