Legalism at its Finest

In this week's reading, one of the things we read over that I honestly found appalling were the laws that Charlemagne put in place to Christianize the Saxons. If ever there was a set of ideas that embraced legalism and altogether rejected grace, this had to be it. Obviously, I am in no place to judge his heart or his intentions in putting these in place. However, I think it is safe to say that the picture of Christianity we see in these laws is simply not even close to biblical.

The second law, starts with "If anyone has fled to a church for safety" and ends with "let him plead his case as best as he can and he shall be judged." Even worse, if you were to eat meat during Lent, you got the death sentence! I may be completely ignorant in saying all this because I guess these laws may have somehow led some people to Christ, but many if not most of them might as well be heresy.

Charlemagne clearly never understood the whole "no righteousness by the law" thing.

PS I commented on Rebekah's "Hastening towards heaven"

To be or not to be...that is the question

Should we be like Benedictine monks or not? And just how many people are like Benedictine monks nowadays? We get so caught up in our stuff and ourselves and forget to serve others, pray to God, worship him, and take things a little slower. No, I don't think everyone's called to separate themselves from the outside world, but I think that they had a lot of good principles that we should put into practice today. Essentially, they were following the bible. I thought it was interesting how they ordered the commands. First of all, you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself and then you were to follow the 10 commandments. A lot of these ideas of giving up everything we own and having our freedom taken away from us seems foreign for the most part. Especially considering where we live. But I think that obedience is better than apathy any day.

Connections

My mind draws strange connections sometimes. Like a connection between “The Sound of Music” and Benedictine’s rules. When I first saw the Sound of Music, over 10 years ago, Maria’s explanation for her clothing never really made much sense to me. It wasn’t until reading Benedictine that it did. When Benedictine says to put the clothes in the abbots drawers in case one of the monks leaves for good it is so that anyone who leaves will not take that which belongs to the order nor will he leave naked. It is the same for those living as nuns. The Abbess keeps the clothing of the novices in case any decide that they are not called to Abbey life.
My mind may make strange connections, but a migraine keeps them from being coherent. I apologize.

Tantum e tenebris receptum constabit

~Meghan

PS I commented on Skylar’s post.

Perspective

"You can make of your fortune what you will; for any fortune which seems difficult either tests virtue or corrects and punishes vice" (Boethius p. 99).

This line reminds me of what we thought Lady Philosophy's goal was - changing the perspective of Boethius. She made a startling claim, saying that all the things we face are really good (p. 97). This partially depends on perspective, but it also recognizes that everything has purpose. In the King James Version of the Bible, Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." For believers, this should be our perspective - that our circumstances lead us to what is good.

P.S. I commented on Tinsley Griffin's post.

Open Apology to the Honors Council

To Mallory and the Rest of the Honors Council:

In my "Open Letter to the Honors Council" I publicly wrote some things that were less than charitable. My intent was never to start a fight. In my attempt to rectify the problems, I only aggravated them; in my effort to unite, I only divided; in setting out to correct failure, I failed you all. I meant well, but the intentions do not justify my actions.

I damaged some reputations: my own, yours, and the program's. I posted hastily, not anticipating the consequences. I acted disrespectfully, not considering the possible hurt feelings. I wrote presumptuously, not taking these points privately to the Council before making it a public issue. Intellectual freedom requires intellectual responsibility, and I am taking responsibility for my words.

Council, class, professors: I am sorry. I am willing to accept correction, and perhaps discipline, for the things I've said and the way I went about saying them. I am utterly distraught over my sins.

There are people in the Honors program who want reform, and they went about telling me respectfully. The grace they showed me I did not show in kind to the rest of you. Please do not let my wrong actions cast negative light on their concerns. They only want what is best for the program, as do I.

Pretty Amazed

I really appreciated Tuesday's article about monks. When I think about leaders in Christianity, monks never come to mind. But now that I think of it, monks really are leaders. The example that they have set for others is amazing. They live their life in complete obedience to the Lord. They have given everything that they have up so that their primary focus can be on God. In all honesty, I don't know how I would handle giving up everything that I have. I am a Christian, but I know that I would definitley struggle and complain out of selfish disobedience. I definitley admire these people and applaude them for their dedication. If we would be just half as dedicated as they are, the world would see what true Christianity is.

I commented on Amanda's "Leading By Example"

Separating "American" from "Christian"

I am American, and naturally that says something about my identity beyond simply where I was born.  My nationality is apparent in the way I eat, speak, walk, dress, and interact with others.  Even if I wanted to, I couldn't hide my "American-ness."  But I always thought I knew where it ended. I thought that I could separate out parts of myself and still be left with what makes me essentially me.  Because of several events occurring over the last few weeks, I have come to realize that I couldn't be more wrong.  Even worse, I'm not sure I can separate my Christianity from my American-ness.  

While reading Karl the Great's "Saxon Laws,"I was deeply disturbed.  Sure, the death penalty for those crimes involving murder make sense to me, but death for eating meat during lent and fines for delaying baptism? What about religious fre... oh... wait... that's American.  But this certainly can't be supported scripturally, can it? Except for that whole old testament law thing...  Punishing people for not accepting Christianity feels so un-Christian to me.  And maybe I could argue that some how through scripture, but even if I can, I have to admit, on this one, I confused being a Christian with being an American, and that is unsettling to me.   

On the other hand, This did give me a completely new perspective on the way past cultures must have felt.  They weren't Roman/Greek/Anglo-Saxon because of the way they thought and behaved, they thought and behaved the way they did because they were Roman, etc.  Even if they adopted Christianity and were truly saved, those traditions and mindsets remained.  Moral dilemmas (that do need to be thought out) aside, I was born American, but I became a Christian.  I'm not entirely sure how they are supposed to mix (there will be further study, trust me), but I maybe instead of doing away with my many identities (American, Southern, Daughter, Sister, Aunt, etc) He is repurposing them... The temple isn't being destroyed, just the idols. 

Note: I apologize if this was difficult to follow, but please comment if you have a thought. I am really trying to make sense of this. 

P.S. Commented on Tyler's "A Blast From the Past"