A question was asked last time we met, about St Paul
inviting the Corinthian Christians to greet one another with a holy kiss. You will find this at the end of I
Corinthians, and again at the end of II Corinthians.[1] Maybe kissing everyone was routine behaviour
in Corinth, whereas back in Jerusalem it might have got you into bother. The question had me looking around the
passage, only to find all sorts of things to wonder about… Listen to how Paul signs off what we call his
second letter:
Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order. Listen to my appeal. Agree with one another. Live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with
you. Greet one another with a holy kiss…
Put things in order… Without knowing specifically what Paul had in
mind, we can ask what it might mean around here for things to be put in
order. Maybe they need to be put in
order anew each day… making some decisions for ourselves about priorities. We call in question the requirements of the troublesome
ego, demanding as it is always to be fed and pampered, and dressed up. As the ego steadily disappears from its
primacy, the true self emerges, the self that was always there, created and
loved by God from the beginning, the self open to God’s Spirit. So to that extent -- which is a large extent
-- things are getting put in order, slowly and steadily, one might think, day
by day.
Listen to my appeal,
writes Paul. He wants them to pay
attention to his teaching as an apostle.
Having or finding a teacher, listening and according respect, has become
a shaky virtue in our culture – in II Timothy the writer describes people: who having itching ears… accumulate for
themselves teachers to suit their own desires and… turn away from listening to
the truth and wander into myths.[2] We now have websites where school pupils can
actually grade their teachers and post sometimes offensive comments about
them. In the ancient world, and even
today in some cultures, the teacher is always accorded a special place of
respect. Jesus, we read in the gospels,
taught with authority. Paul, for all his
human failings, was also a teacher of authority. Christian spiritual growth always needs this
careful virtue of humble and attentive listening.
Agree with one
another… You may have to agree to
differ. What matters is that you
understand why the other person thinks, says, does what they do. This kind of agreement is certainly a fruit
of contemplative prayer and life.
Formerly in Corinth they were at each other’s throats – that is entirely
out of order in the fellowship of Christ.
And so Paul adds: Live in peace…
After all that I still don’t know about the kiss. The Greek says a holy kiss (εν αγιω
φιληματι). Well, I’m a little wary of
those ones too.
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