I am not sure that a protestant
should be pointing this out, but the current Pope does seem (in some respects)
to be living liminally, moving at times away from the inside towards the edge. His latest thoughts on same-sex civil unions
is a case in point. So in response we
have multiple priests and prelates protesting in high indignation from the
inside of the inside, and at least one archbishop urging us to pray for the
soul of Pope Francis. I think his soul
is OK… what interests me yet again is the principle, that the more we distance
from the inside, the more clearly we are able to see and know and love Jesus
and his teachings in their simplicity. In
the apocryphal Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the risen Jesus tells his disciples… find
contentment at the level of the heart… And he adds: Beyond what I have already given you, do
not lay down any further rules nor issue laws as the Lawgiver, lest you be
dominated by them.[1]
It reminds me of St Paul, writing
to the Galatian church in exasperation – they had been turning back from the simplicity
of the Way of Christ, to the familiar rules and forms of Judaism, to authority,
to making barriers and building walls, defining truth, deciding who is in and
who is out… and Paul writes: O you
foolish Galatians! Who bewitched
you? …Now that faith has come, we are no
longer subject to a disciplinarian… you have clothed yourselves with
Christ. There is no longer Jew nor
Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female –
all are one in Christ Jesus.[2] And that, it seems to me, is more or less
what Pope Francis and others are seeing and saying from where they are. It is the view from the edge of the inside
that moved the Desert Fathers and Mothers after Constantine made the church and
the faith official. I think of the
Beguines, women, mostly in Belgium and the Netherlands, from the late Middle
Ages until today, who distanced themselves from clericalism and patriarchy,
much to the consternation of the bishops, in order to live in community simply,
freely, and in service to others, in response to Jesus. Or the Quakers, the quiet folk who call
themselves the Society of Friends – they date from the 17th century,
and in simple response to Jesus they make a sacrament of silence, they renounce
violence, and their doors are open to anyone of good faith... Christlike
characteristics, you might say.
You may be puzzled – you may want
to come to the defence of the church – and I certainly understand that. There have always been plenty of good and
saintly people in the church, I know.
The distribution of grace and goodness is always a surprise. But around Jesus there is a strange force
that points us away from certainty and comfort, to where the wind is blowing
somewhat, and new things appear. One day
he does not seem to be present at the altar rail, so much as waiting and
speaking, perhaps in silence and stillness, far away from there. And that, I would think, is the point of
contemplative life and prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment