As you know, I’m undertaking a certificate course in Theology to allow me to continue teaching Relgious Education. I thought I’d share with you my latest reflection from my cluster group meeting:

For my presentation for this week, I decided to take to heart Cardinal Hulme’s comments about spirituality, and consider how I think that I communicate with God. (Hulme, 1997). I also wanted to continue exploring the ideas of spirituality raised in Dorr’s work, especially the part where he speaks about Jesus and inspiration (Dorr, 1996).
I agree with Hulme’s suggestion that the Spiritual Life is for everybody; I think that, even in a world that claims to be profoundly secular and rational, there is still a need that is not fulfilled by secular things; Dorr calls these people ‘searchers’, which I think is an excellent term – they are searching for meaning, and often find it through a variety of different forms of spirituality, including New Age practices and Eastern mythologies. Equally, I think that some forms of organised religion and prayer seem to have lost much of the relevance for these ‘searchers.’ They are not finding meaning in this way, so they look elsewhere.
I believe that, when he suggests that we play and pray, Hulme is challenging us to find ways of merging the spiritual side of our lives with our material sides. In doing this, we must overcome the common practice today of separating religion from the real world; this in turn encourages us to act. Church must become more than a place to visit once a week, and is then dispensed with; instead, it must become a way of life.
This is precisely what I believe Jesus was encouraging us to do. Whatever else he was, Jesus was active in demonstrating His faith. He did not simply sit around; instead he travelled around Jerusalem and its environs. He healed vast numbers of people (Matthew 4:23) and he taught people about their lives (Matthew 7:28). Jesus did not retreat from life or separate his faith from his work (although, as necessary, he did spend time alone to communicate with God(Luke 4:1)); in essence, his faith was his work.

Therefore, surely this is what we must be attempting to do as well, as Christians. If we are to merge the secular with the spiritual (as Hulme does when he plays and prays at the same time) then our lives must, in some sense, become a lived-out prayer; the things we do must, in some way, become an exercise in the deepening understanding of our relationship with God. The Australian Poet, A.D. Hope, wrote something similar to this, in his poem, ‘Australia.’

Yet there are some like me turn gladly home
From the lush jungle of modern thought, to find
The Arabian desert of the human mind,
Hoping, if still from the deserts the prophets come,
This might seem a strange concept, but I think it’s also a very old one; there’s something of homage and thanksgiving to God in this idea that everything we do, we offer up to God. This makes me think of cathedrals being built as symbols of thanksgiving to God, or when rappers collect Grammy awards, the first person they thank is God. So, whether we build things, or care for people or teach children, that becomes a merging of the secular world (our work) and our spiritual world (a demonstration of God’s love for us, and everyone.)
I’m reminded of the verse in Matthew, where Jesus says, ‘For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.’ (Matthew 18:20) Thus, when we gather together for work, as an example, if it is done right, we offer up prayers in God’s name by doing the work. The two are not separate; the work is a form of prayer itself.
I think that some lines from the prayer of Oscar Romero fit well here. He says,

‘We may never see the end results, but that is the difference

between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own’
References:
Dorr, D. (1996) Divine Energy: God Beyond Us, Within Us, Among Us, Liguori Publications.
Hope, A.D. Australia. Accessed at http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/poetry.htm#aus
Hulme, B (1997). Basil in Blunderland, London.
Romero, Oscar A. Prayer, Xaverian Mission Newsletter, accessed at http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:XzOlB7U0bogJ:www.cccm.ca/documents/APrayerbyArchbish

As part of my training in Theology (so I can teach religion at school), I’ve been reading a book by Donal Dorr, called Divine Energy: God within us, beyond us, among us.

I was a little trepidatious before I began reading it; it’s certainly outside my normal genres. At least, so I thought. Imagine my surprise when I found that, during his discussion of the God among us, Dorr quotes the work of Wink, who presents Jesus as a challenger to varied forms of oppression, including the Roman empire and the regime of the scribes and pharisees of Jewish law!

In particular, Dorr argues that Jesus argues for a form of liberation theology in two areas: firstly, by refusing to surrender his human dignity, and secondly by providing his followers with an example of non-violent resistance.

Dorr suggests that when Jesus tells his followers that, when someone takes their shirt, they should give them the rest of their clothes as well, he is not suggesting a passive acceptance of oppression, but rather an opportunity to shame the oppressor; in this case, by standing naked before him. This argument is strengthened by other points, including  who Jesus chose to associate with – the marginalised elements of society. By associating with the poor, the weak and the sick, Jesus is demonstrating solidarity with these people.

Interesting stuff…