This week I started a new discipline of every day praying the Rosary beads with Protestant prayers. I am both blessed and enriched by the effects of this new discipline, its not that I've discovered prayer, but a new tributary that enriches my communication with God. First it reminds me, bright and early, who I am and who He is, I need that because during the day there are times when I get so full of who I think I am; and I suspect most of us do, its a matter of admitting it. Full not only of how well we might think we are, but full of trying to figure out why things happen to us. And when I am tempted to put self first the often repeated phrase, 'Our Father' rings out reminding me, and then when I'm tempted to give into temptation of any nature the words 'give me' come flooding back into my consciousness, for I have repeatedly asked him to give me daily bread that will strengthen me to do His will and give me courage to resist evil. Its a bit hard to hold grudges, to judge, and to act without grace when I have asked for God's grace in measure to the grace I'm giving others who may offend me or my beliefs. Even though this is the first week of this discipline already the serenity and peace are building up reinforcements that will make this discipline a regular part of my life far into the future; and I am sure my daily perspective is daily experiencing unconscious attitude adjustments. Already in the course of praying specific scriptures the Spirit will bring to mind needs of others, and I will pause-in-place, and speak a prayer for them. This discipline is not becoming routine [as many people claim taking communion every week becomes routine]but is taking on a holy presence. I used to wake up in the morning wondering 'what new needs or old issues are facing me today?' 'who needs my help today, or whose help do I need to seek?' or 'what headlines will be framing today's issues?'...etc. But now the chief concern is 'how long will it take me to get dressed and to the office so I can hold the prayer beads in my hands and begin again praying the scriptures and listening to the Spirit lead me into a holy time?
The other day the Telegraph.co.uk, in an article by Stephen Hough, mentioned that a newly published book about Pope John Paul II mentioned that he regularly flogged himself with a leather belt. Since I am not going to throw any stones, I must agree that there were some concepts expressed by the author of this issue that I tend to agree with, however his concluding statement, 'Either way, I'm sure that Karol Wojtyla doesn't care now. He would be as unconcerned about such new revelations as he would our reaction to them....' caused me to think, the Pope would be distressed that one his personal habits in his relationship with God distracted from people's focus on their own discipline of relating to Christ. If you're interested in the article, though I would advice you to read it without judging is www.blogs.telegrah.co.uk/culture/stephenhough/ ..or simply go to www.drudgereport.com has a great day.
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I need to ponder this some more before venturing to comment, other than to say, our modern protestant worship forms tend to anthropomorphize God into, inter alia, everybody's "buddy." That is, we tend to forget/ignore the supreme majesty, sovereignty and glory of God as Creator and Judge of the Universe. For that reason, I think certain rituals are good to bring us into contemplation of those nature(s) of God so that we can better appreciate the mercy He showed us on the Cross.
ReplyDeleteThat said, (and as I suggested in a comment to a prior post), I also wonder whether seeking out and practicing these rituals diminishes, in part, Christ's sacrifice which destroyed the separation between God and Man.
Cheers.
Sherm
ReplyDeleteI have always been a skeptic of anything that smacked of ritual [probably because of a rebelliousness; loosely defined as independence]; but because of my spiritual formation masters, come to realize that different disciplines work for different people. It is when we seek value in the discipline itself rather than were it is leading us that we get ouselves into trouble. That's my two cents.
It is when we seek value in the discipline itself rather than were it is leading us that we get ouselves into trouble.
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree with that, but the question then becomes, if we focus on the substance of the ritual rather than the form, what then is the substance? If some of the substance is theologically suspect, do we keep it? Eliminate it? Does it taint the whole? Does repetition beyond what is necessary to invoke contemplation of substance detract from the substance?
These are questions which bug me about things like the rosary.
Cheers.
Sherm
ReplyDeleteGood questions. Let me turn the table for a moment and say that I often wonder if we haven't made rituals out of our modes, and styles of worship ... I wonder how many of our worship services Jesus would attend if he still walked the earth among us? Repetition used to be, and probably still should be, a most effective way of educating, at least it was way back in my day, and the value was not in the repetition but reaching the objective being sought. Often times I believe what taints the whole is our abuse of that element, not that element in itself, i.e.communion. I really like your questions for they stir up my own.
thanks for taking the time.
I don't disagree about repetition and learning for things like multiplication tables and verb inflections. And indeed, you are correct re: worship services taking on a ritualistic nature, i.e. 15 minutes of music followed by prayer followed by 10 minutes of special music followed by sermon, invitation, offering, announcements, dismissal. There is comfort in that.
ReplyDeleteMy question though, is whether repeating an "Our Father" or "Hail Mary" (the latter being theologically suspect, in my lifetime protestant married to a former Catholic view) multiple tens of times diminishes both the Lord's Prayer itself, as well as the purpose for a quiet time of contemplation. Stated differently, maybe God would prefer we spend time in his word asking, "What is God saying to me in this passage?"
Cheers, my friend.
I'm not up for a theological discussion right now, my only advice is "Sleepy Head, keep your belt on!" :)
ReplyDeleteSAge
ReplyDeleteWhat belt? Again, I'm missing something here!