The Gospel and God's Politics

In the Midst of the City, the Gospel and God’s Politics

By Barkley Thompson

“As Christians, we must not begin with our secular political beliefs..and then use the Gospel to prop them up. Rather, we must begin with the Gospel and allow the Gospel to shape our politics.”—Barkley Thompson in In the Midst of the City, the Gospel and God’s Politics.

I once was in three book groups reading Barkley Thompson’s second book, In the Midst of the City.

The book’s first section represents a collection of sermons he wrote as dean of Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral in Houston.

Barkley reminds us of Marcus Borg’s story of the two processions in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday entering from opposite gates. Pilate enters as the representative of the Roman power of war, while Jesus enters, symbolizing God’s politics, the power of peace. “For Christians, leaving God’s politics out of the church is not an option. The Gospel, however, is not partisan, and God is neither conservative nor progressive.”

Barkley constantly reminds us of Karl Barth’s mandate to read both the Bible and the newspaper. Interpret the newspaper from the Bible, never the other way around. For example, in the face of the great tragedy of the killing and wounding at the Boston Marathon, the Gospel leads Barkley to remind us to look for the helpers, those who are reaching out to those who have been harmed.

The second section addresses what it means to be a Christian and an American in light of the Gospel. Patriotism differs from nationalism. The patriot gives his heart to the best that patriotism stands for, even in the face of fear and assault by those who have lost an understanding of liberty.

The third section represents essays published on his blog in the Houston Chronicle. They represent his personal discernment process, hoping to see God’s vision for the world. The chapter titles speak for themselves: “I Own Guns, and I Believe in Gun Control,” “Of Orlando and the Virtue of Embrace,” and “On Civil War Monuments.”

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Movie Dates and Prayer

Movie Dates and Prayer Time

“I have a theory that movies operate on the level of dreams, where you dream yourself.”—Meryl Streep.

My granddaughter, Zoe, and I have been having a date for many years on Friday afternoons to watch old movies. I wish we could swim together, stroll in the woods, or walk down some of Little Rock’s beautiful trails, but my physical disability makes that too difficult. However, we can curl up in the king-size bed in our master bedroom, all lights out, each covered by our favorite blankets, while we eat popcorn and watch movies. We have seen almost every musical made. Sometimes, we watch drama, and less often, comedy.

One week, Zoe saw Some Like It Hot for the first time. Recently, we watched Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. I forgot to mention that Zoe spent part of her junior year in Denmark and her summer working in New Orleans. Now that she’s a senior at Tulane, we have fewer movie dates. We usually talk a little about the film after it is over. Sometimes, there is much to discuss; at other times, there is very little. One of my favorites to see with her was Babette’s Feast, a film about food and life.

Zoe is a Greek word for life. This is a photograph of Zoe on her first trip to Greece one summer with friends. Life is what our grandchildren teach us about: life in the present moment.

In the past, I have shared paintings from my favorite art museums with Zoe, and rarely have we read poetry together. But, mainly, there is so much grandparents want to share with their precious grandchildren.

However, it is predominantly about the pleasure of being in our grandchildren’s presence. They connect us to our souls. I have learned to drop everything and be with her whenever she texts about a potential movie date.

For me, this movie date has become an icon of what prayer time may be about. I think there is some built-in homing device through which God and we yearn for each other’s presence. Prayer is occasionally words, but mostly presence. I believe God longs to share God’s experience and amazing world with us, but mostly God longs for our presence, just as there is a conscious and maybe even a stronger unconscious longing in us just to be in God’s presence.

Joanna  https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Spiritual Friends, Listening for God in Each Other

Gerald May: Spiritual Direction, Listening for God in Each Other

“Besides differing from psychotherapy in intent, content, and basic attitude, spiritual direction is generally surrounded by a characteristic atmosphere seldom encountered in any other interpersonal relationship. As one person put it, ‘Being in spiritual direction is like being in prayer, only there’s someone with me in it.’”—Gerald G. May in Care of Mind/Care of Spirit: A Psychiatrist Explores Spiritual Direction (HarperSanFrancisco, 1982), p.113.                

When I took down Dr. May’s book Care of Mind/Care of Spirit from my bookshelf and opened it, a bulletin from September 1990 fell out. It mentioned a book group at my church reading Care of Mind/Care of Spirit. The book had no marks, so I knew I had not read it. This happened over thirty years ago, two months before I went into recovery.

Our book group had read May’s book Addiction and Grace the previous year. For some reason, at that time, I was not ready to hear May’s words. But on this day, it was different. In 1990, we became missionary members from Saint Mark’s Church to start another Episcopal church in a growing part of our city. Alas, May’s book would have been helpful starting a new congregation as I began life in recovery, and even more so nine years later when I was studying to become a deacon. 

This has been one of the best books I have read about spiritual direction. Dr. May emphasizes how spiritual direction differs from his own highly effective psychotherapy. In therapy, the director or caregiver “hopes to encourage more efficient living in the prevailing culture, seeking to bolster an individual’s capacity to achieve a sense of autonomous mastery over self and circumstances.” Spiritual direction “seeks liberation from attachments and a self-giving surrender to the will of God.”

So, at some point, spiritual direction may stand in opposition to many cultural standards and values supported by psychotherapy. May skillfully writes about how a spiritual director constantly seeks rabbit holes or traps that the directee may encounter while simultaneously looking for God in their life. May also reminds us that the real healer is God, and that the director and directee are merely channels.

May cautions spiritual directors about how easy it is to become distorted in our roles, “playing God.” I try to keep this book as close to me as possible while doing the direction. Sometimes, I have to avoid obsessing about what May would say about something that comes up in a meeting. Then, after spending some time together, I hurriedly look up the appropriate chapter. But, of course, May would say that our job is not to worry about what we say at the moment, but to focus solely and “most soulfully” on connecting this person to God during that moment!

Joanna.   https://www.joannaseibert.com/