Remaining Present In This Moment

Quite a few years ago, I had facilitated a bible study at Spiritus, and a woman who had been part of it asked to speak to me after. She said that she did not care for my “style” of bible study and said that I was a “pick and choose” catholic. She went on to say (and I’m paraphrasing but only slightly) that “scripture is not something that YOU get to decide what it means. God decides what it means.”

While I listened to her and tried to take in her words, I did not share her opinion and I believe that we need to approach our scriptural tradition with some scrutiny. Much of it was written in a different time and cultural context and sometimes even with a specific purpose in mind that does not necessarily speak to the moment we are currently in or the consciousness and awareness we now bring.

Today’s first reading from 1 John 2 fits into that category for me. In it John tells his audience, “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of God is not in [them]. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from God but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.”

Sheesh!

Clearly the community that John was writing to was struggling with sex and sexuality. I mean look at the examples he uses to describe “the world” – “sensual lust, enticement for the eyes and a pretentious life.” That’s all that John thinks the world offers us? And does John really think that if anyone “loves the world” God can’t be in them? 

Of course we know that “the world” is not just a problematic place or a temptation for the flesh. The world is amazing. Our bodies are amazing. Pleasure is amazing. And far too often, many of our Christian scriptures set up a false binary between the “world” and the “spiritual life” – as if we can’t somehow fully live in the world and live in our bodies with all of their senses and pleasures AND still be spiritual.

But John is making an important point here.

My friend, Tommy Airey, writes theological reflections on substack and in his latest entry he cites his friend Dr. Nick Peterson who offers a reflection on Western culture which, according to Dr. Gabor Mate,  “floods us with work pressures, multitasking, social media, news updates, multiplicities of entertainment sources, frantic activities, gadgets and meaningless conversations that exploit and reinforce our trauma..” Furthermore Mate says that, “We are caught up in pursuits of all kinds that draw us in, not because they are necessary or inspiring or uplifting, or because they enrich or add meaning to our lives, but simply because they obliterate the present.”

What I think our first reading from John is speaking to is more closely aligned with Mate’s caution that “the world” constantly offers “pursuits of all kinds” that “draw us in, not because they are necessary or inspiring or uplifting” but because they “obliterate the present.”

It’s the things of this world that often take us away from being present to ourselves, each other and this moment. This is problematic to the spiritual life. And, as many say, this is at the heart of so many of our addictive and dysfunctional behaviors. They try to help us escape the present.

That’s why someone like the prophetess Anna in our second reading from Luke 2 is an important person to follow up the first reading. Anna, we’re told, lost her husband after only 7 years together and then lived alone for a long time. It must have rocked her world and devastated her to lose her husband. Like many of us who have suffered difficult losses, feeling her feelings and being present to the hard-ness of her life was probably the LAST thing she wanted to feel. She – not unlike so many of us – probably wanted some form of distraction or anything that would “obliterate” the hardship, pain, anxiety or uncertainty she faced. 

Can you relate to that?

But Anna must have done some form of healing work, because by the time we catch up with her in our story, she has devoted herself to “daily” practices of prayer and fasting in the temple. As a result, she is “present” – both literally and and metaphorically – when Jesus and his family arrive in the temple, and she is awake enough to recognize them.

Anna has not let “the world” dull her, distract her or numb her. She is able to be present when God shows up in a special way. Her daily practices of prayer and fasting make it such that she lives in the world but her ability to be present is not obliterated by it.

As we read the scriptures, I think we can make (at least) 2 significant errors. First we could read them as out of touch and irrelevant stories from a bygone era that have nothing to do with our world now. We might view them as mired in patriarchy (or many other -isms) that have no place in today’s context. Yet if we do this, I think we miss deep truths that are contained within them.

At the same time, if we try to read them literally or without any kind of social context, historical interpretation and contemporary application, my guess is that they will become some stiff, ritualistic texts that we do not seriously consult for the questions of our lives.

Today’s scriptures offer us the challenges of both reinterpreting the texts for this present moment as well as holding onto the deep truths within.

As we go forward with our week, may we, too, engage disciplines that help us to remain present as we both live fully in this world AND remain ever watchful for God’s appearance when we least expect it. The disciples of prayer and fasting are offered as just 2 possible ways that we might do this.

And may we, like Anna the prophetess, work to address whatever harm has come our way and face it as fully as we can, so that we do not miss out on what continues to emerge in our lives.

I know that this is aspirational, and I also know that it is possible.

Note: As many of you know (and were present for), we celebrated Fr. Jim’s Celebration of Life this past weekend. And what a sendoff it was! I could not help but think of Fr. Jim’s life when I read the last line from today’s first reading, “But whoever does the will of God remains forever.” Fr. Jim clearly did the will of God in his life, and we are all the blessed beneficiaries of his saying, “yes,” over and over again. As we are reminded today, that kind of living does not pass. It remains forever! May we also live in such a way!

Note #2: Every year in my post-Christmas reflection, I offer the enduring words of Howard Thurman who invites/challenges us to keep the Christmas spirit alive – even as the season ends…

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.