Grace and Christian Living

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.”  (Matthew 7:15-16)

By Louis F. Kavar

Belief is a critical matter.  At heart, what one believes directs the person’s thoughts, words, and actions.  Not only is this a Biblical principle – “From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) – but the understanding of the role our beliefs play in our life is a guiding principle in cognitive psychology.

As people of the Christian faith, we share a critical belief in grace.  The word for “grace” in Greek, charis, simply translates as a gift.  True gifts are given freely, not out of reciprocity and not just because of the occasion.  When one gives to another, it is given without strings attached and meant to bring the other some positive benefit.  As Christians, we believe that life itself is such a gift.  Life is a gift in which God gives the Divine Self to us in many forms:  the breath with animated the first person in Genesis; the gift of life in the person of Jesus; and the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Pentecost event – a gift which keeps on giving.  As the writer of the first letter of John stated so long ago, “It not that we loved God but that God loved us first …” (1 John 4:19). Because we were first loved with such a great love, the gift of life was given to us with no strings attached.  Yet, because we received such a great gift, we are invited to give as we have received:  generously and without strings attached.

The testament of scripture and the tradition of the unified Christian church is that this belief in grace undergirds the other tenants of our faith in a foundational way. A theology of grace is the basis for an understanding of salvation, the sacraments, and the nature of the church itself.  Yet, as I consider Christianity in America today, I can only conclude that we have lost our faith in grace.  My conclusion is based on my assessment of the fruits of graced living in most churches and by visible leaders of the Christian faith.  It seems that most Christians are very fond of grace when it concerns their own personal salvation.  But when it comes to living by grace, the free gift goes out the window.  Instead of living lives marked by grace, American Christians seem to believe what matters most are works and merit.  I suspect that what American Christians fundamentally believe the adage of Benjamin Franklin:  “God helps those who help themselves.”

What’s my basis for this analysis?  Attending to the words of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel, I’ve paid close attention to the fruit of Christian living.  In a country where the predominant religion is Christianity, I encounter a scandalous number of people living in poverty, on the streets of our cities, in sewer tunnels and abandoned building, or in shacks in rural areas.  In a country of plenty, children go to bed hungry night after night.  A Harvard study estimates that more than 45,000 people die in the U.S. each year because of a lack of healthcare.  In the midst of social problems, I ask, “Where is grace to be found?”  Each weekend, I see dozens of Christians protesting in front of Planned Parenthood.  In the Mid West, the most common bumper sticker I see has a “pro-life” message.  But where’s the concern about the impoverished education of our children, the rapid increase of obesity among our children due to poor nutrition and lack of exercise, and unaddressed environmental hazards? Could it be that the predominant focus on the unborn while simultaneously casting aside the real needs of the children is a form of what Bonheoffer called cheap grace? After all, putting a bumper sticker on a car is easy but sacrificing to build better systems to support the lives of our children is much more difficult.

Lives of grace are not lives based on the judgment of others.  Nor do people who live by grace expect others to make it on their own.  Instead, because we have received God’s unconditional gift, we are, in turn, to give as freely as we have received.  Lives transformed by the Spirit of God reflect grace.  This is the generosity which the writer of Luke’s gospel described as “pressed down, shaken together, and running out all over” (Luke 6:38).

As Jesus clearly stated in Matthew’s gospel, “By their fruits you will know them.”  Jesus challenges us to be sure that the fruit of our lives is known for the sweetness of graceful generosity toward others.   Perhaps one day we, as a Christian people, will allow ourselves to be rooted in grace and so transform the world with generous hearts.  Such generosity is the way of Jesus, who poured out his life so that others could fully live.

© Louis Kavar, 2009. Louis F. Kavar, Ph.D., is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.  A professional psychologist, Dr. Kavar writes about spirituality and personal growth.  He lives in St. Louis.

Revitalizing Community through Coffee and Art

By Michael Barrick

HICKORY, N.C. – Stained glass artisan John Falcone and entrepreneurs D.W. Bentley and Edgar Hernandez have joined forces to continue what each of them has done all of their professional lives – sustain and promote the arts, in particular in this historic town at the base of the Blue Ridge escarpment, just beginning to recover from the loss of furniture and textiles, which for a century had sustained it.

Falcone is owner of Aquarius Stained Glass Works. He’s been a fixture in downtown, working alone in his own shop, since 1991. Recently, though, he moved in to Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse Gallery, owned by Bentley and Hernandez. Located at 29 2nd St. NW, the coffeehouse is home to regular poetry readings and exhibits by a variety of artisans, including painters, potters and photographers.

Indeed, supporting and promoting the arts has been a passion of Bentley and Hernandez since they opened their first location across the street. They’ve maintained their commitment to sustaining the arts through the economic downturn, and were looking for somebody that would be a good fit to utilize space available in the back of their shop. Meanwhile, Falcone found himself looking for new digs, and Bentley and Hernandez enthusiastically invited him to share space with them.

Equally excited, Falcone accepted and is now spread out across tables and workbenches in the back of the store. And just as he has done for roughly 30 years for customers in all 50 states and five countries, he does his work all by hand. “There is no other way to do it,” explained Falcone. “Nobody has come up with a mechanical means to cutting and fitting.”

As his website attests, his art is about “Bringing Life to Light.” During this visit to his workplace, he had sections of stained glass that were being fitted together for a client’s front door. On one of his workbenches were examples of small glass awards for another of his clients, the YMCA. In addition, Falcone has designed a line of original awards that can be personalized and customized for any particular occasion and organization.

He has also developed a line of crosses which offer individuals and churches unique pieces of art that reflect their faith. Indeed, he has designed and made stained glass windows for churches, though he is probably best known for his brilliant custom pieces commissioned and designed exclusively for individual clients. Permanent windows, removable panels, lampshades, and smaller ornamental pieces are some of his most requested work. He challenges potential clients, saying, “Envision virtually any form glass can assume.” With about 1,800 glass types, Falcone can convert simple glass and metal into skylights, transoms, cabinet doors and even accomplish restorations.

The nature of the work, though, requires a suitable work environment, which Falcone was losing as a result of the decision by the owner of the building he was in to quit leasing space. Meanwhile, Bentley and Hernandez were looking for the “right fit” with whom to share their coffeehouse gallery. Falcone was the logical – perhaps only – choice. “It just kind of happened,” explained Bentley. “He came and asked if we knew about a place where he could move. We have been looking for two years to have someone in the back. We love his art. He is well-known, so we knew he would bring in foot traffic. He has a studio. We wanted something like that.” And, he added, “He’s a coffee drinker!”

As Hernandez points out, though, Falcone is just the latest addition to a robust artisan’s community supported by Taste Full Beans. While the store’s usual hours are 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, the coffeehouse gallery will open in the evenings for special occasions and offers monthly poetry readings, on the second Tuesday of every month from 6:30 to 8:30 in the evening. “There’s all type of poetry,” shared Hernandez. Offering it was as natural as having Falcone move in, he added. “Our customer base is an artsy crowd.” Indeed, a regular customer, Scott Owens, who is a poet and teaches at a local community college, facilitates the monthly poetry readings. “We were pleased to be able to offer it outside of our normal business hours. It is important for the performing and literary arts,” shared Hernandez.

They also occasionally host acoustic musicians and also have seven exhibits a year, in which about a half-dozen artisans display their work. And, they have an annual fundraiser for area non-profits. A silent art auction every February, the “Aroma of Art” provides funds for the Women’s Resource Center, ALFA and the Humane Society of Catawba County. This past year’s auction raised approximately $8,000 for those organizations through the efforts and donations of 130 regional artists.

For Bentley and Hernandez, supporting the arts is not only a passion, it seemed inevitable. “This used to be a gallery,” shared Hernandez. “When we moved here, we started getting involved with artists. The lighting, the walls, it was meant to be an art gallery. So when we moved over here that’s when we really got to connect with the artists. We became known as the coffee shop with art. We just got really involved in the arts community. Many of our customers are artists. Most are showing somewhere else. We help them and they help us. It’s a little business and a little personal.” He added, “It’s important to us because we know the artists. There are a lot of artists in Hickory who are hesitant to show their art. We say, ‘Come on.’ These are our friends and community. We wouldn’t be here without them. It’s the least we could do.”

With a nod to the tradition that helped establish and maintain this Catawba Valley town, they have a second location at the Hickory Furniture Mart. They’ve been there about a year and also exhibit art there along with their specialty coffees. While they are thrilled with the opportunity to expand, Hernandez is hard-pressed to contain his enthusiasm for the downtown location because of their desire to see it – with its sprawling square and mix of established and new businesses – revitalized. “We wanted John here because our focus is on helping each other. That tells you what kind of businesses we both have. People want to stay downtown and want downtown to survive. It’s a great partnership.”

For Falcone, 60, the partnership is perfectly timed, for he loves his craft and is far from ready to retire from it. “There’s nothing to take its place. It provides a special purpose for those who appreciate it. It’s basically a craft that’s almost 1,500 years old. It has changed very little. Everything is done by hand, from the drawing to cutting the patterns to cutting the glass to shaping it, putting in the lead, to fitting it, weatherproofing, and puttying. None of it can be done by machine. It is very gratifying. It’s a part of me.”

Now, it will be part of a larger art community, but joined by small tables, hot coffee and an eclectic offering of exhibits.

© The Barrick Report, 2009.

Click here to learn more about John Falcone.

Click here to learn more about Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse Gallery

A QUESTION OF GUILT

By Adrian Rice

I have become a pillar of darkness.
And all those who didn’t…
Who haven’t…who wouldn’t…who couldn’t…
Who can’t possibly imagine how I…
Holiday in the shade of my sin.
There they disport themselves –

Sure they can’t be seen –
Like Pharisaical peacocks:
Strutting, preening, posing,
Pontificating to their heart’s content.
And doing other things of which
I will not speak. Once, like them,

I would peer into the evening mirror,
Summoning up a few words and deeds
To somehow rig a manageable conscience
And a good night’s sleep.
And once, I too was
Something of a sin-surgeon,

Extracting the baneful splinter
From the brazen eye. But now,
As a breaker of that which was unbroken,
I acknowledge the ugly plank –
The beam on which they see-saw
With their buoyant, sacred hearts.

‘Justification by Faith? By Filth!’
So runs their festal chorus;
Mea culpa – one again – I suppose,
Since there remain these unsurrendering sounds
Oozing from the pool of self,
Bubbling up and babbling out

From that dismal source.
Still, one must go on – survive –
At least for certain others.
And to those who bask in my sin’s shade,
I ask in deference to their apparent light:
Isn’t it better to love than to be right?

From The Mason’s Tongue
© Adrian Rice, 1999. Published by Abbey Press

About Adrian Rice
Adrian Rice was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1958. His poems first appeared in Muck Island, a collaboration with leading Irish artist, Ross Wilson. Copies of this box set are housed in the collections of The Tate Gallery and The Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His first full poetry collection – The Mason’s Tongue – was short-listed for the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Literary Prize, nominated for the Irish Times Prize for Poetry, and translated into Hungarian by Dr. Thomas Kabdebo. Selections of his work have recently appeared in The Ulster Anthology (Ed., Patricia Craig, Blackstaff Press) and Magnetic North: The Emerging Poets (Ed., John Brown, Lagan Press). A new limited edition book of poems and images, Moongate – also in collaboration with artist Ross Wilson – is forthcoming. He now lives in Hickory, N.C. with his wife Molly, where he writes and teaches.

You can read an article about Adrian in Outlook, a weekly publication of the Observer-News-Enterprise in Newton, N.C.

How Moral is the Economic Road to Recovery?

By Alan Eddington

A recent headline caught my attention: “Consumers Cut Borrowing by Record Amount.”  My immediate reaction was one of happiness, and somehow thought that this would be the tone of the article as well.  To my chagrin, as I read the article, I discovered that this was being looked upon as pessimistic news by economists and the financial world.

I suppose I am revealing my age, or at least the generation that I grew up in, when I say that I look upon credit as an economic resource to be held in reserve and used only in exceptional circumstances.  Or, to say it another way, buying “on credit” is the exception, not the rule.  When I look at the buying habits of the nation however, from individuals all the way up to the Federal government, I see buying on credit as the rule.  This article only seems to confirm my observation.  The premise of the article is that if our nation is to get back to economic “good times,” then the nation is going to have to return to spending beyond their means by routinely buying on credit once again.

Last year, when the financial house of cards began collapsing and the biggest banks were in jeopardy of failing, the Federal government infused billions of dollars into these financial institutions with the justification that they were “too big to fail.”  With our nation’s spending habit of routinely buying on credit, it is small wonder that the banks are too big to fail.  It is not unusual for credit card holders to be paying in the general range of 20 percent interest on their debt.  This means that for every $100 of indebtedness, the credit card user is paying a bank an additional $20.  With consumer credit currently running at around $2.47 trillion, the amount of consumer credit card interest swelling the coffers of the financial institutions is staggering!

What I find particularly frightening by all of this is the amount of control now in the hands of a few financial entities over the vast majority of the citizenry.  Again looking at the huge amounts of bail-out money that the Federal government had to infuse into these financial institutions, it appears that even the Federal government has lost its control over the finances of our country.  What I find even more frightening is that just one country, the Peoples Republic of China, holds almost 25 percent of the three trillion dollar U.S. public debt, or about 740 billion dollars.  Are we really a ‘sovereign nation’ when another nation holds so much financial clout over us?

All of this leads me back to the title of this article: How moral is the economic road to recovery?  I strongly believe that the answer to this question has to be based on the answer to a more fundamental question: How moral is the use of my own income?  When it comes to being financially responsible for family and for self, I see a moral imperative in not spending beyond my means. This includes not buying on credit when not absolutely necessary.  I also see that this moral imperative now extends beyond home and family.  Our collective financial immorality has succeeded in letting a few financial institutions now control just about every political decision that is made in our nation.

Yes, it is true, painfully true, that this recession has caused severe hurt and profound pain in many lives.  Can we not, however, use this event in a manner similar to the “desert experiences” that we find in the Scriptures, particularly the times that Jesus himself withdrew to the desert to fast and pray?  I submit that as a nation, this recession has brought us into a time of penance.  What a blessing it would be for us individually and nationally if we could come out of this desert time of fasting and penance with a spirit of atonement and metanoia, with truly changed financial hearts!

© The Barrick Report, 2009. Alan Eddington is a retired parish priest writing from his home in Southern Illinois. Direct comments to him to mbarrick@charter.net

SORROW-SONGS

In memory of
William Montgomery (1906-1992)

By Adrian Rice

1. THE GRIEVING GROUND

Reaching the why and wherefore of the racket –
A blackbird lying by the garden gate
And her mate protesting from branch to branch –
I sensed something, turned and glanced
And caught him staring from his kitchen window.
I didn’t mouth a word or make a sign,
But I knew he knew what was wrong.
He struggled round, put on a scary show,
But failed to stop the sorrow-song
Or force the living from the grieving ground.
I shyly watched him shoo at grief,
Remembering the loss of his own wife,
And realised Death, the homeless thief,
Had broken in, squatted and wouldn’t leave.

2. THE BOOK OF LIFE

He loved that moment when family members,
Long lost friends or cherished lovers,
Forgot themselves in their rush to embrace.
For him it was a foretaste of Heaven’s grace.
He would hide his teary eyes by sleight-of-hand,
By channel changing and manly banter
Or by slipping to the scullery to make us supper.
He would reappear with china teacups in each hand
And create a fuss deciding which was which.
Settled, he would swear that This Is Your Life was kitsch.
Now everything has turned titanic since his death.
As I soak, foam-ruffled, in the tepid water,
Even the BE SURE deodorant bottle
Lies like a toppled king upon the shelf.

3. THE CHANGEFUL TAP

The water would suddenly thin to a trickle,
Some summer evening while filling the kettle –
It took an eternity just to make tea.
And I’d know with an absolute certainty
He’d made his way back to the garden
To toddle around the immaculate rows,
To sprinkle the heads of infant flowers
From the font of his watering can.
It was such chores that kept him happy.
Still, I’d secretly curse our shared supply
And covet the moment when I’d have control.
But nowadays reaching to turn on the tap,
I sometimes fall for the futile hope
The running water might suddenly slow.

From The Mason’s Tongue
© Adrian Rice, 1999. Published by Abbey Press

About Adrian Rice
Adrian Rice was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1958. His poems first appeared in Muck Island, a collaboration with leading Irish artist, Ross Wilson. Copies of this box set are housed in the collections of The Tate Gallery and The Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His first full poetry collection – The Mason’s Tongue – was short-listed for the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Literary Prize, nominated for the Irish Times Prize for Poetry, and translated into Hungarian by Dr. Thomas Kabdebo. Selections of his work have recently appeared in The Ulster Anthology (Ed., Patricia Craig, Blackstaff Press) and Magnetic North: The Emerging Poets (Ed., John Brown, Lagan Press). A new limited edition book of poems and images, Moongate – also in collaboration with artist Ross Wilson – is forthcoming. He now lives in Hickory, N.C. with his wife Molly, where he writes and teaches.

You can read an article about Adrian in Outlook, a weekly publication of the Observer-News-Enterprise in Newton, N.C.

The Cure for Mediocrity

By Michael Barrick

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).

In the second line of his song, “Elijah,” the late Rich Mullins wrote, “My heart is aging I can tell.”  I share the sentiment. The passing of loved ones, including my mom more than a year ago, the birth of our first grandchild four months ago, visits that pass much too quickly with old friends, and a head overrun with grey hair all make me acutely aware of how quickly my time on earth is passing. Yet, As John Denver wrote in “Poems, Prayers and Promises,” it turns me on to think of growing old. I don’t take for granted that I will, but just in case I do, it is my prayer that I will help be a cure for the momentum of mediocrity that has come to dominate and guide our culture.

I really have no choice. It is how I was raised. From my earliest memories, my parents as well as the priests and nuns who taught me ingrained in me a belief that I could never accept anything but the best of myself – because that is what God expects. I know my heart is aging, for as I go through each day I find myself wondering how we arrived at this point where mediocrity has become the norm. Some days, I even despair.

As a Christian, I know I should not despair. Yet, I find myself sounding very much like long-gone elders who reminisced about the “good old days.” I’m not naïve. I know that the days in which I came of age – the 1960’s and early 1970’s – were anything but good. The assassinations of President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights struggles, the Vietnam War, and Watergate were traumatic for our nation and changed the course of history in ways we’ll never know.

Yet, what I miss is that as these events occurred, journalists did their job – they reported the facts. Today, the airwaves are filled almost exclusively with talking heads screaming at one another and calling us to incivility. Workers in the hospitality industries are indifferent to those they get paid to serve. Bureaucracy – in government and industry – set up roadblocks to accomplishment. Greed on Wall Street and self-serving attitudes in Washington have brought our nation’s foundational institutions to the brink of collapse. Our educational system has lost its focus, believing that end-of-grade testing measures the sum of knowledge and wisdom, though the current generation is largely ignorant of culture and the arts, other languages, the essential value of community and the historical roots and teaching of our faith.

The current generation is owed more than despair, though. We are obligated to not complain, but to offer hope – the hope evident in Jesus and His expectations of us. As the Apostle Peter wrote, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). If we will heed this counsel, we can do our part to cure the momentum of mediocrity. This single passage alludes to several solutions – preparation, keeping our minds sharp, act when we are in a position to do so, take serious our opportunities, and accept the grace of Jesus which we will personally experience soon – when our hearts grow so old that they fail us.

Peter also wrote, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). Our response to this grace, according to the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, will lead us to understand that, “As Christian stewards, we receive God’s gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord” (p. 450). Such a response leaves no room for despair – only excellence. This, then, is our cure to the momentum of mediocrity from which we suffer. Those of us whose hearts are growing old owe it to our children and grandchildren to impart the lessons that we were entrusted with when our hearts were young and idealistic. Only then will we be part of the cure.

© The Barrick Report, 2009.

Healthcare Reform: What Would Jesus Do?

“There was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse” (Mark 5: 25-26).

By Dr. Louis Kavar

Their web site describes their mission.  They “provide free medical care to people in remote areas around the world…” They’ve sponsored expeditions with doctors, dentists, nurses and other health care professionals to provide care in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, East Africa, India, Nepal and many other countries – serving those with no other option for health care.  In Guyana, they have established a permanent base of operations.  Remote Area Medical has pioneered no cost medical care, touching the lives of people who have no hope for other treatment.

While it is understandable that Remote Area Medical provides free health care to people in under-developed, impoverished countries, Americans should be scandalized to know that Remote Area Medical has a year round schedule to provide care to people in the United States.  Yes, in the richest country in the world, in the country which brags of having the “best” healthcare in the world, American citizens line up and wait for free medical care because they have no other option.

From August 11 to 18, 2009, Remote Area Medical held clinic hours in the “remote” area of Los Angeles County.  People slept in the streets overnight, lining up for health care services which they longed to receive for years.  Various newspaper and TV reports recounted stories of people waiting in line to receive treatment from chronic and severe conditions.  One woman stated that if her child did not receive eye glasses from Remote Area Medical, the child would have had none.

While people waited in the streets of Inglewood, Calif. for medical care, vocal, angry, and hate-filled debates ensued in other parts of the United States over health care reform.  A public health care option for those in need was labeled as socialism, communism, and Nazism – often by the same commentators.

“She came up behind Jesus and touched his cloak, saying to herself, ‘If I only touch his clothes, I will be made well.’  Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease” (Mark 5:2-29).

Like the woman two millennia ago, people are pushing through crowds hoping to find help and healing for serious medical conditions.  While Jesus was a willing conduit for this woman’s healing, many of the followers of Jesus today actively work to block access of those in need to health care.  What’s even more scandalous is that many of these same people insist that America was founded as a “Christian nation” yet they vigorously oppose helping those in need through a public option for health care.

The government funded public healthcare option does nothing more than provide a competitive option to for-profit healthcare insurance.  It is not socialized medicine.  It would merely be one option people could choose for health insurance.  Further, the U.S. government has been in the business of healthcare for generations.  The largest healthcare provider in the United States is the Veterans Administration.  Further, government funded programs provide consistent resources for seniors (Medicare), the economically disadvantages (Medicaid), and to other specific populations through federal and state funded programs.  Such a program is not substantively different from the federal government providing flood insurance because for-profit companies do not provide such coverage or the state of Florida providing homeowners insurance because the cost of such coverage from private companies has grown too expensive.

In the midst of this scandalous health care debate marked by demonstrations of fear, anger, and hysteria, the bumper-sticker theological question of the 1990’s comes to mind:  What would Jesus do?  Jesus acknowledged the woman’s need – and her touch.  She was healed.  Jesus would open avenues for health, healing and wholeness.  Jesus would work to assure that those without care, without advocates, without hope would be treated with dignity.

© Louis Kavar, 2009. Louis F. Kavar, Ph.D., is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.  A professional psychologist, Dr. Kavar writes about spirituality and personal growth.  He lives in St. Louis.

Spirituality: Something New?

By Dr. Louis Kavar

A recent news item from the AP news service caught my attention:  a Ph.D. program would focus on Christian spirituality.  That was puzzling to me.  After all, there have been graduate programs in spirituality for decades.  I graduated from one in the 1970’s.  At that time, the few that existed were in Catholic universities.  Since then, programs have been developed at universities and seminaries in many mainline denominations, including Presbyterian, Lutheran, and U.C.C. related institutions.  I suppose what made this new program newsworthy is that it is a doctorate at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

I consider it unfortunate that the serious study of spirituality has been viewed with suspicion by many Christians.  Somehow, spirituality has been mistakenly been identified with spiritualism or with non-Christians beliefs and practices.  That would be like saying that faith is not Christian.  Clearly, the act of believing may be an affirmation of the message of Jesus or one may have great faith as a Jew or Buddhist.  Christians have faith and so do other faithful people.  In the same way, Christians have spirituality and so do other “spiritual people.”

Central to an understanding of Christian belief and practice is an affirmation of a relationship with Jesus as the Christ.  It is the covenant relationship between the believer and the God revealed by Jesus that is the foundation of the experience of “being saved” and of Christian theologies of baptism.  As important as that covenant relationship is in the life of the Christian, the life of the Christian doesn’t end with that one experience.

The focus of Christian spirituality is the actual day-to-day living of our faith as Christians.  There have been many names for living one’s faith each day as a Christian like “discipleship” or just simply “Christian living.”  The term, spirituality, places a different focus on living as a Christian than does a term like discipleship.  Discipleship’s focus is the process of following.  Spirituality is a dynamic term that draws our attention to both the Holy Spirit and the human spirit.  Christian spirituality is the transformation of our lives by the Holy Spirit on a day-to-day basis.

As important as it is to enter a covenant relationship with God, that’s just the first step in living as a Christian.  The lifelong process of becoming more Christ-like, of allowing the action of the Holy Spirit to permeate of lives, to allow the image of Christ to shine through us – that’s spirituality.  As James wrote, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20).   Christian spirituality is focused on living faithfully to the covenant we enter with God symbolized in baptism.

In the end, it’s really not news that a Southern Baptist seminary is offering a doctorate in Christian spirituality.  After all, spirituality is just a different word for something Southern Baptists and other Christians have always valued:  living by faith.  What we call it isn’t important.  What’s vital is that our faith is made real in our day-to-day lives.

© Louis Kavar, 2009. Louis F. Kavar, Ph.D., is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.  A professional psychologist, Dr. Kavar writes about spirituality and personal growth.  He lives in St. Louis.

How to Stop the Incivility

By Michael Barrick

The incivility on display of late in response to the healthcare debate is unsettling because of what it says about the level of discourse in our nation. More disturbing is that it seems that the church has remained largely quiet about the behavior that is increasingly dividing our nation. It’s voice must be heard, for such behavior can not be reconciled with the scriptural admonition, “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18a).

When attending Mass recently, I was drawn immediately to the solution offered by the second reading, which was from Ephesians. Here, we read, “Brothers and sisters: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma” (Ephesians 4:30 – 5:2 NAB).

To begin turning around the debate, to soften the hardened hearts, church leaders and laity need simply to heed this admonition from the letter of St. Paul. We must put away all bitterness, fury, anger and shouting. Those of us who claim the name of Christ, whether we speak from the pulpit or sit in the pews, must offer this as the only example by which we are to conduct ourselves.

This does not mean that the debate will end; it shouldn’t. Does it mean the shouting – not only in town hall meetings but also on the news networks – will end? I don’t know. But a vast majority of Americans claim to be Christians. If all will do as we’re commanded, we should see an immediate and significant shift in the tone of these debates.

That would be good for our country. It would be even better for the Church and those to whom we are called to proclaim the Good News.

© The Barrick Report, 2009.

Living what we Believe

By Dr. Louis Kavar

What are the three most important things that you believe?  That’s a question I sometimes ask the church groups I work with on spiritual development.  Usually, there are some quick answers about Jesus or moral issues.  Not to say that these things aren’t important, but I discount the quick answers which too often sound as though they are meant to be “the right” answer.  I push further:  what three beliefs really shape the way you live?  If someone observed you for a period of time, what would be concluded about your faith?

Reciting creeds, professions of faith, or stating views of moral issues is really very easy.  Even when a person truly believes something about faith, it remains external to the person.  What’s more challenging is to consider what it means for us to live by faith and to examine the faith we truly live.

There are aspects of faith which I consider very relevant and profound which shape my life.  Most critical of them is a tenant of faith from the first chapter of the first book of the Bible: “In the divine image God created them” (Genesis 1:27).  I view this text as the basis for the Judeo-Christian tradition as well as my most important belief.  Beyond all us, and whatever else we may be, we are first and foremost the image of God.

Believing that I am the image of God transforms my understanding of myself.  While most people find it easy to become absorbed in their own limitations and failings, affirming my faith as a reflection of God focuses me not on my short-comings but on my potential to live in a godly way.  Among other things, rather than abusing my body with too much work, a poor diet, a lack of proper exercise, I am challenged to live faithfully by reverencing my body and caring for it.  Rather than allowing myself to hold in resentment, anger, or ill-will, I am called to live a life of forgiveness and compassion.  Rather than striving for things beyond my ability, I am invited to rest in the quiet assurance that, by grace, all that I need has already been provided.

Believing that I am the image of God transforms my understanding of others as well.  No more can I treat others as less than myself because they too are reflections of God.  Any prejudice, judgmentalism, or impatience with others is incompatible with the belief that we are created in God’s image and likeness.  Instead, the face of God in my neighbor and my enemy is to be reverenced, whether that person has a different color skin from mine, speaks a different language, supports a different political system, or was born in a different country.

What is it that you really believe?  What beliefs really shape the way you live?  Living our faith in real and tangible ways is the heart of Christian spirituality.

© Louis Kavar, 2009. Louis F. Kavar, Ph.D., is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.  A professional psychologist, Dr. Kavar writes about spirituality and personal growth.  He lives in St. Louis.