November 22. . . Note from a puzzled kdm: The response to yesterday’s post (the following paragraphs) was unusually low by comparison to what’s ‘normal’. (Was it too long?) My thoughts on this post are that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their leaders do not have a corner on revelation from above, (especially excluding the vulnerable who consistently strive to keep their lives in order and who seek guidance from above. . .) and aren’t we glad! What would this world be like should God talk exclusively / ‘intensely’ to only one people. . . such as (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), a small fraction of one percent of the total of God’s children living on the earth at this time (and an infinitesimally smaller portion of those who have ever lived!).
Yesterday’s post (*all is vanity, except. . .) “From a previous post of November 3, 2019, ‘A Startling Conclusion’ , Jerry Sittser wrote: we are not free to put anything before or above God. God must be first and foremost in everything. Once we seek first God’s kingdom and entrust our lives wholly to him, the world suddenly becomes full of possibilities. As Paul claims with utter boldness,” for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”(1 Corinthians 3:21-23) All things are ours in Christ. God works all things to our ultimate and eternal advantage, including the future. The only condition is that we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and follow him as Lord. . .
Continuing: “Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and author of many books on spirituality, believed that the present moment is pregnant with incredible possibilities. “Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men.” But we must be sensitive to these moments. We must be attentive to God as He works in our lives day to day. “Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity and love.” We become good soil by seeking God in the present moment—the only moment we have.(16)
What does this principle mean in practical terms? God wills that we do the obvious every day, which is to honor Him. As Ighatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, wrote in his Spiritual Exercises, “In every good choice, insofar as it depends upon us, the direction of our intention should be simple. I must look only for the end for which I am created, that is, for the praise of God our Lord and for the salvation of my soul. Therefore, whatever I choose must have as its purpose to help me to this end.(17)
Thus we should seek God, repent of our sins, and practice spiritual discipline. We should love our family and our friends and our neighbors. We should get involved in a Christian community. We should cultivate character, serve the needy and do our calling in life. Above all we should trust God and surrender our lives to him.
Thomas a Kempis, author of the fifteenth century classic “The Imitation of Christ, writes, “Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity, except to love God and to serve only him. This is the highest wisdom: to see the world as it truly is, fallen and fleeting; to love the world not for its own sake, but for God’s; and to direct all your effort toward achieving the kingdom of heaven.” (18)
Why the Ambiguity?
Do I like the ambiguity of this theology? Not at all! Nevertheless there may actually be good reasons for the ambiguity. For one, it keeps us from dividing life into sacred and secular. As C.S. Lewis has argued, God does not want just a few religious things from us—say a tithe or a few voluntary hours of service or weekly attendance at a Bible study. As our creator and redeemer he lays claim on every moment of our lives and has rightful jurisdiction over us. In the Christian faith, all of life is religious and falls under God’s authority. He gives all things to us: he demands all things from us. God doesn’t want something from us; he simply wants us.(19)
Religious activities are no more inherently valuable than any other activities. Of course, they do serve a useful purpose. Weekly worship enables us to focus our attention on God’s goodness and inestimable glory. Prayer and Bible reading help us to learn God’s wisdom and to receive God’s grace. Such activities illumine and inspire us. But they are no more important to God than a child’s bedtime story is to a mother who sees motherhood as far grander than a few moments with a child at the end of the day. God wants us to surrender everything to him—both those things that have the appearance of religion and those that do not. Thus, the ambiguity of seeking God’s kingdom first has a positive purpose to it. It keeps us from confining our religious life to a certain day of the week or to a certain set of activities.~ Jerry Sittser, The Will of God As a Way of Life (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 2000), 36-37
References:
16. Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation (New York: New Directions, 1961), 14.
17. Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius (New York: New Directions, 1961), 82-83
18. Thomas a Kempis . The Imitation of Christ (Notre Dame, Ind.: Ave Maria, 1989), 30.
19. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1943), 168-69.
