Befriending The Neighbourhood
My readings on the
topic of “Befriending the Neighbourhood” are diverse. Both “The Prophetic
Imagination” written by Walter Brueggemann and “Living Faithfully in a
Fragmented World” written by Jonathan R. Wilson are strongly based on the theological
concept for transformation. The former one is assertively counter-cultural
while marching forward into His Kingdom’s culture, and the latter one is more
incarnated by gently introducing His Kingdom’s living into a today’s world, with
the concept of the new monastic movement. My purpose of selecting
“Contemplative Prayer” by Thomas Merton, “St. Francis” by G.K. Chesterton, and
“The Urban Christian” by Ray Bakke as my additional readings is that I would
like to dig into the inward spirituality of Merton and the outward spirituality
of Bakke, also to have an overview of a less contemporary “soldier and a saint”[1] - St. Francis.
1 Nomads Befriending with Neighbours in Two Cities: Urban City & Cyberspace World
In the 1970’s, people were sending telegrams for long distance
communication as I still recalled telegrams delivered by scooters. In the
1980’s, students aboard were making collect phone calls to their parents, and
those were quite luxurious treatment made once every three months for less than
minutes each time. Nowadays (year 2012), we can communicate face-to-face across
the world free and instantaneously through video conference with technologies
such as Skype or FaceTime, or chat with a group of friends living in various
corners of the world through a little handheld device, with English being
more-or-less an international language. Of course, the communicators must be
living in urban areas with internet access in order to form such cyberspace
fellowship.
Cyberspace has been propelling the multiple urban cultures into a
globalized singular urban culture at the speed of light. Some people are having
more headcounts of friends in social networks such as facebook and twitter than
in the geographic area where they live. However, most of those communications
are superficial, unless these parties have been once-upon-a-time living or
working together in the same geographic neighbourhood for a period of time, and
continued to have tea time together once a while. Only then, cyberspace
communication can help deepen their befriending experience for the time when they
are apart: working in different geographical urban areas, in which often their
jobs required them to travel around like nomads. Therefore, cyberspace becomes
a meeting forum to these urban nomads of having fellowship with people they
have met during their periodic stays in various cities. I would not equate
these people like the monks in Franciscan era, as not all of them vowed
“poverty, chastity and obedience”[2] as defined in those days; however, they share similarities in terms
of their “migratory and almost nomadic instead of stationary” [3] habit, and they are trying “to mingle with the world without
becoming entangled with the world” [4] through their career by practicing Christian value, and through the
social network by expressing their comments on social and political postings on
facebook. Furthermore, some of them may occasionally experience a taste that is
similar to the new monastic way of “hospitality to strangers” [5] (not totally strangers but friends of friends) by welcoming people
who temporarily stay in their basements. Sometimes, I wonder if Christians can
build a church in the cyberspace to “home of many homeless men”[6], which are not physically shelter-less but spiritually without a
refuge – because of not knowing God; however, it is very challenging because we need to meet and to pray together. Christians
sharing through cyberspace could become the Franciscan “harp – playing song
with which it was his business as a minstrel to serenade every castle and
cottage, the song of the joy of the Creator in his creation and the beauty of
the brotherhood of men”[7]. We do not even need to beg for stones
for building a church, as we already have a medium: the cyberspace of a network
of social platforms, knowledge database, and youtube of advocating Christ’s
value to other people living in other cities.
Regarding the subject of begging, I have a little disagreement with
St. Francis’ begging lifestyle, as I see it as being irresponsible of transferring
one’s need to another person’s responsibility, regardless of the fact that his
request being the worst piece of bread, as even the worst piece of bread needed
to be made by a person. I believe making one’s piece of bread is part of
mingling with the world. St. Francis said, “if we had any possessions, we
should need weapons and laws to defend them”[8], I would like to question him without possession of an oven, a jar
of water, and a bag of flour, who is going to make the worst piece of bread
that he would be able to beg for? Perhaps, his begging lifestyle is kind of
beyond my understanding as I am not living in the 13th century. The
only sensible part is that the process of begging may induce humility; however,
we have many opportunities on practicing humility in the modern world of vanity.
Nonetheless,
purposely under performing in order to seek help does not consider as a
practice of humility in today’s world. If everyone becomes a beggar, then who
will be the offering one?
In order to live in the city, we need “necessary possessions” to sustain
our daily activities. Urban cities and cyber world are filled with the temptation
of possession. The way to avoid indulgence in our possession and to befriend
with our neighbours while living in the urban and cyber cites is to move from
worldly cultures to the culture of God’s Kingdom under His grace and mercy;
therefore, Peace of Christ fills our emptiness, beyond all these glamorous
attractions in the city – bypassing them if required, and utilizing them
without having them possessed our hearts. Befriending with our neighbours starts
when we utilize our belongings compassionately out of Godly gracious love (Ephesians 2:8-10), rather
than for merely achieving self-gratification, self-complacent, and arrogance.
2 Moving friendly from worldly cultures to Godly culture
No matter we are living in the countryside,
city, or cyber world, the only way to move from our cultures to the culture of God’s
Kingdom is through faith, humility and gentleness, along with forgiveness, that
we and others can be healed by Christ, for continuous personal transformation,
reformation, and formation, by listening closely to the dynamics of the Holy
Spirit, paying full attention to our intimate relationship with our Heavenly
Father, and following the Christ’s teachings.
Media and advertisements in the city shape the worldly cultures; in
tandem, cyberspace can play as an informative medium to mould our thoughts. Also,
our upbringings made up our cultures as well. Hence, counterculture movement cannot
be omitted during the journey of migrating from worldly cultures to His Kingdom
culture.
Based on the abstract from “The
Prophetic Imagination” by Walter Brueggemann , I see the urban and cyber cities
are continuously promoting “Solomonic achievement” [9] with characteristics marks of “economics of affluence and the
politics of oppression”[10] where people are oppressed by efficiency and competition, to the
extreme of numbing one’s graceful, merciful and compassionate feelings in order
to survive through all the oppressions by promoting one’s selfishness, jealousy
and inconsideration for hoarding . “The task of prophetic
imagination is to cut through the numbness, to penetrate the self-deception, so
that the God of endings is confessed as Lord.”[11] This cutting through the numbness, awakening
from self-deception, and turning our hearts toward Jesus with repentance is the
beginning of the hopeful journey from worldly cultures to His Kingdom’s culture,
as Brueggemann described permitting the true king [God] who is no royal fantasy
[our worldly cultures]: “the cover-up and the stonewalling can be ended, aware
our denied and suppressed fears and terrors, [articulation] of anguish and
passion”[12].
How are we going to
proceed on the journey in a friendly fashion? We need to focus on “the work of
Jesus, was not dismantling but the inauguration of a new thing”[13], that
is not totally dismantling this world (as we still believe “This I my Father’s world”), but to induce the hope of amazing healings
by Jesus to this oppressed and distorted world until the second coming of
Christ. “Living Faithfully in a Fragmented World: From ‘After Virtue’ to a New
Monasticism” by Jonathan R. Wilson
extends the abstract of Brueggemann’s prophetic imagination to a practical
implementation of new monastic communities:
“New monastic communities live out this lesson by sharing their
lives—their embodied lives—with one another in community. They live in close
proximity to one another and share meals together as a community and as a
practice of hospitality with those who are not members. They share their
possessions with one another in ways discerned and agreed to by the community.
They make their life visible to one another and to the world, so they do not
appeal to some “invisible church” as an explanation for unfaithfulness. Rather,
they have the courage, humility, and discipline to confess their sin and
receive God’s discipline and forgiveness.”[14]
Wilson said monastic communities contribute faithfulness to the
church by restoring the notion of humanity as we should be by depending “upon a
view of the true end of humanity that is rooted in a particular [Biblical]
convictions”[15]; therefore, this can avoid the failures of the Enlightenment
project of morality and the trap of emotivist morality, which will turn us into
wayward life styles. “The failure of the Enlightenment Project, because of the
abandonment of a teleological structure, is shown by the inadequacy of moral emotivism, which MacIntyre believes accurately reflects the state of modern
morality.”[16] To my observation, urban and
cyber cities are immersed in the modern morality as MacIntyre described. Thus,
cities and cyberspace Christian dwellers may consider the concept of new
monasticism as the bus toward His culture, on a road “undergirded by deep
theological reflection and commitment”[17].
3 Driven by Triune God
Now we have a group of Christians with the minds of Brueggemann’s
prophetic imagination and the hearts of Jesus’ compassion in a bus moving
towards the destination of new monasticism, riding on a road undergirded by
deep theological reflection and commitment. Who is the bus driver? Needless to
say, the bus driver is Triune God. Triune God is not only the bus driver, but
also the conductor. On this bus “without boarders”, the conductor may bring on
board people from city to city with different cultures while on the journey
together seeking a common culture, which is all about His Kingdom. Passengers
are welcome to read “The Urban Christian” by Raymond J. Bakke when they step
onto the bus. While riding on the bus, passengers often are being reminded by
Brugggemannn: not to underestimate the power of poetry that keeps our prophetic
imagination living and our hearts warm. Along the journey, the practice of
contemplative prayer is crucial to keep each of us dialoguing with our
conductor (God); therefore, each of us can have “a pure heart and a steadfast
spirit”[18] to serve God and to mingle and work with other people in the bus as
friendly neighbours.
The following example provided by Bakke reflects the sadness of
lacking commitment to meditative reading of Scripture (Lectio Divina) and prayers:
“…moving from
church to church as their perceived needs changed… goes
to whatever church serves its present needs. Then the wife discovers feminism
and looks for a church which is not chauvinistic. Then they have a child, and
look for a church with a good program for children. The child grows up, so they
need a church with a strong youth program. By the time they're on their own
again, or have divorced, they need a support ministry”[19]
Merton taught us “many of us pray to God
because we want God to fulfill some of our needs… this is the opposite of what
Jesus taught”[20]. “All prayers, reading, meditation, and all
the activities of the monastic life are aimed at purity of heart, and
unconditioned and totally humble surrender to God, a total acceptance of
ourselves and of our situation as willed by Him… renunciation of all deluded
images of ourselves, all exaggerated estimates of our own capacities, in order
to obey God’s will as it comes to us.”[21].
Living in the urban and cyberspace cities, our daily lives are
always busy. Business and city life distractions often made us ignore God’s
presence, and hindered us from listening to the gentle voice of the Holy
Spirit. Therefore, regular practice of “monastic meditation, prayer, oratio, contemplation
and reading involving the whole man, and proceed from the ‘centre’ of man’s
being, his ‘heart’ renewed in the Holy Spirit, totally submissive to the grace
of Christ… by prayer of the heart we seek God himself present in the depths of
our being and meet Him there by invoking the name of Jesus in faith, wonder and
love”[22] is crucial.
Personally, I think that before exercising any spiritual practices
as mentioned above, one should have a solid fundamental understanding of
systematic theology, an overview of the entire Bible, and is involved in Bible
Study group.
Dear Lord, in tandem living in two cities of a metropolitan and of a
cyberspace has been keeping us overly busy and distracted. Please help me to
keep regular devotional time with you, and extend my prayer life into work –
that my heart may learn to pray during my time of work “consisting of Psalms, and
my own simple and spontaneous responsive words or wordless acts directed to
God”[23]. The concept of new monasticism is still kind of new to me,
although I have heard of it. I noticed that I need to pray deeper. May God the
Spirit continue on teaching me on how to pray for myself and others, and give
me wisdom to discern and to befriend with neighbours. May God the Son continue
on healing and strengthening me. May God the Father be graceful and merciful to
me. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
[1] G.K. Chesterton,
St.Francis, (New York:
Image/Doubleday), Kindle Loc 167/1627.
[2] Ibid, Kindle Loc 986/1627.
[3] Ibid, Kindle Loc 986/1627.
[4] Ibid, Kindle Loc 986/1627.
[5] Wilson, Jonathan R.,
Living Faithfully in a Fragmented World: From 'After Virtue' to a New
Monasticism.Harrisburg: Trinity Press (1997), Kindle Loc 388/2388.
[6] G.K. Chesterton,
St.Francis, (New York:
Image/Doubleday), Kindle Loc 536/1627.
[7] Ibid, Kindle Loc 1021/1627.
[8] Ibid, Kindle Loc 995/1627.
[9] Walter Brueggemann, The
Prophetic Imagination (2nd Ed.), Fortress Press: Minneapolis (2001), Pg.28.
[10] Ibid, Pg.28.
[11] Ibid, Pg.44.
[12] Ibid, Pg.44-46.
[13] Ibid, Pg.101.
[14] Wilson, Jonathan R.,
Living Faithfully in a Fragmented World: From 'After Virtue' to a New
Monasticism.Harrisburg: Trinity Press (1997), Kindle Loc 583/2388.
[15] Ibid, Kindle Loc 941/2388.
[17] Wilson, Jonathan R.,
Living Faithfully in a Fragmented World: From 'After Virtue' to a New
Monasticism.Harrisburg: Trinity Press (1997), Kindle Loc 1805/2388.
[18] Psalm
51:10
[19] Walter Brueggemann,The
Prophetic Imagination (2nd edition), Fortress Press: Minneapolis (2001), Pg.128.
[20] Thomas Merton,
Contemplative Prayer. New York:
Image Books (1996), Pg.7.
[21] Ibid,
Contemplative Prayer. New York:
Image Books (1996), Pg.6.
[22] Ibid,
Contemplative Prayer. New York:
Image Books (1996), Pg.30.
[23] Ibid,
Contemplative Prayer. New York:
Image Books (1996), Pg.31.
posted by Clara Yeung at
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