The authentic mystic can never flee from the world. He or she must resonate with the suffering and the agony that is the common legacy of humankind.… And active mystics who live in the hurly-burly enter into the same inner silence as those who live in the desert.
—William Johnston, Mystical Theology: The Science of Love
Dr. Barbara Holmes describes the contemplative foundations of the civil rights movement:
The world is the cloister of the contemplative. There is no escape. Always the quest for justice draws one deeply into the heart of God. In this sacred interiority, contemplation becomes the language of prayer and the impetus for prophetic proclamation and action. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were classic contemplatives, deeply committed to silent witness, embodied and performative justice. The type of contemplative practices that emerged during the Civil Rights Movement became dramas that enacted a deep discontentment with things as they were. For years, the black church nurtured its members in the truth of their humanity and the potential for moral flourishing.
The civil rights marches of the 1960s were contemplative—sometimes silent, sometimes drenched with song, but always contemplative. This may mean within the context of a desperate quest for justice that while weary feet traversed well-worn streets, hearts leaped into the lap of God. While children were escorted into schools by national guardsmen, the song “Jesus Loves Me” became an anthem of faith in the face of contradictory evidence. You cannot face German Shepherds and fire hoses with your own resources; there must be God and stillness at the very center of your being…. What saves you is the blessed merger of intuitive knowing with rationality, pain, and resolve.
Like a spiritual earthquake, the resolve of the marchers affirmed the faith of foremothers and forefathers. Each step was a reclamation of the hope unborn. Each marcher embodied the communal affirmation of already/not yet sacred spaces…. The sacred act of walking together toward justice was usually preceded by a pre-march meeting that began with a prayer service, where preaching, singing, and exhortation prepared the people to move toward the hope they all held. This hope was carefully explicated by the leadership as a fulfillment of God’s promises. As a consequence, the movement that spilled from the churches to the streets was a ritual enactment of a communal faith journey toward the basileia [realm] of God….
The end result was that a purportedly Christian nation was forced to view its black citizens as a prototype of the suffering God, absorbing violence into their own bodies without retaliation. By contrast, stalwart defenders of the old order found themselves before God and their own reflective interiority with fire hoses, whips, and ropes in their hands. The crisis created by contemplative justice seeking guaranteed the eventual end of overt practices of domination, for domination could not withstand the steady gaze of the inner eye of thousands of awakened people.
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| The Idol of Knowledge: Puff Up vs. Build Up |
 I had a professor once tell me, “When you think you know everything they give you a bachelor’s degree. When you realize you don’t know anything they give you a master’s degree. When you realize you don’t know anything and neither does anyone else, they award you a doctorate degree.” His point was memorable. A little learning can make you arrogant, but the outcome of much learning should be humility.The Apostle Paul said something similar to the arrogant, divisive Christians in Corinth. The Corinthians were focused on status and hierarchy, and in the Greek culture where knowledge was highly valued, possessing more knowledge than others was a badge of honor—a sure way to climb the social ladder.But Paul, who was probably more educated than anyone in the Corinthian church, reminded them, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”Paul was not saying knowledge itself is a bad thing. Sadly, some Christians have used the Apostle’s words as an excuse for shunning education and learning, or for dismissing the advice of experts. There are Christian traditions that even shun theological training for their pastors and teachers, and that refer to seminaries as cemeteries because they believe higher education will kill genuine faith. Anti-intellectualism is not what Paul intended with his words to the Corinthians. Embracing ignorance is not how we avoid the idolatry of knowledge, and stupidity is not a mark of deep spirituality. Rather, Paul’s intent was to warn about the danger of valuing knowledge that is uncoupled from love.By itself, knowledge can make us arrogant and sinfully cause us to elevate ourselves above those who do not share our education. Using our knowledge for self-advancement, or to diminish the worth of others, is the opposite of what Paul did with his expansive knowledge. Instead, we are to couple our knowledge with a love that always seeks what is good for others. That means using our knowledge to build up others, and never to pull them down. It also means being careful not to exalt a leader simply because he or she possesses a brilliant mind. We ought to look for evidence of a deeper wisdom that resides beyond mere knowledge; a wisdom that reveals itself in a character of self-sacrifice and humility like Christ’s. DAILY SCRIPTURE 1 CORINTHIANS 8:1–3. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:1–13 WEEKLY PRAYER King Alfred the Great of Wessex (849 – 899) We pray to you, O Lord, who are the supreme Truth, and all truth is from you. We beseech you, O Lord, who are the highest Wisdom, and all the wise depend on you for their wisdom. You are the supreme Joy, and all who are happy owe it to you. You are the highest Good, and all goodness comes from you. You are the Light of minds, and all receive their understanding from you. We love you—indeed we love you above all things. We seek you, and are prepared to serve you. We desire to dwell under your power, for you are the King of all. Amen. |
