From " Self Deception and Autobiography" by Stanley Hauerwas
To battle self deception we must be very conscious of what we are doing. Taking a look again and again at our actions and lives. Hauerwas quotes Herbert Fingarette:
"...I propose, then that we do not characterize consciousness as a kind of mental mirror, but as the exercise of the (learned) skill of 'spelling out' some feature of the world we are engaged in."
To become explicitly conscious of one's situation, then, demands that one rehearse what one is doing.
Hauerwas goes on to say that there are many things within our day that do not need to be spelled out or rehearsed. We just do them...dressing, eating, playing with our children...etc. But there must those things we do in which we do indeed take the time to go over what is happening and what we are doing. By "rehearsing" we are forced to take a look at what puts together our actions. I was flipping through stations on television on Saturday and came upon a golf station and a teaching pro was giving some advice. He placed two clubs on the ground as a "runway" of sorts with the ball in the middle between the clubs. This exercise is to be used to make a golfer look at how one lines up toward the green and to be very conscious of where feet are planted so that at least the "line up" at the ball will be proper. He said it is hard to do this over and over again at a driving range but on the golf course, there needs to be a "ritual" we go through before each shot in order to keep us honest with how we approach the ball and take the shot. If we stop doing it, we may slowly fall out of line. To combat our tendency toward self deception, there is a need to "exercise" and spell out how we engage the day and the activities around us. Again, this is most helpful when we have others who will help us see what we are doing and reacting and living so that we have extra eyes giving us input for change and encouragement for truthfulness.
Connection: What goes into the "swings" of your day? How are you able to stay conscious and honest about how you are facing and moving through the events of this day? Rehearsal often uncovers the minor pieces of a play that move it from being the same-old, same-old performance and make it a noted performance. How do we rehearse the things of our lives - the roles in which we find ourselves?
Lord of All Truthfulness, it is by your grace that we are free to take another look at our lives and find space for renewal and change and honesty. By your Holy Spirit, we are given the ability to nurture the vision of your blessed reign within our lives. Amen.
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Tuesday, 12 November, 2002
Again, from " Self Deception and Autobiography" by Stanley Hauerwas
On self-deception, Hauerwas quotes David Harned:
Seeing is never simply a reaction to what passes before our eyes; it is a matter of how well the eye is trained and provisioned to discern the richness and the terror, beauty and banality of the worlds outside and within the self. Decisions are shaped by vision, and the ways that we see are a function of our "character," of the history and habits of the self, and ultimately of the stories that we have heard and with which we identify ourselves.
He seems to go on to talk about how faith is central to the stories we have heard. If faith is, as Paul Tillich, would write, "our ultimate concern," then we must ask what is the object of our faith. For that object -that agenda -that story - will shape our seeing. When our faith is family centered, our vision will be shaped around our family or our children. If our faith is centered around our finances, our vision will be seen through that lens. That in which we place our trust will be the influence that trains our eyes to see the world in this way or that way. We claim to have the story of God revealed in the life, death and resurrection as our focus...our story above all other stories...the story in which we have faith for life. We say that this will shape our decisions in all we do. But as we all know, the other things in our live, in which we place our trust/faith are constantly working to win our allegiance and shape our vision so that we will see thing in ways that will be favorable to them.
Connection: Stay focused on the gracious reign of God and the promise that comes to us in the way of the cross. It would be a simply yet valuable exercise to simply ask: What is shaping my decision right now? It is a hard thing to ask and yet it is the way we face our self deception. It is best...to ask this question with other followers of Jesus helping us to ask and then discuss it.
Lord of All Truthfulness, we are pulled by many powers within our day. Some of them seem innocent and down right good...and yet, all the powers that pull us, no matter how they might appear, must be measured by the story of your gracious reign. Inspire us to see this day through the eyes of your promises for life. Amen.
On self-deception, Hauerwas quotes David Harned:
Seeing is never simply a reaction to what passes before our eyes; it is a matter of how well the eye is trained and provisioned to discern the richness and the terror, beauty and banality of the worlds outside and within the self. Decisions are shaped by vision, and the ways that we see are a function of our "character," of the history and habits of the self, and ultimately of the stories that we have heard and with which we identify ourselves.
He seems to go on to talk about how faith is central to the stories we have heard. If faith is, as Paul Tillich, would write, "our ultimate concern," then we must ask what is the object of our faith. For that object -that agenda -that story - will shape our seeing. When our faith is family centered, our vision will be shaped around our family or our children. If our faith is centered around our finances, our vision will be seen through that lens. That in which we place our trust will be the influence that trains our eyes to see the world in this way or that way. We claim to have the story of God revealed in the life, death and resurrection as our focus...our story above all other stories...the story in which we have faith for life. We say that this will shape our decisions in all we do. But as we all know, the other things in our live, in which we place our trust/faith are constantly working to win our allegiance and shape our vision so that we will see thing in ways that will be favorable to them.
Connection: Stay focused on the gracious reign of God and the promise that comes to us in the way of the cross. It would be a simply yet valuable exercise to simply ask: What is shaping my decision right now? It is a hard thing to ask and yet it is the way we face our self deception. It is best...to ask this question with other followers of Jesus helping us to ask and then discuss it.
Lord of All Truthfulness, we are pulled by many powers within our day. Some of them seem innocent and down right good...and yet, all the powers that pull us, no matter how they might appear, must be measured by the story of your gracious reign. Inspire us to see this day through the eyes of your promises for life. Amen.
Monday, November 11, 2002
Monday, 11 November, 2002
From " Self Deception and Autobiography" by Stanley Hauerwas
This is a longer selection but an important word.
Some of our self-deceptions...have more destructive results than others. Auschwitz stands as a symbol of one extreme to which our self-deception can lead. For the complicity of Christians with Auschwitz did not begin with their failure to object to the first slightly anti-Semitic laws and actions. It rather began when Christians assumed that they could be the heirs and carriers of the symbols of the faith without sacrifice and suffering. It began when the very language of revelation became an expression of status rather than an instrument for bringing our lives gradually under the sway of "the love that moves the sun and the other stars." ...So Christians allowed their language to idle without turning the engines of the soul, and in recompense, their lives were seized by powers that they no longer had the ability to know, much less to combat.
I'm caught by the phrase: "So Christians allowed their language to idle without turning the engines of the soul..." In other words, some other language...the language of another story, seized the lives of those who claimed "in words alone" to be followers of Jesus. I would contend that this is what happens every time the language of the state is intermingled with the words of the faith. "Christian nation" is a good example. In reality, the two words never belong together. The word Christian is about a reign of servants who love one another even unto death. The word nation represents a people whose self interest is a priority over and against others. What happens when we blend the words is that the "nation" part of this word couplet wins the day...and always will. The "Christian" part becomes nothing more than a agent of blessing that which the "nation" want to do. Remember, the churches of Germany went along with the ways of the Nazi regime for it was the "fatherland" and it needed "living space" and it was a blessed "race" of people... We are aliens in all lands. We honor the governing powers but resist them when they live by a standard contrary to the way of the cross.
Connection: Watch out for the many ways the words of the faith and the name of the followers of Jesus (Christian) are tied into the themes and actions of the country. It is often used with guise that we are building morality. In reality we are letting the powers take their language and push it as ours.
Lord God, you alone are God. You make us a people and you promise to bring us new life. Keep us forever within your word of promise that we may be shaped by it and live within the power of your word and life therein. Amen.
This is a longer selection but an important word.
Some of our self-deceptions...have more destructive results than others. Auschwitz stands as a symbol of one extreme to which our self-deception can lead. For the complicity of Christians with Auschwitz did not begin with their failure to object to the first slightly anti-Semitic laws and actions. It rather began when Christians assumed that they could be the heirs and carriers of the symbols of the faith without sacrifice and suffering. It began when the very language of revelation became an expression of status rather than an instrument for bringing our lives gradually under the sway of "the love that moves the sun and the other stars." ...So Christians allowed their language to idle without turning the engines of the soul, and in recompense, their lives were seized by powers that they no longer had the ability to know, much less to combat.
I'm caught by the phrase: "So Christians allowed their language to idle without turning the engines of the soul..." In other words, some other language...the language of another story, seized the lives of those who claimed "in words alone" to be followers of Jesus. I would contend that this is what happens every time the language of the state is intermingled with the words of the faith. "Christian nation" is a good example. In reality, the two words never belong together. The word Christian is about a reign of servants who love one another even unto death. The word nation represents a people whose self interest is a priority over and against others. What happens when we blend the words is that the "nation" part of this word couplet wins the day...and always will. The "Christian" part becomes nothing more than a agent of blessing that which the "nation" want to do. Remember, the churches of Germany went along with the ways of the Nazi regime for it was the "fatherland" and it needed "living space" and it was a blessed "race" of people... We are aliens in all lands. We honor the governing powers but resist them when they live by a standard contrary to the way of the cross.
Connection: Watch out for the many ways the words of the faith and the name of the followers of Jesus (Christian) are tied into the themes and actions of the country. It is often used with guise that we are building morality. In reality we are letting the powers take their language and push it as ours.
Lord God, you alone are God. You make us a people and you promise to bring us new life. Keep us forever within your word of promise that we may be shaped by it and live within the power of your word and life therein. Amen.
Friday, November 8, 2002
Friday, 8 November, 2002
From " Self Deception and Autobiography" by Stanley Hauerwas
Hauerwas notes that the argument within this essay...show how our ability to know what we are up to and live authentically depends on our capacity to avoid self-deception. We cannot hope to avoid an inveterate tendency to self-deception, however, unless we work at developing the skills required to articulate the shape of our individual social engagements, or forms of life. At the heart of such skills lies a practiced eye and ear for the basic images and stories that provide our actions with direction and our lives with a sense.
As Christians, we have stories that guide us and lead us. It is necessary, though, that we have an eye and an ear for such stories as we hear them and as they are brought to life within the lives of the people around us. Everything about the story of the cross and death and resurrection of Jesus resists self-deception. But it is a story we must be able to carry with us within the very heart of our being. Otherwise, we will do all we can to fit in and do whatever we must do...even the small things of the day...to shape our character in one way or another. The story of our faith, gives us a way to shape our own stories and be authentic people as we engage our world. Then again, the story means nothing to the shaping of our lives if we cannot keep that story before us as we move through the day. That is, as Hauerwas might say, a skill that must be used and brought into play so that we can resist that powerful temptation to deceive ourselves. Maybe that is why the church is always a community and not merely an individual. We need more people who know the story to help us hear and see it for our own living.
Connection: We all linger in the world of self-deception too long and too often. That is why in everything we do we must seek out others who will be for us a mirror and a storyteller for us. One helps us see ourselves. The other reminds us of the way of authentic life that is available to us. Find some people who will help you on the journey of faithfulness.
Almighty God, you pull us forward with the vision of your risen Son, Jesus. As your body of Christ in the world, keep us united to one another that we may all walk into the light of that vision as a beloved community of saints. Amen.
Hauerwas notes that the argument within this essay...show how our ability to know what we are up to and live authentically depends on our capacity to avoid self-deception. We cannot hope to avoid an inveterate tendency to self-deception, however, unless we work at developing the skills required to articulate the shape of our individual social engagements, or forms of life. At the heart of such skills lies a practiced eye and ear for the basic images and stories that provide our actions with direction and our lives with a sense.
As Christians, we have stories that guide us and lead us. It is necessary, though, that we have an eye and an ear for such stories as we hear them and as they are brought to life within the lives of the people around us. Everything about the story of the cross and death and resurrection of Jesus resists self-deception. But it is a story we must be able to carry with us within the very heart of our being. Otherwise, we will do all we can to fit in and do whatever we must do...even the small things of the day...to shape our character in one way or another. The story of our faith, gives us a way to shape our own stories and be authentic people as we engage our world. Then again, the story means nothing to the shaping of our lives if we cannot keep that story before us as we move through the day. That is, as Hauerwas might say, a skill that must be used and brought into play so that we can resist that powerful temptation to deceive ourselves. Maybe that is why the church is always a community and not merely an individual. We need more people who know the story to help us hear and see it for our own living.
Connection: We all linger in the world of self-deception too long and too often. That is why in everything we do we must seek out others who will be for us a mirror and a storyteller for us. One helps us see ourselves. The other reminds us of the way of authentic life that is available to us. Find some people who will help you on the journey of faithfulness.
Almighty God, you pull us forward with the vision of your risen Son, Jesus. As your body of Christ in the world, keep us united to one another that we may all walk into the light of that vision as a beloved community of saints. Amen.
Wednesday, November 6, 2002
Thursday, 7 November, 2002
The editors of The Hauerwas Reader introduce the chapter "Self-Deception and Autobiography" using these images about the stories we tell about ourselves and the stories that inform our own life story.
Inadequate stories cannot help but foster self-deception, whereas true stories are those with power adequate to check the endemic tendency toward self-deception. The saving narrative of the Christian gospel trains us to accept the limits of our own abilities to be truthful, and thus it must be a story that is continually discomforting. It is a hard and painful discipline, but it cannot be avoided if Christians wish to live lives free of self-deception.
Within the Good News is also the "bad news" about who we think we are. It is "discomforting" to come to the realization that we all have limits to our ability to be truthful. No matter how well we think we pursue truthfulness, we will shelter ourselves with images of life that are quite self-deceptive so that we can protect our egos and the lives we try so hard to build for ourselves. When we are hearing stories that divide the world, our lives, or the issues of the day, into nothing more than "us verses them," we need to help one another raise up red flags and wave them with gusto. Too often we all are caught up into "inadequate stories" in which there is little truth but much opinion. The story, the narrative, of the gospel never lets us stay at ease and comfortable within our own stories. We are constantly being drawn out. This is especially the case as we continue to be within a community in which we talk and differ and prayerfully stand alongside one another to listen to the presence of the Spirit of Truth among us.
Connection: We all cut corners and alter the image of ourselves and become masters of rationalization even when it is only concerning the minor things of our lives. Today continues to give us the opportunity to seek truthfulness as individuals and as people in community.
Precious Lord, your word of life calls us to be bearers of your love who seek to make for a world in which truth and justice and mercy become the characteristics of our lives. Inspire us and hold us up so that we will see your way of unbounded love. Amen
Inadequate stories cannot help but foster self-deception, whereas true stories are those with power adequate to check the endemic tendency toward self-deception. The saving narrative of the Christian gospel trains us to accept the limits of our own abilities to be truthful, and thus it must be a story that is continually discomforting. It is a hard and painful discipline, but it cannot be avoided if Christians wish to live lives free of self-deception.
Within the Good News is also the "bad news" about who we think we are. It is "discomforting" to come to the realization that we all have limits to our ability to be truthful. No matter how well we think we pursue truthfulness, we will shelter ourselves with images of life that are quite self-deceptive so that we can protect our egos and the lives we try so hard to build for ourselves. When we are hearing stories that divide the world, our lives, or the issues of the day, into nothing more than "us verses them," we need to help one another raise up red flags and wave them with gusto. Too often we all are caught up into "inadequate stories" in which there is little truth but much opinion. The story, the narrative, of the gospel never lets us stay at ease and comfortable within our own stories. We are constantly being drawn out. This is especially the case as we continue to be within a community in which we talk and differ and prayerfully stand alongside one another to listen to the presence of the Spirit of Truth among us.
Connection: We all cut corners and alter the image of ourselves and become masters of rationalization even when it is only concerning the minor things of our lives. Today continues to give us the opportunity to seek truthfulness as individuals and as people in community.
Precious Lord, your word of life calls us to be bearers of your love who seek to make for a world in which truth and justice and mercy become the characteristics of our lives. Inspire us and hold us up so that we will see your way of unbounded love. Amen
Tuesday, November 5, 2002
Wednesday, 6 November, 2002
In Pulpit Resource by William Willimon, he reflects on the parable of the ten maidens in Matthew.
Question: Have we stopped journeying, ceased searching? Are we so content with present arrangements in our lives that we...have no expectation of conversion, of meeting, of being swept up in the great purposes of God? Perhaps those five maidens who neglected to acquire oil for their lamps simply stopped imaging that the promised party would ever begin.
Don't stop imaging the party! Yes, it is an absurd vision onto which we are called to hold in our hearts, but it is the beginning of possibilities for the life the we never would give ourselves when we count only on what we can see and touch. Being convince...trusting that the party will begin at any moment...even now...shapes us for the living of the day at hand. Some do not want to trust in the party...and therefore they endlessly look for something else to trust and give them life. But, alas, everything else fades and cannot sustain the winds of time. Don't stop imaging the party and your presence at the party with a reserved seat!
Connection: There are many voices in our day that do not want to acknowledge that life can come into this day as we trust in what is not yet. Too often, we live and learn to live by what we have in hand and how we conform to what is around us. Don't conform. Be ready for the party!
Lord of the Feast, inspire us with the vision of your gracious reign that is and will be the truth of our days. Praise be to you. Amen.
Question: Have we stopped journeying, ceased searching? Are we so content with present arrangements in our lives that we...have no expectation of conversion, of meeting, of being swept up in the great purposes of God? Perhaps those five maidens who neglected to acquire oil for their lamps simply stopped imaging that the promised party would ever begin.
Don't stop imaging the party! Yes, it is an absurd vision onto which we are called to hold in our hearts, but it is the beginning of possibilities for the life the we never would give ourselves when we count only on what we can see and touch. Being convince...trusting that the party will begin at any moment...even now...shapes us for the living of the day at hand. Some do not want to trust in the party...and therefore they endlessly look for something else to trust and give them life. But, alas, everything else fades and cannot sustain the winds of time. Don't stop imaging the party and your presence at the party with a reserved seat!
Connection: There are many voices in our day that do not want to acknowledge that life can come into this day as we trust in what is not yet. Too often, we live and learn to live by what we have in hand and how we conform to what is around us. Don't conform. Be ready for the party!
Lord of the Feast, inspire us with the vision of your gracious reign that is and will be the truth of our days. Praise be to you. Amen.
Monday, November 4, 2002
Tuesday, 5 November, 2002
On All Saints Sunday, the gospel lesson for the day is Matthew 5:1-12. We know it as the Beatitudes.
In each of the "blessings," a particular group of people is designated. In the final blessing it is directed to "you."
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
When we trust what God has said about us and for us in Christ, Jesus, we will be living according to a Word that others may not have about us. In addition, if we trust that this Word of love is for us...the "us" cannot be contained by an "us" that is limited to who it is we may want to be a part of the "us." The "for us" is for all God's beloved. God's beloved is defined by God. Last week I quoted 1 John where the author writes, "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are." That is the "us." It is the Word we trust as our foundation and the very breath we breathe for life. Blessed are you...who trust that defining Word. For when we live according to that Word...when we define our world according to that Word...when we are shaped according to the Word, that is a radical departure from the ways of the world and the ways of many "religious" folks who want nothing to do with the grace of God and what life it brings. Therefore, we may not be talked about with the most kind words and treated with the best intentions.
Connection: Blessed are you. Blessed are you. Blessed are you. It is and it always will be enough. Blessed are you, O children of the Most High God.
Most High God, you come to us as a word for life that is as filling and life giving as fresh bread broken and shared among hungry people. We long for this living bread so that we may be sustained by your grace alone. Amen.
P.S. It is election day. Vote!
In each of the "blessings," a particular group of people is designated. In the final blessing it is directed to "you."
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
When we trust what God has said about us and for us in Christ, Jesus, we will be living according to a Word that others may not have about us. In addition, if we trust that this Word of love is for us...the "us" cannot be contained by an "us" that is limited to who it is we may want to be a part of the "us." The "for us" is for all God's beloved. God's beloved is defined by God. Last week I quoted 1 John where the author writes, "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are." That is the "us." It is the Word we trust as our foundation and the very breath we breathe for life. Blessed are you...who trust that defining Word. For when we live according to that Word...when we define our world according to that Word...when we are shaped according to the Word, that is a radical departure from the ways of the world and the ways of many "religious" folks who want nothing to do with the grace of God and what life it brings. Therefore, we may not be talked about with the most kind words and treated with the best intentions.
Connection: Blessed are you. Blessed are you. Blessed are you. It is and it always will be enough. Blessed are you, O children of the Most High God.
Most High God, you come to us as a word for life that is as filling and life giving as fresh bread broken and shared among hungry people. We long for this living bread so that we may be sustained by your grace alone. Amen.
P.S. It is election day. Vote!
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