Anselm of Canterbury

"All this I hold with unwavering faith, 

and weep over the hardship of exile, 

hoping in the sole consolation of your coming, 

ardently longing for the glorious contemplation of your face."

This is the last stanza of Anselm's "Prayer to Christ". This weeks blog post is on Anselm of Canterbury. His "Prayer to Christ" is a 12 stanza prayer admitting his lukewarm faith and love for God. His prayer goes through many different stages, first admitting that he is not where he wants to be with his faith, then asking God to rekindle that flame within him. He goes on to express his longing for God and to know God. It ends with his feeling that he still isn't fully possessing God in the way that he thinks he ought to be. But what is expressed is that he has this unwavering hope, this unwavering faith that he will one day reach that point.

What I really appreciated about this prayer of Anselm is that he is so blatantly truthful. What I have noticed within myself, in conversations with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, in sitting in on conversations with different small groups, is that we sometimes   99% of the time try and sugar coat our relationship with Jesus Christ. We use phrases like "it's not the best, but it's better than other peoples," or "I figure I have time to get my relationship with Christ on the right path again, it's fine how it is right now," or "I read my Bible [and then think to ourselves 'for class that is']", but we don't often come out in the open and say "I am struggling with my walk with Christ, I fear that I am becoming lukewarm, and I need help to stay accountable." Those aren't easy things for us to admit, I for one don't like to talk about my shortcomings or my struggles for fear that I will be judged or laughed at. 

But isn't what Anselm is saying in his prayer exactly how we should approach it? We should want to struggle with our lukewarm feelings, we should openly be able to discuss with fellow believers the issues that distress us, the doubts that cause conflict in us. We should always be "ardently longing for the glorious contemplation of your [God's] face."

Sole Source of True Joy

Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

I was reading a short article on Augustine of Hippo and have decided to use this as my first class required blog post (1 down 9 to go!) The provided instructions for how I am supposed to approach this post is by summarizing for you what I read and some thoughts I have on it… (I’m sure that I've now got you on the edge of your seat ready to take in what wisdom opinions I have to offer.)

Who is Augustine of Hippo you might be wondering? Let me shed some light on him for you. Augustine was born in the year 354 to a devout Christian woman. He was raised in the Roman province by the name of Numidia, or modern day Algeria. In 391 while visiting the coastal town of Hippo he became ordained as a bishop… against his wishes.

*side note: how do you force someone to be ordained? Not sure how that works.

It seems though that Augustine accepted this role and devoted himself to the “clarification, exposition, and defense of the Christian faith against its external opponents and internal dissidents”. He is now considered to be one of the most important and well regarded writers of the Christian church.

One major piece of writing from Augustine is known as the Confessions. A majority of this writing focus’ on his autobiography but in the last few ‘books’ he talks about God as the source of true joy. This is the part that I actually found interesting.

For Augustine he argues that true joy can only be found or fulfilled through a relationship with God (Sounds about right to me!) By the world’s standards Augustine says that any joy found in material or natural things is only an appearance of joy because, while it (can) reflect God’s goodness and beauty, it is not true joy in and of itself.

Does this mean that we can’t be happy or find joy in our family, friends, job or hobbies? I don’t think so. But that happiness and joy will always be tainted by a world that is filled with sin. Each situation that we feel joy in is always shadowed by something of a lesser good which hinders the opportunity to experience pure, untainted joy.

I wrote in my last post about the passing of my dear friend Gene. Last night I went to his visitation and tomorrow I will be attending his funeral. As I say a final goodbye I am reminded of all the times that I had with Gene and the joy that it was to talk to him, to serve on mission trips with him and to worship with him; but what is more I am overwhelmed by the realization that he, right now, is experiencing the TRUE JOY of being with Jesus Christ in eternity.

That’s what life is all about isn't it folks? To be joyful in what we have today, to live in a God glorifying manner, and to anticipate a joy GREATER than anything we could experience here. Because at the end of the day we will be welcomed, just as Gene was days ago, to the Pure, Heavenly, Eternal JOY that is eternity with Jesus Christ.

A Heavenly Celebration

Last time I wrote I introduced my blog ‘unfinished business’. The whole point of this blog was to write about my thoughts and reflections on readings for one of my Kuyper classes. But I also mentioned that I would be throwing in a little life in general at the same time.

Today is one of those times.

Thoughts and questions race through my mind today as I sit and wonder why so many people had to part with a friend, a father, a husband, a brother.

I've known Gene for a number of years. He and his wife attend the same church that I grew up in and am still a part of. Not only did I see him each Sunday singing and worshiping in the church pews, or sit and enjoy a chat, I and many others also had the joy of spending multiple high school mission trips with Gene and his wife.

Last night I learned that Heaven gained this precious man.

My question for you: How does one handle the pain of death, the sudden loss of someone so dear to you? (Is there really an answer to that?)

We lost a good man; patient, hilarious and always armed with a new story. Today there is a Gene shaped hole in my heart. But there is HOPE.

A few verses in Psalm 126 says this:

"Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them."

That is my prayer for the people who carry the loss of Gene with them today. That we remember that songs of JOY are coming, no matter how dark, meaningless, and hopeless today feels.  (A friend, who also blogs, wrote about grief just last week. I recommend reading her words of wisdom Here)

I don’t wish Gene back to this earth. Not for one second would I wish him back to the pain and suffering that were his last few months. I do however long for the day when I see his wife and family, loved ones and friends reunited with this man. But until that day comes I choose to work towards and help others work towards the joy that follows the darkness of today.

From the words of my sister Stephanie:

“I wonder if Jesus leans on a shovel up in the heavenly realms as he supervises what's going on down here on earth. If he does, I know right where Gene-o is standing this morning. He's got his own shovel to lean on and he's talking Jesus' ear off about his lovely wife, wonderful family, and telling all sorts of stories.”

Images like those are what make today a little less painful, that bring a smile to my face, and a quiet chuckle as I imagine Gene watching us from Heaven.

Enjoy the Heavenly Celebration Gene; Looking forward to seeing you again one day.

Longing for God: Gregory of Nyssa

Gregory of Nyssa is a Christian writer from the years c.330-c.395 who is considered to be one of the most important writers of the Christian east. Gregory wholeheartedly defended the idea of full divinity and the humanity of the God-head; however, he really stressed the idea that mere human beings could not completely understand or comprehend the mystery of who God was and is.

Gregory believes that inside each of us is this deep desire and need to experience "the Good". The "Good" is the relationship, that in the beginning, humans could experience and did experience with God. Today though, after the Fall, our understanding and comprehension of this "Good" eludes us, it escapes our limited capabilities to where we can only catch a glimpse at what it might be.

What is so heart-wrenching is that we had the possibility of knowing that "Good" right in front of us, but we let go of it for hundreds and thousands of years. But what gives us hope is that we now have this an anticipation, this deep hunger in the pit of our bellies, that we are going to know this "Good" fully again one day. It is that anticipation, isn't it, that ought to be fueling our desire to know and understand who God is as fully as we can right now, here on this earth. We might have lost it messed up royally at the beginning of time, but thankfully that wasn't our only chance, we still have the promise of eternity-yes eternity-to gain back that full comprehension, that beautiful relationship with God, the one and only "Good".

the Beginning.

I have never been much of a blogger. I love to write, but have never really written anything that was for the sole purpose of having my peers read and comment on (outside of a homework assignment that is). And honestly the only reason that I am attempting to do so now is for just that, a homework assignment. I am a bit rather a lot apprehensive and anxious as to how this will go over the next 3 months. At the same time I look forward to embracing this seemingly foreign mode of communication and sharing with you my thoughts, concerns, questions and confusion with the Bible and Christian Spirituality (and a little life in general thrown into the mix).

You may have noticed the title to the blog: unfinished business. I'm still not exactly sure where the title came from, but there it is, and I like it, so I think it will stay! On a more serious note here is what I mean when I say "unfinished business" (everything has a deeper meaning to it, right? Philosophical, I know.)

Unfinished business is something that we all have dealt with; loose ends that need to be tied, information that needs to be gathered, a dawning of comprehension that has not yet occurred. My loose ends are currently in the form of impatiently awaiting College graduation, marrying my best friend in May, and applying for and obtaining a new job. But there is a deeper level of unfinished business that resonates in each of us as well. There is a knowing that the work of Jesus Christ in us, for His Kingdom, is "unfinished" as well. 

So there it is folks. unfinished business.


Are you caught up in the unknowns, the not finished, or the loose ends? How do you handle those situations and questions?