Martin Luther

Believe it or not there is more than one guy by the name of Martin Luther in our history! There may have been more, Martin seems like a pretty common name, but these two were famously known, hundreds of years apart. The Martin Luther focused on in this blog was born in 1483 and is one of the most significant figures in the history of the Protestant Reformation. (Reformation Day anyone?)

Luther was born in 1483 and lived to the age of 63 and in those years he studied, taught, and lived out his biblical studies. Luther was very much a theologian and ecclesiastical activist, but beyond that he also had a deep pastoral care and concern for the spirituality of fellow believers of Jesus Christ! Luther was so passionate about this subject that in his writing "The Freedom of a Christian" he emphasizes the critical role of faith in establishing this intimate relationship between Christ and believer.

A small section from that writing says, 

"Faith does not merely mean that the soul realizes that the divine word is full of all grace, free and holy; it also unites the soul with Christ, as a bride is united with her bridegroom. From such a marriage, as St Paul says, it follows that Christ and the soul become one body, so that they hold all things in common, whether for better or worse. "

Julian of Norwich

Today. We finally hear from a female writer. Anyone else feel like this time period and the writing profession was overrun by males? Well probably because females haven't always been so highly regarded as they are today... (ha ha).

Anyways. Julian of Norwich. This is not her real name, some think it might have been Juliana, but no one knows for sure completely. Other things that are unknown are the date of her death, and her birth year, which is only assumed based on her writing that she was "30 in 1373". Interesting, to know so little about someone who's writing is so known.

In the section that we were asked to read today was Julian's take on prayer. I found this to be very interesting because right now this is a topic that is very close to my heart. I'll be the first to admit that my prayer life is not where I would like it to be, and I can guarantee that my Father is also not overly pleased with my lack of dedication as of late. What caught my attention in this reading is how much Julian of Norwich truly desired to have a prayer life that was not just a conversation between her and God, but something that she could experience physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally.

I don't know a lot of people who desire to embody prayer in the manner that she speaks of, but I do think it is important to be so in love with God that prayer inhabits your life so completely that it becomes a liturgy in your every day life. I pray that I can be like that one day, so on fire for God that my prayer life knows no bounds. 

Francis of Assisi

This week our assignment was to read about Francis of Assisi. I struggled with this blog for a few reasons. 

First. His name. Assisi. How do you even begin to know how to pronounce that. Staring at the word right now I can come up with at least 3 different ways of sounding it out. Ass-is-i. As-si-si. A-ssi-si. It's a mystery to me, probably  not as hard as I'm making it out to be. But that's besides that point.

Second. What we read about was the Canticle of the Sun which is an affirmation of a positive attitude toward the creation, which is typical of Franciscan spirituality. Why is this a problem you ask? Well let me share with you a small section of this canticle.

Be praised, my Lord, by brother wind

and by air and cloud and sky and every weather

through whom you give life to all your creatures.

Be praised, my Lord, by sister water

for she is useful and humble and precious and chaste

Be praised by brother fire

by him we are lightened at night

and he is fair and cheerful and sturdy and strong.

Alright, so some might be thinking. Just sounds like a poetic choice of words to describe his feelings towards creation. But, seriously. What does that even mean. To me, as I read this with my "reformed theology way of thinking", I notice Francis of Assisi making a connection between natural creation and human creatures themselves. What I think we need to be careful about is the notion of placing too much value on creation in regards to comparing it to living creatures. Creation, as stated in the beginning, was something to be loved and to be cared for but not something that is to be put on the same level as the human creature.

Anyway, just some confused thoughts and ramblings as I try to make sense out of what I just read. If you have any ideas. Please don't hold back. :)