Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog

Parker Palmer – Celebrating with him the Contradictions in the Christian Life.

Paul writes – Jossey-Bass has done us a wonderful service in reprinting (2008) Parker Palmer’s simply wonderful, The Promise of Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Christian Life (2 Introductions plus 145 pages of text. The book is hardcover and is 13.5cm X 18.5cm). Ave Maria Press originally published the book in 1980 while I was in my late teens and I was still years from discovering Palmer. The original introduction by Henri Nouwen remains, but has now been supplemented by an excellent 13-page introduction by Palmer.

As I read Palmer’s introduction on the eve of the Anglican Lambeth gathering, I couldn’t help think of the importance and relevance of Palmer’s notion of paradox and the Christian life. I want to a paragraph and a few additional lines of text. This sets the tone of the book.

Palmer writes [with an addition by me]:

“ …The capacity to embrace true paradoxes is more than an intellectual skill for holding complex thoughts. It is a life skill for holding complex experiences. Take for example our encounter with “the other,” with the person who sees a different reality from ours because he or she stands in a different place. To some extent, the other contradicts not only our thoughts but also our lives, and that can be threatening. If we lack the capacity to allow this to segue into a paradox – a both-and that has the potential to open our minds and hearts to something new – we will most likely fall back on our hard-wired “fight or flight” response. But if we understand the promise of paradox, our encounters with “the other” have the potential to make our world larger, more generous and more helpful…

If we are willing to “hang in there” with a country, a colleague… a child [or a fellow Anglican with a different understanding of Biblical interpretation, sexual ethics, truth, and orthodoxy] – holding the unresolved tension between reality and possibility and inviting something new into being – we have a chance to participate in the evolution of a better reality…” (Pp. xxx-xxxi).

The Best on Benedict: A Selection of Papal Biographies

Paul writes – With Benedict XVI in Australia next week, I noted that TIMESONLINE have an interesting selection of biographies on Pope Benedict XVI. Catholic Herald editor Luke Coppen chooses his “Top 5”. I haven’t read his choices 2 through 5, but having read most of his selection for the number 1 spot I agree with his thoughts:

1.           Tracey Rowland: Ratzinger's Faith: The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI, Oxford University Press – An acute and sympathetic study by an Australian academic. The perfect introduction to the ideas of Joseph Ratzinger.

2.           Aidan Nichols: The Thought of Benedict XVI: an Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger…

Mission-Shaped Books – 78 Way markers on my journey into Reimagining Church and Mission

Paul writes - Andrew Jones (a.k.a Tall Skinny Kiwi) recently listed his top books and has previously listed his “Top 50”. I’d thought I’d list my top 78, with the top NZ and Australian authored books in this post. The full 78 are listed in the attached PDF at the bottom of this post.

Are there any books not on the list that have been important to you…?

1.      Taylor, Steve, The Out of Bounds Church? Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change, Grand Rapids: Zondervan / Youth Specialities, 2005.

2.      Riddell, Mike; Mark Pierson, and Cathy Kirkpatrick, The Prodigal Project: Journey into the Emerging Church, London: SPCK, 2000.

3.      Riddell, Mike, Threshold of the Future: Reforming Church in the Post-Christian West, London: SPCK, 1998.

4.      Jamieson, Alan, A Churchless Faith: Faith Journeys Beyond Evangelical, Pentecostal & Charismatic Churches, Wellington: Philip Garside Publishing Ltd, 2000.

5.      Holt, Simon Carey, God Next Door: Spirituality and Mission in the Neighbourhood, Brunswick East: Acorn Press, 2007.

Download paul_fromont_mission_shaped_books_waymarkers_on_my_journey_into_reimagining_church_and_mission.pdf

The Next Book in Eugene Peterson’s “Spiritual Theology” series – “Tell it Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers

Paul writes – the next installment (the fourth book) of Eugene Peterson’s five books on Spiritual Theology is due out at the end of September this year - Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers. It can be pre-ordered here.

Again, as with other titles in this series, one imagines that it first started out as a course taught by Peterson while he was the James Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College, Vancouver (more on the College, here). The course was titled: ‘“Tell It Slant”: the Parables as Spiritual Direction.’ The syllabus (PDF) can be found here.

“…Just as God used words both to create the world and to give us commandments, we too use words for many different purposes. In fact, we use the same language to talk to each other and to talk to God. Can our everyday speech, then, be just as important as the words and prayers we hear from the pulpit? Eugene Peterson unequivocally says, “Yes!”

Tell It Slant explores how Jesus used language — he was earthy, not abstract; metaphorical, not dogmatic.

Part 1 focuses on Jesus’ words in everyday contexts — his teachings to the crowds, the stories he told, [and] his conversations with his disciples. Part 2 shifts the focus to Jesus’ prayers — the words he spoke to God the Father…”

The first in the series was Christ plays in Ten Thousand Places. It’s sad to see copies of this series languishing on shelves in a Christian bookshop in the city. It’s a fantastic series.

Jonny Baker Reflects on Alan’s latest book – Chrysalis

Paul writes – Jonny Baker reflects on fellow “ProdigalKiwi” Alan Jamieson’s latest book, Chrysalis: The Hidden Transformation in the Journey of Faith (part of the "Faith in an Emerging Culture" series. I quote Jonny (virtually) in full, with capitals included [winking]. Emphasis is mine. Jonny writes:

“Alan has written several books offering commentary on and research on church leavers. He has made the case that the journey they are on is valid and in some cases leaving church may even be essential to move on in their growth. I think his work has been very important both to help people in that space and to help churches understand the different journeys people can be on.

Chrysalis is in the same area but it is a book aimed at the individual in that space of transformation on the journey of faith. It is a thin book ([168pp] / always a plus as far as I am concerned) and is absolutely wonderful. When I originally had the manuscript I immediately gave it away to some people who I could see were exactly in the space it was talking about.

I don't quite know why but I have become an endorser of books - I’m really not sure what value it has or what it means but anyway I am usually glad to oblige particularly if it is someone I know and a book I am enthusiastic about. I gave rather a long endorsement of this one so here it is by way of a review...

Chrysalis is a wonderful book that will help many people on their journey of faith. There are many who come to a stage of Christian faith where what once sustained them has grown dry and lifeless. No amount of trying harder seems to improve things. This can be a confusing lonely experience and resources to help people in that space are hard to find. Chrysalis is a gift to the person in this place offering some signposts or a roadmap and encouragement for the difficult journey. This is a process many travellers have been on before, is normal and leads to transformation into a different kind of experience of faith.

Reflecting on “Lady in the Water”

Paul writes – Len Hjalmarson reflected recently on M. Night Shyamalan’s (often poorly reviewed) 2006 movie Lady in the Water (105 mins). Is the central metaphor "baptism" when the movie is considered through the eyes of Cleveland Heep...?

It was a movie that I hadn’t seen, so I got it out of the video-shop for a watch. Like Pan’s Labyrinth it could be described as a “fairytale”.

Len writes of the central character – Story – in the following way:

“…STORY reveals meaning, and also restores memory. She releases imagination, and thus enables a new future… And in the process an entire community discovers meaning and purpose. A group of individuals who had no apparent connection suddenly begin to act as a body…

STORY helps unveil a symbolic and sacred world that is often hidden below the surface…” 

What struck me was the communal nature of meaning-making, the unfolding nature of reveal~ation – the process by which meaning is arrived at;  the ways in which stories are enlarged and enriched by the incorporation of diversely gifted others, and the means by which we are healed freed to become more fully human.

Several other points stood out for me:

1.           This movie reminds us of the importance of needing to enter into (and enabling others to do so too) the stories and questions that are unfolding in our own lives, the lives of others and the life of a community (of persons). Somehow in that process, the process of becoming part of a bigger story, we and others are transformed – new possibilities emerge. As STORY’s (the central character – a “Narf” from the “blue world”) predicament reaches out beyond apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep (brilliantly played by Paul Giamatti), others are drawn into it. The possibilities become richer and more complex.

2.           It reminds us of the importance of inter-dependence, of learning to trust others and the gifts, experience and competencies that they bring to the “mix”. 

3.           It reminds us of the presence and importance of mystery in our lives; mystery being such a central part of the Christian story (see for example this post from Simon Carey Holt)

4.           It reminds us that sometimes in welcoming a stranger we welcome and “angel” (a messenger from God).

5.           Pastorally and relationally it reminds us to be ever-sensitive to dark stories of loss and tragedy that people carry around in them (Story’s discovery of Cleveland Heep’s journal (and thus his past) illustrates this reality well. So often we never get below the surface of people’s lives and the masks and practices they hide themselves behind.

Surprised by Joseph Ratzinger (a.k.a. Pope Benedict XVI)

Paul writes – A surprising “voice” in my recent reflection on missional and ecclesial communities (e.g. nu-monasticism, nu-mendicant orders (see for example The New Friar’s by Scott Bessenecker) is Pope Benedict XVI.

Several weeks ago I popped into our local Catholic Church and borrowed from their library a copy of the slender New Outpourings of the Spirit: Movements in the Church (140pp / pub. 2007) by Benedict XVI. Benedict, in this little book, helpfully reminds me of the larger historical framework within which many of us grapple with questions of mission and church in our own contemporary contexts.

The volume comprises two parts and predates Ratzinger’s elevation to the Papacy. The first is a lecture (Church Movements and their Place in Theology – delivered in 1998) which overviews ecclesial movements and new communities within the Roman Catholic Church, e.g. monasticism, the Franciscan’s, Jesuit’s etc. They are described by new and welcome  "outpourings of the Spirit". The central theme is the relationship between the established (in this case “the local church”) and the new (new “ecclesial movements”). Of equal importance for Ratzinger is the role of the Pope in relation to both. In Anglican contexts you could easily substitute “Pope” for “Bishop” and retain the sense of connection with the tradition that Ratzinger emphasizes. Another of his themes is “Christology and Pneumatology”. 

The second part of the book is different from the first, but complements the first part. It contains the dialogue of Cardinal Ratzinger with a large group of Bishops from all continents, convened together for a seminar on the topic, The Ecclesial Movements in the Pastoral Concern of the Bishops held in Rome in 1999.The dialogue touches on keys topics such as the relation between the old and the new charisms, the institutional dimension and the charismatic dimension of the Church, and the Church's mission in a non-Christian society.

The Insatiable Moon

Paul writes – The Insatiable Moon is a wonderful novel written by Mike Riddell and published in 1997. Mike has, over a number of years, written the screenplay for the movie The Insatiable Moon which I do hope finds funding and does get made. It’s a NZ story, BUT in the same way that Whale Rider was, it is a universal story – one that will cross boundaries and speak to the deeper questions of what it means to be human and what it means to be community.

It is a beautiful story set on the margins amongst a group of people often ‘invisible’ to the many of us middle-class and upper-class, getting on with our lives. To the degree that these people remain invisible; to that degree we will struggle to find God…Insatiable Moon is a novel (and will be a movie) that opens us to the wonder of mystery and the mystery of humanity centered on Arthur, who just might be “the second son of God…”

The Formational Work of Christian Liturgy

Paul writes – There are some good books around on the subject of Christian liturgy. It’s an important topic.

Good liturgy (especially when multi-sensory alt.worship gets to provide content) lures us through our senses, grounds us in the great Christian tradition, and locates us in an unfolding story centred of God revealed in Jesus, and God’s intentions for all creation. In many ways, good liturgical content weaves into itself “five-acts” which Tom Wright describes in the following way:

“…(1) Creation; (2) Fall; (3) Israel; (4) Jesus.  The New Testament would then form the first scene in the fifth act, giving hints as well (Rom 8; 1 Car 15; parts of the Apocalypse) of how the play is supposed to end.  The church would then live under the ‘authority’ of the extant story, being required to offer something between an improvisation and an actual performance of the final act…”

All that to say that Mark Galli has a new book out - Beyond Smells and Bells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy. For Galli, the shape of the liturgy is understood as centering on four liturgical actions: Here’s an excerpt:

“…Though different traditions divide the Sunday service in different ways with different terms, one common way is to think of the service, and the story it embodies, as having four “acts”: Gathering, Word, Sacrament, Dismissal. As we proceed, we’ll see that the story is richer than this simple outline, because the liturgy contains a story within a story. It tells a story. It enacts a story. It is an episode in an unfolding story. But these four acts are at the heart of the larger story told within the liturgy…”

More information can be found on the publisher’s site. Contents page, introduction and chapter 1 can be found as a PDF document here.

Lars, Becoming, and When Love Comes to Town

Paul writes – A Christian … spirituality is a spirituality of liberation and transformation centred on Jesus Christ. It is a Spirituality (i.e. Spirit work) of becoming increasing free and alive as one becomes more fully and deeply human. It is a spirituality of becoming free in order to love and be loved. 

“Jesus came to redeem us, to give us faith in his Father’s love so that we do not need to assert ourselves and our innocence and our rightness, so that we can relax and confess the truth about ourselves, so that we can stop judging ourselves and others, because we know that it doesn’t matter: God loves us anyway, so that we are liberated enough to risk being vulnerable to others – liberated enough to risk loving and being loved by others...”[1]

Suzanne Zuercher (author of Enneagram Spirituality: From Compulsion to Contemplation, and most recently, Using the Enneagram in Prayer: A Contemplative Guide) was recently asked in an interview:  “…What is our original sin?”

“It is believing ourselves to be unlovable and unloved so that we have to [hide and] defend ourselves against a hostile world.”

I was much struck by the theme expressed in the first paragraph as, with a good and wise friend, I watched the wonderful little movie Lars and the Real Girl yesterday. I was struck by the transformative nature of love. I was struck by the way love enables a community (including the local Lutheran church) to enfold Lars and his ‘girlfriend’ in a love that was creative, wise, transformative and healing. I was struck by the rarity of such communities (and churches). I was struck by the way in which love (expressed in so many simple and small ways) enables ones deepest self and humanity to emerge and flourish as ‘winter’ (enclosure) gives way to ‘spring’ (openness to (new) life).

Lars and the Real Girl is a slow movie, but so then is a Christian Spirituality of liberation and transformation centered on Jesus Christ, this journey (into love) from unfreedom to increasing freedom (the lowering and removal of ones defense mechanisms e.g. masks, flight (from others and invitations), delusion, multiple layers (e.g. in Lars and the Real Girl – multiple layers of clothes), and compulsions). This work of transformation is so often the cumulative and hopeful work of small steps, small responses (to grace), and small actions that embody and enact ones willingness to both let love in, and to reach out and extend love.

Lars and the Real Girl is a movie to watch with good friends. It is a movie for (thoughtful, reflective) mens groups to watch. It is a movie, like As it is In Heaven, and The Spiritfire Grill that churches should watch, reflect on, talk about and creatively explore ways of enacting (for the sake of both the church and the world) what they sense of God’s invitations in all three…

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[1]    Herbert McCabe OP (d.28 June 2001), Faith Within Reason edited and introduced by Brian Davies OP, Continuum International Publishing, 2007, p.39. Surely too this “being liberated to give and receive love” lies at the heart of St.Ignatius’ Contemplation on the Love of God at the conclusion of Week 4 of The Spiritual Exercises. Reflect on the following “love response” to God in the light of themes discussed in this workshop and captured in descriptors like “loved”, “liberation”, and “freedom”: “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will – all that I have and call my own. You have given it all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me.” (David L. Fleming S.J. Draw Me Into Your Friendship: The Spiritual Exercises – a literal translation and a contemporary reading, St Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996, p. 177.