It is a new year and there is much talk once again about resolutions. A resolution by its very nature requires the act of commitment. For most of us commitments do not come easy. Commitment calls for discipline, and with discipline comes a willing sacrifice... a letting go of what was in order to embrace what is or will be.
My husband James and I have been a Benedictine oblates since 2002. Every year the community of which we are a part asks us to renew our commitment by supporting the Benedictine charism -- to seek God in community and to respond in prayer and ministry. They also choose a corporate commitment which they as well as the oblates follow: We commit ourselves to be a healing presence
and prophetic witness for peace by working for sustainability and justice especially for women and children. This yearly pilgrimage is an opportunity to renew my relationship with the community and re-examine the values which are shaping my Gospel living.
If you are wondering who oblates are... Oblates of St. Benedict are Christian men and women from all traditions, all walks of life who choose to associate themselves with a Benedictine community in order to strengthen, nurture and enrich their relationship with Christ. "Oblation" means offering. Oblates seek to offer themselves fully to Christ and to the body of Christ by pondering the words of Scripture more deeply as well as the wisdom found in the Rule of St. Benedict. By these means oblates discover ever anew that God calls us to holiness of life and that the Benedictine community can be instruments of God’s grace in their vocation to become holy in the world. Oblates continue to live in their own respective communities while they strive eagerly to live out the values of the Gospel.
In these past seven years commitment has become a spiritual discipline that guides me in my life not only as a disciple but as a pastor. I have found that commitment seems to inspire fear and anxiety in the Church. We try all sorts of gimmicks in order to get people to commit to “just being present” for worship, a Bible study, a fellowship dinner, even for prayer ... Why is it so easy for us to commit ourselves to everything but being a part of what God is doing in our midst?
I have not had any possible answers to this question until James and I have become involved with the Mount and proceeded to becoming Oblates. Seeking God in community and responding in prayer and ministry is a gift of God’s grace offered to the world. Those who receive this gift of grace realize that it is only in community we get a glimpse of our true identity as human beings created by a God of love, justice and peace. Being a part of community that is formed by love, justice and peace requires serious commitment.
Seeking God in community involves worship, prayer, fellowship, solitude, tithing, fasting, surrender, forgiveness, ... Seeking God in community challenges one to go deeper to the darkness that lurks within and expose it to the light of Christ. The light of Christ shines with the power of resurrection and brings transformation. It is not magic... it is a day-to-day journey that takes a lifetime. My daily meditation I repeat everyday comes from Thomas Kempis, "Everyday we should renew our resolve to live a holy life and everyday we should kindle ourselves to a burning love, just as if today were the first day of our new life in Jesus Christ."
We become members of church communities not because they are one more club to join, but because we have made a commitment to follow Jesus. We want to be his disciples, to journey along his footsteps, not alone but with others. We acknowledge that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, is more than a great teacher, a prophet, or a guru. We believe that he is the Incarnate God. We know that our profession of God, Jesus and the Spirit as one is a mystery which we share in real time. It is not that we check out our minds at the door, so that we can believe in impossible things. We have experienced the Risen Christ in our lives. We know the power of resurrection bringing new life from death and destruction ... We know that our faith in this mystery is the real thing! It is the only thing!
Through our commitment we understand that the kingdom of God which Jesus boldly declares to be at hand is right here, right now. We can smell, taste and experience this kingdom. Its life is so radically different, revolutionary yet rudimentary at the same time that we are eager to be defined by its standards. We are eager to be its witnesses.
Annie Dillard reminds us that faith, "crucially, is not assenting intellectually to a series of doctrinal propositions; it is living in conscious and rededicated relationship to God." What would happen if we have all made a commitment to seek God at a deeper level in our church communities and respond in prayer and ministry? My reply... an authentic community of Jesus -- where no one needs to hide who they are, where deep prayers are uttered and all are encouraged to speak in their own, true voice, where challenges are embraced, hard questions asked, where disagreements are not swept under the rug, where forgiveness is practiced.
I yearn for us to know ourselves as Christ's own, true, resurrected body... and act out that knowing in a way that is recognizable in the world. Not just doing good, but being Christ. I yearn for us to be in love with God and with each other. Are these mere fantasies? No. I know that I know that I know...
It is in a conscious and continually rededicated relationship to community that we will maintain, often week by week and minute by minute, a conscious and rededicated relationship to God. Our common life teaches us what it means to be the body of Christ in the world. It is through commitment of living our faith in the community we learn that our relationship with God is nurtured and often carried by our relationships with other people. In our commitment to relationship with God and one another, we are not our own. We belong to the One who calls us to lives of love and service: Jesus, who is the Christ.
May your New Year resolutions invite you to commitment no strings attached!
If you are wondering who oblates are... Oblates of St. Benedict are Christian men and women from all traditions, all walks of life who choose to associate themselves with a Benedictine community in order to strengthen, nurture and enrich their relationship with Christ. "Oblation" means offering. Oblates seek to offer themselves fully to Christ and to the body of Christ by pondering the words of Scripture more deeply as well as the wisdom found in the Rule of St. Benedict. By these means oblates discover ever anew that God calls us to holiness of life and that the Benedictine community can be instruments of God’s grace in their vocation to become holy in the world. Oblates continue to live in their own respective communities while they strive eagerly to live out the values of the Gospel.
In these past seven years commitment has become a spiritual discipline that guides me in my life not only as a disciple but as a pastor. I have found that commitment seems to inspire fear and anxiety in the Church. We try all sorts of gimmicks in order to get people to commit to “just being present” for worship, a Bible study, a fellowship dinner, even for prayer ... Why is it so easy for us to commit ourselves to everything but being a part of what God is doing in our midst?
I have not had any possible answers to this question until James and I have become involved with the Mount and proceeded to becoming Oblates. Seeking God in community and responding in prayer and ministry is a gift of God’s grace offered to the world. Those who receive this gift of grace realize that it is only in community we get a glimpse of our true identity as human beings created by a God of love, justice and peace. Being a part of community that is formed by love, justice and peace requires serious commitment.
Seeking God in community involves worship, prayer, fellowship, solitude, tithing, fasting, surrender, forgiveness, ... Seeking God in community challenges one to go deeper to the darkness that lurks within and expose it to the light of Christ. The light of Christ shines with the power of resurrection and brings transformation. It is not magic... it is a day-to-day journey that takes a lifetime. My daily meditation I repeat everyday comes from Thomas Kempis, "Everyday we should renew our resolve to live a holy life and everyday we should kindle ourselves to a burning love, just as if today were the first day of our new life in Jesus Christ."
We become members of church communities not because they are one more club to join, but because we have made a commitment to follow Jesus. We want to be his disciples, to journey along his footsteps, not alone but with others. We acknowledge that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, is more than a great teacher, a prophet, or a guru. We believe that he is the Incarnate God. We know that our profession of God, Jesus and the Spirit as one is a mystery which we share in real time. It is not that we check out our minds at the door, so that we can believe in impossible things. We have experienced the Risen Christ in our lives. We know the power of resurrection bringing new life from death and destruction ... We know that our faith in this mystery is the real thing! It is the only thing!
Through our commitment we understand that the kingdom of God which Jesus boldly declares to be at hand is right here, right now. We can smell, taste and experience this kingdom. Its life is so radically different, revolutionary yet rudimentary at the same time that we are eager to be defined by its standards. We are eager to be its witnesses.
Annie Dillard reminds us that faith, "crucially, is not assenting intellectually to a series of doctrinal propositions; it is living in conscious and rededicated relationship to God." What would happen if we have all made a commitment to seek God at a deeper level in our church communities and respond in prayer and ministry? My reply... an authentic community of Jesus -- where no one needs to hide who they are, where deep prayers are uttered and all are encouraged to speak in their own, true voice, where challenges are embraced, hard questions asked, where disagreements are not swept under the rug, where forgiveness is practiced.
I yearn for us to know ourselves as Christ's own, true, resurrected body... and act out that knowing in a way that is recognizable in the world. Not just doing good, but being Christ. I yearn for us to be in love with God and with each other. Are these mere fantasies? No. I know that I know that I know...
It is in a conscious and continually rededicated relationship to community that we will maintain, often week by week and minute by minute, a conscious and rededicated relationship to God. Our common life teaches us what it means to be the body of Christ in the world. It is through commitment of living our faith in the community we learn that our relationship with God is nurtured and often carried by our relationships with other people. In our commitment to relationship with God and one another, we are not our own. We belong to the One who calls us to lives of love and service: Jesus, who is the Christ.
May your New Year resolutions invite you to commitment no strings attached!
