Thank you, Benedict...

Way back in the fifth century, a monk named Benedict developed guidelines for his monastic community and The Rule of Benedict has been in use ever since. Benedict offered a way of listening to God in a safe, faith-filled community where like-minded believers may learn to practice the disciplines of prayer, healthy relationships, and good works. Over the years, many have followed Benedict’s suggestions.

Here comes Crafting a Rule of Life by Stephen A. Macchia, published by InterVarsity Press (ivpress.com), and offering a contemporary approach, adapting St. Benedict’s Rule to our cultural situations today. This material could be used personally or in a group and it includes workbook pages so readers may begin to compose their own rule as they study how to do it.

Macchia suggests that a rule is like a trellis that supports and guides a plant as it grows. A rule could help us as we grow into the plants/people God wants us to be. Most of us probably don’t realize that we have a rule we live by without knowing it as our rule. It consists of what we do each day—our personal schedule. Maybe it is haphazard, thrown together by the circumstances of our lives. But maybe, suggests Macchia, it is time to give up that circumstantial rule and take time to sit down and prayerfully write a new personal rule, one that "more closely matches the heartbeat of God."

His book has three parts and the key words in the titles are: framing, forming, and fulfilling (Your Personal Rule of Life). In the framing section he looks at roles, gifts, desires, vision, and mission. Each chapter includes a guiding principle, a biblical reflection, historical insight, some questions to answer as we think of what might be a part of our rule, some prayer requests, and ideas for group discussion.

Part Two, Forming...includes chapters on time, trust, temple, treasure, and talent and concludes with a chart for readers to fill in as they are "weaving together" their personal rule of life.

Part Three, Fulfilling Your Personal Rule of Life, considers commitment to the Body of Christ and the context of a spiritual community. Macchia offers resources including information on communities who are using a communal rule of life now, a suggested reading list on some in church history who lived in a communal situation, and the examples of four individuals who have recently been crafting their own rule of life. Among the latter are a college student, a young mom, a ministry leader, and a business person. Here are many ideas to consider as we follow Benedict’s way but with our own Rule of Life.

—Lois Sibley

Four From Morehouse

Probably the most interesting and immediately helpful facts for those who are learning to blog or use other digital media, as I am, will be found in Click 2 Save, the Digital Ministry Bible by Elizabeth Drescher & Keith Anderson. The Glossary in the back is one of the most helpful charts I’ve seen lately. But there is practical and useful info on every page. The authors note that the world is now a very different place than it was before being reshaped by all the new social media around us. What does that mean for you and your church? And how will you and your church involve yourselves in these new opportunities as we continue to "tell the old, old story?" Surely, you will want to! This book will help you begin. 　

Cooking for a Healthy Church provides easy and nutritious recipes collected by members of The Episcopal Church Medical Trust. Besides the recipes, they include nutritional guidelines, stories, and prayers. To balance carbohydrates, fats, and protein, each recipe notes the grams and calories in each dish, as well as total calories. They suggest that we should take in 40 percent of our calories from carbohydrates, 30 percent from protein, and 30 percent from fat. Recipes are listed in separate chapters on breakfast, lunch, appetizers, side dishes, dinner, desserts, coffee hour, and potluck. Cinnamon-Baked Squash sounds good, or how about Sweet Potato Soup? Or Blueberry Banana Muffins? Yum... 　

 In Family Theology, Finding God in Very Human Relationships, Carol J. Gallagher is bringing together Bible stories with stories of everyday people and their families. She calls it an "invitation to tears and laughter, to storytelling and self-revelation." Gallagher is a priest who has served as a bishop and as a teacher in seminaries. She is also a Native-American woman who loves and lives in her Cherokee tradition alongside her belief in the Triune God. She hopes her book will encourage readers to "wrestle with the Scriptures," and "invite the Creator within."
　

For some reason, I hadn’t thought of the priesthood as a craft, but Barney Hawkins, priest and seminary professor, calls us to reflect on the craft of priesthood, and the etiquette and ethics that inform that craft. His book is called Episcopal Etiquette & Ethics, Living the Craft of Priesthood in the Episcopal Church. As Hawkins thinks over his years as priest and its ups and downs, he is often quotable. I will try to restrain myself and not quote him but I do hope that every priest and his/her spouse will take time to read this book. You will be glad you did.
　

—Lois Sibley
　

Brother Cadfael Calls Me Away...

Brother Cadfael is tempting me to read again the 20 mysteries by amazing author Ellis Peters. I was caught by a beautiful book called The Benediction of Brother Cadfael. It’s not new but is introductory to Peters’ series on Brother Cadfael and his involvement in mysteries in and around the abbey and the town of Shrewsbury in the twelfth century. It includes the first two books in the series but between them is a wonderful chapter with photos and the history of "Cadfael Country," in Shropshire and along the border with Wales. I was caught, couldn’t resist for awhile. But I will put it aside as a treat for other moments....

The book I really want to review today is The Food and Feasts of Jesus by Douglas E. Neel and Joel A. Pugh and published by Rowman & Littlefield (www.rowman.com). These authors love to cook, though one is a CPA and one is an Episcopal priest. They believe "there is much to be gained by studying the connections between food, culture, and history."

Many of the meals described in the gospels are plain and simple, though some were banquets and feasts. Jesus ate often with his disciples, and sometimes with local authorities or sometimes with the ordinary people of Galilee. Those meals included discussions, even arguments. "Food and feasting were important to Jews, Christians, Romans, Greeks, and everyone else of the first century," write Neel and Pugh. They claim that "in studying food and customs, we may gain historical, cultural, and theological insight."

Food and feasting were times of community in those days, as they are today. Common meals meant community for all who attended. Think of the Eucharist and our weekly attending, listening, sharing, praying, receiving the bread and wine together. Is that community? I think so.

Chapter 2 tells us of first-century ingredients and cooking methods. The authors list foods that were available, including grains and legumes; vegetables; fruits; nuts; meat, poultry, game and fish; milk products; and herbs, spices and condiments. Wines and vinegars were used, as well as honey, "the primary sweetener in the ancient world." Salt was common, and olive oil the fat that was used. Meat was a luxury and a blessing. Diet consisted mostly of whole grains and legumes, and bread was served at every meal probably, with fruits and vegetables in season.

Chapters that follow begin with a few Scripture verses describing one of the meals or feasts common at the time. Each then tells how to plan that kind of meal with a menu and recipes so that readers may try it on their own. Hmmm, just reading it makes me hungry.

Chapter 8 has a supplement offering directions for a first-century Passover feast for those who would like to try that. In the final chapter, Neel and Pugh tell how they spent years making wine, cheese, and breads; how they studied farming and cooking; how they held first-century banquets and Passover feasts for family and friends. Now they encourage readers to join the feast, create their own first-century feast. Invite friends, get neighbors and church groups involved. "Your feast doesn’t have to be fancy." It just needs to be "an offering of generosity and hospitality."

---Lois Sibley

Time to Read a Classic...Again

If I asked you "which book has been published more and read more widely than any other, except for the Bible," would you know the answer? That book is called The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis. A new selection in Paraclete's GIANTS series (www.paracletepress.com ($29.99), this edition, titled The Complete Imitation of  Christ includes translation and commentary by Fr. John-Julian, OJN, founder of the Order of Julian of Norwich and author of another in the GIANTS series, the one on Julian, of course.

Thomas Kempis (1380–1471), as Fr. John-Julian prefers to call him, was a medieval monk who founded several monasteries in Europe and wrote 31 books, treatises and articles, as well as several biographies.

Fr. John-Julian’s introduction to this 456-page paperback is very informative as he describes how Kempis’s Imitation began and grew. He notes that as early as 1410—1415 pieces and copies of the writings of various monks, began to come together and were shared from one monastery to another. There were many years of controversy over who wrote which part of The Imitation, but by 1441, the first verified autograph manuscript, was signed as "by the hand of Thomas Kempis," a monk of Mount St. Agnes monastery near Zwolle in the Netherlands..

Fr. John-Julian’s translation is based on the first printed edition (1471) and he compared it with the 1441 edition but made few corrections. On each left-hand page of each chapter, he provides interesting comments and biblical references, which I found very helpful to have beside the poetic text on the right-hand page. He gives detailed endnotes on each chapter and a full bibliography, as well as a time line of the medieval church in Europe, from 1260–1471. He also includes a page on how "Notable Readers of The Imitation" responded to it.

The main body of the text is divided into four books, each book having several chapters. I like best the chapters in the fourth book, beginning with "Of Christ Speaking Inwardly to the Faithful Soul." There are imagined speeches and conversations between God and the soul, just as we might imagine today. I can definitely see why so many people like to keep this book by their beds, and often read a few pages before they go to sleep. I think I will try it, too.

Lois Sibley

Popular Culture and Each of Us!

We live in it, work in it, experience it all around us—the culture in which we live and move and have our being, the place where God has placed us! How do we cope with it? How do we critique it? Do we need to critique it?


In his new book, Pop ologetics, Popular Culture in Christian Perspective, (P&R, $19.95, www.prpbooks.com) Ted Turnau says, "Yes, we do." For many reasons. We need to help our children understand what is good or bad about the movie they are watching, the video games they are playing, the book they are reading, music they are listening to, whatever.

We need to examine and critique popular culture for our own attitudes about it. We need to look at it from our worldview or basic beliefs, as we consider how to take part in many of the opportunities in our culture. And we need to be ready to talk with our friends and neighbors about those same opportunities and experiences. Popular culture is all around us and it "has the power to influence our beliefs," says Turnau.

Turnau, who has studied popular culture for many years and who teaches cultural and religious studies at two universities in Europe, says he wrote it not for scholars, but for "thoughtful, everyday Christians," who are interested in serious reflection. He notes that his book is "for all who are interested in considering non-Christian popular culture from a Christian perspective"; and for those who would like to be able to discuss and present "intelligent, biblical answers back to worldviews presented in popular culture."

In Part 2, Turnau critiques five different Christian worldviews that have responded to popular culture but perhaps not in the most helpful ways.

In Part 3, he offers what he hopes is a more "balanced approach" with suggestions and how-tos on how to listen, read, or watch elements of popular culture. He says that popular culture "threatens to press us into its God-rejecting mold," and we must resist "by engaging and wrestling with it, we must respond with a Spirit-guided Christian-critical imagination."

Turnau offers ways to practice critiquing popular culture, including five questions we might use in learning to critique some aspects of the popular culture. He suggests conversations with friends and family members as ways to discuss the good and bad in the culture and how we might respond to it. Another way is to host group discussion nights with friends. And, of course, talk with your children, and share opinions with them.

There is a huge amount of material to digest here. If you read this book, you will be thinking about it for a long time. No doubt, it will help you follow St. Peter’s advice to "always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence (NRSV)."

—Lois Sibley

God is near and we need to notice!

Sometimes in the midst of our distractions we may wonder: where is God in all of this? Richard Peace, professor at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California, in his new book, Noticing God, (IVPress, $15, books.ivpress.com) offers answers as he calls us to notice God’s presence and activity in our lives every day.

Peace says that we may find God in mystical encounters; in the ordinary; in the still, small voice; in the power of community; in the written word; in creation, culture and creativity; and in church. These are his chapter titles and he guides the reader, offering his thinking on how we may discern God’s presence, both in all God has created and in our own corner of the world; and how we may know God’s voice in our lives.

In his chapter on mystical encounters, Peace reminds us of C.S. Lewis’s explanation of a deep longing that no experience in this world can satisfy, and Peace thinks that many of us have felt such a longing. He calls it "brushes with God." And he asks, "If we have such experiences, what did they teach us? What was God telling us? What did God want us to do then?"

Peace also says we need a God of ordinary life and in chapter two he discusses how we may come to know God in daily life. He writes about spiritual disciplines and practices such as the prayer of examen or, as Ignatius called it, "examination of conscience." He also explains Ignatian contemplation and spiritual exercises.

In chapter three, Peace recommends retreats. We must listen to God, and a retreat may be the right place for us to sit quietly and listen to God’s still, small voice.

In the chapter on the power of community, and Peace reminds readers of St. Benedict and his Rule. The first word in the Rule is "Listen...." Benedict taught that the presence of God is everywhere, and two spiritual practices to make us aware of that are the use of the daily offices of prayer and lectio divina. Benedict also taught the importance of hospitality and that Christ is to be met in other people.

On the written word, Peace discusses how the Bible helps us notice God, how it serves as an avenue to God and how we access the written Word in ways that lead to God. In the Bible, we meet Jesus. In this chapter, Peace gives more detail about the process of lectio divina. It is a process of four steps: reading or listening, meditating, praying, and contemplation. Peace says, "the Bible is the primary means by which we encounter the voice of God."

There are two more chapters and more good stuff in this book. Peace offers his Conclusion and A Guide to Personal Reflection and Group Discussion, as well as a good list for further reading, and extensive notes on each chapter.

As Dr. Peace tells us: "God is near. He is not hiding. We don’t know where to look or what to expect. We need to learn to notice." This book helps us do that.

—Lois Sibley

Give Me a Word...

It's summertime, time to pack for a few days of vacation. What shall I bring to read? When I'm sitting by the water catching some rays, or on the porch of the cabin in the shade, what do I want to think about, learn more about during this quiet time I cherish? What would you choose?

Maybe something about meditation or spiritual direction? Maybe you already have a spiritual
friend, someone with whom you meet once a month and talk and pray through your concerns. It's a great blessing to have a friend like that. I know.

But, if you are interested in learning more about spiritual direction, perhaps you have questions such as: how is it done, how does one find a spiritual director, how much time is involved, how does one open up to a director one hardly knows? And you may have many more questions besides these.

A new book on the market called Abba, give me a word, the path of spiritual direction by L. Roger Owens (Paraclete, $15.99, http://www.paracletepress.com/) might be just the one to add to your Nook or Kindle or whatever you use. It is also a real book that will fit easily into your carry-on or suitcase.

Owens thinks of his book as an "introduction to the practice of receiving spiritual direction," and he shares his experiences of "finding the God who has been there all along," while he learns to "live well in the mansion that is God's love."

His director, Larry, reminds him of Mr. Rogers (because he sits down and takes off his shoes before they begin to pray) but Larry always seem to have the appropriate comment or question for Owens to think about and apply to his situation.

After his introduction, Owens' chapter titles are: Longing (for God), Finding, Releasing, Offering (ourselves), Trusting, Attending, and finally, Go Well.

He quotes from the Scriptures, the Desert Fathers and Mothers, St. Benedict, Thomas Merton, Kenneth Leech, Denise Levertov, Margaret Guenther, Henri Nouwen, Parker Palmer, Julian of Norwich, and others. Even Dr. Seuss gets a word or two in.

I just finished reading this book and found it helpful and interesting, funny and wise.

---Lois Sibley