"This is, as I said and believe, a book about Heaven, but I must say too that it has been a close call. For I have wondered sometimes if it would would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell..."
Just finished reading Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. This is the life story of J. Crow who is forced as a child to grow up in an orphanage in 1920's Tennessee. He spends his entire life within a small radius, but mostly in the small town of Port William. Following the orphanage Jayber Crow finds himself in seminary where he wrestles with hard questions of faith and God. In a conversation with a New Testament professor, Crow sets out on a life-long pursuit of finding out how God is working in the world.
Crow ends up as the bachelor barber of Port Williams. He finds himself at home in this small town where things move and change slowly. The book is about Crow observing and pondering the changes that happen through the decades. He sees the old ways of living, saving, farming and business change. He watches families in disputes. He sees friends come and go. He falls in love with Mattie Chatham. The only problem with this love... she's already married. Crow holds his feelings inside for decades, never betraying his feelings even during occasional meetings in the woods.
Through the novel Berry critiques the "progress" of the 20th century. Berry criticizes the industrialization of the world and of farming. The Economy and The War are the two forces which Jayber sees working against his little town. He sees people repeatedly sacrificed for The War and sees numerous townsfolk fall under the pressure of The Economy.
This story reminded me of stories from my Grandpa growing up on a Depression farm. I thought of how I've seen my own world transformed for the sake of The Economy. I remember my Grandma Ulm's house torn down to be replaced by a corporate building. The hill we always would go sledding on in Ohio was turned into a drainage pond a few years ago to accommodate the new housing development going in place of a farm.
Ultimately I think this story is about the importance of being rooted in a place and thinking critically about what "progress" does to the world around us. Things change. What we need to consider is how technology, inventions, The War and The Economy shape the world in which we live.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture
It's been a while since I've posted anything. I've had a number of other projects taking up time as well as less time to read with two growing boys at home. Recently I read a book that had been on my "Books to Read" list for a while. The Wisdom of Stability by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a tough book. It's not a hard read, but the implications are very counter-cultural.
If you're not familiar with Wilson-Hartgrove, he is a leader in the New Monastic movement within the church. At the beginning of the Iraq war he was a part of a Christian Peacemaker Team that was in Iraq to care for the victims of violence. On their drive out of the country one of the vehicles had a serious accident. Muslims from the town of Rutba cared for the injured Americans. Rather than monetary compensation for caring for the wounded the people of Rutba asked them to tell people about the story. Wilson-Hartgrove and others realized it was like the story of the Good Samaritan where the one who is supposed the be the enemy demonstrates love. Upon their return to the U.S. Wilson-Hartgrove and his wife felt called to begin a community of people who would demonstrate radical hospitality to people as they had been shown in Rutba, Iraq. Wilson-Hartgrove and his family now live with others in the Rutba House in Walltown in Durham, North Carolina where they attempt to welcome in the stranger and outcast.
The Wisdom of Stability draws on wisdom from the dessert fathers and mothers as well as other monastic groups who have dedicated themselves to living out the full implications of community and life together. He talks about his own spiritual journey that began by trying to get away from his small town and change the world for Jesus. This took him over seas to Iraq and other countries. Eventually he felt God was leading him back to take up residence and seek the good of one place and work on changing his heart and the lives of those around him. Wilson-Hartgrove suggests that one of the biggest temptations facing people today is to succeed and for young adults to get and education and go out into the world to make something of themselves at the expense of the place that raised them. Drawing on the sayings of ancient and contemporary monastics, he calls the church to commit to a church and commit to a place for the long haul. In chapter five he talks about the demons that tempt us to leave our communities or our local church. He suggests ambition, boredom and vainglory (seeking our own interests) all tempt us to go somewhere else. He talks throughout the book of what we can learn from being on the front porch of our homes (think of southern front porches with rocking chairs or sitting on the stoop in the city). On the front porch we sit and listen to our neighbors hurts. We tell stories about our shared history and community. We fight with our neighbors and work at resolving conflict. We move slowly. Sometimes we see things change for the better; other times not.
This book is challenging. Even in our churches we are driven to "succeed" often by worldly standards. Do we have larger numbers of people? Do we have great (and expensive) programs? We don't often see people commit their lives to one place and one people and one church for a lifetime. If we get mad or bored we go somewhere else where everything will be better (the grass is greener on the other side, right?). As Wilson-Hartgrove says, "Choosing a spirituality that works for me is so much easier than dealing with the people who show up at the church in my neighborhood." In the end he says some may be called to go to other places. The Gospel does need to go out from a place to others who haven't heard. It also needs to be retold and relived daily as we work at loving our neighbor and seeking the prosperity of the place God calls us to live.
If you're not familiar with Wilson-Hartgrove, he is a leader in the New Monastic movement within the church. At the beginning of the Iraq war he was a part of a Christian Peacemaker Team that was in Iraq to care for the victims of violence. On their drive out of the country one of the vehicles had a serious accident. Muslims from the town of Rutba cared for the injured Americans. Rather than monetary compensation for caring for the wounded the people of Rutba asked them to tell people about the story. Wilson-Hartgrove and others realized it was like the story of the Good Samaritan where the one who is supposed the be the enemy demonstrates love. Upon their return to the U.S. Wilson-Hartgrove and his wife felt called to begin a community of people who would demonstrate radical hospitality to people as they had been shown in Rutba, Iraq. Wilson-Hartgrove and his family now live with others in the Rutba House in Walltown in Durham, North Carolina where they attempt to welcome in the stranger and outcast.
The Wisdom of Stability draws on wisdom from the dessert fathers and mothers as well as other monastic groups who have dedicated themselves to living out the full implications of community and life together. He talks about his own spiritual journey that began by trying to get away from his small town and change the world for Jesus. This took him over seas to Iraq and other countries. Eventually he felt God was leading him back to take up residence and seek the good of one place and work on changing his heart and the lives of those around him. Wilson-Hartgrove suggests that one of the biggest temptations facing people today is to succeed and for young adults to get and education and go out into the world to make something of themselves at the expense of the place that raised them. Drawing on the sayings of ancient and contemporary monastics, he calls the church to commit to a church and commit to a place for the long haul. In chapter five he talks about the demons that tempt us to leave our communities or our local church. He suggests ambition, boredom and vainglory (seeking our own interests) all tempt us to go somewhere else. He talks throughout the book of what we can learn from being on the front porch of our homes (think of southern front porches with rocking chairs or sitting on the stoop in the city). On the front porch we sit and listen to our neighbors hurts. We tell stories about our shared history and community. We fight with our neighbors and work at resolving conflict. We move slowly. Sometimes we see things change for the better; other times not.
This book is challenging. Even in our churches we are driven to "succeed" often by worldly standards. Do we have larger numbers of people? Do we have great (and expensive) programs? We don't often see people commit their lives to one place and one people and one church for a lifetime. If we get mad or bored we go somewhere else where everything will be better (the grass is greener on the other side, right?). As Wilson-Hartgrove says, "Choosing a spirituality that works for me is so much easier than dealing with the people who show up at the church in my neighborhood." In the end he says some may be called to go to other places. The Gospel does need to go out from a place to others who haven't heard. It also needs to be retold and relived daily as we work at loving our neighbor and seeking the prosperity of the place God calls us to live.
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