Reformation Diaries
The Curse of Numbers
by Chaplain Kelly L. O'Lear
I have a son who just turned twelve. His name is Elijah and he is a very funny young man. I look forward to receiving his comical e-mails at my outpost in rural Afghanistan. They cheer me up. I even share them with others since I understand they will make those who know my son laugh. Elijah recently wrote me concerning his report card. He received a “B” in math. He struggled in math before but now loves it and is doing well. I am glad that he is beginning to conquer numbers.
Though we often do not see it, our rebellion against God incorporates numbers. We take comfort in them instead of receiving comfort from our Creator. This is especially true for the soldier at war. We count the days—days passed and days to go. We think if we can outlast the number of days a deployment requires of us—451 at the beginning of this deployment—then we will be just fine. In our own minds the battle is not with our sinful nature, the world, and the devil. Rather it is with the calendar. I too am guilty of this. I play number games in my own head instead of giving thanks to the Creator of the day.
We take comfort in time that has passed rather than giving thanks for what has been. Many of us at war are ever grateful each night as we lay down our heads to rest that one more day has come to its completion. Our heart is not on gratitude for the blessings of the day. Often we do give thanks for our daily bread and the fact that we are still alive and well—things that deal with our own personal welfare. This is good and right, but incomplete. Rarely do we end the day thanking God for the blessings of good friends and all the other things for which we ought to give thanks.[2] I often find myself telling soldiers that they should not wish away any day of their lives. I too need to live by this.
And yet, do not all people live under this curse? Alarm clocks buzz at the beginning of the day with the dreaded digital display staring at us. Required hours of work and school become burdensome. Deadlines on calendars steal life from us. Savings and retirement goals and numbers circle through minds as life moves along. Parents count the years until children leave home unaware or denying the void left by this passage. We tally the years until retirement with the hope of that day moving nearer without a concern of what vocation will give the retirees’ day meaning. Children question the years their parents have left as the ones who birthed and nurtured them slowly age and become less independent. Os Guinness in his accessible work, Prophetic Untimeliness, reminds us that we are slaves to the watches we wear on our wrists and the clocks and calendars on our walls. There are the numbers that haunt us. Our contemplation is not focused on the God who exists beyond time. Rather, our minds often focus on our own comforts in the present moment. We focus on what must happen in the immediate moment at the expense of contemplating the eternal plan. The very plan determined by God with that even number. I am not advocating the abolition of the clock and calendar or numbers. Of course, these are necessary in the left-hand kingdom. My point is that the clock and time, as a curse, can eliminate our focus on greater things.
The truth is that all of this “too rests only upon the Word and command of God.” Our Creator knows the number of our days before the world began. Christ said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29–31). Therefore, we are to live each day with the eternal provision of God before us. Each day is a new opportunity unique unto itself to serve our neighbor in love. Each day is a gift whereby our heavenly Father gives us what we need for life and salvation. We can be sure of our care in this world because he who rose from the dead is true. His blood covers our sins, so we do not need to anticipate the end of our days because they are not the end. We are not to live as slaves to numbers but free men beyond numbers because of our eternal destination. Real life is lived with Jesus Christ at the center. Our modern culture-driven church too has become distracted with the lure of the present moment. Cultural entertainment often replaces the Word and sacraments as the means of conversion. A providential God is beyond that.
I am glad that my son is good at math. I am proud of him. He is a funny and likable kid. I look forward, God willing, to spending many days with him in the comfort and peace of our home along with my wife Jennifer, son Nathaneal, and daughter
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall: Temptation (Touchstone: New York, 1983), 31–32.
April 25 , 2008
Different calendars mean different dates for Easter
By BRENDA JUNKIN
c. 2008 Religion News Service
Most Christians know there are two separate Easter celebrations every year, but many are unclear as to why. Here's the explanation.
Initially, Easter was based on the Julian calendar, created by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C. It was used by European Christians until 1582, when the Gregorian calendar emerged.
But the Julian calendar year is slightly longer than is the Gregorian year. The Gregorian calendar dropped 10 days from the Julian to bring the calendar into synchronization with the seasons.
Eastern Orthodox Christians hold true to the Julian calendar. They celebrate Easter Sunday after the beginning of Passover and the cycle of the moon. According to the Orthodox, Easter can never precede or coincide with Passover. This year, Orthodox Easter is on Sunday (April 27).
Members of other major Christian faiths, who follow the Gregorian calendar, celebrated Easter on March 23 this year.
(Brenda Junkin writes for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.)
April 25 , 2008
Pagans find a sometimes uneasy home among Quakers
By MATTHEW STREIB
c. 2008 Religion News Service
"I had this experience of (my partner) after death, and he spoke to me and woke me up out of my sleep," Olive says. "It freaked me out, because I really didn't believe in that stuff; ... my faith in God had disappeared when my partner died."
He started to explore Wicca, a nature-based pagan religion, surrounding himself with pentacles, candles and incense. But that didn't stick. "It seemed like more make-believe on top of the Christian make-believe," he says. "I was rejecting one; I didn't want to bring in another."
Even after Olive found his way back to Jesus, he retained some elements of paganism. While he upholds the standard traditions of his local Quaker meeting hall, he privately incorporates pagan ritual into his prayer.
He's part of a small but growing movement of Quakers who also identify as pagan -- a trend that may or may not exist in other Christian traditions, but certainly not in such an organized, public fashion.
Across the board, the number of Quakers is dwindling, to roughly 100,000 in the U.S. But if Quakerism continues to catch on among the estimated half million pagans in the U.S., those who embrace both traditions predict that could reverse the Quakers' downward trend. Still, some Quakers worry about losing their own traditions through the process of accepting new ones.
In the last decade, this dual faith has sprung up around the country, including Quaker-pagan gatherings, seminars, an extensive presence on the Internet, and even explicitly Quaker-pagan congregations. There may be only several hundred Quaker pagans, but among American Quakers, their presence can be distinctly felt.
"It seems that now, in most liberal meetings at least, you can always find a few members that identify as pagan," says Stasa Morgan-Appel of Ann Arbor, Mich., who has facilitated a Quaker pagan interest group since 2002.
Quakers -- officially the Religious Society of Friends -- are divided into four main branches, three of which are explicitly Christian. Pagans have been generally joining the liberal fourth branch, the Friends General Conference, which counts 30,000 members in North America, including Morgan-Appel.
Liberal Quakers are less tied to the Christianity and instead hold established Quaker practices, such as unprogrammed pastor-less meetings, as the basis of their faith. Because of that flexibility, many liberal Quakers no longer see Jesus as divine, and some don't believe in God at all.
Paganism generally refers to nature-based religions that pre-date both Christianity and Judaism. Think witches, druids, pentacles, Wicca -- but not Satanism. Carl McColman, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paganism," defined it this way: People Adoring Goddess And Nature.
It may seem strange that pagans would join the Quakers, which began in the 1600s with strong anti-pagan sentiment. Founder George Fox even altered the days of the week because of their pagan roots. To this day, Quakers refer to Sunday as First Day, Monday as Second Day and so on.
On the other hand, the two traditions share many similarities. Both are non-hierarchical and place a strong emphasis on internal divinity. In fact, as modern paganism rose in popularity in the 1970s, many pagan groups looked to Quakers as a model of survival without a nucleus of control.
Morgan-Appel says many pagans openly embrace Quakerism, but Quakers who espouse pagan beliefs have long operated under the radar. That may be changing, however.
"People are really having the courage to be honest and truthful about the reality of their spiritual lives," she said. "If I'm standing out there at gathering, saying, `Hi, here we are, come be yourself with us,' that provides a safe space and a lot of momentum."
But it also carries a price. Due to the accommodation of non-Christian beliefs in many meetings, many Quakers report that Christian Friends feel slighted.
Witnessing about Jesus in Olive's meeting has become infrequent. "People here come from so many different places, spiritually," he says. "Meetings can be very quiet, as many people are afraid to voice views that others might not hold to be true. We talk about God, but we don't really put a name to him or her."
In an effort to reinforce his connection to Jesus, Olive holds a monthly Christian prayer group at his house after his Quaker meeting.
Morgan-Appel says that such fears are common. She has seen tensions flare between the two groups, from pagan-influenced Quaker weddings to unfair fees charged to use meeting halls for Quaker-pagan gatherings.
"I think there's a myth that it's only Christians who feel like it makes people uncomfortable when they talk about Jesus," she said. "There are definitely times when I see that there are still knee-jerk reactions from people within the Society of Friends who don't know what paganism is."
Marshall Massey, a conservative Quaker in Omaha, Neb., and co-founder of Quaker Earthcare Witness, says removing Christianity undermines the stability of the Quaker faith.
"We are an easily acculturated movement," he says, explaining that Quakers' egalitarian, non-creedal tradition makes it very susceptible to outside influences. "But Quakerism has become, on the liberal end, an indefinable refuge for people who regard themselves as mystics or experientially religious and have problems with sources of authority."
Massey said losing Quakerism's Christian heritage cuts away at its unifying belief system and makes it prone to dissolution. Nevertheless, it would be un-Quakerly to try to halt the process.
"Christ is not the sort of person who would drive people away -- I don't know that it's our job to stop it," he said. "Our job is to seek to know the will of the living Christ and to obey it the best we can. When we humans try to fix one another, we just make things much, much worse." Surprisingly, Cat Chapin-Bishop, author of the blog "Quaker Pagan Reflections," a bastion of Quaker-pagan thought, agrees with Massey on many counts.
She says many pagans find Quakerism attractive because it allows them to appear more mainstream. Still, she worries that if their commitment doesn't deepen, that could weaken Quaker beliefs.
"I see the pagan world waking up and saying, `Wow, there's Quakers, and maybe we could be Quakers and pagans -- cool!'" she said. "If it stays on that superficial level, that's not good news, and threatens Quakerism with real dilution. But if there are some leadings and people ... take in the wisdom that people have to teach us, then it's a wonderful thing for both pagans and the Society of Friends."
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