Y.S. Stephen - Reader | Casual Observer

William Combs On The Spirtual Downside Of Being Good

How do people who perceive themselves to be religious or spiritual decide who is more worthy? We sometimes use spiritual exercises, religious posts, knowledge, or deeds to navigate this slippery terrain. Some criteria are better than others, but William Comb, says in his book, Who Told You That You Were Naked?, that using good deeds as to judge a person's righteousness is dangerous. The danger lies in the false sense of security we generate when we assume we behave better than other people. More dangerous is the complete oversight of the human nature that this attitude generates.

According to William Combs,

“By reducing sin to a mere list of offences, we can convince oursevlves that we are becoming better persons because we are commiting fewer “sins” than we once did. This attitude shifts our focus away from the devastating consequences of sin—the inner conviction we do not measure up.”

The implication of this attitude is that a Christian who sees himsel or herself in the light of how “good” he or she is has no spiritual leverage against non-Christians who feels the same. William Combs expands on this point:

“The Christian Gospel has little relevance in our society because the vast majority do not see themselves as 'sinners'. As long as sin is viewed as a list of misdeeds, and repentance as the need to confess and feel remorse for those sins, many will reply that they, and most folks they know, are 'good people'. They simply do not see any need for salvation. If we don’t wrestle with the full ramifications of sin, then we diminish our perception of salvation as well. We may believe all we inherited from Adam was the ability to choose between good and evil and that God’s redemption in Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our bad choices. If such were the case, it would be like a judge who chooses to improve the way people drive by paying for speeding and parking tickets. But more is required: in order to modify a person’s driving habits or overall lifestyle, it is necessary to reform behaviour.”

William Combs then uses this opportunity to focus on the solution to the problem of sin by using Paul the Apostle's struggles. He writes:

“Why is the body of sin brought to nothing? Because through faith, our old self—our spirit dwelling within our physical body—has been crucified with Christ. Sin cannot control a deceased person. In Romans chapter 7, Paul struggled mightily to overcome sin dwelling in his members—but could not. Those very actions indicate he was focusing on sin in his members—meaning he was alive to sin, not dead to sin as Romans 6:11 indicates. As long as he, or we, wrestle with the sinful habits we no longer wish to perform, our adversary will win because we are conforming to a way of life sin can control. To sin means we should not attempt in any way to resist sin any more than we would if we were lying (dead) in a pine box.”

This issue also brings to light the aim of Christianity - is it to modify our behaviours and make us morally good? Or is there a much deeper meaning to look at. Such and similar questions are what Who Told You That You Were Naked? dealt with in his book.

Many thanks to Carpenter's Son Publishing for review copy.

Labels: essay, Idea Mining, Philosophy, Spirituality

Becky Eldredge On Imagination As A Tool Of Prayer

As we go about our busy lives in a technology-driven world, we must craft our inner life in a way that makes it easy to communicate with God where and when we want.

Prayers (in a Pentecostal Christian context) has been more of an external performance in recent times. A performance suited to the well-spoken and to those with tastes for the dramatic. There is little time left for silence or prayerful contemplation in our religious gatherings (except for preaching time). The say-what-you-can-in-the-most-evocative-words-you-can-muster exercise is not suitable for all, neither does it benefit all.

This is why I am a bit partial to what is called Ignatian Contemplation - a practice that involves the use of imagination to pray and connect to God. Needless to say, Ignatius of Loyola, one of the founders of the Jesuits order, first advocated this practice as a way to keep God actively present in his mind and heart in order to make good decisions in his life among other things.

Busy Lives and Restless Souls is a book that focuses on the practices of the Jesuits. The book explains that the core of Ignatian spirituality is the idea that "...the interior life must be adapted to fit the circumstances of the exterior life." This means as we go about our busy lives in a technology-driven world, we must craft our inner life in a way that makes it easy to communicate with God where and when we want. The ease at which we can do this is one of Ignatian practices' strong points.

Becky Eldredge, the author of Busy Lives and Restless Souls explains how to practice one of the key pillars of Ignatian Spirituality, which is the Ignatian Contemplation. She writes down the steps in a simple way. It goes like this:

How to Pray Using Ignatian Contemplation
...
Select a Scripture.
Pick a passage from one of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.

Read.
Read the passage several times slowly so that you almost know the story well enough to share it with another person.

Imagine the scene.
Close your eyes and imagine the scene. F or instance, if you are praying with the scene of Jesus’ birth in the manger, imagine what this scene looks like. Who is in the scene? What are they doing? Where are they located? What do you notice about the environment? What do you smell? What do you hear? Let the Holy Spirit guide this unfolding event in y our mind.

Put yourself in the scene.
As the scene begins to take shape, put yourself in it. Notice where you end up. Again, with Jesus’ birth in the manger, notice: Am I standing by Mary or Joseph? Am I peering into the manger to sneak a peek at baby Jesus? A I off at a distance as an observer? Am I standing by the animals?

Notice what happens.
Let the story unfold in your mind. Stay with the Scripture story in prayer.

Respond and rest.
Share with God what you noticed and experienced. Then rest in God and let God speak to you.

Reflect.
Reflect on what you experienced during this prayer. What did you learn about Jesus? A bout God? A bout another character in the story? About yourself?

Busy Lives and Restless Souls is a book that teaches the benefits of Ignatian Spirituality as well as gives practical examples about how to put it to use whether your are a priest or stay-at-home Mom. I recommend it.

Many thanks to Loyola Press for review copy. You can purchase a copy of the book at Amazon and other major online bookstores.

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Labels: essay, Idea Mining, Spirituality

My Book Of Feelings Encourages Balanced Emotional Development

...a brilliant resource that encourages children to learn about their emotions.

Babies are one of the most expressive groups of people on earth. They do not hold back when expressing their feelings. Older children and adults, on the other hand, have societal expectations to deal with when it comes to emotional expressions. As adults, society expects us to hold back certain feelings and be considerate of others. This is understandable, for an adult or teenager with no self-control is dangerous to himself and others around him.

Unfortunately, there are some children who cannot control how they respond to their feelings. This might be due to medical reasons or it might just be that they were not shown how to do it by the adults around them. My Book Of Feelings by Tracey Ross and Rosy Salaman tries to remedy this by putting together a brilliant resource that encourages children to learn about their emotions - how to define them, how they arise with different situations, and what to do with them.

My Book Of Feelings can be an important tool in helping children grow emotionally. Older children with psychological disabilities can also benefit with the help of a competent professional. My Book Of Feelings helps teach what emotions are and gives examples of how we can get a handle on many difficult and mixed ones. More importantly, it teaches balanced emotional development and shows how fleeting our feelings are.

Many thanks to Jessica Kingsley Publishers for review copy. You can purchase a copy of the book at Amazon and other major online bookstores.

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Labels: Book Recommendation, Book Summary, essay, Idea Mining

William Combs On The Root Of Self Image, Human Insecurities And Delusions

Very few people truly care less what the world thinks of them. It is coded into humans to be wary of how people see us.

William Combs, in his new book, Who Told You That You Were Naked?, believes this self-image is tied to the beginning of man after the fall. The author believes that the reason the first couple, after eating of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, did what they did (covering themselves) was because:

"They became aware of the merits of their individual differences, the most obvious being the characteristics that distinguished them as male and female. While those diﬀerences were there all along, they now compared their own uniqueness with those of the other person in light of their newly acquired understanding. In making this evaluation, each must have concluded their own diﬀerences were not as good as those of their spouse...

"The devastating repercussions of these subjective assessments created feelings of personal embarrassment, shame, and a growing conviction their nakedness was no longer acceptable to the other person."

Also, when we perceived we are being judged it is natural for us to try and hide by any means possible. Some of the ways we "hide" is by lashing out in anger or by becoming sullen and into ourselves. These reactions were prominent when God inquired from Adam and Eve why they were hiding. According to William Combs:

"Although Adam admitted he ate the fruit, he asserted he acted because the woman God gave him had urged him to do so. By accusing his wife—and also portraying the Lord as partially culpable—he revealed just how threatened and - cure he was and how much his opinion of the Lord’s motives had changed. In Adam’s eyes, God’s intentions were no longer those of a person who could be trusted and who loved him and sought to restore his self-image. "

You can find this insight and many more in William Comb's Who Told You That You Were Naked?.

Many thanks to Carpenter's Son Publishing for review copy.

Labels: Book Recommendation, Book Summary, essay, Idea Mining, Spirituality

4 Common Misconceptions Of Some Bible Passages From Sarah Ruden's The Face Of Water

The Face Of The Water: A Translator On Beauty And Meaning In The Bible is a book that strives to correct misconceptions about few Bible passages and seeks to get close to their true meaning as laid down in the original source.

Octavia E. Butler's Kindred On The Unconscious Shifting Of Perspectives When Confronted With Overpowering Situations

Kindred taught me that you sometimes never know you when are being transformed from within (for good or for ill) when faced with highly-charged situation on a daily basis.