Category: Brother Al (Page 67 of 68)

I heard this term for the first time when James Houston, from Regent College referred to its important for the spiritual journey.  He said it has been lost to the Western church, but has always been an important ingredent in understanding spiritual growth.  What double knowledge implies is that a knowledge of God and a knowledge of ourselves are intimately linked together in the life of faithfulness to God.  John Calvin, for example, wrote, “Our wisdom, is so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves….The knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves are bound together by a mutual tie.”  Paul told young Timothy, “pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching.”  (I Tim 4:16). 

For the first 2o years of my spiritual journey, I never heard of this truth.  I had been taught that any awareness and paying attention to  heart or soul, was  dangerous introspection, which  would lead me into the murky waters of emotions, desires and longings.  I should stay in my head, learning, absorbing and reflecting on God’s objective truth, found in Scripture.  This would point me to Jesus.  I should leave it at that.  The problem was that I know there deep emotions and desires that would bubble to the surface that I could not control.  It took me a couple of years before I was willing to begin the inner journey. 

I can not impress on the men who read this blog the importance of the inner journey, in which we gain knowledge of ourselves, that is, the good, the bad and the ugly.  Most men’s material and men’s group lack the awareness of this important truth.  The one exception is the local AA group.  There you find honesty and humility.  The men in AA are willing to go to the bottom of the pain.  So men, find a brother who will be a loving mirror in your life.  Let him know the secrets of your soul.  Find a group of guys that are willing to go into the issues of the soul, rather then staying on the surface having safe “God talk.”

I would like to quote from David Benner who has helped me so much this area of my walk. “Christian spirituality involves a transformation of the self that occurs only when God and self are both deeply known….Though there has never been any serious theological quarrel with this ancient Christian understanding, it has been largely forgotten by the contemporary church.  We have focused on knowing God and tended to ignore knowing ourselves.  The consequences have been grievous – marriages betrayed, families destroyed, ministries shipwrecked and endless numbers of people damaged.”

I have no idea who or how many men read this blog.  I know I am committed to faithfully post each week.  If you have read enough of my blogs, you get a sense that I am committed to the inner journey.  This might be new to your understanding.  You might not like the idea.  You might be reluctent to take the inner journey.  My challenge to you, is to be open to the journey.  This is what God has called me to do.  My call is the help in bringing healing the broken hearts of men.  The church in its practice and teaching has given us permission to stay on the surface, while the souls of men are broken and hurting.

I have been reading a very informative book about men by Richard E Simmons III, entitled “The True Measure of a Man.”  In this book Simmons contents that “Men so often define themselves by what they do, who they know, or what they own.  And when they do so, they unwittingly set themselves up for great confusion and failure in their personal lives.”  Because of the economic downturn and the uncertainty in the work place many men are “living alone in their private worlds of self-doubt and fear.  They live with a sense of powerlessness because they have come to realize that so much of what takes place out in the world is completely out of their control.” 

The present cultural climate has caused men to question their significance.  Simmons quotes pastor Tim Keller, who has observed that, “we are the first culture in history where men define themselves solely by performing and achieving in the workplace…there has never been more psychological, social, and emotional pressure in the marketplace than there is at this very moment.”  When men find their identity and sense of worth, from someone outside themselves they are allowing others to help define their identity.  So the question becomes who is our audience.  Sociologist, Charles Cooley came up with the concept of the “looking-glass self.”  The theory stated that, “A person gets his identity in life based on how the most important person in his life sees him.” 

Simmons contends that in our society success has more to do with public image and the appearance of success than it does with the quality of our work and our character.  “Success today is often divorced from real substance.”  Rather then living lives of excellence, men desire to be successful in the eyes of others.  “We now regard success as achievement plus proper recognition of our achievement.  “Men would rather be envied for their material success than respected for their character ( Christopher Lasch).  But what happens when we fail and are seen as not being successful in the eyes of others.  It can be crushing to a man’s sense of self

Again who should be our audience.  When men determine to have God be their audience they can be set free from the chains of performance orientation and the strong need for affirmation.  They come to see that their identity is unstable if it is based on performance and looking for approval of others.  Remember men, your self image, that image that you have worked so hard to cultivate is just that – your image of self.  But a deep sense of personhood along with a sense of being is a gift of God. It is bestowed on those who trust in his mercy and grace.

Your worth as a person has to do with the value God places on your life.  You were created for fellowship with God.  Your value is not based on what you do but who you are.  ” We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10).  What would happen if struggling, confused, and insecure men would make Jesus Christ the most important person in their lives?  What if Jesus were the audience that men sought to please the most? 

Could it be that there is some man reading this blog today who is caught in a dark, foreboding confusion because he is questioning his significance as a man.  The bottom has dropped out of his career, with no clear future ahead.  The good news is that this identity crisis could be the very event in your life that will drive you into the arms of a loving God, who wants to receive you home and declare that you are his beloved.  Your significance is found in being a child of God.  When you come home to a loving Father, you find new motivation to please him as your audience.

Parker Palmer in his book ” A Hidden Wholeness” has a quote from Douglas Wood about the jack pine.  “Jack pines….are not lumber trees (and they) won’t win many beauty contests either.  But to me this valiant old tree, solitary on its own rocky point, is as beautiful as a living thing can be….In the calligraphy of its shape against the sky is written strength of character and perseverance, survival of wind, drought, cold, heat, disease…..In its silence it speaks of….wholeness….an integrity that comes from being what you are.” 

The jack pine can speak to us of a  life lived with integrity, that is, being who you truly are as a man.  Palmer points out that we can be so fearful in our living that we hide our true identity from others.  “We end up living divided lives”, says Palmer, “so far removed from the truth we hold within that we cannot know the ‘integrity that comes from being what you are.'”  Quoting Thomas Merton he points out that “there is in all things….a hidden wholeness.”   I must confess that I lived a divided life for many years, and in so doing did great damage to my conflicted soul.  I am learning the value of inner integrity, coming to embrace all that is within me, that good, the bad and the ugly.

“Wholeness does not mean perfection,” points out Palmer, “it means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life.”  My divided life ‘not only has hurt me, but those around me, including my wife, children and the people I have served as a Lutheran pastor.  Having been a people pleaser all my life has cause me to live a divided life, motivated by the fear of failure and rejection.  These patterns were learned early in my life.  “As teenagers and young adults, we learned that self-knowledge counts for little on the road to workplace success.  What counts is the ‘objective’ knowledge that empowers us to manipulate the world” (Palmer). 

Now in these latter years I have come to see how vital “self-knowledge” is in living a life of integrity.  While it is true that I have a long ways to go, in being a man of integrity, I know in my heart experience that I am living with more integrity.  This is the result of my soul being less divided.  I can live with what is there, knowing that by the grace of God I am a man in the process of gaining more integrity. It all goes back to the quote from Merton, “there is in all things….a hidden wholeness.”  So in one sense I am still divided.  I acknowledge that truth.  But in Christ there is a hidden wholeness that I am slowly discovering.  For that I am very thankful.

I close with these hopeful words for us men as we desire to live in wholeness rather then being divided in our souls and in our relationships. “Your old life is dead.  Your new life, which is your real life – even though invisible to spectators – is with Christ in God.  he is your life.  When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too – the real you, the glorious you.  Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.”  (Colossains 3:3-4  –  The Message )  I take heart in these words.  There is a wholeness within me, because of my new life in Christ.  It is still rather obscure, because I am a work in progress.  With the help of Jesus more and more of this wholeness can become manifest in my daily life.  Some day the struggle with a divided soul and lifestyle will be over.  Till that day I trust Jesus to bring forth his life in me.

Men, March Madness is upon us. I have to admit that I am “pumped” again this year.  I have been for years.  I personally am going with Ohio State.  So what is it about March Madness that grabs men.  I suppose it is the competition of so many great teams.  It is the thrill of following the underdog.  We know it only last for three weeks.  We can keep the “fever” for that amount of time.  I guess it is just the excitement of so much action. 

Why do men get so excited about March Madness, while expressing so little excitement in church. I guess I have changed my tune over the years.  I used to make the comparison and then get after the men to get with “the church program.”   Now I think, maybe the church is simply a hard place for men to get excited in because the flavor is established by the presence of so many women compared to so few men. We are outnumbered and feel out of place.  The culture of the normal church, especially in worship, is geared for a more gentle, subdued expression.  You can’t talk loud or gesture as men do with other men.  We have to “cool” it,  because we are with women, who relate a lot easier to what is going on in church

Maybe the church needs to change, in order to reach more of the men.  I think we need to stop judging a man’s commitment to Christ by how excited he gets during a worship service on Sunday morning.  I have to confess that I have been guilty of doing such a thing.   Remember men are less emotive than women, even at sporting events.  Maybe we need the kind of excitement that comes with telling the story of good and evil and the battle that we are in as we follow Christ.  Maybe men need to be challenged to get into a life and death conflict between good and evil. 

Maybe we need to ask men to “step it up” and give the best they have for the team.  That would be their family, church, and community.  Men can identify with that kind of excitement and challenge.  Why is it that we like good cowboy movies and war movies, where there is always the battle between good and evil.  Men like to feel they are on a team with a good cause.  Maybe that is why March Madness gets into our blood.  We identity with those young men and team effort they give with such dedication to win.

This is what the cause of Christ should be like.  As a group of men we give ourselves to our famlies, church and community so that people come to know the love of God in a personal way.  So I’m not going to get after men anymore for going a little mad during March Madness.  But I am going to say to them,  there is something much more challenging to be involved with today.  It is a group of men who want to follow Jesus.  They form a “band of brothers” who work as a team.  They are “wildmen” in the sense that they responded to a passion and desire that has been placed within them by the Holy Spirit. This passion energizes them to give the best effort they possible can for the “King of Kings.”

I want to start this blog with a quote from Ronald Rohleiser, a contemporary Catholic spiritual writer.  In his book “The Shattered Lantern” he observes that Western culture has a very reduced experience of God.  “God is present to us but we are no longer present to God because we are no longer contemplative.  We  have atrophied contempative muscles.  Our contemplative faculty, like a limb that has b een immobilized in a cast for a long time and is now healed and healthy but unable to function without rehabiliation, needs exercise and therapy.”  I guess this puts in a nutshell, that concern I have for men.  There is a desparate need to help men on the contemplative journey.  I have been on this journey for over 25 years.  I know the struggles and difficulties of breaking out of “the conventional spiritual box,” into the freedom and light of contemplative lifestyle.  I consider myself a beginner, who has logged some miles through desert and darkness, eventually coming into a spacious place in God. I have a long ways to go on the journey.  But the culimination of my journey thus far has as been the joy of “knowing that I have a Father who delight in me.”  Thus, my burden to share this with men.

Rohleiser addresses the unbelief among  believers regarding  the presence of God in their lives.  The disappearance of God from ordinary experience is ” a problem with contemplation.  The eclipse of God is the eclipse of contemplation.”  A contemplative is one who has experienced God at the deep level of the heart, learning to see that which is invible and hear that which is inaudiable.  I now believe that the great Catholic theological Karl Rahner was right when he said, “the Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic.”  We live in a day that places an overload on all of our senses.  We hear, see, and  experience much more than we can ever process.  There are many expressions of spirituality calling for our attention.  Many Christain men have become numbed by this bombardment of  spiritual stimulation.  In all of this the soul or heart seem to be neglected, while the mind becomes confused as to how to proceed on the journey.  The cry is for a contemplative voice to be heard.  This blog is one small voice in the wilderness. 

I am using this present post to end my series on having  ” A Father who delights in us.”  I have reread the past six posts.  I feel they express some of my burden to help men have a taste of the contemplative way.  I guess this excerise has clarified for me that on this blog site, I am expressing a desire to help men center into a contemplative expression of faith.  A wildman will be a  contemplative in the days to come.  I want you to know that this in counter-culture and even counter-intuitive to what we have learned as men in our present day culture.  A man who reads the blog  concerning “the wildman journey” is listening to the spirit of God calling him to leave behind some of the old and to move out into a new frontier.  It is said of Abraham, “By faith, Abraham went called to go to place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going’ (Heb. 11:8)

Men, God has a spiritual inheritance for you to  experience on the contemplative journey.  We are not talking about something new.  This journey has a long historic expression in the church.  In our day there is a wonderful rediscovery of the classic spiritual tradition that is being uncovered by many wonderful catholic and evangelical writers.  They are exposing us to a lost spiritual tradition, and expressing the contemplative life in terms that relate to modern culture.  I have drunk deeply from this expression.  It has changed my life.  I have seen men who have struggled with their spiritual life come alive when they are exposed to something that had been hidden for so long.  I guess, when I stumbled unto the contemplative trail back in the early 80’s little did I realize that I would be actually posting blogs to men in cyberspace who are searching for a better way.  Stay tuned for more to come!!

After I read the news each day over the internet, I have a tendency to get down regarding the state of our world.  I have made it a practice to simple refocus my heart on Jesus.  I often think of Ps 27:8 which reads, “My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek.”  I know I can’t go wrong in fixing my gaze on Jesus at the beginning of the day.  If I neglect to get my focus on him, the voices within the culture as well as my own fallen self pull me away from the light.  To focus on Jesus with the eyes of our heart, is to look up into the light.  The light of Christ will not be overcome by the darkness.  The Psalmist was aware of this dynamic when he prayed, “Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord” (Ps. 4:6).

As long as I am walking in the light, I will be ok.  The Message Bible gives us words of encouragement when Jesus tells us, “I am the world’s light.  No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness.  I provide plenty of light to live in”  (John 8:12).  What an encouragement for each day.  Jesus provides plenty of light.  He will provide a way in the wilderness and the wastelands of modern culture. What he provides is unique to our day.  “For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through th wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland” (Is. 43:19).  The Good News of is the when we are walking in the light of His presence we are part of the new thing that God is doing.  We might not see all of what God is doing, but we know that there is a path of us to follow through the wilderness and the wastelands of our day.

I spent last week-end at the 50th year class reunion from High School.  It was a great event for Judy and I.  I was asked to share an opening prayer, along with a few comments.  I felt lead to share the phrase, “Let each of us finish strong.”  When all of us in the class are in our late 60’s, this phrase takes on real meaning.  I thought of Paul’s word in II Cor. “That is why we never give up.  Though our bodies are dying, our inner being is being renewed every day.”  I reminded my class that when we look around at ourselves we are definitely not getting stronger and more vital physically. But inwardly we are able to become stronger and stronger, so that we can finish strong.   –    My sense was that there were members of my class that needed this reminder.  What a joy it was for me to say that I intend to finish strong.  In finishing strong I know it is the work of God in my heart, as I make myself available to him.  My part is the practices of the spiritual disciplines that allows the Spirit to do the inner work of transformation.   –   I encourage you who read this blog to be intentional about finishing strong, by giving yourself to the work of the Spirit in your inner being

As I blog this evening, Judy and I are preparing to go with our daughter and our three grandsons to my 50th class reunion in Negaunee, Michigan.  Our son-in-law Leif is unable to be with us because of his work as an Air Force chaplain in Texas.  As I anticipate my interaction with my former classmates, I sincerely have little desire to talk about my life.  Rather I would rather tell “my story” of God’s work in my life.  I see this work as transformation.  Transformation has become an important word for me in these later years.  Transformation is the work of God in the soul, changing us from the inside out.  It is his hidden work, by which he changes us to become more like Jesus.  I am far from who I should be, but praise God I am not who I used to be back in 1959.     –  This is the story of God’s work in my life.  I have come to appreciate the thought of Richard Rohr who says that “everything belongs.”  What does he mean?  I understand this phrase to mean, that everything that has happened in my life, the good, the bad and the ugly, have a place.  It all belong to the story of God in my life.  It is his work of transformation in the soul.  There is no way that I can take what has happened in my life and weave it into a story of grace and mercy.  Only God can do that.  As I go to my reunion this year, I am so grateful for his mercy and grace to see that everything belongs.  I am sure that there are to discover in my story, but for now I live with what I know.     –    I would say that my being able to come to know all about myself has been greatly enhanced by the inner awareness – a heart experience beyond knowing, that God truly loves me.  Brennan Manning calls it “the abba experience.”  Henri Nouwen call it “knowing our belovedness.”  I know I am “God’s beloved”  It is not dependent on doing or thinking.  God simply is a God of love.  Knowing this has helped me greatly to know that everything belongs    –   I am not sure who is reading this blog.  But I will continue to write out of obedience.  I will make improvement as time and help allows.   I guess I feel some relief in the sense that I am now doing what I have know I should be doing for sometime.     –    I will not be posting for the next four or five days, since I will be at my 50th class reunion.  If you read this blog and it is helpful, let me know.  But more important pray for the “voice” that is being spoken through this blog

Again as I attempt to begin writing this blog site, I am very aware of my insecurity.  But I do sense a call to make the attempt to communicate.  Today I met with a friend, whose discernment I trust.  His advice was to get with the writing, especially to men.  He confirmed in my heart the idea of having much of the content in this blog a story of what God has done in my heart and of the desire I have in my heart to reach the pain found in the heart of so many men.  His word to me was for me to be assured that what I had to say could be liberating and healing for many men who might visit this site.     –   So I write as a work in progress.  I hope to make improvement to this blog site as time goes on.  (At present I have three grandsons visiting for three weeks.  This certainly has gotten me out of rythmn)  I also want to be able to connect with those who care to make comment at this blog site .  If you would like to become a user,  just e-mail Judy and I at canann@tds.net.  We will set you up so that you can become a useer     –  I believe that men need to begin a conversion with other men regarding their souls.  Richard Rohr in his retreat work with men all over the world, has made it abundantly clear that men have to do their ”soul work” with other men.  To many of us men, learned about our masculine feeling and how to relate from our mothers.  Instead of absorbing a male mode of feeling for our souls, many of us absorbed a female mode of feeling for our souls.  As a result men are not able to express nor access their true emotions.  Thus the emotional life of many men is stunted.  You could say that many of us men are “emotionally challenged” when it comes to a intimate relationship with God and with our wives.  As men, we can together learn the language of the masculine soul.  I hope this blog will in some small way contribute to this dialogue.  I envision this blog to be primarily a dialogue with other men hungry for “soul talk.  That all for this post.  There will be more.

In Isaiah 42:7 we read that God’s message to his people is meant, “to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”  In order for the blind to see, captive to see, and those in dungeons to be released, the Word of God needs to be heard.  For the power is in the creating, healing Word that comes from God. Jesus tells us, “The very words I have spoken  to you are spirit and life.  The Word will often be the voice that speaks to the human heart through one believer, speaking into the life of a fellow believer.  The one receiving the Word comes to a place of trust not only in the Word of God, but also in the one who is speaking the Word (the voice).  Obviously the blindness, the need for being freed and release is not only a mental awareness, but more importantly an inner realization that one lives in a spiritual prison, needing life and freedom.  The one who is the voice, is simply the one who speaks into the soul of another, the healing Word of God.  This aspect of soul care is deeply needed in our day.  Many are looking for release and freedom from their inner prisons.  I sense from my experience, especially in being blessed to be “a voice” speaking into the souls of men, that this blog site might be a voice that might speak to the souls of men, helping them to be freed from their enclosed prisons.  Again I ask for pray is this venture.  I am only writing out of obedience.  My prayer is that this “voice” will reach some who are still in inner darkness.