Glimpses #175: SUMMER READING: Getting reacquainted with the classics

ere is a suggestion for a memorable summer. Instead of basking at the beach with the latest bestseller, take along some of the best writings ever penned that stimulate spiritual reflection and growth. In this issue are four Christian classics to consider. You can find them in most libraries, or order them through Christian stores.

True Confessions
The Confessions of St. Augustine, c. 400

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As a teenager, he stole pears from a neighbor's orchard and threw them to pigs. Though he grew up to be a leading bishop, a groundbreaking theologian, and a canonized saint, Augustine started out as a rambunctious child, a restless adolescent, and an over-ambitious young man.

How do we know all that? From his autobiography, Confessions, a hands-down classic-- not only of Christian literature but of all literature. In this work, Augustine created a new kind of introspective writing. Historian Daniel Boorstin calls it "a saga of his inward life."

Actually, Augustine seems a bit hard on himself as he confesses the pear-stealing. He was no juvenile delinquent, just a kid on a lark. But the story illustrates Augustine's sense of the innate sinfulness of the human condition. Confessions goes on to relate how he left his Carthage home (and his praying mother) to seek his fortune in the big city, Rome. He found work as a rhetorician -- a speaker, speech writer, and teacher of public speaking. He came under the patronage of a powerful senator, which propelled his career and landed him in Milan, working for the Emperor. There he came under the sway of bishop Ambrose, who impressed him as a thinker and speaker. His praying mom also came to live with him. Sitting in his garden one day, he heard a child calling, "Pick up and read." He picked up a Bible and randomly turned to the Romans 13:13 passage about not living in the lusts of the flesh, and that challenged his worldly behavior and led to his conversion.

The rest, as they say, is history. Augustine tried to retire from public life, moving back to North Africa, but there he was pressed into service as a bishop. In that post, through his teaching and writing, he provided leadership for the church at a critical time. His lasting works include the sprawling City of God and numerous sermons, but if you really want to get to know this extraordinary man, read his Confessions.

Follow the Leader
On the Imitation of Christ
by Thomas á Kempis, c. 1418

As history rounded the bend of the Middle Ages and steamed toward the Renaissance, it was apparent that the church had lost its way. Forgiveness was being sold to pay for lavish cathedrals, and the office of bishop was often auctioned to the highest bidder. The simple truth of Christ had been obscured.

Various reformers addressed this problem, some breaking from the Roman church, but others working within it. In the Netherlands, a counter-cultural group known as the Brethren of the Common Life formed in the 1300s, dedicated to the simple yet immensely challenging task of following Christ fully.

It was a monastery without formal vows, involving both clergy and laity. The group sought a new way to devote themselves to God, and they were committed to poverty, community, obedience, and the education of children. One boy who went through the Brethren school was Thomas Haemerken (later known as "á Kempis"), who rose through the ranks to become a leader in the movement. Thomas is credited with the authorship of The Imitation of Christ, though some scholars now claim that the source of the material was Geert Groote, founder of the Brethren of the Common Life. In any case, this devotional handbook stands as a Christian classic.

The book contains some great advice for developing the soul's inner life. For instance, have you ever found yourself noodling some theological subpoint of Scripture rather than grasping its main message? "Our curiosity often impedes our reading of the Scriptures, when we wish to understand and mull over what we ought simply to read and pass by," The Imitation tells us. "If you would profit from it, therefore, read with humility, simplicity, and faith, and never seek a reputation for being learned."

Listening for the voice of Christ: that's a key theme. To that end, the book presents several imaginary dialogues with Christ, which might serve as models for your own prayer time. What would Jesus say to you? How could you respond?

"Lord Jesus, because Your way is narrow and despised by the world, grant that I may despise the world and imitate You. For the servant is not greater than his Lord, nor the disciple above the Master. Let Your servant be trained in Your life, for there is my salvation and true holiness. Whatever else I read or hear does not fully refresh or delight me."

The Brethren's educational emphasis is apparent. In a way, this book is a primer in spiritual devotions. Modern students of the faith can learn much here.

Seek willingly and listen attentively to the words of the saints; do not be displeased with the sayings of the ancients, for they were not made without purpose. --Thomas á Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Practice Makes Perfect
The Practice of the Presence of God
by Brother Lawrence, c. 1693

Maybe things were finally settling down. The Protestant Reformation had caused an explosion in Europe, with Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist forces fighting to redraw the map in their favor. The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) was especially bloody. For 18 of those years, Nicholas Herman fought with the French army. The smoke cleared with the Peace of Westphalia, and everyone went back to real life, whatever that was.

Nicholas admired the devotion of the Carmelite Order, founded and shaped by the mystics John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. Joining up, he took the name Brother Lawrence and worked for 30 years as a cook in the Carmelite community.

Brother Lawrence never set out to publish a book. He just jotted spiritual notes and letters along the way. There was a partial manuscript of sayings found among his possessions after he died, but he often implored his readers not to distribute these writings. Fortunately for us, that request was ignored. Lawrence's thoughts have been culled and edited in an inspiring work, The Practice of the Presence of Christ.

"We ought to act with God in the greatest simplicity," he says, "speaking to Him frankly and plainly, and imploring His assistance in our affairs, just as they happen." That casual interaction with the Lord might be commonplace for modern believers, but it was ground-breaking in the 17th century. Lawrence describes a spiritual life that goes beyond ritualized worship, inhabiting the mundane aspects of life.

Though he had a "great aversion" to his "business in the kitchen," he sought to "do everything there for the love of GOD, and with prayer, upon all occasions." While Lawrence is often considered one of the Christian "mystics," his devotion is anchored in everyday stuff. Because of that, he has inspired later generations of believers who seek to invite God into their daily activities.

Having found in many books different methods of going to God, and diverse practices of the spiritual life, I thought this would serve rather to puzzle me, than facilitate what I sought after, which was nothing but how to become wholly God's. This made me resolve to give the all for the All.

So after having given myself wholly to GOD... I renounced, for the love of Him, everything that was not He; and I began to live as if there was none but He and I in the world. --Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

The Price is Right
The Cost of Discipleship
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1937

We tend to think of theologians as stuffy, buttoned-down scholars, never venturing far from their libraries. We don't expect them to get involved in assassination plots. But that's exactly where we find Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a bright young theology prof who decided he had to do whatever it took to get rid of Adolf Hitler. Though he had a comfortable teaching position in New York, he returned to Germany to stand with his people and oppose the brutal dictator. The assassination plot failed, and Bonhoeffer was executed.

Was he right or wrong in making that choice? Judge for yourself. But his decision was fully consistent with his no-nonsense theology. "When Christ calls a man," Bonhoeffer said, "he bids him come and die." Theologically, Bonhoeffer was speaking of a "dying to self," a thorough devotion to Christ in response to his grace. We need to obey Him, no matter how costly that obedience is.

The Cost of Discipleship rails against "cheap grace," the idea that believers already have their ticket to heaven punched, so now we can live any way we want. But that's not the way it's supposed to work. Bonhoeffer expounds on the Sermon on the Mount to show the way Jesus wants us to live. He stops short of a "salvation by works" approach, but he challenges all believers to respond to God's free grace with a costly obedience.

The pure word of Jesus has been overlaid with so much human ballast--burdensome rules and regulations, false hopes and consolations--that it has become extremely difficult to make a genuine decision for Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

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