Snippets: The Inner Voice of Love

There are two extremes to avoid: being completely absorbed in your pain and being distracted by so many things that you stay far from the wound you want to heal.
Henri Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love

I am in Here: The Journey of a Child with Autism Who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice

 Virginia G. Breen and her teenage daughter Elizabeth share their story of living with autism in I am in Here:  The Journey of a Child with Autism who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice.  The book is organized into short chapters, punctuated by Elizabeth's poetry and descriptions of the feelings, incidents and ideas behind the poem.  Breen chronicles her journey from Elizabeth's autism diagnosis (her older son is also diagnosed with autism), to the present reality of learning to know and understand Elizabeth.  She writes of her search for healing for her daughter, involving a journey through many therapies, to the breakthrough where Elizabeth learns to communicate in writing, though she remains non-verbal.
     Breen writes honestly of both the triumphs and struggles of life with Elizabeth, allowing the reader to understand her life as the mother of a daughter with special needs.  She shares honestly about Elizabeth's challenges and difficult outward behaviours that result from her inability to communicate verbally; Elizabeth's poems and entries to the book share her feelings and perspectives on her struggle to be understood.  Breen highlights the many dimensions of her daughter's intelligence, and honours the teachers and therapists who have skillfully taught Elizabeth.  The book highlights the need to not overlook the gifts and skills of those who are unable to communicate verbally.  Perseverance in the face of difficulties is another theme running through Breen's account.
     The form of therapy Breen credits with unlocking Elizabeth's ability to communicate, the Rapid Prompting Method, is somewhat controversial, and has not been scientifically proven to be effective.  However, Breen's hopeful tone and insistence that the gifts of individuals with autism need to be unlocked and put to use is worthwhile for those who wish to understand individuals with autism.

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Classic Poetry: Though Art Indeed Just, Lord

Gerard Manley Hopkins poetry is often complex, challenging, and delightful at the same time.  This week in my reading I became acquainted with this honest prayer, published in 1918.


Thou Art Indeed Just, Lord
Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend
With thee; but, sir, so what I plead is just.
Why do sinners’ ways prosper? and why must
Disappointment all I endeavour end?

  Wert thou my enemy, O thou my friend,      
How wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost
Defeat, thwart me? Oh, the sots and thralls of lust
Do in spare hours more thrive than I that spend,
Sir, life upon thy cause. See, banks and brakes
Now leavèd how thick! lacèd they are again      
With fretty chervil, look, and fresh wind shakes
Them; birds build—but not I build; no, but strain,
Time’s eunuch, and not breed one work that wakes.
Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain.

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything:  A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin, SJ is an accessible guide to Jesuit spiritual practices, aimed at the layperson.  Martin weaves together autobiographical elements, biographical accounts from the life of Ignatius of Loyola, and descriptions of the Jesuit way of life and prayer as he invites his readers into a relationship with God.  Though a major weakness is the way in which Martin seems to view all religious paths as valid, and thus some content should be read with discernment, his book invites Christian readers into a joyful, free relationship with Jesus.
     In his introduction to Ignatian spirituality, he writes:
     The way of Ignatius is about finding freedom:  the freedom to become the person you've meant to be, to love and accept love, to make good decisions, and to experience the beauty of creation and the mystery of God's love (1).  He later expands this theme into an exploration of how to see our desires in relationship to God, and how bring our deepest desires before God in a way that shapes us towards holiness.  Later in the book, he helpfully and simply describes the five steps of the Ignatian examine as a model for reflection and confession.
     Before you begin, as in all prayer, remind yourself that you're in God's presence, and ask God to help you with your prayer.
     1.  Gratitude:  Recall anything from the day for which you are especially grateful, and give thanks.
     2.  Review:  Recall the events of the day, from start to finish, noticing where you felt God's presence, and where you accepted or turned away from any invitations to grow in love.
     3.  Sorrow:  Recall any actions for which you are sorry.
     4.  Forgiveness:  Ask for God's forgiveness.  Decide whether you want to reconcile with anyone you have hurt.
     5.  Grace:  Ask for the grace you need for the next day and an ability to see God's presence more clearly.  (97)
A major theme of Martin's exploration of Jesuit spirituality is the development of a relationship with God, and a way of viewing life that sees God in all things.  In an autobiographical reflection, he describes his realization of the nature of friendship with Jesus.
     If Jesus were my friend, he would be happy to listen to me.  He would celebrate with me over my successes and be sad with me over my disappointments.  He would want the best for me.  And he would want to spend time with me and hear about my life.  Then I wondered what Jesus of Nazareth was really like...It must have been wonderful to be around him, to have him give you support, to answer your questions.  It felt good, even exciting, to think about Jesus like this.  I started to think about wanting him as a friend. (109).
     Though many readers may not accept all practices suggested by Martin as valid or helpful in Christian worship, the book is both enjoyable and helpful in many ways.  Martin describes many ways of prayer, being with Jesus, and orienting life in relationship with God.  These gems provide a glimpse into the wonder of a relationship with God, as well as accessible suggestions to use along the journey.

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life

Summer Reading

Christianity Today's Her.meneutics blog recently posted some "mini-reviews" of suggested summer reading.  Most of the titles were new to me, but many looked quite interesting.  The recommended titles include fiction, non-fiction, and some classic works.

Get Moving: What are you Reading This Summer?

Snippets: Jesus + Nothing = Everything

Since Jesus secured my pardon and absorbed the Father’s wrath on my behalf so that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” how does that impact my longing for approval, my tendency to be controlling, and my fear of the unknown? How do the life, death, and resurrection of Christ affect my thirst for security, affection, protection, meaning, and purpose? In other words, how does the finished work of the one “exposed, ravaged, ruined, and resurrected for us” satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?   (Tullian Tchividjan, Jesus + Nothing= Everything, Kindle location 2236)

Classic Reads: The Abolition of Man

Based on a series of lectures first published in 1944, The Abolition of Man is a remarkably current argument about the nature of truth and the shaping of society.

     Lewis' argument begins with the assertion that the ability to judge correctly must be learned; value is not attributed to a thing based on emotion, but based on its intrinsic value.  He writes of the weaknesses in modern education systems that fail to teach students to judge correctly.
     In the next portion of the argument, Lewis writes against what he calls the Innovators, who search for a primitive basis for moral judgement outside of an objective standard of moral truth.  Lewis terms this standard the Tao, and writes that grounded in values held by societies across history and culture.  He writes that without a grounding in the Tao, there is no ground for accepting or rejecting any subset of values.

This thing which I have called for convenience the Tao, and which others may call Natural Law or Traditional Morality or the First Principles or Practical Reason or the First Platitudes, is not one among a series of possible systems of value.  If it is rejected, all value is rejected.  If any value is retained, it is retained.  The effort to refute it and raise a new system of value in its place is self-contradictory.  There has never been, and never will be, a radically new judgement of value in the history of the world (43)

     In the final chapter, Lewis concludes his argument that without reference to an objective system of moral truth, humanity eventually destroys itself.  Without a moral standard, power degenerates into tyrrany.

When all that says 'it is good' has been debunked, what says 'I want' remains (65)

   Lewis' argument in favour of a traditional, trans-cultural standard for value, truth, and right remains remarkably current for present discussion about society-shaping and moral values.

An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful.  But an open mind about the ultimate foundations of either Theoretical or of Practical reason is idiocy (48)

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