Category: Spirituality/Religion

That brief posting entitled Words to Live By from last Sunday evening was based on a passage from the first Chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes.

When my friend first pointed me in the direction of that passage, it also made my mind go back to a ’60s folk song adapted from a well-known part of Chapter 3 from the same Book.

Turn, Turn, Turn is a song all boomers remember from 1965. Although it was written by Pete Seeger, it was the Byrds who had a huge hit with it. The words are taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and had but one phrase added at the end: …a time for peace, I swear it’s not too late!

Here it is in its entirety:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

by Pete Seeger adapted from Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

The words offered me no small comfort back many, many years ago when I first heard them. (I was in the 5th grade, if you must know!) And they still do.

This is a most unusual and very precarious Chapter in the history of our Country.

And I assure you it’s a time to heal.

It’s a time to speak.

And it’s a time for Peace.

Brother Ben

© 2019 The Fellowship of St Francis, Inc.

I’m thinking that just about anyone who reads this has heard the aphorism

“Prayer Changes Things”

A few months ago, I drove by a Church in the downtown Orlando area and read this on the sign out front:

“Prayer doesn’t change things. Prayer changes people and people change things!”

I’m not at all trying to make a commentary on prayer or different ideas about prayer or about spirituality in general. I believe we all can and should create our own spiritual path.

But I found myself in agreement with the idea that brief message contained.

And that’s all the more reason to pray.

Brother Ben

© 2019 The Fellowship of St Francis, Inc.

It’s such an incredible and intensely sad development that Evangelicals in America have separated their belief and their behavior so thoroughly.

They can, and often do, go on and on about what a Christian should believe and say virtually nothing about what a Christian should do.

Their beliefs may be traditional or orthodox as far as that goes but their refusal to follow it up with authentic behavior and actions as modeled by and taught by the man they worship as God perfectly shows how bankrupt their spirituality is.

By the way, I’m am not “traditional” or “orthodox” as seen through the lens of traditional Christianity, but that’s a subject for another day.

This disconnect between what they teach their adherents to believe and what Jesus clearly taught that they should do is very easy to spot.

I think it’s safe to say that that disconnect has been there for anyone to see for quite a while. But today it’s not a separation that can be easily bridged; it’s a great, imposing chasm and the gap grows wider by the day.

When one looks at how so many members of Evangelical Churches go about their everyday lives, the failure to treat all  people with compassion and respect is right out there for anyone to see.

The tepid way that too many Evangelical Churches and their members go about exercising stewardship of the Earth and all of Earth’s inhabitants is also deeply regrettable. So much more can be and ought to be done.

There are many consequences to this failure to “walk the walk” and not just merely “talk the talk”. I think the most serious one is that folks who’ve been attending Evangelical Churches for years are leaving in droves.

This blog posting today is not covering any new ground on this subject. There is no shortage of books, articles and podcast episodes about it. And the exodus has been going on for quite a while.

This entry is part one of a two-part series and I meant it mostly just to set the stage.

But I do want to invite your attention to a recent interview that covers this subject of Evangelicals jumping ship pretty thoroughly. I think Mr McLaren’s insights into what is happening are spot-on. I recommend the piece if you’re trying to keep your eye on this situation.

It’s still true that you can’t put new wine in old vessels. One of the things driving the exodus is that you can’t scare people anymore into believing or walking a spiritual path by threatening them with burning in hell. That’s just not happening, and that’s a good thing.

That specific angle to this situation is also something I will cover in more detail soon.

Blessings to all. I will be checking in again soon.

Brother Ben

© 2019 The Fellowship of St Francis

Here’s a verse from the Book of Ecclesiastes that a friend of mine shared with me tonight. It’s a verse she has found to be a key part of her personal spiritual practice.

When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 NIV

I think that this translation or interpretation makes more clear what the writer of Ecclesiastes was trying to say:

Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 NLT

These are indeed words to live by. It is so true that none of us knows what tomorrow may bring. We all have our share of the “good stuff” and it’s just as certain that the “bad stuff” comes around with regularity.

And time often has a way of helping us see the the “good times” may not have been as good as it seemed, and the “bad” not as bad, perhaps.

But while you’re in it, whether it seems good or bad at the time, remember that the wheel will turn; other experiences will come around. And that God, or the Universe or the Divine One brings them all to you.

Brother Ben

© 2019 The Fellowship of St Francis