Dear Faith Family,
"The essential thing 'in heaven and earth' is, it appears, that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living."
If you didn't know who authored the above quote, you might attribute the observation to a proverbial sage. Perhaps a person who spent their life in search of wisdom, and perhaps, with the mention of "heaven," a person of faith who has discovered the truth to a good life. Maybe you even attribute it to the author of the book, whose title is derived from the quote (see the image above)!
What if I told you that, despite the apparent affirmation of a life of persistent faith in persevering hope, the quote was actually a condemnation of the very way of life that you and I see as fundamental. Indeed, Friedrich Nietzsche--the genuinely atheistic 'father of postmodernism'--wrote these words as a sarcastic slight to what he rightly saw as the annoyingly limiting (to him) essential mindset and mode of a faith which transforms a person and a people.
While Nietzsche's desire was to free humanity (at least some) from banal submission to things like morals, not to mention Spirit and scripture. Yet, the stories of our faith tell us that joyous freedom is found only in our reciprocated obedience.
"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you." (John 15:10-14)
To scorn (like Nietzsche) a vision of life lived in "long obedience in the same direction" or circumvent it in the pursuit of the "immediate and the casual", which is the pervading pressure in our current times, does not merely put us at risk of missing out on "a life worth living," it puts us at odds with the very faith we desire to live by. So, what are we to do?
How do we ensure or recover the essential mindset and mode of a faith that transforms both ourselves and the world we inhabit?
There are many things I appreciate about Eugene Peterson, including his ability to take what is meant to be a critique of our faith and turn it into an exhortation to faith. This is what Peterson does in his book "A Long Obedience In The Same Direction," specifically, by encouraging us to live into the essential mindset and mode of our faith as apprenticed pilgrims.
Of course, as we discussed on Sunday, Peterson's vision of a life of faith being in a "growing-learning relationship" with Jesus, even as we are "going someplace" with Jesus, is not unique to him, but rather grounded in the scriptures and traditions which ground us. It is these scriptures and traditions, along with the mindset and mode they cultivate in us, that I invite you to explore this summer.
Whatever your summer plans or schedule, I challenge you to do two things:
Join us in regular contemplative reading of particular Psalms, Gospel stories, and Peterson. Slow, prayerful, and repeated reading sets the pace (no pun intended!) for our practices. Here is a reading schedule to keep us in step with our fellow apprenticed pilgrims.
Join us in weekly conversation with communion at our Sunday Gatherings. The life worth living both requires and leads us into regular time with fellow apprenticed pilgrims. And this summer, especially, our Gathering will be a time for us to help one another understand and enter the essential mindset and mode of our faith.
So, are you up for a summer challenge? I hope so! And pray that we'll come to know the truth and joy of a long obedience in the same direction...that always results in...something which has made life worth living.
Love you, faith family! God bless.