The season of Lent is upon us. One of my Lenten disciplines this year is to read the daily email meditations of Franciscan priest Father Richard Rohr. I have read a number of his books and have received his daily email meditations for years. Sometimes I am really good at reading his emails every day, and sometimes I am not so good at it. But this Lent I plan to read them all!
Rohr’s books and email meditations have had a significant impact on my sense of Christian spirituality. He has a way of relating deep theological insights in everyday language. And he emphasizes the importance of both inner contemplative spirituality and an outer spirituality of service and activism.
In the 1980s Rohr founded the Center for Action and Contemplation. He wanted to emphasize both dimensions of Christian spirituality, because he saw how many well-meaning activists, who dedicate enormous time and energy to helping those harmed by injustice, were burning themselves out in their attempts to change the world for the better. In addition to this holy calling, Rohr instructed those he worked with to be still and rest in the presence of God where they would discover a divine flame to rekindle their energy and reinforce their calling.
Similarly, Rohr notes how those focused on the inner journey will almost inevitably be pushed outward to the work of charity and justice in the world. As Christians dig deep in our relationship with God, the Spirit will inspire us to manifest the goodness and love we have connected with in real, concrete ways that benefit our neighbors in need. Thus, we see that all Christians have a calling to both the inner contemplative journey and a calling to the outward action of charity and justice.
This idea is nothing new; Jesus taught it as did the Hebrew prophets. In the church’s earliest days, Christians understood that the faith journey had an inner and an outer dimension to it. One of the most important figures of the twentieth century who many have never heard of is the Rev. Howard Thurman. Thurman was an African American pastor, professor, theologian, and author. He is also considered by many to be a mystic and sometimes called the pastor of the Civil Rights Movement. He inspired modern contemplative-activists like Richard Rohr. And he inspired perhaps the most well-known clergyman of the twentieth century: the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Thurman was MLK’s spiritual mentor. He embodied the life of nonviolent resistance so evident in the life and teaching of MLK. His book Jesus and the Disinherited was an inspiration to many who sought to have their spirituality guide their social action.
This Lent we will be reading Howard Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited on Thursday evenings, and exploring ways in which we can connect our sense of spirituality with a sense of social action and justice. Even if you are unable to join us for these discussions, I hope you will make it a Lenten discipline to read this short book. Copies are available for free in the church office. This book is a gift to humanity which has inspired generations of Christians to bring together the outer dimension of service and justice with the inner dimension of contemplative spirituality.
May you be inspired this Lent to follow the Spirit’s call to both action and contemplation. And may God’s peace be with you as together we dig deep, reach out, and change lives in Christ’s name!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Brian
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