Fuel for Pilgrims (Volume Three)

Fuel for Pilgrims (Volume 3)

by Stephen John March

Copyright © Stephen John March 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author, Stephen John March.

ISBN 978-1-326-52084-7

First published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by LULU

This book is also available in hardback ISBN 978-1-326-52026-7

and in paperback format ISBN 978-1-326-52083-0

Other writing

Fuel for Pilgrims (Volume 1), Lulu, 2015, 151p, ISBN 978-1-326-22814-9 (Hard Back), also available in paperback and eBook formats.

Fuel for Pilgrims (Volume 2), Lulu, 2015, 162p, ISBN 978-1-326-40902-9 (Hard Back), also available in paperback and eBook formats.

Jonah - The epistle of wild grace - A 40 day meditational commentary for individuals and groups, Lulu, 2014, 249p, ISBN 978-1-291-66834-6 (Hard Back), also available in paperback and eBook formats.

(avec Martine LAURENT) Jonas - L’épître de la grâce déchaînée - Un commentaire méditatif sur 40 jours pour les individus et les groupes, Lulu, 2014, 249p, ISBN 978-1-326-02869-5 (Relié), aussi disponible en formats broché et eBook.

(with David E. Bjork) As Pilgrims Progress - Learning how Christians can walk hand in hand when they don’t see eye to eye, Aventine Press, 2006, 240p, ISBN 1-59330-367-X

Blogs

www.fuelforpilgrims.org (the blog where these meditations originated)

www.lepaindespelerins.org (the French language version)

www.runningwithgod.org (a running-themed spiritual blog)

Personal website

www.marchsite.com

Ministry website

www.nearergroup.org

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my literary heroes; some of whom are listed below.

Mervyn Laurence PEAKE (09/07/1911 – 17/11/1968), who led me into ‘Gormenghast’, a glorious journey from which I have never fully recovered.

Stephen Reeder DONALDSON (13/05/1947 - present), who showed me ‘The Land’ and I fell in love and I mourned its desecration.

Clive Staples LEWIS (29/11/1898 – 22/11/1963), who told me wondrous fables of breath-taking beauty, and then showed me that they were true.

Gilbert Keith CHESTERTON (29/05/1874 – 14/06/1936), who enabled me to see with wonder and amazement, things to which I had grown habituated.

Peter MEIDERLIN (22/03/1582 - 01/06/1651), of whom only one sentence is generally remembered, and that mostly wrongly attributed, and yet his one sentence has inspired more good than entire libraries.

Lyall WATSON [Malcolm LYALL-WATSON] (12/04/1939 – 25/06/2008), a man only interested in experiments which failed to prove their thesis, and who enormously profited thereby.

Sir Thomas BROWNE (19/10/1605 – 19/10/1682), who was an ecumenist ‘before the hour’ (1640s) and who’s good-natured and generous Christianity inspires me.

Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the encouragements received in response to my previous writings.

These ‘sustaining words’, often received unexpectedly by email, letter, and personal conversation; are precious and greatly valued.

I wish to Gweno Hugh-Jones once again for her kind and generous help in proof-reading the manuscript.

Any errors that remain are mine and mien alone (see what I did there!).

Pilgrimage as metaphor

In the introduction of Fuel for Pilgrims Volume One I described the history of pilgrimage, its roots in the story of the Jews and their spirituality, its adoption within the Christian faith, and its constant presence within the history of that movement.

In the introduction to the second volume in the series, I considered perhaps the most crucial issue in the Christian spiritual life - how can we make a successful pilgrimage?

In the introduction to this, the third volume I would like to explore the way in which the metaphor of pilgrimage is helpful to our understanding of the Christian life.

Pilgrimage - a journey with God, to God - is a very rich metaphor; it encapsulates the idea of movement, changing landscape, changing people, changing culture. It is the antithesis of static.

This dynamic image provides helpful balance and works to redress the downside of spiritual practices - both corporate and personal - that are often regular and unchanging.

The spiritual practices through which we live out our faith become very familiar to us. Indeed it is their familiarity that is their great strength, we slip into them like an old pair of shoes, effortlessly, comfortably, reassuringly.

Yet familiarity can, in the words of the proverb, breed contempt. Contempt is certainly too strong a word in this context, for we continue to value and appreciate the activities that give shape to our spiritual life; but we can become somewhat inured to them, we can start to lose sight of their cosmic qualities and dimensions. We can start to forget how staggering and magnificent they are.

Perhaps some concrete examples will help.

In the Eucharist we punch a hole in time and grab hold of the future and pull it into the present. By so doing we stand with the angels, surrounding the throne of God, worshipping the Victorious Christ, King of the Universe, the Ultimate Conqueror over death and hell. By act of grace and of will we choose to live in the future reality of the fully-expressed reign of Christ - even though, in the here and now - we see it only in glimpses and glimmers.

In prayer we connect at a soul to soul level with the Living God - the One who spoke and the universe was made. In so doing He grants us the unbelievable honour and privilege of knowing and encountering Him, and He grants us the unimaginable power of directing His activity in the world.

In reading Scripture we connect not only with the words but also with the Word; with the Author who stands within and behind them. We encounter the Spirit of Jesus in the words of Jesus. We are thus granted direct, unfiltered access to the very mind of God.

And I could go on.

And yet, our continual exposure to this ‘deep magic’ can cause us to lose our sense of wonder and appreciation.

It is in this context that the metaphor of pilgrimage, with its emphasis on change, adventure, discovery, and newness is a helpful corrective to any sense that the life of faith might be mundane, ordinary, and that blasphemous concept, normal.

This book is written in the hope that it might give you ‘fuel’ for your pilgrimage. These daily, bite-sized meditations are envisaged to strengthen and inspire you on your pilgrim way.

They may even, Deo volente, help you to re-appreciate some of the wonder that you are already experiencing in your spiritual life, but have forgotten how to see.

How do I use this book?

This book contains 40 meditations designed to be undertaken daily, or at a rhythm that suits the individual or the group. As the goal of any Christian activity is personal transformation, speed is not of the essence - in fact it is often counter-productive.

It is far better to take things slowly, to spend time meditating and thinking through the issues raised, rather than rushing on in order to finish quickly.

The studies are designed to be ‘stand-alone’ but they are also loosely grouped by theme.

Individually – Each Day (or an agreed number of times per week)

Begin each study with a period of prayer. This will help you ‘centre’ yourself and to open yourself to the Holy Spirit. It will also help you remember what you are actually doing – seeking to meet with God. So take time to pray asking God to meet with you.

To help you in your meditation there are questions at the end of each section. These questions will help you to focus on the issues raised and will help you discern whether God is calling you to respond in some way.

It will also help if you write down your responses to these questions. Your written answers will also be useful for the following step.

Each study closes with some ideas of how you may wish to respond to God in prayer.

In a Small Group – Once a Week (or at an agreed rhythm)

I encourage you to benefit from the spiritual dynamic created by seeking God with a friend or with a small group. Do the studies individually and then, once a week (or at an agreed rhythm), meet up in a group to share your thoughts and questions, explore the issues raised, discuss your responses to the meditation questions and respond together in prayer to what the Holy Spirit has revealed to you.

Working through this material with others will definitely lead to you getting more out of your study. Sharing and discussing together the meditations will bring a wider perspective to the issues raised and will also enable you to benefit from the life experiences of others in your group. It is also vitally important to not just consider the individual life application of these truths, but also to focus on the application of these truths to your local church, or group.

These group meetings will also enable you to pray for each other. Each time God speaks we need to give thanks to Him and also to ask Him to help us put into practice what we have heard. Transformation is never easy; being surrounded by the prayers of others will be a real help.

May God's grace and peace be with you.

Stephen John March

(On the Feast of St Stephen, 2015, Birstall)

A series of meditations on the communal aspect of faith.

Do ALL churches fail?

Okay, 'nightmare quotation’ time.

I'm reading a book in which the author talks about how people encounter the power of Christ entering their lives in various ways;

For evangelical spirituality it is through crisis conversion and doctrinal affirmation;

For charismatic spirituality it is through an experience of encounter with the Holy Spirit;

For liturgical spirituality it is through ritual and sacrament;

- Then the author goes on to say;

However, neither individually nor collectively do any of these ways reliably produce large numbers of people who really are like Christ and his closest followers throughout history. That is a statistically verifiable fact.[1]

That quotation really stopped me in my tracks.

I wish that he were wrong, but in my heart of hearts I think he is probably right.

Why is it that the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit doesn't seem to be transforming very much in those of us who claim to have an intimate, passionate love relationship with the God who created the universe?

Dallas Willard claims that behaving like Christ can only authentically flow out of

being like Christ.

Thus the well-worn phrase 'What Would Jesus Do?' should rather be 'How Would Jesus Live?'

Fortunately, we have some data for that. What we see in the gospel accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus are certain spiritual disciplines.

Now, if Christ himself, our perfect example, needed to use the spiritual disciplines in order to perfectly express his human-ness in relationship to the Father, then why has the contemporary church largely put them to one side?

Do we consider ourselves better than him?!

For human beings the spiritual and physical are linked.

Thus in the disciplining of our bodies, our spirits may also grow.

Willard lists the following spiritual disciplines;