A lot of folks are saying "good bye" to 2017 without a lot of regret. For many of us it has been a rough-and-tumble year, in personal ways, on societal levels, and in the church. And chances are, the roller-coaster ride will continue into 2018. "Say it ain't so!"
We are in a period of time that Walter Brueggeman calls "disorder" – a simultaneous ending/beginning, the ending phase being easily seen, but the beginning phase being largely unseen. Disorder times have recurred in cycles in human history, and I agree with those who believe we are in another one right now.1
In times of disorder, we need mystics more than ever, those who see through and beyond current reality, into what is becoming. Mystics of this nature are also prophets, calling out "the kingdoms of this world" and pointing toward the Kingdom of God.2 Mystic-prophets provide a sanity (an energizing hope that God will prevail) during times when narcissistic craziness (egotism/ethnocentrism) consume each day's news in both the society and in the church.
I believe Diana Butler-Bass is a mystic-prophet who is inviting us (to use Paul's words) to forget the things which are behind, and press forward to the things which lie ahead (Philippians 3:13).3 She writes compellingly about this...
"Strange as it may seem in this time of cultural anxiety, economic near collapse, terrorist fear, political violence, environmental crisis, and partisan anger, I believe that the United States (and not only the United States) is caught up in the throes of a spiritual awakening, a period of sustained religious and political transformation during which our ways of seeing the world, understanding ourselves, and expressing faith are being, to borrow a phrase, 'born again.'.... This transformation is what some hope will be a 'Great Turning' toward a global community based on shared human connection, dedicated to the care of our planet, committed to justice and equality, that seeks to raise hundreds of millions from poverty, violence, and oppression. . . ." 4
She bases this vision on Romans 5:20, "Where sin increased, grace multiplied even more" (CEB). This is not naivé proof-texting, it is biblical revelation backed up by the record of history, and Bass (as a historical theologian) knows it. It is the same confidence that Maltbie Babcock penned in these words, "though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet."5
Sadly, times of disorder leave behind ruins and casualties, as the political and religious potentates turn their sacred cows into raging bulls that gore and harm others in their last-ditch effort to preserve their empires. But the writhings are the death throes of the old order passing away so that the new creation can come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
I like the way Bass summarizes this movement in accurate words conveyed by a simple image, "The toothpaste is out of the tube. There are enough people who know the big picture of Jesus’ thrilling and alluring vision of the reign of God that this Great Turning cannot be stopped."
Indeed...it cannot be stopped. 2018 will continue the movement toward the Light. Let's keep walking!6
1Two books have helped me recognize the new axial age we are living in today, "Emergence Christianity" by Phyllis Tickle, and "The Great Spiritual Migration" by Brian McLaren.
2Two books have helped me see who mystic-prophets are and why they are crucial in times of disorder, "The Prophetic Imagination" by Walter Brueggemann, and "What the Mystics Know" by Richard Rohr,
3Paul does not mean a literal or complete "forgetting," for we learn from the past. He means that we do not let the past discourage us, but rather allow it to motivate us to press on. Cynicism is deformative forgetfulness. Confidence is formative forgetfulness – telling egotism/ethnocentrism, "By God, you do not have the final word!"
4Diana Butler-Bass, 'Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening' (HarperOne, 2013), 5-6.
5"This Is My Father's World," No. TO COME, United Methodist Hymnal
6FYI–Richard Rohr wrote on the theme of "Rebuilding" in his 2017 Daily Meditations. In fact, he used the words I quoted from Diana Butler-Bass in his meditation for Dec. 27, 2017. I hope you receive Rohr's daily writings. He is a mystic-prophet guiding us into greater Light.
Steve Harper New
The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper and his wife, Jeannie Waller Harper.
The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper is a retired seminary professor, spiritual director, author of several books and retreat leader along with his wife, Jeannie Waller Harper. This post is republished with permission from his Facebook page of Dec. 31, 2017.