BOOK REVIEW - HEARING GOD'S WORDS: EXPLORING BIBLICAL SPIRITUALITY (NEW STUDIES IN BIBLICAL THEOLGY) BY PETER ADAM

What does spirituality in Christianity look like? Is it primarily emotional, or is it more rational? Is it expressed in making pilgrimages or celebrating certain days?

Peter Adam's Hearing God's Words: Exploring Biblical Spirituality looks at how spirituality is shown in a brief study of 13 Biblical books (Genesis, Deuteronomy, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Jeremiah, Luke, Romans, Colossians, Hebrews, 1 Peter, 1 John, and Revelation), as well as dealing with historical approaches, such as Calvin's Theology of Revelation and the Puritan/Quaker debate on whether God speaks through the Bible or through the Spirit.

As an artist and novelist, I found chapter 5 interesting as it looks at various issues. Adam provides a defense for those who believe that paintings/statues of Christ are a violation of the 2nd Commandment, and that there is no New Testament instance of holy days for the Church or holy places. I'm not sure I completely agree, and I might reread this book to deal with the issue better. For example, one of my favorite novels ("An Unholy Communion," Monastery Murders book 3, by Donna Fletcher Crow) dealt with a pilgrimage; for me, the interest is not so much the destination as the travel with fellow believers.

If you want a book that looks at Spirituality and that may challenge your presuppositions, I highly recommend this book. After all, we DO need our assumptions challenged every now and then.

 

HOLY DAYS, HOLIDAYS, AND HOLLOW DAYS , AND HOW DO WE FOCUS ON THE FORMER?

 

Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Lebanon, TN

A couple of days ago, Becky expressed her sadness about not taking the time to go to a Veteran's Day service.  That got my attention. I had the day off from work, because this year it fell on a Saturday. Maybe part of it is that Becky's father was a veteran. Neither my father nor my paternal grandfather were (I have no idea about my maternal grandfather). 

This blog is being posted on Thanksgiving Day, 2023. You can say the same thing. It seems the day has morphed from Thanksgiving to Turkey Day. It used to be a day when all the stores were closed; now, several are open for pre-Black-Friday deals. :'( I think the day should be a little more, uh, sanctified (set apart), but is my heart focusing on giving thanks any more than any other day? Or am I too excited to turn on the TV for the big sports event of the day: America's Dog Show on NBC?

Allow me to use that introduction to suggest that our special days can fall into three categories: holy days, holidays, and hollow days. And I also want to make it plain that each have their place. Let me take them in reverse order:

1. Hollow Days. Someone I know used that term for what they considered pagan holidays (e.g. Christmas, Easter), to reflect the emptiness. Let me look on the concept more positively - there are days we need to be off from work, have a cook-out with friends, and watch a fireworks show after dark. (What I've just described can be how we celebrate Memorial Day, Independence Day, or Labor Day.) Anything wrong with that? Nope. We need time to rest. 
2. Holidays. These days are ones we celebrate via traditions. We wear green on St. Patrick's Day. We eat turkey and watch football (or in my case, the dog show) on Thanksgiving. We dress up for Halloween. We decorate a tree and deck the halls for Christmas. And we wait with apprehension to see if Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow. Each are fun events that occur once a year that make the day stand out from a day off. In the past (not true now) I would have that mentality for the Oscar's, the baseball All-Star game, and the then-annual showing on CBS of "The Wizard of Oz." None of them change the world, but it gives the year a little variety. 
3. Holy Days. Holy means set apart, and a holy day is set apart. There is a solemnity to that day, like the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) in the Bible. We could have that sanctified approach to major holidays we have off (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day for families where a member made the ultimate sacrifice) or days that are special to us. In my case, this would include Reformation Day, All Saints Day, World CEF Prayer Day, International Day of Prayer For The Persecuted Church, and World Refugee Day. 

Confession time. These days I mentioned usually are just a normal day. I want that to change. Reformation Day and All Saints Day are ones that currently are something I quietly acknowledge, but I really want to celebrate it with others! True, it might be overdoing it to have a Reformation Day party one day and follow it up with an All Saints Day party 24 hours later. But you get the idea.

Can I summarize? We need days to rest. We need days to have fun and break up the routine. And we need days to reflect.