Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ,

Ordinary Time turns toward its conclusion in September. While some of you might be looking forward to moving on from Ordinary Time, I confess my reluctance to leave this season of the Church. I enjoy this season for its simplicity of focus on going with God, and I pray God used my writing to impact your sanctification journey with Him.

As you and I turn into Ordinary Time’s homestretch, I wanted to look at another noise [the noise of perfectionism] on our sanctification journeys, but I’m conflicted about this one.

On the one hand, God calls you and me to perfection as one destination for our sanctification journeys. Along the way, our Lord transforms us into the living image of Him that He intended at our creation. He accomplishes this transformation through relationship with Him. You and I are transformed, then, by choosing God in the moments of our days as we accept, communicate, and serve Him. As a result, I imagine a ‘right’ way of going with God. In other words, my acceptance, communication, and service to God can be done by me in a certain way, which by necessity would be the ‘correct’ way.

On the other hand, I know that the Devil’s favorite tool for distraction is the distortion of God’s call. Right from the very start [Genesis 3], the Devil corrupts what our Lord told Eve, so I can easily imagine a place for the Devil’s attempt to corrupt our call to perfection.

One question might serve as a starting line for this exploration: How, then, might the Devil corrupt God’s call to perfection on your journey and mine? In other words, what could be the Devil’s method for distracting us with a noise of perfectionism? What follows might be more of a ramble than any real sense, so please permit me to wander around to see what God has for you and me right now.

If you have followed my writings this year, you will predict where I will begin to answer this question. A couple paragraphs ago, I ended with a thought that “I” could do things the right way. Now, this “I” causes me a lot of problems on my sanctification journey, because too often it becomes isolated from the transformative relationship. I try do things on my own apart from God, which would indicate a choice of “not God.” The Devil likes this isolation because if It can isolate me, It can tempt me to a path other than God’s.

The temptation to my own path instead of God’s might raise another question: How could the Devil isolate me through a corruption of God’s call to perfection? One simple idea might be the creation of my own idea of perfection instead of God’s. In other words, I could fixate on a precise formula of my own imagination for what God expects from the outcome of my choices of Him. Such a fixation would certainly send me striving after my ideas instead of God’s. In fact, such a creation of my own design sounds very much like the creation of an idol, and God may or may not have given us a commandment against that. As a result, I would very much be isolated from God and travelling my own path.

A noise of perfectionism very easily arises from this creation of my own ideas of perfection. The Devil, first, shows me all kinds of ways which my service to God could look, and then It keeps me distracted by keeping my steps directed toward the one way that I choose. As a result, this would become a very distracting noise indeed, because this would send me after an idol and isolate me from the transformative relationship with God.

But am I on the right track? Let’s look around and see what we can see.

Picture from Ordinary Life

Now, I might surprise some of you with this confession: I very much enjoy reading. The Bible, theological tomes, and even classical fiction – all find a spot on my shelves for actively reading at any given point. As a result, I was very much drawn to the practice of Lectio Divina. [Learn more about the basics – here. https://bustedhalo.com/ministry-resources/lectio-divina-beginners-guide]

In particular, I am indebted to a couple monks at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama [https://www.stbernardabbey.com/] for their instruction. Frs. Martin and Amos started me with the Gospel according to Mark, and then they led me into reading any book on my shelf by this method. I readily thank them for their introduction and instruction on Lectio Divina.

So, one of the first principles of Lectio Divina is to read until something grabs your thoughts. For example, I might revisit the Gospel of Mark and find a particular parable which I simply cannot ignore on that day. Then, I settle into the striking passage to listen for what God has for me right then. As a personal note, I like to use a journal to track what I was reading, what stood out, and then the reflections upon the captivating passage.

Just the other day, I read through a section of Jeremiah. I began with the next chapter on my schedule, went through another chapter, and completed a third. Then, I stopped because I was making great progress through the Book, but I just wasn’t getting anything. I read about Jeremiah’s reports on the words from God to the kings and officials of Israel with their responses. I perused Jeremiah’s imprisonment and release as well as his choice to remain in Jerusalem despite the actions of the king. In other words, there’s a lot going on in those three chapters, but not one of them grabbed me as I expect a passage to captivate me during Lectio.

Next, I broke out my notebook and started writing. I recapped what I read as I began to reflect [or meditate] on those chapters. As I wrote, connections appeared between my reading and world events or my writing work or last week’s sermon. I saw great similarities between Jeremiah’s prophecies to the people of Israel and our actions as the Church. Challenges to my journey followed as I linked Jeremiah’s words to my own sanctification journey, and encouragement appeared as well. Over the next half hour or 45-minutes, I filled four pages in my notebook.

Still, I left that Lectio practice with a sense of disappointment: Why didn’t any passage stick out to me? Since no passage captivated my attention, I must’ve failed in my practice of this faithful discipline. I just didn’t do it right that day. I, surely, didn’t listen to God in the right way, because I didn’t find my one passage that snagged my attention.

You know what? I’m beginning to think there might be something to this noise of perfection.

Yet, this is only my journey; maybe I had an isolated event? Well, but my experience does remind me of an episode involving St. Peter.

Faithful Connection

In Mark 8:27-33, Peter does two amazing things: First, he confesses that Jesus is the Christ, and second, he rebukes Jesus. I am beyond grateful for the example of St. Peter in the Gospels. In almost every report about Peter, I find some hope for my own sanctification journey. This scene is among my favorites because Peter does the exact right thing in one moment which is immediately followed by doing the exact wrong thing.

The question for me: What would induce Peter [a great Jew by all accounts] to rebuke Jesus, whom Peter just called the Christ – the holy one from God?

Well, I start with Peter’s identity as a great Jew. He goes to synagogue, adheres to dietary practices as best he can, and does much charity for the poor. Also, this identity means that Peter had a very precise image for the Christ. Peter knew exactly what the Christ would look like, what the Christ would do, and how the story of Christ’s appearance would end. In other words, Peter had a perfect idea of Jesus.

You and I can see, then, how our ideas of perfection can differ from God’s. Plus, Peter’s expectation of Jesus’ standards very much isolates him from Jesus – in that moment. After all, Satan is as far from God as it gets. As a result, the idol of our expectations for God’s standards of our perfection might well isolate us from God – like it did Peter.

Yep, yep – there may be something to this noise of perfection. I confess: I’m impressed with the Devil’s work here. What a marvelous distraction for us! Satan’s work has just enough truth in it [us striving for perfection] to look like God’s path, yet the whole mirage of our idols of perfection becomes sand with the slightest exploration into it. Y’all, keep your eyes open for this masterful work of our Enemy, and fear not because God has overcome this noise, which I will explore in October.

Story Time

For now, I invite you to linger in God’s presence for one more moment. Let me tell you a story while you settle into listening to God. As you read this story, you might practice Lectio Divina a bit. Look for what grabs your attention; then, ask God: “Why this part?” That way, you can see what God has for you right now.

September Story: “Priscilla & Rylan”