The average run-of-the-mill believer like myself will read the great saints like Augustine and Luther or more modern saints like C.S. Lewis, Bonhoeffer etc. and be transformed (or at least want to be transformed). The great saints themselves though were transformed through their reading of scripture and not one-another. They read scripture like a man lost in the desert drinks water…they soaked in it. I don’t think we can ever be transformed by a person’s words – even if those words are reflective of the Word. It would be like a boy going out to the sidewalk at night with his magnifying glass to refract the light of the moon and burn a hole through paper. They will fail every time because the light of the moon is simply the reflected light of the son. Similarly we will never set fires by trying to focus and refract someone else’s ideas about the Word (as powerful as they may be)…but set your sights on God and one person can set the whole world aflame.

 

when the tide swells in the deepened night

the waters press in black – a mascara moonlessness

rising rolling above every precipice peak and…

this is the slow push to disappearance in the dark

this is the farewell to the starry expanse

extinguish and exit beneath to the airless

till silver sea and sovereign sky become one

and we are pressed like dying leaves between

memories of lives lived and saved in saltwater

 

 

The words joy and happiness seem similar but at their core they are significantly different. I went to my standard resource – the Oxford Dictionary but sadly it fails the way dictionaries do sometimes with words of a more philosophical nature. Most often in these instances you get a circular definition along the lines of the following:

 

Happy – a joyous and happy state

Joy – a happy and joyous state

 

Obviously very unsatisfactory. So here is my own attempt at a somewhat more satisfactory treatment of the two:

 

Joy: ORIGIN Old French joie, from Latin gaudere ‘rejoice’. There is significant depth to the state of joy that far outweighs that of happiness. We often see the two as the same but they are in fact, at their foundation, as different as night and day, and like night and day – joy and happiness are best defined in light of one-another.

 

Happy: a euphoric state varying in intensity depending upon the trigger. Happiness is highly dependant upon situation not unlike velocity is highly dependant upon force. No force, no velocity. No euphoric situation – no happiness.

 

Now joy, as a state is more a sense of deep well-being. It is the kind of well-being that springs from a foundational belief of some sort. From my own perspective joy comes from truth…the truth that I am eternally loved by God. That I am a created being made in the image of my creator and that my value is not dependant upon any arbitrary need or accomplishment of mine. That I am soaring toward a goal that is wholly pure and purely holy.

 

Happiness on the otherhand is really a dependant emotion slave to circumstance and situation. Happiness is that chemical state of endorphin release in the brain that requires regular triggers.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against happiness…in fact I quite like being happy (that is, after all, the nature of the state). Some of my best friends are happy. 🙂 The point I am trying to make however is that our goal needs to be joy. If our goal becomes happiness we enter into endless downward spirals of addiction to various behaviours and attitudes while joy is not dependant upon even ourselves and our state.

 

What makes us happy? When I buy things I get happy. When I buy new clothes or more especially new technology I get happy. Pleasures of flesh make me happy. Eating Indian food makes me happy. The laughter of my children makes me happy. Jumping from a high cliff into cool crisp deep water on a warm blue sky day makes me happy. Being in the midst of people makes me happy. Being alone makes me happy.

 

What makes you happy? You buy a new home and you are happy…for a while. Then you start looking at blank walls and empty rooms and you are not so happy anymore. You buy things to put on the walls and this makes you happy again. You put new furniture in the rooms and you are happy again. But…the car in the drveway is getting kind of old…a little rusty. Happy has gone again…but maybe a new car (or two) would make you happy. So you buy it…but then the neighbour buys a new car – with a GPS…suddenly your happy is not so happy anymore. You get the idea.

 

The American constitution enshrouds the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" while the Canadian constitution guarantees the right to "life, liberty and security of the person". I am not surprised at the difference since the United States was born out of the enlightenment while Canada comes a little later out of a slightly more cynical and new modern era.

 

Really happiness is not a right because its nature is ever elusive. You cannot enshrine something that continues to need more to exist. You cannot hold it because like water it slips through your fingers and the quench that you briefly had is gone and you are thirsty again and want more.

 

Happiness is a drug and we are all addicted. Happiness, like any addiction can destroy you if it grows and becomes out of control. For proof see the following: gambling, alcoholism, drug addiction, debt, etc. See the recent economic collapse of markets all around the world arguably triggered by hundreds of millions of people pursuing the right to happiness by securing loans far greater than they can afford for houses and cars far larger and grander than they needed…and as a result hundreds of millions more people suffered around the world.

 

Joy on the other hand seeks us out. Joy is the reconition that perfect love actually values and desires us. There is no work involved to have joy because it comes in relationship to the source of all joy. Joy is the opening of yourself up to the overflowing flood of love that wants you.

 

When you are sad happiness disappears but joy continues unabated like breathing and the beating of heart. When you are in the grip of grief happiness is gone while joy will continue to hold you up – if you have it. Unfortunately too many of us have confused the two and see happiness as joy so that when grief or sadness strikes they pursue happiness in the form of their personal addiction(s) of spending, or drugging or drinking etc.

 

I am rambling now but I think you get the idea. Much more could be said and more eloquently but perhaps another time.

 

 

Joe Hill has been famously revealed to be the son of popular horror author Stephen King but don’t expect a King-like romp through a horrific landscape. Horns is Hill’s second novel and quite frankly his skill at weaving a compelling tale is far past where his father was at that point in his career.

 

The novel is a study in evil really; a study in whether the source of evil is humanity or the devil and frankly where the two meet because there seems to be an overlap between the two in Hill’s book. One of the theories pursued in the narrative is that humanity is more than broken enough without any help from the devil who seems to act more as a keen observer and occassional catalyst.

Hill does not deliver a tale of horror or terror in the sense one might expect or even initially desire. Instead he uses the supernatural not as a main character but as a vehicle for a message much deeper than the typical novel usually delivers. In this story the real horror comes from Hill’s ability to present human nature as realistically and honestly as he can (perhaps better than any writer has in a long time). There are some similarities to Hill’s novel and the existential novel Metamorphoses by Franz Kafka but they are fairly surface in the sense that the protagonist undergoes an incredible transformation that is required for the book to delve into human nature the way it does.

The novel is a brutal, hellish, tragically beautiful presentation of humanity’s tragic flaw – our own sin nature. The devil is a sort of main character in the book but he is seen less as a cause of evil and more as a sort of confident…the one people look to for permission to enact their darkest desires. At the end of the day the devil does not look nearly as bad as people do. There is some discussion about God in the novel but given that the one doing the talking is the devil one can view any commentary are heretical.

It’s hard to call the book hopeful but rather simply brutally honest (maybe a little of both but the reader can judge for her/himself). At one point the author through his main character points out that the American audience has never tolerated a story that does not allow it’s protagonist some sort of escape from whatever is oppressing them (I agree wholeheartedly with this observation) but that perhaps the fact that this does not always happen is more truthful. It seems to me that Joe Hill wants with this novel to hold a mirror up to the faces of his readers and hit them with a dose of cold, harsh reality.

At the end of the day the book is an incredibly well crafted story, fast-paced with some fantastic characters. It is peppered with vulgarity and obscenity so the reader should beware although none of it seems gratuitous given the narrative setting. The book is not recommended for anyone under 18 years old.

 

I have, for various reasons, been sequestered for a couple of weeks and have had some time to ponder things. It has always occured to me that ivory towers have a tendancy to crop up where you least expect them. In ministry I have chafed at the idea that ivory towers could even exist amongst the clergy. I had a prof in seminary (also a pastor) who railed heavily against the natural movement of pastors to gravitate toward the rut of the office…that nice safe place with four walls and a handy window. The former to keep the world out and the latter to at least offer a portal onto said world to ensure there is still some semblance of an awareness of its existance.

 

For those who are wondering, I define the ivory tower as follows: it is a safe place either created or found. It protects and shelters one from the elemental powers of the world such as pain, suffering, anger, brokeness etc. The ivory tower can be anything – an office, a vehicle, a room in a house or apartment, and even a state of mind one can willingly slip into.

 

I hate them because I love them so much. It is soooooo easy for me to slip into an ivory tower. I resist them strongly yet they continue to crop up. I am an introvert and I find that as a member of that tribe I can slip into the ivory tower so much easier then some. I have to expend loads of energy to get out into the world and be with people…but I find it is a requirement.

 

I used to think it was primarily myself and other professionals who tended to turn their offices into panic rooms where they can wait out the world. It turns out that even when I am not in the office I am building little cells to hide in. Lately my rocking chair has been my ivory tower…or I should say that my rocking chair and my laptop…the internet has been a place of escape lately. I am safely tucked into my chair looking into the world through my 15" LCD window and finding it a highly unsatisfactory way to connect (but so much safer).

 

Sometimes my hiding place is my car. I will drive around safe behind the windows and wheel observing people and places from a safe distance but perfectly removed from the possibility of getting hurt in someone’s relational crossfire etc. Still, as safe as it is it feels entirely wrong. It feels entirely too safe.

 

Taking these observations now and turning them toward the unique phenomena of western Christianity (North American particularly) it has occured to me that the body and bride of Christ has colluded to a fairly high degree in encouraging and maintaining the ivory tower, the bunker, the panic room or whatever (some churches have literally buried bunkers on their property as a place to hide in case the world gets too close).

 

The church for many centuries has created strongholds for the faithful to come and be taught, hear scripture read, sing, pray and participate in the sacraments. These are all good things. Unfortunately the church has also decided that the best way to spread the gospel was to tell the world to enter into this sacred time of worship and preparation and find Christ in the process. The message primarily sent is – Christ is in here…if you want to meet him he will be receiving audience Sunday mornings between 11 am and noon.

 

A few verses speak of the directives given by Christ that have helped form the foundation of what it means to be church in the world:

 

Mark 16:14-18 says: Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

 

(Notice that Christ broke into the upper room which had become a sort of ivory tower of grief and solitude from the world which killed the only hope the disciples had)

 

Luke 10:1-4 says: After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

 

Acts 2:40 says: Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

 

(Notice that three thousand we saved when the apostles, obedient to the newly given gift of the Spirit, left their room and entered he public square to preach. Thee thousand invitations to Sundy church were not distributed amongst the population.)

 

There are many other verses that could be brought forth but you get the idea. The original gathering of believers for regular worship was to be a version of what occured in the temple prior to the death and resurrection of Christ. A gathering together for teaching, preaching, song and prayer to honor God. Added to this was the celebratory remembrance meal that reminded everyone of why they were there – because of Christ’s death. Further to this was the recognition that the presence of God had left the temple and for the time being now resided in the heart of every believer.

 

The word church comes from the Greek word ekklesia which means "the called out" or more thoroughly it could be translated as "the ones called out into an assembly for a purpose". It is an active word and the New Testament writers use it to describe the gathering of believers. The question is what were believers called out of and what was the purpose for which they were being prepared?

 

In answer to those questions one need only look at the activities of the church throughout the New Testament and beyond to see that they were being called out of the world, to be trained, built up and prepared for the purpose of going back into the world. Why? To bring with them the gospel, that is good news, of Christ and present and coming Kingdom of God. The very nature of ekklesia is that the world is not called out (or rather into the church) because if this were so there would be no calling out of anything. Our purpose then as a gathered community of believers is to worship God through the constant (and frankly difficult) disciplines and pray, preaching, teaching, song, healing, sacrament and development of Christ-like character (virtue).

 

The worship of God however is always incomplete if we fail to take all that we are becoming when we gather together and bring it into the world (and do not be deceived into thinking that our gathering together is in someway optional or unproductive…scripture is very clear about the need for this to occur). Between our rebirth symbolized by our baptism and our death we exist to bring the gospel into the world (school, work, Tim Hortons, the rec centre, the theatre, the pubs and bars, dance clubs, etc).

 

For all of these purposes we must resist the ivory towers in our lives. We will always need places of refuge and refreshment but these should be of a temporary nature…when we find that, out of cowardice or fear or some other unhelpful emotion, our oasis are becoming vaults for us to escape the world till doomsday then we must make every effort to destroy them no matter who we are.