hooker and temple
I've gotten away from using our book of Holy Women, Holy Men at our weekly Wednesday Eucharist, in favor of using the upcoming lectionary, so I've missed learning each week about the saints we celebrate on a weekly basis. Today a Lutheran Pastor friend walked in talking about an English day of remembrance for Guy Fawkes. Not wanting to be out anglicized by my German brother-in-Christ, I quickly thumbed through my Holy Women, Holy Men, and was relieved to find that I hand't completely forgotten about Mr. Fawkes, because, of course, he isn't in there.
November 3 and November 6, though, are the feast days of Richard Hooker and William Temple, two church leaders who have long given me inspiration, and who's writings have helped me continue to be vulnerable enough to ask the deep questions I need to ask, and to continue my spiritual journey in the context of the Episcopal Church.
The things I remember about these guys is that Hooker gave us the three-legged-stool. Or as Phyllis Tickle (May she rise in glory) sometimes referred to it: Hookers-Damn-Stool (said with the words running right into each other.) The three legged stool is that we as a church find authority in Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. The major movement in the protestant reformation was that all authority is in scripture (sola scriptura.) Hooker made room for the tradition of the church passed down including how we interpret scripture, and for our own reason and experience of life and learning. Some people describe it as a wobbly stool, since more emphasis is given to scripture, but the presence of those other elements is so important to me and my journey. Archbishop William Temple, of Canterbury wrote about something I had already experienced: that the Universe is the Sacrament of God. He also wrote that Christ's Incarnation (becoming human being) meant that "the personality of every human being is sacred."
The gift that these two ancestors have give me is to know that I am living out my priesthood in a dynamic, learning tradition that is open to the mystery of God working in and among and around us. That God is not easily explained, much less contained; that as human beings, we are made in the image of God and God is at work in us, making that divine energy known in so many ways.
I don't typically write such church-focused blogs. I've made an exception because of the encounter, and curiosity of my morning encounter. I'm grateful for the more balanced approach that I've been taught that has always encouraged me to dig deeper to understand scripture (I don't ascribe to the "Bible says it, that settles it!" mindset.), and to learn from science and from my experience in the world.
As the English sky fills with fireworks, I may join in lighting a bonfire--but I'll be remembering Hooker and Temple, and seeking to continue exploring and writing about how I encounter God in scripture, in our tradition, through reason and experience, and especially for me, out in nature, where the mystery of God's presence always rattles my expectations.
The things I remember about these guys is that Hooker gave us the three-legged-stool. Or as Phyllis Tickle (May she rise in glory) sometimes referred to it: Hookers-Damn-Stool (said with the words running right into each other.) The three legged stool is that we as a church find authority in Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. The major movement in the protestant reformation was that all authority is in scripture (sola scriptura.) Hooker made room for the tradition of the church passed down including how we interpret scripture, and for our own reason and experience of life and learning. Some people describe it as a wobbly stool, since more emphasis is given to scripture, but the presence of those other elements is so important to me and my journey. Archbishop William Temple, of Canterbury wrote about something I had already experienced: that the Universe is the Sacrament of God. He also wrote that Christ's Incarnation (becoming human being) meant that "the personality of every human being is sacred."
The gift that these two ancestors have give me is to know that I am living out my priesthood in a dynamic, learning tradition that is open to the mystery of God working in and among and around us. That God is not easily explained, much less contained; that as human beings, we are made in the image of God and God is at work in us, making that divine energy known in so many ways.I don't typically write such church-focused blogs. I've made an exception because of the encounter, and curiosity of my morning encounter. I'm grateful for the more balanced approach that I've been taught that has always encouraged me to dig deeper to understand scripture (I don't ascribe to the "Bible says it, that settles it!" mindset.), and to learn from science and from my experience in the world.
As the English sky fills with fireworks, I may join in lighting a bonfire--but I'll be remembering Hooker and Temple, and seeking to continue exploring and writing about how I encounter God in scripture, in our tradition, through reason and experience, and especially for me, out in nature, where the mystery of God's presence always rattles my expectations.
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