Posted on 09/12/2014 1:46:23 AM PDT by markomalley
Back in my seminary days my liturgy teacher, Fr. Quinn, often reminded us that we prayed many of the psalms more in hope than as true claims about ourselves. For indeed many of the psalms make almost boastful claims:
Yes, such psalms are not full realities for us now, but we pray in hope they one day will be. Fr. Quinn also reminded us that they are also psalms that we, as members of the Body of Christ, pray with Christ and in Him they are true and fulfilled. But for us, they are not yet.
I think the same thing must be true for some of the hymns we sing. In my parish, we occasionally sing a hymn that says, “I surrender all, all to Jesus I surrender, I surrender all.” Sometimes I wink at the end of the song and say, “liars!” And we all laugh because we know we barely surrender half. But one day the Lord will get us there!
Another hymn came to mind today that also challenges me more than it describes me. And as it challenges me, I think it also challenges the Church. Although it is a Protestant hymn, we have sung it a lot in the parishes (mostly African-American) in which I have served. The hymn says, “There’s nothing between my soul and the Savior.” And each time we sing it I wonder if I can really say that. The answer comes back clearly enough: there are lots of things, too many things between my soul and the Savior.
So here is another song I sing more in hope than in reality. I sing of my goal and, I pray, of my end. “One day it will fully be so, but not now, not yet,” I say in shame and humility. Ponder with me the lines of this old hymn and use it as a kind of examen. After each verse in bold black italics please pardon my commentary in plain red text. The hymn is by Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933)
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
Naught of this world’s delusive dream;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.
Is there really nothing between? Frankly for many of us there is a lot in between: politics, career, personal preferences, worldly priorities, the football game … you name it. And of this world’s delusive dreams, we often seem quite willing to buy in to the lies and false promises. We almost seem to WANT to be lied to and to have false promises made to us. Maybe it suits our fantasies and dreams. Maybe we want it all to be true somehow. Maybe it is because the world’s pleasures come quickly and we think we can ultimately ignore the bill (we cannot). The final line of this verse, however, may betray the real problem for many. It says, “Jesus is mine.” And while it is the last line, it is also the true premise of the whole verse. For only if I really experience Jesus as my Savior can my divided heart become clear. Only the deepest gratitude for His saving work and thirst for God’s face can wrench my poor heart from this world’s false promises.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor,
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.
Here again, we easily permit many things to get between us and seeing the Lord’s blessed face. The fog of this world obscures our sight and darkens our mind. Too many would prefer to see anything but His face. Our preferences include sporting events, movies, pornography, and almost any foolish diversion. Even lawful pleasures, out of moderation, can enslave, blind, and hinder us. The hymn admonishes: keep the way clear! And this is good advice. It may not be possible to eliminate everything all at once. But what one thing is the Lord giving you the grace to set aside or to see less of, what one thing?
Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;
Habits of life, though harmless they seem,
Must not my heart from Him e’er sever;
He is my all, there’s nothing between.
Yes, it is critical to identify habits by name and to bring them to the Lord. Ask the Lord to break their power, for habits have a great hold on us. Seasons like Lent and Advent are great times to break off in new directions. Perhaps you could watch less TV, indulge in mindless diversion less frequently, or end the “nightcap” (or limit it to weekends). Maybe these things are not wrong in themselves, but they are too much and they get in the way. As before, the last line sets the premise: as the Lord becomes my “all” there is less need for “fillers.”
Nothing between, like pride or station;
Self-life or friends shall not intervene;
Though it may cost me much tribulation,
I am resolved; there’s nothing between.
Almost no one today even considers that the Lord may actually ask him or her to endure tribulation or to take up a Cross. In our hedonistic culture even Christians cry out, “Doesn’t God want me to be happy?” But in saying that, of course, most are referring to the happiness of this world. The happiness that God offers is tied to holiness and, paradoxically, it comes from losing our life to this world in order to gain what is far greater from the world that is to come. We need to be willing to forsake friends who tempt or mislead us. We may even experience the hatred of this world in order for there to be nothing between our soul and the Savior. Scripture says, Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God (James 4:4-5). If the world is between you and God then there is also enmity between you and God. The last verse says, “I am resolved.” To resolve means to once again let go or release something (re- (again) + solvere (loosen)). Ask the Lord to help you let go again and again of whatever hinders you, whatever is between your soul and the Savior!
Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,
Though the whole world against me convene;
Watching with prayer and much self-denial,
I’ll triumph at last, with nothing between.
Our journey to there being “nothing between” is assisted first of all by trials, because they remind us that this world is filled with cruel disappointments. But trials can also hinder us if we allow ourselves to grow bitter and to blame God because the world is no longer paradise. Never mind that it is we who have made it so; we easily grow angry at God. And thus we must ask to be free of bitter disappointment and permit our trials to remind us that this world’s joys are passing; they cannot last. Further, if we seek to remove anything “between,” rest assured (as the song says) that the world will direct hatred toward us and turn up the temptation level. Only prayer and self- discipline, by God’s grace, can save us from giving in to temptation and returning to the foolish grip of this world. In the end, the world can only give us a grave. But for those who triumph in Christ, death leads us to that victorious place where there is nothing between our souls and the Savior, nothing between!
Amen! Pray, too, for the Church, that there will be nothing between our soul and the Savior—not compromise, not fear, not flattery, not politics, not political correctness, not silence. May the Church and Christ be always one and let no worldly concerns or strategies hinder us.
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I’ve often thought that there’s a very fine line between perfect detachment and despair. When you surrender everything, Jesus is there, they promise ... but what if he isn’t? What if there’s just living death until there’s dead death?
Ping!
This, and the other admissions, are honest but really excuse lying, as indeed we are lying, and i have, when singing words of such hymns that are not a reality with us to varying degrees. Even if those who wrote them were testifying to an overall reality using some degree of poetic license, yet i think this is so far from reality in many souls and in many churches that it makes a mockery of speaking the truth in our heart.
And I often wonder what matter of conscience some writers of modern songs have in the light of their claims for themselves.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (Matthew 12:36)
Let all that is within me cry glory. "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." (Psalms 103:1)
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing :
3. O to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be! Let that grace now like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here's my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
This description of the heart of the regenerate (by an old Anglican: J. C. RYLE - 1816-1900) is quite good. ARE YOU BORN AGAIN?
I am -— in my more awake moments -— aware that I am betting my life on this.
There is a difference between lying and declaring by faith.
Even after crashing into the same wall over and over again and we finally decide to call Jesus in, then we stomp our little foots and want the answer now!
When I was single the answer was clear. Retreat, even if it was just turning everything off and spending the weekend at home with Jesus. Now being married, having animals and for you all kids, grand kids, we all have jobs and or projects. It seems harder to just get with God. Where I can really hear him. Used to not be so hard. So is it me or him? 99.9% sure it's me!
I long for the days that I heard him more clearly, when I think back things were easier then. Was it because I had less complications or because I let him carry the ball?
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."
He didn't mean literally "hate" (in the sense of "hostility and loathing) or even "ignore" or "be indifferent to," but He did mean that one should prefer the way of Christ to all things, even prefer it to this life itself.
If one had to choose between Christ and one's father's or mother's wishes, or one's spouse's or childrens' wishes, or the clear demands of our own "reasonable" self-interest --- we should go with Christ and leave the rest behind.
So I would say "detachment" in the sense of a cold, hands-off attitude toward all things, is bad; but "detachment" in the sense of putting Christ, always, radically first, is good.
Does that make sense?
How much we want to smooth the edges off of this one! It is indeed a hard saying. One of the hardest!
I’m not tempted by any of the usual run of false god - money, pleasure, fame - but I’m considering some of the classics to see if they have a better deal. Athena, now ... the study, the arts and crafts, the occasional armed mayhem ... I just read the Odyssey again ;-) ... but Athena isn’t very patient.
Odin, on the other hand ... wouldn’t he have a gold ring and a barmaid job for the mother of Anoreth and her pack of berserker brothers?
Surely there’s something out there other than complete failure.
A memorable phrase.
Have you read Kristin Lavransdatter? Seriously.
They can put it on a runestone when I die.
Have you read Kristin Lavransdatter?
No, never got around to it. Back in the day (the 80s) when I was hanging around with Vikings, I was put off by the very small print. Maybe I could read it now that I have my bifocals. Or maybe the library has a recorded book.
I see where you are coming from and that is what I was thinking. I think how often I could pray intead of play for instance.
In other words I think I need to work on my interior life with Jesus, if that makes sense.
Despair I think comes from not working on your interior life. That inner dialog, yes dialog with Christ. As a priest told me, when you are so busy talking to him, he does not have time to answer.
Certain offspring are getting a little too enthusiastic about the sacrifice thing already. *sigh*
Anyway, Asuncion would be disappointed in me.
Maybe ... or from working on it and not getting anywhere but more failure.
I’ll tell you something really cool in Freep mail.
I could use it.
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