The Toasted Cheese Sandwich

Sometimes life is more simple than we think!

There is a marvelous sequence in one of C. S. Lewis’s books.  An old tramp and a younger man named Mark are held captive in a situation fraught with danger.  Mark points out that they are in considerable danger.  The tramp offers his solution. 

“Ah,” said the man approvingly, “I got a plan.”

“What is it?”

“Ah,” said the man, winking at Mark with infinite knowingness and rubbing his belly.

“Go on. What is it?” said Mark.

“How’d it be,” said the man. . . . “How’d it be if you and I made ourselves a nice bit of toasted cheese?”[i]

The situation is not one that either the tramp or Mark could do anything about.  Mark is a well-educated young man concerned with the potential danger.  The tramp, a simple man, was more concerned with the immediate present and making the best of a difficult situation. 

I would not counsel passivity in the face of things that we can do something about, and our Christian faith is not a faith of passivity; nor is it a faith that ignores the reality of the present.  On the other hand the tramp has a point.  His main thing is to enjoy the present and make of it what he can. 

While we can learn from the past if we will, there is no point in trying to relive the past; that never works.  The future is not something within our grasp.  What the tramp does, is live in the present.  There are times when planning to make a toasted cheese sandwich is just the right thing.

There is a Zen story about a man who is being chased by tiger and leaps over the edge of a cliff to escape.  As he falls he grasps the branch of a tree and hangs dangling over a precipice.  Then he spies a strawberry growing out of the craggy side of the cliff.  “My, how sweet that strawberry tasted.”

If we try to live in the griefs of the past or live in fear of the future, we will miss the simple joys of the present.  The philosopher Pascal would remind us that we have pain in the present.  And so?  Should that prevent us from accepting those moments of love, of joy, of beauty that flow to us in the present moment; the purr of a cat, the happy wagging friendship of the family dog, the love of a child, or a parent, or a friend, the beauty of a sunset, the wonder of a balmy day in the middle of winter or the wonder of cold crisp winter day. 

St. Paul counsels us, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”[ii]  Sometimes a toasted cheese sandwich is really just the right thing.

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[i] C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength, (New York: Scribner, 1974) p. 309

[ii] Philippians 4:8   

Once When I Was Very Young: A Memoir

Once when I was very young I was running along a sandy shore, swooping and dodging and laughing with an exuberance known only to children and very wise adults.  I darted from the grassy bank out onto the crusty sand along the beach.  What appeared to be firm was not.  Instantly I began to sink up to my chest in the mire.  I was screaming for help and flailing my arms in desperation, and help came.  An adult came running with a long sturdy branch that he extended to me over the sand.  Slowly I was pulled free from the ooze, which released me only with a regretful sucking sound.  I stood trembling along the shore, not even yet realizing the extent of the peril I had been in.  “You had better go home,” a voice said.  I trudged up the hill to my home.  My father met me at the door of the garage and few short questions sized up the situation.  “Go to the garage and take those clothes off.  I’ll bring you something else to wear.” And “Don’t tell your mother.  She worries too much.”

            Now that I am older and have enough years to have a perspective of my own, I recognize a simple truth.  There are other times in my life I have darted from the grassy bank out onto sinking sand.  Sometimes it has been careless, but other times, just one of those things.  You do the right thing, in the right way, and at the right time, and you sink anyway.  That is part of what it means to be human. 

You also have had this experience.  Always it catches us unaware, when we are comfortable, perhaps too self-assured.  Suddenly the ground beneath our feet gives way and becomes sinking sand.  We are instantly out of our depth, wrestling with the feelings of helplessness.  Defenses leap immediately into action.  Fear and confusion begin to cloud our thinking.  We marshal the forces of defensiveness or anger, or we look for ways to shrink back into denial.  Not facing the reality of the quicksand that has overtaken us can be fatal.  Recognizing that we have been in this position before, and that rescue is possible gives us hope and makes it easier to cry out for help.  When we cry out for help, help comes.

Fortunately another part of human experience is the discovery of love.  Very often in those situations a branch has been extended to me by someone more mature in faith than me.  In a few amazing events One who loved me and gave Himself for me simply walked out over the surface of the crusty but unstable sand, extended His hand, and drew me from the mire.  Always he has taken my filthy garments and clothed me in white.  Never once has he said, “Don’t tell.”

Left Luggage

“If you are looking for a baggage storage service to take care of your luggage while you are out and about around London you have come to the right place when you come to Paddington Station. “When you arrive you can take a walk down to Platform 12 where you will find our Left Baggage Paddington service. Here you will be able to leave your luggage in our capable hands allowing you to further enjoy your London trip.”[i]

It had once been a splendid steamer trunk, bright blue with brass hinges, brass corner caps, and a brass lock.  But it has seen better days, the blue is faded and dingy, the brass badly tarnished, and one of the brass corner caps is missing.  Now it sits abandoned in left luggage in Left Luggage on Platform 12 at Paddington Station waiting to be reclaimed by someone who no longer wants or needs its musty contents and is perhaps embarrassed both by the sad contents, the rags and trash of a former life, and even more embarrassed by having packed it, brought it, and abandoned it.

When the steamer trunk has gravitated from left luggage to unclaimed luggage the Stationmaster flips through his great ring of keys, finds the right one and with a twist snaps the lock open.   Over the years the Stationmaster has opened many abandoned trunks; there are rarely any surprises.  This trunk, like many others, was stored in left luggage towards the end of a long trip.  What does the Stationmaster find?  Dirty laundry!  Dirty socks, dirty underwear, dirty shirts, dirty trousers; and adding a distinct aromatic bouquet, dirty sneakers.

What do you have in your old spiritual steamer trunk?  "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  The wild beasts will honor me, the dragons[ii] and the owls, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people”[iii]

For us, the trunk doesn’t just go away.  There is no spiritual Paddington Station Left Luggage; instead we just go around dragging the trunk behind us.  It needs to be unpacked and the Stationmaster, Jesus Christ, does do laundry.  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”[iv]  All those old images of the aging Old Year being replaced by an infant New Year were false.  Now half way through the Lent many are dragging behind them that old steamer trunk filled with last year’s memories and the memories of years before, all pressed down and shaken together.  It takes an act of will, a surrender of the right to open the trunk before the old can actually be made new.

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[i] Left Luggage Advertisement on Paddington Station website

[ii] The Hebrew word is tan-neen, which actually means dragons not jackals, but modern translators don’t believe in dragons.  The Hebrew word for jackals is shuw`al.  

[iii] Isaiah 43:1120

[iv] 1 John 1:9  

The Hunter and the Farmer

      Current studies on people with a so-called attention deficit are pointing away from a negative diagnosis of attention deficits to a deeper underlying reality.  In our culture some of the new studies divide people into two basic groups.  The Hunter and the Farmer.  At the simplest level the Hunter constantly monitors the environment and is ever ready for a new chase to begin.  The Farmer is not easily distracted from the immediate task at hand.   The Hunter has some of gifts and weakness of the Hare, while the Farmer has some of gifts and weaknesses of the Tortoise.  Most of us mix the characteristics of the Hunter and the Farmer in varying degrees.  The story of the Tortoise and the Hare was incidentally written by a Farmer who had empathy with the Tortoise.

      That brings us to the very first pair of brothers in the Scripture.  Cain is a Farmer, slow and steady wins the race.  Abel is a Nomad/ Shepherd, a Hunter who follows the flocks and constantly monitors the environment for dangers.  The danger that he fails to recognize is the jealousy and resentment of his brother, Cain.  These dynamics occur many times in Scripture and come to light in the followers of Jesus.  Mary and Martha are a clear example.  Martha has her mind fixed on the mundane task at hand and plods through her preparation as a hostess, while her Hunter-type sister has dropped the dishes and is mesmerized by Jesus and his teaching in much the same fashion as the Hunter would drop the plow and go and chase a rabbit.  Both the Cain and Abel story, and the Mary and Martha story are written with an appreciation of the Hunter type and a caution given to the Farmer type.  On the other hand we need to recognize that when the crisis of death of Lazarus hits the family of Mary and Martha, it is Martha who rushes to meet Jesus on the road with a clear statement of her faith.  Mary is so overwhelmed by her grief that she remains in the house waiting for the call from Jesus. 

      A simple overview of the Apostolic band uncovers obvious Hunters like Peter, and his brother Andrew who is marked by a quieter and steadier approach to life.  What binds them all together is the person of Jesus.  He is the only thing that some of them have in common.  Jesus himself is an interesting study.  For the first thirty years of his life he lives as a farmer type methodically following the family business of carpentry.  It takes much more patience to finish a piece of carpentry than most Hunters possess.  On the other hand, at the age of thirty, like a true Hunter he drops everything and becomes an itinerant preacher wandering from village to village preaching the good news of the Kingdom and healing the sick.  Jesus combines in himself the perfect balance of Hunter and Farmer.  He is the complete man who attracts them both drawing the impetuous Hunter Peter into a deeper steadiness in following him, and challenging the less adventuresome Andrew to go out and preach and perform miracles.  For the love of Jesus they both rise to the challenge.  For the love of Jesus those who are Hunters within the Church and those who are Farmers are called to honour and respect each other, to complement each other, and to grow in grace in his image.

After the Shepherds Left

“It was a long journey and cold,” said the Donkey,

        stamping his feet.

“The man led the way, I walked, and she rode,

        all on a winter’s day.”

The Ox looked down on the man and the maid and the little babe

        all asleep on the hay,

        and said in awe and wonder,

“They’re very tiny when they are newborn.”

“Yes,” said the Donkey, “but consider this,

“It takes years of love and nurture

        to bring each of them to full maturity.”

“I know,” said the sentimental Ox,

looking down at the babe in the manger

        and shaking his head all on a Christmas day.

“Don’t be deceived by what you see,” said the Donkey,

“This one will conquer death and hell,

        and overthrow all the kingdoms of the earth

        and the sky.”

CHRYSOS CHRYSTUS CHRYSALLIS

Chrysos.

Chrystus.                                                                  

Shell Chrysallis

I shed thee

Spreading golden wings

For him to see.

Poor pupa

Golden pain

Springing joyous

Christening me.

Death’s baptism

Into life,

Into love,

In the midst of life.

Christo sunestauromia

Shedding only shell

My being ever living.

Chrysos,

Christus

Ever living

Lives in me.

Sanctifica me,

Salve me,

Inebria me.

Christen me

with thine own self,

For thou dost know me

for what I am.

Thou knowest I need thee.

Deep-laid in a soft red womb,

Absconde me

Ne permittas me

Separari a te,

Intra tua vulnera!

Bring to me

third birth

beyond death,

Spreading golden wings

for Him to see.

He died,

Chrysallis.

He lives,

Chrysos

Chrystus.

I died.

I will die again,

I will ever live.

Deo gratia!

Notes:

Chrysos.                                             Gold               

Chrystus.                                           Christ

Christo sunestauromia                    I am co-crucified with Christ

Sanctifica me,                                    Sanctify me

Salve me,                                           Save me

Inebria me.                                        Inebriate me

Absconde me                                     Hide me

Ne permittas me                              Do not permit me

Separari a te,                                     To be separated from Thee

Intra tua vulnera!                            In your wounds!

Deo gratia!                                         Thanks be to God!

God Initiates, Man Responds. A Meditation from Ephesians

From time to time in my morning Lectio Divina I write a reflection on the Scriptures I have been reading. Lectio Divina has four parts: Read the passage, Reflect on its meaning, Respond to God, and Rest in His presence. My Response this morning is to humbly give thanks for the riches of His grace.

It is God our Father who says to us, “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you” [Isaiah 43:4], “even when we were dead in our trespasses” [Ephesians 2:4]. We were loved at the very lowest point of our lives. It is there that He finds us. Those who will admit no need cannot be found. That is true of me, and it is true of all of us.”

 “By grace you have been saved,” occurs in verse 5 and is repeated in verse 8. We are saved by grace, God’s unmerited favour, not by faith. It important to realize that faith is not another work, but is a response on our part to God’s grace which initiates our salvation. Faith is essential, but without God’s initiating grace it has nothing to hang its hat on.

What is said of Isaiah is true for each of us, “The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name” [Isaiah 49:1]. Paul repeats the same theme in Romans 8:29 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” And note that we are individually foreknown and predestined to be part of the family of God, not to stand alone.

The focus is on God, and his work, not on us and our faith. Grace is God’s loving kindness towards us; the unmerited favour which he extends toward us. Our faith is only the connecting link, the channel through which grace flows. There is an important theological paradigm at work here: God initiates, Man responds. God’s steadfast love has been extended to you from the moment you were conceived. That is why St. Paul emphasizes that, “this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

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Ephesians 2:4-10  4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved -  6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.