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Tacit theologies
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I’ve been thinking about the tacit theologies some of us develop without even meaning to. There is the thinking that informs our prayers, for example. I sometimes catch myself in a Genie Prayer. You know the stories — a lucky fellow happens upon a magic lantern, gives it a good polish, and finds himself in possession of three wishes at the hands of an irritated genie. The trick, of course, is that he has to get his wish just right. If he asks for a palace without specifying where he wants it, for example, he’s liable to find himself underneath its foundation. Sometimes I pray that way, getting very specific for fear that I’ll mess up my order, as if the Almighty is a surly French waiter.
The one advantage of the Genie Prayer is that I find out what I really want, despite my self-flattering illusions. I tell myself, for example, that I want a job change because I want work that has meaning, but of course I don’t pray simply for work that has meaning, because the Lord-as-genie might put me in the meaningful labor field of Zimbabwe. So I pray very specifically for a very specific job, which is more about my interests and comfort than anything else, but at the same time I pretend that my disaffection with my present work is born of a noble desire to have purpose.
Other times I’ll pray a Legal Brief Prayer, which is where I lay out all the wherefores and whys as to the Lord’s obligation to give me what I’m after. I’ll mentally tick through the various verses that support my request. I’ll meditate on how I’ve been faithful in the small things, of late, or on how I’ve been adding to the Lord’s storehouse. I’m owed, is how I feel in those times. Time to follow through, Lord. I try to remember, when I catch myself doing this, that Satan was the first attorney.
Sometimes I’ll fall into the Japanese Tea Ceremony Prayer. It’s when I’m feeling especially righteous, and so I strain to get all my thees and thous in the right places. You might notice people break this prayer out in public, as if we’re standing with the Lord on a street corner in Yorkshire. I’ll get formal and pretend it’s reverence, rather than lay my face down to the floor and call Him Abba.
And the worst of it is that I only catch myself doing these things; I never set out to do them on purpose. It makes me wonder how many other tacit theologies I’ve set up for myself, polluted as I am, as we all are. Once more I run headlong into a dichotomy of Christianity, how some brethren rely on the old rituals of the Apostolic fathers, for fear of blasphemous error, while others turn to nondenominational churches with the same end in mind, a purity of worship. What I’m finding is that neither does much good without the constant striving for a purity of heart.
Keep striving.
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Less is more
Laughing with you in recognition of oh, so embarrassing, truth . . .
Tony,
From whence did these odd liturgies come?
If I escape those particular errors a lot of the time it is through probably a greater error, not asking at all. I read James and am reminded that I have not because I ask not, but also that I do ask and have not because I ask amiss. Doubt and laziness too often make it easier to allow the first mistake rather than the second, along with a big of silly self-righteousness that at least I’m not making selfish prayers.
One lesson I learned (intellectually - it is much harder to learn by practice) around ten years ago, from reading an excellent book on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, was the idea of “detachment.” It doesn’t mean you are detached from people, or from issues, or even from your own hopes and fears. It means seeking God’s will without being attached to the path you hope will turn out to be His will.
For three years we have struggled financially (more than usually), unable to put together a workable budget that allows for the “expected unexpected” (car repairs, doctor bills not covered by insurance, etc.), largely because my husband has not been able to find a job paying close to what he made even as a pastor (which is hardly big bucks). I consider praying for more money, but I know I cannot pray that with any sense of praying according to God’s will, so I pray for enough to meet our needs, and satisfaction with what we have. I sometimes ask for a specific job for my husband because I know he wants it - not because I think praying for it will make getting it more likely, but because I find there are some things so close to one’s heart (such as safety and health for my family) that I cannot help but pour out those honest longings to God.
The tacit theology that trips me up most often is that there’s always time later to spend with God because He’s always there. (As opposed to friends, for the sake of time with whom I will rearrange my schedule because the available opportunities are so limited.)
“as if we’re standing with the Lord on a street corner in Yorkshire”
That one made me laugh out loud at my desk. Thanks!
What is our focus to be?
Purity of heart?
Could you write an entire article on purity (rather than impurity) of heart?
Reg,
I recommend Soren Kierkegaard’s Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing
Tony,
From the well-spring of YOUR heart, Tony.
5-
Oh, to be just like you someday, Tony. To reach the depths of humility that you have attained is my goal. You are so transparent that don’t even see your own self-righteousness after being delivered from it. Your wife’s burden is showing. Your addiction to attention is evident. I pray for the discernment of readers, because readers are not observers.
I have always thought that the best way to get what I want, not that I want that much in the first place, is to give up the wanting of it so much. The want gets in the way and becomes an obstacle to doing what it takes to get it. That way you don’t pray for it some weird way
Deterrent Cat Theology, By www.TonyWoodlief.com
“A couple of nights ago I shot a cat. Lest you animal fetishists send me nasty email, or the anti-feline masochists among you send me packages of veal, I’ll note that I didn’t use my 9mm, but rather my Daisy Red Ryder underlever cocking BB gun, from ten yards out. You see, I thought he was picking on my cat. You might recall that we have a cat. The Wife would likely assert, were she reading this over my shoulder (which is, incidentally, not an advisable way to blog), that it is my cat.
It used to be that fat neighborhood cats would slink into our garage, beat up our kitten, and eat his food. He’s grown a bit, however, and he still has his claws. Recently I found cat fur all over the garage, and assumed he’d beaten up one of those neighbor cats. The worm has turned, I thought. How now, brown cow? And other such exultant internal monologue. But the other night, I heard this curious keening from the garage.
Some of you are chuckling right now. I need you to understand that I never owned a cat as a child. If you read the earlier post about this animal, you will also notice that I used to think he was a she. I sometimes have this problem with humans as well, especially on college campuses. The point is, I am naive when it comes to the ways of the cat. Or I used to be.
So I grabbed my shooting iron, and went out to the garage. The noise was on the other side of the garage door. I opened it, and there in the driveway stood my cat, who is black, facing down another black cat. The problem was that in the lamplight I couldn’t tell which cat was mine. I got a bead on one, and waited. They waited too. Then it occurred to me that if I moved toward them, my cat would stay, while the intruding cat would bolt. I took a step forward, my sights trained on what I thought was the intruding cat. She bolted. I shot her in the rump. She snarled and disappeared into some bushes.
At this point, I expected some gratitude from my cat. Instead, he looked at me as if to say, you idiot, and disappeared into the bushes after the first cat.
This was no food-dish raid. It was a booty call. Incidentally, I’ve since learned that cats like the rough stuff. This would explain that fur all over my garage, as well as my cat’s new swagger. He’s turned my garage into his playboy lounge. My cat is a player.
I understand at this point that several of you are already typing officious comments about how I need to get him neutered. But I’m hoping we can take him, naughty parts and all, with us when we move to the country at some future date, where he will sire a long line of mouse- and snake-hunting cats. So until then, the neighborhood ladies had best guard themselves.
This may be a moot point, now that I’ve gone and shot one of his girlfriends in the rump. I have to confess, it ran through my mind that this might not be a bad strategy toward young human ladies of questionable repute who come sniffing around my boys in the coming years. I understand that it is of dubious legality, but it certainly leaves an impression. I’m sure my sons would give me that same you idiot look, but they’d likely thank me for it later, don’t you think?”
Playboy lounge…huh? Violence towards women… recurring themes in your writings, along with the butt-crack of the girl in your church. Out of the heart…It wasn’t enough for you to turn your head and look away. No, you pondered this, when it happened, later thought about writing about it, then thought about it while you wrote it, and recreated the scene and regurgitated it for us, passing the temptation on as well. And now you must think about it again while readers respond. What Godly purpose was there for you to write about his girl’s immodesty in detail?
The original language of 1 Tim. 2:12 means that a woman is not have authority over a man in church by sexual means. She is not be dressed seductively in church. Tony, the joke is on you. You just allowed a woman to have authority over you!!
Are we not accountable on all forums to uphold righteous standards?
Cats go nuttin’ on Llamas!!!
Tony says “some brethren rely on the old rituals of the Apostolic fathers, for fear of blasphemous error”
I really like liturgical prayer, not for fear of error, but rather that it frees me from the burden of trying to avoid all the little tacit problems he cites. I just don’t feel like my prayers need to be so original and specific in their content because He knows what I mean already. If I say “Give us this day our daily bread” and I’m out of work, then He knows very well that I’m really praying for work. I can be very heartfelt when I say “deliver us from evil” if I’m facing some temptation without specifically articulating it. Plus many of the liturgies are so much more beautiful than anything I could come up with, it seems a shame not to use them. Liturgy is a form of art. I don’t paint, but I sure enjoy other’s paintings.
Reg,
I am sorry about what your wicked ex-husband did to you. I am not that man. I implore you to seek counseling, to stop hounding me, and to refrain from slandering my church on this website. In a few instances you have implied that you observe me, once even mentioning, in a late night comment, that I was in bed. If you have taken to driving by my home, I’ll ask you to stop doing that as well.
Peace, Reg. Let us have peace, please.
Reg/Psalm Singer/Unforgiven Self-Righteous Woman:
Personal attacks on other bloggers or commenters are against the rules of World on the Web. You are free to disagree with Tony’s ideas, but you are not free to attack his personal character as “self-righteous,” “addicted to attention” or “impure.” WoW’s purpose is to open up civil dialogue between people of all faiths and worldviews, and personal attacks shut down dialogue. Please refrain from an attack like this again.
Tony and Alisa (13,14),
Thank you for the clarification, I was baffled. I will be praying for Reg.
Thanks for that Alisa, reading some of the replies to Mr. Woodlief I was kind of wondering if I should dive for a tinfoil hat
CB - I am told that such hats are de rigour fashion items on the Left.
Tony
Thank you for clearing this up. Some of the posts have left us puzzled.
I will pray that this situation ends.
God bless you
Reg, I will continue to pray for you. I would also suggest that you seek help.
Hey Tony, might I give you a well-done-pat-on-the-back for an insightful article.
How many times does one catch themselves in a prayer like one of the tacit theologies you eloquently described? I know I do. I might have not mentioned this before, but I appreciate your writing skills on WoW. What I appreciate more is the last line: What I’m finding is that neither does much good without the constant striving for a purity of heart.
How true that is! I am positive that our blessed Heavenly Father does love it when we strive to love Him, strive to please and obey Him more.
Andree has written similar things and that idea should be a part of every christians life.
AMEN!
ps: sorry I’ve forgotten how to italisize someone’s previous comment I respond to.
Justus331
Instead of the b use an i.
Sorry Justus331, don’t use the dot at the end
slander-the utterance of false charges–
I have no intention of being slanderous.
I was simply trying to answer a question on Burger Kingization asked by a reader. It went something like this: “If the couple divorces will your church still be there for them, or only for couples who stay together?” Since I was one such couple in Tony’s church, I gave my first-hand experience with that group, especially since Tony’s answer was less specific. Slander, as I understand it is saying something false. This was not false, it was my own experience.
As for knowing Tony’s whereabouts, I only remarked that he “is in bed” because it was late at night and he had not answered Joel Mark’s very reasonable, in “good faith” questions and repeated request for a response for a long time. That was a guess on my part. I do not know where your home is and do not live anywhere near you.
REG - 23
If ? . . you don’t know where Tony lives, . . . . then how would you know whether he lives close to your home or far away?
6-
I would rather read the Word.
24- we don’t live in the same state any longer.
Tony,
I have been thinking of this this afternoon. Too often my prayers are just as you say. Thanks for the wake up call. I knew it but did not want to address it. To think I have been too busy and caught up in my own things to spend real time with the King of Kings.
REG,
Whatever your problem is, I would seek counseling.
By your posting these remarks, which most always have a ‘double meaning’ to Tony, aren’t fair. I remember very well the post you made saying “Tony was in bed” and if you remember correctly, I asked you if you had a ‘crystal ball’-
The internet can be a wonderful thing, posting on blogs can be a good thing, and it can be a very bad thing when one is stalked. I think you get the idea….
KRM
THAT was funny. I like that.
Victoria, Alisa, Tony,
I was never stalking anyone. This subject is a true distraction from the sexually inappropriate comments and general put down of women, i.e. shooting them in the rump with bee bees. See the website for more. The ironic thing is my ex-husband never got over talking this way. He was addicted to pornography, extra-marital sexuality, wired to everyone in the room but his wife, and existed in a multitude of words which included regular put down of women and focus on sexual topics and general inflammation.
If Tony can write the kind of negative things about Christians in general that have gotten him comments like the one below:
“Your mocking and belittling attitude reveals, Tony, that you don’t appreciate or even listen to those who try to honorably criticize your review and your insights. You sure can “go negative” on the church and criticize Christians in post after post after post, but you obviously cannot handle (or even grasp) honest well-intentioned criticism yourself.”
Or how about this one?
“You must have lots of time on your hands, . . . ‘bashing the Christians’ as you make your ‘cheeky’ remark regarding “cut and paste” certainly you flatter yourself as you believe you have all the answers and questions and we are left in your opinion to use your comments since we can’t write our own. I’m astounded at your inability to see yourself in such a ’self important’ way.”
Anything like self-righteous?
“I don’t think the author of the book or Tony are willing to listen to the Believers or the Church, they are to caught up in the endless complaints of a world, which has no use for the Church or the Believers.”
Then why am I not allowed to say what I think about his writing elsewhere? Did you see that he said in the middle of his latest article that “It puts me in mind of Graham Greene’s whiskey priest, pondering whether a self-righteous woman will ever make it to Heaven:
“God might forgive cowardice and passion, but was it possible to forgive the habit of piety? . . . salvation could strike like lightning at the evil heart, but the habit of piety excluded everything but the evening prayer and the Guild meeting . . .”
Of course Greene was a Catholic and an adulterer, so what did he know, right?”
So Tony can call a woman self-righteous, and who knows which woman this is? The point is not which sin is worse, but what are the consequences of specific actions?
I find his preoccupation with people overbearing and in the way of seeing God.
I tried to ask Tony on his website about his complaint regarding his readers, “responses to things I have written” to be exact, and that would not be things that were written on Tony’s site, because those kind of responses are apparently blocked. Since I was also blocked, I brought my comments to this website especially since they are related in general to the ongoing discussions.
REG,
If you are going to use any of my quotes, USE MY NAME and site where its found EXACTLY ……..otherwise you are not being honest, but playing games with words and quotes.
30-
Joel Mark, Irrelevant Christianity, #3
“Your mocking and belittling attitude reveals, Tony, that you don’t appreciate or even listen to those who try to honorably criticize your review and your insights. You sure can “go negative” on the church and criticize Christians in post after post after post, but you obviously cannot handle (or even grasp) honest well-intentioned criticism yourself.”
Victoria, #19, Irrelevant Christianity
“You must have lots of time on your hands, . . . ‘bashing the Christians’ as you make your ‘cheeky’ remark regarding “cut and paste” certainly you flatter yourself as you believe you have all the answers and questions and we are left in your opinion to use your comments since we can’t write our own. I’m astounded at your inability to see yourself in such a ’self important’ way.”
Victoria, Irrelevant Christianity, #32
“I don’t think the author of the book or Tony are willing to listen to the Believers or the Church, they are to caught up in the endless complaints of a world, which has no use for the Church or the Believers.”
REG,
You twist things to mean something out of context.
My comments to Tony had nothing to do with your vendetta, whatever it is.
YOU WRITE…….
REG, this comment among many others, is exactly why you never received an email from me, post 125.
I have tried to be kind and understanding, but you go to far.
Tony,
I’ve seen similar situations.
If I’m not mistaken, Allen Funt is going to come walking around the corner, any minute now, pointing at the camera-guy in the bushes. Then we can all have a big laugh.
Wait a second…he’s dead.
Okay
Ashton Kutcher is going to walk around the corner any minute, and inform you that you’ve been “punk’d”.
Has to be something like that, surely.