At the recent Association of Christian Spiritual Directors' conference here in Auckland the speaker was Dr Alexander Shaia He was wonderful - both as a speaker and as a person. And surely those two should always go together. (Who wants to listen to a polished speaker who doesn't live and breathe what they teach?) The main focus of the conference was on Alexander's passion: a way to read the four gospels which brings them to life in a new way. As a group of Biblically literate people who have probably read the gospels many times we were spellbound and deeply inspired as he painted the historical background to each gospel and showed us how each one specifically addressed a burning question for its first readers. Understanding the gospels in this light leads him to call the four narratives a Quadratos - a cycle of four questions:
How do we face change? (Matthew)
How do we move through suffering? (Mark)
How do we receive joy? (John)
How do we mature in service? (Luke/Acts)
The main point of this Blog post is not to attempt a summary as that would be impossible. There is a lot more information about his book, video clips, interviews etc on his website. Rather I want to underline his repeated statement: "One God, one breath, one story."
If there is only one God, who breathed the whole of this universe into being, then there is one big story which is found everywhere: the story of a life in which we constantly face change, experience suffering, find ways to receive joy and keep maturing in our service to God, others and the world.
From the cycle of the seasons: Autumn (change), Winter (suffering), Spring (joy), Summer (service), to the themes in all the great religions, to our own life experience - this cycle continues. While in some ways we can be in all four "seasons" at once in different aspects of life, it is usually easy to identify the main question we are facing. The gospels seen in this way are a wonderful resource.
Clearly Christians are not the only ones to be part of "one God, one breath, one story". Each religious tradition handles the same questions and holds its own wisdom. We can all learn so much from each other. The prologue of John's gospel (1:1-14) makes it clear that the presence of God has always been available to all people. Its unique incarnation in Jesus is the heart of our Christian faith. And even more importantly we are now the living body of Christ. This phrase was repeated often as Alexander continually reminded us that it is not so much about history (looking back to what was) as it is about living now, as individuals and as communities of faith, our own incarnation of Christ. This is not a new thought of course, but how seriously do we really take it? We are certainly in a world of change and suffering. Are we mature enough in our service to incarnate the breath/spirit/reality of Christ in a way that contributes to spring returning?
If you read my post God and the Evolutionary Impulse you will see that this is exactly the same point made there. Which just goes to show that there truly is One God, One breath, One story!
