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Charlotte Mason in Modern English
Charlotte Mason's ideas are too important not to be understood and implemented in the 21st century, but her Victorian style of writing sometimes prevents parents from attempting to read her books. This is an imperfect attempt to make Charlotte's words accessible to modern parents. You may read these, print them out, share them freely--but they are copyrighted to me, so please don't post or publish them without asking.
~L. N. Laurio
pg 129
Chapter 13 - Faith and Duty: Man lives by
Faith Towards Both God and Man
Defining
Things as 'Sacred' or 'Secular' isn't a Religious Distinction
We have some involuntary resistance to any teaching
that includes the profound things of faith with the natural physical
laws that
govern the way we develop as human beings. We prefer for the communion
between God and our soul, in which is our very life, to be totally
supernatural. We want it to be separate from the physical rules of
ordinary
life. We want it to be arbitrary, unexplainable, beyond reasoning.
Maybe we're wrong, but at least it's an error of reverence. Our
thinking may be too incomplete and simple in this, but our motivation
is only to honor God's divine name, and the only way we know how to do
that
is to set it apart. Yet, although our mistake is an error of reverence,
it's still an error. And motives don't make up for wrong actions in the
spiritual world any more than they do in the physical world. This
misconception of our relationship with God causes us to lose the sense
of unity in our lives. It erects an unnatural and irreligious wall
between sacred things and secular things. It makes it impossible for us
to be at one with God in all
things. There are a few examples of beautiful lives that show no trace
of this separation, whose goals are confined to the things we think of
as sacred. But too many
pg 130
thoughtful, sincere people are painfully aware of the need for a
concept of God that embraces all of the human experience as sacred--a
concept that accepts art, science, politics, whatever men who aren't in
rebellion think about and care about, because it all works together
in the evolving of God's Kingdom.
Every
Person Develops His Own Philosophy
Our religious thought is a direct result of our philosophy far
more than we think, just like our educational thought. Let's not assume
that philosophy is only for a few gifted scholars. It's not--every
living soul develops his own philosophy of life. We fashion our
philosophy from current popular thought modified by our own
experiences.
It would be interesting to trace the effect of the two great
philosophic schools of thought--Idealism and Scientific Naturalism--on
religious thinking. But that's beyond my ability, and beyond our
purpose here.
We need to limit ourselves to what's practical in the here and now. The
bottom line for us today is that naturalistic philosophy is on the
rise, our religious concepts are idealistic, and therefore many noble
minds are in revolt. They feel like they can't honestly consider
something true if it's opposed to human reasoning. Others who make
their
faith their first priority make a less than honest compromise with
themselves and just refuse to examine certain issues--they only
scrutinize secular matters. Although we hear it all the time, it isn't
that the times are so distorted, or that Christianity is no longer
effective, or that there's a
pg 131
natural breach between the facts of physical life and the facts of
spiritual life. It's our philosophy that needs to be adjusted. Somehow
we've managed to get life out of focus. The initial ideas we started
with are false, but we've built our essential truth from them by taking
logical inferences from them. We haven't realized that our reasoning
capacity doesn't deal with spiritual truth, or even with what we call
facts. Reason is merely the logical
inferences from any premise that the mind accepts.
Every
Kind of Thought is in the Domain of Ideas
When we discussed Fouillée's Education
from a National Standpoint, we tried to show that the two kinds
of philosophy (materialistic naturalism and supernatural idealism) have
always divided the world into two camps because both are true, but
neither is the whole truth. Matter and spirit, or, force and ideas,
both work together to develop the character of a person. Somehow the
brain makes a physical, tangible recording of the ideas that bring
inspiration to the life. But those ideas didn't originate in the brain.
Ideas are spiritual. They're transferred via spiritual means, whether
the vehicle is printed words on a page, the glance of an eye, the touch
of a hand, or the holy, mysterious breath of the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit whose origin and destination are beyond our ability to discern.
All thoughts that enliven us, and all words that set us on fire with
passion are spiritual by nature and they appeal to what's spiritual
within
us. Once we recognize that every type of thought and all categories of
feelings belong to the dominion of ideas, we won't be able to keep the
great mysteries of our religion out of our common daily life. When we
consider how a friend of ours sitting next to us communicates
pg 132
with us spirit to spirit with a quick exchange of ideas, we understand
that the Spirit of God communicates with us in the same way. The closer
two human souls understand each other, the less they need to rely on
spoken words. It's a small step to go from this to the concept of the
most intimate and joyful relationship of all, the communication between
a devoted soul and his God.
It's
Obvious and Natural that the Father of Spirits Should Maintain Open
Access to Men's Spirits
It's only obvious, real, natural and necessary that the Father of
spirits should graciously keep open paths to intimate access with the
spirits
of people and communication with them.
'I wish it would be granted to me, Lord,
To find only You.
That You alone would speak to me, and I to You,
In the same way that a lover talks to his beloved
Or a friend talks over the dinner table with his friend.'
[adapted from The Imitation of Christ]
That's what all devoted souls aspire to. This constant yearning towards
the closest communion possible is the prayer of faith, whether the
prayer is spoken or not. Skeptics claim that such a desire is a vain,
sentimental dream that comes from the emotions, just like Narcissus
falling in love with his own reflection. What can we respond to that?
Nothing. Such a person can't understand that, when he loves his fellow
human being, it isn't the physical form that endears him, it's the
spiritual being that's within the material manifestation of his body.
How can he be expected to comprehend that God's Spirit draws the spirit
of man with irresistible attraction, and that the spirit of man
pg 133
encompasses the whole person? After all, the body is nothing more
than a garment that the spirit shapes to suit its own purposes.
Many
Minds Accept the Easy Way of Tolerance
It's easier to accept the temporary outward form and ignore the reality
of the inner spirit. People say things like 'prayer is flung into the
air like a kite that a child throws upward, only to come down again.'
Or
'all men are mere pawns of circumstance and they don't have any power
to
determine their own fate.' Or 'all beliefs are valid, and whether a
person worships Christ or Buddha depends on where he's born.' This kind
of tolerance is an easy way of thinking, and many minds are taking the
easy way out.
Thackeray's
Thoughts About Easy, Skeptical Attitudes
'And where does an easy, skeptical way of life lead a person? . . .
What does this skepticism lead to? It leads a person to shameful
loneliness and selfishness--it's all the more shameful because he's so
casually good-humored and conscienceless and serene about it.
'Conscience? What's
that? Why accept guilt and remorse? What is corporate or personal
faith? Nothing but antiquated myths wrapped in fancy traditions.'
Arthur, if you can see and acknowledge the lies of the world as I know
you can with your gift of an almost fatal clearness, and if you let
them go with no more protest than a laugh, if you can immerse yourself
in a life of luxurious sensuality while the world suffers and groans
and you don't even care, if you're able to lie on your balcony smoking
your pipe in the noise and danger while the fight for truth is taking
place and honorable men are taking their places in the battle--then you
would be better off dead, or never having been born at all, rather than
be such a sensual coward.' [from
Pendennis, by Thackeray]
Man
Lives by Faith, Whether He's Dealing With God or Man
pg 134
Canon Beeching's Eleven Sermons on
Faith are a refreshing contrast to this kind of modern
Sadduceeism. He says that faith isn't a mystical, supernatural thing
that's exceptional. It's the common foundation for the way we deal with
one another. The framework that society rests on is credit, trust, and
confidence. The worst thing we can say to another person is, 'I can't
trust
you.' The law recognizes that every man has the right to have the
confidence of his fellow men, and it considers a man innocent until
he's
proved otherwise. Our whole business and banking systems are no more
than huge systems of credit.
Only rarely do people neglect to make good on their credit. Family and
social life rest on a different kind of credit. We might call it moral
credit. Very few people forfeit that kind of trust. Every once in a
while, someone gives others a reason to be suspicious, jealous or
mistrustful--but the exception only proves how rarely it happens. When
people deal with each other, they rely on credit. When people deal with
God, they rely on faith. We can use the same word in both cases. Man is
a spiritual being, and in his dealings with both God and other men, he
lives by faith. When we look at it that way, faith becomes a simple,
easy thing! It's especially easy for children, who trust everybody, and
are willing to follow any guide. If only we could get rid of our
materialistic notion that our finite minds can't understand spiritual
things, and that believing in God is different than trusting a friend.
Then the questions that stagger our faith would be so easy.
Faith
is Simple Trust in Another Person
Meanwhile, God's Kingdom is coming upon us in all its power. It's time
to break down this foolish barrier
pg 135
that comes from our carnal mind. We need to recognize that our
relationships with
each other are spiritual relationships, and spoken and written words
are only the outward visible forms that convey ideas. The ideas
themselves are
spiritual. If we understood this, then the presence of God would be
inevitable, incessant and all-encompassing. Faith is merely the simple
trust that one person puts in another Person. That makes us realize
with reverent joy that God is all around us wherever we go, or when we
lie in bed, and He sees everything we do--not because he's looking to
see what we're doing wrong in order to punish us, but with the loving,
firm guidance of a caring parent. That makes it easy for our human
spirit
to understand the never-ceasing, always inspiring communication of
God's Holy Spirit. Every morning, He awakens our ear, too. The manner and degree
that His inspiration and guidance comes to us depends on our ability to
receive them. We're no longer baffled when an uninstructed heathen
shows gentle traits of compassion and generosity, because we know that
'his God instructs and teaches him.' We're not confounded when we hear
of a decent person lifting his voice to heaven to declare, 'There is no
God.' We know that God causes the sun to shine on both evil and
good people, and as much moral enlightenment and guidance that a person
will open himself up to receive is what he'll be freely given. Even if
a person squeezes his eyes shut and insists that 'There is no sun,'
he'll still be warmed and fed and comforted by the very light that he
denies. This strong, passionate sense of intimate nearness to God is
the kind of faith that we need to raise our children in. If we're firm
in this conviction, then the controversies of our day might intrigue
us, but they won't make us anxious because, once we know Him in whom
we've believed, we'll be on the other side
where doubt can't affect us.
pg 136
Faith
is an Aspect of the Soul That Needs to Be Studied
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. We progress in
this knowledge in direct proportion to how much study we devote to it.
All of us who deal with raising children should be very thankful for
every word of help and insight that reveals spiritual realities. From
this perspective, parents will appreciate reading and reflecting on the
sermons in Beeching's book. He expresses profound thought in pure,
simple language. The sermons are relevant to current thought and not at
all sentimental or even an attempt to pressure the reader into a
certain behavior. On the contrary, they're strengthening and
refreshing. You read them and go away rejoicing in a strong sense of
how real the unseen things are. Maybe this is because Beeching presents
the naturalness of faith.
The
Naturalness of Faith
'We can't help noticing that, although Jesus is always demanding our
faith, He never offers a definition of the kind of faith He wants from
us. That's why we presume that what He meant by faith was different
than what men usually mean by it. And it gets even more presumptuous
when we remember that faith in the Lord began as faith in human
qualities before those human qualities were thought of as divine. The
Apostles' faith increased under the training of Jesus. It became both
deeper and broader. But in the time between the first attraction that
drew men like Peter from their fishing nets, and the last declaration
of Peter's worship on the shores of Lake Gennesarat, there was no
breach of continuity. In fact, as if to prove that the Apostles' human
faith hadn't been converted to a more supernatural vague theological
virtue after the resurrection, we discover that
pg 137
the word used to express it is, of all the words used to express faith,
the one most deeply mixed with human feeling: 'Simon, son of Jonas, do
you love Me more than these?' Therefore, we need to ask ourselves
what's commonly meant by Faith when it refers to the faith between two
people. Then we can consider whether our explanation fits the various
Scripture passages.'
Faith
is Not an Impulse That We Generate Ourselves
The text quoted above from the very thoughtful and educational preface
of Beeching's book shows what we mean by the naturalness of faith. It
isn't something that comes by itself of its own will and effort. It's
acceptable, suitable, and appropriate to our nature, no matter when and
from where it comes. As Beeching says, 'Faith itself isn't an impulse
that originates from within ourselves. It's a person's heart springing
up in response to the surrounding hug of God's 'Everlasting Arms' and
its reward is to feel the support of those
divine arms even more and more deeply.'
The eleven sermons in the book are The Object of Faith, The
Worship of Faith, The Righteousness of Faith, The Food of Faith,
National Faith, The Eye of Faith, The Ear of Faith, The Activity of
Faith, The Gentleness of Faith, The Discipline of Faith, and Faith in
Man.
The
Compassion of Christ
In the chapter called 'The Object of Faith,' Beeching poses a question:
So then, what is God like? What kind of countenance does the God have
who shines out from the pages of the Gospel? Let's open the book and
see!'
We read the story of how Jesus was touched with compassion when he saw
two blind men by the road on the way to Jericho. So He touched their
eyes and healed them. But Jesus didn't only have compassion on physical
problems. 'Jesus also has compassion
pg 138
on ignorance, on the aimless wandering of people who are trying to
satisfy their own wants because they have no Master to guide them, and
on the weary spirit that results from such a life of aimless
wandering.' Beeching also writes, 'Jesus doesn't just have compassion
on sickness and ignorance. He also has compassion on sin, and on the
sinner who repents.' The Bible tells the story of the woman whose many
sins were forgiven because she loved so much. And it tells about Jesus
as His face is turned towards the young man, and 'Jesus looked at him
and loved him.' 'In the face of Christ, we've seen compassion for
suffering, ignorance, repentant sin, and love for enthusiasm.' As one
more example, we're invited to consider how the Lord turned and looked
at Peter. 'Can you imagine the look on His face as He looked at Peter,
who had denied Him three times after insisting that he would die with
Him? If only that face would look at us in reproach any time that we
deny Him by our words or our actions, so that we can also remember and
weep.' The heart rises to this kind of teaching--the simple
presentation of Christ as He lived among people. He said rightly, 'If
I'm lifted up, I will draw all men to Myself.' How tragic that He, Who
is so totally beautiful, is so seldom lifted up for us to gaze at with
adoration. Maybe when our teachers invite us to look at Christ's face,
we'll understand the full meaning of the word 'adoration.' He'll draw
all men to
Himself because it's impossible for any human soul to resist His divine
beauty once it's fairly and fully presented so he can see it.
The
Worship of Faith
In Beeching's sermon, 'Worship of Faith,' he says that 'Worshiping
Christ means to bow down with love, wonder and
pg 139
thankfulness to the most perfect goodness that the world has ever seen,
and to believe that that goodness is the perfect image of God the
Father.' Any and all aims or ideas that aren't Christ's aims and ideas
are against this kind of worship. Any person who entertains these wrong
kinds
of foreign ideals can't call himself a Christian. Once we examine the
spirit attitude towards Christ that leads to the proper worship of
faith, the rest of Beeching's sermon is very practical. The next
sermon, 'Work is Worship,' is his keynote. Since Beeching knows so well
how to touch the secret springs of our hearts, you wish that he had
used this
opportunity to move us closer to that 'heart's adoration' that's so
dear to God. But, really, the book has this tendency. It's good to
remember that 'thoroughly and willingly doing any duty, no matter how
important or trivial, is like offering well-pleasing, acceptable
incense to Jesus.'
The sermon about the 'Righteousness of Faith' is very important and
educational. Beeching spends a lot of time talking about the
'deplorable chant' we use to label ourselves as 'miserable sinners,'
combining the inner smugness of the Pharisees in the parable with what
the publican said.'
Righteousness
is a Particular Human Spirit-Attitude Towards the Spirit of God
'Christ's words about man's sinfulness have no trace of
vagueness or exaggeration. When He casts blame, He names definite
faults that we all can relate to. He never says that man can't do any
good
thing. Instead, He assumes that, if a person is in the proper state of
dependence on God, he'll be fully capable of doing what's right. Jesus
said that 'whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My
pg 140
brother, or sister, or mother.' But we still wonder--considering our
shortcomings, how can any of us be called righteous right now by
Christ? Paul wrote two of his letters to answer this very question. His
answer was that a person isn't considered righteous because of his own
works, but because of his faith in God. Human righteousness isn't a
conclusion stamped on a person after his whole life has been analyzed.
It's reckoned to a person at a certain point in time when his spirit
becomes willing to trust, love and revere God. It's the disposition of
a dutiful son to a loving father . . . Righteousness in the only sense
that men can have it means believing and trusting God.'
Teaching
These Sermons Should be Helpful to Parents
I don't have space to detail all of the teaching in Beeching's
inspiring little book, but I recommend it to parents. Who needs to
nourish their own spiritual life more than parents? Who else so needs
to examine themselves to consider how firm a grasp they have on the
mysteries of faith? Who else, besides parents, need such a clear
concept of
the supreme relation so that they can explain it in language their
toddler can understand? We've already established that the teacher's
duty is to put first things first, and everything else in proper order.
There's only one thing that's truly necessary--that we 'have faith in
God.' Let's free ourselves from vague thoughts and inconsistent actions
so that we can help our children to enter into this higher life. In
order to accomplish this, we don't mind the kind of teaching that's
more nourishing
than entertaining. This book should offer real help towards temperate
living in pure Gospel ways.
Paraphrased by L. N. Laurio
Please direct any comments or questions to me by emailing me at cmseries-owner at yahoogroups dot com.
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