2023-10-14 A Meditation on Translation

“2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (Jas 1:2–18 ESV)

So many words, some go over our head, others nestle in some realm of the soul to be puzzled over; it is in trying times we dig deep and send out a wide net: what does the Gospel say to this hour, to this particular instance of me as a person? What, after all, is it all about? What did I fuss and proclaim to be my religion, per se? And am I “all in”?

The gold standard of our faith, the soldier’s solemn vow, the servant’s deepest allegiance, is simply a fact called Persecution, called the Cross, called Service. It is the discovery of, no controlled playing field, but a radical effort to servant leadership. It is the radical notion that good people are unfairly and wildly targeted, by a spirit in the air. That all of us face astonishing trials and spiritual attacks. That a gentle Man, and in later and prior instances gentle Woman, spent His life making ours a little more tolerable for an hour. A little more invited to roam. A little more unpinned and shaking off the wrestler called Sin.

This He did by way of a love letter to Mankind, though in His sorry view it was only through prophecy that any more than a handful of souls were affected. He prophesied of seeing Satan fall from Heaven, as the disciples—apostles, sent out—returned with the astonishing excitement of a Word Received, a Mission Accomplished, a Populace Seeded (Lk 10:18).

For a harvest; not from us sad souls, but from us newly excited souls, post-partum, post-divorce, post-abandonment, post-tragedy, post-Cross. That we might once more together, in Resurrection Light, walk side by side to a Morrow that indeed scarcely matters except that it be together. That we see myriad avenues of possibility, similitudes, friends who are like one another and form a Body called Follower. That form a haste and an urgency called Togetherness. That reassure the anxious unbridled inner question mark, with this: that Now and Here is a Promise, from On High, from simply a fellow traveler, that the landing will be gentle, the trust fall cautious, the solitude tenable, obtaining the outcome of the salvation of our souls.

This we do for one another; this is our Tomorrow, no longer frantic nor depressive, but Together rehearsing what lines and verses of Christian Faith have nestled in our heart of hearts: these promises are ours, made certain and plain not in theory but in the form of a Woman, a Man, a Friend, a Lover, a Quiet Companion, a Spouse, a Ministry Partner. Like those whom Jesus sent out, two-by-two. Like those we strangely under inspiration envision ourselves to be. Taking it seriously. Meaning what we say. Being good to our word. Holding all things in trust and in sharing and in coping with what trials and hardships make us wince or affright. No longer frightened, we have found a Teaching that transcends, that Answers, that gives calm and repose to the haggard soul, through Word made real, through a recollection that is celebrated, through something past that also promises something future; in theory, in case ever needed, in the event of… any doubt or despair. That is our Christ. That is our Service. That is our mega-translation unto grown and mature mutual teachings, that Christ is real, that He meets us in a farewell as much as in a companionship, that we are no losers nor fools to believe this rubric. We are those sought and Found. We are those Promised unto a brighter tomorrow. We do all this through Him who strengthens us, the warrior spirit, the reality of War, the personage tried and killed, that we might rise up beyond embarrassment and beyond error, into a gentle thought-space earned by His solemn labors, His solitude, His monastic quirkiness, and our new deservedness in His solemn mind.