“What We All Want for Christmas”                                                              Vance L. Toivonen

READING                   Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

READING                   Jim Marion, Putting on the Mind of Christ

What is important…is that we…become more interested in what happens within our own psyches than in the outside world, and that we develop the ability to accurately see and feel what is going on within ourselves…that we become…contemplatives…We identify ourselves, our “I,” with the inner witness who observes mind, emotions, and body, and we become skilled at watching ourselves dispassionately from the witness’ vantage point. This witnessing is meditation even if no specific meditation technique is practiced. We become decisively inner directed and self-reliant, rather than relying on the advice, opinions, and values of others. We learn to listen to the still small voice within before making decisions…To survive until the end of the third millennium, Christianity will have to become still more adaptive in obedience to the Spirit within its adherents.

SERMON

This week I tracked down the source of that well-worn phrase “ignorance is bliss.” The poet Thomas Gray penned that line in his “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College.” Of course, the mere fact that the word “college” is in the title suggests that there is some reference in this ode to the great task of learning intended to take place at such an institution. We also know, as does Gray, that the towers (oft defined as ivory), of said institutions rise high above the reality of most of humanity. Which is ultimately the point of Gray’s ode. The last verse of his poem reads:

To each his sufferings: all are men,     

Condemned alike to groan;     

The tender for another's pain,     

The unfeeling for his own.     

Yet ah! why should they know their fate?     

Since sorrow never comes too late,     

And happiness too swiftly flies.     

Thought would destroy their paradise.     

No more; where ignorance is bliss,     

'Tis folly to be wise.

The bliss of ignorance and the folly of wisdom are pointed out by Paul in I Corinthians (1:20-25), which reads,

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

We live in an information age. If we were to lay it out here in the center of this room, the sheer volume of knowledge represented by all in attendance would not leave enough room for us to remain seated herein. To be honest, I find this volume of knowledge a bit overwhelming at times, which is not to diminish its importance.

There are those moments of “aha” that come with knowledge. Someone shares their knowledge and information with us, and we are confronted with a new concept, a new idea, a new way of seeing the world. We are sometimes grateful for being enlightened in this way. But over time, I have gained this nagging suspicion that my knowledge is inadequate. Some have said ‘the more educated you are, the less you know.’ I suppose that’s my problem too.

Ken Wilber suggests that there are “a variety of intelligences, such as cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, musical intelligence, kinesthetic intelligence, and so on.” (Ken Wilber, The Integral Operating System 1.0). Knowledge-based, or cognitive intelligence would then be only one path of development for the human species. Wilber uses a term coined by Howard Gardner to recommend that we develop multiple intelligences.

One might refer, then, to the intelligence suggested by Jim Marion in today’s second reading as contemplative intelligence. I would also call it spiritual intelligence. This is the process of growing to see ourselves and the world with a divine eye, the “inner witness” to which Marion refers. The spiritual practices of meditation, wisdom reflection, and prayer can help us develop this intelligence in the same way that courses of study can help us develop our cognitive intelligence. The goal of study is to get to the point where we can integrate our knowledge into every day living. This is also the goal of spiritual practice, to integrate our contemplative intelligence into every day living.

On a cognitive level we want to develop to the point where the benefits of our knowledge outweigh the detriments of our ignorance, for while ignorance might be bliss, it can also do us great harm. On a spiritual level we want to develop to the point where the power of our “inner witness” is greater than the power of our egos. We want the still small voice of God to resonant louder than the cacophany of own wants and desires. At best this will result in a convergence of God’s voice and our own voices. When our egos overwhelm and dominate that still small voice we suffer the confusion of our agendas with God’s will. This does not bring us peace, but all manner of suffering and pain.

Paul speaks of “the peace that passes all understanding.” This is what I believe we all really want in our hearts of hearts this Christmas. We want to live in the tension of this world, and somehow, by some miracle, experience an inner peace that escapes our cognition. The chaos all around us will not cease, but somehow, by sheer grace we will feel a sense of inner calm that simply cannot be explained. Through the simple prayer that Paul recommends, we cast our cares on God; all of our anxieties and worries falling from our collective craniums and into an abyss of love so deep and wide that we couldn’t find those troubles again even if we wanted to.

To see ourselves from “the witness’ vantage point” is to observe ourselves through God’s eyes. I find that I am sometimes surprised to discover that one from among you has a far more gracious and loving view of my self than I do. I can be quite blind to my own loveable-ness, and quite unwilling, at times, to even embrace such a notion. My self loathing, at times, can seem to be the norm. But then one day, out of the blue, one of you says something to me that clears away the cataracts from my vision, your warmth and genuineness overwhelm me, even to tears, and I am reduced to a child again, a child who knows little of books and facts, a child who knows only the love a parent.

This is the foundation for our relationship with God, to be not as those who have all knowledge and prowess and self-sufficiency, but rather to fall again into loving arms, and let ourselves hear that we need not worry about a thing, hear that we are loved without condition, hear that nothing can separate us from that love – ever. This is the genesis of  “the peace that passes all understanding.” Since we have this gift in our possession, what else could we possibly want or need for Christmas?