VISION NEW ENGLAND

"The Saints on earth, and those above, But one communion make; Joined to their Lord in bonds of love, All of His grace partake." (1)

It is worth noting that every major creed in the history of Christianity includes a direct or indirect reference to "the communion of saints". The inclusion of this little phrase is evidence that our forbears in the faith regarded it as a crucial element of core Christian theology. But what do these words mean? Edward Burbidge answers directly and succinctly:

"Does anyone ask, What is "The Communion of Saints?" The answer is clear. It is the Communion or fellowship which Christians enjoy with God, and therefore with one another, whether in this world or in Paradise." (2)

For the writers of scripture and the creeds, meaningful fellowship with one another was always understood as a natural consequence of our relationship with God. Community is an essential element of spiritual formation for precisely this reason; we cannot adequately learn and practice grace apart from the formative influence of other people. And as Shakespeare would say, there’s the rub. (3)   The words of a humorous Irish toast capture the conundrum for us: "To live above with the Saints we love, Ah, that is the purest glory. To live below with the Saints we know, Ah, that is another story!"

Here in New England, we are accustomed to seeing individualism as a virtue; in this we have forgotten our heritage. The Puritan Richard Mather (1596 - 1669) described the colonial American understanding of the church in New England:

". . . a company of Christians, called by the power and mercy of God to fellowship with Christ, and by his providence to live together, and by his grace to cleave together in the unity of faith and brotherly love, and . . . bind themselves to the Lord and one to another, to walk together by the assistance of his Spirit, in all such ways of holy worship in him, and of edification one towards another." (4)

To "live together", to "cleave together", in "brotherly love", to "bind themselves to the Lord and one to another", to "walk together", and to "edify" one another. This is the vision which animated the struggles of the original New Englanders, a vision which has been all but forgotten in the march of progress. The prominent statue of the Christian pastor Roger Williams which stands atop the statehouse in Providence, Rhode Island has come to be known as "The Independent Man", but this was not the original intent. The artist who designed it, George T. Brewster, gave it a distinctly Christian name, "Hope". Today, few seem to know who the "Independent Man" really is or the message his likeness was intended to convey. (5)

If we are honest about it we may admit that the words of the humorous Irish toast (above) come disturbingly close to describing our actual experience. People can be hard to love. But if we are at all serious about discipleship we know we cannot afford to downplay or disobey the two most important commands in all of scripture:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (6)

In future posts, I will be exploring the relationship of community to spiritual formation because I believe it is an important subject for us to consider. I hope you will come back to "commune" with me as we ponder this important question.

(1) "The Saints on Earth and Those Above", by Isaac Watts, and Charles Wesley

(2) Burbidge, Edward (1839–1903), "The Kingdom of heaven: What is it?"

(3) William Shakespeare, Hamlet’s soliloquy.

(4) Quoted in, The New England mind: The seventeenth century, by Perry Miller, p. 435, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (April 15, 1983)

(5) Rhode Island State Government website: http://www.film.ri.gov/indeman.html 

(6) Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)

(this was posted by Steve Poole, VNE Director of Mentoring and Spiritual Formation)