Seeing Stars from Deepest Wells?

 

C. S. Lewis mused that one benefit of praying written prayers is that they’ve been vetted. In other words, when we pray from the Book of Common Prayer (and other resources) we don’t have to critique what we are praying to determine their validity, their conformity to Scripture, but we can freely use them as a vehicle of communion with God.

 

The qualification is that, other than those in Scripture, there is a possibility that some prayers, or elements of some prayers, may be misinformed and off course, so I don’t know that we can ever dispense with a measure of vetting, as cumbersome as that might be. Some prayers may simply not “fit” us in a season of life, others may have ill-informed thinking – which may or not be material...aren’t we all in a process of growth? I consider the centrality of Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit to be the musical key that we want to hear in all prayer – when God is the center other elements tend to fall into place.

 

Due to the authoritative nature of written prayer, it seems to me that vetting is important, after all, we’re using it as a model for our communion with God, informing our minds and hearts, our souls and spirits. Yet, I think this critique requires charity, lest our hearts become judgmental when we think some elements of a prayer problematic; once again, aren’t we all in the process of growing in Christ? Isn’t the centrality of Christ paramount? Is not communion with God our desire? As we commune with God, God is well able to mature our understanding.

 

This also means that when we write prayers to be shared with others, we ought to write them in the light of Scripture and general truth, this includes verifying statements of fact. This practice should not differ from other writing or from public speaking (including sermons), for the sake of our audience and the glory of God we should verify what we write and speak.

 

There are enemies to this process. One enemy is time, and another is familiarity.  The enemy of time convinces us that we don’t have time to look up a word or verify a fact – so we accept as true what we think is true, without verifying it. The enemy of familiarity is more subtle, it assures us that what we’ve been told for decades is true, we accept as fact something that is false.

 

As I have grown older with increasing experience, I am more likely to quality a statement with, “I have not read primary material on the subject.” I want the listener or reader to know that I am only sharing what I’ve been told, without doing my own spadework. In my reading of authors who I highly respect, I have seen occasional instances in which they haven’t done their own research and therefore make statements that have no foundation, they are repeating what they heard from others. These are occasional instances, otherwise I’d not be reading the authors.

 

As a pastor I’m sure I frustrated many a parishioner with the question, “But is what so-and-so popular preacher says actually true?” I learned that we generally don’t care whether a statement is true, or whether a teaching aligns with the Gospel, or whether Jesus Christ is the center…I’ve seen this in congregational life, I’ve seen it in interdenominational small groups, I encounter it in conversations. 

 

We don’t want to be bothered with seeing life in the light of Jesus Christ and His Word…. after all, it would mean that we’d have to read and know Scripture, and that our hearts would have to be wedded to Jesus and to Jesus alone. It might even mean that we’d realize that some of our practices and other “distinctives” are not as grounded in the Bible as we’ve been led to think. I’m reminded of a point that Eugene Peterson made, we think that if we are told what’s in the Bible then we don’t need to read the Bible.

 

What does all this have to do with “stars from deepest wells”?

 

As some of you know, I appreciate The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett, Banner of Truth Trust. There are some beautiful prayers in this volume, and there are gems to be found even in those that I think are problematic.

 

Bennet begins the volume with a prayer of his own, appropriately titled, The Valley of Vision. The penultimate stanza reads:

 

“Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine.”

 

I’ve heard this about seeing stars from wells for decades and never thought much about it until I read what Bennett wrote. Then I wondered, “Is this true?”

 

If you didn’t know the answer to my question before you read this, you know it now. Arthur Bennett neglected to verify his statement, he relied on what he had been told, no doubt for decades…well, we probably all do it…but we should know better, and I imagine Aruthur Bennett knew better (where were his editors?).

 

This isn’t to say that there may not be “truth” in the illustration, which is why Bennett used it, but wanting an illustration to be true when it isn’t true introduces a crack in the foundation, it is an invitation to a slippery slope (not that Bennett was doing this, not at all, he simply failed to verify).

 

Unlike Bennett, I’ve seen many a popular contemporary “Christian” teacher, pastor, and author create “truth” out of nothing and sell it to others (including pastors) who will be offended should you ask, “But is this true?”

 

I recall some years ago a popular author and teacher created a story of Adam that portrayed him as being “wild.” This author launched a major religious franchise within the professing church, with many pastors falling for it and inducing their people to fall for it.

 

A parishioner of mine “fell” for it, and after I read the book and then asked him to compare its storyline with the Bible’s, it didn’t make any difference to him, he’d go with the false storyline, he liked it better. He preferred the heart of the book to the heart of Jesus. This attitude is often the case within the professing church.

 

To be continued…