Peterson, 1987. Chapter 9, “Practicing Spiritual Direction”

Chapter 9, “Practicing Spiritual Direction” (Loc. 1697-1910)

It is easy for a pastor to do a poor job of spiritual direction. Peterson illustrates this by looking at five pastors who attempted to help George Fox, as recorded in his journals. The first made Fox’s concerns a subject for theological debate rather than an opportunity for care and help. Though the theology can be interesting a person is not a case study. The second pastor gave some folk wisdom but failed to reach to the root issues. Fox was a consumer of his remedies. Because they didn’t work for him the pastor rejected Fox. The third pastor had a good reputation but could not hold up to the inquiry Fox had. He proved empty and unable to help in the times of deep trouble. The fourth pastor was concerned that Fox should be theologically orthodox. If his theology were right he would be entirely fine. Yet he could not deal with divergence between doctrine and behavior. The fifth pastor was an activist - medicine as actions, seeking cure by being busy. Yet spiritual health is not in doing but in being.

What are Peterson’s positive reactions? Practicing wonder in God’s world (Loc. 1786) is a start. The pastor should also realize his own ignorance (Loc. 1803). Then it is possible to help others in their walk, knowing that we seek God together.

Final Observations:

In this book Peterson calls pastors to focus on the main point of their work - being used by God in Scripture and prayer to change lives. His analysis is solid. The ideas presented could use more fleshing out, but he presents many interesting ideas which can be built upon.

Peterson, 1987. Chapter 8, "Getting a Spiritual Director"

Chapter 8, “Getting a Spiritual Director” (Loc. 1572-1697)

Physicians look for other physicians to care for them. Pastors also need other pastors to engage in spiritual care. For many generations it was always expected that a pastor would have someone engaged in care for him. This is no longer the case. Peterson sees this as a great matter of concern. “We find pastors who don’t pray, pastors who don’t grow in faith, pastors who can’t tell the difference between culture and the Christ, pastors who chase fads, pastors who are cynical and shopworn, pastors who know less about prayer after twenty years of praying than they did on the day of their ordination, pastors with arrogant, outsized egos puffed up by years of hot-air flattery from well-meaning parishoners…” (Loc. 1581).

Though pastors speak authoritatively they have a primary identity as a dervant of Christ. This is a difficult life.

Peterson observes that we actually learn and grow best when we have a teacher providing examples and accountability. As with his example of playing a musical instrument, so also with a life of prayer. We go astray when we have an attitude of dependence only on Jesus with no other human relationship. The spiritual director helps us see our condition clearly, bears burdens with us, and enables us to trust more freely in Christ.

Peterson, 1987. Chapter 7, "Being a Spiritual Director"

Chapter 7, “Being a Spiritual Director” (Loc. 1415-1572)

Peterson begins this chapter reminding that “the Scriptures and our best pastoral traditions train us [to]...notice the small, persevere in the commonplace, appreciate the obscure” (Loc. 1415). The Christian life consists largely of dealing with everyday and common issues. “Spiritual direction is the aspect of ministry that explores and develops this absorbing and devout attentiveness” (Loc. 1419). As Peterson describes it, spiritual direction is little more than helping people live their lives while looking at their surroundings biblically. He gives an example (Loc. 1451) in which one of his elders helped him look beyond some more obvious issues to an underlying attitude which needed care.

Many pastors seem to practice this spiritual care only rarely, being made too busy with other items which Peterson would say are less important. Yet he observes that this attentiveness to detail is never taught in seminaries.

Peterson closes by observing that receiving good spiritual direction from others enables our growth as Christians. It is not to be neglected.

Peterson, 1987. Chapter 6, "Gaza Notes"

Chapter 6, “Gaza Notes” (Loc. 1229)

Peterson observes from the encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian the work of pastoral care. The two have little in common but the Ethiopian is seeking truth. Philip is God’s messenger of the truth - all Scripture points to Jesus. Philip’s work begins in Acts 8:30 with the subtle difference between reading and understanding. Philip is then called (Loc. 1240) not only to explain but to guide the Ethiopian. Is Philip willing to go on a journey? The true pastor is.

Peterson’s conclusion is that “Reading Scripture is not, it would seem, an autonomous activity” (Loc. 1260). The conversation includes the human writer, Jesus, and any people present.

This kind of interactive reading of Scripture brings us into an encounter with the living God. It is not just another thing t do. “But the very frequency of pastoral reading in Scripture mitigates its radical strangeness in our consciousness, the crisis conditions that are provoked in us whenever we enter its pages” (Loc. 1283). Peterson cautions against allowing the Scripture to become commonplace.

Peterson, 1987. Chapter 5, "Contemplating Exegesis"

Chapter 5, “Contemplative Exegesis” (Loc. 1033)

“Scriptural exegesis is surgical work: cutting through layers of history, culture, and grammar; laying bare the skeletal syntax and grammatical muscle; excising mistakes that were introduced inadvertently in the  transmission of the text; repairing misunderstandings that have crept into interpretations across the centuries; observing the incredible and fascinating complexity of the organism as the hidden parts are exposed to view” Loc. 1037). Peterson goes on to say that the tools available to us are superior to those held by previous generations. Yet often in our zeal to dissect Scripture we allow it to die on the operating table. We fail to contemplate the God revealed in Scripture.

Because words communicate real meaning to the inward, invisible man, it is very important that we attend to the meaning of those words. At Loc. 1081 Peterson asserts that we must avoid letting the Scriptures be a knowledge-base, or a textbook. Rather, they are the living God’s words of life. This view in religion is a radical departure from the other religions of antiquity, which were based on ceremonial actions (Loc. 1107).

Not only do we receive God’s Word as a spoken word, we also receive it in the way it was communicated. This means we are sensitive to the genre found in Scripture. Peterson observes (Loc. 1165ff) that all stories have similarities - a beginning, a catastrophe, a plan for salvation, and an ending. Within the story we also find motion, characters, and varied levels of significance. This is the case with all stories, including Scripture. It is the job of the exegete to contemplate and communicate this story.

Peterson, 1987. Chapter 4, "Turning Eyes into Ears"

Chapter 4, “Turning Eyes into Ears” (Loc. 836)

Peterson begins this chapter by observing that the Scripture is given to use not so we can analyze it but so we can hear from God. “But it is just this quality of zestful passion to listen to Scripture that diminishes, even to the point of disappearance, in the course of pastoral work” (Loc. 840). Listening and reading are very different activities. Listening is entering into dialog of some sort. God calls us to listen.

Peterson suggests (Loc. 868) that printing has had the side effect of decreasing our zeal for God’s Word. It is not common and easy to find, which may make it hard to “hear.”

Likewise (Loc. 898), the interactive personal task of learning has often been replaced by the more passive reception of schooling. If we have become passive in pursuit of truth we will not receive that truth.

Finally, Peterson thinks (Loc. 937) that we have gone astray by becoming consumers and customers rather than creators. The pastor is called to hear God’s Word, to seek it out, and to shepherd God’s flock. This is counter to much of modern culture. It is something we will do well to recover.

Peterson, 1987. Chapter 3, "Prayer Time"

Chapter 3, “Prayer Time” (Loc. 620)

Peterson expresses surprise at the number of things people would ask a pastor to do, especially considering that religious concerns seem less important to many people than they were in prior generations. Yet Peterson observes, “among the considerable demands on my time not one demanded that I practice a life of prayer” (Loc. 630). Yet Peterson insists this life of prayer, practicing how to respond to God’s Word, is heart and center of ministry.

Peterson ties this concept (Loc. 662) to the need for a sabbath, a day of rest. While we tend to think of night as the end, the biblical concept of a day starts with night, a time of expectancy. We look forward to God’s overarching plan and move in and out of his activities in our pattern of work and rest. The Sabbath then is the large time of rest, ordained by God.

The sabbath then is “Uncluttered time and space to distance ourselves from the frenzy of our own activities so we can see what God has been and is doing” (Loc. 727). Keeping this time and space is God’s command, allowing us to see him. Yet Peterson says we have a great desire to simply work harder. This is finally depending on ourselves rather than on God.

Peterson, 1987. Chapter 2, "Praying by the Book"

Chapter 2, “Praying by the Book” (Loc. 421)

Prayer plunges us into vivid communication with the living God. It also sets us apart from and sometimes into opposition with our community. So why are our prayers weak? Prayer “has been uprooted from the soil of the word of God” (Loc. 433). We realize that “prayer is never the first word; it is always the second word. God has the first word. Prayer is answering speech; it is not primarily ‘address’ but ‘response’ (Loc. 446). Therefore, when we begin an event with prayer, we need to confess its character as an answer to God’s Word.

Where do we learn to pray, to answer God? We go to the Psalms. Through all history they have been the prayer book for God’s people. Peterson discusses the division of Psalms into five books with divisions before Psalm 42, 73, 90, and 107. In location 534 Peterson suggests the books have a relationship to the Pentateuch, each section answering the themes of one book. However, when we look for the specific themes we are disappointed. God’s communication with us is complex, as are the many types of answers we find in the Psalms.

Peterson develops an idea that the Torah walks us from birth to maturity and that during each stage we respond through the prayers of the Psalter. When we are thus equipped we are ready with prayers empowered by God.

Peterson, 1987. Chapter 1, "Greek Stories and Hebrew Prayers"

Peterson, Eugene. Working the Angles: the Shape of Pastoral Integrity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987. Kindle Edition.

In his lengthy introduction Peterson lays out the idea that a geometric shape is determined by its angles. The three angles he sees as most important in shaping the pastoral life are prayer, Scripture, and spiritual direction. Those are the pastor’s indispensable elements.

Chapter 1, "Greek Stories and Hebrew Prayers” (Loc. 200).

Sometimes in the midst of chaos a pastor seems to be non-essential. Peterson compares it to “putting plastic flowers in people’s drab lives” (Loc. 209). On the contrary, pastors are called to minister in Word and Sacrament, something which may seem irrelevant at times and does not fit into our framework of sense. Yet throughout history communities have always set aside pastors to minister in word and sacrament.

What is essential in all this? If we hold to a life of prayer it will keep “Pastoral work true to itself centered in word and sacrament” (Loc. 254).

Peterson uses the ancient Greeks as an illustration of reality. The gods were selfish and capricious yet the Greeks sought knowledge and wisdom. The work of the pastor is in large part preparing people to live and die in a fallen world. Peterson affirms (Loc. 318) that in the 19th century prayer was “pushed out of the action” as enlightenment values overcame the Church. When biblical history was recast as a sort of mythic narrative, free from the power of God, the vivid life of prayer declined as well. The solution is to return the Psalms and the life of prayer to the center of Christian community life.