Some thirty years ago, I was in school to learn to be a marriage and family therapist. An older student in the university program with twenty years’ experience working with families, sometimes I ran amuck of professors who taught theory that couldn’t be practiced.
In the middle of one such discussion, one of my professors dubbed me “a 4-H therapist.” When I looked at him quizzically, he smiled and said, “When you do therapy, you want people to learn by doing.”
[4-H was created in the early 1900s to help American farm children learn practical skills (like cooking, sewing, raising vegetables and livestock, etc.,) as well as leadership skills. Children had projects in which they learned how to make a skirt by making one, how to care for a calf by raising one, etc. Today 4-H still teaches both rural and urban children many practical skills via learning by doing.]I laughed at the label Dr. Brock gave me and claimed it. I had come from a tradition of 4-H and considered the label a compliment. Yes, as a therapist I want people to learn by doing—just like in 4-H.
I remembered this story as I began to read the book of James this week. Our first readings will come from James until Lent begins in 10 days. James wants Christians to learn by doing.
The Book of James
The Epistle of James attributes itself to St. James the Just, the first Bishop of Jerusalem. If he wrote it, it would have been one of the earliest books of the New Testament, written before he was martyred in 62 AD. Some scholars believe it may have been written in his name by a later writer, perhaps around 80-100 AD.
Either way, it is a practical guide for Christian living—like some of the wisdom literature in the Hebrew scriptures. The five chapters of the Epistle of James are five chapters loaded with practical advice. How do you live this Christian life? James tells us.
Learn by Doing 1: See Trials as Strength Building Exercises
James begins right off. No long flowery introduction. He gives us six pieces of advice for Christian living in today’s first reading:
- Consider it all joy…when you encounter trials, because testing of your faith produces perseverance.
- Let your perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and lacking in nothing.
I would have passed right by this, if I had not found a book on James’ epistle that describes the letter of James as a way to live the Beatitudes. Perfection as it is used here does not mean “having every detail exactly right,” but rather, “being a person of full integrity.” In this case perfection means that what I think, what I say, what I desire, and what I do all match up. It means authentic, REAL. James is telling us what to DO to live out the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes.
I love the Beatitudes. I see them as Jesus taking the 10 Commandments to a new level. But what does being poor in spirit mean? Pure in heart? Meek? HOW do I live them?
If the book of James can help me with that, I’m all in.
As I pray with these readings, it makes sense to me that trials help me develop the ability to persevere. They work like fasting works with resisting temptation or stretches help with avoiding injuries in exercise. They harden us off on the outside while making us stronger on the inside. It is a simple truth: trials foster perseverance, and perseverance over time affirms choices and determination—i.e. . Fidelity—a core characteristic of God.
Learn by Doing 2: Ask to Have Only the Mind of God
- But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.
- But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.
This is where God has been confronting me this week. What is wisdom? “The perspective of God.” Will God let me know his perspective on this problem or that situation if I ask? James says YES—if I really want to know.
Do I really want to know?
If I am honest—no, not always. Sometimes I’m asking God for an endorsement of my position. Other times I ask for God’s help to understand, but all of my will isn’t in it. I’m trembling and doubting because God’s perspective may be something I don’t want to face.
James says that is being of “two minds.” God won’t give his wisdom then, because he can’t count on us to follow it.
Ouch! But that Truth is also an enticement to pray for the Faith to have only one mind. I’ve been doing that on a difficult situation. And, after several weeks of doubt, I’m getting clarity. Yes, thank you, Lord!
Learn by Doing 3: Practice Equality
- The brother in lowly circumstances should take pride in high standing, and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away “like the flower in the field.”
- For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes. So will the rich person fad away in the midst of his pursuits.
How did the early Christians—Jew and Greek, rich and poor—learn to live together? James is preaching equality here. Live together in equality. That is something we resist, yet through my life I have consistently found it enriching to be toe-to-toe, head-to-head with people I might consider far above me…or below me. I get intimidated by those situations, because the normal social rules and roles do not apply. Yet, to me it is clear: The Beatitudes call us to equality between haves and have nots. James encourage me to keep on living Christianity with equality, egality.
Application
- See trials as a way to grow in perseverance to Fidelity
- Be of one mind when I ask God to give me his wisdom, his perspective.
- Work with others in an attitude of equality.
That’s James’ advice for today.
Prayer
Lord, I am enchanted by St. James today. I want to learn from him. I learn by doing—and sometimes I don’t know HOW to BE a Christian—to be fully authentic. I don’t know HOW to DO. James says learn how to BE by DOING. Lord, today let me do. When I am frustrated, ignored, dismissed, or not included, let me see that as an opportunity to develop perseverance and fidelity. When I don’t know what to think or how to make a choice, help me pray for Wisdom, that I may see the situation as You see it, Lord. Then help me enter into the fray of problem solving as an equal to all others involved—no hidden “but I know best” perspectives. Lead me, guide me, Lord. Lead me, guide me, St. James.
