Day Twenty-nine

I feel as though I’ve made some progress inasmuch the journey thus far has provided me with a different understanding of where I’m headed, what my spiritual goal may be. I no longer think that my physical death is the ultimate sin to be saved from. In fact I’m beginning to understand that sin may be better understood as a kind of living death that occurs whenever I somehow manage to diminish or sever the dynamic relationship with my Creator, with God. I’ve even succeeded in identifying some of the situations and circumstances which can cause a break in this relationship. All this, however, has left me wondering where I go from here.

I have on occasion sensed the availability of the Paraclete, of the Christ-promised comforter and advisor that serves to make the original experience real and relevant to me today. But this is at best a fleeting experience. Much more constant is the state of separation brought on by either ignorance or distraction (oftentimes both), hopefully less often by intent. Is it possible to reverse this condition so that there is more time spent with the Spirit and less time sinfully separated? And if it is possible, how is it accomplished? Who or what do I turn to for competent advice and counsel? The profound theological insight of John Wesley (1703-1791) revealed in his quadrilateral of Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason provides an answer.

The genius of Wesley’s approach is the combining of these elements into a whole that is held together by what I have come to think of as a dynamic tension. No single element in isolation is sufficient unto itself, even though there has been a faction of United Methodism (the American church that grew out of Wesley’s movement) that continues to bring ever-increasing pressure to bear on the primacy of Scripture. Now free of such infighting I am in a position to look more closely into the Truth of which Wesley speaks, and in the process to perhaps enter into a more constant and salvific relationship with my Creator through the Christ.