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Books for the Journey

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January 13, 2006

Discovering the Narrow Path

Discovering the Narrow Path
by N. Graham Standish

The efforts we undertake as Christians to develop a stronger personal relationship with God are often described as at a "journey" or "pilgrimage". In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus describes the end of our pathway as the "narrow door." Presbyterian pastor and author N. Graham Standish, merges these metaphors in describing the "narrow path" that each must walk on his journey towards God. His book "Discovering the Narrow Path", is subtitled, "A Guide to Spiritual Balance", and it is the final word, "balance", that is the key to this powerful book.

Standish is also the author of "Becoming a Blessed Church", which I read earlier this year and have circulated to others within Trinity Parish. As we move through our interim year, I hope that Standish's vision for a blessed parish can influence our vision and direction. That book is a guide to the development of a spiritual foundation for a parish. Narrow Path, which predates Blessed Church, is focused on the personal spiritual journey, but it is equally relevant to Trinity Parish in this time of transition. To be a truly blessed Church, Trinity must be a good "home base" for people earnestly pursuing a spiritual pilgrimage. Before we can do that, however, we have to know what that means, both in terms of our personal journeys and our collective journey. That is where this book is most helpful.

Narrow Path, is not intended to lead one on a spiritual pathway, or to provide a single roadmap to God. It is not a How-To sort of guide. Indeed Standish cautions the reader against reliance on guides who claimed to know "the true path" towards God. His book describes the process of finding a path, a personal path, and staying on that path. He provides the reader with a way to think clearly about the search for the narrow path, and the stuggle, and he describes it as an on-going struggle, a "tightrope walk", to move along it. The key word, again, is balance.

Unfortunately, the word balance tends, in some ears, to recall something static and lifeless. A statistically accurate description of the "average" member of the group can often described someone who doesn't actually exist, a person of indiscriminate heritage, with no particular culture, with 1.8 children. This is a critisism leveled at the Anglican church with its commitment to a "Via Media" (or "middle way.) This is, however, very much not what Standish is describing. The balance he desires does not avoid strong ideas or even extremes, rather it seeks to integrate them and hold them in balance.

"What, then, is the narrow path? It is the path that always lies in the tension between extremes. When we walk the narrow path we are able to hold different ideas, beliefs, and perspectives in tension, even if it seems they are mutually exclusive of each other. At the same time, it is not merely striking the middle ground between these extremes. It is deeper than that. The narrow path is a path of integrating different ideas believes and perspectives because we recognize that God is not limited to a particular theology or reproach God can speak through different belief patterns and structures, even when they seemed incompatible... walking the narrow path means seeking this God who integrates and transcends all human understanding and thought."

As I mentioned above, Standish uses the metaphor of a tightrope walker to help us visualize the process.

"As Christians, we are called to constantly walk forward on the tight rope set before us by God the Creator, while holding on to Christ as our balancing pole. As we walked, we are to follow light of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit leads us forward. When we find ourselves lurching one way or the other, we need to let God in Christ be our center of gravity, keeping us on the rope.... walking the narrow path, then, is like walking a tight rope; we must struggle to keep balance in our lives. We have to trust in God to keep us up, especially when we are about to fold. We have to trust that the rope will lead a towards God, just as it came from God. We also have to trust that as we continue our walking gain experience, we will form a natural ability to keep our ballots, especially in the midst of the storms and wins of life that threatened to blow was off the line. Walking the narrow path is a walk of faith into the unknown, trusting in the great "I AM WHO I AM" to guide us, lead us, holders, protect us, and walk with us."

There is an importand dynamic element to the balance Standish is leading us towards. Like a bicycle rider, we must move to stay in balance. We must also seek a balance point that is dynamic, alive and responsive to our movement.

"We are called by God to balance our lives in a way the places God at the fulcrum. Too often we place everything but God at the fulcrum. Many of these things are good in and of themselves, but they are not God. For example, we may place political economic, psychological, philosophical, and even theological beliefs and traditions and our fulcrum. These are belief systems that can inform and guide us to live more balanced lives and lead us to the center, but they are not living guides they can lead us in the midst of confusion. They are general principles, not personal guides. Our center must be alive, vibrant, and able to have an ongoing relationship with us.... nothing other than God can be the center because nothing else has the living capacity to be the center."

Standish's broad vision for the narrow spiritual path can be seen in his chapter titles. They described a pathway that while "narrow", is also mystical, balanced, trinitarian, healing, a "servant" path, and integrated. A concluding chapter addresses the important but often overlooked question of decision-making at a spiritual crossroads. Standish also discusses the need to balance, and "maintain tension", between four ways of pursuing God, spirituality, theology, religion, and mysticism. There are both strengths and weaknesses in each approach, and a fully balanced spiritual journey will include all, though in different measures and at different times.

This vision of a narrow pathway towards God, which requires that we balance our lives and our spiritual practices, with God's help, seems a good fit for the Episcopal Church and for Trinity Parish in particular. We are not a parish that proclaims a single valid way to worship, or a single valid way to pray and to approach God. We are, in contrast, a parish that accepts and celebrates a variety of worship styles and spiritual practices. Such an approach can lead to confusion and error if it is not well grounded in Christ, in prayer, in the believes and guidelines off our church, and in the stabilizing influence of spiritual community. This fine book by Graham Standish outlines a way to frame the spiritual pilgrimage that is both free of harmful restrictions and stumbling blocks, and yet well-founded and secure.