Emmaus

Emmaus the way of faith

The purpose of the Emmaus (the way of faith) course is to examine a faith full path. To examine ones faith, whatever it was and establish a perhaps clearer understanding of the reason for believing in what one does or to strengthen the ideas behind the faith one believes in. The presumption was that it would be an attraction to anyone looking to question the idea of faith, assuming that there was one. The initial general thrust of the course was to look at the modes of faith in the context of a modern secular society without the constraints (one assumed) of an overriding religious doctrine. It was, in the presentation of the course, aimed at maybe attracting people that were curious, seeking assistance in faith, new participants to a faith, non-believers or those considering a spiritual outlet for further consideration. This is not what is laid out as the Emmaus course. It is a vehicle for describing and placing in a context, the construction of the bible as it relates to the established church. A way of ‘attracting’ or reinforcing those that already have leaning towards the church bible and as such would not perhaps suit an atheist, agnostic, heathen or non churchy person even as an exercise in exploratory discussion of examining alternative faith (like say spiritualist, gnostic, pagan, pantheism or humanist), in all these I would suggest there is an element of faith required but necessarily not built on any established church structure that uses its bibles. These alternative themes would fall outside the intended scope of Emmaus with no comparison to a Christian church path; Evangelical it is not, nor catholic but a little (understandably) restrained and conservative, probably to avoid causing too much discomfort for anyone who may be well versed in the established faiths and practises.

The course followed a somewhat proscriptive path, design to introduce set topics for discussion, all of which related to the themes of the bible in daily life and how it is used, what it teaches or means individually. Rather like what might be a preparation for greater involvement in a church life, a christening or confirmation ceremony for interested participants.  

For example topics outline as part of the course were: - What is a Christian? The Christian Gospel, Learning to Pray, The Promise of the Holy Spirit, The Life and Ministry of Jesus, and Reading the Bible etc. All with some sub context to be discussed as a small group and then to the larger audience to disseminate ideas on the subject matter presented for ‘analyses’.    

Despite the laid out stricture of the course material and ignoring the overly heavy direction of bible input, there was an attempt to extend the parameters of the prescribed course, more likely via an injection of opinion from those in attendance. Unfortunately the construction of the course and the need to move forward through it did curtail the time to elaborate on extraneous themes, themes that may have been useful in the exploration of faith or what it means and its use as a resources to find ones own meaning.

It (Emmaus) does not offer any solution to the meaning of life, it does not offer guidance to ones self, it is not designed to introduce conflicting concepts or instruct in achieving faith. It simply tries to offer views that arise from open discussion stimulated by a set of themes, trailed in small groups and later offered up to all in attendance for light consideration.   

As an example of the scope of the discussion that ensued, some views were expressed on the means of prayer, what it is, how its used, in what way and when. In response to a request for views on one particular prayer meditative occasion; the following was given to one leading participant (at their request) as a way of looking at prayer in a wider context.  

“As I think as has been said, prayers can be made in a number of ways, the most accepted and used way is to offer the standard ‘codified’ established prayers that most would recognise and generally repeat in a verbatim style. This I think is an easy set form that requires speaking the words parrot fashion and does not perhaps generate much meaning in so far as concentrating one’s mind on the actual intent of the words used. My guess is that nearly everyone who prays regularly and uses the same set prayers, pray does exactly this. There is nothing wrong with this approach as the intention of offering a prayer and the time set aside to do it is still accepted as an honest intent that I cannot see god objecting to it, can you?

A step on from this would be (again as we said) taking time to think slowly on the meaning of the words and consequently take a little more time to go through the prayer process, speaking the words slowly with time to absorb the parameter of the words used that formed the sentences.  This way makes the prayer slower to move through but perhaps helps to add weight to it, particularly if it is explained why it is being done so slowly, prior to commencement.

Of course there are many forms of offering a prayer with intent, from the simple ‘O God’ at a time of extremis, to a short sentence of discussion and one of a longer discourse, as might be done in reading sections of a scripture, or to the prayer of attending a church function. All the ways of prayer have value but it is not generally explained to any new participant that the way of prayer is as divers as any form of communication can be, in any language, with any words of intent.

In a church environment I think it seems difficult to inject new forms of praying that may be strange to people, especially if one uses the words ‘Meditation’, Concentration’, or ‘Mantra’

Perhaps I can explain my observations this way.

As I see it, there are two forms of meditation, one the guided / constructed meditation whereby a speaker talks and walks through with participants, to guide a path-way that leads to a meditative point. A point or focus within the meditation that may have been previously agreed, rather like a healing prayer session. On reaching the agreed point a little time is spent to absorb the moment and then retreat along the path back to the beginning, bringing back with ones self the peace of  the moment; or maybe inspiration.  For those not used to meditation, what it is like to do it, or do not understand its purpose, this is a useful method to participate in, particularly within a dual sitting or a group session. The term meditation and how it is done may put some conservative mind off and not be compatible with their idea of normal prayers, it’s a bit weird. 

Dependant on how ‘deep’  one goes or on how long the meditation is, it can be a bit disconcerting if the meditation is terminated too quickly which is why a retreat stage is gone through (a walk back) to the (present) starting point. This is less jarring and allows a short period of consolidation or reflection to regain one own composure. It is not uncommon to have people reach the point of dropping off to a sleep stage in a meditation, not a sign of being bored to sleep but being relaxed and to still have meaning from the point of the meditation. The thing is that by guiding the meditation stage it helps stop the individual from being diverted too much by their own stray thoughts, you know thinking about the price of fish, what’s on the tele and why am I here; thoughts that afflict everyone in a moment of  new (or strange) application. 

Those that have had a bit of practice can generate their own meditative frame, choose and create their own meditation path and create a suitable time frame in which to do it. In this case it is useful to have a key phrase that one says to oneself as a point of reference to bring the meditation to a close. To achieve this it is possibly useful to develop a good degree of concentration as it may be easy to fall into the distraction of uncoordinated thought that takes one away from the point of the exercise. However being aware that one is going off the meditative point and bringing the mind back to the work at hand need not be too disconcerting. The game is to have a start, middle and an end, under ones own control which will eventual improve the meditation experience and in time one can develop the ability to dissuade unwarranted thoughts from impinging on meditation too much. Some people may even be able to hold a single thought, phrase or peaceful quiet, thinking of nothing but to be in the moment of the meditation stage for some minutes.

Some people may find it difficult to do any of the above and I think the prayer you did last night is more akin to a repetition mantra process.  As you did last night, the point of the prayer is to focus on one element of a meditative process and at regular intervals repeat the phrase a number of times. The phrase may have to be formed in a context, as you did, in order for the participant to understand the reason for the prayer mantra. Although this may be taking a bit from Buddhist practices, it is still a vey good way of concentrating a prayer in a group that may find it difficult to pray in a free unconstructed way, reliant on their own imagination.

So in conclusion I think it useful of you to inject the type of praying you did and for people to understand the different techniques available to pray, all paths lead to Rome and all of them made by Allah / God and it may like more to be made of them. All it takes is codified prayer, relaxation, concentration, meditation or mantras, any door will do”.

In considering the above extract as an extension of the discussion on prayer, it seems certain that in order to cover the scope of the views that would have been available to identify the parameters of the meaning / intention etc of prayer, in a group context, would have taken considerable more time to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion had not an initial narrower interpretation of prayer been ascribed.

The consistent reference to the bible, its central position to church life, its parochial application and its clear importance as an integral part of understanding church faith and its application to life, is not easy to accept in isolation from a much broader spiritual context and other ways of relating to a faith. To many that reside within the communion of the church, it is the bed rock upon which their faith rest and does not sit well with disassembling. Never the less if one can overlook the scriptural construction of the course and approach it with a relaxed frame of mind; somewhere, somehow, from the discordant melee of discussion, may come a little light. Even though the promotional ‘sales pitch’ header of the Emmaus course did not really cover what it seemed to offer, in this it may have missed its intended audience, something on a narrower non scriptural focus just might have been a different saleable option to a larger audience. However many may be called to Emmaus but few are chosen, it’s a case of quality over quantity and hearing the call of faith. HH  

I would suggest that every human has a small kernel of faith within them, it may not be recognised as such, it could be ascribed to a simple affirmation within oneself such as “I believe….”, in myself, good over evil, miracles, god, angels or money; whatever it is it is perhaps in others opinion, a fraudulent belief that relies on a unsubstantiated application of an element of unreasonableness that borders on the conviction of faith to hold such views. It is perhaps not necessary to have a direct link via faith to a pious position but having a faith that may offer some comfort in life; be it spiritual, secular or existential, can be useful. Behind all the topics of Emmaus, the active element in it may be the taking of action to analyse and direct that belief to use it in a more positive way on all ones abilities. 

A number of organisation lay claim to Emmaus (bible) philosophy and take a different slant in how it is used and advanced but all are primarily associated with a  ecclesiastical doctrine that might be unappealing to the unfaithful so the ‘strap line’ promotion used to make people aware of what is on offer needs to be interesting. The banner hung promoting Emmaus, might have been made a bit sharper, with hind sight it remained me of a promotional line used by the Liverpool Museum when it had an Egyptian display on, it went “Bring your mummy to see our mummy”, it had a clear and secreted meaning, that with a little thought, the intention of which was well understood. This disguised meaning is not being disingenuous but perhaps something like that is needed for the promotion of the Emmaus course.    

Fate what’s it good for?

© Renot 2012

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