Church Cleaning: The Galli Report

'From Chaos to Punctual Calm in a Week' | 'Dressing for Others' | When Is the Day of Judgment? | The Galli Report | [View online]( [Give Now]( Advertisement [The Galli Report]( [Home]( [Podcast]( [Subscribe]( Friday, December 28, 2018 Church Cleaning George Weigel in First Things writes [this piece]( from a Catholic perspective, but self-aware Protestants will recognize that his analysis and prescription apply to their churches as well. He wrote it at the beginning of the church year, Advent, but his ideas certainly apply to the New Year and the varied resolutions we make. He refers to an old hymn that is … both a consolation and a challenge as the Church prepares to begin a new liturgical year in this season of Catholic grief and anger. Why? Because the primitive Eucharistic Prayer found in the Didache, and the hymn that Fr. Tucker wrote from it, remind us that the Church is always in need of purification: “Watch o’er Thy Church, O Lord, in mercy, / Save it from evil, guard it still. / Perfect it in Thy Love, unite it, / Cleansed and conformed unto Thy will.” That the Church needs cleansing is not much in doubt as Advent 2018 dawns. And that cleansing will necessarily involve everyone in the Church. Among the personal resolutions we might make this time of year about our personal health and fitness, we might add one indicating what we might do, with God’s help, to enhance the health and fitness of the church. ‘From Chaos to Punctual Calm in a Week’ Implicit in many of our resolutions is the need to manage our time better. Time management is not that hard in theory, and the tips from various experts begin to sound alike after a while. But combine the tips with [a person’s story,]( and one can get inspired: … when you are always 17 minutes late for everything, constantly procrastinating because you don’t even want to start looking for a vital scrap of paper in case you can’t find it, it feels like a triumph every time you are punctual. “I felt like a conquistador of chaos,” Morgenstern says. “As much as I craved order, I was also really afraid of it. I thought it was going to squelch my creativity, make me into this restricted person.” Her road-to-Damascus moment came when she had her daughter and spent three hours trying to get out of the house because there were 18 things to remember and they were all in different places. “I said: ‘I have to get organised. I can be the hero of my own story, but I can’t do this to another human being.’” ‘Dressing for Others’ My entire generation (boomers) rebelled (with vigor) against the idea that society/parents/business/whomever should dictate what we should or should not wear. That sentiment never struck me as quite right because, after the morning glance in the mirror, the rest of the day, it’s other people who have to look at me. It strikes me that loving the neighbor begins with dressing in a way that is pleasing to the neighbor. Not that I have been such a thoughtful neighbor all my life. But [this article]( on the Art of Manliness website gave me pause for thought, and perhaps a New Year’s resolution! When Is the Day of Judgment? For some of us, it’s every day, when at the end of the day, we contemplate our thoughts and actions and say a prayer of confession before we nod off to sleep. For others, it’s December 31 when we look over our resolutions from the previous year. For Paul, it was something more cosmic and full of wonder: the coming “Day of Jesus Christ.” [This review]( of [The Righteous and Merciful Judge: The Day of the Lord in the Life and Theology of Paul](sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1545245891&sr=1-1&keywords=the+righteous+judge) points to a book that I hope is successful in helping us see how central the day of judgment is—in even the New Testament—and also how it is actually good news for us. Another CT offering that may help you reflect on the moral life we’re striving to grow in until the Day of the Lord: [this week’s Quick to Listen podcast,]( featured on January 2. It’s an interview with Jay Wood, professor of philosophy at Wheaton College, and full of fine insights from a man who has spent many years thinking about virtue ethics from a Christian perspective. Grace and peace, [Mark Galli] [Mark Galli] [Mark Galli](mailto:GalliReport@christianitytoday.com) Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today Advertisement More from Christianity Today [CT's Top 20 News Stories of 2018]( [CT's Top 20 News Stories of 2018]( Tyndale sues the boy who didn't come back from heaven, Bethel Church survives the Redding Carr Fire, and the Nobel Peace Prize goes to a Christian doctor who heals rape victims. CT Editors [Read More]( [Why a 'Health and Wealth' Approach to Scripture Leaves Us More Depressed]( [News]( [Why a 'Health and Wealth' Approach to Scripture Leaves Us More Depressed]( Sociologists: The sick and poor are more likely to seek blessings through Bible-reading. Rebecca Randall [Read More]( [It's Not Just a Blue Christmas. We're Lonely.]( [Podcast]( [It's Not Just a Blue Christmas. We're Lonely.]( Research shows our society's widespread isolation. What's the church's role in alleviating it? 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