Saints along the Rhine
After 130 miles on the bike and many more via the train, I’ve arrived in Strasbourg, France. This is the contemporary heart of the European Union in one section, while the other contains the old city.
Many of the saints of this journey are already in the rear view mirror. In Amsterdam I visited the house of Ann Frank, where I watched tourist pose for selfies next to her front door. I wondered if there was any more obvious or outrageous way one could contradict her story of heroism. In Bingen, my body gave up after three days of cycling and camping. The city of Hildegard, the tenth century mystic, who produced volumes of music and writings, not mention her conviction to challenge the church of her day. The woman’s capacity and endurance humbled me, as I rode through the town center in search of comfortable accommodation’s.
In Frankfurt, I marveled during my stay with friends at two young mothers navigating contemporary life. One insisted we take a walk with her 10 week old red headed daughter to a nearby park in between appointments. Five miles later she headed off while I sat exhausted on a park bench. The other mother navigated traffic on a bicycle with two toddlers all while disciplining both her children as well as the drivers of vehicles around. Surely these women are modern day saints. Later at dinner as we discussed global politics, despite the concerns of these times, they expressed optimism that the world would indeed be better for their children. Saints in a world of shadows and light.
I’ve returned from a day in the old city of Strasbourg visiting places where German mystics Meister Eckhart and Johannes Tauler cultivated and taught an ancient-future version of Christianity. One rooted in a philosophy and mystery centered on the understanding that the presence of God within the soul of each individual. A radical idea in his day as it got Eckhart condemned as a heretic. Their writings would influence a variety of teachers from Martin Luther to Carl Jung to Mirabai Starr. (There is an essay to be written about Jung and Eckhart, but that will have to wait til the peddling trip concludes🤔)
Johannes Tauler is lesser known but might have been more influential. This is certainly the case in terms of Luther. As you may recall from an earlier essay, I highlighted the work Reformation scholar Volker Leppin has done in revisiting Luther. He maintains we’ve missed an opportunity in understanding Luther as a Mystic. Martin Luther read both Tauler and Eckhart. You can listen to that interview with Leppin here https://youtu.be/pzYCgOQ6BZY?si=USQ1QPQ-RkupKB8f.
Tauler was a student of Meister Eckhart, and some have claimed he is the more practical of the two. His sermons in the 1300s were intended to help people apply a more personal approach to their spirituality. He’s also a bit of a hero to those seeking a more universal approach of the Christian faith. “"All beings exist through the same birth as the Son, and therefore shall they all come again to their original, that is, God.” But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Again, more to come.
Still, these mystics of the Rhineland are and were very important influences on leaders of the Protestant reformation. Our problem today is our over emphasis on a rationalistic dualism left this tradition behind. It’s long overdue time to reclaim the mystics, saints and sinners that they were and are. That’s what this bicycle trip is all about.
My walk around Strasbourg today led me to the site where Meister Eckhart gave his numerous sermons. The original building was destroyed in the 1800s and today is the site of Le Temple du Neuf, which is a Protestant church dedicated to a ministry of education, music, and ecological spirituality. Inside I discovered both a beautiful sacred space along, a tribute to the late German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, an incised gravestone for Johannes Tauler and a choir concert scheduled for the evening. Indeed a sacred place reclaiming some of the mystery for a contemporary world.
A few photos from the journey up the Rhine River. I’ll be heading to Paris next joining friends for a ride through Tours and the Loire Valley
Still in One Peace,
Jim
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