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Jeremy Taylor, Bishop
(d. Aug 13, 1667) 

True Happiness: 
Living Lives with Meaning and Purpose

On Wednesday August 13th we celebrated the life and witness of Jeremy Taylor, who died on that day in 1667.

In the middle of the 17th century the Church of England suffered greatly from civil war and revolution.  Many of its people sought guides who could help them find spiritual order within their own lives. One of the most outstanding of these spiritual teachers was Jeremy Taylor.

Taylor had been a priest for nine years when the English Civil War broke out in 1642. He joined the Royalist side and served as chaplain to the forces that supported King Charles. Towards the end of the war, he was captured and imprisoned. On his release he found refuge in the home of the Earl of Carbery in Wales. Here he acted as a spiritual director for the Earl's family and wrote some of his best works.

In 1658 Taylor moved to Ireland and was preaching there when the monarchy and the church were restored two years later. As a reward for his loyalty, he was made bishop of two dioceses in northern Ireland, Down and Connor. Taylor had a very hard time because many of the clergy held presbyterian views and refused to acknowledge the authority of any bishop. These conflicts wore down his health and he died after a short illness.

Almost all of Taylor's writings were designed to help people develop, and keep, a rule of spiritual practice. He understood how hard such a task can be, yet he did not seek to make it seem easier than it is.

He taught that Christians must choose the way of Christ in all their actions and that holiness involved training in the deeper and more difficult rule of love — love for God in prayer, and love for other humans in the works of everyday life. In the end, Taylor's strictness as a spiritual teacher had a purpose of joy — such joy as can be tasted only by those who accept its cost and practice its duties.

The Gospel for this day (Matthew 5.17-20) comes from the beginning of Jesus' 'Sermon on the Mount'.

Jesus has been teaching the crowds on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and retreats up a mountain where he explains what is expected of them. By having Jesus ascend a mountain, the author of Matthew clearly intends us to see him as the new Moses. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with the assertion that he has come not to abolish the law but to fulfill the law — perhaps to reassure the disciples that the Pharisees’ charges that he is ‘a lawbreaker’ are not true. It soon becomes clear, however, that Jesus has a very different understanding of the law than the Pharisees.

It is not enough, Jesus insists, simply to follow the letter of the law—any fool can do that. To be his disciple, Jesus insists that you must go farther and deeper—you must embody the spirit of the law in all that you say and do. Only then will you inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Although there is certainly an eschatological hope in the phrase 'kingdom of heaven,' Jesus' instructions to his disciples primarily concern this life in this world. Disciples of Jesus are to be kingdom builders here and now. Jesus does not sugar coat what being a disciple entails—it is hard and demanding work that will bring its share of suffering and sacrifice. But the reward is great—to be counted among the blessed.

Blessed means to be happy—to live a life that has true meaning and purpose. Jeremy Taylor recognized what is required to be a disciple of our Lord. He dedicated his life to encouraging church members to develop, and follow, a ‘rule of life’ that allowed them to go farther and deeper so that they might live lives with meaning and purpose and find true happiness.

 

Norman+