SUBVERSIVE!non-violent
impassioned
yes, that's the rub. . .
Friday, June 20, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Can You Feel It?
They say change is coming.
I think they're correct.
But what can humanity accomplish that is truly new?
Can we make something authentically original?
The Spirit is doing-saying-making something(or all things) NEW.
"In the last days
the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and peoples will stream to it.
Many nations will come and say,
'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.'
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Every man will sit under his own vine
and under his own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the LORD Almighty has spoken."
-Micah 4:1-4
I think they're correct.
But what can humanity accomplish that is truly new?
Can we make something authentically original?
"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
'Look! This is something new'?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow."
-Ecclesiastes 1.9-11
The Spirit creates ex-nihilo.
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
'Look! This is something new'?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow."
-Ecclesiastes 1.9-11
The Spirit creates ex-nihilo.
The Spirit is doing-saying-making something(or all things) NEW.
"In the last days
the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and peoples will stream to it.
Many nations will come and say,
'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.'
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Every man will sit under his own vine
and under his own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the LORD Almighty has spoken."
-Micah 4:1-4
Thursday, June 12, 2008
A Grief Neglected
"What is mourning, and how do we mourn? Is mourning the reverse side of love, and is its pain the mirror-writing of Love's delight? The greater the love, the deeper the grief; the more unreserved the surrender, the more inconsolable the loss. Those who have given themselves utterly in love for someone else die themselves in the pains of grief, and are born again so that life can be given to them afresh, and so that they can again find the will to live."
-Jurgen Moltmann
I am struck by the phenomenon of human grief. When we lose somebody dear to us, and the mourning process commences in us, it seems as if life has halted for a time: consistent deep sadness, loss of interest in the world around us, insurmountable depression, inhibition of activity, etc. The fact that this is a natural occurrence is in remarkable contrast to the usual resilience of the human species. Behaviors emerge in us that would be cause for clinical diagnosis were they not solely present during a period of mourning. This is generally accepted; and in a strange but hardly morbid way, it is rather beautiful.
What is grotesquely morbid, however, is our modern era's narcissistic suppression of the mourning process. Sure, individuals are often left alone to their emotional grief when they desire to be without company, but consolation and solidarity as practiced by a caring community is snubbed as antiquated or out-dated. Sadly, many are also fearful of the mourning environment. . . that somehow they might contract the negative feelings in that atmosphere like one would a bacterial infection. But that is precisely the purpose of such involvement, to adopt the feelings of the grieved individual or groups and aid in the healing that must occur.
I commend those in the Christian Church who still feel that it is the Body of Christ's responsibility to be the healing balm for the wounded spirit in their community. We are the parakletos, commissioned by the Spirit to participate in the divine solidarity with those who suffer and mourn. They need us and count on us to be the sacred agents of life and love and empathy. How dare we abandon them?
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
Monday, June 9, 2008
A New Game or As It Has Always Been
Fast on thy feet and quick as the meadow's hare,
Where dost the sinewy calf take thee?
For indeed with the strength of will and complexion in thine Estate,
What will keep thee from conquering the greater Dominion of Man?
Oh, but far be it from thee to take All with a sweeping gesture,
Or to harbor Them under thy wing as a hen,
It be far simpler still to pluck Him one by one,
And leave Adam's Seed dazed and stripped of all he was confident;
Alas, wilt none of Man tame the tempest that is thine essence,
Without murdering the spirit's luster and leaving only shell intact?
Behold, even now It does approach with haste!
Run! Quickly!
Thou hast escaped with fervor that which you have hunted,
Indeed the Predator has become the Prey,
But what is this?
A new Game for thy fancy?
A new day to frolic about the meadow of love.
Where dost the sinewy calf take thee?
For indeed with the strength of will and complexion in thine Estate,
What will keep thee from conquering the greater Dominion of Man?
Oh, but far be it from thee to take All with a sweeping gesture,
Or to harbor Them under thy wing as a hen,
It be far simpler still to pluck Him one by one,
And leave Adam's Seed dazed and stripped of all he was confident;
Alas, wilt none of Man tame the tempest that is thine essence,
Without murdering the spirit's luster and leaving only shell intact?
Behold, even now It does approach with haste!
Run! Quickly!
Thou hast escaped with fervor that which you have hunted,
Indeed the Predator has become the Prey,
But what is this?
A new Game for thy fancy?
A new day to frolic about the meadow of love.
Full Bellies
Recently, many of my friends have been voicing their disappointment in themselves for their lack of "desperation" and "hunger" for God. They say that they want to be "on fire" or "thirsty" for the Spirit, but that they can't muster the necessary effort or take the time to attain this state of desire. Their quagmire is a trifle mis-guided to me (although, I must admit, not unfamiliar). I submit that they (and myself) are not wanting or desirous because they are already satisfied spiritually. If we can agree that most everything that is temporal and physical is simultaneously spiritual, I can proceed to make my case. We spend most every moment of our waking hours attempting to appease those elements of existence that can never be quieted: basic physical and emotional needs. Guess what? We are splendidly successful! This process repeats itself until exhaustion forces us to our beds. That, brothers and sisters, is entirely natural. Our ancestral predecessors did it until their dying day and so shall we. Rest easy.
. . .wait. . .
There's something missing. A lingering, pestering thought in the back of our minds reminds us that somewhere, someone said that there was more to all of this. We, North Americans, probably think of the Bible. And yes! EVERY last one of its authors was absolutely convinced that the Spirit could be reached at a deeper level of consciousness. This was most often accomplished by practicing some sort of asceticism or devoting extraordinary attention to the over-used anthropomorphism, voice of God. They gave up their lives: social, marital, familial, etc. And their words mean so much to us for a reason, and not just that they might be from God. It's because in a profound, metaphorical sense, they were from a different world. Often we are reading the words of an un-liked, impoverished, persecuted, and ostracized man who was speaking to an equally un-liked and usually rebellious group of people. . .yes, I mean a Jewish prophet. Also, many of us have been moved by the words of early Christian writers, whose lives were characterized by mysticism or shaped by a monastic lifestyle. The same is true for them. They wrote from a different world. We gain from them, but. . .
Until we enter their world, we will be unable to attain their desire or their "hunger". I believe that most of us will be content to ride this mental roller-coaster for the rest of our lives, believing the lie fed to us from birth. . .from pulpits. . .from friends. . .that we can exist in our comfortable world and, at the same time, have as powerful a spiritual life as those men and women before us, of whom we read and have our inspiration.
Unfortunate.
Oddly enough, I have found a deep hunger from an unexpected source. It's not what you might think. Ask me about it and I'll share.
. . .wait. . .
There's something missing. A lingering, pestering thought in the back of our minds reminds us that somewhere, someone said that there was more to all of this. We, North Americans, probably think of the Bible. And yes! EVERY last one of its authors was absolutely convinced that the Spirit could be reached at a deeper level of consciousness. This was most often accomplished by practicing some sort of asceticism or devoting extraordinary attention to the over-used anthropomorphism, voice of God. They gave up their lives: social, marital, familial, etc. And their words mean so much to us for a reason, and not just that they might be from God. It's because in a profound, metaphorical sense, they were from a different world. Often we are reading the words of an un-liked, impoverished, persecuted, and ostracized man who was speaking to an equally un-liked and usually rebellious group of people. . .yes, I mean a Jewish prophet. Also, many of us have been moved by the words of early Christian writers, whose lives were characterized by mysticism or shaped by a monastic lifestyle. The same is true for them. They wrote from a different world. We gain from them, but. . .
Until we enter their world, we will be unable to attain their desire or their "hunger". I believe that most of us will be content to ride this mental roller-coaster for the rest of our lives, believing the lie fed to us from birth. . .from pulpits. . .from friends. . .that we can exist in our comfortable world and, at the same time, have as powerful a spiritual life as those men and women before us, of whom we read and have our inspiration.
Unfortunate.
Oddly enough, I have found a deep hunger from an unexpected source. It's not what you might think. Ask me about it and I'll share.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Love's Paradox
There is nothing between us, my Love, save for distance that shall be traversed in due course and time whose grey beard betrays his soon departure.
What delight awaits when we winged creatures of affection, caught up in the heated current of rapturous embrace, are reunited again in each other's everlasting arms?
Will we away ourselves on a draft of wind to a nest of love, or is it our fate to fly higher still to the sun's golden beams, only to fall just as swiftly and drown in Neptune's current?
I think nothing of it at all, for what does it matter: heighth or depth, home or vagabond?
I soar at the thought of you alone, I fall through this very earth to hades when you are absent;
I am lost without a dwelling place in the kingdom of your heart, and I am at home in your arms.
What delight awaits when we winged creatures of affection, caught up in the heated current of rapturous embrace, are reunited again in each other's everlasting arms?
Will we away ourselves on a draft of wind to a nest of love, or is it our fate to fly higher still to the sun's golden beams, only to fall just as swiftly and drown in Neptune's current?
I think nothing of it at all, for what does it matter: heighth or depth, home or vagabond?
I soar at the thought of you alone, I fall through this very earth to hades when you are absent;
I am lost without a dwelling place in the kingdom of your heart, and I am at home in your arms.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Cosmology
Ah, the Evangelical worldview. I have recently become rather intimately acquainted with this peculiar manner of thought in the most uncomfortable fashion. After posting a note on Facebook that was primarily concerned with how theological development has dramatically altered the New Testament's portrayal of the person of Jesus of Nazareth over many centuries, I expected some productive discourse on history and theology and the like. What I did not at all expect was a grotesque display of dogmatic yelling from what I will refer to as the "Bible-believing peanut gallery". On more than one occasion I was condemned to hell for my heresy and once witnessed the "casting pearls before swine" teaching used as an allegory. . .guess who the pig was?
Now, I would completely understand contemptuous anger if I had renounced my faith and called Christianity a hoax. But that was not what I accomplished in publishing that note. In fact, my note was a mere echo of a dialogue that has been going on for a very long time. Most scholars do not hold to the antiquated and indeed unnecessary doctrine of biblical inerrancy. . .however, that very idea (along with infallibility, an idea connoting some sort of supreme trustworthiness) is integral to the suvival of "Bible-believing" Evangelical Christians. For them, believing their interpretation of the Christian Bible (which is entirely ignorant of its historical context and makes every effort to incorporate those scriptures into its neat, comfortable paradigm) is the one and only manner of participation in salvation. They have what Marcus Borg calls a conscious literalism, in which they continually put a spin on their interpretation that will satisfy (it satisfies them. . .not the thinking person) the obvious historical and scientific problems with inerrancy.
So, certain people chose to ignore the more-or-less scholarly nature (I make no pretense of great knowledge. . .I call it scholarly because it appeals to the scholarly conscious) of my note and mounted a counter-attack to what they believed to be not only an attack on their faith, but on the Bible itslef!
This led me to several conclusions. Primarily, evangelical Christianity is exclusive toward other ideologies. This is of course the case with many religions, but what is unbearable for me is the hatred that accompanied many of the comments. Christianity is supposed to be a faith of love! Oh well, I imagine that I should have expected as much.
Something else I perceived was the complete and unabating ignorance of scholarship existing outside tired and re-affirmed orthodox Christian apologetics. These people thought that they were providing sound arguments, but their thoughts were confined to English translations of the biblical text. . .except for C.S. Lewis, this was all they quoted from. That, my friends, is circular logic. . .No! It's worse! It is using ancient biblical text (which was primarily concerned with metaphorical truth, not factual truth when composed so long ago) to support the validity of the factuality of that very same text! How incredibly provincial!
Also, there was such blatant hyprocrisy to be found. Concern for my spiritual well-being and this "dark path" that I have wandered onto was the focus of many comments. . .but there was no patience. . .no careful explanation to augment sincere worry. These "voices of concern" were alongside scathing denouncements and self-righteous pontification.
I cannot help but believe that the evangelical tradition is more dangerous than I have previously perceived it. What does that mean for me? I grew up in that mess. . .
Now, I would completely understand contemptuous anger if I had renounced my faith and called Christianity a hoax. But that was not what I accomplished in publishing that note. In fact, my note was a mere echo of a dialogue that has been going on for a very long time. Most scholars do not hold to the antiquated and indeed unnecessary doctrine of biblical inerrancy. . .however, that very idea (along with infallibility, an idea connoting some sort of supreme trustworthiness) is integral to the suvival of "Bible-believing" Evangelical Christians. For them, believing their interpretation of the Christian Bible (which is entirely ignorant of its historical context and makes every effort to incorporate those scriptures into its neat, comfortable paradigm) is the one and only manner of participation in salvation. They have what Marcus Borg calls a conscious literalism, in which they continually put a spin on their interpretation that will satisfy (it satisfies them. . .not the thinking person) the obvious historical and scientific problems with inerrancy.
So, certain people chose to ignore the more-or-less scholarly nature (I make no pretense of great knowledge. . .I call it scholarly because it appeals to the scholarly conscious) of my note and mounted a counter-attack to what they believed to be not only an attack on their faith, but on the Bible itslef!
This led me to several conclusions. Primarily, evangelical Christianity is exclusive toward other ideologies. This is of course the case with many religions, but what is unbearable for me is the hatred that accompanied many of the comments. Christianity is supposed to be a faith of love! Oh well, I imagine that I should have expected as much.
Something else I perceived was the complete and unabating ignorance of scholarship existing outside tired and re-affirmed orthodox Christian apologetics. These people thought that they were providing sound arguments, but their thoughts were confined to English translations of the biblical text. . .except for C.S. Lewis, this was all they quoted from. That, my friends, is circular logic. . .No! It's worse! It is using ancient biblical text (which was primarily concerned with metaphorical truth, not factual truth when composed so long ago) to support the validity of the factuality of that very same text! How incredibly provincial!
Also, there was such blatant hyprocrisy to be found. Concern for my spiritual well-being and this "dark path" that I have wandered onto was the focus of many comments. . .but there was no patience. . .no careful explanation to augment sincere worry. These "voices of concern" were alongside scathing denouncements and self-righteous pontification.
I cannot help but believe that the evangelical tradition is more dangerous than I have previously perceived it. What does that mean for me? I grew up in that mess. . .
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