Real relationships offer us dynamic possibilities to
take part in a productive spiral towards mutuality—the narrative drama of a
shared space to be and be with the other. Being enmeshed in the beauty of
mutuality does not undermine individual freedom, but enhances it. For where
responsible trust increases and unreliable suspicion diminishes within the
theater of a redemptive life, we discover that a poetics of loving and being
loved is a marvel. Sameness and separation, which both happen in a perpetual
moment of embrace and release are located in, yet transcend words and actions,
as we draw ever closer to who we were meant to be.
As crucial as it is to endeavor to read the early Genesis stories through ancient eyes, it is all the more essential to consider current scientific informers when it comes to drawing theological conclusions about these texts today. Attempts to do theology without science are like trying to fly a kite without wind.
Disease,
suffering, and death are awful, though I’d wager they’re not awful because ‘it
should not be this way,’ but rather because of the terrible personal, familial,
and relational consequences that are unleashed in such circumstances. As far as
I can tell the actual world has never been any different. That is, there was no
golden age; an illusory perfection or a paradise way back when, which means
there’s no ultimate standard to compare with this actual world. Thus, a better
direction than turning to the past, or at least so it seems, is to envision an
imaginary future possible world through which God will generate a thorough
going transformation of the actual world, so it won’t any longer be as it always
has been.
The powerful and enticing character of death sometimes sweeps over me like pelting sheets of freezing rain. In this fast paced narrative of destruction I find myself out on the edge of time, relentlessly attempting to avoid the closure of the legendary gates of the garden, but to no avail. The direction now, however, is not to be found in an elusive past, but is rather to be connected to a future imagined life in the illumined city; and God will be there, somewhere.
Pain and tragedy may beset us and it is helpful, though not always satisfactory, to know that we’re in the good company of many others, including the biblical characters Sarah, Job, Jeremiah, Mary, and Jesus. Their plight and its expression may offer us a direction. That is, we too may clamor for forms of speech that will give voice to our cry in the wilderness, as we long to be heard, responded to, released, and redeemed.
Imagination is an
essential of life and a pathway to the discovery of truth. Reason, sense
observation, feeling, and our experience all suffer severe
impoverishment without the recognition that imagination is the lynch pin
that holds them together in a related, yet distinct manner. To be sure,
God is a possibility that becomes much more of an accessible reality in
and through imagination.
The
brilliant film by director Hirokazu Kore-eda is much better titled – Une
Affaire de Famille, than Shoplifters. It’s a remarkable movie, in spite of this
misleading English designation.
If
you’re interested in the Jesus story recounted in Mark’s gospel, this little narrative
commentary on the topic is almost free at less than $1.00 in pb.
Reading the Gospel of
Mark is a fascinating adventure, with the destiny of humanity hanging in the
balance. Where’s it all going? To read and hear this story is to enter a possible world; a world of subversive
reversals of perspective, intrigue, mystery, and strange riddles, with Jesus as
its central protagonist. Since the world of self-serving power, fame, and control
is decaying, only the embrace of a possible
world and all it offers, according to Mark, will lead to life after death.
When the fog rolls in it’s harder to recognize the
contours of the landscape around us.
Waving our arms to clear the air doesn’t
have much effect, except to get a little upper body exercise. Fogged in, is a
way of saying that we have to wait for clearing before being able to resume our
normal activities.
Sometimes this inability to see very far can go on for days,
weeks, or even months. There is comfort, however, in knowing that we are not
alone in the fog and that it will gradually be swept away, eventually replaced
by a pristine clarity never before imagined or experienced.
