Interiors & Exteriors – Speaking for myself, I spend more than half the time in my imagination, while somehow managing in the other less than half to find my way around within the empirical world. And, of course, I’m often doing both at the same time. I can easily pass an hour internally, without any deliberate focus on the external, though I don’t usually fall off my bike when riding up the road, or I strenuously focus externally on a narrowly dangerous mountain path that leaves little room for internal processing, yet it is still in play. Remarkable. There is indeed a mysterious and dynamic relation and distinction here between self and self, self and other, self and world, and self and God. On this register, being a human being can be a pretty wild adventure.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Thursday Thoughts - November 29
A traditional account of certainty always promises that there’s one truth, one correct view, one accurate interpretation - and our job is to find ‘it.’ This illusory picture has been unhelpful, even destructive and many have paid a steep price for chasing after the wind. In today’s world, it is far more important to recognize the value of diversity, where embracing multiple perspectives on a given topic is likely to be far closer to ‘what is,’ than any assumption of certainty.
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Living Spiritual Rhythms - November 28
Mark’s gospel is full of role reversals. Those who
think they see and hear are blind and deaf and those who are blind and deaf see
and hear. A life of following Jesus is not about possessing people and things
but about dispossession; being willing to let go, take risks, be courageous,
and not to fear. To be great you have to be least and the first will be last
and the last first. Those who want to save their lives will have to lose them
for the sake of Jesus and the gospel. And in perhaps one of the most striking
reversals of all it is the demons and unclean spirits who know who Jesus is,
while the disciples don’t > go figure.
https://www.amazon.com/Living-Marks-Story-Gregory-Laughery/dp/1938367359/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543414994&sr=8-1&keywords=laughery
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Direct Democracy
We vote on almost everything in La Suisse, including whether or not cows should have horns!
Monday, November 26, 2018
Reflection for the Week - November 26
Encountering the infinite mystery of another human being is a sacramental invitation and a sacred adventure towards convergence. This coming alongside or together phenomenon will take place at different levels of familiarity; it is never nothing or everything. That is, to be unaffected by or irredeemably lost in another is an expression of inappropriate selfhood. Unadulterated oneness is not desirable. We are always to be intensely touched by our engagements with the other, while remaining ourselves.
A Valuable Book
This
multi-authored volume is a gold mine. Creativity and curiosity mark these
essays, as each author grapples with the meaning of Paul’s notion of “in
Christ.” For the Apostle to the Gentiles, Christ is the center of gravity in
time and space, and the major character in the play of salvation; past,
present, and future. But what is Paul referring to by the mysterious phrase,
“in Christ?” Several options present themselves including: self-perception, legal
status, ontological condition, or perhaps, mystical encounter. The theme of
this book is to investigate and explore the rich possibilities associated with
the Pauline gesture, and as readers we come away with a better explanation and
understanding of this provocative and enigmatic terminology.
https://www.amazon.com/Christ-Paul-Participation-Wissenschaftliche-Untersuchungen-ebook/dp/B01M1GWEXP/
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Thursday Thoughts - November 22
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Living Spiritual Rhythms - November 21
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Excellent Book!
This outstanding book, while now ten years old, is intriguingly up to date on one of the central philosophical and theological issues of our times. Questions concerning the presence and absence of God are still hotly debated today and this volume from a Claremont Conference delves into this controversy with rigor and insight.
https://www.amazon.com/Presence-Absence-God-Philosophy-Conference/dp/3161502051/
Monday, November 19, 2018
Reflection for the Week - November 19
Theology often tries to define ‘human nature’ in relation to God – humans are images of God. Science often attempts to define ‘human nature’ without God, say through biology, anthropology, and genetics. Both these endeavors, without the other, are woefully reductionistic and thus unhelpful. Integrated critical interaction between them is crucial for going forward. But, alas, even when we move in the direction of embracing a transdisciplinary perspective, which is better by far, we’re left with a fair amount of uncertainty about human nature and thus need to be open to a panoply of possibilities, as we build off what is provisionally known and venture further into the niche of the unknown.
