Thursday, June 22, 2006
Consultants for the Lord
they do fund-raising and call it
stewardship
movers and shakers, change agents
visionaries cast their dreams
before the unenlightened
kingdom builders glossy
packaging for the Lord amen
these are those who are in the know
self-congratulatory smiles and nods
of approval, knowing looks
exciting ideas to offer the
lesser duller ones
the backward facing, the uninspired
plans and techniques to get it done
incorrigible advice givers
build the kingdom
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Book Titles Suggested by Other Books (or something)
That book would be titled: Your God Is Too Violent
This book would look at some of the many "pieties" that lead astray. . . not to mention our politics and the politics of any of the extremes out there.
On a day when military success is lauded, we might well wonder at what is accomplished through violence, and what role God might play in it all. . .
What other book titles come to mind in the face of our daily news?
Monday, June 05, 2006
Deadly Virtues
What might some of these deadly virtues be?
Earnestness
Some of us have had conversations about this. We see this manifested in those who take themselves too seriously. They have come to believe that it really does depend on them. But such piety can be a drag for those around.
Perfectionism
The parent who expects no less than perfection, who constantly tucks in the shirt of a 3 yr old, for example, will create a high achiever who knows how to act happy, but isn't. Perfectionism may be the most readily understood deadly virtue.
Religiosity
To be religious seems good. Yet the prophets often rail against religion and it was the religious ones who decided to get Jesus crucified. Religion is a human enterprise, structures built to force and reinforce faith. Faith itself is another matter. I don't mean this as a defence for people who don't go to church or are "spiritual, not religious," although religion is never ultimate and is often more part of the problem than the solution.
Optimism
When we must compulsively 'look on the bright side' we teach ourselves to live in denial of reality. We refuse to face what is actually happening. This is not to be confused with hope - which can embrace the negative and utter a "nevertheless."
Righteousness
This is perhaps the hardest one to understand. What could be better than this? But Luther speaks of an alien righteousness - a righteousness we never manufacture ourselves or even feel, at least as much as we feel our sinfulness or unrighteousness. Righteousness as a virtue is self-righteousness. "The presumption of righteousness is the dregs of all the evils and the sin of all the sins of the world. For all other sins and vices can be corrected, or at least prohibited by the punishment of the magistrate. But this sin, each man's personal presumption of his own righteousness, peddles itself as the height of religion and sanctity, because it is impossible for the nonspiritual man to judge rightly about this issue. Therefore this disease is the highest and greatest empire of the devil in the whole universe, truly the head of the serpent and the snare by which the devil captures all men and holds them captive." (LW 26, p307, this is Luthers 1535 Commentary on the Galatians)
So, I'm sure there must be more of these deadly virtues. What might some more of them be?
In honor of wedding season
Loving the wrong person
by Brother Void
Let our scars fall in love.
--Galway KinnellWe're all seeking that special person who is right for us. But if you've been through enough relationships, you begin to suspect there's no right person, just different flavors of wrong. Why is this? Because you yourself are wrong in some way, and you seek out partners who are wrong in some complementary way. But it takes a lot of living to grow fully into your own wrongness. And it isn't until you finally run up against your deepest demons, your unsolvable problems--the ones that make you truly who you are--that we're ready to find a lifelong mate. Only then do you finally know what you're looking for. You're looking for the wrong person. But not just any wrong person: the right wrong person--someone you lovingly gaze upon and think, "This is the problem I want to have."
I will find that special person who is wrong for me in just the right way.