Category Archives: kindling

musings, often sparked by other’s words and works

Revelatory Emotions

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editing documentI must admit that I was a bit taken aback with a phrase in my last post and its implications that I might find God annoying. At such times, I am torn between honesty and the threat of heresy. Somehow, I think that God prefers honesty. In any case … in all cases … I must rest upon that very grace that sometimes seems annoying. Continue reading →

Beyond Definition

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picture of Rabbi

“God is beyond our capacity to define because to define is to limit. God cannot be controlled, and therefore God cannot be defined…” – Rabbi Samuel Karff

As one who feels compelled to think things through, this presents a quandary. I want to understand, to grasp in my mind, to anchor my thoughts with carefully chosen words. Yet those very words which are the tools for understanding betray my intent because they are chosen – carefully – to mean a certain thing. They are always too small. Continue reading →

Time Away

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ocotillo I have been spending this week amid the rough and spiny beauty of Big Bend. Watching the sun rush into the morning sky from behind the ridge, listening to the birds as they wake the breeze. Seeing the thorny limbs of the ocotillo silhouetted against a streak of sunlit cloud.

This is wild and lonely country, with a hardened grace that is recorded in the adobe history of common striving. None could make it here, alone. Continue reading →

The Power of Questions

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2 rabbi osdobaMoishe the Beadle, in introducing the young Elie Wiesel to the ways of mystery, insisted that, ‘every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer.’

How so?

If I follow his lead … I don’t answer this question. I let it work its power in my heart.

(Not easy, is it?)

 

[Wiesel, E. (1958). Night. (2006 translation by M. Wiesel) New York: Hill & Wang. p. 5]   [photo adapted from ‘Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba‘ by Joe Goldberg per cc 2.0]

My Problem(s) with Lent

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coins William Sloan Coffin offers a reflection on the story in the second chapter of Mark about the man with paralysis, whose friends lowered him through the roof to get to Jesus.  Coffin focuses on the courage required to accept the gift and the challenge of healing.

“With no difficulty, I can picture myself lying on the pallet, the center of the crowd’s attention. I can image myself enjoying the ability to use my distress to manipulate my friends. I can certainly imagine the comfort I would draw from the words, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven.’ But when, following the indicative of forgiveness, I heard the imperative of responsibility – ‘Rise, take up your pallet and walk’ – I think I my inclination would have been to murmur, ‘No thanks, I think I’ll just stay here on the stretcher.’ (p.12-13)”

“… if it’s hell to be guilty, it’s certainly scarier to be responsible – response-able – able to respond to God’s visionary, creative love. (p.13)”

Continue reading →

Characteristics of Emergence Christianity

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tickle picThis set of characteristics is drawn from a trio of works by Phyllis Tickle:

  1. The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why
  2. Emergence Christianity: What it is, Where it is Going and Why it Matters 
  3. Embracing Emergence Christianity 

Major Characteristics of ‘Emergence Christianity’  

  • It is deeply incarnational. It calls for embodiment – in worship and in many other ways.
  • It approaches scripture from an ‘actualist’ rather than a literalist frame. Scripture opens a window to what is real – there is a truth beyond facts. It is dependable, foundational, demanding … but we must look to the Word beyond the words.
  • It leads to radical obedience – which is part of the incarnational expectation; partly reflective of our dual citizenship
  • It has a different understanding of the Trinity – more like a dance, more inclusive of the Holy Spirit
  • It is de-institutionalized – it is not fond of hierarchy and wants no bishop
    • Smaller gatherings turn to bi-vocational leaders in conversational exchange
    • It will require that we redefine the diaconate, and will have a real impact on seminaries
    • It is expressed in both the resistance to property and to ecclesiastical structures
  • There is an embrace of the transitory. No group is permanent – scattering spreads the seeds. Jesus was itinerate for a reason.
  • There is a distinction made between the Christian and the secular mode of ‘good works.’
    • Tickle uses the term ‘inhumane kindness’ to describe works of ‘charity’ that maintain a difference between the ‘helper’ and the ‘helpee.’ There is good reason to help – socially and economically – but a Christian approaches it in a relational frame – springing from our commonness and leading to greater community.
    • Sustainability is not just about preserving the world for our grandchildren, but the Christian reverence for and celebration of God’s creation – honoring the sacredness of that reality
  • There is a commitment in the context of community
    • Expressed in neo-monasticism – with variations of common table / common purse / common rule of life
    • House churches and other gatherings (10% of current Christian community)
  • There is a difference sense of what it is to be missional. It occurs all day every day, in common life. It is not a program, which would imply something separate.

Across this set of characteristics are themes of wholeness, commitment, community, balance, mystery and grace. It is an expression of Christianity that provides for some a new way to take their faith seriously, even in the context of questions.

[photo of Phyllis Tickle from Wittenburgdoor.com]