30 Days Later
When I began this exercise in Lent, I was clear about what I would not do here. I would not:
1. Blather on about the present issues in the Episcopal Church/Anglican Communion. There are enough people doing that already.
2. Attempt to "manage" Trinity Church through oblique and not-so-oblique references to parish life.
3. Confuse politics with partisanship.
I wasn't so clear about exactly what I would do in this project. Recently, most of my mental energy has been occupied with the above items on my self-imposed "prohibited list", so I figured keeping my opinions to myself was the best option.
I'm not sure how the remainder of 2008 will unfold. Less than 100 days left of it. Between now and December 31, there will be the election of the next U.S. president, the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq will continue and Congress will take up the question of how to best respond to the financial difficulties of Wall Street and Main Street.
Perhaps what I can do from this little corner of the blogosphere is reflect on my firm conviction that the Gospel is the power of God for wholeness and healing. The Gospel is not something we read out of a gilded book on a Sunday morning, but it is the way in which we Christians interact with the world around us. The light of the Gospel cannot be hid under a basket (even if that "basket" is disguised as a brick building with beautiful stained glass). The Gospel escapes the boundaries we attempt to put around it all the time. The Gospel will not be tamed. The Gospel will not be managed.
The Gospel is loose in the world -- and while that could be comforting for some, no doubt this reality scares the hell out of others. Good.
When I began this exercise in Lent, I was clear about what I would not do here. I would not:
1. Blather on about the present issues in the Episcopal Church/Anglican Communion. There are enough people doing that already.
2. Attempt to "manage" Trinity Church through oblique and not-so-oblique references to parish life.
3. Confuse politics with partisanship.
I wasn't so clear about exactly what I would do in this project. Recently, most of my mental energy has been occupied with the above items on my self-imposed "prohibited list", so I figured keeping my opinions to myself was the best option.
I'm not sure how the remainder of 2008 will unfold. Less than 100 days left of it. Between now and December 31, there will be the election of the next U.S. president, the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq will continue and Congress will take up the question of how to best respond to the financial difficulties of Wall Street and Main Street.
Perhaps what I can do from this little corner of the blogosphere is reflect on my firm conviction that the Gospel is the power of God for wholeness and healing. The Gospel is not something we read out of a gilded book on a Sunday morning, but it is the way in which we Christians interact with the world around us. The light of the Gospel cannot be hid under a basket (even if that "basket" is disguised as a brick building with beautiful stained glass). The Gospel escapes the boundaries we attempt to put around it all the time. The Gospel will not be tamed. The Gospel will not be managed.
The Gospel is loose in the world -- and while that could be comforting for some, no doubt this reality scares the hell out of others. Good.
posted by FrGaryB | 6:23 AM
5 Comments:
Amen and Amen. Excellent posting. I have really missed your blog entries, buddy. I was very specific about my prohibited list as well. Nothing too personal, nothing controversial. No downers. The question still remains with me--how does one talk about spiritual things without being deeply, deeply personal to the spiritually astute reader? Well, I don't know.
Oooh...this is good. I like that imagery in your closing paragraphs.
Betcha didn't know I've been waiting for your next post! (smile.) What a nice surprise in my rss reader.
Hey, you just reflect away. Give us a good scare in the best possible meaning of the word. I'll be looking forward to it. (Tameness and manageability are seriously overrated anyway.)
The world continually pulls at our humanity, urging our need to control things, especially things that we have not the ability to control.
$700 billion, should we have an economic bailout or should we not? One part of me has a definite answer and could even probably argue its merits. What I have realized is I really have no real idea, heck I don't even know what $700 billion is! My worries over this do nothing positive, they give no control or for that matter make no difference at all since what will happen, will happen with or without my permission.
Where my control does lie and where it can make a real difference is in how I decide to think, and then act. All we physically have and touch is temporary. Our faith in Jesus is everlasting and through him these day to day storms are quelled as are our internal fears and struggles if we are, and this is the real challenge, able to hand over our control to Him and follow his lead.
So let’s continue to pray and give thanks to the One who gives us our firm and consistent foundation. And remember to be unhindered, the peace given to us is meant to be shared.
Oh yea, good to hear from you. I too have missed your postings.
Have missed you - so glad you're back. Isn't the problem one more of reception than transmission? We've been saying approximately the same thing for years upon years, but are people able to hear it? And, if not, whose fault is that?
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