Chapter 91 of Emerson: the Mind on Fire is titled Memory. Here's some advice I could've used for much of the past 50 years. Ralph Waldo told his daughter
"You must finish a term and finish every day, and be done with it. For manners, and for wise living, it is a vice to remember."
and this
"This day for all that is good and fair. It is too dear with its hopes and invitations to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays."
And the biographer, Richardson explains:
"He meant that one should not pick at the scabs of one's little mistakes, rudenesses, oversights, and failures."
I'm guilty of dwelling too much in the past and ruminating at length over past failures. My thanks to Emerson and Richardson for such a fine sermon aimed most appropriately at me.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
"a legitimate way of expressing authentic Christian faith"
A January 28 post at the Church and Postmodern Culture blog is titled
Pubs, Clubs, and Alternative Worship II: Follow-up Reflections
and it discusses the alternate worship/emergent church movement in the UK. I find it interesting and even exciting.
Pubs, Clubs, and Alternative Worship II: Follow-up Reflections
and it discusses the alternate worship/emergent church movement in the UK. I find it interesting and even exciting.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Chapter 3 of What Would Jesus Deconstruct
I am enjoying the discussion of Caputo's book taking place at the Church and Postmodern Culture blog. The latest post is beautifully put , instructive and something I can to some extent understand.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sermonette over the Lord's Supper - Mealtime Habits of the Messiah
Yesterday I presided over the Lord's Supper at church. It is our custom that a church member gives a short talk before the emblems are passed out. Then he expresses the blessings. My thoughts were spurred by Conrad Gempf's book of this title, Amazon Link Here. My thoughts were also inspired by a series of posts that Wade Hodges did on his blog on the Theology of Food. Here is approximately what I said, as I remember it. It is in the conversational mode. Outline headings are added.
___________________________________________
I. Introduction
I came across a book not long ago. The title of it had a concise way of expressing a crucial aspect of Jesus' ministry. The title teaches as well as it describes. The title is "Mealtime Habits of the Messiah". Nice Review Here
II. Eating with People Was His Agenda
Consider how so much action in the gospels revolves around eating and meals, (planned and unplanned), feasts, weddings, and parables about all of them. Jesus was always eating with people. It must have been a considered part of his agenda all along. It was his custom to be with people when eating to teach them and to show them who he was. That is definitely a mealtime habit of his.
III. He Prepared Some Meals
Sometimes he was content to be served and sometimes he even asked himself over for dinner as when he invited himself to Zacchaeus' house. But there were some occasions when he was involved in the preparations. Early in the book of John he was at a wedding in Cana, a few miles north of his home town. We all know he assisted with the beverage service, and made a big splash. Then there was the feeding of the multitudes. And, at the very end of John he fries some fish for his friends. A most enchanting scene for me. He is saying that as I give you physical food which you cannot live without, I am spiritual food that you cannot live without.
IV. He Got into Trouble for How He Ate
Another habit is that he was always getting into trouble for how he ate. Some have said that he was killed for how he ate. I don't know if that is true but it might be beneficial to study the question.
His enemies accused him of eating too much and drinking too much. I do recall that he, on some occasions, did turn down something to eat. Satan had a serving suggestion once for him and he passed up that chance to eat.
He ate with people who were sinners. They were people who were sinning. Jesus, don't you know who those people are?
V. Why Are Meals So Important
When we get together to eat, we are happy, we are alert.
We are vulnerable to learning.
We expect to begin talking about trivial things like the weather and sporting events. Then we move on to practical things like where do get a good deal on this or that; or how we can solve some of the everyday problems that occur in our complicated world. Then we talk about the important things and relationships.
When we eat together we form an identity. We formulate common goals and aspirations. We act on them. The surrounding community is affected. And others are drawn in.
VI. Conclusion
And so it was entirely fitting that in his final meal with his friends, one of many memorable meals, Jesus would ask his friends to remember him when they ate. As later events showed, the good news, the Kingdom of Heaven, was not to be spread by the sword. "Peter put up you Sword!"
No, it is as if Jesus was saying "The Kingdom - Eternal Life - The Good News will not be advanced by the sword but by the way my people eat".
And that is what we are about to do now.
___________________________________________
I. Introduction
I came across a book not long ago. The title of it had a concise way of expressing a crucial aspect of Jesus' ministry. The title teaches as well as it describes. The title is "Mealtime Habits of the Messiah". Nice Review Here
II. Eating with People Was His Agenda
Consider how so much action in the gospels revolves around eating and meals, (planned and unplanned), feasts, weddings, and parables about all of them. Jesus was always eating with people. It must have been a considered part of his agenda all along. It was his custom to be with people when eating to teach them and to show them who he was. That is definitely a mealtime habit of his.
III. He Prepared Some Meals
Sometimes he was content to be served and sometimes he even asked himself over for dinner as when he invited himself to Zacchaeus' house. But there were some occasions when he was involved in the preparations. Early in the book of John he was at a wedding in Cana, a few miles north of his home town. We all know he assisted with the beverage service, and made a big splash. Then there was the feeding of the multitudes. And, at the very end of John he fries some fish for his friends. A most enchanting scene for me. He is saying that as I give you physical food which you cannot live without, I am spiritual food that you cannot live without.
IV. He Got into Trouble for How He Ate
Another habit is that he was always getting into trouble for how he ate. Some have said that he was killed for how he ate. I don't know if that is true but it might be beneficial to study the question.
His enemies accused him of eating too much and drinking too much. I do recall that he, on some occasions, did turn down something to eat. Satan had a serving suggestion once for him and he passed up that chance to eat.
He ate with people who were sinners. They were people who were sinning. Jesus, don't you know who those people are?
V. Why Are Meals So Important
When we get together to eat, we are happy, we are alert.
We are vulnerable to learning.
We expect to begin talking about trivial things like the weather and sporting events. Then we move on to practical things like where do get a good deal on this or that; or how we can solve some of the everyday problems that occur in our complicated world. Then we talk about the important things and relationships.
When we eat together we form an identity. We formulate common goals and aspirations. We act on them. The surrounding community is affected. And others are drawn in.
VI. Conclusion
And so it was entirely fitting that in his final meal with his friends, one of many memorable meals, Jesus would ask his friends to remember him when they ate. As later events showed, the good news, the Kingdom of Heaven, was not to be spread by the sword. "Peter put up you Sword!"
No, it is as if Jesus was saying "The Kingdom - Eternal Life - The Good News will not be advanced by the sword but by the way my people eat".
And that is what we are about to do now.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The Sufis
Came across this last night in the biography about Emerson (by R. D. Richardson, Jr). The author is describing on page 406 Emerson's reading of W. F. Thompson's account of Sufism where Thompson calls Sufism "practical pantheism of Asia... holding all visible and conceivable objects to be portions of the divine nature, it was impossible that they should admit the imperfection observable in them to have any real existence."
I suppose they would hold that Satan is not real and is merely the personification of lack of knowledge, mistakes, ignorance, accidents, and good intentions gone wrong, etc. That's another alternative.
They may have a different take on the problem of evil that expresses itself by dualistic and monotheistic conceptions of God. See Richard Beck's discussion and post titled "
I suppose they would hold that Satan is not real and is merely the personification of lack of knowledge, mistakes, ignorance, accidents, and good intentions gone wrong, etc. That's another alternative.
They may have a different take on the problem of evil that expresses itself by dualistic and monotheistic conceptions of God. See Richard Beck's discussion and post titled "
The Emotional Burden of Monotheism: Does Satan help us feel better about God?".
I've been fascinated with the Sufis for some time. Perhaps I should actually study them. But, I want to finish up some stuff on John Caputo and the Postmoderns first.Friday, January 11, 2008
Transfigured Night - Sublime music from Schoenberg
I was listless the other night. Tired of watching ball games. Tired of politics.
There was nothing on as I surfed my usual TV haunts. Have all kinds of great reading material here at home but my eyes were strained from reading and editing reports all day long. Then, I clicked over to PBS to see what was on. Perfect timing. I came upon a special presentation "I Can't Believe that's Shoenberg". The orchestral version is in my collection of CD's but I never had heard the string version.
Sublime. Perfect. Tranquility. Wonderful story.
"His generosity was as sublime as his love"
I was tranfixed for the entire 15 minutes. A rare time when I am not multitasking on the computer, reading, watching TV. This was watching TV but different. No words. Just sit, listen, watch bows move across strings and faces express.
I am tranformed.
The Live at Lincoln sextet that played that night is not on the internet as far as I can tell. But, here's a you tube link to part one of Shoenberg's Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) by a youth group. It is slow and sad. Here's a link to part 4 which is slow and calm but much sweeter.
Wikipedia has the story that the music portrays of a man and woman walking along. She is in sorrow...
There was nothing on as I surfed my usual TV haunts. Have all kinds of great reading material here at home but my eyes were strained from reading and editing reports all day long. Then, I clicked over to PBS to see what was on. Perfect timing. I came upon a special presentation "I Can't Believe that's Shoenberg". The orchestral version is in my collection of CD's but I never had heard the string version.
Sublime. Perfect. Tranquility. Wonderful story.
"His generosity was as sublime as his love"
I was tranfixed for the entire 15 minutes. A rare time when I am not multitasking on the computer, reading, watching TV. This was watching TV but different. No words. Just sit, listen, watch bows move across strings and faces express.
I am tranformed.
The Live at Lincoln sextet that played that night is not on the internet as far as I can tell. But, here's a you tube link to part one of Shoenberg's Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) by a youth group. It is slow and sad. Here's a link to part 4 which is slow and calm but much sweeter.
Wikipedia has the story that the music portrays of a man and woman walking along. She is in sorrow...
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
What Would Jesus Do Now?
Click here for a review of the first chapter of What Would Jesus Deconstruct by John Caputo. The closing remarks below:
Rings true to me.
This is the sharp, leading edge of Caputo’s position: Jesus as compassionate arch-heretic.
What would Jesus do?
He would do the immeasurable, speak the unmentionable, love the unpardonable, and demand the impossible.
What would Jesus do?
He would believe (and enact!) the salvifically ridiculous.
Rings true to me.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Rachel Allison Part 2 (my niece)
Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week (Jan 7 news)
Rachel Allison, Baylor, P, 6-1, Jr,
Sunday, January 06, 2008
My Niece - Rachel Allison
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