Christ Plays in Creation, part one
Let me know if the pacing is right. We need to balance moving through the book in an unhurried way with giving everyone a chance to keep up with the reading, weigh in, etc. My cue to create a new post is when the comments on the prior post seem to tail off.
Also keep in mind that what makes this blog work is us, our comments, cross-questioning of the reading and one another's comments, etc--think of "iron sharpening (sparking!) iron" in the context of a blog book discussion. What makes it go is each of us sharing whatever from the reading grabbed us, annoyed us, gave us pause, caused us to say "I never saw/thought of that before!"
So, we're now into the first half or so of the "Christ Plays in Creation" chapter (pp. 51-85). Instead of a scattershot set of questions, let me pose just two; respond to one, 'tother, or both:
1) What did you underline/highlight, and why?
2) Reread the paragraph at the bottom of p. 63 ("My shift from reading Genesis 1--2 primarily as an account of the beginning of all things..." through the bottom of p. 64. How do you see the people you serve living an "exiled" kind of life, and have you discovered ways to help them learn to receive and enjoy what Peterson calls the "creation gifts of time and place"?
posted by Brian Emmet @ 11:09 AM
6 Comments:
I guess I will be the first to comment: I have found God's creation of time to be intriging for a number of years (The Creation Gift of Time, p. 65. Dorothy Bass wrote a book called "Receiving the Day," which I highly recommend on this subject. Everyone in the world, no matter what station of life, has the same amount of time in a day (please forgive the obvious); however, the question is not how much time, but how do we use our time? Do we shut ourselves in our home with the curtins drawn waiting for the rapture, or do we fill our lives with so many good deeds every day that we leave no time to enjoy God's creation, or is there a balance somewhere between? I am reminded from another work written by (or perhaps about Eugene Peterson) that he and his wife would always take Monday's off. They would spend time with the LORD in the morning, walking in the woods, praying etc., and then continue their Sabbath for the entire day. This example spoke to me; although I can't say I have done the best job of emulating it! However, I am constantly seeking that balance between "doing" and "being," the whole "Mary" vs. "Martha" deal. It seems that the key is finding that rhythm that he refers to. The fact that God is not in a hurry and yet He does not procrastinate keeps me wondering how to ultimately acheive that balance in our fallen world!
Think how "24/7" desecrates time by requiring us to think and live an unliveable life: no one can do anything 24/7! And of course what a commitment to 24/7 means is a commitment to force some people to work graveyard shifts. perhaps sabbath is a way to 'secede' from the 24/7 regieme...?
Consider too how even our notion of sabbath has become largely privatized and individualized: instead of the community gathering for a common sabbath, we take "personal sabbath" according to our schedules. What could happen if our church communities recovered the practice of a common sabbath/Lord's Day (=Sunday)?
Well, gang, it appears that I may have chosen the best topic to begin with, as it seems that no one has TIME to respond!!!!! :-}
It's funny that we feel "time poor." It's as if we think God hasn't been faithful to give us all the time we need to do his will, in his way...
...or that we trying to squeeze too many "other things" in! It might be worth talking about where the sense that "there's never enough time" comes from. I'm not trying to make us feel bad about being busy or being behind, just raising the idea that it's very curious to think that there's not enough time. Is time just another "natural resource' that we can "use" however we wish--that is the prevailong modernist attitude towards God's creation gifts of time and place: they're not "gifts' from anyone, they're just "resources" to be "used/consumed"... with the unspoken assumption that they're always replaceable. Just as we awaekning to the reality that the "natural world' may not be infinitely replaceable, so perhaps we need to think differently about time... so that we could live differently within time.
Amen, Brother Brian! Preach it!
I think it was Bloom (not the "CLosing of the American Mind" guy, but a prof, I think, at Boston Univ) who identified gnosticsm as America's basic religion... it's interesting to reflect on how deeply gnostic evangelical Christianity, of which the charismatic movement is a subset, can be. I agree with LeR that we have our own tendencies in that direction to account for! So much of our approach to "being spiritual" is escapist, especially when it comes to difficulty and suffering. It's why we so love anything and everything that promises "power", "blessing," "victory," etc. Yes, we all believe in God's power, and blessing, and victory, but aren't so crazy about payng attention to how all those things "happen": through the Cross. We sometimes miss the reality that often the most spiritual thing we do is lovingly forbear brother/sister Sandpaper--and discovering that God was way more interested in dealing with our lousy attitudes than with brother SP's obnoxiousness!
And how often am I Brother Sandpaper without seeing it?
!!!
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