A farewell

It is time to stop this blog. Not just because I keep having too much to do. As you may have noticed, my posts have gotten terser over time as I tried to condense my experience in fewer words. Talking about faith, I have come to believe, can dilute it, and get in the way of living it.

Plus I have become aware that all my writings are subtle attempts at boxing God into the confines of my experience, to give me words to hold on to. Which is exactly what I tried to overcome in the first place (cf. the title of this blog).

I recently discovered Karl Barth, and his teachings have helped me see through this particular trap. I recommend him highly.

I have made one last effort to sum up my view on faith in a pithy way. Here's what I came up with:

• Invite silence
• Be gracious to all
• Don't try to find fault
• Don't reject suffering
• Walk in trust

That's it. Very simple, and at the same time very difficult. This, in my very humble opinion, is the sum of all faith. (Of all faiths, really. We are Christians because we are empowered by Jesus to live this way, but living by it is what matters, not so much who gets you there.)

I will miss you, dear readers. You are a small, select group from all over the world. I hope my writings have enriched you a bit, or helped you along the way. If you wish to leave me a note to let me know what you found here, I would very much appreciate it.

Vaya con Dios.

A mighty voice

God thunders wondrously with his voice;

he does great things that we cannot comprehend.

By the breath of God ice is given,

and the broad waters are frozen fast.

He loads the thick cloud with moisture;

the clouds scatter his lightning.

They turn round and round by his guidance,

to accomplish all that he commands them

on the face of the habitable world.

Whether for correction, or for his land,

or for love, he causes it to happen.

Job 37:5, 10-13

As we are drawn into the realm of God, we get guidance in different ways. Sometimes we run into the very real limitations of life. Sometimes we realize we are held by a love greater than our own. And sometimes we wake up as if from deep sleep and behold God's glory, and we know that we are in God's land, and always have been.

At times, these happen simultaneously; at other times, they remain distinct. Either way, the voice by which we are called reverberates throughout creation always. It thunders with might, and yet to hear it, we must become silent.

Being known

You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound.

Psalm 4:7

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 3:1

On April 19, the day from which I took these lectionary verses, my baby daughter was born. It took me a few moments to get used to her presence: a squirming, squealing little thing, covered in white gunk, moving its limbs in odd ways. But when she was wiped down and went to sleep with a slight smile on her face, she made little noises in her dreams, and I had a clear sense of recognizing her voice: as if she had been known to me from the beginning of eternity.

Becoming known is the essential remedy in what we call salvation. Too often we do not know ourselves or our neighbor: estranged we live, alienated from who we truly are and one another. In Christ we come to know our own condition, sanctified by way of God suffering and rejoicing as we do. And to encounter God in ourselves and one another is to become known, and to be known is to know: to see the light and the gladness of God in everyone.

Among us and within us

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms.

Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Acts 3:1-10 (NRSV)

Are we called to feed the poor? Absolutely. But from a Christian standpoint, alms or welfare are simply not good enough. The Beloved Community happens only when each and every child of God is attended to as a person, and empowered to truly belong: the infirm, recognized as a contributor to shared life. The outcast, as an infinitely worthy denizen of the Kingdom.

A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But [Jesus] said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

Luke 22:24-30 (NRSV)

The Kingdom is here insofar as God is always with us. In being simple and humble--authentic and not so darn self-absorbed--our eyes are opened to this reality.

The Kingdom is not here insofar as we don't see and taste this grace: and we do evil out of despair, grasping vainly at the chimera of greatness.  

The old and the new being

The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

Daniel 6:24 (NRSV)

We all are Old Testament people at heart. We instinctively believe in revenge and vindication, conquering and slaying, wrath and reward. Which is why it is so important to read the Bible: as a mirror held up to our faces, among many other things.

And this is why the Gospel message is so world-turning, so foundation-shaking. The pinnacle of faithfulness is not to expect things to be made right for us, but to take the imbalances and the crookedness of the world upon ourselves in Christ's spirit. 

In doing so, we add a tiny piece of ground to the Kingdom.