The Kingdom

The Kingdom
by Sheila Barsuhn

When secondhand, we heard the shepherds call,
"The anointed has come!"
We set out,
arrived in this Kingdom a moment or a lifetime ago.
We have journeyed from continents apart,
tundra, tropics, poverty, privilege,
energy, exhaustion, giddiness, grief.
Through some miracle,
the Messiah has brought us together.

We are all refugees with nothing of worth to bring-
no gold, frankincense, or myrrh.
We have no drum to play.
The gifts sa tried to carry,
our best doctrines, rules, and dogmas,
slip like air through our fingers.
We cup our hands, offering offer nothing.

Come stranger,
we have found our home.
The song that welcomes us here
are not the songs of angels
(who harmonize in a different realm)
but the hum of God's grace and love
which we intone in messy unison.

In this Kingdom,
no one who journeys to the Christ is unworthy of alien.
In this Kingdom,
We are companions
standing close as the wind howls

The Life of Pi and Spiritual Bricolage

'The Life of Pi' is an amazing film, directed by Ang  Lee and based on the novel written by Yann Martel. It is beautifully filmed (I saw it in 3D which enhances the artistry and charm of this odyssey).
Pi recounts his incredible life story to a Canadian writer, so we see large episodes of his childhood where he grew up in a french colonized part of India - he had a fascination for animals as his father managed a zoo. His father was a 'secular-rationalist' whereas Pi had an innate sensitivity to the 'spiritual' and a fervent quest for God.

Pi  was brought up a Hindu but his search for God allowed him to discover Christ and Allah. He could find God in all three religions. His father mocked him for his naivety.
Throughout the film we discover that God is very present in the world and working in our lives - through both joyful and painful experiences.

The life of Pi clearly illustrates the modern trend of 'spiritual bricolage'. That is to say a 'do it yourself' spirituality. Taking certain parts of religious tradition and adapting them to our own life.
Many Christians are horrified by this 'Spiritual bricolage.' I think they feel threatened. Fearing that people will go astray from the pure truth. How will we disciple (control/indoctrinate) them? Yes I can hear all those defenders of pure doctrine getting angry with our so called postmodern society.
There is obviously a danger in the practice of spiritual bricolage. When we look at different traditions, whether they be Christian or not, we need to ask pertinent questions. Which parts are good? Which parts should we choose? As a follower of Jesus, would I be guilty of syncretism? Not necessary.

The early first century church was made up of Jews,  and Greek and Roman pagans. The church had to grapple with questions of circoncision, whether they should eat certain meat etc. In short, the early church had to select what was good from each of the different religious/cultural backgrounds and what was unacceptable. 'Much of the Christian New Testament is an argument about whether spiritual practices from other religions or cultural practices relate to the message of Jesus'. (Diana Butler Bass, Christianity after Religion). For example in Roman culture they practiced exposing unwanted children, this practice clearly goes against the teaching of Jesus - we should welcome the little children. Also early Churches were a Christianized blend of ancient Jewish Synagogues and Roman basilicas, Easter borrowed Passover and pagan rites of Spring, Christian theologians worked with Hebrew scripture and Greek philosophy.

'Although Christianity itself is a blended faith - a combination of first-century spiritual experiences of Jesus, rabbinic Judaism, greek philosophy, Gnosticism and Roman paganism - Christian tradition has a typically urged thoughtfulness (not caution exactly, but thoughtfulness) when mixing practices.' (Diana Butler Bass) We need spiritual discernment in this process of choosing our spiritual practices, asking ourselves important questions: 'Does this practice relate to the teachings of Jesus? Does it bring me closer to God? Does it enable me to love and serve my neighbour? Does it awake me to God and others? What kind of person will I become if I seriously devote myself to learning particular practices?

So back to the film...
I personally found it inspiring. I came away with a sense of awe and wonder. Yes God is very present in my life. I can almost hear Him breathe.

The Common Good, Peace On Earth

This is a quote that dates back to the 4th century:

This is the rule of most perfect Christianity, its exact definition, its highest point, namely, the seeking of the common good...for nothing can so make a person an imitator of Christ as caring for neighbours.
- John Chrysostom (347- 407)


Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and goodwill to all men. (Luke 2:14)

The Christmas message is that of peace and goodwill to all humanity.
God made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us.
Jesus came to bring peace on Earth, and goodwill to all men.
That peace starts in us and through us, as Christ takes up residence.

Our mission is to share in Christ's mission of seeing His Kingdom of peace and joy spread - among our family, friends and neighbours, showing goodwill to all. Which could be translated as seeking the common good as John Chrysostom defined the highest calling of Christianity four centuries ago.

Peace.

Using Scripture Maturely

Interpreting the Scriptures is not an easy task. But a very important one. We need to wrestle with them, looking at them in their historical context and then faithfully setting them in our present one.

Here's a useful insight from Richard Rohr:

When Scriptures are used maturely they proceed in this order:

1. They confront us with a bigger picture than we are used to, "God's Kingdom" that has the potential to "deconstruct' our false and smaller kingdoms.

2. They have the power to convert us to an alternative worldview by proclamation, grace, and the sheer  attraction of the good, the true and the beautiful ( not by shame, guilt, or fear, which are low-level motivations, but which operate more quickly and so churches often resort to them).

3. They then console us and bring deep healing as they "reconstruct" us in a new place with a new mind and heart.

Sacred Space

Here's a link to a lovely testimony from Andrea Campanale who's working among Spiritual Seeker:

http://www.activateyourlife.org.uk/content/2012/dec/06/andrea-campanale-sacred-space

i appreciate her angle on evangelism  which she prefers to call 'mission' because it's more holistic.
she's working out of the box and that's not always understood by more traditional oriented folks.
we need more people like Andrea.

keep focused...

i like this photo. the colours and light are fantastic...
i've put it on my desk top

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