Part Six

PART VI: REMEMBERING AND RETURNING

Bottom of the order. Brant bats clean-up.

Chapter 27: Every Spiritual Home. This chapter rang true for me. I thought of a friend who had run wild as a youth, became a jailhouse convert to a strict, legalistic form of Christianity. Never one to do things half way, he became a pastor in a holiness denomination. I think for a time in his life he lacked self-control and needed the external control that church provided. Later he had a deconversion experience, became an atheist, and left the church. He still seemed unsettled to me. I always prayed that he would find balance.

What communities have been your spiritual homes? Have you outgrown or moved beyond a community that was once your home? Are you still grateful for those communities or are you embarrassed by your former participation in them?

Chapter 28: The Secret Passage is about a strange detail of a church’s architecture, weddings, and growing up. I was a member of a church with a secret passage once. Daniel writes about 1 Corinthians 13 (the “love chapter” read at so many weddings) and for a happy change, I agree with her interpretation. It’s not about marital love, but it can be applied.

Have you ever seen anything like the secret passage? Is your congregation a place where people can grow up? Does it accommodate age-appropriate faith? Does it encourage its members to step out into the adventures of life?

Chapter 29: Valentine’s Day gives us the history of a religious holiday that has devolved into a celebration of romance. Not that there’s anything wrong with romance! “We want love and lives filled with love,” Daniel writes. “We don’t want arguing and discord....” Is this universally true? Why do some people seem to thrive on arguing and discord?

Daniel suggests that love “is right here, where we live, at church, at your kitchen table,” etc. No romantic heights there, just love in the everyday and the imperfect. What does this commonplace love look like in your life? (On my 25th wedding anniversary, I repaired the toilet. True story.) When did you last make time for love? More importantly, when will you next make time for love?

In Chapter 30: A Grade of Incomplete Daniel says that “most of our important jobs are never complete.” There is a sense of accomplishment in actually finishing a job. Years ago, I knocked together five sets of metal shelves for our basement. We didn't need five sets, it was just that, when I got done building those shelves, I could look at them and say “Well, that’s done.” Finally my wife told me we had enough shelves. Do you do anything to gain a sense of completion? Does it bother you to be unable to complete things?

People “are not complete until God completes us.” What does it mean to be complete?

Chapter 31: Little Boots. Okay, I’m a sucker for an animal story and I have a couple of cats of my own. This story isn’t about animals so much as it is the strength of community. We make God manifest to one another. “We’re here to look out for one another,” Daniel says. Personally, I believe that the heart of Jesus’ message is: “Trust God and take care of one another.” Do you agree? (You don’t have to. Really.)

Do you have an experience of being cared for by a community? Or of being part of a community that cared for someone else?

In Chapter 32: Trial Separation Lillian Daniel describes her dysfunctional family. I’ll let her pose some of the questions: Could your most caustic relationships be redeemed? Is there a trial separation you might want to end? Is there someone you cannot reconcile with by your own power, but you might be able to by the power of divine grace and mercy? These might be too personal to answer in the public forum of a blog. Human relationships are messy, unpredictable and uncontrollable. We all need a little mercy.

To wrap up this blog, let me ask: Did you have a favorite essay in this book? Did you enjoy reading and discussing it? Was there anything you disagreed with?

Should we have another synod-wide read-along and discussion like this? Who should lead it? What book should we read?

That’s all! As Jamie would say, “Peace out!”

Part Five

Part V.  Wondering.

"Not all who wander are lost." -Gandalf (just going for nerd cred.)

Good, because I feel like this is a wandering book! -Jamie (yes, I know the difference between wondering and wandering, but at least they rhyme.)

Still, I think this section has been my favorite so far. I've experienced these meandering ponderings as the best invitation to deeper thought so far.

Chapter 22 - Borne in Perplexity

"If the mother of God got to be perplexed, you can be, too." About what are you perplexed in your faith, or Christian theology? Me? I wonder why we have permanently enshrined theologies based on the thought systems of the 1st-4th centuries CE (e.g. trinitarian theology, the "omni"s, etc.) Could we, should we, would we, what would happen if we re-examined and/or abandoned some of these understandings of God?

Chapter 23 - Inconsistent on Jesus

Have you ever been asked if you are "saved?" How do you respond? I have been asked many times (I grew up in the South) and I tend to go along with Daniel: "Yes, yes I have." However, growing up in the South I knew lots of folks who took great comfort in various forms of conversion rituals, which are often referred to as "getting saved." In what do you find the most comfort from your own experiences of living the faith?

If someone asked you to tell them about Jesus or your faith, what would you say?

Chapter 24 - Quibbling and Quoting

Daniel likes parodies, this time "open-minded" churches and people are the victims. But she raises a valid question. If somebody asked you what your church believes or to describe your church how would you respond? As a Lutheran? As a member of your local congregation? Would what you want to tell them about your church match up with how it actually functions? For example, I would want to tell a visitor that my church is open and welcoming to anybody, even if they're "not from around here," but that probably wouldn't be completely true. A more accurate assessment would be that we would tolerate someone as long as they fit in and didn't rock the boat. 

Chapter 25 - I Don't Have to Prove It

We can't prove God. Science can't disprove God. But, if an archaeologist or researcher could produce compelling evidence that the Garden of Eden never existed, or that Moses never crossed the Red (Reed?) Sea, or that at no point in history did a single flood encompass the entire globe, would your faith be affected? Would such "proof"/disproof make it more difficult to believe in God?

As a minister who also has an undergraduate degree in Physics I take both theology and science seriously. In what ways do you see faith and science complementing one another? Conversely, how do they hold each other in tension?

Chapter 26 - The Limits of Taste

Daniel discusses the way we communicate who we are and what we believe to others and seems a little suspect about the effects of technology and social media on such communication. Do you agree with her that these have had a negative impact? How do you personally communicate your identity to others? How does your church communicate its identity?

Have you ever been judged by something you posted on the Internet? In all honesty, I would probably be a little more frank in my posting on this blog if I didn't have to worry that the Bishop might see it. I wonder if he would've like the hog story from last week?

This is my last post. Brant will take us home next week. Thanks to everybody who took the time to consider the book and our musings. I hope you got something out of the experience!

Peace out!

Jamie