Comments on: Lenten Study #4 Good Friday http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/lenten-study-4-good-friday/ Wife, Mom, Seminarian Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:49:55 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: sacredambiguity http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/lenten-study-4-good-friday/#comment-20 sacredambiguity Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:31:29 +0000 http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/?p=15#comment-20 Being Christ's love to the Edna's of the world... wonderful. I should probably mention that Edna came in to the hospice too weak to talk, but she nodded when I asked her if she we like to pray. We prayed with confidence. Being Christ’s love to the Edna’s of the world… wonderful.

I should probably mention that Edna came in to the hospice too weak to talk, but she nodded when I asked her if she we like to pray. We prayed with confidence.

]]> By: Constance Gray http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/lenten-study-4-good-friday/#comment-19 Constance Gray Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:20:43 +0000 http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/?p=15#comment-19 The cross reminds us not just of the ultimate suffering and sacrifice, but ofthe ultimate faith and witness. We don't know about Edna's faith from her story, but certainly your witness of her life should remind us all to a radical hospitality to those who live under the bridge at St. John's as our own journey of faith and witness. I don't even know the real meaning of suffering or sacrifice in Edna's terms, or for that matter in the terms of the majority of the world's people. I guess that is why its just more fun to hide the candy eggs and wave at the Easter Bunny, where ever the critter hops, and why it is also easier to bring the secular into the sacred than take the sacred to the secular world. In three days our church will have a "trial run" with our Project U kids as training for the adults as we begin our new ministry of inviting homeless teens to our church for dinner on Saturday nights I wonder how many Edna's we will encounter, and how we will be Christ's love in their world. It is my hope and prayer that we can at least open a window into the sacred for these teens who live in an all to hostile secular world. The cross reminds us not just of the ultimate suffering and sacrifice, but ofthe ultimate faith and witness. We don’t know about Edna’s faith from her story, but certainly your witness of her life should remind us all to a radical hospitality to those who live under the bridge at St. John’s as our own journey of faith and witness. I don’t even know the real meaning of suffering or sacrifice in Edna’s terms, or for that matter in the terms of the majority of the world’s people. I guess that is why its just more fun to hide the candy eggs and wave at the Easter Bunny, where ever the critter hops, and why it is also easier to bring the secular into the sacred than take the sacred to the secular world.

In three days our church will have a “trial run” with our Project U kids as training for the adults as we begin our new ministry of inviting homeless teens to our church for dinner on Saturday nights I wonder how many Edna’s we will encounter, and how we will be Christ’s love in their world. It is my hope and prayer that we can at least open a window into the sacred for these teens who live in an all to hostile secular world.

]]> By: sacredambiguity http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/lenten-study-4-good-friday/#comment-18 sacredambiguity Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:26:24 +0000 http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/?p=15#comment-18 Hi Joy, I'm so glad that your kids are in a church. I think the issues that we are attempting to sort out in all of this is; what is foundational/non-negotiable about our faith? Are there some things that are off the table, as far as reinterpretation? For me, love is nonnegotiable, and the Cross is an essential part of the love story. I love a variety of worship styles (including cranked up contemporary music), and I enjoy a good theological debate as well. The danger of any sort of absolutism is that we no longer engage with and enjoy the questions. On the other hand, the danger of having no absolutes is that we risk lacking form and substance. What we strive to articulate (as did the early church of the 1st century) is the extraordinary commonality of experience surrounding Jesus. In my opinion, perhaps the creedalists went a bit overboard, but we have to somehow incorporate freedom of experience and revelation with a bit of structure. What concerns me the most is the willingness of some contemporary theologians to simply throw out the things that challenge us the most, instead of resting a bit in the mystery of it all. Blessings! Trish Hi Joy,
I’m so glad that your kids are in a church. I think the issues that we are attempting to sort out in all of this is; what is foundational/non-negotiable about our faith? Are there some things that are off the table, as far as reinterpretation? For me, love is nonnegotiable, and the Cross is an essential part of the love story. I love a variety of worship styles (including cranked up contemporary music), and I enjoy a good theological debate as well.
The danger of any sort of absolutism is that we no longer engage with and enjoy the questions. On the other hand, the danger of having no absolutes is that we risk lacking form and substance.
What we strive to articulate (as did the early church of the 1st century) is the extraordinary commonality of experience surrounding Jesus. In my opinion, perhaps the creedalists went a bit overboard, but we have to somehow incorporate freedom of experience and revelation with a bit of structure. What concerns me the most is the willingness of some contemporary theologians to simply throw out the things that challenge us the most, instead of resting a bit in the mystery of it all.
Blessings!
Trish

]]> By: Joy Schulke http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/lenten-study-4-good-friday/#comment-15 Joy Schulke Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:32:59 +0000 http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/?p=15#comment-15 As with the previous three lessons, this fourth study is very thought-provoking. In doing my family tree research last year, I was amazed to see how many of my male relatives were so VERY active in the church, whether it be the Quaker, Puritan, Baptist, or Methodist. In the infancy of our country, people were coming to the New World as much for religious freedom as anything else, and in order to spread the Gospel, men rode horses for miles upon miles in all sorts of weather, leaving families behind to maintain their fragile existence until the rider returned. Growing up in south Texas, our community of 8,000 had many churches, and as children we attended church every Sunday with VBS every summer and all the revivals! We grew up with the old, traditional hymns which seemed to tell a story or give a lesson in living or reaching out to our Savior. Three of my cousins went into the ministry, two being very prominent, following in the footsteps of our ancestors. My parents sang in the choir, and I...as did most of my friends, attended Sunday School, church, and youth group every Sunday evening. Today my three grown children all attend what's commonly referred to as non-denominational, protestant churches with a more casual atmostphere in dress, the architecture of their buildings, coffee and donuts during the service, and similar but different "rules" or beliefs. The hymns are gone for the most part, as are the choir and organ, instead having been replaced by more the more contemporary instruments and praise music. The church has definitely begun to evolve in just my lifetime. I see a decline in the level of one's faith and commitment to the church in comparison to the earlier church. The more affluent in our society seem to have moved away from the earlier values of their ancestors and it appears that it's more important to be SEEN in church than to be deeply involved in its ministry. As young people move away from the earlier standards of dress, sexual behavior, and values, so goes their interest in the church, in growing numbers. "A little bit of the Easter Bunny at the door" doesn't surprise me at all! With loud music booming from the sanctuary, similar to what we sometimes hear from cars cruising by us, some aspects of "church" seem foreign to many of us in today's world. Will Jesus be the next to go? Will the cross and stained glass become "uneasy or unnecessary visuals"? Is it any wonder that the lady under the bridge is just ..."another homeless person who is, sadly, either mentally ill or just won't get a job?" What's happened, Lord? Where did we start getting off track? As with the previous three lessons, this fourth study is very thought-provoking. In doing my family tree research last year, I was amazed to see how many of my male relatives were so VERY active in the church, whether it be the Quaker, Puritan, Baptist, or Methodist. In the infancy of our country, people were coming to the New World as much for religious freedom as anything else, and in order to spread the Gospel, men rode horses for miles upon miles in all sorts of weather, leaving families behind to maintain their fragile existence until the rider returned.
Growing up in south Texas, our community of 8,000 had many churches, and as children we attended church every Sunday with VBS every summer and all the revivals! We grew up with the old, traditional hymns which seemed to tell a story or give a lesson in living or reaching out to our Savior. Three of my cousins went into the ministry, two being very prominent, following in the footsteps of our ancestors. My parents sang in the choir, and I…as did most of my friends, attended Sunday School, church, and youth group every Sunday evening.
Today my three grown children all attend what’s commonly referred to as non-denominational, protestant churches with a more casual atmostphere in dress, the architecture of their buildings, coffee and donuts during the service, and similar but different “rules” or beliefs. The hymns are gone for the most part, as are the choir and organ, instead having been replaced by more the more contemporary instruments and praise music. The church has definitely begun to evolve in just my lifetime.
I see a decline in the level of one’s faith and commitment to the church in comparison to the earlier church. The more affluent in our society seem to have moved away from the earlier values of their ancestors and it appears that it’s more important to be SEEN in church than to be deeply involved in its ministry. As young people move away from the earlier standards of dress, sexual behavior, and values, so goes their interest in the church, in growing numbers.
“A little bit of the Easter Bunny at the door” doesn’t surprise me at all! With loud music booming from the sanctuary, similar to what we sometimes hear from cars cruising by us, some aspects of “church” seem foreign to many of us in today’s world. Will Jesus be the next to go? Will the cross and stained glass become “uneasy or unnecessary visuals”?
Is it any wonder that the lady under the bridge is just …”another homeless person who is, sadly, either mentally ill or just won’t get a job?” What’s happened, Lord? Where did we start getting off track?

]]> By: Tim Ramsey http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/lenten-study-4-good-friday/#comment-14 Tim Ramsey Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:45:17 +0000 http://sacredambiguity.wordpress.com/?p=15#comment-14 I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you. Tim Ramsey I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.

Tim Ramsey

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