I'm Chris, and I really like being alive.
I'm a seminary student who dabbles in theology, teaching, design, writing, photography, and loving people.
_ Wesley
_ John Wesley // This one is great. Just great.
_ Einstein
Some quick thoughts from my Smithsonian Training tonight:
1. The Hall of Human Origins is really aware of the state of evolutionary belief in the USA and its controversiality. They’re not in an ivory tower of academia.
2. They realize that possibly half of the people who walk through their doors may not believe in the very thing they’ve poured their lives into.
3. So even though the are confident in the 150 years of evidence that has accumulated to support the claims of brilliant scientists, their attitude towards people who believe otherwise is COMPASSION.
4. They taught a room full of docents-in-training that when we encounter someone who believes differently than us, our reaction should be to listen and to empathize. We are not there to change minds, but present what we believe is true. That’s it. People are on a journey and where they are now will not be where they will always be.
5. They brought in one of my professors to help science-minded people understand how religious people think. The Smithsonian.
I’m blown away that an organization like this could bring people from all sorts of backgrounds together to discuss how to be kind to people when they disagree with you. It’s just beautiful.
Yes! Wow. This is happening.
A large part of theological education (at my seminary) includes becoming informed about injustices that are happening all around us and all around the world. And there are a lot of them. The truth of the matter is that things are not OK. Gender inequality still has a firm grip over most of the world. Massive economic disparity is running rampant. We have racial tensions (Um… America’s last slave ship was only 150 years ago. We literally kidnapped Africans and sold them as possessions within the last few generations! Kind of a big deal.) Religious extremism seems more promenant everywhere. There are unfair wars (um, are there fair wars?) being fought all around the world. Education and access to clean water are both privileges in most parts of the world. We are destroying the environment and consuming earth’s resources at an unsalvageable rate. And in the midst of all of these problems, we’re still keeping rights away from same-sex couples.
But sometimes becoming aware of our place in a system of injustice comes with a sense of accusation, guilt, or helplessness. While many of my classmates join into a rallying cry for justice, what I’ve come to realize is that the stories of injustice are far more powerful than the facts of injustice. Sheer numbers can shock us into action, but it’s the STORY of an individual or a people that actually enables us to care.
Sometimes we wield facts of injustice as weapons themselves, yet Jesus became one of the most influential voices on the planet because he fought injustice by telling stories that demanded that people stop, listen, and think. Jesus fought injustice by forgiving people even while they murdered him!
Whether our cause is based on race, gender, sexual-orientation, inter-religious dialogue, economic injustice, or violence, our goal should not be to point fingers or alienate people who do not agree with us, but to tell the stories of our friends, humanize their plights, and invite our opponents to make small steps that have potentially large outcomes. I think this is where true change originates.
Think about this: The 21st century has become a host to the most unique story-telling methods in human history: Television, film, podcasts, blogs, and more. We are constantly telling stories which have the power to objectify (women, money, power), or humanize (empathy, education, justice).
If we want to change the way people think and act, we must inspire, not condemn, give direction and encouragement, not disdain.
As Jesus once said, “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”
I recently read a webcomic by xkcd that was a parody of The Terminator, time, and death. As an easter egg of sorts, you can hover over the comic to see a little more than meets the eye. In this particular case, it said,
“NO FATE BUT THE NARRATIVES WE IMPOSE ON LIFE’S RANDOM CHAOS TO DISTRACT OURSELVES FROM OUR EXISTENTIAL PLIGHT”
To sum it up, he’s saying the only fate we have are the stories we make up to give structure to our lives. It’s a strange reality we exist where we must be born, learn and grow, reproduce, then die ourselves. It’s as if we’re inside a giant machine churning forward through the cosmos and we’re all trying to figure out “why?!” Most of us just adopt the religious structure that we’re born into. But in this 21st century world, it’s easier than ever to be exposed to too many religions, too many views, too many beliefs.
We’re overwhelmed by the different narratives that are available to make sense of our world and lives. Which stories are true and which are not?Many turn to a form of fundamentalism—denying the legitimate claims of other traditions, whether politically, religiously, or socially.
Black and white is safe.
But reality is anything but clear. The more we know about it, the more questions we have. In the last 60 years alone, we’ve been able to see deeper into our own cells, into DNA and the building blocks of life, into the incredible complexity that has formed life. We literally have a microscopic blueprint of our entire being in every single cell of the 50 TRILLION that compose our bodies. When we look outwardly instead of inwardly, it’s even more shocking. We’re able to see 13.7 billion lightyears away and theorize at least 176 billion galaxies in our universe. (The milky way is just one!)
We live and act as if we understand reality. But what we think we understand are the little systems we need to make sense and meaning of our lives. What is really going on is a massive and mind-numbingly intricate existence that does not orbit around human civilization and life. We are only a small sliver of a fraction of what this universe is capable of.
When we even come close to really understanding the weight of this, it can be very disturbing. It doesn’t leave us feeling important. Our problems and joys are lost into the depths of time and space. And we often use God to selfishly (but not wrongly) hold onto our psychological need to be important. But if we believe a God is involved in this reality, and it doesn’t revolve around us, then shouldn’t our view of God naturally be one that is foreign, awe-inspired, and even fearful?
I dream of a day when Christians don’t merely take up their “cross” to prove their doctrines, but of a day they take up an existential “cross”—a death to comfort and importance—and instead face a resurrection life that is filled with an awe, curiosity, and wonder of the mystery of reality. I dream of a community that encourages their children to study, not for grades or success, but to peal back the mysteries of the world, to study deeper and farther than anyone before them. Revelation is a holy experience in religious thought. But it’s also available when we are willing to work toward it. Moses and Elijah climbed mountains and wandered through the wilderness to find revelation. We must do the same but with chemistry and mathematics, physics and biology. There is so much to discover, but when our narratives are focused on ourselves, we sacrifice wonder for comfort.
17th century Torah scroll written by hand!
#Lent Photo: Leave #rethinkchurch @umrethinkchurch “Leave” is a word I’m familiar with. But leaving my church family in mid-Missouri brought entirely new meanings to the word. This was a gift when I left, and it reminds me everyday of what church can be.
_ Abraham Heschel
_ Richard Rohr
In 2008 I lost one of my closest friends. Today would have been his birthday. I wish I could put words to all the strange feelings that swirl inside of me when I think of John.
People tend to make a caricature of death. We throw it around recklessly in movies and videogames and newscasts. But the realness and heaviness and inevitability of death isn’t something we should play around with. Sure, it’s uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing. But does that mean we should turn our eyes away from it? Does it mean we should deny our fate? I’m not sure. Certainly it’s an option.
I will say that in the least an awareness of death can add to the vividness of life. It can help us see the fragile people all around us and help us to treat them with tenderness and love. It can make each day a new life in itself.
I miss John so much. I don’t know what happens when we die, but I can honestly say that entering into an awareness of death was one of the most transforming events in my life. It has changed the way I see the world and the kinds of decisions I make and the way I treat people. A rabbi once taught that if we have trouble with our selfish inclinations, we should, “reflect on the day of [our] death in order to acquire a broken heart.”
Broken hearts are part of life too. And they gift us with a new way to view ourselves, our actions, and our world. Thank God for broken hearts. I miss you John.
_ Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
#Lent Day 8 Photo: Love #rethinkchurch @umrethinkchurch A reminder from @jmhueting ;)
Quick lent post: “Evil.” #rethinkchurch
