Seven days till Christmas
Have I got a gift for you.
A tethered rope all tough and spiky
And a journey's worth of donkey poo
Six days till Christmas
Have I ever got a present -
A bit of cheese the texture of rock
and a stinky, sweaty peasant
Five days till Christmas
why don't you extend your hand?
In it I'll place a manger board
and a musty bed of sand
Four days till Christmas
What more have I got for you?
How about a dusty desert town
and a garbage pit for a loo?
Three days till Christmas
and I know you want some stuff.
A close-up view of a horse's rhinde
And a pillow of lamby fluff.
Two days till Christmas
and do you want a token?
How about a dangerous town
in a country clearly broken?
One day till Christmas
And you have an extended hand
Can you smell the blood and dirt and tears?
Can you hear the fearful land?
Now is the day of Christmas
Have I ever a pretty toy.
A bloody mess of swaddling clothes
and a mucous-filled little boy.
It is so wrong, this Christmas song
It has no flow, it doesn't go
It is not clean and is not neat
It hurts to touch and it smells like feet
But we have a holiday,
all clean and pristine,
and it is all wrong and it won't be long
before we see
It is not real.
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"It is not real"
ReplyDeleteA solid assessment of christian experience, or an editorial of how the church has gone wrong? Of course, if the church has gone wrong, wherefore is the spirit? Day to day, where does christian theory (dogma) provide any practical meaning to the average joe? The judgment of god on the wicked is meaningless, because it is so far removed from our expereince. The goodness of god can only be consigned to the realm of faith or theory, for it also has no place in our experience. The holiness of god is a fine ideal, but is desperately beyond our reach, with or without alleged salvation. The kindness of god? the love of God? Where in daily expereince can we find such things. Indeed, which of gods esteemed attributes can we see, can we feel?
Of course, there is also this. In considering my own life, and where god has been experience or not, I thought of this: The 'idea' that I was loved unconditionally, that I was forgiven unconditionally, radically transformed my life. Does that justify or validate the entire core of christian theory? Hardly. But it does demonstrate that the christian message (or one version of it at least) touches on what was for me, and perhaps many people, a fundamental need to be loved.
Well, I think that we often do mix our own editorial of where the church has gone wrong with the universal notion of Christian Experience - basically we take our own experience - our own perspective - and universalize it, making it describe everything about the Christian faith. We humans do that with many things. We take the sum of our own knowledge, the accumalation of facts that we ourselves hold in our head (and we always assume we have most of the facts), and then pass a judgement on the matter. We assume we know enough to make conclusive statements. The emerging Christian consciousness in the post-modern era is becoming aware that we don't have enough information to pass such univeralistic judgements. We don't know enough. Therefore we must always comment on a matter only to the extent for which we hold authoritative knowledge - otherwise we should hold our mouths shut - the Christian conversation is already too full of people who say too much with too little background information. Why do we always take our own personal dissapointments and use them to contextualize the behaviour of God - even if we take the behaviour of God to be defined by the behaviour of His church?
ReplyDeleteAs for the question of the presence of God's Spirit (I think that is what you mean in reference), I think it is a beautiful thing that such a question can be asked. Indeed, where is the Spirit if the church that represents him is so full of negativity? What I find beautiful about that question is that, in order for it not to be able to be asked, the Spirit would have to take absolute control over the subjects of the church, individual members, and restrain their brokeness. I don't know about you, but what I understand is that in order for God to do that, he would have to fundementally change our natures - change who we are - our personalities, our thought processes, our sense of being. That is because brokeness and negativity is so infused with our being, it is mixed right in there with our beauty, joy, and goodness. In short, for God to take all of the @#%& out of us (notice that there were four letters in that word), he would basically have to remove us completely. I don't believe He is willing to do that, we are too valuable to him, which explains why the church's mistakes are put up with. But that doesn't mean He is not in process of removing that stuff - the surgery is not done quickly and brutally - but slowely, in order to prevent trauma. We will be changed, but we won't be destroyed in the process. I think that is good, and it has a place in my present reality. I know one thing for sure, what is real for me is brokeness and pain, and there must be a counterpart solution for that problem. He is that solution. Do you know of any other? Is there any other philosophy of life that can explain our brokeness?
When you say, "The holiness of god is a fine ideal, but is desperatley beyond our reach, with or without alleged salvation." I know exactly what you are saying there, and I find that in practicality, it is true. Salvaion hasn't made me practically holy, I know, and I don't care what kind of acrobatics a person says to try and make that true. I simply am not holy, and as I am now, will never be. I would have to die before that could happen. So how can I be made holy? I guess it has to stay an ideal for now. I guess that has to somehow be enough for God for now, unless he does something to change that. I believe one day he will, but in the mean time, I'm not going to drive myself crazy and lose myself trying to fulfill a list of right living, that I have never even come close to completing. For some reason, I have recieved the message that he wants to treat me like I'm perfect, while obviously knowing full well that I am not.
ReplyDeleteIf I am brief, do not mistake it for rudeness (I'm kinda at a family thanksgiving function, so I have limited time to respond).
ReplyDeleteYou said, "we don't have enough information to pass such univeralistic judgements." Without universalistic judgements, what gospel would you procalim? Is it not a christian judgment that humanity is sinful(however defined)? Is it not a universal judgement that all need Jesus' salvation (agian, however defined)? The core of christian teaching, of any teaching, is founded and progogated via judgments. Judgments based upon our expereince, individually and as a community. It may be true that we lack information, but as it affects us, we can, and often must, pass judgment and live with it.
"even if we take the behaviour of God to be defined by the behaviour of His church?" If not throught the church, then how are we to know god? If god cannot, or will not, reveal his character through his chosen, spirit assisted people - then how are any of us to truly know him? One could argue that he left us a book, but that book was left by the church, and is interpreted by the church, and further by the individuals that comprise that church. The value of the book is defined and characterised by that church.
"restrain their brokeness" - this is a sad statement, and reveals or suggests a fundamental failure of christian salvation. Beyond the tragedy that history has clearly demonstrated that the church is just as broken as any other community; despite this continued brokenness being held up as an example of gods love and wisdom; despite all the failures that it entails, the barrenness of the christian hope - despite all that, the real tragedy is that it is believed that god must "restrain" brokenness. Why, as the scriptures promise, does god not "heal" brokenness? If brokenness is a permanent reality, wherefore is hope? Sadly, it seems to lie beyond death, beyond our expereince and once again you run into universal judgments without sufficient information. Clearly our natures are in desperate need for a fundamental change - and perhaps I am mistaken, but that is exactly what the new testament promised us. To protect christian theory, it seems that that very faith must be denied.
"prevent trauma" - in preventing trauma is not god permitting trauma? Is he afraid that he cannot heal us without destroying us? Are we not perpetrating great trauma daily, suffering daily, in our brokenness?
The ideals of faith - love, goodness, hope - these stand as bright beacons for our needy lives. But the christian theory, in lifting these ideals high, does nothing to draw us closer to their experienc.