Monday, April 30, 2007
I've been thinking (always a dangerous thing for me) about the "church language" we use in the Western church & in our faith talk. We use words like Lord, King, Majesty, Savior, etc. But, is this just another form of "technospeak?" Do we give any thought to what these words mean? Or do we use them because they are church words? If you ask most believers what these words mean you might get some canned answer out of a catechism or orientation class. But, do we really know the full impact of the words? When I think of Lord, the first thing that comes to mind is a snobbish old goat sitting by the fire in his club drinking a brandy. King? Some old guy sitting on a throne making pronouncements. Majesty? A form of address for the old guy sitting on a throne making pronouncements. Savior? Why, Jesus is my savior. But, do we really ever give thought to what the words mean? Do we have any words in our language today that adequately portray the totality of the meaning of these terms at the very core of our faith?
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Who says you have more time when you get older? Golden age, my buttocks!!!
Lately, I've been thinking about living and it's relationship relative to our 'existence' in our Western culture. What is it about us and our culture that reduces life to a joyless, souless existence. Where is the disciples' exuberance over the fact that we are alive in the beautiful world God made for us? Why are we not singing and dancing out of sheer joy? After all, we know that our Redeemer lives. Why is it that we just 'show up'? Why do we make life so difficult? Why do we take everything so seriously? I look around and one thing I rarely see..smiles. Go to church and what do you see...mostly gloomy faces. My heavens, we have the Bread of Life!
We can recite bible verses by the score but never put them into operation in our lives. I sometimes wonder if we really believe what we profess to believe.
Depressing? Yes. How to change after a lifetime of cultural training? Not sure. Perhaps one thing to do is to live intentional lives, turning off the autopilot. Maybe we have to combine our will with the power of the Holy Spirit to 'intend' to be light and salt. All I know is that I'm tired of going through life just existing. I don't think God intended it to be this way.
Lately, I've been thinking about living and it's relationship relative to our 'existence' in our Western culture. What is it about us and our culture that reduces life to a joyless, souless existence. Where is the disciples' exuberance over the fact that we are alive in the beautiful world God made for us? Why are we not singing and dancing out of sheer joy? After all, we know that our Redeemer lives. Why is it that we just 'show up'? Why do we make life so difficult? Why do we take everything so seriously? I look around and one thing I rarely see..smiles. Go to church and what do you see...mostly gloomy faces. My heavens, we have the Bread of Life!
We can recite bible verses by the score but never put them into operation in our lives. I sometimes wonder if we really believe what we profess to believe.
Depressing? Yes. How to change after a lifetime of cultural training? Not sure. Perhaps one thing to do is to live intentional lives, turning off the autopilot. Maybe we have to combine our will with the power of the Holy Spirit to 'intend' to be light and salt. All I know is that I'm tired of going through life just existing. I don't think God intended it to be this way.
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