As someone who grew up in a strong institutionalized religious culture, this interpretation was shocking to me. (A priest *of a church* telling us that the church is helpful, but ultimately not sufficient, to get us to where God is!) I still think about that homily. /4
but ultimately, God doesn't live in the boat, he's out on the water. The boat can bring us close to where God is, but ultimately we need to be able to take the leap of faith to jump off the boat in order to experience God most fully. /3
Jesus is specifically *outside* the boat (the institutional Church, calling us *out* of the boat, so that we can commune more fully and purely with God directly instead of from the confines of the boat (institutional Church). It's scary because the boat offers security, /2
Today's #lectionary gospel reading is Matthew 14:22-33; Jesus calls Peter to come to him on the water. Some years ago I was shocked to hear a priest give a homily where he said we can think of the boat as the Church--it can provide safety from the storm, BUT in this story, /1
our security blankets of ideas, communities, institutions, etc.), trusting that can lead us to greater peace and freedom by placing our trust in God rather than our favorite security blankets. It's terribly frightening, but can result in greater peace and abundant life. /2
Today's #lectionary gospel reading is Matthew 14:22-33 about Jesus walking on the water and calling Peter to him on the water. I live with a lot of anxiety; to me today this story was about how God calls us away from our "security blankets" (in the story, a boat, but also... /1
I try to do the #dailyoffice every day but for the past several weeks it's been less consistent. Today at church I received the Eucharist thinking about how God is with me and loves me regardless of my consistency praying the daily office. 👍
Since then my theological needle has moved back a notch or two from where #johnshelbyspong and some others are BUT it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I likely would not be a Christian today if it weren't for them. RIP Bishop Spong. /2
When I was first deconstructing from a traditionalist/literalist religious paradigm I *really* valued the perspectives of #johnshelbyspong and other liberal theologians. They helped me think about how one might be able to be a Christian in a more expansive way. /1
"Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time."
James 2:13 @themessage #dailyoffice
The sermon at my parish today was about The Banquet of the Kingdom. I looooove that metaphor. God is like a party where everyone is welcome, joyful, having fun, and enjoying one another's company and the experience. No one is worrying or anxious or sad. This is my Christian hope.
I have an anxious, neurotic disposition and it takes a lot of work each day to call my mind down. I appreciate passages like this:
Briefly made a pilgrimage to @CACRadicalGrace today. (Hopefully the visitors center will be open again soon!)
@PetroglyphNPS
"Reality can be understood most fully by putting together *all* of the stories that give insight into different levels of reality." -- @bgreene
@onbeing @kristatippett https://www.stitcher.com/episode/85450764
"A religion that is not constantly spawning alternatives and heresies has ceased to think and has achieved only the peace of the grave."
(Philip Jenkins "Jesus Wars" 2010)
A Short Overview of Christian Ethics according to Roger Crook hazelnutnotes.com/2021/07/03/a-short-overv...
Kathryn Tanner’s Systematic Theology: AN OUTLINE AND QUESTIONS hazelnutnotes.com/2021/07/01/kathryn-tanne...
Thoughts and Reflections on “the Fathers of the Church” by Mike Aquilina hazelnutnotes.com/2021/07/01/thoughts-and-...
#dailyoffice Acts 2:46 @themessage
Christian worship and community can include potluck dinners at each other's homes among friends and family! Hanging out while sharing in happiness and fellowship is a genuine way to "do church."
Where my faith and my work as a scientist meet www.christiancentury.org/article/first-person/whe... via @ChristianCent.
Thanks so much @Emily_L_Boring for this thoughtful article.
"What is the 'program for change'? Given that change is unlikely, how can individual Christians behave ethically in a capitalist economic system?" /2
"I left this book with the same basic questions as when I started: how can we practically implement a #Christian #economic system, either individually or communally, in a world that has been dominated by liberal #capitalism for several centuries?" /1
“Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism” by Kathryn Tanner: an argument for a wholesale reorganization of economic life...
"That said, at this point I'm not persuaded by #Existentialism's strong rejection of Enlightenment principles of reason and skepticism, that 'authenticity' is the sole and only ethical principle in human life, or their expansive view of free will." /2
"All in all, what I find useful in #Existentialism is that it helps give me more courage to make choices that are true and authentic to me even if they disappoint other people. I agree with them that most people most of the time take the easy road of social conformity." /1
Ruminations on Existentialism: tentative agreements and disagreements hazelnutnotes.com/2021/06/04/ruminations-o...
"Please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us."
2 Cor 6:1 @themessage #dailyoffice
In contrast, about 3/4 of those who report "#Catholic priest" as their profession donate to Republicans.
Yet another example of contemporary political-religious sorting in the U.S.