Jorie the Writer
Dear Jorie-the-Writer,
I have sent you an electronic version of
The Spectacular Brink of Life. I'm hoping that you can just have your way with Electra, and we can meet up and revise your changes together, afterwards. For me,
now is the critical moment. I will be revising on my own over the next month.
ta,ta,
JDR
a good talk with mom
I had a good talk with mom the other day. Ironically, we were able to discuss complex faith issues in such a way that lightened and encouraged our spirits, rather than puff-up, darken, or serious-
ify us--as is the status
quo for us
Russells. The nature of the conversation says something to me about this "emergent" theology: it is full of HOPE. But not the kind that is inflated--not a sort of
whoopi-
cushion theology--but a kind that has real and
challenging substance behind it: i.e. a
holistic as well as specific Biblical integrity.
Mom is really a clever and insightful cat. I think she has a far more difficult time articulating herself than we (her children) do. But when she does spit something out (in such a way that is a cogent reflection of her inner [psychological] critical
analysis) it is almost always far more insightful and accurate than anything I was pondering. Case in point: we were talking about altar calls, and she noted that the
rrcc pastor has a fetish for altar calls--even to the point that he will manipulate the congregation into feeling guilty in order to get people up to the front of the church after a sermon. Of course, this makes me wiggle in my seat with
agitated frustration and post-dramatic-stress-disorders of all sorts. And while I was nervously attempting to corral all the wildly trigger-happy neurons firing wildly in my brain, trying to hack away at the jungle of SEP (severe emotional problems), Mom made a simple comment that cut right to the heart of the
Dispensationalist Disorder. She said that she felt like her pastor was pressuring her to be dishonest.
Comment on Josh's doubt on "arriving" anywhere
Josh,
I don't know if this will help you, as I look to you as a mentor and rarely dish out thoughts and comments. I think that your thoughts are profound and I still feel that I have a long way to go... as we all really do.
Anyway, I am so grateful for all of the research you did in order to get me those books for Christmas. They really have opened my mind to new ideas as well as expansion on old ones.
I was surprised to read that you are struggling with doubt on "arriving" anywhere. Which I think that you might have been saying that you struggle with coming to conclusions, or maybe that the conclusions you come to change after a while. The comments that I have on this come from
Adventures in Missing the Point. I hope this will help you out.
There were a few different chapters that stressed these points, and I am going to give you my own combo of insight gained.
First of all, instead of wanting to arrive anywhere with your thoughts on Christianity, be open and willing to take in more and more information, research, and opinions. Pray, discuss your questions and doubts with other Christians. The reason I say this is because, you are never going to arrive anywhere if you want to learn more about God. How can we, as humans, ever grasp the concept of God or of absolute truth? It is when we "arrive" somewhere that we stop learning and start being stubborn, rigid, and small-minded about what we believe. It is like we would be saying that what we believe is the truth and perhaps what other Christians believe is off. Aren't we all "off"? You are never going to arrive at any conclusions, instead you will have theories, new theories, theories that change, and a lot of questions. God is such a mystery... You know that, You told us that at Dar's house. You also said that if God wanted us to know the truth about everything, He would have revealed Himself to us. But, for some reason, faith is very important to God, so he chose to let Himself be a mystery. One thing we do know for sure though, is this. He is there, He sent His Son to be a sacrifice for us, so we would be forever free from sin, and in a scense free
to sin. (Not because we want to, but because we will never be perfect and He still loves us).
Another point I would like to make is this. Doubt is not necessarily a bad thing... though it can be. Doubt can also be a good thing. This is, first of all, because it is part of growth and can lead to research and discovery of new ideas. Doubt is normal. Everyone has it, without it, we would be so content in our faith we might not have hunger to go out there and learn more. Doubt often leaves us in a spot where we just have to let go and rely on God. Sometimes it's the opposite, because we may be doubting so much, that we hang on to it, but that does put us in a spot where we pray a lot of frustrated prayers, which don't go unheard.
Anyway, some of what I learned from
Adventures in Missing the Point was that we are never going to know the truth about everything. A lot of other valuable things I learned were how the church and Christianity really warped the true meaning of the Bible... not everything, but a lot. I don't think that this has been intentional, I think this has been learned. (e.g.)It's how we grew up and it is what everyone in the Christain church believes and it is good to be unwaivering on your opinions. Stand up for Jesus or you are a coward and luke-warm, therefore will be spewed out of God's mouth. Well, the problem is this: We may just be standing up for the church's
image of Jesus. The Jesus in the Bible, the real Jesus, I now believe, is a lot different than the church's perception of him. If we would just stop being so lofty and judgmental, perhaps more people would be drawn to him. A lot of people just don't like Christians. I don't really like the image of Christianity. It makes me feel sick to my stomach and judged. Jesus didn't make people feel that way. I pray that I stop making people feel that way. We need to really sit and read the Bible as whole stories, whole prayers, whole parables, entire books of records, etc. and not all chopped up into pieces like we do. Imagine if you took two sentences out of this post and then made conclusions out of them, or arguments based off of them... you could not have even caught the point that I was trying to make. Too often, we butcher the Bible in that way.
Well, I can go on forever, trust me, but I would love some feedback... also Brynn's in timeout and I have to go get her out. (My kids are far from perfect.) :)
-Jorie
Next Meeting
Dear,
Jenny, Jason, Megan, Jorie,
When are we planning our next meeting? And what would we like the agenda to be? Is there anything in particular you are longing to go over or wrestle with?
I think Jorie's chapter on Grace in
Blue Like Jazz might be a good topic, but I'm up for anything.
JDR
Beginning
Kovacks,
Let us make a comitment right now that we will use this forum for gut-level honest talk. And not for any agenda-ridden arguments. (That declaration is more for me than for you). Let me make that statement more clear: my hope is that we will use this blog for growth.
Supposing that God is in fact good (good like pleasure), let us pursue the process of repenting (actual word means to
rethink something) and changing our ideas on who He is and what He is about.
This is a process that has really liberated me into a whole new way of being Josh.
So, I guess what I'm hoping is that you guys can help Megan and I grow better. And that we can do the same for you.
Very Best,
Josh
