One And Many

September 10, 2018

Year 3, Day 253 | No Comments

Section of Christ and the Adulteress, Lucas Cranach the Younger and Workshop, ca. 1545–50

All of our lives we are faced with what we find in paradox and contradiction. This is referred to several times in these Pages. Taken together they are main factors in understanding the contexts of the world and our functioning both personally and socially. They, paradox and contradiction, are worthy of study in that for some persons they seem to point away from faith, and for others they nudge toward faith. If there be God, why is there so much contradiction/paradox; why so many poor and so few rich; why so many in illness and so many in health; why so many in ignorance and so many educated? The questions of opposites are long. True equality and opportunity seem far… Read more

Cultural Evolution

September 9, 2018

Year 3, Day 252 | No Comments

Section of Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michaelangelo, 1508-1512

Both as a visitor and on assignments I have walked or driven along Times Square streets in New York City. The first time was in 1940 and the last time during the late 1990s, more than fifty years after the first event. Since my last visit twenty years have passed to this writing, and I have been reviewing my memory on the emergence of secular and religious culture as represented in this American context that reflect meaningfully the major cultures in the world of influence. New York is for much of the world what Rome was to the Roman Empire, or Athens was to ancient Greece, but not interpreted in militaristic or governmental terms as the Roman and Greek cultures… Read more

Imbalance

September 8, 2018

Year 3, Day 251 | No Comments

Section of The Taking of Christ, Caravaggio, 1602

The call of Scripture for Christian unity is firm, but casually treated by many Christians – holding numerous differentials in faith, Scripture, applications, emphases, truth and fiction, even attitudes toward each other and the world. As the old saying goes: Brethren this ought not so to be. The problem might be illustrated in a number of contexts, but we will refer to the issues of emphasis in Christian culture and activity. Early in my personal experience the emphasis was on evangelism in the evangelical community, which espoused Christian conversion. Christian culture was affirmed, but insufficient time was given to the context of culture. There was considerable negativity, with some humor about the issue, related to the general culture, even little… Read more

Contradiction/Paradox

September 7, 2018

Year 3, Day 250 | No Comments

Section of The Crucifixion, Pedro Orrente, ca. 1625–30

The difference between paradox and contradiction is, essentially: l) with paradox opposites seem faithful representation of facts, perhaps in different contexts; and, 2) with contradictions two conflicting ideas cannot both be true, perhaps neither. I affirm my desk is made of oak, and I state the fact. If my friend insists that it is constructed of maple, we are in contradiction. It cannot be maple if it is oak, or vice versa. Both cannot be true, but both of us may be wrong. It may be cherry wood – neither oak nor maple. There may be more than two sides to an argument. We are a bit too simplistic in our understanding of forensics, and that possibility becomes important in… Read more

God Is In A Name

September 6, 2018

Year 3, Day 249 | No Comments

Section of The Descent from the Cross, Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1435

We are dealing with a factor very large in the history of God’s involvement with earth. God not only is perceived in many names in Scripture, but is interested in the names of persons with whom he has to do. The primary emphasis on naming, as related to him, is that there are many gods (symbols), but only one God (Divine life-force). If we are dealing with God, we need to know how that is done if we are to be assured meaning to experience. There are situations in Scripture representing the point – that all matters presumed to involve God are miracles in earth context. The story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, offers a dramatic illustration of… Read more

Church and Style

September 5, 2018

Year 3, Day 248 | No Comments

Section of Christ and the Woman of Samaria, Benedetto Luti, 1715-20

It is clear from Scripture that the institutional church is to serve as a center for Christian ministry. That ministry is broad in its assignments that include evangelism and worship as primary factors. Whatever advances those factors in the context of biblical instructions, ought to be engaged as church meaning. In that meaning style becomes an important factor. In acceptable styles the church is to function actively to cultivate growth in the number of persons accepting the redemptive personal gospel of Jesus Christ. In this gospel the necessary order for the acceptance of any human being is advanced through penitence and faith related to the forgiveness of God by which the individual is justified by God and accepted to immortality. … Read more

Privacy

September 4, 2018

Year 3, Day 247 | No Comments

Like so much related to life, privacy bears a variety of definitions and contexts. The first meaning for privacy in the context of nature is for self-maintenance, even protection – both personal and social. In the personal sense we need privacy so that we can see ourselves for what we are and becoming. In privacy we take on responsibility for ourselves. We are not carried along by others around us, to postures, to relate to other externals (good or ill) to determination about what we feel, think, and do. There is modesty and humility in privacy where we can be alone to be and do some things that belong to us alone, or, if a faith person to share with… Read more

Stewardship

September 3, 2018

Year 3, Day 246 | No Comments

Teaching Scripture, largely achieved through parables of life and real experiences of persons, both devout and secular, often relates to stewardship. Stewardship is basically the management of resources for the purpose of doing good as a hedge against the vicissitudes of natural/daily life. For example, the plan of Joseph, noted in Genesis, presented to us as an interpretation of a dream from God to a leader, to build up a reserve of grain during profitable farming years so to meet the likely famine of drought years, is a stewardship lesson to us. We meet the problems of natural life by taking precautions. One of those precautions relates to money (wealth) management. That management covers the spectrum of our needs and… Read more

Missions

September 2, 2018

Year 3, Day 245 | No Comments

Section of The Infant Jesus and St. John the Baptist, Guido Reni, n.d.

Recently an article came to me affirming that missionaries have changed the world. Although I would not make quite so sweeping a statement, I believe strongly that they played an important role in world change. The claim can be most fully illustrated in the Catholic missions of South America following the story of Christian mission in Europe that began with the Apostle Paul. The story is mixed, of course and we acknowledge the errors wherever they occurred, but the history on balance is quite affirmative. The mission was sometimes sullied by the objectives of conquistadors seeking gold, some for holy-grail, or conquest for the sake of conquest. Such is the story of mankind pursuing self-interests and dominated by secular objectives,… Read more

Self-Realization

September 1, 2018

Year 3, Day 244 | No Comments

We are concerned here with some stress, perhaps with depression. The concepts are sometimes confusing to us, and may be identified differently from one person to another. When for example is stress a form of depression or depression a form of stress? Both depression and stress are sometimes good for us. When not severe they may be motivating causing us to work harder to achieve some objective – motivation is a legitimate form of stress. When the objective is achieved the stress goes away, but we may be stretched out and unduly weary, so must treat such matters. Are we treating the investment effort of the assignment, or are we treating stress? It is good to begin by acknowledging that… Read more

Monthly Archives: September 2018