I outdid myself reading McLaren - needed to retreat to the follow up trilogy by Robin Hobb. Oh the joys of a trilogy following a trilogy. Currently on book 2 of the Tawny Man Trilogy - which is really book 5 of the Farseer trilogy - and who should walk onto the pages but the characters out of the Liveship series by Robin Hobb!!! Slightly faded in my memory, but carrying the glow of another series well written and read - they are in a room with these new characters!
An assult to the senses? Its like seeing a close friend from the past having tea with close friends from now and feeling in a time warp! Authors can do that! Life can too...
How do we put our sequential life together. We live analog but our brain is digital - sorting memories where it will. Clustering not in a time sequence but with other logic. So a scene we view suddenly brings back painful - or beautiful - or familiar feelings from a past time - now. And we reel a bit trying to make sense of the mix.
A grandchild becomes for an instant the child who then bore them.... your mother becomes for an instant your grandmother - her mother.... your father becomes you for a whish as you look in the mirror with tired eyes and see his just before he died.
How does a book of fiction so capture our minds and imagination amidst our own realities and imaginings?
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Beyond the arguments
Now that I have finished Brian McLaren's generous orthodoxy some reflections! My overwhelming impression is that Brian is not going to let theological arguments come between him and encouraging the kingdom of God on earth! Not arguments about hell, or denominational stances on baptism or liturgies, or approaches like pentacostalism versus meditative, or rationales for Jesus' death, or even one religion versus another. He goes for a "post" position - beyond theological turf! He says that Jesus didn't plan to start a religion - just encourage people to follow the fundamentals of loving God (without a rigid definition) and your neighbour (whether from different churches, religions, beliefs - friends or enemies)..... and the rest is kind of .... well... superfluous! And I liked his style.
Some passages from his book that I particularly liked:
"How many children in Sunday school learn (that) radical sense of Christian servant identity as opposed to Christians are nice people and know the truth and do good. Non Christians are bad people who don't. Therefore we need to avoid non-Christians or convert them as fast as possible or try to pass laws to keep them under control and protect ourselves from them - until we can escape them forever in heaven?"
"The more I learn from Jesus, the more I cringe when I read passages in Exodus or Joshua where the God of love and universal compassion, to whom Jesus has introduced me, allegedly commands what today we would call brutality, chauvinism, ethnic cleansing or holocast. I ache when biblical passages are used to reinforce an escapist, determinsitic or fatalistic view of the future, to assert the subjugation of women by men, or to justify a careless attitude towards our beautiful God-given planet".
"...I don't beleive that making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many circumstances (not all!!) to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Bhuddhist, Hindu or Jewish contexts".
So go Brian! Such a refreshing, "now" centred faith that is inclusive, humble and outward focused.
Some passages from his book that I particularly liked:
"How many children in Sunday school learn (that) radical sense of Christian servant identity as opposed to Christians are nice people and know the truth and do good. Non Christians are bad people who don't. Therefore we need to avoid non-Christians or convert them as fast as possible or try to pass laws to keep them under control and protect ourselves from them - until we can escape them forever in heaven?"
"The more I learn from Jesus, the more I cringe when I read passages in Exodus or Joshua where the God of love and universal compassion, to whom Jesus has introduced me, allegedly commands what today we would call brutality, chauvinism, ethnic cleansing or holocast. I ache when biblical passages are used to reinforce an escapist, determinsitic or fatalistic view of the future, to assert the subjugation of women by men, or to justify a careless attitude towards our beautiful God-given planet".
"...I don't beleive that making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many circumstances (not all!!) to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Bhuddhist, Hindu or Jewish contexts".
So go Brian! Such a refreshing, "now" centred faith that is inclusive, humble and outward focused.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Fools and Philosophy
I have been totally absorbed in my Robin Hobb books on Fitz and the Fool (The farseer trilogy). Rarely have I been so taken by a series. And I had to read it from paperbacks because you just can't get them in Australia via kindle - no idea why....copywrite issues or something. Not sure why it was so captivating - it certainly had all of the fantasy elements I discussed in an earlier blog.....and some interesting philosophical discussions between some of the characters (the "fool" was quite entertaining). It didn't finish with the hero running off with the damsel..... but still was very satisfying.
And then I found out that there was a follow-up series!!! The tawny man's trilogy!!!! what a find. But I guess they won't be available on kindle either.....but it is nice to feel paper in your hand sometimes too....
So with the triology finsihed, I turned to something different and dowloaded a book by Brian Mclaren called A Generous Orthodoxy. I have read earlier books by him and been impressed - a new kind of Christianity. I had wondered once whether this might be my "in" to stay in the Christian church - and it came close. Brian seems to be in a general movement to free up the thinking in the Church away from building walls and to be more open with the way they approach the world. In this book he says..."people who try to label me an excluvisist, inclusivist, or universalist on the issue of hell will find here only more reason for frustration. To them this categorisation is essential for determining whether I am orthodox (by their definition); but in my definition of orthodoxy, these terms and the question they seek to answer easily become "weapons of mass distraction". To say that I seek to believe whatever Jesus taught about hell, and for whatever purpose, will not satisfy them, even though it true..." This is starting to sound good..... not coming up with a doctrinal truth as such - but rather trying to understand why something was expressed in a certain way - the underlying message at the time. This is very "new history" and Foucoudian. And I like the sound of it. So I will read on and see what this book offers me in my dealing with my Christian heritage.
Speaking of Christian writers who I have some time for, an English writer Adrian Plass, is certainly right up there on on the list - helped me to see that it is possible to follow the essentials of Jesus without being dsitracted by the silliness of the Church. His latest book is a collection of poems that encompass many years and different phases of his life and is very rich and honest and refeshing. Its called "Silences and Nonsenses". As he says in the forward "To have them all, good, funny, serious, sensible and silly, collected into one volume is more exciting than I can say". And I can agree and recommend it to all.
And then I found out that there was a follow-up series!!! The tawny man's trilogy!!!! what a find. But I guess they won't be available on kindle either.....but it is nice to feel paper in your hand sometimes too....
So with the triology finsihed, I turned to something different and dowloaded a book by Brian Mclaren called A Generous Orthodoxy. I have read earlier books by him and been impressed - a new kind of Christianity. I had wondered once whether this might be my "in" to stay in the Christian church - and it came close. Brian seems to be in a general movement to free up the thinking in the Church away from building walls and to be more open with the way they approach the world. In this book he says..."people who try to label me an excluvisist, inclusivist, or universalist on the issue of hell will find here only more reason for frustration. To them this categorisation is essential for determining whether I am orthodox (by their definition); but in my definition of orthodoxy, these terms and the question they seek to answer easily become "weapons of mass distraction". To say that I seek to believe whatever Jesus taught about hell, and for whatever purpose, will not satisfy them, even though it true..." This is starting to sound good..... not coming up with a doctrinal truth as such - but rather trying to understand why something was expressed in a certain way - the underlying message at the time. This is very "new history" and Foucoudian. And I like the sound of it. So I will read on and see what this book offers me in my dealing with my Christian heritage.
Speaking of Christian writers who I have some time for, an English writer Adrian Plass, is certainly right up there on on the list - helped me to see that it is possible to follow the essentials of Jesus without being dsitracted by the silliness of the Church. His latest book is a collection of poems that encompass many years and different phases of his life and is very rich and honest and refeshing. Its called "Silences and Nonsenses". As he says in the forward "To have them all, good, funny, serious, sensible and silly, collected into one volume is more exciting than I can say". And I can agree and recommend it to all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)