- Share, if you wish, the biggest change you experienced this past year.
I think one reason I became depressed toward the end of the year is because there had been so little change. No romantic relationship; same job with same daily routine. Same words and phrases getting recycled in my poetry. Same pictures of the same cat. Same nightly routine with the same night-time soap operas and comedies. Same, same, same.
Yes, it did become a cycle of sorts. The sameness fed the depression, and the depression lowered any energy I might have devoted to changing the routine. Some changes within the past month:- With the worst of my cold behind me, my mental attitude has improved
- This attitude has also gotten an artificial boost from the steroids I'm taking for inflammation in my Eustachian tube.
- I've started power-walking once a week at a local mall. I hope to maintain this discipline (the iPod helps), and increase the number of times I walk each week
- Talk about a time you changed your mind about something, important or not.
I am reminded of the first time I went to Kansas City, MO. I had gifted my former wife a trip to the jazz festival there, including a stay at a nice hotel. I seemed to have an exceptionally poor sense of direction. If I chose to turn left, I should have turned right, and vice versa. I even started playing mind games: "I think I should turn left, so I should actually turn right." Murphy's Law dominated, and in these instances it would turn out my initial instinct had been correct. - Bishop John Shelby Spong wrote a controversial book [titled] Why Christianity Must Change or Die. Setting aside his ideas – what kind of changes would you like to see in the Church?
In the history of the early church, it's clear the church was not afraid of adopting ideas and images from other traditions. The earliest example of this is Paul's "To A God Unknown" sermon recorded in the Book of Acts. The church would "baptize" symbols, traditions, and concepts from other religions as a means of encouraging people to convert to Christianity.
Many today have a distrust of those "pagan" symbols (e.g. Halloween). This is unfortunate. Others refuse to engage modern culture on the grounds the church will become "polluted" by it. There's no question regarding the Christian content of U2's lyrics, as one obvious example, but might there be a Christian (or at least spiritual) layer in other popular media?
Can we find new meaningful titles for God and Christ? How meaningful is it to say "Jesus is Lord" when our popular concept of a lord is a relatively powerless figurehead? How meaningful is to say "The Lord is my shepherd" when most Americans have no experience of sheep outside of a zoo? Though the phrase "Jesus is my CEO" grates on my ears, it is at least a step in the right direction. - Have you changed your hairstyle/hair color in the last five years? If so, how many times?
No. However, my hairstyle has changed naturally. My forehead real estate is rapidly increasing (advertising available at reasonable rates!) and I have gained a natural tonsure (as shown here). - What WERE they thinking with that New Coke thing?
They counted on the thrill of the new, and discounted generations of customer loyalty. Fear of the new is not limited to certain denominations; the general populace tends to be resistant to rapid change.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Friday Five: ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Suggested by Reverend Mother.
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8 comments:
Great answers, especially #3.
Well played! My husband is having the same sort of hairstyle change...
Yes, #3 is very interesting! Gord oveer at "Following Frodo" has the same hairstyle problem as you do it seems.
well played- glad you are coping with depression in creative ways...I find walking helps too...
as for no. 3- you've really challenged me- I need to go away and tink!
or think even!
Cool thoughts.. well played. My BBS (beloved bearded spouse) actually is not showing more real estate... good genes?
d
Brother Dave comments: "Though I have no particular interest in the theology of Christianity and less in the organized institution, if there were to be a change that I could direct it would not be changing the labels on the packaging ("New, Improved, Longer Lasting Godstuff"). Rather, it would be to ignore most of the babbling of a man who was not even a sparkle in his grandparent's eyes when Jesus taught and preached (if that was indeed the man's name). In discarding those writings, so valuable to Constantine's political purpose and hence so readily grasped by the guys in Nicene, opens the door to seeing the times of Jesus in a more clear light - a time of social unrest. While "Liberation Theology" became corrupt (as Ed Abbey wisely noted, "power attracts the worst and corrupts the best"), the notion of a social revolutionary component to the Jesus story is an accurate fit for the historical facts, at least as this atheist understands them."
Brother Dave,
Your insight is well-taken. I think what Jonah describes goes well-beyond rebranding. Just as Luther envisioned a theology that was devoid of so much political (and liturgical) clutter, the modern Church must also beware customs and language that dilute their spiritual intent.
I see family and friends in a collection of churches calling themselves “reformed” inventing a secret language that does little other than to identify the “we” and the “not we”. This modern practice is in effect the same problem as a hierarchical professional priesthood that barters the favor of the Church. In both cases, the appropriate course of action is to focus on intent, result, and modern application of the central theology.
As for dear old Paul, I don’t see any reason to reject his insights, any more than I do those of Luke, those of Gautama Buddha, of Charles Darwin, of my pastor, or of my friends. No one has a monopoly on wisdom. The greatest threat I see to modern Christian theology is the choice to back personal and political beliefs into the source, and cherry-pick scripture and teachers to compel others to submit to one’s own way of thinking.
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