Christianity a tradition to be embraced and experienced
There is just a little bit of water for the ducks to swim.
IT ia early Saturday morning and it is raining so by the end of the day the snow should be all gone.
Quotes from "A People's History of Christianity"
What should we teach our children?
Christianity is under attach by secular humanists and their self-assured religious cousins, often vacillating between rejecting the past and bear its weight.
Eyes open to scripture, Christian history and prayer have found this a tradition to be embraced and experienced. Devotion and social justice.
Our faith community is called to remember and tether contemporary faith to ancient wisdom.
Post traditional people still hanker for spiritual inspiration, wanting to hear (and understand) stories that strengthen our connection to God and to our neighbors. In the words of Jesus: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart. . .and your neighbor as yourself."
Without a sense of history, progressive Christianity remains unmoored, lacking the deep confidence that comes with being a part of a community over time. Ignorance is to be feared not tradition. History should be allowed to speak in new settings.
"Communities of memory that tie us to the past also turn us toward the future as communities of love."
Sociologist Robert Bellah
(I do not want my church to be just a social club of good like minded people, nor do I want it to be just political.) Scholars have been scouring the earliest decades of church history, looking for (the true) Jesus.
(We now have new interruption's to enlighten our path and help us journey with Jesus)
(It is not just about orthodoxy but about our past when Christians acted like real believers.)
The church has never got it completely right nor completely wrong. The goal now is to deepen spiritual practices and renew a vision of social justice.
Being a generative Christian myself, I always hold to the possibility of new life arising from darkness and death (generative Christians call such optimism "resurrection".
-Diana Butler Bass
Our coldest day.
Throwing snowballs a great tradition!
3 comments:
l have never heard the term 'Generative Christianity before. l would be interested to hear more. There is much to learn from being present with people of strong faith as they face the ending of their lives here on earth with such courage Thank you once again for your thoughtful blogs , love and blessings Jane
looking at the ducks reminds me of a movie i just watched " a big year " with steve martin. Good family movie.Sorry your guy lost in the tennis, good for australia though.
Ken
I agree that tradition is not to be feared, or rejected mindlessly. For example, I have more respect and interest in the British roots of much of our political and economic history than I did many years ago when that all seemed just old-fashioned. But, in my view, neither is tradition to be accepted mindlessly. The whole British thing about wearing stupid little white wigs in court, for example, is a tradition that can be considered and put into the garbage can where it belongs.
Love,
Rick
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