1. Who do they say that we are? (Sept 20/13)
2. Who do you say that I am? (Sept 26/13)
3. Who do I say that you are? (Oct 4/13)
4. Who do we say that we are? (Oct 12/13)
Who do we say that we are?
Compost
This 4-part series has been grounded in questions that begin with the question, “Who … ?” Throughout this journey, it seems that the use of vignettes or snap-shots has been a helpful way to muse through the questions. I guess, true to that form, I will end this last Who-blog in that manner.
The following two responses to the question are offered as story-lines or narratives. I do not claim that they are in any way authoritative, but I do pray – at the least – they are provocative enough to stir the imagination and may very well lead to discussion.
Each of the images – cremation and compost – that grounds the following discussion, have been borrowed by me for this blog from a recent time of listening and learning from Nadia Bolz-Weber during her time here in Winnipeg. I hope that my presumption honours the passion with which she shared.
Cremation: We are a church that comes out of a context that honours ideas such as behaving, commitment and discipline. This milieu now finds itself confronted with a changing landscape to such a degree that we feel ill-equipped to respond and/or change. And – even when there is energy to consider such a shift – the task can feel overwhelming. Distrust in one another, interpersonal angst and uncertainty leads to an inward gaze that can distract us from the need for the Good News outside of the walls of our faith communities. And – sometimes – those literal walls only reinforce this sense of being a stranger in a land that we once called home. And, in exile, there is the distinct possibility that we may die, be cremated and the footprints we once followed with certainty may fade as our memory recedes.
Cremation
Compost: We are a church that finds itself surrounded by a context that longs for belonging, community and trust and yet is distrustful of institutions that value ideas such as behaving, commitment and discipline. Into this emergent time, we know that the way we once walked and the manner in which we once talked no longer translates into the world beyond our walls. New tools, new words, and new metaphors are needed to share that for which we long and know to be true, that the Holy One reminds us:
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43.19
Into this time, we walk out into the world, ask what is needed, discern what needs nurture, how we might harness the abundance which we have inherited from those upon whose shoulders we stand and begin to plant seeds anew. And as we begin to do the doing in a new way, it may very well happen that we may never see the new thing.
I am not sure where we are going; both stories may contain truth and are not intended to be seen as binaries. They – however – hopefully stimulate the mind to realise that we have choices to make and that agency is ours to live into, because no matter what we end up doing the breath of God – the Spirit will and does fly – she will touch lives and transform them. Who might be the agents of Ruah, however, is only know to that which we call the Wisdom of God … may it be so!
Your reflections are most welcome!