In about two months we will welcome our first grandchild. I could not help but think of this coming event as I read through the Hosea passage for this coming Sunday. It is not that I expect our grandchild to run from the “tending and lifting” offered by his loving family. No, it was the very thought of tending and lifting that caught my attention.

My mind raced to our two girls and the days spent “tending and lifting.” We could not wait for them to learn to walk. And walk they did. On occasion they exhibited a mind of their own. They knew where they wanted to go even if where they wanted to go jeopardized their safety. I am sure there were times where I talked to myself about them. And, God has a conversation with Godself as he reflects on his people metaphorically referred to as “his son.”

 

 Bending and Lifting [15:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5)

Too often questions that emerge between science and theology sidetrack the occasions where there is agreement. In this week’s weekly video, see the right sidebar, the question of soft-wired human tendencies seem strikingly similar to the aim Jesus pointed at in exhibiting what Willard describes as the most fully human person to ever live.

Some will see in this move, unfortunately, a derision of Jesus’ divinity. That is a mistake. If, as Peter noted, Jesus has left us an example that we should walk in, it seems then we should consider Jesus’ Way an aim for our own embodiment.

“You can’t handle the truth!” Saturday I watched A Few Good Men. Again. Some youngsters have a crush on Justin Bieber. I like Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, and Kiefer Sutherland. There are not a few poignant scenes. Aside from provoking Colonel Jessup (Nicholson) to declare Lieutenant Kaffee (Cruise) could not handle the truth, there is a scene where Cruise and Moore are debating how to manage Kaffee’s (Cruise’s) new case. In a fever pitch of emotion trying to make his point, Cruise tells Moore, “I only believe what I can prove.” Moore had just told Cruise she believed in the innocence of the accused but had no proof. Classic. (My weekly video in the right sidebar on the home page offers another important clip that forms seed for this post.)

How do we proceed? Many people we encounter outside the Church, and make no mistake inside the Church,  look for some kind of verification – either affirmation or a falsification. We in the Church have become very adept at shouting our affirmations. But, we seem to be singing in a barrel on many occasions. My last, admittedly snarky, post raised the question in a different way. At its heart I rejected the idea that any kind of transformation comes in a system where figure heads speak for the majority from a distance, detached and disconnected.

Our theological impulses must derive from a well thought out understanding of our own humanity, presence, embodiment.