Power went out at our house Friday night. We were not alone. Thousands lost power. Some are still waiting on electric companies to turn the lights back on.
Friday afternoon we suffered another loss. The power went out. There is no more waiting for her. The power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in her.
Dallas Willard remarked before his death that, according to his understanding of human consciousness and Resurrection, it might be some time before he realized he had died. If that is true, the accident that took Catherine’s life did not interrupt her awareness of the love of God. The Apostle Paul concluded such a conviction about the love of God and the notion of separation. “Nor death,” he wrote.
The blog has been quiet for a few days. And, it may for a several more. We will share in a Memorial Service this Friday. This is not the first time our church family has lost a young person. Five times in 19 years I have stood to grieve with families, friends, and this community. Each young person was unique because each life presented us with particularities of personality and relationship.
Tragedies often force us to defend the notion of a personal God that participates in the events of life. My skeptic friends deny magic but then accuse God of not performing such in times like these. I care not to get into a protracted defense at this point. What I am concerned with is that we take more time to hone our skills than our arguments.
Books abound on apologetics. I think we need to apologize. What matters more, and seemed so to Jesus, is the learned practice and participation in Divine Love. Were we more adept at loving the unloved, the hard to love, and those that do not want love we may offer a stiffer defense of both the Incarnation and the Resurrection. For us at Snow Hill, I am hoping that is the path we take when answering the question, “What’s a Church To Do?”
I offered some thoughts on the life of Jesus as we faced that question this past Sunday. I generally do not link to my own sermonic endeavors. But, as odd as it sounds, I may need to listen again a time or two as I need Jesus mediated to me early and often. If you are inclined, here is the link.
Underneath the Tunic or, What Do Rachel Held Evans and Rob Bell Have In Common?
Equal treatment. Rachel Held Evans and Rob Bell suffered the same hammer when facing the prospects of offering a different vision for how we talk about others in relationship to our pronouncements as final. For many the hammer is the only tool in the box and everyone who disagrees, or poses a different possibility, becomes… Continue Reading