Thoughts of a Traveler During Advent
I'm a bit of a "Johnny-come-lately" I know, but in reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz I find myself thinking a few of the same thoughts I did when I read New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. The thoughts of these men really do resonate and make sense to me. I wouldn't say I'm doing a 180 from all I've ever known of the structure of my Christian faith and now am soaring head long into emergent church thought, yet! the writings of these men have awakened in me a hunger for the "other" of God. Probably no different than Rudolf Otto or Bruegemann have done in me. Blue Like Jazz has helped me to see faith and church and grace and love in a very refreshing light. In fact the frankness of Miller is very, very refreshing. I know as a member of Gen. X it would seem I would like to continue in the sameness of some Christian praxis that has been handed down by a majority boomer generation, but in the case of Miller's thoughts I could honestly say that at times I wished I was a Millennial. I say that only to say that post-1980 kids grew up with a certain ability to identify authenticity and in some regards live authenticity. This is what I hunger for in my own faith circle at times. Well, Blue Like Jazz helps me, us, see that paradigms are meant to shift. Do I conclude the ways of the elders are wrong or misguided? No, but think if you will, on what it could mean to our faith and churches if we all came clean as Miller seems to be doing in Blue Like Jazz. Maybe the byproduct is a spiritual movement by which even the likes of a Joel Osteen would be amazed.
Finally, this Advent means to me the application of grace, peace, mercy, joy and love to my family and friends (yep enemies too) in even greater measure because even though I'm ughhh...hmm..30...hmmnn...huhggh 5! I have lived long enough to know that it truly is peace that rules out, it is love that reigns strong and it is mercy that needs to be shown...the shema in flesh, this is the Advent message to me.
As Mary, be thou unto me O Lord as You have said. Merry Christmas to all 4 of my readers.
I'm a bit of a "Johnny-come-lately" I know, but in reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz I find myself thinking a few of the same thoughts I did when I read New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. The thoughts of these men really do resonate and make sense to me. I wouldn't say I'm doing a 180 from all I've ever known of the structure of my Christian faith and now am soaring head long into emergent church thought, yet! the writings of these men have awakened in me a hunger for the "other" of God. Probably no different than Rudolf Otto or Bruegemann have done in me. Blue Like Jazz has helped me to see faith and church and grace and love in a very refreshing light. In fact the frankness of Miller is very, very refreshing. I know as a member of Gen. X it would seem I would like to continue in the sameness of some Christian praxis that has been handed down by a majority boomer generation, but in the case of Miller's thoughts I could honestly say that at times I wished I was a Millennial. I say that only to say that post-1980 kids grew up with a certain ability to identify authenticity and in some regards live authenticity. This is what I hunger for in my own faith circle at times. Well, Blue Like Jazz helps me, us, see that paradigms are meant to shift. Do I conclude the ways of the elders are wrong or misguided? No, but think if you will, on what it could mean to our faith and churches if we all came clean as Miller seems to be doing in Blue Like Jazz. Maybe the byproduct is a spiritual movement by which even the likes of a Joel Osteen would be amazed.
Finally, this Advent means to me the application of grace, peace, mercy, joy and love to my family and friends (yep enemies too) in even greater measure because even though I'm ughhh...hmm..30...hmmnn...huhggh 5! I have lived long enough to know that it truly is peace that rules out, it is love that reigns strong and it is mercy that needs to be shown...the shema in flesh, this is the Advent message to me.
As Mary, be thou unto me O Lord as You have said. Merry Christmas to all 4 of my readers.
posted by zimmerzblogz at
7:31 PM
1 Comments:
Nice post, thanks for your thoughts.
By
J.R., at 4:02 PM, December 28, 2005
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