The Wide Embrace

Three times in the last day, I have thought of something in particular, so I think that means I need to write about it. This is not my typical weekly message but I think it is important.

René Girard is a professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is also one of the 40 Immorteles  of the French Academy. His field is not simple. He has crossed all sorts of boundaries of disciplines in the creation of what he calls mimetic theory. Simply put is that humans learn by imitating one another. Simple, you may say. Of course, we all know that. For Girard however this is the beginning of all culture from the smallest early village to much larger societies. And also, it was also what converted Girard from an atheist to become a Christ-follower.

Please bear with me--I know that I am over-simplifying. Life in the village goes at its own pace until one day there is a disturbance in the air. It affects everyone. It's all against all, until someone points at a person and says "It's their fault!" Suddenly, it becomes all against one, and that one becomes the scapegoat for the community. The scapegoat is either shunned, banished or sacrificed. Order is restored, almost magically it seems. Thus the event is remembered with an aura of mana or power. The next time there is a "disturbance" in the force, the memory is brought forth; in some way it is re-enacted. If order is restored, all is well, but sometimes more than the reenactment is needed, and this leads to a new scapegoat, a new sacrifice. If this does not work, more sacrifices are required, or one of a higher status. Eventually, the ultimate role of a king is to be the sacrifice when needed. All of the victims have a degree of innocence, and yet also of culpability.

This brings us to Jesus--the incarnation of the triune God who is always creating, redeeming, sustaining. Knowing humankind full well including our proclivities towards imitation, scapegoating and violence, the latter two of which are far from creating, redeeming and sustaining, our triune God chose to become one of us in order to draw us closer into the communion of the threefold embrace. I say knowing full well deliberately because I believe that God could foresee the path we were likely to take, but that did not deter God. The path we took was the one we had always taken. When the disturbance came, we turned and pointed, demanding a sacrifice. God did not demand the sacrifice; we did. And this sacrifice upon the cross of the One truly innocent victim, with no culpability, broke the power of sacrifice--forever. Oh, we still try, but it cannot bring peace and order ever again. Just look at what we do in the world when we go our own way.

God's atonement--accepting our demand for sacrifice of Jesus as the scapegoat--was to open God's "arms" wide to embrace us with the love that was from before creation, that comes into our midst, and that calls us forward into full communion with God.

Each time we remember this act, especially when we are at the Table, we are not re-enacting a sacrifice from long ago. We are participating in the open embrace of God's atonement, of the grace and mercy that accepts us where we are with our human proclivities--to point, to scapegoat--and loves us into being the incarnation, the Body of Christ to carry this embrace into the world.

I understand why an atheist became a Christ-follower who has to stand in awe as he receives the embrace of Christ's arms spread wide.

Ephesians 2:15a-16

That he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

Our Stories

“Do you remember when?” someone asks, and then the stories roll eliciting laughter, tears, smiles, memories and even questions. The questions often come because of differing perspectives. One person remembers an event one way, and another has a different memory of what happened. At times, my mother would tell me that an event I remembered did not happen, or that my memory was wrong. This is why eyewitnesses to a scene can recall details so differently that we wonder if they saw the same thing happen.

Our memories, our stories are a part of what makes us who we are. They can be told to explain how we got where we are, and why we can or cannot do something. I have been reading a book* that suggests we look at our stories in a new way, not changing the facts but seeing new possibilities that point toward hope. As soon as I read this, I immediately thought of an exchange with my first family systems coach. As I talked about my mother’s obvious favoring of my brother, something that had always felt like a lack in my life, she pointed out how lucky I was to have been out of the intense focus of my mother so that could I grow up more freely than my brother. Just that one change, not in the facts but in seeing what they could mean, has made a huge difference for me.

When we tell our stories we remind ourselves and others of the way we have come, and so we may tell them or remember them differently because we are looking through a particular lens to understand. That does not mean that any of the stories, or versions of stories are not true. They may each speak to a different aspect of the truth. For a start, look at Genesis 1 vis a vis Genesis 2, and then at Psalm 8, Psalm 19 and Psalm 104. Each tells of God’s Creation through a particular lens. Each helps us find new understanding that can lead to a greater fullness in our life.

My story is not set in stone; it is alive with all possibilities and purpose in the fullness of God who is Three-in-One, creating me, redeeming me and sanctifying me at all times and in all ways.

Psalm 19:1-2

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.

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* Community: The Structure of Belonging, Peter Block.

Trust. Hope. Wait.

There are times when my mind goes so fast, especially when I am working with other people, or working on a particular idea, that a moment of letdown comes in the aftermath. It’s not that I am no longer thinking, but more that I am overwhelmed. This week has been like that to the max. Maybe it’s because I was away for ten days and feel the need to get going. During my swim on Tuesday, I had all kinds of ideas for the Fall going through my head. Working at our staff meeting had all kinds of energy bubbling up. Tuesday night at our Witness Team meeting, our ideas were flowing and building on each other. The book I am reading for my paper is so good that I find nuggets on almost every page.

And now, I need to let all of that wonderful work soak down into the ground of my being and allow the Spirit to nurture what needs to grow at this time and let other parts remain fallow for the moment. That’s the hard part for me. I feel as though I get steam built up and I have to run at full tilt when the Spirit may be saying to me, “Let’s work on this for a bit. Let it rest and see what comes to fruition.”

It’s all about trust. I need to be an active participant, yes, but it’s all about God’s vision, not mine. Trust. Wait. See. Wait. Listen. Hope. Trust. David Bailey Harned’s words still echo in my soul: “In the end, God’s will will be done.” Not my will. Not my way. Your way. Your will. Trust. Hope. Wait.

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore.

The Heart of our Home

While I have been preparing for this transition for quite some time, now it is a reality. The house in which Jeff and I lived for the longest of anywhere in our lives both together and apart, and where our boys lived the longest, is now becoming the home for another family. A house becomes a home when a family of one or more persons make it a place for love.

Our home definitely was a place of love. Of course, angry words were spoken there. Feelings were hurt. At the heart of it, though, was love for each other, and love for our Triune God. On the chimney there was a diamond-shaped pattern in the brick. Jeff painted the whole chimney in the Frank Lloyd Wright color he loved, Cherokee Red, but he decided to use a dark green to paint three of the bricks in the diamond shape. These three bricks formed a triangle. At first all of our plantings were done in patterns of three. That eventually fell by the wayside as some plants thrived while others did not. The pattern of three wherever it was found was intentional in honoring our God who is Three-in-One.

 While we now live elsewhere, and another family will soon live in the house, the heart of our home is always our love for God and for each other. I pray that the new family will find the resonance of that love there for them as well.

Psalm 52:8

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.

Reveal codes

Back in the days of MS-DOS, there was a simple function key (F10, I think) that would reveal the codes of what one was writing. There would be moments of sheer frustration when I could not get the formatting right, not until I remembered to hit “reveal codes.” Then I could see right where the rascally format code was hiding that was preventing my copy from doing what I wanted it to.  Jeff and I both liked the metaphor of the “reveal codes” when we were trying to understand something.

As a single mom over the last three years, I have had to be more intentional and overt in “revealing codes” than I had been before. My parents did not often discuss the reasons underlying their actions or decisions. In my family, a decision was pretty much an edict. I decided, especially since I was the only parent left, that I needed to be more open in why I make the decisions I make. That does not mean that they are not firm decisions; it is just that as my sons have grown to be young men, they need to see behind the scenes more so they can understand more about making their own decisions.

Proverbs 2:2-5

Making your ear attentive to wisdom
 and inclining your heart to understanding; 
if you indeed cry out for insight,
and raise your voice for understanding; 
if you seek it like silver, 
and search for it as for hidden treasures—
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
 and find the knowledge of God.