Canticles of the Unhomed
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The Evolution
Been in Saskatchewan for a couple of weeks, and now that I am back I find myself struggling to settle back into some kind of routine.
I was talking with my buddy Chuck today over spring rolls, and we were talking about the triteness of the whole "god-shaped hole" metaphor. However, the conclusion that we came to is that there is a "people-shaped hole" in our hearts. The more I think about it, the more I think we are all engineered to need people. It has long been my mantra that we experience God primarily through the community and our individual experience of God is only ancilliary to that. I think God has made us to be in relationship with people and to derive comfort, support and strength from other people. When I think about my primary relationships, I realize that I really depend on these people. Perhaps that's needy. But I am a needy man. The more I realize that I am a broken man, and an emotional wreck most of the time, the more I realize that it is OKAY to be needy. Of course, if you take anything too far it becomes unhealthy. But I think that the more we try to convince ourselves that we are not needy, that we are independent, that we don't rely on anyone for our happiness, the emptier our lives become.
When I think about this, I think about the humanity of Christ. Christ is a man - even now, today. That means he has a physical body with armpit hair and toenails. That also means he is subject to all that entails, apart from sin, of course. That means, he, as much as me or you, needs people. Consider the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus just comes from fighting with the religious leaders, and he is on his way to Jerusalem. Where does he go? He seeks out the company of the people that love him. Mary, Martha and Lazarus. These were his friends, people he would kick back and watch CSI with, people that loved him that he could just relax and be himself with. Martha, caught up in the practicalities of the moment, rushes around making drinks and getting the nachos in the oven. When she sees Mary just sitting there with Jesus, she gets ticked off and asks Jesus to tell her to get off her ass and help out. But what was Mary doing? We ave been taught that Mary was seeking after the imperishable, that she was sitting at the feet of Jesus, soaking in the wisdom. I think we had it backward. I think the reason that Jesus so honored Mary was that SHE was ministering to HIM. I can see it now. He's sitting in that house, watching Martha bustle about with tired eyes. What he's saying, is "listen, I'm spent, empty, tired, hungry, discouraged and afraid. More than anything I just need someone to sit with me, hold my hand and listen to me. That's what Mary is doing."
I wonder: should our worship/relationship with God then include some element that? Where we minister to Christ as one human to another? I can't abide the thought that Christ doesn't need people now because he has been resurrected, and possesses a perfect body and so on. He was just as human after the resurrection as he was before... he ate, he walked, he talked, etc. And moreover, how does this affect our relationships with others?
Just some ruminations as I continue my evolution.
I was talking with my buddy Chuck today over spring rolls, and we were talking about the triteness of the whole "god-shaped hole" metaphor. However, the conclusion that we came to is that there is a "people-shaped hole" in our hearts. The more I think about it, the more I think we are all engineered to need people. It has long been my mantra that we experience God primarily through the community and our individual experience of God is only ancilliary to that. I think God has made us to be in relationship with people and to derive comfort, support and strength from other people. When I think about my primary relationships, I realize that I really depend on these people. Perhaps that's needy. But I am a needy man. The more I realize that I am a broken man, and an emotional wreck most of the time, the more I realize that it is OKAY to be needy. Of course, if you take anything too far it becomes unhealthy. But I think that the more we try to convince ourselves that we are not needy, that we are independent, that we don't rely on anyone for our happiness, the emptier our lives become.
When I think about this, I think about the humanity of Christ. Christ is a man - even now, today. That means he has a physical body with armpit hair and toenails. That also means he is subject to all that entails, apart from sin, of course. That means, he, as much as me or you, needs people. Consider the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus just comes from fighting with the religious leaders, and he is on his way to Jerusalem. Where does he go? He seeks out the company of the people that love him. Mary, Martha and Lazarus. These were his friends, people he would kick back and watch CSI with, people that loved him that he could just relax and be himself with. Martha, caught up in the practicalities of the moment, rushes around making drinks and getting the nachos in the oven. When she sees Mary just sitting there with Jesus, she gets ticked off and asks Jesus to tell her to get off her ass and help out. But what was Mary doing? We ave been taught that Mary was seeking after the imperishable, that she was sitting at the feet of Jesus, soaking in the wisdom. I think we had it backward. I think the reason that Jesus so honored Mary was that SHE was ministering to HIM. I can see it now. He's sitting in that house, watching Martha bustle about with tired eyes. What he's saying, is "listen, I'm spent, empty, tired, hungry, discouraged and afraid. More than anything I just need someone to sit with me, hold my hand and listen to me. That's what Mary is doing."
I wonder: should our worship/relationship with God then include some element that? Where we minister to Christ as one human to another? I can't abide the thought that Christ doesn't need people now because he has been resurrected, and possesses a perfect body and so on. He was just as human after the resurrection as he was before... he ate, he walked, he talked, etc. And moreover, how does this affect our relationships with others?
Just some ruminations as I continue my evolution.
:: written by Matt Thompson, 7:11 PM
1 Comments:
Yeh Matt.
Right on. I'll be back to read more. This blog has the potential to change my life ( based upon what I do about what you wrote ).
Im the guy with the Mac @ starbucks with the book and the thing writing stuff about this and about that...
Right on. I'll be back to read more. This blog has the potential to change my life ( based upon what I do about what you wrote ).
Im the guy with the Mac @ starbucks with the book and the thing writing stuff about this and about that...
