Category: Personal

somewhere alone

Daily writing prompt
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
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I love where I live now. It is more than a house; it is a “home for a solitary”. To be honest, I am thinking of moving. Maybe it is simply my state of mind at the moment? I am disappointed in people. I can only change “me” so. I need to lower my expectations. That does not change the darkness within at the moment. Being a nobody with no history and no story would be magic. So the option is moving to somewhere to be alone.

But it must be Merton’s hermitage if I could live somewhere else. In pictures, it looks so idyllic. It has a chapel, an altar, a stove, and an open fireplace. So that is where I would live if I could.

alone

Daily writing prompt
What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?
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As an enclosed solitary, I live alone to not skip any part of my routine. The space it gives me, the solitude and silence, is the freedom to be present in the moment to Jesus. The routine is to return – to return to Jesus in the now.

The life I lived before was all about skipping that moment of return. It was about other people, and, as I have realised, it was spent chasing other people’s affection.

But, on a purely practical level, I try to skip housework!

maybe?!

Sometimes, I wonder if the modern church could make me a follower of Jesus. Some of the things I hear from “church people” are completely disconnected from everyday life. (That includes my everyday life! And, honestly, I get more push-back from church people to living as an enclosed solitary.) Maybe the best way is to say that the church is very good at answering questions that no one asks.

I am just a voter, a consumer, or a “parishioner,” and I should behave accordingly. Sometimes, I am told that I am very privileged to be a voter, a consumer, or a parishioner. The message is that I am called to surrender me for the community.

Maybe the following quote makes the point much better:

It is frequently said that a reformation has to begin with each person’s reformation of himself, but it has not happened that way, for the idea of reformation has given rise to a hero, who very likely bought his license to be a hero very dearly from God.

A little further, Kierkegaard writes:

… the abstraction of leveling is a principle that forms no personal, intimate relation to any particular individual, but only the relation of abstraction, which is the same for all. No hero, then, suffers for others or helps others; leveling itself becomes the severe taskmaster who takes on the task of educating.

Two Ages

In the end, I am stuck. Forward or backward? Prophesy or escape? Should I risk all (including me) for a community with little interest in me?

Anyway …

shibboleth

Then the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. Whenever one of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites fell at that time.

Judges 12:5-6

can Jesus hit a curve ball?

I watched Major League last night. It is one of my go-to movies when I want to just “chill.” In the movie, one of the characters, Eddie Harris, asks, “Are you saying Jesus cannot hit a curve ball?“

I think the question centres on Jesus’ humanity – as the God-Man, is he perfect in skill? Is “hitting a curve ball” part of perfection? Did Jesus ever burn the breakfast for his disciples? Or, to put it negatively, is it “sinful” not to be able to hit a curve ball?

Does this involve the communicatio idiomatum (communication of attributes)?

So, can Jesus hit a curve ball?

pray harder

Daily writing prompt
What podcasts are you listening to?
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So, I am not a huge consumer of podcasts. I was in the past.

I recently listened to The Secrets We Keep: Pray Harder. I like cults, and this one is local. The podcast was somewhat one-sided and a little simplistic, but I really enjoyed it. I cannot expect all podcasts to be a theological exploration within a wider historical context. One thing that always interests me is the assumption of intent on the part of the leader. Anyway, interesting.

Also, as I have your attention, I am doing a podcast. (And, to be honest, doesn’t everyone.) I have a trailer for Season 1 in the feed. I am hoping to record on a Friday. Just random stuff!

accountability

So, to be transparent, I believe in accountability. Each of us will one day need to give an account of our life and actions (or lack thereof). In this, I stand alone before God.

Sin is very much connected. Yes, I think there is such a thing. Without my sin, there is no Jesus as my Saviour. Sin is not a moral failure (doing the wrong thing) but a broken relationship that shows itself in my actions and desires. And the great news is that Jesus steps towards me and bridges the gap when I cannot move.

How outrages!?