Saturday, March 10, 2007

More to ponder

from David Rhodes "Lenten Adventure" - which has lots of good things presented in very digestible daily nuggets. I'm not at all sure how I came by the book (I was allowed to plunder the shelves of a retiring cleric last summer, and suspect it may have originated there) but I was drawn to it by a foreward by one of my heroines, Janet Morley, who sold the book thus

‘Each week Lenten Adventure takes one of the comfortable phrases of the much-loved Lord’s Prayer and renders it dangerous again....'

With some big stuff going on for me at the moment, these words leaped off the page at me last week at Llan, and have refused stubbornly to go away.
"God is by nature energy for change....God is the creative force which grings life into being...The problem arise when human beings want to enclose and control that creative force. If we try to shut that energy up in a box or a metal dustbin, we are likely to end up with a loud bang!....We need to examine the possibiity that God may not be quiet and docile, and that the Christ person may be a very challenging, provocative figure".

He's not a tame lion...
Energy bursting out of a confined space. New life bursting from womb or tomb...now that really is a Lenten adventure!
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2 comments:

  1. dp2311:06 AM

    When did you last tiptoe out of the sanctuary when you dare not say a word? The church has to rediscover two things. One, the majesty and the Holiness of God, and the other, the sinfulness of sin. (Leonard Ravenhill)

    When the guys were in the boat when Jesus calmed the storm, I'm convinced they were more afraid when the storm was over. They knew the terror of near-death in a storm; but know they knew a new terror – the terror of a God Who can calm a storm. I don't think there are enough terrified people in the church. The church is made up of people who have God all figured out.....Our world is tired of people whose God is tame. It is longing to see people whose God is big and holy and frightening and gentle and tender...and ours; a God whose love frightens us into His strong and powerful arms where He longs to whisper those terrifying words, "I love you." (Mike Yaconelli)

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  2. Kathryn10:44 PM

    David, I LOVE Mike Yaconelli. Thanks for reminding me of that bit - which equates with the Annie Dillard bit about needing to wear a hard hat during worship.
    Reverence and fear. I wonder what happened to those!

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