The author of Luke is not as influenced by an immediate apocalypse because the kingdom is now understood as an already/not yet event prefaced upon real-time accessibility and an ultimate culmination to come at a later time. Luke is spiritually pragmatic.
There is no shortage of big and small talk regarding “apocalyptic themes,” “end times scenarios,” and the “anti-Christ” in North American Christian circles. It is an interesting phenomenon, to say the least. Perhaps Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins have something to do with it? I don’t know? Maybe it is all of those late night Cable TV “prophets?” maybe? Maybe some folk are just bat-shit crazy? Likely? I really can’t cite one reason for “End Times” popularity in the United States. There are probably many, many reasons for it. I do know that there is plenty of contextual material to seriously consider before jumping willy-nilly into apocalyptic conclusions and preaching them as if they were the gospel itself. One example of this sort of material/contextual consideration follows: Continue reading →
Spirituality is about community. A faith without physical community, social interaction and corporate mission is barely religious, if it is anything at all. Our spiritual tree’s most delectable offerings hang heavy from branches bent by the weight of fruit laden with human virtues, such as: love, generosity, patience, kindness, long-suffering, etc. This particular sort of fruit provides deep nourishment especially designed for social settings. So, it goes without saying: The spiritual life is an incurably communal venture, but, I must ask, is that all this life is? No. Continue reading →
Compassion is the key that will unlock the door to community unity, transformation, and honest expression that is liberated from detrimental systems of belief that only create obstacles that make conversations concerning perceived moral and ethical issues nearly impossible to accomplish without division.
Jesus of Nazareth’s Parable of The Good Samaritan is all about doing away with any system of belief that clashes with compassion. Continue reading →
Axis Mundi. It is a strange pair of words. Esoteric sounding? Yes. Perhaps it paints a shamanistic image in your mind? Maybe? Is it Buddhist? Yes, though it would definitely be articulated and expressed differently (think language, culture, custom, and symbol). It is Indigenous, Hindi, Islamic, Jewish, and Christian too. Again, it would definitely be articulated and expressed differently by each of these faiths. In fact, Axis Mundi, as a concept, is universally present in all faiths. We all actively engage Axis Mundi. We all employ unique expressions of language, culture, custom, and symbol in our effort to explain and share our experiences of it.
What is Axis Mundi? Axis Mundi is a mytheme – or a feature of a myth which may be shared with other, related myths – which expresses the idea or conceptual connection between earth and heaven or the mundane and transcendent. Most – if not all – faiths offer adherents the opportunity to connect deeply with the transcendent via a culturally recognizable experience that can be called Axis Mundi. This experience can be realized either in or through sacred, typological-laden narrative(s), or direct, personal experiences in real-time. Sometimes the experience is realized through both. At any rate, this experience can be called Axis Mundi, and again it is a feature present in nearly all faiths. Continue reading →
The Gospel of Luke’s reference to Jesus of Nazareth as ‘Savior’ has more to do with the later Christian community’s need for eschatological reconsideration and adjustment than the author’s Christological perception.
First of all, the gospel of Luke is the only Synoptic Gospel to directly attribute the term ‘Savior’ to Jesus. A comparative overview of the Synoptics is of vital importance at this point because of what this Lukan ascription actually reveals about the Gospel literarily. Luke presents a Jesus who is “Savior” during his lifetime; Mark and Matthew present a Jesus who saves humanity through his death. Reasonable deduction based upon these literary-critical allusions can lead to various conclusions, such as: 1.) Attributing the term “Savior” to Jesus and his entire lifetime never occurred to the authors of Mark and Matthew; 2.) Attributing the term “Savior” to Jesus and his entire lifetime did occur to the authors of Mark and Matthew but they instead chose to completely and willfully abandon the term; 3.) Luke derived the term and its specific attribution to the life of Jesus from a personal need to publicly deal with an overarching Lukan theme concerning an undeniable delay of Jesus’ promised return, a literary act Mark and Mathew never would have needed to consider given their earlier dates of authorship. It is difficult to fathom Mark and Matthew willfully discarding the attribution of the term “Savior” to Jesus’ lifetime if they had indeed been cognitive of it. If, however, the attribution of the term ‘Savior’ never occurred to Mark and/or Matthew then a subsequent issue involving the historical authenticity of Luke’s particular implementation of ‘Savior’ must be properly addressed. If the attribution of the term wasn’t important enough to be attested to by Mark and Matthew then where did Luke get it? Why did Luke find the attribution necessary while Mark and Matthew are completely void of it? Luke’s authorial purpose must be rooted in later issues concerning the Christian community, namely the delay of the return of Jesus and the ultimate culmination of God’s salvific plan for his people. Continue reading →
Letting go is not about past regret or supposed failure; we let go to authentically embrace our present moment in all of it’s ephemeral excitement so we can permanently grow into the possibility of our future.
We all need to learn how to let go at some point in our lives. Now, what we are letting go of will most assuredly be different for each one of us. Some will have to let go of lost love; others will have to let go of the pain of disappointment. Some of us may even have to let go of unhealthy ways of thinking about life, divinity, and one another. Sometimes we may even have to let go of good things in our lives too! It all depends upon our situation and our story! Our need to let go will be different for each one of us, for sure, but we all will have to let go sooner or later, if we haven’t had to already. The point is we all will have to wrestle with releasing someone or something at some point in our journey.
And letting go can be very difficult for a number of difficult reasons, but unless we come to grips with it we will not grow because until we let go we cannot grow. Continue reading →
Great Britain’s Ministry of Information took the threat of a Nazi invasion very seriously during World War II. Yes, these leaders realized that such an invasion would be catastrophic to their nation’s economy and infrastructure, but they also thought that it might also be a potentially crippling blow to their people’s morale. So, they did what any good Ministry of Information would do; they created and commissioned two-and-a-half million copies of a motivational poster that would be distributed all over Great Britain in lieu of a “last case scenario.” Continue reading →
The Death of Ivan Ilyich is written by Leo Tolstoy and is published in paperback by Penguin Classics. The Death of Ivan Ilych is not pop art; it’s the real thing. The story has more than survived the brutal test of time. Written in 1886, “Smert Ivana Ilyicha” (The Death of Ivan Ilych), is still celebrated as one of the world’s most cherished literary masterpieces.
The Ilych novella was Tolstoy’s first work of fiction proceeding an incredible emotional struggle laden with deep existential questions and heavy bouts of depression. Tolstoy’s personal struggle with the unavoidable awareness of humanity’s fragile mortality and the ultimate meaning of a seemingly transient but very personal existence was finally resolved by his conversion to a radical expression of Christianity. Tolstoy’s expression of the faith was, however, markedly different from the simple faith expression of the Russian peasants to whom he had initially turned for answers to his big questions. Too, it should be noted, that Tolstoy’s Christian expression is very different from the “born-again” expression of modernity’s Evangelical America, lest anyone actually try to appropriate him. Tolstoy’s Christian expression was for the most part religiously humanistic, it seems. So, Jesus’ ethical teaching and practical example were the spiritual and moral priority. Continue reading →
The Buddha’s Parable of the Raft challenges one to intentionally consider his or her spiritual journey. Specifically, the story asks us to not only be mindful of the journey, but it also asks us to be mindful of what is needed to make the journey through immediate moments.
It’s a genius little story, really. The Buddha’s Parable of the Raft is genius because it takes serious the little steps upon which journey is founded. You see, without all of the little steps, or immediate moments, there is no journey at all. If we don’t take care of those little moments, if we don’t be careful to take all of those little steps, there will never be a larger moment; there will never be “a journey.” The Parable of the Raft challenges its readers to be mindful and to nurture both. The Buddha’s little story, in all of it’s simplicity, challenges us to be balanced individuals. Continue reading →
Contentment is not a relinquishing of the natural drive we all have to succeed in life and/or career. In other words, contentment is not about becoming lazy, slothful, or dormant. It is not about happily being underachieving slackers who fool themselves into believing that being so is actually righteous and peaceful. No! Contentment is not about killing future hopes and dreams! It’s not about being complacent about the important things in life either. Contentment is about embracing the present moment we all actually live in. It’s about embracing the people, places, and good things that we have been given right now. In fact, we cannot move into our future’s creativity and dreams until we authentically embrace our present.
We all have much in life that we still want to experience and accomplish. This is a good thing! We all have dreams and desires about school, marriage, recreation and vocation. Those are good things too! Continue reading →