A Story about Truth

This is a story about a young man who is seeking out an old and learned rabbi to be schooled in the wisdom of Hebraic logic.

The story goes that after a prolonged search the young man finally finds a suitable rabbi and asks if the rabbi would be willing to tutor him. But upon seeing this youth the rabbi simple smiles and says “You are too young and have too little life experience for the lessons I have to teach. Come back to me in ten years”.

But the young man is full of a confidence that borders on arrogance and so responds, “I may be young but I have already mastered Aristotelian logic and symbolic logic. Test me. Ask me any question you want and I will prov to you that I am ready.”

The rabbi thinks for a few moments and then chooses a question: “Two men descend a chimney. When they get to the bottom, one man’s face is covered in soot. Tell me, which one washes his face?”

In response the young man immediately says, “Why, that is easy. It would be the one with the soot on his face”.

In response the rabbi turns to leave saying, “Of course not. What are you thinking? It is the man without the soot who washes his face, for he sees his friend’s complexion and thinks that he too must be dirty”.

“Please don’t send me away” replies the young man. “Test me again. Any question at all”.

And so the rabbi thinks for a moment and then says “OK, listen carefully this time. Two men descend a chimney. When they get to the bottom, one man’s face is covered in soot. Tell me, which one washes his face?”

“Why the man without the soot on his face,” replies the young man.

Again the rabbi shakes his head, “You are not listening in the right way. It is obvious that it is the man with the soot on his face who washes. He sees the reaction of his friend upon reaching the ground, can taste the soot from his lips, and can feel it stinging his eyes. Now leave me in peace”

“Please”, replies the young man, “test me one last time, as I think I have it now”.

“One last time” replies the rabbi. “This time I want you to really listen. Two men descend a chimney. When they get to the bottom, one man’s face is covered in soot. Tell me, which one washes his face?”

“The first answer I gave” shouts the young man, “but for different reasons”.

“No, no, no” says the rabbi and he leaves. “They both wash their faces. How could someone descend a chimney and not think that their face would be covered in soot?”

“Here we encounter the idea that before the young man could ever begin training in the deep wisdom of the tradition he must first learn how to give up the desire to reduce truth to some single, defined, unchanging, propositional system. He must learn to dialogue, to debate, to rethink, to critique. Only then can he begin the journey toward a mode of religious understanding that goes deeper then epistemological insight–discovering a truth more profound than mere intellectual claims.”

- Peter Rollins: “The Fiderlity of Betrayal”

The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church beyond Belief

I have been anticipating this book since the day that I finished reading Peter Rollins’ first book; How (Not) to Speak of God. That book helped me in may ways within my mind and conversations with others but belief, faith and the Christian journey. It was one of the most rewarding books for me in a long time.

As far as a review so far of the book I can not give one. I am in the middle of reading the book and I am wrestling with many of the thoughts and ideas that Rollins brings up. I really think this book cannot be reviewed but needs to be shared in dialogue with others. One of the things I appreciate about Rollins is his willingness to dialogue and be in conversation about his writings and thoughts as can be seen here: http://peterrollins.net/blog/?p=36

So I may have some thoughts at the end of reading this book but I am not sure. I read through How (Not) to Speak of God many times and wrestled and thought about something new each time (which doesn’t happen for me with many books) and as far as the reading goes right now, I see a similar type of response coming from this book.

I will warn you…this book is not for everyone. Some people will look at what he says as controversial within the religious/Christian world. I feel the engaging with the ideas and materials is important but others may not feel this way. They would rather criticizes then have any engagement with what is being suggested or talked about. I do think there is a difference between dialogue and debating and that power, change, and growth is found in the dialogue. One other thing, as I wrestle through this book and what has been written, I know too that the author is there as well wrestling through the same thing (which he talks about in his introduction). So here are some simple thoughts so far:

After a story to begin the book which I will save for people that read the book, chapter 1 discusses the idea that we most engage in the most difficult task of putting our religion to death so that a religion without religion can spring out. Slavoj Zizek (philosopher and cultural theorist) puts it best when he says “in all other religions, God demands that His followers remain faithful to Him-only Christ asked his followers to betray Him in order to fulfill His mission”.

In chapter 2, Rollins talks about how many view Abraham and Judas are the polar opposites, however he makes the point both maybe intimately similar within the idea of fidelity. The next idea within the chapter is “the relationship between fidelity and betrayal in the Judeo-Christian tradition is further complicated in the Scriptures via stories that seem to suggest that one must wrestle with, disagree with, and even disobey God for the sake of retaining one’s fidelity to God. He looks at Abraham with Sodom, then Jacob (interesting thoughts on the Israel naming), and then Peter in acts 10. he then gets into a discussion about the snake in the creation story. Interesting thoughts and showing of history. His point is this: “The Scriptures reach our ears in an often ominous and scandalous tone. From the opening pages of this ancient text, we are confronted with a shocking series of ambiguous stories and complex conflicts that defy easy categorization and interpretation. And so the conclusion of this chapter comes to this: “But what if we are not forced to choose between these two positions? What if we can affirm these conflicts at one and the same moment that we can affirm the idea of this text being deeply branded by the white-hot presence of God? Indeed, what if the conflict we encounter in the examples above is precisely what we would expect to find in a text claiming divine status rather than something that witnesses against it?”

More as I continue through the book…

The many hats…

I have not been updating as much as before but I will be at some point soon.

There are changes happening and things going on plus getting into the busy season of ministry.

Starting June 1, I am becoming the campus minister of the Blue Hens for Christ, a campus ministry for University of Delaware. This will go along with my work with junior and senior high students. I am excited about the opportunity however the campus minister who is leaving and I are trying to make a very easy transition for both of us and the students with the ministry as well.

I am also an adjunct professor at Wilmington University. I started my Summer Block I class last night. I really enjoy teaching at the college level! This is a seven week course.

Also with that I have a week of camp coming up that I am directing at Camp Manatawny. Just think about it…one hundred 10 and 11 years old….yeah….prayers are appreciated

So thats a little bit about what’s going on. I want to blog a little bit about my trip to Alexander Campbell’s home in West Virgina last week with Adam Ellis and I have some books reviews that will be coming up here in a little bit including Tim Keel’s Intuitive Leadership and others.

I hope to post something this weekend or next week….

Prayers

This is a long post but I think there is power in story and to know the situation before prayers are lifted up so here goes.

My sister’s good friend is going through a fight against a very aggressive cancer and things are not going well. Her name is Michelle Rigney. Prayers are needed for her. Her is here story:

My name is Michelle Rigney and I was born and raised in the great state of Delaware. I went to Newark High School where I graduated in 2003 as an honor student, played soccer, participated in Spanish club and Key Club, and was also very involved in the NHS choir. I was accepted at the University of Delaware, where I would be majoring in Nursing.

I was the typical college student. But all of my college fun came to a HUG HAULT in March of 2005.
I had two amazing best friends at the time..Stephanie and Christine. I can say it was because of these two girls.. and my family I am still alive. I had a mole on my right shoulder blade and the mole had been there my entire life.. but it changed. It got MUCH MUCH darker(almost black) and it got harder on top(almost like a scab). It concerned my friends and family. I told them I would have my primary doctor look at it. And that is what I did.. I had an appt. in Nov. ‘04.. and my doctor agreed the mole looked “weird” and needed to be looked at by a dermatologist. Well.. I tried to get an immediate appt right after that, but my insurance limited me. I had to wait until March 3rd, 2005 to have the mole removed. I had cancer.. sitting and growing on my back for over 4 months!!(and never even knew it!). I would have been in that appt. much sooner if my insurance covered ANY dermatologist in the state. Once again.. my luck took charge….

It wasn’t until March 15th, 2005 around 9pm(once you have cancer you NEVER EVER forget your dates!) that I found out I had Malignant Melanoma. My mother had to tell her 19 year old daughter.. “you have cancer.” Those three words have forever changed my life.

The next few weeks went completely downhill for me. I immediately called the UD and left on a medical leave from there. I had to have a surgery on April 11th, 2005 to remove the skin from around where the mole was.. and I had to have my lymphnodes removed from my right armpit to determine if the cancer had spread to any parts of my body.

Life went back to normal.. well as normal as it could be after being told at 19 I had cancer! I was told all of my lymphnodes came back NEGATIVE! And the cancer was isolated to JUST THE SKIN! The game plan after that.. was to just have CT scans and blood work done every six months. And that is what we did. I went back to UD.. and I turned 21!!!

Well… here again my luck comes into play.. I had a CT scan in the beginning of Sept, 2006.. and on Sept. 29, 2006… I was told the melanoma that was SUPPOSED TO BE ONLY SKIN CANCER… spread to both of my lungs. Who would of thought? Your skin is the largest ORGAN in your body.. why wouldn’t it be able to spread? Well, I am not sure how you view skin cancer.. but I had no idea it was this aggresive.

My life turned upside down for a second time. I was forced to leave UD for a second time.. and this time it was gonna be MUCH longer. The FDA has only approved two drugs for melanoma.. and standard chemo and radiation do NOTHING to get rid of it(this is why I still have my hair!). The two drugs are called Alpha b-Interferon.. and Interleukin-2. These drugs are biological drugs used to bump up your own immune system to attack the cancer. (instead of having 30,000 or so white blood cells.. you now have 30 million white blood cells). Well Interferon is only standard treatment for stage III melanoma… I was now a stage IV. The drug I was “lucky” enough to get was high dose Interleukin-2. I spent four long weeks in the hospital receiving this treatment…it was honestly the worst four weeks of my life. I had never felt so sick in my entire life.. It was the hardest and most courageous thing I have ever done in my life… only to find out my tumors have not shrunk, BUT have not SPREAD EITHER!!

The good news: Melanoma is an extremely hard cancer to beat… and usually kills people within 7 months. I have lived over a year with it in my body! And I am still here!

The bad news: There are no current treatments for me to do. Because there is no money out there to support the funding for research.. I am left here to wait. Wait for another drug to hurry up and be approved by the FDA to save my life.

Here is her post from today:

FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008 12:21 AM, CDT
Hi Everyone-
This journal entry is gonna seem much different, but I want to be totally honest with how I feel. I will never give up in my fight…. but it would be nice to get some good news here and there… it makes a lot harder to continue..

I didn’t get any good news today. I feel like I can feel my life slipping through my fingertips and there is nothing I can do about it.

I called my doctor’s nurse to find out some results. Since my next appointment is May 5th, I wanted to know before then. She pretty much told me the following:

* All the spots in my lung(the five or so that are bigger) are larger. One spot is smaller. All the rest that are covering my lungs are unchanged.
* We now have possible kidney involvement. There are spots seen now that were never there before.
* They still see the spot on my hip, the one that was radiated. And the one on my neck.
* The spot in my mediastinum has now doubled in size.- The mediastinum is a non-delineated group of structures in the thorax (chest), surrounded by loose connective tissue. It is the central compartment of the thoracic cavity. It contains the heart, the great vessels of the heart, esophagus, trachea, thymus, and lymph nodes of the central chest.
* There is some possible spot now on the bottom of my spine, down towards my butt area.
* And almost all my subq spots (tumors that grow under my skin in the fat cells) have grown.
I have been fake to you all. I am not nearly as strong as you think. I am so scared. I’m not ready to leave this world yet. I want to believe everyone when you tell me things will be okay, but I am not sure. I have tried to remain positive.. but since December I have not caught one break. Melanoma is just spreading so fast. Even thinking about giving up half my lung brings tears to my eyes, along with how I had to lose my hair… and now I am bald. I miss my hair so much. I get so upset.. more than you all could possibly know. I am not as strong as you all make me out to be. I am absolutely sick of living this lifestyle. I have been doing this since I was 19.. and now what am I known for? Cancer. Its the only thing I do all day long. Go to doc appts and go home. I wanted so much more out of this life. I hate having no control over this. This new news has just crushed me…. I have one treatment left… I am praying and crying harder than ever it works….

I feel completely knocked down.. a million times weaker that before. I pray I have enough strength to start this new treatment on May 5th.

Thank you for all the love and support. I have my brain MRI tomorrow and I should get my results on Monday.
Love,
Michelle

You can keep track of her progress here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michellerigney
I know Michelle and her family and friends would appreciate the thoughts and prayers…

Is our pain God’s problem?

interesting discussion between Bart Ehrman and N.T. Wright.

Churched: One Kid’s Journey Toward God Despite A Holy Mess

Just wanted to let you know about an upcoming book from my friend Matthew Paul Turner. I have read the first chapter of the book and I am really excited about it. It’s due out in October of 2008. Read more about it here!

God is Not a Vending Machine

“William Temple said, ‘People often say that answers to prayer are coincidence, but I’ve noticed that when I pray, coincidences happen, and when I stop praying, the coincidences stop happening.’ And that has been the experience of many Christian people. It isn’t like a machine where you can just put a coin in the slot and expect God automatically to answer it. That would make God our servant. Prayer is rather an attempt in the power of the Spirit to put ourselves as vehicles of the love of God at his service, only then to discover that God works through us, through our prayer, transforming us, but transforming also the world and the situations for which we pray.”

-N. T. Wright-

Remembering MLK’s Prophetic ‘Mountaintop’ Speech

On April 3, 1968, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final public speech. In a crowded church in Memphis, Tenn., King spoke of the injustice felt by the city’s sanitation workers, who were on strike protesting low pay and poor working conditions.

But, speaking hours before his assassination, the civil rights leader went beyond that subject, touching on death and his own mortality.

TO CONTINUE READING CLICK HERE (FROM NPR)

I Asked God

The founding/retired minister from Newark spoke Sunday…he was speaking on “Jesus in Revelation” which was a very interesting series. anyway, he ended his lesson with a poem that a woman gave to him at the senior center. I thought I would share it:

“I Asked God”

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, “No”.
“It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.”

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said “No”.
“His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary”

I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, “No”.
“Patience is a byproduct of tribulations: It isn’t granted, it is learned”

I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, “No”.
“I give you blessings: Happiness is up to you.”

I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, “No”.
“Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares
And brings you closer to me.”

I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, “No”.
“You must grow on your own. But I will prune you to make you faithful”

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, “No”.
“I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things”.

I asked God to help me LOVE others,,
as much as He loves me.
God said…”Ahhh, finally you have the idea.”

Review: What Would Jesus Deconstruct?

John Caputo’s newest book What Would Jesus Deconstruct is apart of a series called “The church and Postmodern Culture”. This title is done with the familiar phrase of WWJD (What would Jesus Do) however this is a book that is not about postmodernism and deconstruction but is postmodernism and deconstruction. Looking at the morality tale of the Christian Right, Caputo begins to deconstruct the Famous What Would Jesus Do with the phrase What Would Jesus Deconstruct.

Caputo jabs at the Religious Right in a very enlighten but humorous way and directs to bring out postmodern philosophy and criticism and explain it in a way for a lay person. This is a difficult read however, for someone who does not dabble in these topics before. This is not a “on ramp” book for postmodern theology/philosophy. Caputo does keep it engaging with some humor within the text and keeps you reading through times of not understanding and deep thinking.

Caputo takes head on the view that deconstruction is the elimination of meaning with the idea the deconstruction is “the hermeneutics of the kingdom of God”. He feels this idea is rooted in Scripture. He feels that deconstruction is the impossible becoming possible…the kingdom of God makes heaven on earth.

He feels this hermeneutic idea is opposite of what the earthly church is and that the church needs to be deconstructed as well. He feels that the church was “Plan B” and a stepping stone of the status quo until Jesus comes again. He is not calling for a disbandment of the church all together but he does not spend much time explaining this idea which is surprising.
The ideal that Caputo is going for is for all followers in Jesus to become more like Christ in all aspects of like and to be co-deconstructors with Jesus….

Deconstruction is the way in which followers begin to tear away the injustice, violence, and political powers of the world. Caputo hits on some hard issues and shows how deconstruction breaks these down within the culture wars. When we present the opposition in the way of hermeneutics of God we introduce these to the world as a radical movement of justice, hospitality and love where the gift of the impossible God died and came back through a impossible resurrection.

At the end of book, Caputo talks about the role of doubt in the midst of faith. His point is that the only way to freedom is from the freedom of doubt that comes from the mysterious, impossible mess that is the church, faith, Jesus, the Spirit, the Father, and the kingdom of God.

The book was a challenging read but one that is needed within this discussion of the church and postmodernity. There are places where I question the thinking and in some may not fully understand what is being said, however I appreciate the approach and what Caputo is calling us to. Again, this is definitely not an on-ramp book in this conversation however is an important voice with the discussion of the church and postmodern culture.