There is something sacred about autumn. Yesterday I took the dogs to a park. Hard to believe I was standing in the middle of Joburg city, patterns of red, yellow and orange all around. Here and there the first fingerprints of winter were visible.
Nature is shedding like a sheep dog, throwing off the stuff it gathered on her journey through spring and summer.
To throw stuff out is sometimes good. We need to travel light. Same applies to faith. During our walk with God we tend to gather junk. Before we know it we hold on to sentimental Christian kitsch that holds very little worth and meaning in the bigger scheme of things. In the end it drags us down, holds us back and makes our faith look tasteless, out of date and ugly as hell.
I can feel it in my bones, my soul is heading towards winter. To throw out, shake off, to rest, to gather new strength, go back to the roots, to allow my spirit to dig deep, to find an undercurrent of the Big Stream, to drink, to be revived, to wake up and start believing again.
3 comments:
Fourie, I find myself reading this blog, well, religiously. I’ve discovered that I am hauling along far more garbage than I thought and that this blog is an invitation to rid myself of all this junk. The irony is that it is so incredibly easy. Just leave it and follow – you don’t even have to think, analyse and interpret. Leave and follow...
The comment from "Beer" a few days ago practically pulled the rug from under my feet and hit me over the head of it. As Christians (well, I for that matter) often tend to include my own definition of "good behaviour and good Christian values" as a co-requisite for being a Christian. It occurred to me yesterday how silly that is.
For one, if we believe that God is an all-powerful Being, capable of truly changing someone, then why do we insist in "changing" our fellow Christians (or baby Christians) to conform to our Christian template! (Take the biggies like prostitution, homosexuality, etc. And how easily we condemn?) For two, I cannot recall one instance where Jesus was condemning someone for being this way or the other. As a matter of fact, the sinners and so-called "bad" people of the time had the habit of following Jesus and listening to Him (Mark 2:13-17). I am sure he was not "preaching" to them... Jesus was far more rebellious than we give Him credit for. The only command that I recall was Jesus asking us to introduce Him to our fellow human beings, i.e. He’ll do "the changing"... and in His own time and as He sees fit.
Mahatma Ghandi is revered throughout the world for bringing peace and reconciliation between different peoples – even though many would disagree with his belief-system. He is respected and valued throughout history. Don’t you find it rather strange that there aren’t any agnostics or atheists that follow the teachings of Jesus as humanitarian (even if they do not believe He’s the son of God)? That, is 100% our fault.
Sparky, you hit it right on the nail when you say it is so incredibly easy to chuck the garbage out. We tend to keep things well past their expiry date.
But I also have to comment that taking out the trash is not everybody's cup of tea. You are bound to get your hands dirty...
Thanx for your response on Beer's comment. I love your honesty. I am still chewing on the comment about Ghandi and Jesus. I hope that this conversation will invite the voices that follow Jesus without all the religious junk. You might just be surprise to find that the life of Jesus inspires more people outside the church than you think.
Keep the dialogue going!
You know what scares me of my faith? I tell everybody that I believe in an Omnipotent, Almighty God yet I catch myself that I'm terrified that GOD might not be able to change some people ... What a discrepancy!
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