She was a courageous woman.  Very inspiring.

I also particularly appreciated her prayers.  I don’t know as of yet if they are hers exactly or reconstructions of the writers, but here they are as in the film:

***

Dear God, all I can do is stammer to . . . → Read More: sophie scholl]]> Diane and I enjoyed (again) ‘Sophie Scholl: The Final Days’ the other night.

She was a courageous woman.  Very inspiring.

I also particularly appreciated her prayers.  I don’t know as of yet if they are hers exactly or reconstructions of the writers, but here they are as in the film:

***

Dear God, all I can do is stammer to you.
I can do nothing but hold out my heart to you.
You created us in your likeness.
Our hearts are uneasy until they find peace in you.
Amen.

***

I beg you from the bottom of my heart
I beseech you
I beseech thee, even though I know nothing about you.
You alone are my salvation.
I beg of you, please, don’t turn away from me, dear God,
my glorious Father.
Amen.

***

My God, glorious Father,
transform this ground into fertile earth,
so your seeds may not fall in vain.
Let the longing grow for you the creator that they so often do not want to see.
Amen.

The author/composer/poet/community which produced the text we know of as Genesis 1 observed many things. Just one of these is the uniqueness of humans in relation to our environment.

Day and night, earth and sky, sea and land, vegetation, and fruits, creatures great and tiny, both in the sea and on land…

I’m thankful for pain. Not generally at the moment I experience it, but when I think about it, yes I’m glad (for example) that my body tells me when I’m burning my hand on the stove-top. It’s a painful message that my body sends, but it’s one I . . . → Read More: pain bears a message]]> This post over at ‘Just Thomism‘ is short, sweet and very thought-provoking.

I’m thankful for pain. Not generally at the moment I experience it, but when I think about it, yes I’m glad (for example) that my body tells me when I’m burning my hand on the stove-top. It’s a painful message that my body sends, but it’s one I desperately need to hear.

The idea of a pain-less universe seems appealing to many. No human, animal, plant or particle suffering. But we live in a world where tragedies happen – and often. We can see them as mere, meaningless phenomenon, or we can allow them to be seen as reminders that things are not supposed to be like that, and motivators to do what we can about it.

The genocide in Darfur is senseless. It is a tragedy with a capital T. Things are not supposed to be like that. What can we do about it?

Some friends of mine are in a band called ‘The Glory Sea‘, and their song ‘Phoenix’ has these lyrics that come to mind… (often)

“Pain bears a message. Let’s hear what it has to say.”

(existing works here, here and here…)

I think Matt Damon should play the part… 

Now, . . . → Read More: the groaning language of prayer]]> The other day, a friend of mine at Carey college was sharing with me and a few others how grieved he’d been lately (due to various tragic things happening to people close to him). He mentioned lying in bed and trying to pray, not knowing what to say, and eventually just offering an extended, rumbling, inward groan to God…

Now, prayer is both a simple and mysterious thing. It’s simple – in that it is simply a giving-sharing-offering of one’s thoughts, concerns, feelings, stresses, hurts, anxieties, etc. to the One who we believe ‘hears’ prayer (more on ‘hearing’ in a moment). But it’s also a complex and mysterious thing, complicated by various (mis)understandings about both God and prayer (not least the popular ‘magic genie’ [or fairy] idea of God).

I’m not wanting to answer every question here about prayer, but rather reflect on this idea of groaning to God…

We believe that the Creator ‘hears’ our prayers. Mind you, God is spirit, so He (with the exception of God Incarnate, Jesus of Nazareth) has no ears, of course. But God’s lack of physical ears doesn’t render Him unable to hear us.

Also, God (with the exception of God Incarnate, Jesus of Nazareth) is not a human being from one particular time, place and culture; so another thing that God doesn’t ‘have’ is native language. But God’s lack of a native language doesn’t render Him unable to understand us…

Which makes me think again, of my friend and his groaning to God… I wonder that this kind of ‘gut-level’ groaning is perhaps more ‘speaking God’s langauge’ than the high, lofty, supposedly ‘eloquent’ prayers that most pray-ers offer…

This groaning, questioning, wrestling, searching, wondering, ranting, moaning (you get the point) kind of praying is not what you’d hear in most churches. However, it’s what you’ll see in most prayers in the Bible.

Interesting.

Some of the lyrics of the Jars of Clay song ‘Oh My God’ come to mind just now…

Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief and graft my soul upon your grief
Weddings, boats and alibis
All drift away, and a mother cries

(full lyrics here)

I think the prayers of many Christians have more to do with a calm, cool, collected ‘firm belief’. Our souls (our selves) are not grafted upon His grief.

Christian theologians (especially the likes of Jurgen Moltmann, author of ‘The Crucified God‘) have long emphasised the Cross of Christ as a vivid ‘snap-shot’ of the nature of God.

The God who with no body takes on flesh and feels the worlds’ pain.

The God with no beating/pumping heart takes one on and has it pierced with the worlds’ grief.

The God with no ears takes them on and listens to our groaning.

…and thus making the invisible eternal activity of God visible.

“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” – John 1:18

Yet another poignant and wise article, helpfully navigating the intersection of faith and science…

Here’s a sampler:

…there’s the world of nature, the world I study as a scientist, nice and neat and well described by some beautiful equations, elegant in their simplicity. And there’s the world of human beings, strange fleshy bundles of ego . . . → Read More: a gentler universe?]]> Consolmagno has done it again…

Yet another poignant and wise article, helpfully navigating the intersection of faith and science…

Here’s a sampler:

…there’s the world of nature, the world I study as a scientist, nice and neat and well described by some beautiful equations, elegant in their simplicity. And there’s the world of human beings, strange fleshy bundles of ego and free will, who can sometimes be described in a statistical sense but who as individuals never cease to surprise you.

Read the whole thing here.

Bart Ehrman (author of ‘Misquoting Jesus‘, ‘God’s Problem‘ and other titles) and Tom Wright (author of ‘Evil and the Justice of God‘, ‘Suprised by Hope‘ and other titles) are both recognised scholars. Ehrman is currently . . . → Read More: Ehrman and Wright ‘blogalogue’]]> Bart Ehrman and N.T. Wright have agreed to ‘blog’ through the issue of Suffering and God over at Beliefnet. You can follow their discussion here.

Bart Ehrman (author of ‘Misquoting Jesus‘, ‘God’s Problem‘ and other titles) and Tom Wright (author of ‘Evil and the Justice of God‘, ‘Suprised by Hope‘ and other titles) are both recognised scholars. Ehrman is currently an ‘agnostic’ and is open about his slow departure from the Christian faith. Wright is Bishop of Durham.

I look forward to following their contributions and interaction with one another.

People are scared about the growth of Christianity because they . . . → Read More: good news for all the people]]> If only people in general –and Christians in particular– could grasp just a few key things that makes Jesus who He is… then I’m convinced not only that Christianity would have a better reputation, but –even further– those who aren’t Christians might be far less against the growth of Christianity…

People are scared about the growth of Christianity because they (often) think (and not without reason to) that this could eventually lead to a Christian state. All those voting Christians, voting in all those ‘religious’ laws, taking away our freedom, taking away our shopping on Sunday, etc. Many Christians are not at all hesitant to affirm that this is, in fact, precisely what they are working toward…

Now, this post is not directly about how Christians should relate to politics, but it does relate. I am convinced that the Christian faith is to be lived out in the public world, and not simply in private. However, the question is: “What does this look like?”

For many Christians, the technique seems to be to work for change by attempting to secure a place of influence and power and then use that to implement the changes they want – in a kind of ‘top-down’ way. Whether it be in a school, a community, a marriage, a work-place, a state or even a nation, they seek to play the ‘power game’ and ‘win’ for Jesus. The more power and influence, the better. This is their way of working to bring the Kingdom ‘on earth as it is in heaven’, and it makes many people nervous (including me at times!)…

Other times, the approach is to work for change by withdrawing from all things you think are wrong, and build your own version of them. Whether it be in music, bookstores, political parties, schools, greeting cards (or other places where the word ‘christian’ become an adjective), the strategy is: withdraw and build a ‘christian’ version. If you can’t secure the world’s places of power, and bring the Kingdom here, build your own ‘Christian’ thing and make it powerful somewhere else (and then try to attract others to it)… This approach also makes people nervous (including me)…

So how is it supposed to be done?

My answer would be: like Jesus and the Apostles did it…

First a quick summary of the setting: For centuries, the Jews had lived under the rule of one empire or another; Persian, Egyptian, Greek and finally Roman. This was –to put it lightly– not enjoyable. There was a reason Romans were good at crucifixion. It was their brutal answer to anyone who would resist their rule.

Now then, Jesus was a Jew, and he had several types to choose from in his day. For some Jews, the Essenes, (probably the community behind the texts found at Qumran – the Dead Sea Scrolls) the response to Roman oppression was to escape out to the hills and start an alternate community. Many other Jews before (and after) Jesus knew how to revolt. The Maccabean Revolt had won them freedom from the Persians, and many Jews of Jesus time (they were later called ‘Zealots’) were more than ready to do the same with the Romans. Matter of fact, Jewish hope for a ‘Messiah’ figure was precisely to do with a leader who would lead such a charge.

Jesus, however, was not that kind of a Messiah.

He wasn’t building that kind of kingdom.

Make no mistake, the kingdom was most certainly not some private thing to be lived out by private prayer rituals and scripture reading. It was indeed a public thing. And it also certainly wasn’t some compromise with the Roman way of life. The early Christians hailed Jesus as Lord (Greek – ‘kyrios’) instead of Caesar.

For the early Christians, the kingdom of God coming ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ meant being an alternative community which cared for those the Roman system neglected (the poor, the sick, slaves, abandoned pregnant women, etc.). A community in which –in the shadow of an Empire built on rank and status– all were equal, whether Jew or not (Gentile), slave or free-born, male or female.

It was not political maneuvering.

It was not power-grabbing attempts to take ‘control’.

It was the power of embodied love.

Most places in the world I know about, and most times I’ve heard of, that sounds like good news to most everyone I know…

…I had to post this one as well…

Again, I advise reading these two simple verses in an easy-to-read translation before reading the targum…

In case it’s not obvious, Walsh is anything but a typical ‘republican-style’ Christian…

If this doesn’t stir your heart, check your pulse…

Brothers and Sisters:

If it is true that . . . → Read More: brian walsh: targum of Romans 12:1-2]]> The Romans 1:1-17 targum wasn’t enough…

…I had to post this one as well…

Again, I advise reading these two simple verses in an easy-to-read translation before reading the targum…

In case it’s not obvious, Walsh is anything but a typical ‘republican-style’ Christian…

If this doesn’t stir your heart, check your pulse…

Brothers and Sisters:

If it is true that in the face of our disobedience
we have met a God rich in mercy;

if it true that this mercy extends to all of creation,
waiting in eager longing for the revelation of the children of God

if it is true that we ourselves , in concert with the Holy Spirit
await our adoption, the redemption of our very bodies;

if it true that the depths and riches and wisdom and knowledge of God
is inscrutable;

if it is true that from him, through him, and to him are all things,
and that all glory is his forever;

if all of this is true …

then I urge you with everything that I have,
…I appeal to you,
…I call out to you,

in response to the creation-restoring mercy of God,
…offer up your bodies
…these bodies redeemed by Christ

offer up your bodies
…not your devotional life, not merely your expression of piety,
…but your very bodies

offer up your bodies
…the totality of your embodied existence;
…everything you are and everything you do

offer up your bodies
…the body of Christ, the bodies of believers,
…gathered together in churches, cell groups, campus fellowships

offer up your bodies
…as nothing less than living sacrifices.

Do you want to know what spiritual worship looks like?
…It looks like bodies offered up in living sacrifice.

Do you want a worship that is vibrant, real and alive?
…Then live your entire life as an offering to the creation-redeeming God.

Do you want worship to be integral to your life, and not unrelated God-talk?
Then offer your whole embodied life
…your studies and work
…your eating and drinking
…your friendships and loves
…your voting and consuming
…your entertainment and homemaking

offer it all,
give it all,
as a living sacrifice of thanks and praise.

That’s worship!
That’s what holiness is all about!
That’s what’s acceptable to God.
That’s what spirituality is really all about.

This is spiritual worship,
because all of life is spiritual,
all of life is suffused with spirituality
…the only question is, which spirit?

So don’t be conformed but be transformed.
Don’t be enslaved by the spirits of this age,
…but be set free by the Spirit of this God of mercy.

Don’t be conformed to the spirits of this age
…the spirit of personal success and status
…the spirit of consumption as the meaning of life
…the spirit of national and personal security
…the spirit of technological innovation
…the spirit of market-defined beauty
…the spirit of sexual commodification
…the spirit of educational elitism.

These are spirits of a debased mind, these are spirits of idolatry, and they all require sacrifice:
…sacrifice of care for the dispossessed,
…sacrifice of the beauty and fecundity of the earth,
…sacrifice of economic resources in service of a military machine,
…sacrifice of the time to slow down and enjoy sabbath,
…sacrifice of our very dignity, our bodies and our sexuality,
…sacrifice of fidelity in our relationships
…sacrifice of all places in service of nomadic climbing the career ladder.

These are the sacrifices of this age,
…these are the sacrifices that these false gods require.

The God of mercy also requires sacrifice;
…the living sacrifice of bodies offered in worship,
…the living sacrifice of lives rich in gratitude,
…the living sacrifice of human life that lives not in this age,
…but in the age to come.

Refusing to be slaves of the present age,
…refusing to offer up sacrifices
…to the principalities and powers of the empire,

we offer up our whole lives as living sacrifices,
…subjects of the age to come,
…subjects of the Kingdom.

Living sacrifices, brothers and sisters,
that’s what I call you to offer.
Living sacrifices, sisters and brothers,
that’s the only appropriate response
to this creation-loving God of mercy.

Living sacrifices,
…not conformed,
…but transformed;
…not enslaved to idolatry,
…but free to bear the image of God.

Living sacrifices,
…not given over to enslaved minds,
…but liberated by transformed minds;
…not captured by the imagination of this age,
…but animated by an imagination
…that can see just beyond the range of normal sight.

Be transformed, my friends, transformed
…by the renewal of your minds.

Renewed minds,
…minds renewed for a renewed creation,
…minds renewed for a renewed culture,
…minds renewed for a Kingdom of renewal.

Living sacrifices.
Incarnated lives of renewal.
Transformed, not conformed.
Embodied spirituality.
Imaginations set free to dream otherwise.

Open your eyes.
Take a look at what’s just beyond the range of normal sight.
Don’t be duped into thinking that this world is normal.
Don’t be taken in by the rhetoric, the double-talk, the deceit of this present age.

Don’t believe that great ideas guarantee a great future:
…some great ideas can damn us and damn our children
…some great ideas are great big lies.

Don’t be a people conformed to the worldview of normalcy.

Open your eyes.
Be a people of discernment.
See the world through the tear filled eyes of the Creator.
See the world through the eyes of radical gratitude.
Discern the path ahead through the eyes of suffering service.
Discern your path, discern the will of God,
…through the eyes of Jesus

from a cross
from an empty tomb
from a seat of enthronement.

Sacrifice.
Bodies.
Holiness.
Spirituality.
Worship.
Transformation.
Renewed minds.
Discernment.
Will of God.

Bodies offered as living sacrifices
…this is acceptable and holy.

Transformed minds,
liberated imaginations,
…discerning the will of God
…discerning what is acceptable and perfect
…discerning that which makes life whole
…discerning that which renders us acceptable

acceptable to God,
whole in ourselves.

Discerning the will of God
…in the lab,
…in the lecture hall,
…in the seminar room,
…in the dining room,
…in the bedroom,
…in the boardroom
…in the voting booth.

Discerning people,
…discerning imaginations,
…discerning hearts,
…discerning lives.

Lives transformed,
…lives set free.

Now I’ve got a new source (hat tip: Andrew Madjar).

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; behold GoodBooksNZ.

All – yes ALL – profits from book sales from GoodBooksNZ goes to Oxfam.

Here’s a blurb from their site:

Our offer is simple: Every time you buy a book from Goodbooks – any book – we contribute . . . → Read More: good books new zealand]]> I love books.

Now I’ve got a new source (hat tip: Andrew Madjar).

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; behold GoodBooksNZ.

All – yes ALL – profits from book sales from GoodBooksNZ goes to Oxfam.

Here’s a blurb from their site:

Our offer is simple: Every time you buy a book from Goodbooks – any book – we contribute all profits to Oxfam to help fight its global battle against poverty and social injustice. There is no extra cost to you. We do not mark up our books to cover this contribution; our prices remain among the lowest you will find; delivery worldwide is completely free, and with over two million titles in stock our range is one of the largest you will find.

Help us open a new chapter in the fight against inequality.

I urge you to purchase your books from them! I know I will be! Check out the 30-second video below…