I started reading The Ragamuffin Gospel the last time I went to the gym, but I only read a few pages. And then I stopped going to the gym. So I stopped reading. But today, I finally started reading The Ragamuffin Gospel again (although I have yet to go back to the gym. Horrible, I know). It is so nice to be reading again. I forget how much I miss it until I start reading a book again, and then I fall in love with reading all over again. (Did I just use the word "again" way too many times?)
So, no surprise here, there are a couple passages that I wanted to share with you.
In the first passage, Brennan Manning is discussing faith. Nowadays, he points out, people tend to "define faith as belief in the existence of God" (pg. 28). But this was not always the case. God's existence used to be taken for granted; instead, it was "one's relationship to God--whether one trusted in God" that defined faith (pg. 28). That makes such a difference: whether faith is believing something exists or whether faith is trust in God. He then continues...
Such is the faith described by Paul Tillich in his famous work The Shaking of the Foundations: "Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life.... It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection does not appear, when the old compulsion reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: 'You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything, do not perform anything, do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.' If that happens to us, we experience grace."
And Grace calls out: you are not just a disillusioned old man who may die soon, a middle-aged woman stuck in a job and desperately wanting to get out, a young person feeling the fire in the belly begin to grow cold. You may be insecure, inadequate, mistaken, or potbellied. Death, panic, depression, and disillusionment may be near you. But you are not just that. You are accepted. Never confuse your perception of yourself with the mystery that you really are accepted. (pgs. 28-29)
How does that make you feel? It boggles my mind.
A few chapters later, he asks a question.
The question which the gospel of grace puts to us is simply this: Who shall separate you from the love of Christ? What are you afraid of?
Are you afraid that your weakness could separate you from the love of Christ? It can't.
Are you afraid that your inadequacies could separate you from the love of Christ? They can't.
Are you afraid that your innate poverty could separate you from the love of Christ? It can't.
Difficult marriage, loneliness, anxiety over the children's future? They can't.
Negative self-image? It can't.
Economic hardship, racial hatred, street crime? They can't.
Rejection by loved ones or the suffering of loved ones? They can't.
Persecution by authorities, going to jail? They can't.
Nuclear war? It can't.
Mistakes, fears, uncertainties? They can't.
The gospel of grace calls out: Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord. (pg. 86)
How about all of the above, and more? I feel like I am my worst enemy. I feel like I, with my never ending thoughts, am the one thing that stands between me and God. I have the brain knowledge that that is not the case, but it's hard to get that knowledge translated to my heart. Do you know what I'm talking about? So it's comforting whenever I read that I am wrong. That despite me doing everything I can do to sabotage myself, the love Christ has for me can never be sabotaged.
So, no surprise here, there are a couple passages that I wanted to share with you.
In the first passage, Brennan Manning is discussing faith. Nowadays, he points out, people tend to "define faith as belief in the existence of God" (pg. 28). But this was not always the case. God's existence used to be taken for granted; instead, it was "one's relationship to God--whether one trusted in God" that defined faith (pg. 28). That makes such a difference: whether faith is believing something exists or whether faith is trust in God. He then continues...
Such is the faith described by Paul Tillich in his famous work The Shaking of the Foundations: "Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life.... It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection does not appear, when the old compulsion reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: 'You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything, do not perform anything, do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.' If that happens to us, we experience grace."
And Grace calls out: you are not just a disillusioned old man who may die soon, a middle-aged woman stuck in a job and desperately wanting to get out, a young person feeling the fire in the belly begin to grow cold. You may be insecure, inadequate, mistaken, or potbellied. Death, panic, depression, and disillusionment may be near you. But you are not just that. You are accepted. Never confuse your perception of yourself with the mystery that you really are accepted. (pgs. 28-29)
How does that make you feel? It boggles my mind.
A few chapters later, he asks a question.
The question which the gospel of grace puts to us is simply this: Who shall separate you from the love of Christ? What are you afraid of?
Are you afraid that your weakness could separate you from the love of Christ? It can't.
Are you afraid that your inadequacies could separate you from the love of Christ? They can't.
Are you afraid that your innate poverty could separate you from the love of Christ? It can't.
Difficult marriage, loneliness, anxiety over the children's future? They can't.
Negative self-image? It can't.
Economic hardship, racial hatred, street crime? They can't.
Rejection by loved ones or the suffering of loved ones? They can't.
Persecution by authorities, going to jail? They can't.
Nuclear war? It can't.
Mistakes, fears, uncertainties? They can't.
The gospel of grace calls out: Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord. (pg. 86)
How about all of the above, and more? I feel like I am my worst enemy. I feel like I, with my never ending thoughts, am the one thing that stands between me and God. I have the brain knowledge that that is not the case, but it's hard to get that knowledge translated to my heart. Do you know what I'm talking about? So it's comforting whenever I read that I am wrong. That despite me doing everything I can do to sabotage myself, the love Christ has for me can never be sabotaged.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment