The Weekday Devotions will not be published on Thursday or Friday of this week due to the U.S. holiday weekend.
The lead piece is from "Amazing Grace by Kathleen Norris. In this book she takes many of the words and images of the faith and attempts to put some reality and life to them.
INQUISITION (part 2 of 3)
...inquisition is more than social inequality. It is an attitude of mind, a type of questioning that resists true conversation, which like the word "conversion," at its root means to turn, or to turn around. The inquisitor has the answers in hand and does not wish to change them. It is good to determine, when someone asks you a question, whether they are asking in a good spirit, or conducting an inquisition... Inquisition begins, then, in the human heart... Rev. John Buchanan, a Presbyterian pastor, commenting on the current divisions within the largest of the denominations, said recently in the "The Christian Century" that "it is painful to maintain unity with people you know are wrong and obnoxious on top of it." He added, "it is...a lot more difficult to maintain the unity than to walk away and destroy it." His remark stands in direct opposition to the inquisitorial imperative, which always wants to separate "us" from "them," basing one's own security and sanctity on the fact that others may be adjudged to be deficient or impure.
Unity...keeping the body of Christ together...seems to be a tough task. When we then lay on the fear-based actions that can be so abundant among us, warfare and brutality that lead to separation and alienation become easier ways to live. It is easier to go to war than to speak and act with love and pursue truthfulness. Norris' comment about the root meaning of conversation/conversion is one way to remember the activity of the Holy Spirit. In conversation, we have the opportunity to be pulled into the whirlwind of power that is the Holy Spirit. Dialogue means that both sides enter into a position of vulnerability. Too often we can be so consumed by what we may lose that we are not willing to actually give anything. When we are not willing to give - to be vulnerable - it is quite difficult to break down walls of separation and begin to bridge the separation that happens so quickly among us. When we are constantly put on alert because we work or live in an atmosphere that is filled with threat...so that we must watch our every word, there is no room for trust or truthfulness...and community will always break down.
Connection: What is in your heart as you question those around you (work...play...home)? You see, it is not always the "other" who is the inquisitor...at times...we are the "other" and we don't see it. In conversation - honest conversation - we build in mirrors that allow us to see ourselves.
Lord God your word is the foundation upon which we enter the relationships of our lives. By your love, we learn to love. By your truthfulness, we learn to speak the truth. By your faithfulness, we learn to trust in you alone. Praise be to you for inviting us to share in the life you give to us each and every day. Amen
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