From The Hauerwas Reader -articles and/or chapters written by Stanley Hauerwas
...our moral language does not just describe what is; it describes how we ought to see and intend the world. ... Our metaphors and stories entice us to find a way to bring into existence the reality that at once should be but will not be except as we act as if it is. Morally the world is always wanting to be created in correspondence to what it is but is not yet.
My first note for today is to simply read this quote again. Pie-in-the-sky morality, that is, a morality that we attempt to feed to one another as though such feeding will make our lives moral, is a lost cause. As followers of Jesus, we are invited to "find a way to bring into existence" the life Jesus led...before us. I love the image Hauerwas sets up when he writes, "Our metaphors and stories entice us..." It is an invitation for each of us to pick up the scriptures and follow the themes and images and vision that continue to bubble up and offer us a way of life...right now. There is a tension between what is and what is "not yet." To be in such a position is to be in the middle of a great gift in life. When I use the phrase "an adventure for life" to describe the life of sharing God's love with all, I want all of us to see each step of our day as being in the middle of the tension that offers us a direction for life that at times will be contrary to the prevailing winds of our culture.The adventure comes into play when we are invited to walk along ways that may not fit in with the self-centeredness and self-interest that is so pervasive in our society. Stories pull us beyond ourselves...and, you could say, pull us into being who God sees in us. Morality need not be a rigid set of rules...it may be a blessed invitation to life that blossoms within the grace of the reign of God.
Connection: Today is an adventure. It is breaking in to our lives in the most mundane and boring avenues along which we may walk. Sometime during the day consider what adventure is unfolding in your life and what it will mean to how you live as a follower of Jesus.
Lift us up, O God, and open our eyes that we will see the vast beauty of your blessed reign. Remind us of the vision of justice, peace, mercy and grace that challenges us to step out into our lives boldly embracing our Lord's command to follow. Amen.
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