17 February 2006

Brueggemann does some wonderful reflection on the relationship between an infant and mother as one of the first encounters we have with the "other" and what it may mean to us as we mature in life and in faith. It is too long to share it all here but I would like to share one of his insights.

I believe there is here a crucial learning in relation to covenant. I propose that unless one has learned to other well with mother in graceful and courageous ways, grace to surrender and courage to assert, one will not other well with God. Moreover, I propose that much of the struggle just now in the church (as well as the larger society) is the result of folk who have not learned to other well, and who therefore other in excessive conformity or in excessive self-preoccupation - either way, operating as false selves. This causes the church to use excessive amounts of energy on false issues.

Whoa! This could be one of the most insightful comments I've heard about the face of the church in our country. The battles that have been dividing church groups and even dividing the country fit well within this vision of a people unable to other. When we have not learned to live within the tension of submission to the other and autonomy from the other, we either fear the other and therefore fall into an excessive conformity or -- we are so preoccupied with self that we find ourselves as part of a "graceless religion" ...my way or the highway! Fear and anxiety and a need to control will never be the way to wholesome othering. The only thing that can rise up from those elements within a religious community is, as Brueggeman notes, a false self and a religion trying to build itself up with false issues. When we are unwilling to give ourselves away to others and when we think we must so control our lives that others must really not be others, it looks a bit like fundamentalism. It looks like a controlled universe with controlled ideas. It looks like a private organization in which everyone in the group must carry around a set of values that cannot differ one from the other. I would say that this form of religion is not based on the God who we encounter in either the Hebrew or Christian Scriptures.

Connection: Once again, it is necessary for us to be a part of a community in which we can join with others to risk being individuals and risk being a part of the life that is inspired by the Holy Spirit. In both instances, our interaction with others helps us to see the will of the God who calls us blessed.

There are so many ways we yearn to be close to you, O God. And yet, there are too many times when we want to be the one who has your power to rule over life. Pull us close to you that we may engage your living presence and come to see wideness of your gracious Reign. Amen.