16 March 2006

Today we move into material in the chapter - The Daily Voice of Faith: The Covenanted Self by Walter Brueggemann.

The full drama (of assertion and abandonment) is ....demanding....because in this two-fold drama, we (and this surprising Thou) are always changing position and reversing roles. In a voice of lament, we may occupy a position of authority over against God and dare to address God in insistent imperative. This is an awkward posture for us and , even if necessary, we sense its peculiar inappropriateness. By contrast, in a voice of praise we occupy a posture of glad subordination to God, and address God in God's full authority. Moving back and forth between lament and praise means always shifting positions, getting up out of our seat and changing roles, sometimes moving quickly in a single poem or song, in a single voice or utterance. Live communion with an initiating and responsive Thou requires precisely such vitality, energy, freedom, and courage.

This not only sounds like a healthy way to interact with our God, it is also a healthy way to interact with the other in our community. Health comes because of the ability to let ourselves welcome something outside of ourselves. By welcome, I don't mean that we agree with this other. Rather, we are open enough to enter into a give and take that may move us quickly between elements of lament and praise and therefore keep us within a critical mind that does not let the world or the other simply move by us. We are always placed in dialogical situations that call us into participation. When we go there, we grow, we stretch, we deal with abandonment, we are built up and we let go of some of the things we have held onto without question. I find it quite important that we know how to change positions and roles and do not fear coming down in a place in that is different from the one in which we started. That is a sign of the live communion mentioned by Brueggmann.

Connection: I don't know about you but I do not place my self in many situations during the day in which I am willing to go through an honest give and take that pulls me into a position of assertion and abandonment. I know we must all do that internally to a bit, but what about with God and with the other in our lives?

Raise us up to be your beloved community, O God. For there in the middle of your people we are encouraged to share our lives. When we share our lives, our differences will also be shared and we will be called to deal with them and come to understand the glory of your creation and the work that is needed to live in harmony with one another. Therefore, as always, we pray that the Holy Spirit will surround us with your power for new life. Amen.