| Today we will continue with Brueggemann's comments about the 'intentional, intense group' that took up the task of interpretation the facts on the ground in Babylon and beyond.
This cadre of interpreters opined about the causes of the destruction, the way of coping in the displacement, and the prospects for ending the displacement and returning home. All of which is only to say that the dominant narrative account of Jews in the sixth century is not an objective, disinterested report, but rather one that bears the ideological fingerprints of the group that created this particular interpretation of events that is appropriate to those who offer the interpretation. Perhaps inescapably, this account of the crisis of the sixth century draws all of its meaning close to this community of interpreters, that is, close to the deported elites in Babylon who understood and presented themselves as the faithful carriers and embodiment of true Israel in the future.
We all create our own stories in so many ways. We see ourselves in ways that fit the way we view the world. We tell ourselves those stories (wherever they come from) and those stories shaped - for good and for not so good. This reminds me of the book Lies Our Teachers Told Us. So many of the stories of the early years of the US that have become the patterns of thought for so many of us - are not all that accurate. They produced an image that still guide and shapes us - even though many of the events never took place - or even took place along a story line that is nothing we would be proud of at all. Here we are able to look to Israel and see how this "in between" place that is continually run over by bigger powers, becomes a power in its own storytelling. And -- it is a story that has lasted and continues to create a community of people who follow its line of thought as though it is a saving light. In many ways, it is. What power storytelling can have among us!?
Connection: So what is the storytelling that pulls you into the day? What gives you the gumption to move on in the face of anything that might be thrown at you. Stories have the power to lift us up. Think about the story of resurrection and unbounded love - where does that put you?
O God, you are at the center of our storytelling and we pray that you will be the power of new life that will lead us by the hand in and through all things. Amen. |
No comments:
Post a Comment