There must be a place to gather to stand up to this dominant version of reality. As you might expect, Brueggemann is willing to point a way for us from how he reads about the sub-version of life in Scripture.
There is, however, a counter-truth that surfaces in Christian worship. It is a small counterpoint without great voice or muscle. It has been a minority perspective for a very long time. The ones who practice the counterpoint know very well that ours is not and will not be a dominant voice. It is a sub-version of reality, one that sounds beneath the lough voice of the dominant version, one that flies low beneath the radar surveillance of the dominant version.
...the sub-version is a poetic, elusive, delicate alternative even while the dominant voice of reality prevails in its facts on the ground.
Sometimes, it feels as though what we do in worship is so insignificant...so unreal...so irrelevant. And yet, the worship of God's people has always been a part of that voice that will not be silenced. It is birthplace of the voice that defies the many ways we are coerced into living a life contrary to the vision of the Reign of God. Sure, we may not like certain aspects of "how" things are done in worship. Despite that view, it is in the words...in the images...in the meal...in the fellowship...in the singing...in the peace...in the practice of following the cross move among us, that we find our feet able to stand on a firm foundation...or maybe we find our wings that will help us soar above and around the dominant version of life that really wants us to settle down - shut up - fit in. I don't know of a better way to say this but to say it would be advantageous for all of us to "pray" the liturgy. That is, as we take part in the liturgy, hold it up...taste it...look at it again...listen with ears that long for direction and comfort...or simply let the voices of others be the voice that gives all of us the opportunity to identify this sub-version of life. We must also consider the fact that within the church we can hear this dominant version attempting to have a voice among us. It is there. It is more present than a slip of the tongue. It may be the intentional way that a congregation attempts to make it int he world. This sub-version of life doesn't quite "make it" within the domain of the world. And yet its voice always tries to be present among us so that we will adopt its ways.
Connection: You don't have to wait until worship to hear this voice of the sub-version of reality. There are many ways to recall just a touch of it...a few words of a hymn...a snippet of the liturgy...the visual of the bread and wine held high for all. This is all possible today - imagine that.
When you Reign among us, O God, the life we have is new and we are often moving in a different direction than those around us. Help us to find others who walk like the Lord we say we follow. It is so much easier to travel down new paths with others alongside. Amen.
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