This is Joy- I couldn't figure out how to do my own post, so I'm doing it through Craig. As I said on my "9 ways"post, "believing God is good" has been one of the most powerful "ways" inmy faith journey. When I decided I wanted to develop and clarify what all that meant to me this is what I came up with:
Faith
The self forgetfulness of faith.
I matter, but I'm not all that matters.
Being present in the moment
With the self forgetfulness of faith.
I give myself fully
for the sake of
A Vision larger than myself
becoming larger in that moment-though becoming larger matters not.
Worries and doubts of the future cannot consume me
when I am present in the moment
with the self forgetfulness of faith
giving myself fully for a Vision larger than myself.
The Atmosphere is lifegiving, nurturing
Sometimes within a lush forest
sometimes within a storm
Giving me a way to see my world
As lifegiving, nurturing.
Giving me a choice-
at every turn-
of seeing opportunity-
another open door.
I believe in htat which is infinite
which is yes.
I believe.
Help my unbelief, You Creator in which I live and breathe and have my being.
Create in me
and through me.
with thanks to Marcus Borg and ee cummings
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Just finishing up Borg & Wright's The Message of Jesus, and in the final chapter both outline what it means to be a Christian. Wright strongly believes that worship and mission are the foundations of Christianity. Borg writes very eloquently that the modern church has put too much emphasis on what we believe and not enough on developing and maintaining a relationship with God, and through that relationship living a transformed and missional life in Christ. Yes, it is important what we believe but the goal is not to believe the "right things." The goal is to experience divine reality in our own lives.
Borg relates a wonderful story about an introductory Bible course he has taught at Oregon University for over 20 years. At the beginning of the the course, he explains his approach to studying the Bible. In his class there are, invariably, students who are coming from a fundamentalist approach and also those new to the faith who often take the same view. The first few weeks of his class are mostlty taken up with back and forth debate with those students. One particular semester, a Muslim student signed up for Borg's class; the student needed a humanities credit and the class fit his schedule. After witnessing the debate of the first few weeks, the Muslim student approached Borg and said, "I think I see what is happening here. You are saying the Bible is a lens through which we see God, and they believe in the lens."
Let's not mistake our beliefs for our religion.
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