It's early in the month, and, without really saying anything, I had decided to post something every day in November. (November is the month, and all that.) But here it is, almost 10:00 Central Standard Time, and I didn't get anything up today.
Oops. It's kind of early to give up.
Lately, I have a lot on my mind. Some of it is very complicated, and will take awhile to sort out. I've been thinking a lot about the Lutheran Core and the Word Alone, how, long ago I used to go to North Heights Church, a charismatic (Lutheran) church which I now regard as kind of scary. But more on that later.
Here are a few of my random thoughts:
1. I feel passionate about social justice, but I love the gospel.
2. I knit backwards. I just read a book that says that left-handed people don't have to knit backwards; after all, you knit with both hands. You CAN learn to knit just like everybody else. I'm not sure that's true about ME, though.
3. I've been reading a lot of poetry lately, some ouf of a book called Beloved on the Earth, which are poems dealing with grief.
4. My dad is probably coming home from the nursing home tomorrow.
5. My mom needs to go to Arizona soon to clean out their old place. She needs someone to drive with her. I would love to, but I live as a very over-scheduled pastor. Lately, I've been thinking: what does a healthy, balanced life look like?
6. In a healthy, balanced life, I would have time to cook simple suppers more often.
7. At the Celebration of Confirmation last night, we learned about all kinds of thirst, many kinds of thirst. The thirst for love. The thirst for meaning. The thirst for belonging. We also learned that there are people in this world who are literally dying of thirst, because there are not wells with clean water for them to drink.
I'm thirsty for a little compassion, I'm thirsty for time, I'm thirsty for the freedom not to feel like I have to "meet or exceed expectations" all the time. But that doesn't begin to describe it.
What are you thirsty for?
8 comments:
Diane,
thanks for the post. It's hard to keep up regular blogging; but the value is clear.
I have had similar experience in the ELCA. 10 years ago I was at the founding gatherings for Word Alone cheering. Now I am not at those gatherings anymore, nor am I really cheering for the direction of the ELCA.
I look at the world today and I see people thirsty; but they don't see what they really need. Jesus told a woman at a well that He had water for life. She said give me some.
The same Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness." I thirst to see my daughters learn that justice and righteousness matter just as faith, hope, and love, mercy and peace matter.
pax,
unlikely.
See, if it were me, I'd say that I feel passionate about social justice BECAUSE I love the Gospel. That's just me. I hope you find the waters that will quench your thirst.
L.
I'm also trying to post daily and right now I'm grateful for the Friday Five! 1. I don't know a lot about knitting, but I'd say if knitting "backwards" works for you, keep doing it your way. I don't think you need too many more "shoulds" in your life!
2. I've been thinking a lot about how much we ask of our clergy and how we could change that; it keeps coming back to having the laity take more responsibility. Here's the thing though -- if (God forbid) you got a serious illness for a few weeks, the church would manage to go on without you. So when you feel you are needed to go to AZ with your mother -- where is it written that they couldn't manage in a case like that? Hoping everything works out and that your thirst can be quenched. The poetry is a really good idea, the Gospel too.
I see the gospel and social justice as being two gloves in the same pair. I, too, struggle with the demands of "meeting or exceeding" expectations. I thirst for the same stuff as you.
I'm in the same boat as Lindy and Jennifer with the gospel and social justice. I do believe that true social justice quite often does not look anything like we think it might sometimes, after going back to the gospels.
I thirst for having love in my life again and for relief, and a paying work.
Lindy, Jennifer and PG, I don't disagree with what you say about social justice and the gospel. It's hard to articulate exactly how I'm feeling right now, and when I try to articulate it, it sounds way too Lutheran for ecumenical consumption.
Let me just say that in my own life right now, that I feel very strongly and passionately about this, I am also experiencing the command and demand to do social justice as a weight and a burden, though I do occasionally experience the privilege and joy of it.
Much more beautiful thoughts than I can express. Thank you to everyone.
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