Reflections for Lent, #4
Recently it seems that I have been surrounded by messages using the metaphor that life is a journey. All metaphors are imperfect but informative. Journey implies: destination, a best path for getting there, temptations to get off the path, effort to move forward and stay on the path, need for companions (since no one in the ancient world, especially a woman, would travel alone wisely), places of rest, and sense of progression (we are getting closer).
If our use of the metaphor is missing any of these elements, what does that mean?
We Christians think of the destination as heaven, but I could argue that. Jesus spoke a great deal about this life; the whole Bible does, as well as speaking about heaven. Our destination is spiritual as much as eternal. Jesus is the way, not just the one who shows the way. There are daily temptations to take detours or even more to stop and not continue the path; I think we are not usually honest about how tempting apostasy is. We must make decisions; the effort is not a physical and mental exertion as much as a denial of our own will. We need companions, despite the "Jesus and me" theology. Rest is not valued and seen as sin in and of itself, and I believe it's perfectly fine to recognize and assess how far we have come.
Quote for the day, "There is something morally repulsive about modern activist theories which deny contemplation and recognize nothing but struggle. For them not a single moment has value in itself, but it is only a means for what follows." Nicolas Berdyaev.
If our use of the metaphor is missing any of these elements, what does that mean?
We Christians think of the destination as heaven, but I could argue that. Jesus spoke a great deal about this life; the whole Bible does, as well as speaking about heaven. Our destination is spiritual as much as eternal. Jesus is the way, not just the one who shows the way. There are daily temptations to take detours or even more to stop and not continue the path; I think we are not usually honest about how tempting apostasy is. We must make decisions; the effort is not a physical and mental exertion as much as a denial of our own will. We need companions, despite the "Jesus and me" theology. Rest is not valued and seen as sin in and of itself, and I believe it's perfectly fine to recognize and assess how far we have come.
Quote for the day, "There is something morally repulsive about modern activist theories which deny contemplation and recognize nothing but struggle. For them not a single moment has value in itself, but it is only a means for what follows." Nicolas Berdyaev.
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