Abi Ponders Perichoretic cHesed...again!

My new Facebook friend, James Paul, asks great questions. I am wanting to learn to ask better questions myself so I appreciate hanging out with him on FB...this was the question he asked:

Flat Hierarchy

Are flat hierarchies tenable in the real world? The Superbowl XLVIII Champion Seattle Seahawks think so ... Danny O'Neil, Mike Salk and Dave Grosby discuss the outlier relationship between coach Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider. What are your thoughts regarding top-down vs. flat models of power distribution? Is consensus building worthwhile? What, if any, are the implications for the church? Leave a comment - let's have a conversation!

After reading through a number of comments about mutuality and consensus building and collaboration, I chimed in with this:

Organizational Management is my corner, in degree and work experience. One of the most powerful experiences I had was during a management workshop, where we were divided up into group of four or five and given a list of 100 tasks that must be done to start an organization. We each had to work alone to put them in order -- what came first, etc., all the way to what was the last thing you go. It took a bit of time to get your head around all 100 items and think through the process.

After everyone was finished, the group was tasked with negotiating a group order. The kicker was that everyone had to agree. No one could sit out and no one could give in. Everyone had to share why they picked the order they did and be convinced that they were wrong or convince others that they were wrong in order to come to a true consensus of which steps should be taken in which order.

Then, once that process was finished -- which took about twice as long as our personal ones -- we were given the "correct" order. We "graded" our individual efforts and then our "collaborated" effort. The results were striking.

The group got 95 out of 100 in the correct order. I got 95 out of 100 in the correct order. The interesting thing was looking at the precise ones each missed.

The five choices I made that were wrong were catastrophic. Like, what I put at 45 should have been at 3 and so on. They would have been difficult to recover from. It's not always how much you get right, but the nature of what you get wrong, eh?

Well, the group's five errors were all just one place off. Like 4 and 5 were transposed, or 33 and 32, or 73 and 74. None of those were even remotely catastrophic. It took the group to see where my five were so far off (and I had the best stats of the group) and negotiate together to see why a different order was better. We had one quiet person -- with great intuition but not much confidence -- that we had to remind many times not to cave to peer pressure...and it was this person's ability to articulate why they thought the way they did -- and the requirement that the rest of us HAD to listen and consider -- that brought us to the better decision almost every time.

That's a long example, but it has been a powerful lessons to me, almost 24 years later.

When Jesus, Creator and Sustainer of ALL, chose to be first among equals, it was the most important (and regularly the least recognized) example he set.

And he is still to be first. He is the source, the head, the initiator...but he includes us in each step of the process. He leads...so that we can follow and exercise all our gifts together. If we don't follow, he doesn't fire us or punish us or have a tantrum of blame and guilt. Because, in the end, he knows that it is our participation that is the real point.

This is the reality of perichoretic hesed -- the interpenetration of selves with one will, without loss of self, that moves with gracious loving-kindness for the best interest of the other...this is the Great Dance of the Triune God into which Jesus has brought us through his life, death, resurrection and ascension.

Jesus said we are to call no man "Father", because we have one Father in Heaven -- so the prestige and iron rule of patriarchy was set aside.

Jesus said we are not to be called "Teacher" or "Lord", because he is both Lord and Teacher ... and after his ascension, he sent the Spirit to continue educating the human race concerning our adoption as joint heirs with Jesus. [It is a long process, because we are not always apt students, eh?]

Jesus said we are not to lord it over one another. We are to participate in the Perichoretic cHesed of God, so that we might see each other in that same light and learn to dance in that same manner together in all our dealings.

It is breath-takingly simple, but also the most difficult of things to do, because it seems so counter-intuitive to those who have come to rely on experts to tell them what to do, instead of using their gifts and brains and hands and feet and hearts to see and hear with the Spirit is teaching them...so that they might be able to share it with the rest of The Body of Christ.

It's simple. But it's not easy...at least not at the start. Not until you have experienced your own five single-point failures, and have learned about your own blind spots, and have embraced with your whole heart that every person has an important perspective to contribute...but Jesus, with the Spirit, is the quiet voice of the Truth that we must train our eyes to see and our ears to hear and our heart to resonate with and follow.

James asked where he might read more about Perichoretic cHesed...so this is what I said:

I started thinking about perichoresis from the early days of Scot McKnight's Jesus Creed blog, back in early 2007. There were pieces of it floating around in my mind, but always just out of focus. I played with it, but just had to wait. The number of times I blogged about "I'm getting ready to blog about perichoresis" is pretty funny.

My long study of cHesed took an interesting turn in June of 2009, when I met Wayne Jacobsen at a weekend retreat for my small house church...and we talked about cHesed a bit and he said I had the order wrong...that cHesed is not something we do, it is something that we receive from God. My whole world began to spin as I pondered how I had managed to miss that we are to live loved by God first and foremost before we can ever respond to that love appropriately -- either to Love God or to Love Others.

Then, I had been introduced to C. Baxter Kruger and his Perichoresis organization, but it was not the right time yet...until his book, The Shack Revisited, came out in the Fall of 2012. It was then that the other shoe began to drop -- both for getting perichoresis to focus in my mind, and for cHesed to be married to it. I had not seen, previously, that they are interconnected.

That's when I coined the term Perichoretic cHesed as the reality of the Triune God, into which Jesus has brought all of creation through the Incarnation of the Father's Eternal Son.

It is as though Perichoresis is the Music of the Great Dance (as it has been often called, and Baxter has a book called The Great Dance), whereas cHesed is the steps of the Dance itself. The melody calls forth the footwork, as it were.
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So, there it is...the work on sharing Perichoretic cHesed begins in earnest.  I ran it past my Hebrew scholar cousin the other day and he thought it was on track. Not that I need approval, but it is nice to have every once in a while.

Of course, none of this will be new to those of you who have been hanging out in my wee purple corner of the interwebs, but I wanted to share the conversation with you.

Slowly but surely the concepts are beginning to gel well enough to be able to talk about them in a free-flowing manner.  This is good. It means it is making itself at home in my heart and mind.

Enough for today...off to do neurological exercises....

Be blessed!

Abi

Abi and November's Synchroblog: Spiritual Abuse and Redemption

Updated update!  Kathy Escobar chimed in...better late than never, indeed! 

Update!  Scroll down to the bottom for the links for the rest of the posts....

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Hmmm...I have found it a bit challenging to write about a topic that still actively triggers me, but I have had a look at it from a couple perspectives lately, so here goes. This post is part of November's Synchroblog. Please do take time to go and read all the posts!

I think that the root of spiritual abuse stems from confusion: about who God is, about who we are, and about how to treat each other. Everyone is confused, on some level, about these three things. The problem is not that we are confused, but that we are unwilling to embrace self-awareness about it so that we can deal with our confusion effectively.

Spiritual abuse comes from two basic kinds of relational dysfunction:

1. Because I am confused about who God is, I am confused about who I am in relation to God and to Others. This confusion, if I am not vigilant to seek the Truth for myself, can make me vulnerable to being dominated by the convictions of others.
2. Because I believe I am right about who God is, I am self-righteous about who I am in relation to God and Others. This conviction makes me vulnerable to dominating others who remain in confusion.

In order for spiritual abuse to occur, you have to have both kinds of people:  the vulnerable and the dominant.  As Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw say: You teach people how to treat you.  The problem is that we usually teach this without realizing it. We give away our power to those we think are more competent to manage it. What we put up with is what we'll get.

But this is not a post about shame. It is a post about repentance and redemption. And it's something that we all need to engage with throughout our lives.  We never get past the need for repentance and redemption, because none of us are perfect.

As an aside, I think many Christians have problems here because they have misunderstood Sanctification as a state to be achieved instead of a process to embrace.  It is yet another example of the Already/Not Yet Paradox....

The late M. Scott Peck, MD, in his important book, The Different Drum, spoke about the four stages of spiritual growth.  One important insight is that as you grow, you have to choose to remember yourself as you were in the earlier stages so that you are able to relate to those still in those stages.  People who forget this tend to only relate to those in the last stage they passed through. Those who are farther back in the stages of growth will not only not relate to such a person...but will typically think they are evil.

One more morsel from Peck (see this post) that I think comes into play for this topic has to do with laziness. Peck came to see original sin as laziness:  “attempting to avoid necessary suffering, or taking the easy way out.”

The vulnerable and the dominant are both caught in the web of laziness.  Striving to know God and know yourself and others is the ultimate in necessary suffering. No one can do this work for us--we must embrace the struggle ourselves. Yes, we need companions on this journey, but we must each walk the path, step by step, ourselves...or we do not gain the strength, experience and stamina we need for relationship with God and Others.

To take the easy way out, to attempt to avoid this necessary suffering, misses the mark. It's sin.

For those who are confused and vulnerable, missing this mark can look like trying to find someone who will tell you what to think and do. These folks teach people to treat them like children who can't do things for themselves. They find their way to churches or other institutions that will give them boundaries and, for all intents and purposes, make their decisions for them. These churches or other institutions will, by definition, stunt the growth of these folks by encouraging them to cede their personal power and self-control.  It may seem benevolent, but it is still domination and it slowly steals Life.

For those who believe they are Sanctified (done deal) and Authorized to represent God, missing this mark can look like choosing programs and policies and procedures that control and standardize the thoughts and actions of others. These folks, intentionally or not, make others dependent on them rather than discipling them toward greater maturity. Resorting to power and control are actually attempts to take the easy way out by not really having to love and teach and correct personally in the context of authentic relationships.  "If you would just do what I tell you to do, everything would be fine." Or maybe not....

Now that I've sketched out spiritual abuse a bit, let's turn to redemption.


I have become more and more convinced that AA's 12 Step program is possibly the best foundation for discipleship, and certainly a good way to engage in the necessary suffering of growing up. Yes, it is a program, but it is one that brings persons into the hard work rather than shielding them. In the end, we are all addicts trying to recover from something!

The 12 steps, as outlined on the Realistic Recovery blog, are powerful.  Have you ever read them? Worked through some of the program? It is worth your time...and it is something that needs to be done with at least one other, preferably a mentor.

I would prefer a group of three:  someone I look up to as farther along the road, me, and someone who looks up to me. I think it is most balanced if someone is helping us up and we are helping someone up. Of course, these persons must be willing to engage the process with you and have already proven themselves to be trustworthy. It is not a small commitment, this....

The key to redemption is being willing to engage in the suffering that comes from honest  self-reflection.  And this is where Step #4 shines: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.  Yeah, when was the last time you did that?  Have you ever done it?

Take a look at this list of Character Defects and Assets...Looking at the Man (or Woman) in the Mirror.  One man, talking about processing Step #4, said that they were not able to look at the Assets until they had thoroughly processed the Defects...because it was too easy to fool themselves into thinking that they were not really that bad--all things considered. Our capacity for self deception is, sadly, enormous!

Again, this is not a guilt or shame exercise.  Rather, it is a courageous opportunity to look deeply at your character.  Of course, Step #s 5, 6 and 7 deal with those defects discerned, while #s 8 and 9 move to identifying who we have harmed through these defects and the making of amends, where possible.  Step # 10 commits to regular self-examination and promptly admitting defects as they are recognized.  This is what the process of Sanctification looks like, friends.  It is a life-long process.

Step # 11 commits to improve our conscious contact with God and # 12 commits to living life by these principles and sharing them with other addicts.  Yeah, sounds like the Jesus Creed, doesn't it?

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There are so many others who have developed such important works that will help with understanding spiritual abuse and redemption.  My friend, Brad FuturistGuy Sargent, is a fabulous place to start....

In the end, I believe the only way to approach spiritual abuse and redemption is to realize that we all participate in it, one way or another.  We have spots where we avoid necessary suffering and take the easy way out. We have spots when we use our power to control others so we don't have to do the hard work of confrontation and correction. We have spots where we submit to the power and control of others so we don't have to do the hard work of being confronted and corrected.

If you have been abused, seek help as you process the pain...you are not alone and guilt and shame will not bind your wounds. If someone speaks to you with words of guilt and shame, RUN! Look for resources to help you. Be gentle with yourself, because the process of grief can be intense and last longer than you might think.  God can handle your emotions....

If you have witnessed abuse, wake up and look for those who are hurting and come to them with listening ears. Hear their story fully. Bear their pain with them in silence, without inflaming it with your own emotions. Honor their trust with fidelity. Your presence is more important than any words you might want to say. Be patient and do not press them beyond what they are willing to share.

If you have been abusive, gather up the courage to STOP and confess it to God. Follow the 12 Steps. Get deep into Step #4. Look into the options offered on the other posts in this Synchroblog. Find someone who will walk with you as you embrace the necessary suffering of repentance, confession, reparation and, if possible, reconciliation.  Let God's redemption drill down into your soul, to drain the swamp and clean up your soul.

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We teach each other how to treat us...but we need to learn a better way.  I call that way Perichoretic cHesed. The 12 Steps are a particularly lovely theme of The Great Dance.

Whether we like it or not, the human condition is wrapped up in suffering because growing is painful -- physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally. But this is the sweetest of pains, because our dancing partner is Jesus. Are you draging him along in your dreadful dance, or are you letting him lead you in The Great Dance?

Life is a long list of Necessary Losses:  the loves, illusions, dependencies and impossible expectations that all of us have to give up in order to grow. Trying to cheat and avoid the pain of these necessary losses leads to all manner of chaos and destruction. That way dragons lie....

Be blessed as you journey. Do not think that you go alone, for Father, Son and Spirit are always with you. But do find companions to hold your left hand and your right hand as you go, because we're all in this together.

Abi

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Here are the links to the reset of the posts in the Synchroblog:

• Justin Steckbauer – The Servant Leader: A Radical Concept
• Mary – Can I Get A Doctor?
• Glenn Hager – The Man Of God Myth
• Lisa – Forgive
• Jeremy Myers – Reconciling Mark Driscoll
• Peggy Brown – Abi and November’s Synchroblog: Spiritual Abuse and Redemption
  
• Edwin Pastor FedEx Aldrich – Shooting Stars: Of Scandal, Abuse, Restoration, and Systematic Failures
• Tara – Forgive Us Our Sins As We Forgive Those…
• Liz Dyer – Sorry

Abi and the Great Library....

Well, I was trying to post a comment to RJS's wonderful post over at Jesus Creed today...but it got lost.  Sigh.  So, I decided to write it all down here instead and just link back to it in the comment.

The gist of the post, which you really should go and read first...go ahead, I'll be here when you get back...is the unfortunate tendency to put God and Science in different rooms, or viewed wearing a different pair of glasses.

RJS introduced an interesting project:

My job (or one of my jobs) at the workshop both this year and last was to moderate a group where grantees discussed their projects and the progress made to date. The creative effort involved in the broad range of projects underway is impressive.  In one project The Author of Life now nearing completion Diane Sweeney (a high school biology teacher) and Joshua Hayashi (a school chaplain) are producing a multimedia curricula with seven short videos (about 6-7 minutes) to encourage high school students (and others) to think deeply about God’s role as Creator. Their collective experience as chaplain and teacher shapes the approach they take to reach students, either Christian or non-Christian who have questions and concerns about the relationship between science and faith.

I am going to watch all the videos soon....

Anyway, in the comment section, someone said this:

"How and when does the scientific narrative go off track?"

When it exits the room labeled "science" and walks across the hall to the room labeled "philosophy" and tries to take over.

To which someone replied:

But I would add a caveat.

We don't want the image of two totally isolated rooms, where never the twain shall meet. That doesn't work in either direction -- if our metaphysics talks about the real world it can't isolate itself from science, and science doesn't operate in a metaphysical vacuum (not to mention the need to bring meaning and values to science).

So maybe not two separate rooms across the hall, but two adjacent rooms with windows and doors which are not meant as conduits for conquest but rather for respectful and constructive dialogue. And each of us (and our communities) walking between the rooms and listening and doing our best to integrate the contents of the rooms into a coherent view of all of reality.

And it went to to this comment:

Yes, thank you, the game is played both ways. Agree with your caveat as well. Each professor must know the other and the others material well.

And here's where my mind's eye saw a vision that I tried to capture in a comment...which got lost.  It's a vision inspired by C. Baxter Kruger's hope that Theology will one day reclaim her place as the Queen of the Sciences -- which she lost during the Enlightenment period.

Here's the vision:

I see one beautiful home, built and in-dwelt by the Triune God. The centerpiece of this home in an enormous library with a domed ceiling of beautiful stained glass, portraying some beautiful scene--perhaps the one of the Tree of Life. (Maybe it looks something like this!) Anyway you know the type...with books from floor to ceiling--and even a balcony, because the ceiling is so tall--with ladders on railings that you can slide back and forth in order to get to the book that's out of reach.

Okay...maybe only those of us who love books and reading and learning would see this, but bear with me!

In this beautiful library there would be sections containing all the various arts and sciences, including the earth sciences,the mathematical sciences, the biological sciences, the life sciences, the literary sciences, the healing arts...including philosophy, sociology, ecology, psychology, philology, nutrition, gardening, sewing, woodworking, metallurgy--all the crafts--well, you get the picture.

All this material--forms and evidence of what J.R.R. Tolkien calls our acts of sub-creation--would be found in this great library, gathered and hosted by the Eternal Father, Son and Spirit who first created the universe in order to build this home where we would dwell together in Perichoretic cHesed.

When RJS asks the question about whether we tend to see life through two different sets of glasses, I immediately think of the importance it has been to me over the years to recognize that each of us do, in fact, wear glasses...even if we don't know it.  Many of us have more than two pair!

I have decided that there is just one pair that I need.  They are a very special pair, but I think they do the trick! I call them my Perichoretic cHesed Glasses.  (Some of these posts are older and my thinking has grown, but they are still good background.)

I yearn for the day when we look up and around and notice the incredible diversity found in this very special library.  There is room for everyone here because the Queen of the Sciences is Queen over all--even those who do not recognize Her--and all are welcome to dwell in her home and learn.

Actually...this is facilitated by two other important rooms in the house:  a room that looks quite a bit like the One T Saloon, where folks come to relax and have fun and talk over their favorite forms of refreshment. (One where I no longer need to be a Deputy.)  There would also be a Cafe.

Conversation is important in God's universe. Everything communicates -- just in different ways. The more fluent we become in these different forms of communication, but better we will understand each other -- and the better we will understand God and Their amazing creation.

This is the foundation of civil communication, something that has become less and less easy to find in the Internet Age.

So, there you have it.  Reminds me a bit of this other virtual house I built.

May we so yearn for lives of true hospitality that we are driven home to the Kingdom of God...the one that is all around us as well as within us...the Already / Not Yet reality we are to find in the local outposts of the Kingdom which are called the Local Church. (And they aren't necessarily all found in buildings with services 2 or 3 times a week, either.)

Be blessed....

Abi

Abi ponders Peck, Post #4

Okay ... I finished the book last night.  And got my copies of Peck's People of the Lie in the mail and started the the first few chapters.  It all came flooding back.  The hard work of looking at the truth that we would go to amazing lengths not to see is very difficult.  So much so that an increasing number of people are choosing to take the easy way out.  Laziness rears its ugly head....

I am not going to discuss this book here.  The topic requires much more respect and discernment from those who have read the book in its entirety.  There is much to be misunderstood and I believe that there is no easy way to understand what Peck has labored to share.  You must read it for yourself.  But if you have read it, I will be happy to discuss it with you....you may leave your contact information in the comments here.

I have to say that both of these books are important reads.  For two main reasons:

1. Peck is looking to be the bridge between religion and science ... from the science side as a gifted thinker and physician, and from the religion side as a mystic and seeker who got all the way through the seeking to the finding.  And he did, in fact, find Jesus.  His embrace of Jesus as Messiah was complete.  Now, there will be those who will not agree with some of his theology.  Go and do your own searching before you turn away.  Tolkien's call to "suspend disbelief" in order to understand fully comes to mind here.  The unfortunate rift that was torn in the whole cloth of Truth, in order to take the "mystery" out of science is in need of restoration -- the divorce of the natural from the supernatural -- and Peck was ahead of his time on that front.  I find his books to include more than a pinch of the much needed salt of humility.  He was, indeed, a Cracked Eikon ... and we would do well to heed his example of looking at the Truth head on so that we may learn from our myriad mistakes.
2. What passes for "calling out evil" these days seems quite pathetic to me.  This is probably where I will do the most pondering in subsequent posts -- most likely because it is really a byproduct of sloppy thinking and deficient discernment concerning ethics and morality.  Too often we call "immoral" that which is not aligned with what we think or desire ... and "ethics" is becoming a form of Political Correctness.  If we are to return these important disciplines to their rightful place, we are going to have to spend time thinking deeply on root issues, not sidetracked by circumstances and emotions and talking points.

 There is much evil running rampant all around us.  Until we are willing to look in the mirror and deal with our own evil -- our own laziness -- our own unwillingness to exert ourselves for the best interest of the other ... we will continue to be blinded by the plank in our own eye and so unable to help the other with the speck that is troubling them.

One of the things Peck says is that human evil is basically concerned with taking the wide path, as it were.  When confronted with difficulties (whether relationally or economically or physically or spiritually or intellectually), the choice always exists:  (a) do I take the narrow path of love and discipline -- of my heart and soul and mind and strength -- wherever it leads and do what is right ... or (b) to take the wide path, the easy way, where my problem are not really MY problems that I must wrestle with and allow the Holy Spirit to both convict and instruct and heal -- but someone else's problems that relieve me of responsibility for my actions, or inaction.

Take a minute to read Matthew 7 ... the whole chapter.  If you have time, read the entire Sermon on the Mount.  Make this a regular practice, reading the Sermon on the Mount.  Read it in a different version every day.

In the end Peck says that we cannot deal with human evil "out there" until we deal with the evil in our own hearts ... where we allow the Holy Spirit access to the shadows in order to shine the Light of Truth and dispel the lies than ensnare us.  Only then can we look unblinking at our own laziness and ask for Jesus to disciple us.  To teach us.  To work the hardest of work in our own hearts.

This is another aspect of The Purple Martyrdom ... this work within.

The reason that there are so many monastic traditions that have these three chapters as the foundation of their rule is that they have an understanding of this important personal work that must be embraced and walked every day of their lives.  Every day.  There is no end to this discipleship ... until until we are fully conformed to the image of Jesus. When we are released from this body of death and are clothed in the imperishable, that work will be complete.

Embrace it ... there are those who will journey with you on that narrow path.  There will, no doubt, be many more "Peck Posts" ... stay tuned.  And better yet ... get the book for yourself and follow along!

Be blessed.

Abi thinks she might do a series on Peck, Laziness and Thinking....

So, I've really been thinking about that last post ... I mean, I'm waking up thinking about it, even!  And even before I've been able to go back and read the Grace section in Peck's book, I'm pondering the implications of this idea about laziness being the manifestation of Original Sin....and thinking I may have to buy another copy of The People of the Lie (since it was never returned from the last time I loaned it out...maybe I'll buy two -- DONE!).  Peck's work in that book is very important ... and I could see the foundation of that book in Peck's statement about the patients he had the most trouble helping (he was a psychiatrist) were those who were not willing to do the hard work to get well.  That laziness, taken to an extreme, turns evil.  It is not an easy read, but I think it is an important one -- especially for our times.

And then I've been thinking about the opening section on Thinking in Peck's sequel, The Road Less Travelled and Beyond, which is worth the price of the book alone.  The first section of the book is called "Crusade Against Simplism" -- which he summarizes thus: "...I decry the primitive and effortless simplistic thinking that lies at the root of so much individual and societal sickness."

The last two sentences of the opening paragraph on Thinking nails it:  "One of the major dilemmas we face both as individuals and as a society is simplistic thinking--or the failure to think at all.  It isn't just a problem, it is the problem."  BINGO!

Dr. Peck went on to say that only twice during his very long career as a lecturer did he give a 1 day seminar on Thinking.  "At the beginning of each (seminar), I pointed out that most people already think they know how to think.  At the conclusion of each, during a feedback session, someone said in sheer exasperation, "The subject is simply too large."  "...most of the participants were so overwhelmed by all that is really involved in thinking that they were either numbed or horrified."  It was no understatement when he continued with:  "Needless to say, these were not among my more popular engagements."   Yeah, no kidding!

I tend to believe that people are much more willing to "talk", whether in person or in virtual venues, than they are to do the hard work involved to think clearly.  They suggest that they are telling you what they think, but I think that they do not really know what they think about anything because they are really too busy telling about what they "feel" or "believe" or "observe" or "read" or "heard", which is usually something else altogether than clear thinking on their part.

Blessings to you ... and may you open your minds to thinking well--it is part of what it means to love God!

Abi and Idea-ism

I have a number of posts written over the years which speak to my indebtedness to Bishop George Berkeley and his life-changing statement:  to be is to be perceived.  He goes on to explain that the ultimate perceiver is God.

Scot McKnight is starting a series over at Jesus Creed:  Are we more than matter?  So, I had to comment -- because I am thrilled at the opportunity to share the dear bishop's amazing insights.

So, here are my various posts concerning perception as being:  first, second, third and fourth.

Blessings....

May Synchroblog -- Letting go....

While I've been working on my perichoresis series off-line, I have been seeing the many posts pop up for this month's synchroblog.  And even though I have not even been able to read one of them yet, I finally felt this morning that this wee, purple abbess needed to chip in a few words.

Those of you who have wandered through the posts here know that I have been letting go of ever so many things over the past few years ... but today I just want to say that the most important thing that I have had to let go (and let go again and again and again) is the desire for the approval of man.

When I have been concerned over the approval of man, my ability to listen to the voice of the Spirit and follow the example of Jesus in being obedient to the Father's will has been compromised.

I'm not talking about the approval of the "worldly culture" here ... I'm talking about the church culture that has been institutionalized.  (If you want to get a better understanding of what it means to be institutionalized, watch The Shawshank Redemption -- as Red talks about what happened to Brooks, and again at his last parole board hearing.)

I'm looking forward to reading The Faith of Leap, by Hirsch and Frost ... as I'm pretty sure this will be part of what they're talking about....

Letting go of the approval of man in favor of the approval of God is risky business in the church.  Turning away from the security of conformity to the conventions of man in order to embrace the risky freedom of being love by God, loving God in return, and loving others as ourselves is not for the faint of heart, it seems.

While there are many things that could use letting go, I have found that as I let go of this one -- the approval of man -- there are many others that fall away almost without thinking.  When we live in the reality of the cHesed of God, his love and grace and mercy set us free so that we may live full.

It's like that old story of the monkey with his hand in the peanut jar ... stuck because he has grabbed a fist full of peanuts and so can no longer slide his hand out of the jar opening.  Only when he lets go of the peanuts can he escape ... and then learn that he can get the peanuts out by dumping the jar out.  The prisons we get caught in by holding on greedily to that which has been freely given, eh?

Peace to you all ... and may our Father give you the courage to let go of whatever is keeping you stuck.

...and I am sorry that I have not posted all the other synchroblog posts.  I think you can find them here.  [Note on 5/16...updated the link.  Sorry about that :^(  ]

Abi

The Abbess and Triads ... again!

I find it interesting that there are so many things that come in threes, don't you?

Recently I have been pondering what is essential, in terms of covenant community ... as I await the unfolding of the vision that is CovenantClusters.  Those of you who know me know that I am a cHesed girl ... someone who views everything through cHesed glasses.  Purple ones, at that!

But Papa has been broadening my focus ... and it started almost two years, when I met Wayne Jacobsen.  I have been pondering deeply what it means to live loved by our Father, and I have finally begun to, as Wayne says, relax into that love.  Relaxing is something that "driven" people frequently have problems doing....

Last Thursday (as I was revisiting Robert Bank's book, Paul's Idea of Community) I began to write some of my thoughts down together ... and realized that they would become this post.  I titled it " The order of understanding the gospel's power and purpose, as it is manifest in the already/not yet reality that is life in the Kingdom of God."  Clearly, too long a title for a blog post....  ;^)

Anyway ... it turned out to be another triad!  A triad consisting of a What, a How, and a Who.

But I am getting ahead of myself....

First, we have the What.  What is the first and foremost aspect of the gospel?  It is that God loves us.  God loves us so much that, even when we did not know him, he was hard at work implementing The Plan--the one where we become part of God's community.  We are to don our dancing shoes and join Father/Son/Holy Spirit in the Divine Dance ... the perichoresis that is the Eternal interpenetrating relationship that weaves its way between the Three-in-One and results in the accomplishment of God's Will.  We who are "in Christ" dance as part of His Body -- as His Bride, with whom he shares the "one flesh" mystery that is marriage.  It is part of the biblical construct called "covenant" ... and it is the primary context for all things concerning God.  It is the environment in which relationships exist.

If you do not know the reality of this love ... cannot relax into this love so as to live loved each moment by Papa ... then everything else suffers terribly and becomes distorted.

But there is a remedy for that distortion!  They're part of the second in our triad.

Second, we have the How.  There is no way for us to truly understand the Truth in the reality that God loves us without help.  Lots of help.  But, no worries ... this help comes to us in the partner of covenant:  covenant keeping.  I have come to understand and experience this through the richly nuanced Hebrew concept of cHesed:  looking out for the best interest of the other, according to the covenant.  To keep covenant is to do cHesed.  God's love is shown through cHesed.  Our love for God and others is shown through cHesed, too.

cHesed is, in effect, the glory of Love [apologies to Peter Cetera].  It is the visible manifestation of the reality of Love ... and none who are in its presence are unchanged or unaffected.  Love is the primary descriptor for God:  God is love.  God loves us with an everlasting, faithful, love.  (See #1 above.)

We receive God's love as a gift through the Holy Spirit -- actually as the gift of the Holy Spirit!  Those who accept God's love, as made known in and through Jesus, are "in Christ" because Christ has come inside them as the Holy Spirit ... another of the great mysteries of God.  And it is through the Holy Spirit that we learn the attitudes and actions of love, grace and mercy ... the components of cHesed.  We learn about God's faithful love, amazing grace, and gentle mercy for us -- so that we may show love and grace and mercy to ourselves and to others.

Third, we have the Who.  The right response to God's love/cHesed is to accept the covenant and keep the terms and conditions agreed to by the parties:  to love with deliberate affection in submission to the partner's need, to give grace as unmerited favor that serves the partner at their point of need, and to show mercy as kindness mutually owed to ensure that the partner succeeds in keeping covenant.

It boils down to what Scot McKnight calls the Jesus Creed.  (If you wanted, you could go through my 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed for lent series!)  What Dr. McKnight has coined as the Jesus Creed: Loving God. Loving Others, is the answer Jesus gave to the question:  what is the most important commandment? 

The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. [Mark 12:29-31]

When we try to get more "specific (read:  legalistic) about what it means to love God and love others than doing cHesed, we can usurp the role of the Holy Spirit to teach and prompt us toward maturity.  When we have laws/lists, there can be perceived "loopholes" -- where the letter of the law is kept, but the spirit of the law is transgressed against.

With cHesed, it is very simple.  If you miss the target (looking out for the best interest of the other, according to the covenant), you have sinned.  Sin requires confession, repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration.  The greatest part of the Good News is that Jesus has perfect aim ... and the more we relax into his love, the more the Holy Spirit will be able to guide our aim.  Sin is not the boogey man ... just a fact of the "not yet" reality of Kingdom living -- one that has been completely dealt with by Jesus.  We just need to "take our medicine" when we take our eyes off the Target!

Triads ... this Triadial Abbess loves them!  God's Love is the what, Holy Spirit-empowered cHesed is the how, and living the Jesus Creed:  Loving God, Loving Others is the who.  This is the Gospel as well as the repeating cycle of maturity, eh?  Reminds me of a spiral stairway to heaven...just keep walking, one step at a time.

Sure ... there's more and more nuances concerning God's love and life in the Kingdom that we learn and understand as we get higher up on the stairway.  But if you don't get this triad right, the journey is so much more dark and difficult ... and peace and joy so much harder to find.

Today, I'm leaning into Papa's love for me and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform and inspire my love for Jesus and those that cross my path.  It keeps me plenty busy! ;^)

Be blessed.