"The Story we find ourselves in"
I've started reading one of Brian Mclaren's books which I am really enjoying. Having just finished the chapter entitled 'the story of emergence' where Neo communicates his ideas that God created us as beings (I quote Neo saying "To me, the story is about Being (God, Creator) giving beings the good gift of being") that are totally in need of relationship. Its like in creating the first people, God didn't want to be the only reality in our lives, the only relationship in our network. This is what Neo says in the book...
"This is the story we find ourselves in, isn't it? Caught between two dangers: a hyperspiritual danger that says, 'It is good enough for human beings to be alone, so all they need is God', and a hypersecular danger that says, 'It is good enough for human beings to be with the other created beings; forget about the Supreme being from whom all being and blessing flow.' Neither of these options is good enough. The only viable option in our story is for us human beings to enjoy the company both of our Creator and of our fellow creatures.......
...."It's wonderful, isn't it?" Neo urged. "The story is telling us that we were designed to be incomplete and unfulfilled in ourselves as monads, as isolated individuals. We feel an ache in our side, like some part of us is missings, so that we'll always be looking outside ourselves for belonging and connection, for it is not good for a person to be alone - not in this story! And so in this story we live in a garden, with all the creatures around us, and we walk with God in the cool of the day."
"This is the story we find ourselves in, isn't it? Caught between two dangers: a hyperspiritual danger that says, 'It is good enough for human beings to be alone, so all they need is God', and a hypersecular danger that says, 'It is good enough for human beings to be with the other created beings; forget about the Supreme being from whom all being and blessing flow.' Neither of these options is good enough. The only viable option in our story is for us human beings to enjoy the company both of our Creator and of our fellow creatures.......
...."It's wonderful, isn't it?" Neo urged. "The story is telling us that we were designed to be incomplete and unfulfilled in ourselves as monads, as isolated individuals. We feel an ache in our side, like some part of us is missings, so that we'll always be looking outside ourselves for belonging and connection, for it is not good for a person to be alone - not in this story! And so in this story we live in a garden, with all the creatures around us, and we walk with God in the cool of the day."
I find it affirming to read their thoughts about what this life we're living is all about. Relationship; vertical AND horizontal, they are not mutually exclusive, but complementary, or at least that is how they were intended. Sin, my sin, is when my relationship up or out is down the pan, at least most of the time I think it can be explained that way. The challenge of life is to make them work, to worship truly, authentically in all of our relationships. Even my relationship with spiders can be reconciled back to way it was intended and all creepy crawlies, as can my relationship with myself, my friends, my family and with God. Wow - what a gospel.
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