Sweet Nothings

(Note: Read Keith's reply to the Moral Relativism is Good post...he has a great argument that clarifies what my blog was about)

Have you ever had those moments when you're like "wow, that was a cool coincidence"? Or when you were thinking how interesting it was that similar ideas and topics and stuff were happening around similar times? I think it's God working in our lives and it's one of the more obvious but overlooked ways He talks with us.

I've been having these moments kind of frequently lately and I love when God does this; it just makes me smile. So I wrote a few weeks ago (I think) about being made in the image and likeness of God and I included a reflection on Romans 8:38-39. A few interesting things about that...

First, I started painting over Christmas break with Megan from LifeTeen and I asked her to pick a verse because I had no idea what to paint. That is what she chose. So then the verse came up when I was thinking about God's love for us and being made in His image and likeness. Then our young adult ministry went to Juvenile Hall this past Thursday and Father Paul asked me to speak about Romans 8:28-39. It was awesome because I just read that passage and one of the girls in the group we were ministering to raised her hand right after and asked what it meant because she didn't understand (it has some archaic language if you're using the NAB translation of the Bible). It was this great segue into the example of the $20 bill that gets crumpled and stomped but that you still want because it's still valuable. And the girls seemed to get it. Watching their reactions was kind of intense. Some had no reaction which is fine, some of them flinched as if hearing that God loves them hurt which was heart wrenching to see, and some of them seemed to hang on every word hungry to hear that anybody loved them, let alone God.

Step back to last Thursday in my Scripture class ("The Genesis Debates") and we were looking through the text of Genesis 1 and 2. Our professor explained how the word used in Hebrew that gets translated into "image" is used when a King conquers an area and then puts his image in the center of the village or whatever it is to show his presence within that area now....and that's the same "image" that God uses for us...we are God's image on this earth that is His creation. That means that we serve as His visible and active indication to everyone else that God is present on earth. That was the Thursday right before our EDGE retreat about the Mystery of God and finding God's presence in our daily lives. Man! Talk about God whispering "sweet nothings" of His providence and greatness.

Maybe you think I'm crazy and I'm stringing together a bunch of coincidences or it makes sense because I'm studying that which I talk about and whatever other kind of rationale you want to use to downplay the experiences I'm talking about. But, if that's the camp you're in, I challenge you especially to look at your life over the last several weeks and see what kind of "love songs" God's been singing in your life. This is a good exercise for anyone to do really so have fun.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Moral Relativism is a Good Thing?

Okay, here me out on this one...but I think in one respect, moral relativism might be a good thing. Check it out:

If someone says what is good for me may not be good for you...what does that leave? That leaves a gap that needs to be filled by a choice...you have to choose what is good for you.

Anyone can do the right, just, moral thing if they are forced...if there's no temptation or option to do otherwise. So moral relativism means you have to work harder and earn that moral character...you have to make it your own.

I related it to love. See, one of the questions people always ask when it comes to humanity and God is "why". Why this, or why that? Why did God create us with free will if He knew that we'd screw up and be sinners and He'd need to send His Son to save us if He wanted us back? I think it comes down to choice. If we didn't have free will, we wouldn't have choice...and there's something powerful about choice. Loving God or loving anyone or anything really in true love requires choice...it requires choosing to give of yourself freely and completely.

So, back to moral relativism...it makes living a moral life more sincere to have to choose the right path.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Ramblings on the Image and Likeness of God

I was reading this theologian named Elizabeth Johnson (I think she's a feminist theologian, if I remember correctly) and when I read chapter 3 of one of her books, in particular, I started having this reflection on being made in the image and likeness of God....it's kind of random and not the most well thought-out but it's here for your consideration (especially if you're really bored).

We read that God made "them" male and female He made them. He made the male and female in his image and likeness. It kind of begs the question, why didn't he make us all male or all female? I think that it's because I, as a singular woman, do not represent or "appear as an icon of God in all divine fullness," just I think a singular man cannot represent or appear as such either.

Why? Because our creation in God's image and likeness clues us into the reality of God not as a being that can be described or characterized and therefore limited, but as a relationship, as a motion, as an action, as a permeation of all reality temporal and intemporal. God gives life through love (an action, not a noun) and to be in God's image and likeness we need to possess and utilize the same features. Thus we need to be a unity, we need to be a relationship, not an island unto ourselves (as a poet once phrased it). This means that my existence is only fulfilled when in relationship with others.

We know through the act of knowing, we experience through the act of experiencing...life is not lived until we live it. It sounds redundant, but basically, we are fulfilled in our full creation when in relationship so that we may be in relationship with God. We are enveloped and at the same time encouraged to join the triune relationship that is God. To be created to be actualized in relationship denotes the sacramental relationship of marriage open to giving life as well as the life giving relationship of community and love of neighbor.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

I have a small confession...

I have a little confession to make...I don't tell people very often that God loves them. I just see their face before my mouth even opens: Disbelief. It's a terrible excuse, especially being a youth minister, but I just feel defeated before I even try to tell someone that God loves them...I feel the laughter, and I cave. It feels like the phrase is cliche and overused, so I just don't say it. But I'm throwing it back at those that don't believe, laugh, mock, sneer, etc...

Why is it so hard to believe that God loves you? Because you see, I think that's why you laugh or brush a comment like "God loves you" aside. What is so wrong with you that God can't love you? NOTHING! "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39 NIV). No matter what you've done or haven't done, no matter if you're the best version of you or still a work in progress, whether you care or not, whether you believe or not, whether you reciprocate or not...GOD LOVES YOU.

It's funny in a sad way because the people that don't believe or don't care that God loves them are the ones that usually say "I don't care what other people think of me"...but that's a lie. You do care. What you're really saying is that you don't care about the people that judge and criticize...and I don't blame you for wanting to ignore the negativity. But then you go and run to relationships, a boy, a girl, friends, drugs, the internet, cell phones, alcohol, cutting, whatever, to validate you as a person...to make you feel whole, to give you your identity, to make you worth something.

Maybe it will last a long time, maybe it will last a few weeks, but eventually all of those things will let you down and you slowly fade into an empty shell because it's the fact that God loves you that validates you because it defines you with all the worth in the universe that God created you with. Jesus died for you. Not because you're a terrible person. Because He loves you. God loves you. Unconditionally. Let's live in that love.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Stories vs. Life

We grow up watching these shows and reading these stories that feature these heroes that go through these struggles and obstacles and overcome them. These stories are crafted so that we empathize and root for the main character – sometimes they’re average people that could be our friends or family members and sometimes they’re a bit out there from “normal” life. We begin to get so entangled into these stories, it can make our own lives seem boring, can’t it?

I was thinking about that and drama and how like sometimes you talk to people and there is a new issue or struggle they tell you about every time you talk to them. Now, I’m not saying that issues and struggles are bad and that a person shouldn’t have friends they can rely on and whatnot because that’s mucho importante. But, what I was contemplating was if the way we respond to the issues and struggles of life is kind of programmed into us so that we respond making things into more dramatic of ordeals than we really need to…maybe we feel life is boring…maybe we want our own lives to be episodes of Full House, High School Musical, 24, The Office, whatever show it may be.

I think that perhaps as shows become more “realistic”, especially with “reality tv”, people are doing this even more…it’s like our life becomes a story. And the more enamored our society is with stories (whether it be books, TV, movies, etc), the more we want our lives to be like a series of episodes or just a series of stories. We need to separate life from fiction though and live life rather than producing the stories of our life.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Happy New Year - 2008: Resolutions?

When I think of New Year’s I think of a few things
-Ball Dropping
-Counting from 10
-Flutes of champagne
-And resolutions!

Usually I boycott the resolutions part of New Year’s because I’ve always wanted to be kind of “counter cultural” and I lived by the philosophy that it shouldn’t take a date on a calendar for me to actually do something to make myself a better person.

I am kind of breaking that tradition this year and actually making some new year’s resolutions. In the process of making my resolutions, it got me thinking about why resolutions are such a big deal. I think it’s about the symbolism: it’s a new year and new anything implies freshness, cleanness, a restart, being unhindered by a past and so that symbolism gives a sense of encouragement and strength to people wanting to do things to be better versions of themselves.

It makes sense because I think we really are drawn to symbolism as human beings and I think that’s part of why I love the Catholic faith so much. There are so many things within the faith that are symbols that can give us that sense of strength and encouragement to believing that God loves us no matter what and that the struggles that come from living the Christian life, following Christ, are worth it.