100th post and a revelation/question

So 100 posts. Took me way too long to get here. Writing is something that I love doing, but in the craziness of life with a child, or life in seminary, or life as a youthworker, it seems like the days just go by too quickly and I'm not slowing down to process and reflect and write. I am a much better person when I write often. It helps me to see the good in others and the world around me. It helps me to process the changing light as it hits the trees outside my windows as the seasons move from summer to fall. Writing at once both helps me to find my voice and also doubt it and challenge it into new places. I am working on creating a new rhythm or rule of life right now, and I'd like blogging to be a part of it, because I know that writing is good for my soul and good for my awareness of the world. But I won't sit here and make some vain promise to blog twice a week for the next year or anything, and I don't want the blog to become a chore. But I would like to be more disciplined in my writing practices...and well, I've sucked at it as of late. It's been way easier on the family blog to put up cute pictures and videos of our little boy...but spend less time reflecting on the changes it has brought.

So this is post 100...and at the beach I had a revelation/question. My revelation: outside showers are better than inside showers. period. they just are. my question is, why don't houses in the country have outside showers? why limit the amazingness to the beach? shey tells me it's because they are practical at the beach where you need to wash the sand off before coming inside...and i say boo to that. i want a country house where i can stand outside, take a shower and see the stars above. if we ever own a house in the country or at least where the neighbors couldn't see us all the time...first thing to be added: outside shower. done and done.

one last thing: we went to the beach last week (which was amazing and quite needed rest) and how did the leaves start changing so quickly? nothing seemed to be changing when we left last monday, and then boom, we are home on saturday and the leaves are turning quick. has the leaves changing snuck up on anyone else?

Theology

Well, I'd like to come back to Rollins finally, in an exploration of his second chapter of How (Not) to Speak of God. As I write I'm listening to Ryan Adam's Easy Tiger and on the advice of Jonny Baker I've also picked up Sinead O'Connor's newest titled Theology. Both are tremendous albums and I highly recommend them! I've never owned or really listened to Sinead O'Connor much, but I'm really blown away by the content of this double album.

So Rollins' second chapter is titled "The Aftermath of Theology" and in this chapter he seems to be describing the role and view of theology in light of previous chapter's critique of ideology and the notion that we can somehow capture or colonize God through our ideas of God. He proposes that we see ourselves as the object of theology where theology is created through our lives as God speaks into them. Theology is less a human discourse about God where we debate ideas and notions of God; instead, theology is the place where God speaks into human life and discourse. Rollins goes on to write of theology:

"It is no longer thought of as a human discourse that speaks of God but rather as the place where God speaks into human discourse. In other words, theology is understood as the site in which revelation makes its appearance in the world, the place in which theos (God) impacts, and overwhelms, the human realm of logos (reason). Consequently we do not do theology but are rather overcome and transformed by it: we do not master it but are mastered by it (pg. 21)."

So in this view of theology, the traditional modes of the relationship are subverted and redefined. God is now the subject unto which all of creation and humanity are object to. This helps us immensely to be free from the temptation and task from trying to reduce God into an object for our consideration. "God is not a theoretical problem to somehow resolve but rather a mystery to be participated in." (pg. 22) This is such a freeing notion to me that I need not worry or think that it is somehow of my ability to comprehend God as God really is...as though if i just read the Bible enough or studied enough, or could just "get it right" then I would be able to reach a new level or plane in knowing God. Instead, in this journey of faith, theology becomes the mystical union and exploration of the revelation of God in my own life and the life of my community as God works among us.

I'm going to stop here in Chapter 2 and start next where Rollins talks about God as "hyper-present" because I think that this is one of the most important concepts in the book that discusses how God is present with us in revelation.