Wednesday, July 28, 2010
tattoos on the heart-- postscript
wow, powerful. i have questions though. how do i apply these principles? he talks about ripping off the roof of your house and letting everyone in, about how kinship is really living with people, really being together. how do we do that? i think he really means charity. and isn't that what the point of this whole life is? but how do i do that in provo ut? how do i do that when i dont live in downtown LA? When he talks about the soul and the person its all about 'you are perfect just as you' that the person is perfect just the way they are. why am i conflicted about this? i guess that we have to seperate the sin from the sinner. that the soul that came down is perfect, what they are doing isn't but the soul is. also, God loves us no matter what. that is a powerful idea, a powerful truth- that you, just you, with all the crap you've ever done is still lovable- is still loved, is still important to God. to understand that no matter what God wishes us to be happy. That we are worthy of love no matter what is powerful. anyway, i'm still digesting this book. i hope some of you read it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I didn't read the book. But your thoughts sparked some interest. I like what you summed up for him about kinship. About "really living with people." It seems like to really live with someone, you must be a quality listener, you must act on the behalf of others on a regular basis. I think you know REAL people, not the socially etiquette part of people. You don't hide in your house as a stay at home mom. You try to stay involved. You don't rely on the internet for all of your interpersonal exchanges. You share your soul with someone. You find someone to believe in you if you don't already have that person. I hate that I am far away from family because the day to day living pattern, casual exchanges and comforts, really help you to know someone. And it makes it easier when you see a loved on a lot to confide in them or get them to open up...or at least it is for me. I feel like I used to know my Dad, now I just know what he is like and love him, but I don't know him the same anymore because I have gone many years not living by him. I am crazy about sisters weekend because I feel like I can get to know my sisters and sister in laws for who they are, notice if they have changed any since I lost saw them and see what makes them tick. Soak up their presence. All their love and beauty and funnyness. All their goodness. Try to make up for the fact that we don't see each other on a weekly basis by having a wonderful and intense 72 hour experience! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you make a good point about separating the soul from the sinner. Sometimes we focus so much on the sin part of ourselves that we are sidetracked from celebrating and nurturing the glorious individual and soul that we are. My small children are so wonderful. If they ever get caught up in doubting themselves or worrying to much if they are doing things just right, I will feel like their spirit is damned up. Ironically, I feel like we/I can get so caught up in the pattern/system of worshiping God that although we stay clean and free because of it, we can end up handing over some of our personal empowerment and real understanding of how things work. I hope I am not going off into too big of a tangent, but sometimes I feel like we make a superstition out of our religion. It bogs our minds down with rules and obedience and insipid patterns, and as a result we don't use our brains to do things. We use God and 'meekness' as a scapegoat to hide from our fears or to stroke our small mindedness instead of taking charge of our own lives. I think people who are the most effective disciples understand this and seek to find a balance in this every day. Is real faith about blind obedience and patterns of shame and guilt or is it about studying it out in our mind, listening to our hearts carefully, putting the question out to others as well as to God...?
I agree about the tremendous power of feeling like God loves you no matter what. I remember when I was almost 16 years old I felt this and it completely changed my life.
Did you understand/agree/disagree with what I said about the superstition/vs real faith thought?
i completely agree with you. i'll write more once the girls are down tonight. I have been thinking a lot about how in our church we are so focused on being perfect that we forget that we are just as unworthy to stand in the presence of God as the drug addict, or the murderer or the pediphile. The only thing that makes it possible to return to God is Christ. anyway, i think that in trying to stay in holy places, and be good we end up excluding those that aren't living the way they should. so my next question- how do we truly find kinship with those that are defenately not following the Lord while still keeping ourselves in a place where the spirit can dwell? I think that its easy to stay in the superstition area of church. but i think real faith is being will to look at the incongruities, being willing to try to understand the things that are hard. Why are some people born gay? why can crack addict moms get pregnant but a righteous couple that will be together forever cant? how can God allow travasties to go down and not stop them-with something?!? this life is all about what we need in order to return to God but some people don't seem to have a chance. can we find our faith in that? are we will to face those problems and in the end still get down on our knees, in the end be willing to see that world in the context of our gospel truths? anyway, i'm really thinking about some things but i gotta get jade to bed
ReplyDeleteYou ask good questions. I am going to bed and my brain is not working very well. I will try again tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWhat does this author mean by kinship? Does it mean to take care of? To help and to love? Because if it is a type of friendship, I don't think we can be good friends with people who are caught up in dumb stuff, typically. We have to be sincere when we make friends. And really, what do we get out of becoming friends with someone who doesn't seem on a good track or positive? And we are worried about protecting our families, which comes first.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read the book, but I don't know if it is possible to do TONZ more than we do. Maybe just the little things, like to not be judgmental of others. Period. And whatever we can think of to do to remind ourselves not to judge on a regular basis, we do it. And smile as big and open for one person as you do for the next.
I don't know. I guess I should read the book if I want to discuss. Maybe you can tell us about it in NV.