For Mother's Day this year we went with my mother to a baby dedication at a church in Salem. Mom & Pop are the Godparents to the kid, so it seemed like the thing to do at the time. As I looked around I became quite sure there were others there for the same reason we were: to show their moms love through action. The pastor and his wife took advantage of this situation, each giving a sermon on this most holy of days when we're supposed to talk about how awesome mom's are. I'm pretty sure the pastor actually gave two sermons, one before his wife spoke & one after.
Stuck in a pew--well it was actually a chair cuz this particular church is "progressive"-- my wife and I did the only reasonable thing; we started writing notes on a giving envelope. It's not long, but there are a couple good thoughts here:
Kisha: "If Jesus is not allowed to have fear and go through the real struggle of human death, what does that mean for me/us who are having fear and struggling with what life has brought? This thought hurts those for whom life is furiously full of pain... The beauty of Jesus is that he really did experience what it is to be human. And in the garden experience his will, desire, emotion not wanting to die, not wanting what the Father wanted. Yet in submission came freedom to all. How we must submit for freedom... not to humans, but to God."
Me: "YES! How unbelievably difficult it would have been to choose the cross when Christ knew what it was like to be intangible and self-sufficient. But we have a God that can identify with us because He/She went through the entire cross fiasco. I believe this to be one very important part of theology people outside the church don't get to hear because of the political power struggle."
Kisha: "Yes. I was thinking about the song we just sang that said Jesus shed no tears for himself but sweat blood for us... what a crazy interpretation."
Me: "Yep, there is a great deal of self-illusion that disallows the sub-culture to experience this comfort themselves. It's sad."
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