Introduction to AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD

Dear Gary and Purl--
I just finished reading the introduction to Barbara Brown Taylor's AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD and I am so excited! This sounds like just the book I need. Although it is a simply premise, it seems groundbreaking to find a book on faith that focuses on the sacredness of daily life.  How we can find the sacred in the baking of bread, giving birth to children, making love to our partners and going through the processes of daily living. I am really looking forward to seeing what she has to say. 

This dovetails really well with what I have started reading in Baron Baptiste's 40 DAYS TO PERSONAL REVOLUTION.  I thought I was just picking up a guide to meditation and yoga but I have been surprised how Baptiste mentions Jesus in almost every chapter. Since this book focuses on bodily practices, I think it will be an excellent companion to Taylor's book.  A good start to Lent all around.

-Malady

Lenten Challenge?

Dear Gary and Purl--
Guess what came across my desk today?

It's a yoga/meditation book.  Change your life in 40 days.  My doctor tells me I need to get serious about managing my stress.  I always enjoyed yoga but can't seem to find the time to go to class . I'm thinking of checking out this book and trying it out. Week one involves a 20 minute yoga practice.  By Week Six, you should have worked up to a 75 minute yoga practice.  Remember how many days there are in Lent? That's right. 40 days.  I might make this part of my personal Lenten challenge.

-Malady

Back to Business

Dear Gary and Purl--
Our conversation stalled around the time I had my baby. I'm going to rectify that right now.  Lent is coming up and my church has chosen our Lenten book selection.

Here is the synopsis:

"In her critically acclaimed Leaving Church ("a beautiful, absorbing memoir."—Dallas Morning News), Barbara Brown Taylor wrote about leaving full-time ministry to become a professor, a decision that stretched the boundaries of her faith. Now, in her stunning follow-up, An Altar in the World, she shares how she learned to encounter God beyond the walls of any church.

From simple practices such as walking, working, and getting lost to deep meditations on topics like prayer and pronouncing blessings, Taylor reveals concrete ways to discover the sacred in the small things we do and see. Something as ordinary as hanging clothes on a clothesline becomes an act of devotion if we pay attention to what we are doing and take time to attend to the sights, smells, and sounds around us. Making eye contact with the cashier at the grocery store becomes a moment of true human connection. Allowing yourself to get lost leads to new discoveries. Under Taylor's expert guidance, we come to question conventional distinctions between the sacred and the secular, learning that no physical act is too earthbound or too humble to become a path to the divine. As we incorporate these practices into our daily lives, we begin to discover altars everywhere we go, in nearly everything we do."

I'm really looking forward to reading this one. I recently finished DUG DOWN DEEP by Joshua Harris and I would recommend it for both of you. Lots of meaty stuff there.

Love---Malady

BLUE LIKE JAZZ Week Five

My favorite part of this week's reading was the discussion about love. I especially enjoyed what Paul says about love in Chapter 13.

"I mean that to be in a relationship with God is to be loved purely and furiously. And a person who thinks himself unlovable cannot be in a relationship with God because he can't accept who God is; a Being that is love. We learn that we are lovable or unlovable from other people....that is why God tells us so many times to love each other."

What a great idea! This was a nice segue into Chapter 14 on being alone. When I was studying philosophy in college, I remember talking about Fichte. Fichte wrote about how we need other people to interact with in order to create our sense of self and "otherness." If we don't have that, we go insane. We need other people to be our mirrors. So many times we have heard that you can't be in a relationship with someone else until you love yourself. I think that's true. But it is also clear that we need each other. We learn so much about ourselves from interacting with other people.

I didn't enjoy Chapter 15 as much but I understood where Don is coming from. Being an only child, I am used to having my own space. I have always found it difficult to live with people. I really worried that I wouldn't be cut out for married life but it has been surprisingly easy to live with my husband. What a surprise! I guess he makes a good "mirror" for me.

BLUE LIKE JAZZ Week Four

I really like this quotation from Chapter 10:

"The problem with Christian belief...is that it is not a fashionable thing to believe."

Donald is right. We all want to be fashionable and cool deep down. This can create a lot of pressure for some of us Christians when challenged by "cool" non-Christians. It just isn't trendy to be a young Christian. But I really like the delineation that Donald draws between "Christianity" and "Jesus." We often get so caught up in the religous aspects of Christianity and its labels that we lose sight of the message. I like how Donald describes himself as a follower of Jesus rather than the loaded term "Christian." I especially love the confession booth that Donald and his friend set up. What a wonderful idea!

Although I found Chapter 12 a bit preachy, I can empathize with Donald's search for a church. It is important to find a place of worship that feels relevant and authentic. I have mentioned many times how I feel angry that Republications and conservatives have co-opted Jesus for their own agendas and political purposes. Although I am a Democrat, I don't see either side as being "Christian." As Donald pointed out, "what I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do." I don't believe religion has a place in politics.

I have always been uncomfortable with the modernization of the church today. I get squirmy when I see people wear jeans to church and carry their Starbucks into the sanctuary. I cringe when the rock band starts playing Christian music during the service and when I see "Jesus Jams" aimed at teens. Is it all really necessary? Part of me likes the fact that these trendy touches speak to some people and bring them into the church. At the same time, it feels overdone. I think the methods used by Donald's church are so much more to the point. We all know the church must change or die. But we need to be careful about what changes and incentives that we implement just to get people in the door.

BLUE LIKE JAZZ Week Three

So, I have two ideas about myself as a Christian that I'd like to share with you:

1) I am a lunatic.

OR

2) I am a Christian dilettante.

Sometimes I wonder if non-Christians aren't right. Am I really a crazy person who walks around believing in a myth? What the heck is wrong with me? Why not just give up on the idea of God and live my life however I want to with no rules and no guidelines? It makes me think of what C.S. Lewis said in MERE CHRISTIANITY about how you can't say that you are a follower of Jesus' teachings but that you don't believe He was divine. If Jesus walked around saying he was God and really wasn't, then he was nuts. And who wants to be a follower of a crazy person? There are days when I think about Christianity and I say to myself that I must be out of mind to believe in something that is so illogical and self-contradictory. Some Christians throughuot my life have told me that it is evil to have doubts about your faith. I disagree. I think asking questions and facing your doubts makes your faith stronger. We need to be challenged in our beliefs. It is a chance to exercise our faith muscles and remember why we decided to believe this crazy stuff in the first place.

The other thought about myself as Christian is similar to what Don discussed in Chapter 9. It can be really easy to be a Christian on the outside. You can wear a cross and carry your bible around and use all the right lingo. You can be "an infomercial for God." But after awhile, that feels fake.

When I was about 14 years old, I decided to start attending church again. I got really into it and even attended a Dawson McAllister conference with other kids from my church. I decided to only read Christian books and listen to Christian music. I tried really hard to fit in with my fellow Christian teenagers. Being painfully shy, this was tough. But I made a real effort to say all the right stuff like "peace be with you." One day, we were talking about school and one girl said that she was already taking Calculus. Since I have never been a math person, I was really impressed and said "Oh my god!" Suddenly, everyone got quiet and this one guy looked really pissed. I had said the Lord's name in vain. They walked away from me and I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be Christian enough for these people. I would make mistakes and I wouldn't always get the lingo right or wear the right clothes or listen to the right music. Even Christians have their cliques and ridiculous rules for fitting in. I didn't attend church again until I went to college.

You can walk the walk and talk the talk but unless you are actively working on your relationship with God and trying to live your life in a spiritual way, it means nothing. And that can be tough. I want it to be easy. I don't want to have to work on my faith. I want to go church and simply say "I'm a Christian" and "Peace be with you" and have it be enough. But it's not.

BLUE LIKE JAZZ Week Two

I really enjoy the parts of the book where Donald seems to find a way to reconcile being a Christian while attending a highly secular college. To me, this has always been one of the hardest parts of Christianity. How do we maintain our Christian life and identity while having to live within a secular context?

I think one of the most important parts of these chapters for me was the fact that Donald acts as a Christian model for non-Christians whether he chooses to or not. He doesn't go around proselytizing. He simply provides an active example of what a Christian should be for others. And it seems that this approach is very effective. It can be very hard for Christians to overcome all of the horrible things that have been done in the name of religion. Non-Christians often come to us with very valid arguments such as Donald's friend Laura.

I thought the part of the chapter about Laura seeing Christianity as irrational was especially interesting. It DOES seem irrational. As Donald put it, "I think Laura was looking for something rational, because she believed that all things that were true were rational. But that isn't the case. Love, for example, is a true emotion, but it is not rational."

The end of Chapter six really spoke to me as well. It seems like all have to do is to believe and then everything else should fall into place. So, why do we continue to struggle? "I thought that if God would make it so I felt convicted all the time, I would never sin." Wow. That sounds familiar. Why CAN'T we feel strong about our faith all the time? And why CAN'T we conquer sin with self-discipline? I have wondered this myself many times. I'm looking forward to seeing Donald's explanation.

BLUE LIKE JAZZ Week One

Dear Gary and Purl--

Raise your hand if you identified with anything that Donald talked about in the first three chapters. (my hand is raised) I think that many of us as children view God as a "slot machine God." If we are good little children, we will be rewarded. If we are bad little children, we could go to HELL!!! Or, we can just turn to God to push the reset button and all is forgiven.

My favorite chapter this week was Chapter 2. I love this passage:

"I believe the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man's mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God."

I think we are often distracted by religion. We focus so much on the practice and the ritual that we lose sight of the spirituality. I have seen so many churches torn about by people disagreeing on certain ritual aspects of their church and forgetting about the real reason why they are there. There are lots of other things to distract us in everyday life as well. Some people may say that alcohol, drugs, sex, television and other secular pursuits are evil. I'm not sure I believe those things are inherently evil. (after all, even Jesus enjoyed wine!) But when they distract us and cause us to waste time, THAT is when they are a problem.

I also like how Miller explores the idea that we have to LEARN to be good. It doesn't come naturally to us. And it is something we have to work on every single day. As Miller says, WE are the problem. We have to start any good work with ourselves before moving on to anything or anyone else.

I hope you are enjoying the book so far!!!

-Malady

BLUE LIKE JAZZ Week One

One of the characteristics of Generation X has often been described as "a need for fulfillment." We look to be "fulfilled" in all aspects of our lives from our jobs to our relationships. This need spills over into religion as well. I think many Generation X-ers who were raised within a religious system became disillusioned with it during their high school and college years. We experienced a "disconnect" between what we were being taught in church and what we were living in the "real world." Sometimes, religion was just too inconvenient. It sometimes appeared to lack relevance.

I think Donald Miller does an excellent job of describing this disillusionment and the failure of Christianity for many individuals of our generation. So much of his story rings true for me. I hope it will for you as well.

We'll begin our journey on Ash Wednesday. The first day of Lent. I would like us to try and read the first three chapters before February 13. That should get us through most of Donald's earlier experiences with religion. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!!!!

A Lenten Challenge

Hello my friends!

It is hard to believe that Lent is almost upon us. I can't believe that Ash Wednesday is on February 6!

I did not grow up with the tradition of giving something up for Lent. No one really did that in my church. I was always fascinated when others did it. When I grew up, I decided that it would be more productive for me to ADD something to my routine rather than give something up. The addition would be something specifically religious. My church has a Lenten book club every year. The entire congregation reads the same book together and our services during Lent use themes from the current book. This year, we are using a Lenten devotional. I will definitely use the devotional but I decided that wasn't enough.

I would like to encourage you to read BLUE LIKE JAZZ with me for Lent this year. I will post weekly "assignments" to keep us on task and then we'll discuss what we have read. We'll start on Ash Wednesday. I hope you'll join me!!!

Testify

I think one of the hardest things about being a Christian in this day and age is being open and vocal about it. Because a lot of times, people just write you off as a right-wing kook. (and as a left-wing kook, that is really offensive!) So many people use God and religion as weapons against other people. It corrupts something that should be so beautiful and unifying.

My friend Ellen has a lovely and graceful way of expressing her faith. Today, she posted a wonderful confession about how God has worked in her life. I encourage you to read it.

LINK

QUAKER SUMMER by Lisa Samson

Dear Gary and Purl,

I'm getting a little off topic but I wanted to tell you about something. I'm currently reading a book called QUAKER SUMMER upon the recommendation of Katrina over at Callapidder Days. I'm very particular about Christian fiction. I often find it to be either over the top or extremely "precious" or both. However, I really like this one so far. It is about a wealthy woman who has everything but is disillusioned and lost. Her spending habits are out of control and she can't seem to find her place in the world. At one point, she and her exhausted surgeon husband talk about escaping on a vacation.

"See, we fritter away our lives making enough to provide ourselves with four-star accomodations when we crawl home each night, and when all that isn't enough, when our bones are pitted and our muscles wasted, when our hearts are emptied out and imploded, we just want to get away from the reminders of our own foolishness."

That really rings true for me. It is so easy to get caught up in our daily lives. There is a book I hope we can read later called SABBATH that talks about creating sacred time in our lives. It is so important to do that so we don't get lost and burned out.

The book is really great so far and I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, I'll finish up the next section of Lewis.

A New Person on the Journey and an Update

Dear Gary--

I know you haven't had time to respond to my last post but I wanted to drop you a quick note.

I have invited Purl to join us on our little adventure. She has expressed interest in our project and I thought she would have interesting insights to offer.


I am almost finished with Book Two in MERE CHRISTIANITY and will be posting about it soon!!!

-Malady

1 Corinthians 13:11

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a [man], I put away childish things." 1 Corinthians 13:11
Dear Gary,

I have always liked this bible verse although it makes me sad in a lot of ways. Is it so wonderful "to put away childish things?" I'm not so sure. In Luke 18:15-17, Jesus meets with a group of children and the disciples try to shoo them away. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." So, here we have yet another biblical contradiction. Or do we?

Not along ago, we talked about people coming to faith for comfort and security. I think that is how faith begins for many of us. Especially for those of us who first experienced it as children. Jesus/God is revealed to us as a type of father figure. This can be one of our earliest demonstrations of right versus wrong. For some of us, this includes the threat of hell. As a child, I was taught that Jesus died for my sins and that I should always try to follow His example. And I don't think that is such a bad thing to teach a child. Religion can be our first exposure to ethics and morality. But as we get older, we can't relate to God on such a simplistic level. Our faith must grow as we do. We have to "put away childish things" and challenge ourselves. Faith is hard. We are confronted with questions every day and sometimes we may have to do things that we don't want to do. It is infinitely easier to do just what we want instead of doing as we ought to. Faith can be very inconvenient. Like going to the gym. I hate going to the gym. But I know I need to in order to get healthy and strong. Some Sundays, I just don't feel like going to church. But I have to remind myself that I need to EXERCISE my faith.

At the same time, we can also appreciate the simplicity of faith. We can boil it down to the basics. What does it mean to be a Christian? After we let go of all the worldly trappings and "stuff," what do we end up with? This is where we can become childlike. I think a Christian believes in Christ as his/her Savior and follows His example. And the rest of it can fall away. There are plenty of facets to faith that we can discuss and dissect. Congregations have broken up over disagreements about a single theological point. And I think this is where Jesus tells us to receive the Kingdom of God like a little child. Then, we can go on to explore it in detail. Adding our life experiences and exposure to other ideas.

In my anthropological studies, I have explored many different religions and I have always been struck by how similar many of them are. This has served to STRENGTHEN my faith rather than impede it. Human beings have always sought a relationship with the divine. And the common threads throughout many religions lead me to believe that there is a grain of truth in all of them. That ulimately, we are all striving towards the same conclusion. And I bring that with me into my faith life.

We can be childlike in our faith while putting away childish things. And we can turn to God for strength and wisdom as Lewis encourages us to do. Because ultimately, we are God's children.

-Malady

A Purpose-Driven Life

Dear Gary--

I think you are absolutely correct in thinking that meaning and purpose should be central points of exploration in a Christian life. Even Socrates said that "the unexamined life is not worth living." And by extension of that, I would say that the unexamined Christian life and faith are not worth pursuing.

I think when you are brought up as a Christian, you tend to get complacent in your faith life. People often quit putting a lot of effort in study and growth. And I think this causes tremendous problems when these Christians are confronted with different ideas and ways of thinking. It can be frightening because it feels as if the bedrock of your faith is being attacked and damaged. I think God wants us to ask questions. That is how we learn. We shouldn't take anything, least of all faith, simply at face value. Or because someone has told us we should. That is why I love discussing faith issues with people who think differently than I do. It challenges me to really think about what I believe.

Part of the appeal of Lewis for me is the fact that he takes a very intellectual approach to Christianity. Since he was originally an atheist, I find his thought processes fascinating. What did it take to get an atheist intellectual like Lewis to become a Christian?

I have finally finished Part One of MERE CHRISTIANITY and I love the whole discussion of the Moral Law and the "mind" behind it. His examples are wonderful. I think one of the biggest stumbling blocks for non-believers is the fact that God cannot be PROVEN. And I understand that frustration. It would be nice if science could find incontrovertible truth about the existence of God and then we could all stop arguing about it. But faith doesn't work that way. And if God is the Prime Mover and Creator, it doesn't seem likely we can prove His existence through our conventional means.

I also like how Lewis concludes this section with the fact that religion starts from a place of discomfort and fear. I think many people just turn to religion for comfort. But Lewis has a good point about the problems with the approach. We have to do the work. We have to explore and think and realize and all the other stages of mature spiritual growth. And it can be hard and frustrating and scary and uncomfortable. But, in my experience, that is true of most things worth having.

-Malady

P.S. There is a recent book called the PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE that might be worth exploring at a later date. We'll talk more about it later.

Christian Concepts

Dear Gary--

We are getting into some really meaty stuff here.

1) First of all, let me address the concept of heaven. We don't really know what "heaven" or "the afterlife" is really going to be like. And I'm not sure I really believe in the concept of "hell." I once had a vivid nightmare that went something like this:

I was sitting on a very large bed with a group of people and we were praying together and singing songs and worshipping. It was wonderful. I felt such peace and love and happiness. And I knew that came out of my relationship with God and my fellow Christians. Then, the scene changed. The other Christians disappeared and I was wandering the streets alone. I tried to find other Christians and talk to people about God but no one understood what I was talking about. There was a complete lack of God in my surroundings. I felt such despair. I had lost that love and peace and couldn't get it back. That is when I realized that I had died and I was in hell. My "hell" was the complete lack of God. There was no fire. There were no demons. Just me. Alone.

Now, I don't know if that is what the afterlife will be like. But my hunch is that "heaven" simply means a reunion with God. After death, when we are released from our corporeal being, there will be no more barriers to our union with God and with each other. How wonderful that would be!

2) I have a hard time with the concept of Satan. I'm not sure I really believe in the existence of Satan. I think Lewis believed in Satan. You'll understand this more if you go on to read THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS. But maybe Satan is just another way of describing those parts of us that keep us from God. I don't know.

3) Your concern about belief and heaven makes me think of the age-old argument about what happens to people who don't know anything about God or Christianity. For example, what happens to indigenous peoples in parts of the world that have never been exposed to the Western concept of God? Is it fair to think that they will go to "hell" simply because they have no knowledge of God? I don't think so. A classmate of mine in college asked his pastor father the same question. His father told him, "Son, I don't know the answer to that question. But I DO know God and God is love." I think God has a way of sorting all of this out. But we should take advantage of the knowledge that we DO have.

4) Why do I love LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST so much? When I saw the film, it was truly a revelation for me. When the movie first came out, many people told me that it was the work of the devil. I heard crazy things like "Jesus has sex with Mary Magdalene on the cross!" What?!!! I was actually SCARED to see the movie. Then, in college, my pastor had a screening at the chapel. It became clear to me that none of the people who warned me about the film had actually SEEN it.

The film (and the book) reveal the human side of Jesus. If any god were omnipotent and "died" for us, it wouldn't seem to be *that* big of a deal. I mean, how much of a sacrifice is it if the god in questions feels no pain and dying is no big thing. But what if the deity can feel things like rage and fear and pain? Because He is part human? That's a whole different story. The film also brings out the fact that Judas may be the most misunderstand individual in the Bible. If he had not followed through with his mission, where would we all be? In the movie, Judas is Jesus' conscience. He makes sure that Jesus fufills his duty on earth. And because he loves Jesus, that duty is especially painful. This movie/book imagines the "last" temptation as a chance for Jesus to live a normal life. He can get off the cross instead of a being a sacrifice for humankind. And He is tempted to do so. After all, He is human as well as divine. But Judas helps Him to see that He must complete His journey to the cross to save all of us. And that is a very powerful thing. It's a real sacrifice. But when Jesus says "it is accomplished," our relationship with God takes on a whole new meaning. The slate is wiped clean and we are blessed with grace. The ultimate sacrifice has been made.

-Malady

Pascal's Wager

Dear Gary,

I know you haven't had time to respond to my last post but I thought of this today and wanted to share it with you.

I minored in Philosophy in college and some of the "big questions" of philosophy have to do with God and the meaning of life. Blaise Pascal came up with a wager that described how he began to believe in God. It goes something like this.

Draw a chart on a piece of paper with four boxes (two on top and two below). At the top of the chart, write "God exists" and "God Doesn't Exist" over each box. At the side, write "Godly Life" and "Ungodly Life" beside each box. Okay, now we are going to fill in the boxes.

Write "-1" in the box where "God Doesn't Exist" and "Godly Life" intersect. If you have followed all the "rules" and lived a good life and then, after death, you discover that God doesn't exist, that nets you a -1 because you could have been doing whatever the heck you wanted but you led a Godly life instead. A waste of time.

Write "+1" in the box where "God Doesn't Exist" and "Ungodly Life" intersect. If you have lived your life however you want to and then it turns out that there is no God, well you have netted +1. You have gotten to do whatever you want. Hooray for you.

Write "- (minus) infinity" in the box where "God Exists" and "Ungodly Life" intersect. Let's say you spent your life doing whatever you want and not believing in God and then it turns out that there IS a God after all. Oops. Not a good outcome.

Write "+ infinity" in the box where "God Exists" and "Godly Life" intersect. What if you have believed in God and done your very best to live a godly life? And then it turns out that there IS a God. Well, as my college professor put it, "you have won the cosmic lottery!"

So, if we compare the different outcomes, we see that the best you can do while NOT believing in God is a "+1." The best you can do with BELIEVING in God is "+ infinity." And then look at the WORST you can do in each case. Pascal points out that you are better off believing because the worst that can happen is a "-1."

This is a pretty logical, unemotional and simplified way to look at things but I always enjoyed the idea of it.

-Malady

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Dear Gary,

This is a tough one. I haven't gotten that far in the book yet but I'll try to address your question. We are starting to get into the idea of "sin" and God's role in "sin." I think a lot of people don' t like the idea of God looking down from heaven and judging everything that they do. God was very present in the Old Testament. He spent a lot of time getting mad at people and meting out punishment. In the New Testament, that visible and personal relationship disappears. We are just left with grace.

You and I discussed the concept of grace offline. I told you about my favorite interpretation of grace. It goes like this:

"You go to school for the first time and you are feeling really nervous and inadequate. It almost seems like a sham that you are even in the classroom because you feel like you don't measure up and you'll never be able to keep up with the others. Then, the teacher comes in, looks at you and the others and says, "I'm giving you all an "A". Now, just do your best."

God is very much a father-figure for humankind. (or a mother-figure if you prefer) We are all God's children and He wants the very best for us. But God decided to give us free will. Like children, we have to make mistakes and try to learn from them. And that can be frustrating for everyone. Including God, I would imagine. We aren't perfect beings. We are going to make mistakes. But as long as we try our best, we're okay. That is the gift of grace. God gave us a model for behavior in Jesus. WWJD (what would Jesus do?) is kind of a trite guideline but it is still pretty useful. I use it myself quite often. The reason God doesn't make grand appearances anymore like He did in the Old Testament is because of Jesus. Jesus was both human and God. He gave God a firsthand look at what it means to be human. And Jesus was sacrificed for our sins. He gave us the gift of grace. So, now we turn inwards for our relationship with God. We trust in that relationship through faith alone. And we simply try our best.

Hope that helps a little bit. It's a very complicated issue.

I recommended the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ" to you recently. What did you think of it?

-Malady

MERE CHRISTIANITY by C.S. Lewis

Dear Gary,

I'm really excited that we will be reading MERE CHRISTIANITY together. It has been a long time since I have read that book. In college, my pastor started a group called the C.S. Lewis Society. We would gather at his home to read books by C.S. Lewis. Even though I loved the Narnia books as a child, I think my real love of C.S. Lewis came from those times at the home of my pastor.

Parts of the book are available online. You can access it here.

I'll check back with you after we read Book One.

-Malady

The Beginning

Dear Gary,

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, a little girl named Lucy goes through a wardrobe and finds a magical world. When she returns to her own time, she is very excited to share her adventures with her siblings. But she can't get anyone to believe her. Even when her brother Edmund discovers the truth about the wardrobe, he betrays her and tells their other two siblings that it is only "make-believe." Poor Lucy is so hurt. She has found something wonderful that she wants to share with others but not only do people not believe her, some of them even mock her.

I sometimes feel that is an apt description for what it is like to be a Christian in today's world. We are faced with the task of living and sharing our faith while functioning in a secular space. It can be very difficult.

I grew up as Christian. My father was an Episcopalian and my mother was a Baptist so they raised me in a non-denominational bible church. I was "dedicated" to God as a baby because we didn't have infant baptisms in my church. I attended Sunday school regularly and often went to the churches of my grandparents. I was baptized when I was fourteen through total immersion. And then, my family quit going to church. I didn't have an active faith life as a teenager. In fact, I felt a little embittered and hurt by the whole thing. But when I went to college, I reached out and found a home in my non-denominational campus chapel where I became a Deacon. Because I am a Liberal, I often feel that many Christians don't accept me or that they are overly critical of me. On the other hand, many of my liberal acquaintances don't take me seriously because I am Christian. It is like balancing on a tightrope. Leaning too far either way could make you fall. But then, I need both of those sides to keep me whole.

As an adult, I have found a home in the Lutheran church. Their focus on good works appeals to my liberal/social justice inclinations. And I have the opportunity to participate in a community of faith which is very important to me. The thing about faith is that it is never static. It is constantly growing and changing. I don't have all the answers. I am not a theologian. But I try to learn and develop my faith all the time.

One Christian who has inspired me a great deal is C.S. Lewis. Lewis was an atheist who was "surprised by joy." He claims he fought very hard against God but God won in the end. He shares his faith journey through such books as Mere Christianity. I suggest we start there.

Will you join me?

-Malady