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December 25, 2004
golf balls, small rocks, sand
strange timing here for thoughts on cultural relativism, but it does come from some christmas gathering sharing. the parable of the jar filled with golf balls (important things or convictional things), small rocks (less important things), and sand (trivial things) was intended to address local priorities, but also addresses a wider issue which my context is not exempt from.
cultural relativism puts cultures on an equal ground, and as a whole they are respectable attempts of living and understanding together within a community. what is exactly the gospel (the golf balls) that transcends cultural standards? there is a perhaps fine line for the missionary between synctretism and contextualization.
my challenge today is to realize that i am a stranger in this world (or the domination system, acc. Wink) and as much as i want to be a cultural relativist cross-culturally, i need to be flexible in my own culture, which isn't mine after all.
Posted by Derrick at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2004
worship is giving
worship is to offer one's soul (that is, their being or existence) in giving honor to something or someone. we maybe use the word most in the church to talk about music, but it takes on a host of different forms. examples: enthusiastic or solemn music in the congregation, putting a check in the offering, reflecting on God's grace in the woods, random acts of kindness, routine acts of kindness, and so on. and they feed into each other: the joy i get in tutoring some kids with migrant education i give back in a joyful song with the whole church people the next time i get a chance, and that energy feeds into the next thing. what does it mean to live in step with the spirit? (gal 5.25) i think there's something to this walk with God and others in this cycling of giving grace. life is an offering, and in groups of self-sacrificial livers, God is most present.
Posted by Derrick at 05:33 PM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2004
stories
i probably wouldn't be far off in saying i could count the number of books (longer than 25 pages and without pictures) i've read for pleasure in my life between my fingers and toes. the fact is i haven't seen many stories that i could lose myself within or the discipline to put myself in that direction. i've usually complained that especially fiction stories are a waste of time-- if i'm going to read something it may as well be books of ideas or some "real" material...
but within the last few months of classes and conversations i'm realizing that stories are all we have. anything in life that has meaning gains that meaning because of its context. it's the development of settings, character and plot that brings lessons to us. live and learn, they say.
to understand then, cannot really happen apart from its story. in other words, we can't understand values or principles without their context: it is their context that makes them what they are. so listening to each other and the stories that people are part of takes on central importance.
i imagine i'll still be more into short stories with lots of pictures, but it seems that stories may require more and more of my attention in whatever form they take.
Posted by Derrick at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)