Glimpses of a Chaotic Mind
In August, the Ascent is sending a team to Colombia to help support the Church there. To raise support for the trip, the Ascent is selling t-shirts to help with the cost. You can check out the design or buy a shirt here:
http://alexworkmanblog.com/colombia-shirts/
If you can’t buy a shirt, please be in prayer for the team as we prepare for the trip, and pass this information on to friends who may be able to and willing to help support our efforts.
Some of you may remember that President Obama made several promises during his campaign, one of which was to reverse the secretive politics of the Bush administration so far however he has failed to live up to those standards. Besides expanding the powers afforded to the Federal Government to continue illegal wire tapping, he has now changed his mind on revealing the new photos of suspected terrorists being tortured at the hands of American captors.
This is extremely disheartening, thanks to the efforts of some of America’s most trusted and decorated Generals, President Obama is now under the misguided notion that by continuing to harbor these secrets he is somehow protecting America in the long run. The truth of the matter, however, is that by continuing to hide the shameful behavior of our operatives, he allows hatred and distrust to fester. He makes claims that he wants to build Western/Muslim relations, yet when the opportunity to make amends and be reconciled arises, he fails miserably.
Peace will never be obtained until we admit to what we have done, and humbly seek the forgiveness of those we have committed heinous acts against. It is truly sad to think that many American’s believe that the illegal actions of our soldiers are to be commended, and that they should be protected from litigation and for their crimes. Torture is never okay, and it should be exposed for what it is, a crime against humanity. For it not only destroys those on whom it is practiced, but the hatred, malice, and cold nature needed to carry out these “enhanced interrogations” (in my opinion) leave those who particpate less than human, one might even say animalistic, have we not evolved past this?
I recently finished reading two of CS Lewis’ books: The Four Loves and Til We Have Faces. The Four Loves was pretty straight forward, not an easy read, but nevertheless not difficult to understand. Til We Have Faces on the other hand, was a little bit more difficult.
The story is a retelling of the classic myth of Psyche and Eros (or Cupid if you prefer). For those who are not familiar, Psyche was the daughter of a King, and was said to have been born when a drop of dew fell on the ground. She became the love of the town’s people, and they began to worship her. The goddess Aphrodite became jealous and arranged for her to be married to Death, instead however her son Eros (or Cupid) fell in love with her after he was accidentally pricked by one of his own arrows; he sweeps her into a paradise and takes her as his own bride. However, he commands her to never look upon his face, dutifully following his commands she obeys. That is until her jealous step-sisters convince her that her god-husband does not wish to reveal his true identitiy which, according to them, is that of a hideous monster; they instead instruct her to, by night, shine a light upon him, and then cut off his head.
When his face is finally revealed and she stares upon the god of love in all his beauty, she can’t help but be immediately captivated by him, and falls in love. He flees from her presence and her paradise is over. She is sent into exile, and attempts to kill herself. The god Pan intervenes and instructs her to seek out the Aphrodite; she does this and Aphrodite proceeds to put her through several torturous tests which are designed to kill her. She succeeds at all but one, and should die for it, this time Eros intercedes and pleads with Zeus to give Psyche ambrosia (effectively making her an immortal) and allow him to marry her. Zeus consents, and there is a great celebration.
In Lewis’ retelling, we view the story through the eyes of Orual, Psyche’s “jealous” sister. Lewis attempts to use the classic story to teach something about the divine nature and how it can not be fully understood “til we have faces”. The story, in my opinion, is one of great complexity with several layers, one that has effectively confused me. The one thing that I believe I understand about the story is this: Psyche (in Lewis’ version) represents someone who understands the divine nature, because she “has a face”, something that she achieves after giving herself over to the divine spirit. What I believe Lewis is ultimately saying is that the Divine nature is something that is intangible and indiscernible until we have succumbed to its pull on our lives and allow it to reveal itself through a real and personal relationship.
Like I said though, this story has caused me much confusion and I would love some feedback. Anybody out there (who has read the story) have a different opinion. I tried searching for some academic help, using the UCF library databases but my search did not return anything. Advice please.
It has recently come to my attention that I am apparently viewed as some sort of atheist, or at the very least, a prodigal son by my former church, First Baptist Church of Windermere. So this letter is in response to those who feel I have gone astray, which includes, but is not limited to, those in attendance of FBCW.
I have not left the faith, in fact I feel that my relationship with Christ has grown. I have not become an atheist, I attend an amazing church the Ascent, which is shepherded by an amazing man of God, Andrew Oates. I have not become a heretic or committed apostasy, and if I had, trust me when I say that I have surrounded myself with people who would have kept me in line.
So please chill, and for future reference if you truly feel or are worried that someone has departed from their faith, try giving them a call, shooting them an email, or maybe writing them a letter. Whatever line of communication you choose, please do not just sit their and gossip about the person, instead of contacting them, and trying to bring them back into the faith.
Thank you,
Daniel
So I finally broke down, and joined a small group through FLOOD. Last week was the first time we met, and I thought it went well, despite the fact that I may have inadvertently come off as a heretic (small problem, one that I am oddly enough familiar with). They meet at 7pm on Thursday nights, but because of work I don’t get there til closer to 8:00-8:15. Anyway, I arrived late and went straight in and sat down. Since it was the first meeting they had apparently spent the first portion of the night getting acquainted and meeting everybody.
Which means I arrived just in time to start the actual “bible study” portion of the evening We started reading scripture, and I am not exactly sure how this happened but I more-less started, kinda sorta questioning the authority/role of scripture (I think that is the best way to put it). I don’t think that Michael, the small group leader, was quite prepared for it, and I caught him off guard, which I apologized profusely for. He wasn’t upset, and admited that my questions were valid (though difficult) ones.
The questions, in summation, were revealing, in that I had to admit my disbelief in the NT as “God-breathed”, and somewhat accusatory in that I questioned why, if the OT was not meant to be “destroyed” by Christ’s ministry why we, as Christians, ignore it. Finally speculative, in that if we can basically marginalize more than half of the Bible, what does that mean for the scripture of the NT?
Anyway, I am sure you can see how this would come off may be only slightly heretical, right? Nobody last week could really provide me with some solid answers, we are supposed to revist the topic this week, but if any of you (whoever ‘you’ may be) have some answers, feel free to drop a comment?
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