Sigh.......I love my people.
Today I went to Episcopal chapel. Let me say off the bat this is not going to be like my normal chapel posts. Why? Because we do Christianity right.
Snap! Did I say that?
Anyway, it was wonderful. We had a long discussion about the parable of the talents. And I have to say that the story troubles me quite a bit. I don't want God to be the master in the story. I want it to be proverbial, not instructive. I want it to be about the bad way the world is (the poor people, who don't know how to manage money, get poorer and beaten down and the rich, who get richer, get the poor people's money - well that's my latest interpretation anyway, largely egged on by a great story in our campus newspaper saying the same). I don't want it to be what it says right there that it is: "The kingdom of heaven is like..."
Oh, don't tell me the Kingdom is like that! Please!
I get that it can be about taking risks for God or loyalty or being a good steward or what have you. But I don't know if it addresses injustice - or maybe it does so badly. Luckily Jesus dealth with injustice in lots of other stories.
As Rev. Antony said to me this morning, this is a part of God I have to deal with. I don't want God to be this way...but what if God IS this way? Will I accept that? Will I take God on God's terms? Or will I change God into what I want God to be?
Well I got to ingest God along with my brothers and sisters in the Episcopal faith, and that was great for me.
I'm not going to the campus chapel tomorrow, so there'll be no vitriolic post. I've had my lovely chapel experience for the week and I don't want to ruin it.
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2 comments:
I'm reminded of a quote I love in An Ideal Husband: "Life is never fair, Robert. And perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not." Do I really want God to be just?
In the meantime, I see a nice application for the parable. Jesus told the servant that instead of trying to cling desperately to what he had, he should have tried liberally to expand the kingdom. Now, which approach do most Christians seem to take? Do right wing evangelicals spend more time trying to protect their customs through law, or trying to adapt to the times? Worth considering along with the good ol' take-God-on-God's-terms lesson.
If you like the Herzog interpretation of that parable, you should also check out a book edited by Mary Ann Beavis book called "The Lost Coin." It's freakin amazing.
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