Re-creation, re-storation, re-conciliation, re-demption: These are all found in the beauty of the Jesus story. This blog is about living those things out and wrestling with their implications for every aspect of life.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Every moment is sacred.
It is sacred because God shows up.
But time is not sacred in itself.
What is sacred is that every person matters to God.
What would happen if we saw every encounter with another person as an encounter with God?
"In truth, there is no God-seeking because there is nothing where one could not find him. How foolish and hopeless must one be to leave one's way of life to seek God: even if one gained all the wisdom of solitude and all the power of concentration, one would miss him...Every encounter is a way station that grants him a view of fulfillment." -Martin Buber from I and Thou.
I think you would like Buber. He is extremely difilcult to read though. I haven't quite "gotten" him yet. He gets a lot of airtime at Mars Hill.
But in his book I and Thou he talks about the the two basic relationships: I-It and I-You. In a nutshell, if I were to talk about you, or talk to you as a means to an end, ect.. I would be relating to you as an I-It. You can see the paralels for relating to God. Talking about God, using God as a means. (Buber does clarify that I-It is a normal and neccessary part of existence, but it is not the only reality)
Then there is the I-You. I am not sure how to describe this, and I guess that is why Buber is so hard to understand, he is trying to describe the I-You. But anyway, back to your blog, Buber writes that the Eternal You is found in the I-You relationship. So if I want to "seek" God I should enter into relationship with my neighbor, for in that relationship I will address God and God will address me.
Lots of incarnational theology going on here. Can God be known outside of incarnation? Outside of relationship?
Another idea to think about: (we talked about this in hermeunitics yesterday) Truth is relational.
I would have guessed that you were reading God is Closer Than You Think by John Ortberg. It's pretty good, I'm not done with it yet, but I'll give you a more thorough review when I'm done :)
PS... I need to know when the next youth worker lunch is and where... all of a sudden I have a more flexible schedule :)
6 comments:
Have you been reading Martin Buber's I and the Thou?
no.
should I?
i've been reading Romans.
"in view of God's mercy..."
"In truth, there is no God-seeking because there is nothing where one could not find him. How foolish and hopeless must one be to leave one's way of life to seek God: even if one gained all the wisdom of solitude and all the power of concentration, one would miss him...Every encounter is a way station that grants him a view of fulfillment." -Martin Buber from I and Thou.
I think you would like Buber. He is extremely difilcult to read though. I haven't quite "gotten" him yet. He gets a lot of airtime at Mars Hill.
But in his book I and Thou he talks about the the two basic relationships: I-It and I-You. In a nutshell, if I were to talk about you, or talk to you as a means to an end, ect.. I would be relating to you as an I-It. You can see the paralels for relating to God. Talking about God, using God as a means. (Buber does clarify that I-It is a normal and neccessary part of existence, but it is not the only reality)
Then there is the I-You. I am not sure how to describe this, and I guess that is why Buber is so hard to understand, he is trying to describe the I-You. But anyway, back to your blog, Buber writes that the Eternal You is found in the I-You relationship. So if I want to "seek" God I should enter into relationship with my neighbor, for in that relationship I will address God and God will address me.
Lots of incarnational theology going on here. Can God be known outside of incarnation? Outside of relationship?
Another idea to think about: (we talked about this in hermeunitics yesterday) Truth is relational.
I would have guessed that you were reading God is Closer Than You Think by John Ortberg. It's pretty good, I'm not done with it yet, but I'll give you a more thorough review when I'm done :)
PS... I need to know when the next youth worker lunch is and where... all of a sudden I have a more flexible schedule :)
jordan,
i think i'm vaguely familiar with Buber's stuff. there was a day when i picked up one of his books at Messiah's library...
buber may be a little out there, but i think he helps us take it farther...relationships that is.
and i'm interested in hearing more about what they're saying about truth being relational. do tell...
Alison...Ortberg is a good guy.
Holy Crap! Josh can read?
That...is...awesome.... :D
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