non-western theology
today at church i had the fantastic opportunity to present an exploration into non-western theology. so, with the help of my husband and my dear friend hanna, we developed six 'stations' that encouraged thinking about god through different cultures. so i thought i would share them with 'you'.
the first is the
aboriginal station - the
statement below was used to help us gain an insight into the spirituality of the aboriginal people (it represents the thoughts and discussions of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission. It comes out of a couple of workshops held at their Commission meetings in late 2002 and early 2003). we had also tacked up a whole wall of black building paper and spread out lots of examples of aboriginal art. so just as the aboriginal people are seeking a recognition and of their spiritual heritage we asked both the adults and children to paint a symbol of their own spiritual journey following the aboriginal art forms.
i was quite astounded when i first read this statement below. i stumbled across it online (as you do), and as always it brought tears to my eyes to read about a people group yearning to understand jesus/god in ways that are culturally authentic. their ability to recognize their spiritual/cultural heritage as being their 'old testament', as part of their salvation history feels incredibly significant. i find these expressions so much more meaningful than the 'one size fits all' kind of (western) christianity that i so detest (i suppose the challenge for me is to be able be tolerant towards that culture!).
We are what We are - Spirit PeopleWe believe that the Creator has always been with our people since the beginning of time. Our connection to this land Australia and the stories from long ago emphasize this and reveals to us our ongoing relationship to the Creator. We know that the Spirit is always close to us and within us. The spirits of our ancestors are always around us looking out for us and showing us the path we should travel. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses…
Since the coming of the Western Culture, there has been a breakdown in our relationship with the Creator. Our ways have been under threat and this has led us to move away from our roots and into a foreign way of thinking. This has caused hardships within our communities as we struggle to find our way. Sometimes we have failed to recognise the Spirit present with us. We looked to the new culture to show us the way forward and it has led to more confusion and loss of direction. This culture has failed our people. It has shown it cannot satisfy our deepest yearnings.
This culture wanted us to look for the Creator through their eyes. They have failed to see that the Creator exists within our culture. While Abraham was wandering in the desert our peoples had been for many generations living in close relationship with our Creator. We have an Old Testament, which we can now accept as part of our salvation history.
How short sighted Western Culture was to think they had the monopoly on the Creator and how blinded were we to believe this was true. It is up to us to reclaim our beliefs. Our Creator yearns for us to come back. Our relationship has been tested and made stronger because of the many mistakes along the journey because we have learnt so much from the experience. We now know about Christ. This story from the Western Culture has touched and had an impact on our lives.
We did not have Jesus amongst us as the Apostles did but he left us the Spirit of the Creator with us. We know this Spirit to be the same Spirit who is with us now because of what it has done and continues to do. This Spirit of relationships reminds us about our responsibilities to one another and creation and that we all come from the same source of life. This Spirit is also the Spirit of the Rainbow Serpent, the Brolga, the Emu, the Stars, the Fish, the Plants, the mountains and much more. We must hold on to and strengthen our Spiritual heritage.
As a Minority we stand as the strength of this Land. We affirm our belief in the Creator Spirit who created us. It is in our connection to this deep sense of belonging that our Identity lives. Our Culture can never be broken. We embrace our past. We are alive in the present and have hope in the future. The Creator Spirit calls us into a search for a deeper relationship with himself and each other. The Creator Spirit calls us to renewal.
3 months later...
a quick update: i have been working very hard in my new job and i have not had time to work on my research essay, however the agreed due date is looming (22nd may) and i have been putting in time over the last couple of weeks to get it finished. in a strange kind of tension i feel as though i am putting in both too little and too much work into this thing. it is coming along nicely though. i think i may write more once i've finished, as the blogging has at times gotten in the way of actual (tangible) product.
if you are interested, check back in about 2 weeks when i will resume the conversation.
well, it happened, i've neglected my blog for over a week. it feels like an asignment for school that i've been procrastinating about. but in reality i went on a 'long weekend' holiday with the other one and our very good friends mel+steve (sea kayaking and rock climbing), and then started my new job. i have been so looking forward to having a normal life - you know, 9-5 jobs, weekends off - but i think i might have been dreaming when i thought i'd have a good amount of time to be able to finish my research paper in the evenings and weekends. i suppose if parents can do it, i should be able to.
so i haven't done any work on my paper for a week. it feels awful, like i'm going backwards, loosing track of everything that was being held/suspended in my floating 'mid term memory' (i'm convinced i have one - i gets completely wiped after an exam, but can last for up to 5 days).
according to my little counter there must be people checking here every now and again - i'm grateful because that mere fact gives me motivation to think about my research so i can produce something semi-intelligent to post here.
on a less positive note,
trinity roots are playing their last ever gig in raglan tomorrow night. i never checked when it was so i'm missing out. forever - because i've never seen them live. a tragedy, they've contributed so much to nz music. new years resolution - more live music, more live theatre, more adventures.
if you are reading this and you are not a nzer (or just haven't really heard their music), go to the
official trinity roots website and click on the 'music player' to get a taste. it seems you can listen to most of their recorded music (their two main albums anyway). flick through til you get to a song called 'home, sea and land' or 'beautiful people', or maybe 'little things', or maybe 'true' (if you wanna know what "nz" sounds like!).
steve collins - small ritual
arrival
click on the picture for a better view
the image above is from
steve collins and his fantastic site called
small ritual, where he's posted a collection of articles and images he's produced over the last few years on emerging church and alt. worship. he also hosts a very helpful
site about all things 'alt. worship'.
i've been really inspired by a number of images/diagrams he's produced that show a 'reimaging' of the worship environment in order to foster interaction and participation. in the diagram above the idea is that as opposed to the congregation/leader dichotomy that characterized much of our worship experience, by designing the space to facilitate movement and involvement, worship becomes a multidimensional and relational experience.
it reminds me of the way in which doug paggitt describes (in his book 'reimaging spiritual formation') how his church space is structured 'in the round'. the couches/chairs all kind of face each other which, while it causes problems for sound equipment and microphones, creates the experience of being 'in' the worship - not just watching. the very experience of visually interacting with the other people sharing the space with you must be significant in itself, compared with visually interacting with the back of someone's head!
last year i was involved (for my studies) with a christian group who met weekly. we usually met 'in the round' as we numbered about 20 on average. on one occasion the leader for that week arranged the chairs into four rows of 5 chairs (bear in mind we met in a room that would fit 200) i think because he was giving a 'talk' accompanied with a drama. it felt like the strangest thing in the world sitting there in a row. i dare say it felt just like church, and like the whole point of our meeting together was sacrificed in the name of 'order'. i'm really not sure why we were seated that way - perhaps so that our focus would be directed to the front - but it only allowed me to interact with the two people i sat next to.
my point is this - i realised at that point how important it is that we, no matter how unintentionally, organise our space to enable visable interaction with each other, and therefore how much difference could be made by intentionally reorganizing other environments. obviously large numbers of congregated people necessitate rows - which is perhaps precisely why i avoid them.
community of the day
(drum roll please)......and the community of the day is......
the freeway cafe, a non-profit coffee house in hamilton, ontario, canada who are "committed to re-investing in the local and global community". well, they may not have officially opened yet (april is the goal), but i'm excited for them and what they're planning and dreaming. its a project of
the freeway church community, who are also part of the salvation army family (go the sallies!).
"that's right, now the folks who bring you quality vintage clothing at a reasonable price, also bring you church—done differently." classic.
a taster of what will be going on at the freeway cafe:
Organic fair trade beans and teas, scrumptious baked goods, live music, art gallery showings, free wireless internet access (with purchase), an incredible space (like your living room, only bigger), and a great location (right at the "downtown archway" at King & Wellington) will all make the café an amazing place to build community, get some extra work done, study, or simply be.
Tuesdays—Community Workshop @ 4pm
Wednesdays—Theology/Philosophy Discussion @ 7pm
Thursdays—Independent Film Viewing @ 7pm
Fridays—Live Music @ 8pm
Saturdays—Children's Story Time @ 4pm
Sundays—The Freeway Worship Gathering @ 6pm
identity
i watched a documentary last night about face transplantation. it looked into the scientific and ethical issues surrounding this procedure, and interviewed a severely disfigured young woman who had been what i would describe as stunning until she recieved horrific burns in an accident.
its made me think about how complex our sense of identity is. having spent many years working with people with disabilities and am now moving back into that area for a time, i have lots of questions about what it means to live with a disability, to be defined by it. what does it mean to be made in the image of god and have a severe intellectual disability? what does it mean to say that god wants us to have fullness of life and yet many can't eat or go to the toilet on their own? what does it mean to be part of the kingdom/community of god if a disability/disfigurement causes others to be unable to relate to this person in a meaningful way?
i had a good friend who has been deaf since he was born. we spent alot of time together and he taught me to sign, i would translate for him in lots of situations that he would have struggled in as he didn't have any other friends/family members who could. we once had a conversation about the possibility of having prayer for healing and he really surprised me by saying that he didn't want to be able to hear - he had accepted the way he was and he was part of a strong deaf community, and he didn't want have to learn how to talk (having always been deaf verbal words are a foreign language). his identity is intensely connected to his deafness, which i'm not even sure he experiences as a disability! for a person in this position, relating to god would not involve music at all, which is quite a strange concept for me.
yet, while that is a positive example, i think there needs to be a tension between affirming people with disabilities as having unique identities that contribute to the way they (and we) experience the world and god, while also allowing them to, and helping them to, hope for change and better quality of life. (the problem (in my mind) with procedures that test for disabilities such as downs syndrome in the womb is that it alters the value we place on those who are with us who have such disabilities. it is like we are saying, bluntly, 'this is a category of people who can be terminated if necessary', and i am so not comfortable with that). there is a conundrum. we have the science which enables people with disabilities to have a much higher survival rate and much better quality of life. with that science comes the responsibility to use it, but also have the science to theorectially spare a fellow human a life of pain. who decides?
back to face transplantation. the science is there, but the procedure hasn't been done yet. the ethical and psychological issues are in question (ie the possibility of the face of a deceased loved one being recognisable on the recipient). however, studies have shown that possible recipients would risk more likelihood of death to have a new face than they would to have, say, a new hand or liver, suggesting that the very nature of authentic 'being' is very attached facial identity. i find this amazing, and it helps confirm my understanding of 'who i am' being more than just my soul/spirit/psyche or my mind/intelligence, but also has everything to do with my body, my health, my relationships.
ok, so the above is really just a collection of thoughts, be it makes me think about jesus' healing miracles and how the person on the recieving end of the healing was often (always?) enabled to re-enter community because the nature of that culture had previously prevented them from doing so. i just wonder what was more important for these people, not being disabled or being a fully accepted member of a community? or both? finally, what will the emerging church have to offer on this subject. with all our talk about faith and spirituality (life!!) as being holistic - will we (me) make a difference for people with disabilities?
i just cropped this picture to use in my profile. this is one of my favourite photos from our wedding last april, taken by a friend (not the 'official' photographer). its got some of my most favourite people in it.
from left to right, my dad merv, my sister leah, me, jared (the other one), celebrant and beloved teacher chris marshall. set in the beautiful st. andrews anglican church in cambridge.
unbelievable
i just flicked on the tely while i eat my lunch and tv1 is playing my (current) very, very favourite song
'home' by zero 7 (it also featured on 'garden state' to my delight). just when i thought no one else in nz was was paying them any attention.
you can listen to it on their
website :)
Lost in cheap delirium
Searching the neon lights
I move carefully
Sink in the city aquarium
Sing in the key of night
As they're watching me
Take me somewhere we can be alone
Make me somewhere I can call a home
'Cause lately I've been losing my own
Wrapped in silent elegance
Beautifully broken down
As illusions burst
Too late to learn from experience
Too late to wonder how
To finish first
Take me somewhere we can be alone
Make me somewhere I can call a home
'Cause lately I've been losing my own
Won't you take me home
Won't you take me home
'Cause lately I've been losing my own
and the list grows...
i neglected to list a very important community website, that of my own :::
cityside
and also karen ward's
living:room in seattle,
a project that really inspired me when i was writing 'let me tell you a story:::the gospel for postmodern nzers' for my cultural anthropology for missions
paper. she describes it as a 'third place' or as:
"Social condensers" -- the place where citizens of a community or neighborhood meet to develop friendships, discuss issues, and interact with others -- have always been an important way in which the community developed and retained cohesion and a sense of identity.
'
ubc' in waco, texas, also have interesting things to say on their site. this comes from their 'core values':
the experiential In today's culture, people will hold as Truth for themselves whatever they personally experience. So, at UBC, we have redefined our culture's understanding of experience with a more biblical perspective in that a balanced experience of God actually finds itself rooted in community and engaging the whole person - mind, body, heart, senses, and soul - yet shielding itself from straying into emotionalism or intellectualism. By balanced we mean that God has given us the opportunity to experience Him on several levels, and when we find ourselves operating on one single level, then possible pitfalls might incur. We experience God with others (via community), with mind (via thinking critically), with heart (via our pathos), with body (via service), and with senses (via fragrances, art, creation).
