(Ir)religiosity

I ran across this in Walter Kaufmann’s prologue to his translation of Martin Buber’s I and Thou (an introduction which stands as an excellent piece writing in its own right).

[W]hy use religious terms?  Indeed, it might be better not to use them because they are always misunderstood. But what other terms are there?  We need a new language, and new poets to create it, and new ears to listen to it. Meanwhile, if we shut our ears to the old prophets who still speak more or less in the old tongues, using ancient words, occasionally in new ways, we shall have very little music. We are not so rich that we can do without tradition. Let [those who have] ears listen to it in a new way.

Jesus’ phrase “let those who have ears hear” is perhaps one of the most fascinating and enigmatic expressions in the entire New Testament.  It is so pregnant with meaning and life.  Too often I am afraid we try to force old readings into new wine-skins and end up hurting or even destroying both.  I am convinced that is why Jesus often spoke in parables — because such a medium inherently resists a static, colonizing hermeneutic.  Parables simply cannot be reduced to simple, “in a nutshell” type meanings.  They are complex, multi-faceted, life-giving narratives that invite the reader to participate in birthing meaning, in doing truth.  Like prisms, parables — if we have ears to hear — channel divine dynamism in multiple ways depending upon one’s vantage point or angle.  They abduct us, catching us off guard if we let them, and rupture our usual, predictable mode existence with divine excess and presence (or is it absence?).  I find that it is in the parables that we learn to see the face of the Other thereby see ourselves as (an)other.

But we must have ears to hear.

I’ve been learning to do just that.  And I’m finding that it is not easy and often demands that I forsake my familiar and comfortable reading for something that is unknown — something that makes me uneasy and uncomfortable.

In the process I rediscovered some old friends and have fallen in love with them all over again:  Augustine and Kierkegaard being chief among them.

Who are you rediscovering and re-reading?  Who have you met again with new ears to listen?

I’m trying to put together something of a summer reading list.  It’s been far too long since I’ve read some good fiction.  So long that I don’t even know what good fiction is these days.  I’ve got several graphic novels lined up, some Tolkien (which I haven’t touched since high school unfortunately), some Kafka, some Vonnegut — who knows, I might even read some poetry.  But I’d be open to some good suggestions.

What should I read?  What would be your favorite fiction titles?

I’m on spring break this week.  I’ve decided to take a short blog sabbatical (about a week or so) so I can rest, relax and catch up on some non-required reading.  I’ve been sitting on these books for a while.  A hope to get into a few of them over the next week.

I read a lot.  Most of the time, when I’m not on the computer (yes, I actually do put it down sometimes!) I’m reading.  But I feel like I’m really slow and inefficient.  I’d like to find a comfortable way to be more faster and more productive.  So I want your suggestions.  What is your method for reading?  How to do process what you read?  Do you take notes?  Underline?  Highlight?  None of the above?  I’m not really interested in speed reading per se, just reading a little faster.  Thoughts?

Last year I came up with a number list of all the books I read.  I’m not doing that this time mainly because I’ve read too many good books this year and trying to order them all would be too hard and unfair.  What follows is a list of most of the books I read this year.  I think it is almost exhaustive.  It was harder to remember than I anticipated.

How (Not) to Speak of God & The Fidelity of Betrayal - (5/5 Stars) I have to list both of them together because they complete each other.  They are by far the best books I read this year, forcing me to rethink my ideas about God.  I’m a huge fan of Rollins’s work now and all my future theological and philosophical reflection will be done in the aftermath of these important books

Jesus for President – (4/5 Stars) The ideas in this book are hardly new (I’m thinking here of Hauerwas, Yoder, et al) but as always, Shane Claiborne’s way of putting things very refreshing, iconoclastic, and deeply relevant.  I loved the design of the book.  The visual imagery transmitted the message in a way that mere words could not.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians – (4/5 Stars) This is Rob Bell’s third book and, in my opinion, it is his best.  I enjoyed Velvet Elvis, and I guess in a way it had to precede anything else he would write, but the themes and subject of matter of this one were very poignant.  Bell and Golden begin with Genesis and work through the scriptures tying everything together within a “new exodus” paradigm (And apparently, there is something the pattern on the book cover.  I don’t think I’m smart enough to figure it out).

The Great Emergence – (4/5 Stars) This was my first Phyllis Tickle book to read.  She is a wonderful writer, I almost wish the book had been longer.  The overall argument — that every 500 or so years the church has an identity crisis and has to reform itself and that we are living in the midst of such a crisis right now — is fascinating.  For that reason, I think this will be an important book for years to come.

The New Christians - (4/5 Stars) I’ve heard Tony Jones speak before and I follow his blog, but this was the first of his books for me to read.  It is the best history/description of the emerging/gent church to date in my opinion and it was badly in need of being written.  I will be referencing this book often when persons ask me what the emerging church is all about. Read the rest of this entry »

50,000 protesters stage a mass protest in Baghdad against the recently renegotiated mandate to extend US presence.

Prakash Ambegaonkar, the founder of Bridging Nations, wrote this piece on why and how the US must rethink foreign policy in the future.

Christian and Islamic leaders petition together for the establishment of just interest rates and rightly place for the global financial crisis on human greed.

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz writes about how we got in the current financial mess we’re in and offers a comprehensive way forward.

The spark of the Divine is always within us. It is the common thread that unites us in our humanity.

Tony Jones writes about why the US is not an empire, at least in the classical sense.  I partly agree.  I’m beginning to come around to the idea that the US is simply part of a transnational big “E” Empire of global capitalism.

Noam Chomsky says the US has one-party system.  I agree — as I’ve written before — and I like Chomsky though he is fundamentally rooted in the modern approach.

Andrew Sullivan’s piece “Why I Blog,” is very thought provoking.  Blogging is the new postmodern format.  I wonder how much longer old-school newspapers will last?