OK friends,
As we pause between sections of this series, I wanted to take a moment to offer a quick reflection on where we’ve been ... and where we’re going.
First off, from the beginning this journey has been an invitation to see with a Prophetic Imagination – to look beyond what is, toward what could be, and to consider the possibility that God’s dream for humanity may be more beautiful, inclusive, and transformative than we imagine. We talked about this in Chapter 1.
Then, in Chapters 2 & 3, we explored what I believe are among the deepest forces shaping our lives. The first is the two fundamental energies that underlie human experience: love and fear. The second, anxiety, and how, when left unchecked, it often seeks relief through blame, exclusion, and scapegoating.
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” -1 John 4.18
“If your faith is based on fear, what are you left with when it is cast out?”
-Brad Jersak
These dynamics are not merely theological ideas or psychological concepts. They function more like operating systems running quietly in the background of our lives, influencing what we notice, how we interpret events, the stories that we tell ourselves, and the ways we respond to others. They shape our families, our communities, our churches, and our world. In short, everything. With this, in Chapter 2, I introduced a simple practice – the ‘Love or Fear Reflection’ – that I use to help discern whether a thought, feeling, or action is moving me toward love or fear, and whether it is in alignment with God’s dream of healing, reconciliation, and flourishing, or moving me away from it. The questions and process are simple, and I have found it to be a surprisingly helpful tool for discernment and redirection.
Together, the first three chapters have explained a new way of seeing and laid the groundwork for the next two chapters, which will move in a more explicitly theological direction.
There is no ‘Us and Them’ - there is only ‘Us.’
-Fr. Greg Boyle
Chapter 4, In My Image, will explore how all of us inevitably understand and define God through our own lenses and experiences, and how our version of the divine says more about our own inner life than it does about God. It will also ask, though, whether Jesus reveals a beauty that transcends those lenses and continuously invites us beyond our assumptions.
Chapter 5, The Best News, will explore a rich understanding of the Christian Gospel that has shaped countless lives throughout history but has often been overshadowed in our time. It is a vision of good news that I have found both beautiful and transformative.
After those two chapters, we’ll return to the implications of these ideas: how what we believe about God – and what we believe God believes about us – shapes the way we see other people, ourselves, and the world around us; how we learn to recognize beauty where we once saw separation; and how love can become a more consistent way of being. The final chapter, Eight, will focus on practical ways of living these ideas in everyday life.
Such good stuff!
My hope is that the description of God's love in my life will give you the freedom and the courage to discover … God's love in yours.
-Henri Nouwen
As always, I am not writing as an expert, nor am I trying to convince, debate, or present any of this as the final or only way of understanding this faith. If you have read this series to this point, you know my feelings on certainty. I am simply sharing where I presently find myself on the journey. My hope is not that anyone would adopt my conclusions, but that together we might become more open to wonder, more willing to ask questions, and more attentive to the possibility that God may be even more beautiful than we have imagined.
I love you and am grateful that you're here!