Writing through Sex God, 2

Chapter Three: Angels and Animals

This chapter is an interesting chapter on living within the tension between our physicality and our spirituality (which is a tension that needs to be understood in more than simply the context of sexuality). We are not mere spirit (angels), sexuality is an important part of who we were created to be. On the other hand, we are not mere body (animals), sexuality is not all we were created to be, but should be mastered.

Now while Rob talks about the good of mastering our desires he doesn't give us any methods of doing so (the book isn't a book of methodology so much as meditation). The furthest he goes here is by saying that, yeah, lots of us struggle with being pure. Or the way I like to put it, "Good luck, suckah."

A good chapter, however, if only for us to be continually reminded that we are human not animal, not angel.

Chapter Four: Leather, Whips, and Fruit

This chapter deals with the issue of lust and its failure to deliver what it promises. A lot of Edenic references here. So if indulging our lusts doesn't satisfy, then, Rob contends, we must find our passion and let it.

Chapter Five: She Ran into the Girls' Bathroom

Rob gives this illustration from his own life of being 14 and crossing the empty dance floor to ask a girl to dance with him. In response ... the chapter's title. Now, what I want to know in the rest of this chapter, and what Rob never says, is how the hell do you get over something like that? I'd need serious counseling. Anyway, I don't even know what the rest of this chapter is about, I'm so shaken. Something to do with the riskiness of love - even for God.

Chapter Six: Worth Dying For

A good chapter on submission. And apparently it's not just for women either. (That's a joke at the ladies' expense. My apologies.)

Chapter Seven: Under the Chuppah

There is some good criticism by Scot McKnight about this book today. Some of which (concerning Rob's use of Rabbinic literature) I just am not qualified to give. And most of that scholarly criticism concerns this chapter.

Now I enjoyed this chapter, even taking into consideration Scot's criticism of it. While perhaps Rob should not have used the Rabbinic literature as he did, the point he makes is obviously valid. The chapter discusses what must take place under this controversial(?) prayer shawl (HOO-pah) and how it is a picture of our relationship with God. God and us, bridegroom and bride - that's the basic image here and will be more powerful for some and less for others depending on where we are on our faith journeys and what we're looking for in Bell's book.

---

I'm going to finish writing through Sex God tomorrow. In the meantime, this book is Rob. Some people won't get it, perhaps, but this is him and his heart is evident in it. It is a poetic meditation on agape more than eros, after all is said and done. And I enjoyed it.

On Being (ir)Relevant

Fr. Dwight Longenecker:

"To the outsider I know this seems arcane, irrelevant and difficult to understand. To many Catholics it seems the same. They wonder why worship cannot be more 'relevant' and more easy to understand. Perhaps they wonder why the worship cannot be more joyful, more upbeat and more 'with it'. I cannot explain.

"I cannot explain in the way I cannot explain a Mozart aria, a Beethoven quartet or a Raphael Madonna. I cannot explain the lift and surge of liturgy as I cannot explain the heft of a poem or the fullness of the silence in the rest of music. I cannot explain the transcendence of beauty, the knowledge of eternity electric in the frail physical things. I cannot explain the connection with the infinite in the interstices of the psalms, the intimacy of goodness in the rapt face of a child in worship, the contact with reality in the smoke of incense, the deep rumble of the organ, the delicate dance of light or the poignant harmony of plainsong. I cannot explain the certainty of sanctity known in the wrinkled hands of an old woman in prayer, or the certainty of grace in a teenaged boy kneeling in silence - a smile of joy impressed upon his face as if by an unseen power.

"I cannot explain any of these things, but I can invite you to the feast."

HT: Amy Welborn

Writing Through Sex God, 1

Introduction: This Is Really About That

The introduction outlines the book: the powerful reality of symbols and how symbols are deeply and profoundly ingrained in our lives. And sex, because of its source, is ultimately a symbol of our desire to connect with God.

We've lost a proper understanding of what a symbol is. We've watered it down. We've weakened it. And while Rob doesn't ever use the word symbol, perhaps because we have bereft the word of its power, his illustrations of how moments connect with other moments in our lives clearly demonstrate the power of symbols in our lives.

Chapter One: God Wears Lipstick

Rob Bell talks about how humanity can be dehumanized (his example is excerpts about behavior in a concentration camp), and that that dehumanization is anti-human and, therefore, anti-God.

It is hell.

He then writes about how in the objectification, sexualization, of women by men, we dehumanize them. And not only do we dehumanize women, but we dehumanize ourselves. The same is true in a concentration camp. The same is true in torture. And war.

We humans can bring either heaven or hell into our worlds. And to be a Christian is to work for a new creation, a new humanity - to bring heaven to earth.

This chapter powerfully speaks of the connectivity we share with all humanity and the connectivity we share with God. And that those relationships demand this new humanity we have been given.

It's one of my favorite chapters, and the last illustration in the chapter brought me to tears.

Chapter Two: Sexy on the Inside

Chapter two is about all the ways we are disconnected: Things are not as they are supposed to be. We are disconnected from one another (think wars, hypocrisy, and argument). We are disconnected from creation (think living in tiny manufactured bubbles as opposed to sleeping under the stars). In this chapter, Rob explores where this disconnection comes from - the Garden - and then speaks about how sex may be related to the Latin secare, which means, "to sever, to amputate, to disconnect from the whole" (dissect, sect, section). Therefore, our sexuality is (1) an awareness (think Eden) of our disconnectedness, and (2) "all the ways" (Rob's words) we try to re-connect. And here he begins to blur/erase the line between sexuality and connectivity that I'm not altogether on board with. But if he leaves it at connectivity, I'm jibing with it.

In his discussion of sexuality as connectivity, he briefly discusses celibacy as a vow to "universal love," which he explores briefly here, and more later.

Interreligious Dialogue?

For some, my meditation this week may seem to contradict how the Scriptures speak about salvation, especially understood in light of passages like the following: "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved." (Acts 4.12, NRSV). But does it? Let me place the quotation in the context of the article it came from, and then make a few brief comments.

"Remarkable is the greater openness of the Catholic Church towards people of other religious traditions and persuasions. The development has not been without problems, since some people have resisted it and others have pushed openness beyond the desirable point."

Cardinal Arinze, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican, offered reflections on how the Church sees herself and other religions, and "whether a friendly attitude towards other religions undermines the necessity of preaching Jesus Christ or puts Catholic identity at risk."

"With reference to other religions, the Church sees a great difference between them and herself," Cardinal Arinze said. "The other religions are expressions of the human soul seeking God, with some beautiful spiritual insights, but also not without errors. Christianity is rather God seeking humanity." Noting that "Vatican II declares the Church ... as necessary for salvation," the former bishop of Onitsha, Nigeria, added that people who do not know Christ are nevertheless included in God's plan of salvation.

"There are, however, conditions. They must be sincere in their seeking of God. They must be open to the secret but real action of the holy Spirit in them. They should follow their conscience in all matters of right and wrong." A human's religious response to God should be free, he said, a principle the Church has not always respected. But he also said, "To say that every individual has the right to religious freedom is not to condone religious indifferentism or irresponsibility, nor is it to promote the installation of a supermarket of religions."

Like language, architecture and local customs, Cardinal Arinze said, "Religion is one dimension of culture, a transcendent element of it." Thus the Church encourages "inculturation" of the Gospel, embracing the positive elements of each culture while challenging the negative ones. And, in the last analysis, the Church also encourages interreligious dialogue. "The answer is that interreligious dialogue, properly understood and faithfully carried out, helps to show how complementary this element is to proclamation and how the Catholic Church is committed to both."

I'd like to hear your reaction about this quote and this teaching of the Catholic Church, if you have the time. It is a teaching that is easily misunderstood and pushed too far (Universalism comes to mind) or too quickly resisted, as Cardinal Arinze himself notes in the first paragraph of the article. It does, however, reveal some fascinating thinking about God - views that have emerged in emerging circles, some of which go to that Beyond the Desirable Point that Arinze mentions and some that fit quite comfortably within Catholic teaching.

What is this particular teaching of the Catholic Church not saying? It is not saying that Christ or His Church is unnecessary in the plan of salvation (John 14, and certainly we must also take into consideration the implication of Romans 1 and St Paul's teaching on natural revelation). Just the opposite, in fact. The Fathers always speak of the necessity of the Church in the plan of salvation, even saying, "Outside the Church there is no salvation" (St Cyprian). The Catechism restates this belief positively: "All salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church, which is His Body." Sections 847 and 848 of the Catechism say the following:

"This affirmation [Outside the Church there is no salvation] is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.

"Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."

The Catechism then proceeds to begin speaking of the Church's missionary mandate.

The question, it seems to me, is what effect did Christ's sacrifice have on this world? Not, "Not a bit, because of Limited Atonement." (Some have resisted it.) Not, "All are saved because of his sacrifice." (Some push it beyond a desirable point.) But, "Christ has redeemed the world, but not all are saved." And while I'm not keen on splitting connotational hairs, that's where I am right now. And I believe that it is true to the story of the scriptures (John 1.29). What that means for interreligious dialogue, and the question of who God will save, is, I imagine, all part of the conversation.

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St Alphonsus Ligouri's Stations, Station 12: Jesus Dies Upon the Cross

V: We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You. (Genuflect)

R: Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Rise)

V: Consider how Your Jesus, after three hours of agony on the cross, is finally overwhelmed with suffering and, abandoning Himself to the weight of His body, bows His head and dies. (Kneel)

R: My dying Jesus, / I devoutly kiss the cross on which You would die for love of me. / I deserve, because of my sins, to die a terrible death; / but Your death is my hope. / By the merits of Your death, / give me the grace to die embracing Your feet and burning with love of You. / I yield my soul into Your hands. / I love You with my whole heart. / I am sorry that I have offended You. / Never let me offend You again. / Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will.

(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.)

Let me mingle tears with thee
Mourning Him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live.

More Sex God

In Rob Bell's new book, Sex God, the thing that initially struck me is how much much of it reminded me of Papa Benedict's encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love). Benedict mixes it up with eros and agape - how each kind of love informs the other.

Anyway.

Rob Bell's writing style is, well, different. He breaks up single thoughts into multiple paragraphs until the entire book takes on a kind of

visual

poetic

rhetoric.

What he is indeed going for with this kind of departure from the normal rules of written expression, I have no idea. He's never discussed it with me.

His writing style aside, there is one other thing that Rob does with this book that rubs me the wrong way. He talks about how sexuality is about connectivity, which I totally agree with, but then he veers off into reversing this understanding, somehow, into connectivity being all about sexuality. So that music is about sexuality and our relationship with God is about sexuality (and while our sexuality may have much to do with both, it's putting the proof before the horse - or something like that), and how some of the most sexual people he knows are celibate. All of which, again, may be true. But the ordering of it all seems off somehow.

Which brings me to my next point: This book is less about sex than I had hoped, er, expected from the title. The book is about relationships. And while he covers sexuality and marriage and how they are icons of our relationship with God, he ultimately is concerned less with sex and more with relationship.

It's all rather postmodern. Which I like and dislike simultaneously (you can do that in postmodernism). It abandons linearity for something more circuitous and, in my opinion, less cohesive.

But these are all minor beefs. The book is good. I give it four stars. (Out of how many I'll never tell.)

I'm thinking about actually writing through this book, a couple chapters at a time, beginning on Monday. I've never done that before, but keep thinking it could be loads of fun. Or would that just ruin the book for all of you? Here are the chapter titles:

• Introduction | This Is Really About That
• Chapter One | God Wears Lipstick
• Chapter Two | Sexy on the Inside
• Chapter Three | Angels and Animals
• Chapter Four | Leather, Whips, and Fruit
• Chapter Five | She Ran into the Girls' Bathroom
• Chapter Six | Worth Dying For
• Chapter Seven | Under the Chuppah
• Chapter Eight | Johnny and June
• Chapter Nine | Whoopee Forever
• Epilogue | More Balloons Please

Let me know what you think.

Sex God

I read Sex God tonight, Rob Bell's new book. It was quite good and I plan on discussing it to some degree. But not tonight; I have a headache.

(I'm such a tease.)

Rethinking Church

“Why do people in church seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute? … Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us to where we can never return.”

— Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters (New York: Harper & Row, 1982), pp. 40-41.

HT: Ben Myers

helluvanexpensive Band-Aid

So the leak ends up being under Scott's house and not under Scott's lawn. And Scott shells out a couple hundred bucks for a band-aid solution to his increasingly corroding iron pipes. And his couple hundred gets Scott two things: (1) "Your pipes are irreparable," and (2) a slow dribble from an arcing leak. The complete fix, so Scott is informed, is bound to run upwards of $3,000.

*cough*

Scott tentatively asks how long it would take to replace all the pipes and Paul the Plumber, with great emphasis, says, "A good day." And then he says it again with even greater emphasis: "A GOOD day."

Scott quickly does some mental math - the "band-aid solution" took three and a half hours - and figures that a day unto Paul the Plumber is like a thousand years unto Scott and his pipes.

So pray for Scott and his old leaky pipes if you ever think about them again. And if you know a publisher who pays good money for some top-notch, Dyn-O-Mite! hella good, short fiction, let me know. Or if you know anyone who badly needs a kidney. (Or, and this is just between the two of us, if you need somebody whacked.)

Who You Are

“Who you are before God, that you are and no more”
– St Francis of Assisi

And no less. Therefore, love one another deeply from the heart. Judge no one. Pay no attention to position or wealth, to race or religion, to male and female. But serve one another humbly, for Christ has washed you.

---

We were at a park yesterday; we picnicked and then played. It's a nice park and is always busy. It has a carousel and a train ride, some animals and other activities for kids. The park also has three play areas. The first area is wide open. The second play area - the area for the littlest ones - is completely fenced in except for where we sit to watch them play. The third, bordering the second, is for bigger kids and is completely fenced in just as the second one. Except the third play area has an open gate in the back that leads to the bathrooms and the parking lot.

So my wife and I were watching them and talking while she held Baby Jack. A young couple were standing nearby watching their two and the man began smoking. He was upwind of me, my wife, and our new baby. He eventually moved on. And when he did, I made some acerbic comments to my wife about how frustrated it made me when people lit up in public areas around children. A few exchanges and judgments of their parental abilities later, we were on to another topic.

We would occasionally do a spot check and count the four pirates we call children. The last spot check produced the three girls, but not the boy. I got up to walk the length of the area, but was unable to find him anywhere among all the slides and ladders and chaotic equipment. I walked by the second play area. My wife was up and looking by this time as well. Unable to spot him in the second or third play areas, the areas we had been monitoring, I went out the back gate near the bathrooms and parking lot and began praying as I walked toward the first play area. Will was nowhere. I tried to remain calm, and I continued to pray. I decided to walk over to the carousel and train - Will loves choo-choos. I was quite anxious by the time I got over to that end of the park, and kept looking back toward the bathrooms and the parking lot as long as I could. Soon, the trees blocked my view. I rounded the carousel and saw a park employee standing near a bench with a family. It looked like Will's head from a distance, and two fingers were shoved into the boy's mouth. As I got closer, I realized it was Will and my heart began beating normally again. The park employee looked up and caught my eye.

"Your son?"

"Yes," I said, breathing with ease again.

"This family found him. He was pretty shaken up." And there Will sat on the lap of the man, of all the people in the park that day, that I had so quickly judged. Though I had not known it, they were the most beautiful family in the park. We chatted briefly and I thanked them profusely.

---

God is funny. And I, I can do nothing better than to be silent before Him. To clap my hands over my mouth and to work, with the help of His grace, to say less and to love more.

I'm Leaking

I've got a water leak somewhere on my property and it's driving me nuts. As of today's bill, my monthly water bill has quadrupled in the last three months. We're talking water bills of Noahic proportions: I could save money by turning the water off and bathing in Aquafina. So I'm calling in the professionals tomorrow.

Argh.

I've already fixed the leaky toilets, and I've been unable to find any other leaks in or under the house. Any suggestions of what else I could do would be welcome.