I am just frustrated, but that is just the world I live in.
Paul Jones, in his book Theological Worlds, writes there are five different "theological worlds" in which people line in and move through. I do not want to take time to talk about all the worlds, it will be sufficient to say that I find myself in a theological world of frustration.
Jones called world two "Conflict and Vindication" Below is a bit of the verbiage from Jone's book regarding world two:
In this World, history and its various institutions are tainted with self-interest. Conflict seems to be at the heart of life, even of nature, with many persons deprived of the means needed for living. Wherever one turns, the scene is a drama of winners and losers. Death is the final enemy, symbolizing the hostility which resists the crucial goal of humanizing this world. The foe is widespread, for even the cosmos is beset by entropy, so that such hemorrhaging seems to give to each part a sense of being violated. Thus threatened by the possibility of chaos, persons are tempted to grasp for power, escalating into the threat of nuclear destruction. Nations seem willing to "bring it all down" rather than lose. At one level or another, then, one keeps being pushed into being a "warrior.” Our reaction to often one of anger, sometimes even of rage. Reform is called for, even rebellion. Yet even though one is determined to change the world, such efforts sometimes feel like a never-ending defeat.
Hope for resolution is rooted in the vision of a new heaven and a new earth, to be realized as liberation within history. Since death in all forms is God's foe, resurrection then provides promise, not only to the individual but to history itself. In behalf of that goal, God takes sides, being committed to the poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed--and so must we. God calls us to be co-creators in this completion of creation. History will be vindicated by its completion, flowing back to give meaning to each part as means to that end. "Thy Kingdom come on earth, as it already is in heaven." One way to work toward that vision is live as if the end is already here. Such hope in the God of the future makes us never satisfied with what is. This is why the prophet believes in a hope worth dying for.
I have found the past two weeks that I have become more and more frustrated with with I see around and within me.
I recommend Jone's book. Or at the very least the self assessment. Just like any other self assessment you answer the questions and then score yourself. And although we do not only dwell or live in just one world, I think this assessment is helpful.
Here is a link to the assessment if you are interested.
http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/files/23677/download.aspx
Jones called world two "Conflict and Vindication" Below is a bit of the verbiage from Jone's book regarding world two:
In this World, history and its various institutions are tainted with self-interest. Conflict seems to be at the heart of life, even of nature, with many persons deprived of the means needed for living. Wherever one turns, the scene is a drama of winners and losers. Death is the final enemy, symbolizing the hostility which resists the crucial goal of humanizing this world. The foe is widespread, for even the cosmos is beset by entropy, so that such hemorrhaging seems to give to each part a sense of being violated. Thus threatened by the possibility of chaos, persons are tempted to grasp for power, escalating into the threat of nuclear destruction. Nations seem willing to "bring it all down" rather than lose. At one level or another, then, one keeps being pushed into being a "warrior.” Our reaction to often one of anger, sometimes even of rage. Reform is called for, even rebellion. Yet even though one is determined to change the world, such efforts sometimes feel like a never-ending defeat.
Hope for resolution is rooted in the vision of a new heaven and a new earth, to be realized as liberation within history. Since death in all forms is God's foe, resurrection then provides promise, not only to the individual but to history itself. In behalf of that goal, God takes sides, being committed to the poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed--and so must we. God calls us to be co-creators in this completion of creation. History will be vindicated by its completion, flowing back to give meaning to each part as means to that end. "Thy Kingdom come on earth, as it already is in heaven." One way to work toward that vision is live as if the end is already here. Such hope in the God of the future makes us never satisfied with what is. This is why the prophet believes in a hope worth dying for.
I have found the past two weeks that I have become more and more frustrated with with I see around and within me.
I recommend Jone's book. Or at the very least the self assessment. Just like any other self assessment you answer the questions and then score yourself. And although we do not only dwell or live in just one world, I think this assessment is helpful.
Here is a link to the assessment if you are interested.
http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/files/23677/download.aspx
Reflecting on jobs...
Have you ever thought of the jobs you had in the course of your life? What if you put that list together and just showed that to people and did not show your current or last job? Do you think they would be able to guess what your current job or your last job would be?
I don't know I was just reflecting on some of the ways I arrived where I am now.
My dad’s office – janitor
Jack in the Box – cashier
Fazoli’s – cashier
St. Mary’s University Catholic church – ministerial assistant
(Party City - Got the job but the very next day I was hired at Meadowbrook)
Meadowbrook UMC – Youth minister
Arlington Heights UMC – Youth minister
Do you have it all together?
I am sure you have been asked for money from someone who is on the street. I often pride myself of being able to deal with any request which may come from a person in need. If the request is food, I take them to get whatever they would like. Gas? We go to a gas station and get enough to fill the tank. Bus pass? I can get you several.
But I got hit up with a request the other day and I had no clue what to do.
“Hey man, you got any weed?”
It really took me for a loop. I had no idea what to respond with. I had just purchased some milk and oatmeal for my son and my only response was, “I got oatmeal you can have.” To which he said, “Oatmeal! That won’t work!”
Won’t work?
I was confused, felt awkward and continued to walk home with my head down avoiding eye contact out with anyone out of shame.
Reflecting on this incident, I wanted to ask, “have you ever felt like you had all your stuff together only to be confronted with a situation which you never considered and it threw you for a loop?”
What would you have done?
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.