14 April 2004

Shame and grace Of grace, the late Lewis B Smedes wrote: We experience grace as pardon ... forgiven for wrongs we have done. Pardoning grace is the answer to our guilt ... We experience grace as acceptance ... we are reunited with God and our true selves, accepted, cradled, held, affirmed, and loved. Accepting grace is the answer to shame ... We experience grace as power; it provides a spiritual energy to shed the heaviness of shame and, in the lightness of grace, move toward the true self God means us to be ... We experience grace as gratitude; it gives us a sense of for the gift of life, a sense of wonder and sometimes elation at the lavish generosity of God. Shame is heavy; grace is light. Shame and grace are the two counterforces in the human spirit; shame depresses; grace lifts. Grace is like levitation, a spiritual force that defies gravity. If our spiritual experiences do not lighten our life, we are not experiencing grace. Grace brings a lightness to anyone heavy with shame. It sets loose the lightest feeling of life; being accepted—totally, unreservedly accepted. Grace is too unpredictable, too lavish, too delicious for us to stay sober about it. What can you do with such unchecked generosity but smack your lips, slosh it around your tongue, and savor it with joy? Click here to read the entire article. Dave 11:08:03 AM    comment [] Am I cynical? "Beware cynicism!" was a familiar refrain at seminary. Friends would warn each other against the danger of becoming "cynical". Along with liberalism, "cynicism" was possibly one of the worst things to fall into. Why the inverted commas? Mainly, I suppose, because cynicism is such a subjective concept. Few of my seminary friends would have been upset were I to criticize, say, Mormons or Catholics or the loony (and godless) left. But being as critical of Pentecostals and charismatics, for example, would be "cynical". The long and short of it was that you could usually be as critical as you liked about outsiders, but if you crossed the line talking about the inside, it was "gossip," "negativity," "cynicism" or even "bitterness". I'm addressing this because a lot of my innermost feelings and thoughts are coming out of the woodwork on this blog, and some of them are going to offend people. Some of them have already offended people, in fact, and there's at least one very dear seminary friend reading this who (I think I'd bet my bottom dollar) is probably shaking his head and saying to himself, "Dave, you've become cynical." So, am I cynical? Actually, I am, and furthermore, it really doesn't bother me. I am at peace with the kind of cynicism I have nowadays. If that shocks you, let me elaborate. I am not cynical about everything. To be cynical about everything simply for the sake of cynicism would be a sad thing, I agree. That's not me. Here's the thing: I am not cynical about the things that matter. In fact, the more cynical I become about the religious games we play, the more I care about the things that genuinely matter. I am not cynical about people. Show me the bum in the street, and I am not cynical about the compassion of Christ having the power to transform and heal and give hope to their crushed spirit. Show me the young girl thrown from pillar to post by a string of unhealthy, abusive relationships, and I am not in the least bit cynical about the possibility of the love and acceptance of Jesus melting her heart and mending her hurts. Show me people battered and bruised by manipulation, control and abuse in the name of religion, and I am not cynical about God coming in and giving them faith and a future. I'm not cynical about those things, because they're the things that really matter. They're the things I really care about. I probably could have avoided having to say all this if I had called my webpage RescuingMormons.com or ExposingtheLiberalLeft.org. Then I could have been as cynical as I liked, and possibly would have been applauded for it. I just can't escape the niggling feeling I've picked a few -- dare I say it? -- sacred cows as targets for my cynicism. So, yes, I am cynical. Cynical about the right things. And I don't feel one iota bad about it. Dave 10:35:52 AM    comment []

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