"The Incredibly Wonderful Mystery of Christ"

The other day I struck up a conversation with a fellow student in the Graduate School of Theology who is Catholic. As we often do in this world, somehow we landed on the subject of Christ. She made the comment that many people in her tradition struggle with the truth that Jesus was literally divine. "Can you believe that?" she asked. I replied: "Actually, most people I run into in my tradition struggle with the fact that he was literally human."

This somewhat amusing exchange reminded me of a quote from the great fifth century saint and Father Cyril of Alexandria, who in his theological masterpiece "On the Unity of Christ", wrote the following:

"Indeed the mystery of Christ runs the risk of being disbelieved precisely because it is so incredibly wonderful. For God was in humanity. He who was above all creation was in our human condition; the invisible one was made visible in the flesh; he who is from the heavens and from on high was in the likeness of earthly things; the immaterial one could be touched; he who is free in his own nature came in the form of a slave; he who blesses all of creation became accursed; he who is all righteousness was numbered among transgressors; life itself came in the appearance of death."

The insight that Cyril and the other Fathers of that era drew out of the Scriptures, is that Christ had to be both human and divine, otherwise we would be left in our sin - that precisely is the incredibly wonderful mystery of Christ.

I'm also reminded of a story told by a more recent saint, the late singer/songwriter Rich Mullins. Once a man approached him to say that he had used Mullins' "Awesome God" as the theme of a protest event. "What were you protesting?" Mullins asked.

"The movie "The Last Temptation of Christ," the man answered.

"Why were you protesting it?" Mullins asked.

The man replied, "Because it portrays Christ as human."

Mullins responded, "Oh. I thought that was the good news."

Authentic Community

In this fragmented and individualistic culture, my suspicion is that the deep longing of a majority of people - whether they know it or not - is to experience authentic community. But where is this authentic community to be found? As a follower of Christ, I would love to say that this community can only be found in the church, for such is the ideal that is presented in our Scriptures. Too often, however, this is not the case.

What is more often the case, in my limited experience, is that church is a "place" people go because it has become "the thing they do on Sunday morning." They trickle in, find their normal seats amongst others of the same color, listen or watch the show and go home, without uttering more words than the proverbial "good morning" to an usher or the collective "amen." In bigger congregations - the so called mega churches - the sanctuaries are more like movie theaters. You come in and take your seat near the aisle, making sure that you leave several seats between you and the nearest fellow worshipper, without realizing how foreign this mentality is to the historic People of God. My friends, this is not authentic community.

To my surprise, I have seen authentic community at the neighborhood Starbucks. It is clear that people know each other as most people who come through the door are greeted warmly, not only by the employees but by several patrons. The employee hands them their favorite drink and asks how they are doing, genuinely interested in the answer. There are people of all races, and diverse languages can be heard spoken in adjoining tables. For many, it is like coming home to family.

In our local Starbucks, there is a developmentally delayed woman named Francis who often comes in. She is never with anyone, so it appears that she lives by herself. What is amazing, however, is that the entire community has adopted her. Every employee knows her by name and knows what is going on in her life. Most of the regulars know her and regularly welcome conversation with her - she often will interupt patrons to say "hi," and be invited to join them. One night, we noticed that she had fallen asleep in a chair. No one bothered her or woke her up to ask her to move along. When she did wake up, she was a little disoriented. It was dark out and it was clear that she didn't know what she was going to do. One of the men noticed her apparent consternation and proceeded to call her a cab, wait with her outside for it to come, help her into the cab, and pay the driver out of his own pocket. It seems to me that this place has all of the marks of authentic community.

What is unfortunate is that, although they do community well, at the end of the day Starbucks can only offer a person a warm beverage and a clean, well lighted place to sit awhile. The church has in her possession the treasure of the living Gospel, with the power to transform lives. But this treasure is often obscured by inauthentic community. If the church could begin to live into the ideal of her Scriptures, we might see people pining for the Story in the way they now pine for a white chocolate mocha.

On Romance Languages and the Romantic Idiot

Today I experienced my first official "moment of crisis" in the PhD program. Don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of moments filled with self doubt and self loathing, not to mention a number of cold sweats - not to be confused with cold sweets, which for my money does not get any better than Hostess - but today is the first time I experienced, as it were, the teeth of the PhD program, what I'm up against, the proverbial wall. Check that, I realized today I might not know enough to even hit the wall. I'm somewhere outside the city with a piecer car, the wrong map, and a broken compass. Or if you like sports metaphors: I'm in the Hell Bunker at St. Andrew's and all I have is a putter. Or entertainment: I got nothing.

In my Eastern Fathers class, I was assigned to introduce and lead discussion on the figure Jacob of Serug. This assignment involves providing a lengthy abstract of the figure's biography, theology, other works, and recent scholarship concerning him. I actually had a choice between he and two other figures and I picked the former simply because he had an English sounding name (as opposed to Severus and Philoxenus). Oh the bitter irony for as I began my research, I quickly realized that there was nothing English about Jacob of Serug or the scholarship surrounding him.

The first book I located was written in some sort of obscure Syriac. I believe it was a work by Jacob himself, but truth be told I didn't know enough to tell. The footnotes appeared to be french, but I am basing that feeble assumption on what I thought looked like a "we." The second book I located looked a little more familiar. At least, with all the hichs and sclichts, I was able to identify it as German, not that that did much for me. I did manage to find an English book, but of course it is checked out until December. Because apparently Jacob of Serug is slotted for Oprah's bookclub later this month. (Word on the street, however, is that he fabricated parts of his memoir. He didn't really fall off that camel.)

So unless there is a book on Jacob written in Iowan via Kentuckian via Wisconsian English or Koine Greek on the level of 1 John or Latin in the present tense only (minus the genetive case), I'm pretty much sunk. I did, however, manage to find quite a bit of helpful material on both Severus and Philoxenus.

That Oprah sure knows how to pick um . . .

The Church's Way of Speaking

I was walking through a book store this afternoon, one of my favorite activities (to my wife's chagrin), when I noticed the book The Best American Spiritual Writing 2006. (This is part of a series of The Best American . . . which includes other collections of short stories, essays, mystery writing, etc.) I picked it up fully expecting to be hit by a number of essays regarding new age topics and "Oprah Winfreyesk" spirituality. To my surprise and delight, my eyes lit upon an essay entitled "The Church's Way of Speaking" by Robert Louis Wilken. It was published in the August-September issue of First Things.

First Things is an ecumenical publication that features articles relating to thinking "Christianly" about current events. I have been an avid reader of First Things for a year and a half now and am constantly impressed by the quality of writing that is produced. It regularly challenges my faith and how that faith gets applied to everyday living. I recommend the publication to anyone.

In my year and a half of reading, the article that clearly stands out in my mind is the article by Wilken that made its way into the Best Spiritual Writing collection. It addresses the distinctiveness of the Christian community and the importance of knowing and living that distinctiveness in the world. All you "Hauerwasians" would love it. Here is the link:
www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0508/articles/wilken.html

Let me know what you think . . .

A Placid Sea of Contradictions

For the first time today, I was struck by the odd situation in which I find myself. It is clear that I am in a scholarly setting, replete with world class thinkers who regularly wax eloquent about topics ranging from what Paul meant by the de in a single verse of Romans to what Arius ate for breakfast on the morning of his condemnation to what Rahner was thinking at Vatican II. I have a professor who regularly slips in and out of foreign languages and I'm not sure he knows he's doing it. Just today I walked out of a class dizzied by the amount of information that had just been poured into me, wondering if I would ever be able to assimilate it all, but thanking God that I am in such an environment that allows me the opportunity. And then I am passed by a kid in a Hollister shirt with an upside down Abercrombie visor, and an Ipod turned up so loud I can hear every word to "Funky Cold Medina."

Surrounding this hallowed center of academia is your typical college campus. You have your philosophers sitting on the steps, your pseudo hippy strumming a guitar, your smokers around the back, girls dressed to the nines next to girls who just rolled out of bed, dudes playing frisbee to impress them all, the activist who's giving everyone an earfull, the ROTC candidates in Desert Storm Camouflage, the guy handing out fliers to the volleyball game to which no one will go, and on and on and on. I mean, its like I'm watching an episode of Dawson's Creek Season Five. I swear I heard "Semi Charmed Kind of Life" playing in the background.

As contradictory as it may seem, the setting just feels right. It is good to be back on a college campus again. Because despite all the ridiculousness, learning does happen, minds are shaped and lives are transformed. Though I'm often reminded that I didn't attend one of those "one-word" schools (Duke, Harvard, Princeton) and I frequently get double takes when I say I graduated from Iowa State University, I'm thankful for the experience - it profoundly shaped me. It took me from a frightened boy to a young man ready to impact the world, or at least my small part of it. Following that were four incredible years at Asbury Theological Seminary, another gem that doesn't get much recognition. It wouldn't be too much to say that I saw God there, even if it was just glimpses. And I certainly saw an authentic display of the People of God. Somehow I suspect that Marquette will be the perfect blend of both. And who knows? I might see God even in the kid in the Hollister shirt.

Will Tone Loc ever die?

What is Theology?

I've come to believe that this question is critical for any follower of Christ to answer. For many, the ubiquitous authors Grenz and Olson immediately come to mind, will tell us that "everyone is a theologian." I'm not sure if I agree with that statement, but nevertheless it begs the all important question, what then is theology? I found the following anecdote, to which I am indebted to Father Alexander Golitzin, extremely helpful.

The standard Lexicon for classical Greek (Liddell and Scott), despite voluminous entries spanning pages and pages of miniscule type, lists only two definitions for theologia as used by the classical writers: 1. stories about the gods; and 2. rational discourse about divinity. We might identify our own thoughts with one of these two definitions. However, the standard Patristic Lexicon (covering the language of the Greek Fathers of the early centuries of the church) has five to six pages of entries following theologia. Theology was obviously a rich word to the Fathers, and one which acquired a number of different senses. The definitions take on a hierarchy of importance. To summarize, they are (in ascending order of importance): 1. rational discourse about divinity; 2. Holy Scripture (sometimes called "The Theology"); 3. the liturgy of both the angels and the church on earth (in other words, worship); 4. the visio dei or vision of God; and 5. Trinity, the highest form of theology.

What strikes me about the Fathers' use of theologia is that our place, if we have a place at all, is at the very bottom of this list, the rational discourse. But this rational discourse does not exist for its own benefit, a fact we can often forget in our loquaciousness. The purpose of the theology we do, insofar as it has a purpose, is merely to lead people to the higher forms - the Scriptures and the liturgy - where the Triune God will be experienced and seen. A very good reminder to all of us who aspire to be theologians.

A Communion of Bloggers

Introduction
I suppose this first entry should be something by way of an introduction, though if you are reading this, my hunch is that you were prompted by an email of mine and already know me quite well. But for all you careless typers who were actually searching for Janet Jackson or Debra Lafave and got me instead (my sincere apologies), allow me an introduction . . .

My name is Jackson Lashier and I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with my beautiful wife Julie (who may be asked to contribute from time to time - people generally find her more interesting). I was born and raised in Iowa and did not consider leaving until a call to ministry brought me to Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. It was there that, among other things, I met my future wife, some amazing friends and mentors, and felt a change in my calling, one to teaching. So it is that we now find ourselves in Milwaukee (from the tobacco and gambling capital to the beer capital) where I am currently attending Marquette University pursuing a PhD in religious studies, with an emphasis in historical theology. Julie is a hospital chaplain at St. Luke's (which has more employees than the entire town of Wilmore) serving patients on the neurological floors. Though these positions might seem hellish to some, we feel that we are exactly where God has called us to be and are quite excited as we stand on the precipice of this journey.

I begin this blog at the prompting of JD Walt, my friend and pastor, who thought that it might be interesting to log my experiences as a fledgling PhD student. While my first reaction was no, thinking my experiences would be interesting to no one - at times not even interesting to myself - it did strike me that the material I am learning and the thoughts they are provoking in me might be of interest to a few, particularly to those who, like me, are struggling to navigate faithfulness in surroundings that seem increasingly unfaithful (this comment is not directed at Marquette, but in general the world at large). So it is that I begin.

The Inspiration of the Name
The content of our Creed is fascinating to me. The Fathers were obviously selective at what they chose to include for they left out many articles of faith that we might deem crucial today - the role of Israel, the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the manner of atonement come immediately to mind. But what they did include, alongside belief in the Triune God, was this phrase: "I believe in the communion of saints." What this suggests to me is that, equally important to belief in a God who is three-in-one is belief in a living community of followers. We do not, in other words, come to saving and sanctifying knowledge of God outside of a community.

For those, like me, who seem to stumble more often than not, Christ in this community is really our only hope to becoming more like the God who created us. But too often, I think, we limit that community to the people we see, that is those we see every Sunday (or whenever your Christian community meets). This is unfortunate because, not only is our true community spread across all nations of this earth, but it is spread across the last 2000 years. And there are countless ones who have gone before us, struggling to live the faithful life in much the same conditions which now face us, whose wisdom is invaluable for our growth.

The Intent of this Blog
The hope that I have in establishing this blog is to begin a conversation with my fellow bloggers about the "Holy Mysteries," a term which covers, not only all theological and doctrinal truths, in other words, "orthodoxy", but also how we live faithfully in response to these beliefs, in other words, "orthopraxis." I hope to bring in conversation partners from the early centuries of the church and I invite others to do the same. I will do my best to be a regular poster, as schoolwork will often dictate, and I look forward to any comments I may receive. May we experience communion, not only with each other, but with the saints through the ages, who knew what it was to truly see God.