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Blog Post from Oct 27, 2008: Shalom, God’s Wholeness
I’ve had some interesting conversations lately about my relationship with God. I’ve found myself explaining my postmodern perspective to more than one person, so I decided to just blog it. In the future, I can say, “See the blog entry about Shalom.” Thank you to those who engaged me in dialogue about this; this will sound like a repeat to you.
Brief history: It starts in the dark ages, with the monolithic institutional church. The “Enlightenment” was the correction to the top-down control of the church. It shed light on humankind as the image of God and it empowered us to create. Unfortunately, it came connected to Greek philosophy which also dismembered us into competing parts, body / mind / spirit. Our modern way of seeing it is body, spirit, soul. We talk of spiritual warfare against fleshly desires, or heaven as a floaty spiritual place with no bodies. We are disjointed.
My perspective: I believe in putting the pieces back together and re-membering us according to the Hebrew tradition. Humans are embodied souls. That includes dynamics of physical, emotional, relational, psychological, economic, educational, dietary, spiritual, sensory, political, sexual, chronological and eternal, etc. I am all these things, like a concert of many instruments. It sounds shallow to me if I don’t listen for all the instruments’ unique contributions.
The greeting of Shalom is a blessing of completeness, of health in every way, a full concerto with every instrument in tune. I just can’t compartmentalize my life, placing things into one neat category without recognizing the interplay of the other areas. So, when I speak of my father’s alcoholism, there is not only the physical drinking but also the damaged relationships. There is my internal psychological development and emotions that were pent up. There is an impact on how I related in school which affected my economic standing at my first job. There is my avoidance of alcohol myself and wariness around those who get large and take charge when drunk. I also speak of it as a demon of alcoholism, or unclean spirits that are passed to the next generation. This whole picture is what it means to be human.
Even commonplace and everyday items have these dimensions, but they are easy to overlook. How about that cup of coffee in the morning? Is it physically so hot that it burns the lap of an elderly lady who spills it? Many are attracted by the sensory experience of the aromas and flavors. Is it staining your teeth, caffeine affecting your health? How much do you pay for a demi half-caf latte daily? Is it a ritual that brings comfort or a psychological addiction? Do you have relationships around the table or a crush on your barista? And, what affect does buying that coffee have on our environment? Were forests cleared to plant coffee? Are workers struggling in horrible conditions to feed our cravings? What would God say about all this?
Sometimes I make a statement about spiritual or eternal implications of something and folks wonder if I am naïve or primitive in my thinking. No. I know germs cause disease; and, I would call MRSA a very unclean demon. Seems like a tension in thinking? How can it be both? It’s only a tension if you split the physical from the spiritual and then require a choice between the two. Either, or. I say it’s both, and.
Sometimes, I make a statement about something physical, like coping with disease and folks wonder if I am not fully delivered. Yes. I accepted Jesus Christ’s victory for me on the cross; and, I can live with narcolepsy. Seems like a contradiction? It’s only a tension if the thorn must be pulled from my side in order to prove I am sanctified by Christ. Paul learned to walk with his thorn and boast in his weakness, with full freedom in Christ. I can too.
Shalom.
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