Skip to main content

the box


Last night over ribs and beers (okay, I was having neither ribs nor a beer, but that's beside the point), several of us were having a little talk as we ate a meal after church. One person was saying that as she was thinking of thinking outside the box, she realised that there is NO box. These boxes are all fabrications of our mind.
Two other people argued that there are certain laws (like gravity) and structures that are necessary for us to survive and be safe. Guess which side of the arguement I fell on? The NO BOX one, of course. My example is Jesus in all things, and he certainly was able to rise above the laws of the known universe (see walking on the water and raising folks from the dead) when he saw fit for they were subject to him, they served him. And he did not seem to hold that much esteem for the religious structures in place, not even familial ones (remember the 'hate your mother and father and follow me' part?). We have indeed perceived many structures where there are none and formulated laws that have no viable purpose when seen in the light of the kingdom of God.
All things are from him and for him and subject to him. There is no box, there is only God and what reflects his character will last and what does not, only gets in the way. What box are you looking out of?
This is a somewhat bored goalie from the soccer game near my house earlier this evening. I guess that means his team was winning.

Comments

Shelley said…
gee i am soooo tired of being told that we need to 'think outside the box' by people who are discontented with things for unscrutable reasons. i should print this and stick it in their faces.

Popular posts from this blog

comedic timing

Comic by Joel Micah Harris at xkcd.com One of my favourite jokes goes like this: Knock, knock. Who's there? Interrupting cow Interrupting cow w--- Moooooooo!! Timing is important in both drama and comedy. A well-paced story draws the audience in and helps it invest in the characters, while a tale too hastily told or too long drawn out will fail to engage anyone. Surprise - something which interrupts the expected - is a creative use of timing and integral to any good story. If someone is reading a novel and everything unfolds in a predictable manner, they will probably wonder why they bothered reading the book. And so it is in life. Having life be predictable all of the time is not as calming as it sounds. We love surprises, especially good surprises like birthday parties, gifts, marriage proposals, and finding something that we thought was lost. Surprises are an important part of humour. A good joke is funny because it goes to a place you didn't expect it to go. Sim...

what's on your breastplate?

Who wants to be a priest? I asked this question in my faith community this past Sunday and a few eager hands went up. But there were also looks of puzzlement. Perhaps some people were thinking, "Maybe, but what exactly does a priest do?" I am so glad you asked. The first mention of a priest in the Scriptures is Melchizedek in Genesis 14. Abram has just rescued Lot and his household from capture (they got caught in a war between rivalling kings), and when he returns, he is greeted by the grateful king of Sodom and a priest. “And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’” (Genesis 14:18-20, NRSV) So what does this tell us about what it means to be a priest? First, this priest was also a king. Subsequent priests were not kings, so this double role was unique to...

Names of God

The Hebrew word "YHWH" (read from right to left) This past Sunday I gave a talk on the Names of God, the beginning of a series on this topic. This first talk was to be a gentle introduction so I thought it wouldn't take too many hours of preparation. Well, I quickly discovered that the research is almost bottomless; every time I thought I had a somewhat definitive list of names, I found another source which added a few more or gave a different twist on some of the names I had already come across. After several hours I was getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data (and that was only looking at the Hebrew Bible). I wondered how I could present this to people in an orderly and accessible fashion and within a reasonable time frame. Not everyone is up for a 3-hour lecture crammed full of detail on a Sunday morning. So I took a break and spent a bit of time meditating on this problem and asking the Spirit for guidance. And then I thought that being overwhelmed by Go...