[Oe List ...] Internal screwed-up-ness, Niebuhr and so on

[Bill Schlesinger]

It's been interesting to me that 'sin' has taken on a moral connotation (You
Are Bad!).  The Greek word - hamartia - means 'missed the mark.'  It's
pretty ontological itself.  The other element is the pretty clear language
in the synoptics and John about the Jesus character; suffering and death
isn't equated with 'divine punishment,' but the necessary consequence to
confronting embedded systems of control that are based on manipulation,
coercion and hierarchy.  That consequence happens but isn't the last word.
The alternative system to confronting those systems is George Bush vs.
Saddam Hussein.  And it has its consequences.  

 

Basically, there are 10 types of people.  Those who get binary and those who
don't.  That's a joke.

 

The pattern of 'accountability' sometimes appeals to some standard out there
for right action.  It also assumes the ability to measure behavior and
actions and their consequences.  It can also be a method of discipline and
care - future oriented for both the individual and the society.  (Did you
take that cookie?).  It never fixes the past, but can be a helpful tool in
pulling things together for the next step.  Blame and shame often leads to
arrogance (I'm good, I did the best I could) or despair (I'm a worthless
fool.)  Both are - of course - illusions, miss the mark, and are postures of
'hamartia.'  

 

"Taking the hit"  - turning the other cheek - cutting loose the bonds
(aphiemi - translated as forgiveness) of having missed the mark - has the
capacity of trying to fit the pieces together (eirene - translated 'peace')
so they work.  (I really like the word stuff in Greek).  It isn't letting
the living dead eat you up; it's trusting that life sustains us as beloved
in the midst of all the screwing up we and others can do, and beckons us
constantly to the responsibility that comes with being linked to all that
is.

 

This is a little stream of consciousness - we're in the midst of trying to
set up condo's for low income folk ($30K each), and applying for a SAMHSA
grant to integrate primary care into behavioral health.  Seriously mentally
ill folk die about 25 years sooner than others; nobody's set up to deal with
their diabetes, hypertension, etc.  The music's coming in the window from a
youth fair outside the window.  And our youngest son leaves for Iraq this
Saturday.  

 

Bill Schlesinger
Project Vida
3607 Rivera Ave
El Paso, TX 79905
(915) 533-7057 x 207
(915) 490-6148 mobile
(915) 533-7158 fax
bschlesinger.pv at tachc.org

  _____  

From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf
Of frank bremner
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 3:17 PM
To: Dialogue OE
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Internal screwed-up-ness, Niebuhr and so on

 

Thanks everyone, for your comments on brokenness, and the Niebuhr
commentary.  They have been useful in coffee-break conversations within my
BTh subject Grace and Humanity (Christian anthropology).  Lots of stuff
about creation, eschatology, sin and grace (of course!), and so on.  
 
(I was also interested in the notes about Hilary Clinton's youth pastor in
Carl Bernstein's book about her - his theological influences looked very
familiar, although they were part of the US theological landscape.)
 
I'm doing the tutorial on Karl Rahner - as his brother once said, it's be
great if he'd written in German!  But I like his notion that "creation is
already blessed" - echoes of Matthew Fox's Original Blessing.  I may even
refer to Jimmy Carter's interview in Playboy, in which he spoke about
forgiveness in an ontological fashion.
 
I'm doing my major essay on "What, if anything, is distinct about Christian
freedom".  Any suggestions on leads and references to pursue?  I'm certainly
taking the tack that "man (sic) is freedom" from NRM/OW/RS-I etc.  
 
And definitely taking a Christian (and Christ-event) approach rather than a
Jesus-ian one - although Jesus before Pilate, and Conchis (in John Fowles'
The Magus) before the Nazi firing squad are good illustrations of extreme
freedom, of freedom as "relationship to the situation".  And Kazantzakis'
phrase about "man loses his (sic) freedom as soon as he uses it" (from
Report to Greco?).  
 
And certainly the responsibility/obedience/ freedom relationship from
Bonhoeffer - my current take is an ontological rather than a moral one -
that obedience (from obediens = I listen) means living in a world of
connectedness, and that freedom means living in a world of solitariness in
my decision-making ("When I'm on my journey there is no-one else but me").
 
Any ideas?  Good references?  Good quotes?  (Remember "corporate writing"?)
 
Cheers
 
Frank Bremner
 

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