Friday, July 08, 2011

The place of both water and blood in our relationship with God are affirmed in the sacraments of baptism and communion while their seemingly opposing natures are united in a masterful transposition that elevates Christianity beyond both philosophy and religion. Jesus first miracle was to change water into wine and once His blood had been poured out, blood loses its place in the cultic practice and is replaced by wine: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it…”
 In Christ, the opaque becomes translucent and the transparent becomes colorful. In Christ, the opposite of death isn’t life, but abundant life. Death isn’t only defeated. It is swallowed up by victory.
 For centuries the Christian church highlighted the “thick and dark” parts of the faith. As humanity changed its preferences, the Church shifted its emphasis to that which is transparent, simple, and easy to digest. Without diminishing either, may we now recover wine as a rich symbol for the Christian life?
annette gulick. Beyond Duality (again)

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Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Do not tell what you can ask. Do not ask if you know the answer; tell in dialogue.
Jane Vella. LEARNING TO LISTEN, LEARNING TO TEACH.

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Friday, July 01, 2011

Convenience combined with low cost-per-unit of production has robbed us, I think, of the proper mindset that goes into the making something new. The general rule of thumb is that it takes more time to produce something than it does to enjoy it....As someone who has been constantly moving from the consumer mindset to the producer mindset, I’m discovering the difficulties of changing my expectations with regards to time. It’s like looking into the wrong end of the telescope: what should be NOW and IMMEDIATE looks so far away. ...Distilling the stuff of raw experience into something that stands out is supposed to take a long time. There’s no getting around it. You might get lucky and find some great shortcuts, or stumble upon something that can serve as the vehicle for your grand idea, but when it comes to making your own, special, unique part of it…it’s going to take a while. A long while.
David Seah. Time to Greatness.

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