Friday 6 May 2022

Saying something useful

I am trying after years of study to write something useful for my children and their children - as my post on Psalms 78 suggests. There are a few items in this series now under the label for the children. I have 7 letters written so far. Only 2 published at present. I find the process very difficult. I am revising them every day and looking for suitable metaphor and language. Mostly I am not close to easy enough to read yet. But maybe this will happen. Suggestions welcome.

I have an idea - expressed in a summary to come.

Beginning - nature of time - not infinite and not instantaneous. This has implications for both theology and science. 

Thinking about this, I wonder about 'creation subject to futility' - (Romans and Qohelet). Things fall apart and the second law of thermodynamics. How could any sense of completeness be compatible with the problem of degeneration? Heaven and eternity need some redefinition in our minds. For me, presence and glory have been front and centre, a new dimension, endless in some other sense. It's not an issue for the children since they are not infected with Biblicisms yet. In some ways I would want to give them the language to parry such short-circuits.

Still - holiness, trust, truth and all the other unmeasurable concepts are of vital interest both in this age and the age to come. The character of God expressed in Psalms 146 does not allow exploitation of others for our own personal ends. Our systems work by egregious self-interest today but that's not how the world 'really' works.

So I am treating holiness as a table on which to uncover the unmeasurable attributes of life - supported by the ancient writers of my tradition - with which the children are entirely unfamiliar, as I was at their age for the most part.

I am sticking with it - help if you wish with your critical feedback.



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