the incarnation

"This then was the plight of humanity: God had not only made them out of nothing, but had also graciously bestowed on them His own life by His grace. But turning from eternal things to things corruptible, they had become the cause of their own corruption and death. When this happened, humans began to die, and corruption ran riot among them and held sway over them.

All of this God saw. And pitying us, and moved with compassion for us, and unable to endure that death should have the mastery, He took to Himself a body, a human body even as our own.

This He did out of sheer love for us, so that in His death all might die, and the law of death thereby be abolished.

This He did that He might turn again to incorruption those who had become corrupt, and make them alive again by the grace of His resurrection. Thus He would make death to disappear from them as utterly as straw from a fire."

- athanasius

ring. on. it.

nabokov on storytelling

today i ran across a nice quotation from vladimir nabokov. he says the purpose of storytelling is:

“to portray ordinary objects as they will be reflected in the kindly mirrors of future times; to find in the objects around us the fragrant tenderness that only posterity will discern and appreciate in far-off times when every trifle of our plain everyday life will become exquisite and festive in its own right: the times when a man who might put on the most ordinary jacket of today will be dressed up for an elegant masquerade.”

oh snap

me: what did you dress up as for halloween?

k (age 3): we don't celebrate the devil.

me: oh.

the vision for the heavenly city

listen to isaiah 65:17-25:

"'Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.

I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.

Never again will there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.

They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.

They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them.

Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy in all my holy mountain,' says the Lord."

mark gornik shares this passage in the introduction of his book to live in peace as he lays down some basic theological commitments about the city and its renewal.

what is striking about these verses is not just the hope that they offer, or the location of renewal within the city, but how god's heart is so clearly tied to the reversal of the particular struggles of humanity, specifically the poor.

consider the promise that "they will not . . . bear children doomed to misfortune." god, it seems, is aware of the cycle of poverty as a social fact of the fallen world. and he wants it broken and for there to be celebration as people are freed from it.

i don't think we should take this passage as a whole and this verse in particular as a mandate to run out and get busy "helping." that probably won't work quite as well as we initially think. but it is a call to be present with those who have not and to be a part of the community that seeks justice and the new city.

the shape of god's redemption of the city isn't his tritely saying to us, "now now it'll all be better." he doesn't leave us waiting alone and attempting to console ourselves in the midst of brokenness until some vaguely defined eschaton.

rather god names the specific difficulties of this life, whether in the ancient near east or contemporary society - the pain, the weeping, the injustice, whether premature death, homelessness, being unable to work for one's self and for one's family, perpetual poverty.

then he provided his son to break the power of the curse over the world and our hearts, thus bringing life and light through his resurrection. now his spirit is at work through us, his church, to bring in the heavenly city, in whatever forms it might be manifested this side of christ's return.

an unlikely dinosaur

me to a two year old about the t-rex toy she's holding: where's its mommy and daddy?

two year old: i'm its mommy.

me: oh. who's its daddy?

two year old: i don't know.

i'll go crazy if i don't go crazy tonight