So I need to figure out how I want to approach Theology of a Broken Brain. The other two books are practically writing themselves. There's a reason there are so many volumes printed on theology in general, let alone the specifics. At bible study tonight we read Galations 5:16-22 and I thought that was what I wanted to talk about in Theology of the Broken Brain as alot of the sins of the flesh are things people with attention and learning disorders struggle with. Problem is, when I try to explain it, it quickly becomes do this, do this, do this, do that.
Something that has really helped my spiritual walk when handling spirituality and scripture is to simplify it as much as possible. Ultimately, God's grace prevails no matter what. We have no need to condemn ourselves since we are redeemed by the blood. The problem is, I want to show a biblical basis for that idea. I wanted to find where the kingdom of God is promised and show how to stay on that course instead of focusing on how to get off the path that leads away from the kingdom once we're there. I knew this was gonna be tough. If you guys have any thoughts, let me know.
Ramblings to organize my thoughts: With this book, I want to dispel the common notion that "perfect" Christians spend an hour a day in "studious prayer", that mind bending prayer where you open a bible, read a verse, connect it to another verse and find out exactly what God is saying to you in that moment. The first thing I want to do when I sit down to spend an hour with God is go to the bathroom. Then I need a drink of water. I check to make sure my inbox is empty and read my emails just in case I'm missing something critical. Then I feel guilty because my house is cluttered which makes me a "bad" woman so I spend WAAYYY too long cleaning it, then I sit down to try for the hour again. That's usually lunch time so I grab a sandwich and a glass of juice then I go over my homework for school because I feel like I forgot to do an assignment which makes me a "bad" student. I can't come before God as a "bad" anything because that would be sacriledge.
I hope you caught the sarcasm in that last bit. I don't really believe any of the reasoning, but I have actually been told those things by Christians in leadership roles. They set me up for a condemnation view of myself. Did you know, my spiritual director once told me God dotes on me? This was a novel idea. It was ground breaking. To sit in my chair and think that God feels about me exactly the way I feel about my own daughter blew my mind. He knows I can't sit still to save my life. In fact, he created me that way. He knows I can't remember my own name, let alone yours somedays...and he loves me. Not He loves me anyways...e loves me. Picture Him kissing you on the forehead the way you kiss a little baby. It will change the way you think of Him.
I'm trying to figure out how to put that into my book and support it Biblically. I know I will bring in Jeremiah 29:11-14, Psalm 139 and John 3:16, but I don't know where to start. Any suggestions?
Thanks for listening
2 comments:
Have you ever read a book called "Sacred Pathways" by Gary Thomas? It looks at some of the different ways that people connect with God (naturalist, sensate, ascetic, traditionalist, activists, enthusiast, caretaker, contemplative, and intellectual etc). There is a website where you can take the test to discover which one(s) you are http://common.northpoint.org/sacredpathway.html. I found this study helpful because it does not judge any of the styles. Maybe you even have a different one to add to his list based on your particular approach to spirituality!
Maybe you should look at what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is something that happens in the daily grind of life - not outside of it by doing religious acts. The Pharisees had the religious act down, but what God is looking for is more of an attitude. The sermon on the Mount in Matthew provides a lot of fodder for thought. One concept that I'm working with right now is the concept of worship, and how that happens in the humdrum of everyday. It brings my mind to Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well: worship is not something that happens either here or there, but rather the day has come where we need to learn how to worship him in spirit and in truth. Worship and prayer have very much to do with embracing the sacredness of every moment.
That was a bit of a ramble...
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