Do you ever suspect that when some people insist that you should "think outside the box" what they really mean is that they want you to start thinking inside their box?
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The Man of Sapphire Blue. A vision of the Trinity given to Hildegarde of Bingen
The Man of Sapphire Blue. A vision of the Trinity given to Hildegarde of Bingen
About Me
- Matt Gunter
- I grew up on a farm in northern Indiana, taught high school in a city school in California, and am now an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Chicago. Mysterious ways indeed.
Whence the title?
Justin Martyr, the 2nd century theologian, wrote this in his defense of the Christian Church:
I like the whole passage and its vision of the Church. But, I am particularly fond of the expression of Christian faith and hope as "entering into the expectation". Thus, in 1 Peter 3:15, Christians are encouraged to "always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the expectation that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence." One way or another, that is what I want to do.
Enter into the expectation.
We who ourselves used to have pleasure in impure things now cling to chastity alone. We who dabbled in arts of magic now consecrate ourselves to the good and unbegotten God. We who formerly treasured money and possessions more than anything else now hand everything over to the treasury for all, and share it with everyone who needs. We who formerly cheated and murdered one another and did not even share our home with those who were different or from a different tribe, because of their customs, now, after Christ's appearance, live together and share the same table. Now we pray for our enemies and try to win who hate us unjustly so that they too may live in accordance with Christ's wonderful teachings, that they too might enter into the expectation.
I like the whole passage and its vision of the Church. But, I am particularly fond of the expression of Christian faith and hope as "entering into the expectation". Thus, in 1 Peter 3:15, Christians are encouraged to "always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the expectation that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence." One way or another, that is what I want to do.
Enter into the expectation.
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2012
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- I'll Go Tell Elizabeth
- The Traitor Within
- Vindictive Judge or Anodyne Version of Ourselves?
- CWOB: More Resources
- Whose Box?
- Anselm: "Jesus, as a mother . . ."
- Praying with Julian’s Hazelnut
- Meditation 3: God keeps it
- Meditation 2: God loves it
- Meditation 1: God made it
- Praying with Julian of Norwich and the Hazelnut
- Praying with & for the Departed?
- Questions Re: Between Death & Resurrection
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3 comments:
Nope - they are calling you out of your small box and into a bigger one!
Sydney,
I know that is what they claim to be doing. No doubt they all mean it that way. And, indeed, it might be true in some cases. But, often enough, it appears to be as I suspect -- an insistance that others trade what someone perceives to be a box for what is really just another box though one more appealing to the one claiming they are "thinking outside the box."
Yes. All the time. I find their "bigger box" horribly restrictive and usually of a Nixon-era vintage . . .
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