Image by Pink Sherbet Photography via Flickr

Reconciliation as Mission

I'm taking a one week summer intensive course called "Reconciliation as Mission" with six other graduate school friends and a great professor who graciously made the trip down from Michigan. We've only just finished day one and I know this class is going to make a life-altering impact on me. One of the books that we have the opportunity to read for the course is titled, "Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation," by Miroslav Volf. Tonight, before I head off to bed, I want to share a passage from this book that I found to be particularly poignant:

"Forgiveness is necessary, but will it suffice? Forgiveness is the boundary between exclusion and embrace. It heals the wounds that the power-acts of exclusion have inflicted and breaks down the dividing wall of hostility. Yet it leaves a distance between people, an empty space of neutrality, that allows them either to go their separate ways in what is sometimes called "peace" or fall into each other's arms and restore broken communion. "Going one's own way" is the boldest dream many a person caught in the vortex of violence can muster the strength to dream. "Too much injustice was done for us to be friends; too much blood was shed for us to live together," are the words that echo all too often in regions wrecked with conflict. A clear line will separate "them" from "us." They will remain "they" and we will remain "we," and we will never include "them" when we speak of "us." Such "clean" identities, living at safe distances from one another, may be all that is possible or even desirable in some cases at certain junctures of people's mutual history. But a parting of the ways is clearly not yet peace. Much more than just the absence of hostility sustained by the absence of contact, peace is communion before former enemies. Beyond offering forgiveness, Christ's passion aims at restoring such communion -- even with the enemies who persistently refuse to be reconciled.

"At the heart of the cross is Christ's stance of not letting the other remain an enemy and of creating space in himself for the offender to come in. Read as the culmination of the larger narrative of God's dealing with humanity, the cross says that despite its manifest enmity toward God humanity belongs to God; God will not be God without humanity. "While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son" writes the Apostle Paul (Romans 5:10). The cross is the giving up of God's self in order not to give up on humanity; it is the consequence of God's desire to break the power of human enmity without violence and receive human beings into divine communion. The goal of the cross is the dwelling of human beings "in the Spirit," "in Christ" and "in God." Forgiveness is therefore not the culmination of Christ's relation to the offending other; it is a passage leading to embrace. The arms of the crucified are open -- a sign of space in God's self and an invitation for the enemy to come in." (125-6)

Volf, Miroslav. Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.

Give the Paper to the People

My tall, energetic, funny, and Flight of the Conchords-loving friend, Steven Gist, regaled all of us at Yukari and Daniel's wedding yesterday with his engaging rendition of the song, "Sello Tape." It's a beautiful piece with some moving lyrics:

"Lives are like retractable pencils
If you push them too hard they're gonna break
And people are like paper dolls
Paper dolls and people, they're a similar shape"

The humorous song ends with a flourish:

"People people
People people
Pencil pencil
Pencil pencil
Paper paper
Put the pencil to the paper
Give the paper to the people..."

I suggest you take the time to hear it for yourself and be inspired. I was inspired. I don't have any "paper to give to the people" but I do have some pictures from our life here and thought that'd be a good thing to give to the people.

Our church out in the wild for a weekend camping get-away (above) and worshiping with some friends at a local nursing home (below).

Good times in Abilene with family: Jenise, Jon & Sherwin (LaShae is inside) (above), and hanging with the niece & nephew (below).

Hitting the Austin, TX scene with our "Urban Immersion" MRNA crew, 2009

Erica & the GST Ladies Intramural Volleyball Championship Team

Celebrating our friends, Yukari & Daniel's Wedding

There's been some wonderful times this semester, though it hasn't all been "get-aways" and championships: we also managed to fit in a full load of grad classes and a full time job. It has been a blessed semester and we get to finish it off with a flourish...Cami and Aaron are gonna be stuck together with the tape of love!

Education is a marvelous thing. Some of us remember our studies better than others, though. Take Barney Fife, one of Erica & my favorite TV characters, as a prime example. What a memory! Maybe this little clip will bring you some joy and remind you that even if you don't remember every thing you study in school, if you have a good friend to read and laugh with you, you're doing okay!

The One has become Two, and the Two have become One

Different cultures think about the concept of TIME in different ways. In general, Chinese people have a past-orientation when it comes to time. For them, all the great achievements of the world occurred in their history. Also broadly speaking, Mexican people view the world with a present-orientation. This means that more than the past or the future, events that are occurring RIGHT NOW hold the most meaning for them. There are other cultures, such as that of North Americans, who live in the world with a view of time that focuses on the future. We are always looking forward to something, or making plans for some event that has yet to happen. We find it difficult to enjoy the present, and we're constantly told NOT to live in the past. "Time" is a fascinating subject (to me, anyway).
As time passes, it invariably carries CHANGE in its luggage. Allow me to unpack two of those big changes in my life.

The first change is that "the one has become two." My first year as a graduate student studying MISSIONS has come to a close, and I am now beginning my second year. It's hard to believe. This first year in the program has been fantastically challenging and formative. I find myself full of hope as this year begins. My classes are: 1) Theology of Mission, 2) Growth Strategies for Established Churches, and 3) Field Education. In addition, Erica and I will again join the Japanese student Bible study group that meets every Wednesday.

The second, and most exciting change, is that "the two have become one." Erica and I were married this past December 27th in the Prayer Chapel at York College! It was a perfect day, surrounded by family and close friends. Joel Osborne performed our ceremony, which, if I may say, was absolutely beautiful. We hope to make pictures available for people to look at as soon as possible. We want to solicit your prayers as we begin this journey together. We know that it is because of our God, families, friends, and faith community that we have made it this far, and hope that all of you will continue to pray for our marriage even as we are praying for yours.

Finally, know that we are continuing to pray about returning to Japan. Our vision for mission work in Japan is continually shaped and refined as we keep praying and studying. And this is how it should be. Incarnational and cruciform living is far from easy, but it will always be worth the effort. And it is always TIME for us to submit to God and to CHANGE. In this new year, I hope we will all commit to that, together.

Blessings,
Ben