Today is Ascension Day. The Ascension is an odd doctrine for me to get my head around. The imagery is of a three tired universe, where Jesus floats into the air and away from the gathered community. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. I don't think of Jesus as being "out there," though, and I know he didn't go to the moon-so what to make of the Biblical worldview of those three levels of existence, heaven (up), hell (down), and here?
I'll have some time in the sermon on Sunday to share a bit more about the Ascension (weird parts as well as wonderful), but thinking "about" doctrine in this way puts me in mind of all the different ways we can think about our faith. I admit I have an ulterior motive in sharing this with you-I'm still figuring out what we might want to read for summer book group, and the choices I'm considering all represent different ways we think about our faith.
I mentioned two options in my May "Pastor's Corner" in the Fieldstone Crier, our monthly parish newsletter. The first, The Faith Club, is a story of interfaith dialogue written by a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian. They are considering their faith as their faiths relate to other faiths-not so much the intricacies of each one, but how the three "Abrahamic faiths" (those who draw their spiritual lineage back to Abraham) inter relate. They are smart and lively thinkers, and really challenge each other in interesting ways.
The second option is a novel-Out of Egypt: Christ the Lord. It's by Anne Rice. Rice, who used to just write novels about vampires, has had a Christian conversion and wants her fiction to tell the story of Jesus, to bring people near to God. Out of Egypt imagines Jesus' childhood with his family-Mary and Joseph, and his siblings, and their life together as the child Jesus begins to understand that he's "different." I've read about a hundred pages of it so far, and it's pretty historically accurate, though of course there we don't actually know anything about what Jesus' life was like when he was 7 years old. I really like the idea of it, because it is an example of someone who takes her faith so personally that she's able to imagine with it. Rice clearly doesn't just see the life of Jesus as something that's outside herself-it's personal, intimate, and she applies her creativity and sense of wonder to draw us into the world of first century Israel. Without a story like that, we couldn't otherwise get there.
The third book I was thinking about (I know-initially I'd only suggested those two, but the list of books I want to read is getting longer, so why not share them with you?) is by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan: The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radial Vision Behind the Church's Conservative Icon. Borg and Crossan are scholars of the historical Jesus. They are Christians, but they are critical, too. Using textual and historical evidence, they talk about what's in the Bible and how it got there. Their analysis seeks to find out who Paul really was, apart from 2000 years of thinking about him. Though it's kind of academic, it's not dry or hard to understand (the first chapter is entitled "Paul: Appealing or Appalling?"-of course, their answer will be that the question isn't quite so simple).
And, yes, there is a fourth. Take this Bread, by Sara Miles, is a spiritual memoir. I've met her (my sister in law used to work at her church), but admit I haven't picked up the book yet so I'm just going to paste here a summary from her website (www.saramiles.net):
The story of an unexpected and terribly inconvenient Christian conversion, told by a very unlikely convert, Take This Bread is not only a spiritual memoir but a call to action. Raised as an atheist, Sara Miles lived an enthusiastically secular life as a restaurant cook and writer. Then early one morning, for no earthly reason, she wandered into a church. "I was certainly not interested in becoming a Christian," she writes. "Or, as I thought of it rather less politely, a religious nut." But she ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine, and found herself radically transformed...
So we have historical fiction, interfaith dialogue, historical analysis, and personal memoir-all really important ways of thinking about belief, each of which can strengthen our own faith in different ways. What appeals most to you? What comes easily, or challenges you?
You can vote for your choice on the ecrier blog page. (you could also just tell me, but if you vote on line you can see where the count is) If enough people with kids are interested in participating, we can look into trying to find childcare for the sessions-we'll meet for four or five Sundays starting June 21 after church. Now vote! Click here.
p.s. Thanks to www.boston.com for featuring the E Crier in the "from the blogs" section last Sunday-and thanks to Marcia Luce for noticing!
Blessings,
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