In first century Judea, most people thought they knew what was needed to make Israel great again: a strong Messiah who would rise up against Israel’s enemies, within and without, and rule the world with peace and justice from Jerusalem. That Jesus initially seemed like that person and then turned out to be something different is partly what got him crucified.
The disciples got caught up in this too. They were constantly misreading Jesus and even resisting him at points. But their encounter with him on that first Easter day altered perceptions completely—not that they now had all the answers, but they began to revise their understanding based on what happened, and Jesus’ life, ministry, teaching, and death took on a whole new meaning.
Coming away from that experience, the disciples had reason to be disillusioned with Israel’s leaders and the political and religious system that had shaped their misguided assumptions. But the answer to the disillusionment and feelings of betrayal wasn’t skeptical retreat or zealous activism. This is because they knew quite well that they had colluded in the system even as they were afflicted by it. And they learned that Jesus had defeated those powers at the cross. So they took up their crosses to follow Jesus—right where they were. This became the path to new life. Not a revolutionary movement, but a communal participation in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Nowhere is this more powerfully exemplified than in the life of St. Paul, the one who thought that he had the answers only to realize that he had been working against God’s purposes all along. After his conversion, Paul gave strong pushback to strident guardians of the status quo, but he continued to express deep love for his people and held out hope for their salvation despite their idolatrous ways. Further, he cast himself as the “least of the apostles” and “worst of sinners” because of how he had actively colluded in the system that brought Jesus and followers like Stephen to death.
Paul had lived out the lies he was fed, and had reason for deep resentment, but he accepted his part in it and grieved and repented his way into new life with Jesus. So much so that he became free to think of himself as a slave/servant of Christ, rendering himself vulnerable to persecution at the hands of those who had been like him prior to his conversion.
He didn’t do this in a spirit of compromise, bowing to the system in shame. Rather it was an implication of carrying his cross unto new life and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. Again, he pushed against the party hardliners at times—people behaving like he once had—but this wasn’t a revolutionary power move. This too was an implication of servant-like gospel ministry, and in the midst of all, Paul continued to recognize that he barely had a right to Christian identity at all.
I’d suggest that we are in an analogous spot in relation to abusive powers in the church and secular state. These are the same sort of powers that the disciples confronted in their own day. What’s needed is not skeptical retreat or militant revolutionary action. We need to take up our crosses and follow Jesus into new life—right where we are …
Art: "The Conversion of Saint Paul" by Caravaggio (1600/01)
This year I am offering a once a month class called Jewish Tribal Visions Beyond Zionism. First class begins this Thursday at 6 PM PST on zoom. As we prepare for the high holidays, join me in the work of teshuvah for the harms of Jewish colonialism, as well as the beauty of our tribal ceremonial traditions which we still carry. What does it mean to carry our tradition forward to a Judaism beyond Zionism?
Draw on the stories and art of the 12 tribes in pre-zionist torah, midrash and kabbalah to access Jewish wisdom in a non-colonial context. Tribal Visions for Judaism Beyond Zionism grows out of Lynn's work in solidarity with Indigenous Land Back Movements, including Palestinian & Native American land back movements, Black Reparations movements and Jewish anti-colonial communities of practice. Tribal Visions is part of Lynn's new book: Way of the Mishkan.
Way of the Mishkan is a ceremonial guide for re-envisioning Jewish solidarity. The book includes frontlines stories, prayer, art and ceremonial recipes from the Torah of Nonviolence. Way of the Mishkan tells stories of witness and beautiful resistance from Palestine, Turtle Island, Iran, Honduras, New Mexico and more, and reflects Rabbi Lynn's love of illuminated manuscript as a pathway into Jewish imagination. Way of the Mishkan will be published this winter, pre-order to come!
Class Fee includes 18% for reparations and land back movements.
Dates: 10 classes (once a month)on Thursdays, 6 P - 7 P PST, 9 - 10 PM EST, Sept 22, Oct 20, Nov 17, Dec 15, Jan 19, Feb 16, March 16, April 20, May 18, June 15.
In preparation for this event, Susan Carson raised the following questions on deconstruction and the healing journey. Author, editor, and foodie extraordinaire, Felicia Murrell, responded beautifully, a great teaser for what we're in for:
SUSAN: When we talk about deconstruction, what do we mean?
Felicia:I would say deconstruction means releasing our grip, attachment from ideas, beliefs and theories we once thought to be true; unknowing the things we’ve erected and built, dismantling all of our conceptual constructs. My teacher, Mirabai Starr would say, it’s “when the religious scaffolding crumbles and we are plunged into radical unknowing.”
My mind conjures images of Samson bracing the two middle pillars on which the house rested and bending with all his might, upending the house and all therein.[1] But for me, as it relates to deconstruction, the two middle pillars would be my pillars of arrogance and certainty upon which all my tenets of faith and belief and interpretations rested. For sure the image loses some of its relatability at the end because of the destruction, but I imagine for some, deconstruction may actually feel like a sort of catastrophic death.
SUSAN: In what ways have you experienced or observed deconstruction as destructive?
Felicia: I think when we are as fundamental and certain about deconstruction as we are about religion, that can be destructive. Rene Girard spoke often about scapegoating, and when we find ourselves trapped in the need to blame our pain or our lived experience on someone, deconstruction can turn vengeful and destructive. But if we don’t understand this process as a path to infinite Love, we will lose ourselves in the terror and chaos of our unraveling which can be very harmful.
"The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
It's amazing how a "framework" can constrain how we understand a piece of text. For example, 2x4 is either 8 or a piece of lumber depending on whether you are a mathematician or a carpenter. The "juridical/accounting/transactional" framework always told me that St. Paul meant "Jesus paid the debt to God for our sins, and the zero balance of the ledger was our free gift from Christ."
Over the years the "substitutionary" framework (as it is usually preached) made less and less sense of "the gospel" in light of what I read about God in the Gospels. One day, I read the text exactly as it is written: It said SIN pays the wage of death.Not God. God doesn't kill us because we sin. We serve sin and sin pays us what it promises: separation from God who is Life. We die apart from Life.
And yet God still offers a free gift—himself, Life—not "wages." He always has from the beginning.
There is no death in God, only in us.
Gregory of Nazianzus said, "What is not assumed is not healed." When Jesus died in His human flesh, he assumed ALL that is within us, even death. He accepted sin's "wage" even though he didn't earn it by sinning.
So, God didn't kill Jesus instead of us (John MacArthur's take on Good Friday). Christ accepted the wages from sin (not from God the Father) on our behalf and nailed the W-2 to the cross (Colossians 2:14). There will be no fear of an audit, no taxes due, no penalties for non-payment or back taxes. Free.
In all the parables, the Master, Lord, King, Landowner forgave the debts of his crappy householders, borrowers, scammers, and negligent subjects with a Word. He NEVER extracted the due debt from an innocent third party then offer the zero-sum, paid off balance sheet to the debtors as a "gift." On the Cross, God absorbs death, the wages of sin, into himself because God is life and not even death can prevail before and within God. As Solomon said, "Love is stronger than death..."
As St. Paul says, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" at the Cross (2 Cor. 5:19). He was not vicariously punishing Christ, exacting a penalty, or substituting Him for us in some cosmic juridical execution. It is why we celebrate "the Precious and Life-giving Cross" where death is slain through the power of love, not "the Horror of the Penalty God Demanded in His Righteousness."
The Gospel is not about wages, books to be balanced, or penalties to be paid to a God who must pay himself off via his Son to satisfy his need for a balanced ledger or justice served. The gospel is about a benevolent King who just forgives because that is his nature, and takes all the crap and debt and death we can deal out into Himself for our sake's just because He loves us, because that is His nature.
I once held the former thing as "gospel" and it made sense to me until it didn't. Then I found the latter thing in the Parables. The longer I live the latter thing makes more and more sense to me.
As if we can make sense of the horror of the Cross. As if we can make sense of human, much less, divine Love.
Something really interesting about discipleship from its inception. Jesus doesn’t allow his followers to think of themselves as revolutionaries. Practically speaking, they are stuck with the consequences of Israel’s failures. This is the context of their life and ministry. They can’t wriggle free. Hence: “Take up your cross and follow me.” The disciples are saddled with Israel's legacy and fall under judgment.
The good news is that they fall under it with Jesus... And this means that judgment isn't the end of the story. Even as Jesus' followers join him in his death, they rise with him to new life. Still, the new life they experience, given from above (as John puts it), takes place within the space of the old rather than on an empty site (cf. Descartes).
This is true for disciples of every age. Those who would follow Jesus are granted new life but within the space of the old that suffers and dies under judgment. And this is an ongoing pattern rather than one-time event. As Paul puts it in one of his letters, "I die daily ..."
I'm speaking to my own tribe now: Friends, let's be careful that we don't get caught dreaming of lost power and privilege. Not only are we stuck with the consequences of Israel's failures, grafted in as we are, we are stuck with the failures of the church down through the centuries as well.
There is no escape plan, no empty site on which to build, no means of transcendence. This can be hard to accept... Many of us long for a clean break—to get it right for once. But we are people under judgment with Jesus. This is who we are. This is the ground we stand on. And it's from here that we share in his mission—humbly, generously, serving in love among friends, strangers, and enemies alike.
We too will have scars to show in the resurrection...
In launching the new book, For the Unity of One Church, David Goa hosts a conversation with the editors, Abp Lazar Puhalo and Dr. Petros Vassiliados. They discuss key issues around church unity, the female diaconate, and the impact of the war in Ukraine. The video conversation is sponsored by Saint Macrina Orthodox Centre, based at the All Saints of North America Monastery in Dewdney, BC Canada.
The book is an anthology of theology papers composed by theologians, clerics, and professors from across North America and Europe.
For the Unity of One Church can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle:
Drinking Well from Other’s Wells Reading Sacred Texts – Four Invitations
Address by Bradley Jersak at the "Peace through the Reconcilation of Our Holy Books" interfaith conference on 9-11.
By Bradley Jersak
Your Excellencies, Sisters and Brothers in God’s expansive family,
Grace and Peace,
Today I would like to express my gratitude for our common commitment to peacemaking and to share four brief reflections about reading one another’s sacred texts with openness, respect, and wonder. I was personally raised in a tradition of religious certitude where we were all too convinced that our provincial faith and our particular way of reading our Scriptures defined the sealed boundaries of truth. Regardless of whether what I share in this paper resonates with others, I sincerely hope that you will hear my good-faith repentance for the narrowness I am still overcoming.
In my attempts to drink well from the wells of other Holy Books, I’ve developed four invitations that I will briefly clarify and illustrate. My sense is that reading well includes the following:
I invite us to read well from each other’s Scriptures with open hearts, attentive to points of connection.
I invite us to read well from each other’s Scriptures, seeing them as unique songs to the One True God.
I invite us to consider how others read their own Scriptures.
I invite us to consider how others read our Scriptures.
“Blessed are the peacemakers. They shall be called children of God.”
—Jesus
I write this testimony of God’s grace while the events are still fresh in my mind and warm in my heart.
For the anniversary of 9-11, I was invited to participate in an international gathering of Peacemakers from the three major Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism), including various scholars, activists, imams, and rabbis from across the globe. The title of the conference was "PEACE through the Reconciliation of Our Holy Books"
It was truly an amazing and beautiful day!
I was so thrilled with each of the presenters and, just as much, their attentive and gracious responses to one another.
I was personally very moved by Dr. Safi Kaskas’ leadership. My Muslim brother and Qur’anic scholar spoke some very kind words about our first encounters that brought back precious memories.
I was very impressed by the quality of the speakers that Safi assembled, and all on such short notice that we both recognized God’s hand in swinging open these doors to dialogue.
The speakers showed remarkable expertise and clarity about many pressing issues in the world today and an uncanny knack for addressing tender topics without condemnation of the Other. This was evident as we expressed remorse for the sins of our own movements, along with the willingness to advocate for the vulnerable.
Specifically, Muslim representatives denounced the violence done on September 11 by fellow radicalized Muslims, Christian representatives repudiated our violent response through the so-called “war on terror,” and Rabbi Lynn, for example, issued a clear call for the state of Israel to repent and practice equity toward the Palestinian people.
In some ways, none of that surprised me, but I was delighted that several of the talks (back-to-back, unplanned except in heaven) brought into focus the injustices done toward indigenous people and the need for reparations. There was nothing in Safi’s invitation that indicated we should or could ‘go there,’ but I had the strong sense that it was a topic heavy on God’s heart and his people were tuned in.
All of that was very, very good. But I want to shift to the highlight of the day, when the ‘felt presence’ of God flooded our solemn assembly with joy and tears.
Our friend Mercy Aiken, a Christian peace activist and bridgebuilder, began to expound on Jesus’ words from Luke 19. She said, “On his way to the cross, we read about one of the few times that we hear Jesus wept. He is approaching Jerusalem, and the gospel says,
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”
Mercy emphasized that phrase, “Now they are hidden from your eyes,” to lament the terrible spiritual blindness that has caused each of the Abrahamic religions to choose hatred, violence, and war over “the things that make for peace.” The fact that the way to peace has remained hidden to us is both tragic and obvious, especially when we consider Jerusalem as a geographical and symbolic center for millennia of conflicts… between the very faiths gathered at the conference.
Through those words, a powerful sense of sobriety descended and in my headphones, I heard quiet groans of awareness expressed. What are we to do? At just the right moment, Mercy began to spontaneously intercede that the Holy Spirit would mercifully open our eyes and draw us back onto the way of peace.
And then I was stunned to tears, as were others, as she responded to her own challenge with a song of invocation—a Muslim worship chorus—“Open Your Eyes” by Maher Zain. I believe she sang these lyrics:
Open our eyes, our hearts and minds If we just look right, we'll see the signs We can't keep hiding from the truth And let it take us by surprise Protect us in the best way Guide us every single day Keep us close to You Until the end of time
(please watch the full song HERE and I have embedded it at the end of this article)
Tears began to stream down my cheeks; I saw others wiping their eyes; an Imam posted Jesus’ words into the group chat; and as soon as Mercy finished, one of the Muslim men asked, “Could you also please sing a song for our Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters?”
Mercy responded, “Well, that sone really was meant for all of us… But I did think about that, too, in case it came up. So here is a song from the Jewish Scriptures that Christians also love to sing:
For Thou, O Lord, art high above all the earth Thou art exalted far above all gods For Thou, o Lord, art high above all the earth Thou art exalted far above all gods
I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee I exalt Thee, O Lord I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee I exalt Thee, O Lord
(you can see this song HERE and again, it's embedded at the end)
I could tell we were on holy ground, in a transcendent moment—we were encountering the heart of God as constructive dialogue gave way to worship in spirit and in truth, described and yes, prophesied by Jesus when he said in John 4 (MSG),
21 “The time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.
23-24 “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”
How did we get there? I believe it’s because God’s heart for peace and justice must be so broken that one whiff of that aroma draws his manifest presence in a heartbeat. So many of our religious meetings have not only ignored peace and justice—worldwide, our churches (I’ve seen it), synagogues, and mosques alike have been infested with hate, propaganda, and sermons encouraging vengeance and death-dealing. It’s an ancient problem.
The Jewish prophet Amos (5:21-24 MSG), speaking for God, prophesies,
“I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image-making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.
In my view, this conference served as an act of living repentance for just that problem.
This gathering exceeded my expectations, and I believe the individual recordings (forthcoming) will make a powerful series with the potential for long-term and widespread impact. Even better, I pray that our encounter would lead to lasting new friendships and created networks that extend beyond what we can ask or imagine... and that those who watch will experience the insights and wonder that were such a gift to me.
With love and gratitude,
Bradley Jersak
Conference Participants
HOSTS: Nahid Saiyed Paul Armstrong
SPEAKERS: Safi Kaskas Brad Jersak Samira Benturki Saidi Mark Braverman Muhammad Eissa Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb Tariq Mustafa Mercy Aiken Dawud Abdur-Rahman Rabbi Steve Weisman Daisy Khan
The Whole Mystery of Christ: Creation as Incarnation in Maximus the Confessor by Jordan Daniel Wood Foreword by Fr. John Behr
A thoroughgoing examination of Maximus the Confessor's singular theological vision through the prism of Christ's cosmic and historical Incarnation.
Notre Dame Press has graciously granted Clarion permission to post Dr. Wood's PREFACE to the book here.
Readers can also CLICK HERE to visit this 15-minute video introduction where Jordan Daniel Wood lays out the essence and purpose of The Whole Mystery of Christ.
Perhaps the last serious Western reader of Maximus Confessor (580–662 AD), prior to the twentieth century at least, was the Irish monk, prodigious translator of significant Greek fathers (Maximus among them), and court theologian John Scotus Eriugena (815–77 AD). Eriugena attributes many insights to Maximus. He credits Maximus with special insight into the riddle of the world’s procession from God. And so he writes in the preface to his versio Latina of Maximus’s Ambigua ad Iohannem:
To mention a few of many points, [Maximus most lucidly explains] in what way the Cause of all things, who is God, is both a simple and manifold One: what sort of procession there is—and here I mean the multiplication of divine Goodness through all the things which are— which descends from the summit all the way down, first through the general essence of all things, then through the most general genera, then through less general genera, still further through more specific species right into the most specific species, even into differentia and properties. And again, concerning the same divinity, we see what sort of reversion of Goodness there is—I mean the gathering together, through those same grades, from the things that exist in infinite diversity and multiplicity right up to that simplest unity of all things, which is in God and which God is. So [we see] that God is all things and all things are God. And [we understand] indeed in what way this divine procession into all things is called ἀναλυτικὴ, that is, unraveling, but reversion [is called] θέωσις—deification.1
Maximus taught Eriugena how the light of God’s ineffable transcendence most glitters when we see that and how God and the created world are “one and the same.”2 And to see this you need the crucial lens Maximus cuts: the “primordial reasons” of all things not only find their eternal ground in the Word of God, they “are the very [Word] Himself.”3 God and world are identical because the one Word is both.
Video 1 - THE RINGS OF TOLKIEN & WAGNER - Similarities & Differences
Ron Dart discusses the common themes shared by Richard Wagner's Opera, "The Ring of Nibelung" and J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." Ron notes the allure and perils of the ring, the two dragons, and how both Brunehilde and Arwyn set love as a greater good than even their own immortality. Dart then discusses differences, particularly in how Tolkien's series ends with a comedic or happy outcome while Wagner after the climax explores the tragic in the Nordic tradition of Ragnorok.
Video 2 - WAGNER'S SIEGFRIED
Ron then considers "Siegfried," the third part (or Act 2) of the four music dramas that constitute Wagner's "Ring of Nibelungen."
Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelung" is a cycle of four operas that tell the story of the hero Siegfried and a magic ring. In this third session on Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung, Ron Dart completes his talk on "The Rhinegold" (the preliminary scenes of the Opera cycle), then walks us through Act I: The Valkyrie.
Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelung" is a cycle of four operas that tell the story of the hero Siegfried and a magic ring.
These four operas are The Rhine Gold, The Valkyrie, Siegfried, and Twilight of the Gods. Borrowing from German and Norse tales, poems, sagas, and mythology, Wagner's main source was a German poem called "The Song of the Nibelungs" (circa 1200 AD).
Wagner's opera is certainly a precursor and had an influence on Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." In this series, Ron Dart walks through the archetypal significance of the opera's themes and characters, beginning here with the first two scenes of the first opera, "The Rhine Gold."
Previously, Ron's offered this brief reflection to the whole work: