When I should be paying attention...

For a couple of years now I've been using the weekly lectionary readings. One thing I have come to appreciate about this exercise is that it forces me to hold several passage of Scripture at the same time and meditate on them together.

Sometimes I think- I can't see any way these texts relate. What wacko in history put these random Scriptures together? Most times, however, the texts seem to speak to each other. One informs the other. One illustrates the other. One drives the point while the other softens the blow. Sometimes (and this is where things get interesting) one seems to contradict the other.

I don't do much teaching these days. Even so, I was thinking yesterday the way that teaching often involves the willingness to step into and explore the creative tension brought about by more than one point of truth. (This while driving my moto through the usual crazy traffic.) While I see the need for "balance" I'm not too excited by the word itself. While I often need to practice "compromise" it isn't a concept that gets me passionate. I guess it is because these things suggest a step towards some middle ground when I wonder if I shouldn't be finding another place altogether... I mean, what if that place of revelation truth can only be found outside of the first two? What if I need to let the stretch of creative tension stretch me? What if pursuing two seemingly conflicting points of truth helps me to find new, spacious places? What if the "and" really is possible over the "or"?

I'm not really sure where I'm heading with this blog today... But I want to keep finding space to breathe because I can't ever imagine trying to come up with some definitive, end-the-conversation comment about me and my God. Let me dance outside the box.