I have just finished Diana Butler Bass's book, Freeing Jesus. I think it will turn out to be one of the books that will have the greatest impact on my life. When I look back on what books that I have read in the past two years it seems that they are coming at just the right time - and I don't think that is a coincidence. I believe that God has put these books and these authors in my path to become a part of my journey toward him, towards home.
In her book Dr. Bass describes her spiritual journey as a memoir theology "understanding God through the text of our own lives and taking seriously how we have encountered Jesus." (Quote taken from the Conclusion chapter - I read e-books so I don't have a page number.)I finished the book this morning. I read a lot of non-fiction so while I read I open up my note taking app on my iPad and take notes - once a professor always a professor, sorry. This time the note taking was different. My notes became my journal. As I would write down an important idea from the book I would also write my story. This was easy because Bass is about my age and I had similar experiences with Jesus as she describes. Reading this book has encouraged me to look back on my relationship with Jesus and to name the Jesus that I have experienced and am experiencing now. (The book is organized around the different ways she saw Jesus through her life, e.g. Friend, Teacher) It encourages me to face hard questions that I have avoided. It encourages me to embrace the idea of theology and to develop mine. I have always avoided theology because theology was something that people just seemed to argue about. I don't like arguing. I also saw theology as something that I wasn't quite smart enough to get. I am a slow thinker and I have to really work at understanding things. Now I see that we all do have a theology, the way we believe about God we just don't usually name it or describe. It is under the surface yet impacts everything we do. It is uncomfortable to look closely at what you believe, what you have been taught. It is a challenge to look that deep at your relationship with Jesus. It requires that you let go of the security of the beliefs held dear and look at them to see if they really fit, if they are right, if they lead you closer to Jesus. Now my question to myself is what will I do with this new journey - how will I share it?
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This page is in blog format so the posts are in order with the most recent first. Here I hope to post some of the things that I am learning from by Bible study and other topics.
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Soli Deo Gloria,
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan