Reflections

9.8.14

Slipshod Slovenly

Intelligence
Vs.
Intellect

“The funk”

Human ~ humus!

America, the bloody-beautiful!

Intrical

The status of ex-slaves

Keeping promises
Vs.
Evolving convictions

Partisan-bigot
Vs.
Maladjusted-nonconformist

Conscience as contextual, critical & compassionate consciousness

“Cut against the grain”

Superficiality-denial-apathy-complacency

Avoidance-downplaying-sidestepping-overlooking

How can I be passionate about certain social evils which have not affected me personally?

Doing the M.A without being dominated-controlled by the system/deadline/evaluation of IGNOU or M.U!

Coping with one’s own public powerlessness by exercising domestic power over the most vulnerable!

The danger of reinforcing the worst, in our pursuit to reach out & grasp the best!

Christian fellowship meeting – let’s talk sex today, folks!

Ordered, collective, symbolic actions

Mystery ~ ambiguity ~ ignorance ~ chaos!

Playlets of melancholy, desire & anger

Satchel

Alpaca

Transmogrify

Ethical emotions

Secular liturgy

The Latitude Festival

10.8.14

The sermon should do for the N.T (& the entire Bible) what the N.T did for the O.T!
Progressive revelation (past), contextualisation (present) & extrapolation (future)…

Apocalyptic & eschatological exposition!

The sermon is the articulation & explication of the meeting point & dynamic interface that forms between Scripture that moves toward us, & our own lives that move toward GOD……
Therefore, the pulpit lies somewhere halfway between the Bible & the congregation, thereby becoming the vital bridge that gives life by connecting Word & flesh!

9.8.14
– Know your limitations, so that you know how much you can stretch!
– Yes I know this is what you believe, but I’m asking you to think it over again…
Will you?
– Spirituality, philosophy & service

10.8.14
– One man’s reason is another’s nonsense!
– Tree & bark ~ spirituality & religion ~ love & marriage ~ relationship & institution ~ person & society ~ Grace & Law.
1. Which is more important?
2. Which one is the means & which one is the end?
3. What does one do when they contradict each other?
– “Gladly forever adore him!”
– Sermon – evoking a particular (powerful) mood & be touched-moved, rather than (brilliant) points to remember-apply!
Imbibe the Spirit, by delving into the Word (exposition), & express it through words (preaching) that in turn recreates the same inward effect in the hearers.
Preaching is NOT GOD speaking through the preacher, but the preacher him/herself speaking out of his/her experience & encounter with the living Christ in Scripture…
– “The best just got better!”
– 2 different views of Preaching:
1. Evangelical – the sermon as playing within the circle of Scripture.
2. Liberal – the sermon as running on & taking-off from the launching pad of Scripture.
– Expository preaching – what would this passage sound like if it was written by me, inspired by the same Spirit as the Apostle, in this contemporary context?
What would be the vocabulary, the style, the central thrust of the message? How would it be the same & how would it be different?
– Movies:
Promised Land
Finally, it was a personal insult that made him change course, rather than any conscientious penance or passion for a higher cause!

11.8.14
– Living over-cautiously is more dangerous than living with gay abandon!
– “You will never again be a saint or pastor in my eyes!”
– GOD wished me “Happy Birthday!” today (through a sign in heaven) – this has made my day complete/perfect! 🙂
– The greatest danger with any substance or activity that is intensely pleasurable is not addictive potential, but its power to numb one to the suffering of others (especially ‘the least of these’) & social evils……

12.8.14
– Rather than completely repress our ‘animal instincts’, it would be better to express them in an enlightened-moderated manner.
“Just creatures for a while…”
Then the violent eruption can be prevented!
So, are concepts like ‘sublimation’ just myths??
– I want to be a paragon of ingenuity (creative improvisation)! 😉

Jottings

2.5.14

– Individuals & communities outlive & outvalue institutions & traditions!

– Anecdotal evidence

– Signage – identification, warning & direction

– Junta

– Activism is NOT the only way to transformation!

Improved efficiency does not always require radical reform…

– Fatah & Hamas

– 1. Pas. Selvaraj funeral sermon.

Sadha’s birthday sermon.

My birthday wishes – not for ‘many more happy returns…’

Remembering the bomb blast in Chennai.

2. What is life?

Birth + death + resurrection!

The old passes away to make way for the new. The death of the old becomes the ground for new to take root!

The food-chain; life-cycle; skin-cells; earth’s limited resources and the constant turnover of all things…

The sowing of the seed and the springing of the plant. Unless a grain of wheat……

The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.

3. “Death is the engine of life” – the Good News of Jesus Christ – the power of the Cross!

Birth, baptism, funeral

Womb ~ tomb

The physical as symbolizing the spiritual!

4. The process of continual renewal – overcoming the fear of death (loss, failure, weakness, etc.). Hope of another beginning! Gladly let go of what we are holding on to, so that we might inherit what is beyond imagination!

Spiritual growth – the step from one level to another goes through death & resurrection. Not adding, but substituting!

When we believe & practice this truth, we are truly & fully alive (abundant/everlasting life!)

5. When we sacrifice our life for a cause to make the future bright, we will never lose our soul!

3.5.14

– Whoever says that money is not important has never suffered poverty!

– Movies:

“Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

Why this title??

Hysterical pregnancy

Feminism & the common woman

The animus in woman

Vs.

The anima in man

The masculine woman & the feminine man…

– BYOB

– Movies:

“The Hunter”

Killing to save!

– But aren’t godliness & contentment opposites?!

– What I must

Vs.

What I want

The resolution:

Just being (without wanting, having or doing)!

– “Hi Masi… I think the plan/idea to make lot of money in order to help others or uplift the poor is NOT a good (or spiritual) one…”

– Movies:

“In the mood for love”

No way to escape regret!