Are we listening?

“Because we approach the gospel with preconceived notions of what it should say rather than what it does say, the Word no longer falls like rain on the parched ground of our souls. It no longer sweeps like a wild storm into the corners of our comfortable piety. It no longer vibrates like sharp lightning in the dark recesses of our nonhistoric orthodoxy. The gospel becomes, in the words of Gertrude Stein:

...a pattering of pious platitudes spoken by a Jewish carpenter in the distant past.”

“...We have all experienced the sadness of a Christian life that is secure, well regulated but basically impoverished. We long, at least occasionally, for a generosity that would life us about ourselves.”— The Furious Longing of God, pages 113, 115

<idle musing>
Give me the wild ride of life with Jesus over the security of an impoverished churchian life any day. As I used to tell my son, “The Christian life is like a backwards roller coaster; you don't know where you are going; it goes up, down, and all around, but you know you won't fall out. So, enjoy the ride!”
</idle musing>