This blogger has read a book that is on my wishlist (Walter Bruggeman's The Prophetic Imagination) and has made some comments about it. They struck me as subtlely profound.
my four walls: the basic premise of the book is a radical interpretation of the prophetic traditions as dismantling the dominant culture and kingdoms of this world. the job of the prophet was and is to (re)awaken the consciousness of the people to the freedom and sovereignty of God over and against the apathy and oppression of the dominant culture. the prophet does this through criticizing (which involves imagining something other than the current system and acknowledging the freedom of God) and energizing (by awakening a hope and vision of a future for God's people). In other words the prophetic imagination creates an alternative to the current system.
Brueggeman's critical interpretation of Solomon's kingdom says, 'He had traded a vision of freedom for the reality of security.' the overtones of the whole book have shaken and awakened my thoughts on the role of the church in the world. we live in a time and place in the USA that has traded the reality of God for security. that involves the oppression of others to sustain our way of life. it also places God under the rule of the president and leaders of the world. God is not free to do anything that would contradict our current system or criticize the 'success' of the USA. the job of the prophet is to dismantle the current regime and call God's people to renew and remember their covenant with him"
Wow. Nice.
4 comments:
Its all perception and what feeds that view.
I just re-watched one of my favorite movies of all time over the weekend. This monologue is great and made me think.
(i have paraphrased slightly)
"I see the strongest and smartest men who have ever lived -- an entire generation pumping gas and waiting tables; slaves with white collars.
Advertisements have us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.
We are the middle children of history, with no purpose or place.
We have no great war.
No great depression.
The great war is a spiritual war. The great depression is our lives. We were raised by television to believe that we'd be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars -- but we won't. And we're learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed-off."
--Tyler Durden
What is your reality? How do you percieve it? What feeds that perception?
Seriously.
A friend of mine commented that he feels like we live in this shithole transition period and he cannot make sense of much of anything.
I get weary of trying to go against the system (as I see it) because I am tired of the ridicule and challenge along the way. It is very difficult to actually find meaning sometimes.
Life is a journey. Reality is what we make it. Culture is an extension of our immediate community. We are neither above it or below. We are it. And we can be a part of the problem or part of a solution. We can take the blue pill or take the red pill.
But taking either one has dangerous implications. I mean, Tyler Derdon eventually shot himself cause he couldn't take it all. Just like Brooks hanging himself in Shawshank.
Are we all so institutionalized (in whatever context is your own) that we cannot see beyond the bars? Or are there bars at all? And does it even matter?
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