As I write this I’m sitting on the ferry, heading up to Linwood House for the day. There’s still plenty of work to do closing the books for the year, and the board of directors for Canadian Food for the Hungry is meeting there this weekend, so I figured it was a good day to go up, hang out, do some work and do some dishes.
The sunrise this morning was fantastic. The only problem is the fact that I drive west toward Horseshoe Bay. I swear one day I’ll drive off the road as I crane my neck to watch the sun come up behind me! As I drove I gave some thought to recent discussions we’ve been having here. Just about all of us, I think, got caught up in the issue at hand. Freedom of speech. There are only two sides to an issue, right? If we’re not for it, we must be against it, right?
Not so.
I was reminded this morning that we are called to be in the world, but not of it. Sometimes I wonder just what the hell that means, but other times its very clear. There are times when we should not have a position on an issue; we should be striving for something… higher, nobler. The Kingdom perspective, if you will.
The problem with this, of course, is communicating such an attitude. At times like this I’m reminded of something I’ve seen Brian McLaren do several times. For those of us who are more visual, this may be helpful. Picture an imaginary line on a flat service. Put your hand at one end of the line. Our position on any subject could be there. Now, move your hand to the other end of the line. Maybe we’re there. Surely our personal position on this issue is somewhere in between these two points. When it comes to issues, or values, we tend to restrict ourselves to two dimensions, Left or right, liberal or conservative, for or against, etc.
Now, raise your hand about 6 inches above the surface.
Sometimes that is where we need to be. Off the line.
I believe the Kingdom has (at least) three dimensions.
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