You know, life used to be so simple....

"It is, unfortunately, one of the abiding temptations of pastors and scholars to reduce Jesus to words alone, to replace a lived life with a preached sermon or an interesting idea. To remove, however, that which is radically subversive, socially revolutionary, and politically dangerous from Jesus' actions is to leave his life meaningless and his death inexplicable. "

pg. 93
Jesus: a Revolutionary Biography
By John Dominic Crossan

Although I would never have articulated it as such, for fear of being branded a person of little faith, or more accurately, incorrect faith, I used to wonder why they killed a platitude spouting Jesus that just wanted us to be nice to each other and consider the lilies.

I'm trying to figure out what it is for *me* to follow Jesus in this day and age. What sacrifices am I called to make for the sake of seeing God's Kingdom, or Dream, come to pass in the world that I've been planted in. Will it require some form of civil disobedience? Will it lead me into opposition to people that I've come to respect and spent years cultivating relationships with?

I'm considering going back to school and getting a Master's in Social Work. I'm beginning to contemplate how much that process will likely change my life. I may have to switch jobs to employment that is more conducive to going to school, which will more than likely mean a decrease in pay. This will be coupled with trying to find a creative way to pay for school on top of my normal expenses. Most probably there will be no reading outside of my coursework for three years. And the stress.....

All I know for certain is that I'm tired of being where I am in my life. Its time for some sort of change.

It's a new year.

Its a new year and everyone is making resolutions. I guess this is as good a time as any to turn over a new leaf and start blogging. I've grown tired of how much time I waste playing inane games and watching even more inane television and I've resolved to increase the portion of my life that I dedicate to things of value. Things that show a return on the investment of time one places in them. I don't know that this will pan out, but I'm gonna give it a go.

I've just gotten finished reading What Would Jesus Deconstruct? by John D. Caputo. Its been a while since I've read a book that resonated so much with what I see in the world around me, or maybe more accurately what I see myself seeing in the world around me. :) It was a curious process, reading the book. The old conservative evangelical that depends on propositional truth continues to live in the back of my head. As I read he continued to say that some of the more interesting parts were simply word salad (eg. the possible impossible, or the non/step). I didn't know the old codger (the conservative) was still so alive and well back there. I imagine some of the thoughts I entertain these days scare the living shit out of him. :)

I've just started Jesus, A Revolutionary Biography by John Dominic Crossan. The first portion of the book is a bit frustrating in that he takes generalizations about First Century Mediterranean society and assumes that they are an accurate portrayal of First Century Jewish culture. Not quite sure how painting with such a broad brush will ever lead to an accurate picture of a specific instance. That being said, I found his parallels between the gospel infancy accounts and contemporary Jewish literature very interesting.

Well, I think this is all I'm gonna get out of my brain for the evening. I hope I actually work on this and don't just let it fade into the nothingness.