Chapter 20
Good Monday Morning to the week 20 of 2022
In this current time there are so many reasons for concern, but also so many things that are paradoxical and make it hard for us for an opinion or even share a certain view on certain issues. Be it indifference, ambiguity, or ambivalence may lead us to think we’re not involved or there is even a lack of feelings, in the contrary, these are strong expressions of having mixed feelings! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like Jeremiah, we can acknowledge that all these disparate feelings and realities can be true at the same time. We can try to hold them in tension, refusing to opt for the easy resolution offered by either triumphalism or apathy. It’s good to admit that we are part of something larger than ourselves. Thankfully, God\u2019s faithfulness is greater than our complicity. While Lamentations models ambivalence, its core message is one of clear-eyed hope.
\u201cMy soul is downcast within me,\u201d Jeremiah writes. \u201cYet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord\u2019s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.\u201d
History tells us that Jeremiah suffered with his people. He was not removed or raptured away to safety. He was not even among the remnant carried off to Babylon with the promise that their descendants would return.
Jeremiah died in exile without witnessing any clear resolution for the people of Israel. He died as he lived, in ambivalence\u2014recognizing both what had been promised and what had yet to be fulfilled.
But he also died in hope. He died believing! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surprised by Paradox<\/em>, Jen Pollock Michel writes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAllowing for paradox does not represent a weakened approach to theological understanding. On the contrary, it allows for a robust theology, one that is filled with the sort of awe that not only regards God as unimaginably wondrous but also awakens in us the desire\u2026 to see Him as He is.\u201d<\/p>Wishing you a good start to this week as you may also wrestle with the paradox of our times with mixed feelings. Chapter 20 Good Monday Morning to the week 20 of 2022 In this current time there are so many reasons for concern, but also so many things that are paradoxical and make it hard for us for an opinion or even share a certain view on certain issues. Be it indifference, ambiguity, or ambivalence may … <\/p>\n
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