Called to be a Sinner
“The royal priesthood of God stands in utter opposition to the notion of our present culture that the good life is the safe life, the diluted life, the respectable and responsible and grown-up life of diminished vitality.”
“(In our culture) feeling states such as hopelessness, despair, depression, inadequacy, stupidity, abandonment, rejection, and behaviors such as failure, illness, and impotency, are very subtly, but very clearly, approved of and deemed good.”
Michael Dwinell
Being Priest to One Another
Did you know that the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek enthoes and means, ‘inspired by God’? It was once used to describe extravagant religious fervor. Feelings states such as passion, excitement, delight, playfulness, and dare I say, arousal, are deemed by our culture as unacceptable; at the very least they produce disapproval, envy, and discounting. While we may watch TV shows such as ‘Sex in the City’ and the endless affairs and liaisons on the daily soaps, they are a guilty pleasure. We really, apparently, prefer to watch people in misery, danger, and despair. We are far more outraged by a wardrobe malfunction than we are by brutal violence.
Yet we proudly state the belief that God is calling us to abundant life; in Dwinell’s words, “to the table of mystery to celebrate the heavenly banquet of overflowing and overwhelming grace.” Can you imagine a scene of the Pope dancing with the people, or throwing candy and flowers to the crowd? Can you imagine our clergy celebrating by banging tambourines and kicking up their heels? God is a God of vitality, of creativity, a lover of beauty and exuberance---certainly all of nature is testament to that truth.
Today, celebrate holy enthusiasm. Do something you love. In the words of James Taylor, “shower the people you love with love.” Dance, even if you have to dance alone. Feel the life of God’s vitality flowing through you and make no excuses for your joy.
Keeping the faith,
Jane
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