Fragments, Fallout, and Freedom--Part 2
One of the big advantages of blogging over posting on Facebook is that topics can be developed in more depth in a blog than in a Facebook post. A corollary is that diving too deeply into one piece of the bigger topic can result in losing track of how the piece relates to the whole. Keeping it all hanging together is certainly my intention, but you may need to engage in some mental gymnastics to grab and knot together the loose ends.
In a piece of writing I did last summer I was probably more aware than I've ever been that my writing needs to be both honest and kind. The stakes were high then, but I'm aware of that reality now too. I see one more thing though: my writing needs to be clear. Some of the questions my friends have asked tell me that I have not been understood. Writing this sounds so "virtuous" and self-excusing that I cringe. That's exactly how people often excuse bad behavior, and I want to be as honest about my own behavior and thinking as I want others to be about their own--and as I want to be in writing about others.
To be honest, kind, and clear is fraught with hazards. The opposites, however, are even more hazardous. Imagine the challenge of making any progress in relationships or in serving effectively if dishonesty, cruelty, and ambiguity are involved.
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One piece of the political mess that we're all involved in right now is the one involving Anabaptist understandings and traditions.This is not relevant to all to the same degree, but I'm writing about it here with the presumption that most of my readers have this background. I believe that as a group we are currently in something of a wasteland because we have forgotten--or never learned--too much of our history to be able to see that continuing on the traditional trajectory is a viable, defensible, and ultimately God-honoring option. We are also too ignorant of what is involved in embracing the evangelical or fundamentalist models to understand their hazards. I don't have any illusions about being able to spell out all these things clearly. I did teach Anabaptist History classes to high school students and learned a lot, but many gaps in my understanding remain.
After sleep has washed the day's clutter from my mind, I hope to write about what I learned from my father on this topic.
In a piece of writing I did last summer I was probably more aware than I've ever been that my writing needs to be both honest and kind. The stakes were high then, but I'm aware of that reality now too. I see one more thing though: my writing needs to be clear. Some of the questions my friends have asked tell me that I have not been understood. Writing this sounds so "virtuous" and self-excusing that I cringe. That's exactly how people often excuse bad behavior, and I want to be as honest about my own behavior and thinking as I want others to be about their own--and as I want to be in writing about others.
To be honest, kind, and clear is fraught with hazards. The opposites, however, are even more hazardous. Imagine the challenge of making any progress in relationships or in serving effectively if dishonesty, cruelty, and ambiguity are involved.
*****************
One piece of the political mess that we're all involved in right now is the one involving Anabaptist understandings and traditions.This is not relevant to all to the same degree, but I'm writing about it here with the presumption that most of my readers have this background. I believe that as a group we are currently in something of a wasteland because we have forgotten--or never learned--too much of our history to be able to see that continuing on the traditional trajectory is a viable, defensible, and ultimately God-honoring option. We are also too ignorant of what is involved in embracing the evangelical or fundamentalist models to understand their hazards. I don't have any illusions about being able to spell out all these things clearly. I did teach Anabaptist History classes to high school students and learned a lot, but many gaps in my understanding remain.
After sleep has washed the day's clutter from my mind, I hope to write about what I learned from my father on this topic.
posted by Miriam Iwashige at
8:12 PM
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