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reflections and sermons posted here are the work of individual members of Holy Trinity. Opinions expressed are those of the writer or preacher and do not necessarily reflect an official or even popular opinion within the parish.
Chopping Up the Frozen Sea Inside Us
SARA BOYLES
In his Toronto Star column of April 15, Tom Harper wrote about "chopping up the frozen sea inside us". He talked about the shaking feeling that comes with treading new intellectual territory and the anger such books generate in those who have much invested in the status quo. Needless to say, such stimulation prepares the way for the future. It provides a place for germination of new ideas and insights, new ways of seeing the old.
In another part of the same paper, there was an article about DNA tracing of human migration. This study is being conducted internationally by the National Geographic Society and IBM. It is headed up by Spencer Wells a population geneticist and biologist. He says such tracing is not to undo the ancient myths but to fill in missing details of who we are. It is an attempt to decipher common history. He is personally excited to trace his own lineage back 35,000 years to Central Asia. His work is surrounded by
academic criticism and some cultural suspicion. His work is one of the scientific places where no ground is being uncovered, new connections opening up.
In both these pieces I see the ground for change of understanding and the repositioning of beliefs and ideas about human life and its relation to the divine, its connectedness to the "vast expense of stellar space" as one of our eucharistic prayers puts it.
One does not have to be an academic to "chop up the frozen sea inside us". It can happen when we recognize that which annoys, frustrates, angers us the most and then walk into situations that challenge our fears. Find where your fear is and take up some volunteer work that addresses it. Our society benefits and as an individual we get the chance to expand as well. I do not believe Jesus walked with, talked to and partied with strangers and outcasts only for the sake of the other. He knew the way to enlarge his own heart and live into his godliness. The opportunity is ours as well. The variety of options is great. What works/writings are teaching you this day?
Sara November 30, 1999 |
