{"id":3904,"date":"2014-10-16T11:37:33","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T16:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/?p=3904"},"modified":"2014-10-16T11:37:33","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T16:37:33","slug":"following-a-crucified-god-and-letting-go-of-being-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/emergentvillage\/2014\/10\/following-a-crucified-god-and-letting-go-of-being-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Following a Crucified God and Letting Go of Being Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Place Where We Are Right<\/strong>
\nby Yehuda Amichai<\/em><\/p>\n

From the place where we are right
\nflowers will never grow
\nin the Spring.<\/p>\n

The place where we are right
\nis hard and trampled
\nlike a yard.<\/p>\n

But doubts and loves
\ndig up the world
\nlike a mole, a plough.
\nAnd a whisper will be heard in the place
\nwhere the ruined
\nhouse once stood.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"image\"<\/a>I often think about deleting my Facebook account. I like to keep up with my friends, but scrolling through my news feed can feel like watching a bar fight, and it\u2019s a brawl that I\u2019ve jumped into from time to time. My news feed is sometimes a strange and exhausting place where usually nice folks are doing the equivalent of yelling at each other at the top of their lungs between pictures of cute kids, food, pets, and funny videos. I\u2019ve heard it said that the quickest way to lose your faith in humanity is to read the comment sections of websites. The same can be said for logging into Facebook. It has become a place for many where the name of the game is to win arguments\u2013to be right. Proving others wrong becomes a necessity. This has caused me to reflect on the ever present pursuit of winning and what it means for those of us who follow a crucified God.<\/p>\n

When I see Jesus on the cross, I see a suffering God. I see a God whose very nature is to ask for forgiveness on behalf of those who are torturing, mocking, and violating him in the most dehumanizing ways. Jesus lives the sermon on the mount in his crucifixion. He turns the other cheek. He prays for those who persecute him. He walks the extra mile. And when I think of this, I feel the dissonance between this crucified, suffering God and those of us following this God who are screaming at one another online until we\u2019re blue in the face. As followers of a crucified God, being right or winning an argument is missing the point.<\/p>\n

There is a prayer in the Book of Common Prayer that I\u2019ve been meditating on: \u201cLord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace\u2026\u201d Isn\u2019t that what we are called to? To join this long-suffering God on the cross and open up ourselves in the movement of God\u2019s self-giving love? Maybe instead of trying to win arguments, we\u2019ll seek to love all people, not just the ones who agree with us. Maybe the way of love will lead us to choose to lose. Maybe we will turn the other cheek. Maybe we\u2019ll let others have the last word because we realize that we aren\u2019t called to win arguments but, as the baptismal covenant in the Book of Common Prayer says, to \u201cstrive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be sure, there are times when we need to speak and stand up for justice, when remaining silent would be wrong. But I\u2019m convinced that it has to come out of a place of deep love rather than the desire to control and dominate others. I think of my own life and I know that I\u2019ve never been argued into wholeness or peace or love. And I look back with pain at the times when I\u2019ve tried to dominate others in my pursuit of being right.<\/p>\n

I pray that doubts and loves will break up the hard ground of the place where I am right, where flowers will not grow. Will you join me?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Place Where We Are Right by Yehuda Amichai From the place where we are right flowers will never grow in the Spring. The place where we are right is hard and trampled like a yard. But doubts and loves dig up the world like a mole, a plough. And a whisper will be heard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2003,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFollowing a Crucified God and Letting Go of Being Right<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Place Where We Are Right by Yehuda Amichai From the place where we are right flowers will never grow in the Spring. 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