{"id":10585,"date":"2014-11-10T11:58:13","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T16:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=10585"},"modified":"2014-11-10T11:58:13","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T16:58:13","slug":"standing-naked-before-god-pope-francis-bookclub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/11\/standing-naked-before-god-pope-francis-bookclub.html","title":{"rendered":"Standing Naked Before God [Pope Francis Bookclub]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus<\/a>. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to\u00a0peruse them all<\/a>\u00a0and\/or read along.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"(from<\/a>
(from this fascinating article on art restoration<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I read this week\u2019s chapter of Pope Francis\u2019s book, I was quickly drawn down a wikipedia rabbithole by one particular word Francis chose to use as he discussed how we speak with God in prayer:<\/p>\n

By intercession, we gain access to the Father and discover new facets in concrete situations that allow us to change them\u2026. What our intercession makes possible is greater clarity of revelation: God\u2019s power, love, loyalty, and fidelity can never change, since he is always faithful\u2013but they can become more creatively manifest to us in our world.<\/p>\n

That is why intercession assumes familiarity with God and the ability to address God with that bold discourse (parrhesia<\/em><\/a>) of which we spoke before.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I looked up\u00a0parrhesia<\/em>, and was particularly struck by these two parts of the relevant wikipedia page<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Greek intellectual concept of parrhesia<\/em> appears in Midrashic literature as an essential attribute in the transmission of\u00a0Torah<\/a>. Connoting open and public communication,\u00a0parrhesia\u00a0<\/i>appears often in combination with the term,\u00a0demos<\/a>\u00a0(publicly). As a mode of communication it is repeatedly described in terms analogous to a Public Domain or Commons.\u00a0Dimus Parrhesia<\/i>\u00a0is closely associated with an ownerless wilderness of primary mytho-geographic import, the\u00a0Midbar Sinai<\/i>\u00a0in which the Torah was initially received. The dissemination of Torah thus depends on its teachers cultivating a nature which is as open, ownerless, and sharing as that wilderness. The term is important to advocates of\u00a0Open Source Judaism<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then, this excerpt from Foucault\u2019s\u00a0Fearless Speech<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n

So you see, the parrhesiastes is someone who takes a risk. Of course, this risk is not always a risk of life. When, for example, you see a friend doing something wrong and you risk incurring his anger by telling him he is wrong, you are acting as a parrhesiastes. In such a case, you do not risk your life, but you may hurt him by your remarks, and your friendship may consequently suffer for it. If, in a political debate, an orator risks losing his popularity because his opinions are contrary to the majority\u2019s opinion, or his opinions may usher in a political scandal, he uses parrhesia. Parrhesia, then, is linked to courage in the face of danger: it demands the courage to speak the truth in spite of some danger. And in its extreme form, telling the truth takes place in the \u201cgame\u201d of life or death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The funny thing is that the person who is a parrhesiastes before God, who speaks openly, reserving nothing of themself out of caution or desire for strategic advantage, has nothing to fear. \u00a0The point of\u00a0parrhesia<\/em> is furthering total union\/communion with God \u2014 our natural end. \u00a0If we approach God in that way, he will receive us with love; there is no analogous danger to the one that Foucault describes if we approach another\u00a0human<\/em> in this way. \u00a0The courage required is in recognizing that this relationship is different than all the other ones we share.<\/p>\n

Carrying the openness we have before God into the other spheres of our life\u00a0is<\/em> a risk, but it\u2019s also a witness, as the Midrashic discussion implies. \u00a0Acting as a parrhesiastes is an eschatological sign of something beyond the ordinary functioning of this world. \u00a0We develop this way of relating by praying in this spirit with God (or, asking to be led into this spirit, if we don\u2019t feel up to it on the first, second, etc try), and then we get a little better at approximating this spirit of self-gift in our other relationships, and awakening a hunger for communion in others.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to\u00a0peruse them all\u00a0and\/or read along. When I read this week\u2019s chapter of Pope Francis\u2019s book, I was quickly drawn down a wikipedia rabbithole […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,177],"tags":[227],"class_list":["post-10585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parsing-catholicism","category-spiritual-practice","tag-pope-francis-bookclub"],"yoast_head":"\nStanding Naked Before God [Pope Francis Bookclub]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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