Yesterday, I took a break from the old problem sets to go promote Episcopal Relief and Development at an event at a Baptist church here. There was another detour involved, but that's another story. Actually, I really had no idea I was going to promote Episcopal Relief and Development, but I don't think I did too bad a job on short notice. But one man said to me, "It's really about integrity, isn't it?" I had been doing too much radiative transfer that day and was rather confused. "Integrity, what do you mean?" "The integrity of our witness." I muttered agreement then. But it occurs to me now that he's absolutely right. In literature, there is a strong prejudice against telling as opposed to showing. But the fullness of Christ is proclaimed to the world in both showing and telling a unified Christ. There is no aesthetic prejudice in this. And since I tend to live in communities of showing, I tend to forget how essential to telling showing can seem. Now, if only I could get the telling down.
Until next time, the Holy Brothers pray that you may proclaim Christ boldly in word and deed.
2 comments:
Caelius,
It's so interesting, perhaps my Pentecostal background shows here, but I don't have problems telling, but I've seen telling so abused, I prefer a telling that is rendered in showing.
Whatever makes Christ whole.
It's funny. If you get a bunch of cradle Episcopalians still involved in the Church in a room together, we tend to talk about two subjects:
1. Sex and how we seriously dislike the stereotypical approaches to it in Church and culture. Can't we have an Episcopalian theology of the body?
2. How can we be better evangelists?
But if our fellows who started out elsewhere are in the room, we tend to talk about social justice issues.
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