tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29373297.post5066826061827209850..comments2024-02-10T08:35:39.336-05:00Comments on Telling Secrets: The Incarnation and the ResurrectionElizabeth Kaetonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787552280232329081noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29373297.post-79814984718539437022008-12-08T19:04:00.000-05:002008-12-08T19:04:00.000-05:00Did He wake up after being tortured, killed and bu...<I>Did He wake up after being tortured, killed and buried for three days? My brain says no.</I><BR/><BR/>If I may offer a correction, Bill, I'd say a <I>part</I> of your brain says that (Yup, I have that part, too)...<BR/><BR/>...but if you turn down the volume on that part, maybe you could hear the funny better? ;-)JCFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14516376500318551838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29373297.post-22106561332259546562008-12-08T10:09:00.000-05:002008-12-08T10:09:00.000-05:00It's beautiful. Thank you.It's beautiful. Thank you.marnanelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08335477330828148496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29373297.post-5876032572515478482008-12-08T09:51:00.000-05:002008-12-08T09:51:00.000-05:00I’m not sure I appreciate Brian’s attempt at humor...I’m not sure I appreciate Brian’s attempt at humor, if that was his purpose. Maybe I’m one of the oddballs, but when I go to a wake, I don’t usually crack jokes. Now I must admit, that I have had a few good laughs at various funerals, but never at the expense of the bereaved and in this instance we are more or less, the bereaved. If however, his intent was to force us to look at the humanity of Christ, then that is altogether different. <BR/><BR/>Do I believe that Christ died on the cross? Well the answer is yes. The ancient Romans were if nothing else, quite expert at killing people. You could almost say they had a flair for it. When you nail someone to a cross, let him hang there all day and then stick a spear in his side, then yes, they did kill Him. If you ask me, “Did Christ rise from the dead”, I have to be more precise. Christ died and was buried. That is and will be what happens to all of us whether we like it or not. It is what is required of humanity, just like paying taxes. Did He physically come back to life? Did He wake up after being tortured, killed and buried for three days? My brain says no. So, how then did He come back to life? The answer is through His teachings and legacy. The answer is through His Church. He has broken the bounds of death through His life’s work. He lives on through the Gospels. If we believe that there is a life after death then we must also accept that life is but a small part of the more “total” concept of existence. We exist and mortal life is a brief interlude. The mortal wrappings we call flesh and blood are only a temporary aspect of the totality of existence. So in that light, I say yes, Christ did rise from the dead.<BR/><BR/>I am now prepared to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fungelicals. But there are so many of you, so please call for an appointment.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05623709712119761741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29373297.post-29401127084304423222008-12-08T09:21:00.000-05:002008-12-08T09:21:00.000-05:00Me too. One of the things I have realized in the ...Me too. One of the things I have realized in the last few Advents is I need the assurance in my mind that there is a degree of humanity behind Advent in Jesus that is no different than my own.<BR/><BR/>It took me years to get to a place that, rather than struggle to accept the non-scientific details of things like the incarnation, resurrection, transfiguration and ascension, or to find an "explanation" for them, to accept the power behind the concepts and how these things can affect my own "transfiguration" as a child of God.<BR/><BR/>Advent becomes the opposite. It is a recognition that I need something more human than ceramic baby Jesus or more human than iconic Mary with a yellow circle behind her head. I need the idea that this little family in Bethlehem had fear and doubt and dirt and a placenta to get rid of afterwards.<BR/><BR/>I am thinking that the interplay of these two poles of "my spiritual spectrum" is illustrative of the big picture of humanity's interplay between this world and God's world, and it is the interplay that becomes important, not just the words in the stories themselves.Kirkepiscatoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02651684515435040529noreply@blogger.com