“Faith Fridays” with commentary from Marcus Borg’s book Heart of Christianity, continues this week with another “relational belief,” Faith as Visio.
“In particular, this is faith as a way of seeing the whole, a way of seeing ‘what is.’ “
~ Marcus Borg in Heart of Christianity, p. 34
Borg credits H. Richard Niebuhr for the germ of this understanding and the importance of shaping how we respond to life based on how we see “what is.”
Borg describes three ways of seeing the whole: 1) hostile and threatening, 2) indifferent and 3) life-giving and nourishing. He goes on to describe benefits for those with life-giving and nourishing “what is” perspectives including this line
“It generates a ‘willingness to spend and be spent’ for the sake of a vision that goes beyond ourselves.” ~ Marcus Borg in Heart of Christianity, p. 35
Borg mentions that fiducia and visio are closely related: “What it (visio) adds, though, is that how we see reality and our ability to trust are connected to each other.”
A MINUTE FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: On this day, how do you see the whole? Hostile and threatening? Indifferent? Life-giving and nourishing?
God, on this day, help us to shape our vision of “what is” based on praise for your Creation in the midst of some mighty challenges to our faith at times. Amen.
Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!
NOTE: these quotes and comments are ‘just a shaving of taste from the major fruit’ that Borg shares in the book. If you’d like more on this, please consider buying the book… 🙂
This focus on the book The Heart of Christianity is inspired by our friend, Dean, one of the “hole-in-the-wall gang” (leftmost in picture)
Lectionary Texts for Sunday, October 27, 2019:
- Joel 2:23-32 and Psalm 65
- Sirach 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 and Psalm 84:1-7
- 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
- Luke 18:9-14
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