Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Jimmy's avatar

Hey Chris!

I can relate to the envy. Although, mine is more envy over who I am and aren't rather than what I have and haven't. And for me, I think it's rooted in a lack of control I have in making myself who I think I want to be rather than who God says I ought to be. You're description of theosis is one that I have a hard time with. I don't think it's wrong - just it makes me uneasy. Unmaking ourselves and remaking ourselves more Christlike. I have a hard time seeing that as much different than a Christian version of nirvana. What God's plan for us to become sounds in some ways like losing ourselves in oblivion. And that's why I don't like it, because it means I have to completely relinquish all control over myself.

Have you ever thought about it like that? If so, how did you overcome it?

Jimmy

Expand full comment
Karen Paulsen's avatar

To simply say, "Yeah, I know" would be such an assumption, not to mention, well, pompous, at the very least. Just let me say I've been through a long, very painful experience that never hinted at ending. I worked hard at accepting my life as simply the sum total of all the days that had come before and that was "the house that I built. Then almost out of nowhere, it was over. Gone. The "me" that considered throwing in the proverbial towel was gone too. Peace had arrived with the bonus of spontaneous giggling. I wasn't losing my mind and after some serious thought, I was able to identify the nearly forgotten feeling: I was happy!

I'm gonna have to look up "Cibola". What I do know, now, is that it's there and is, indeed, very shiny. And it's waiting for you.

"...and Cibola shines in the distance."

Expand full comment
1 more comment...

No posts