tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post4962249995209447618..comments2024-02-20T08:06:31.639+00:00Comments on The man with the mop: A parable about a paradoxn0rma1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04759839214467484759noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post-77437697277898614452011-07-02T12:38:27.081+01:002011-07-02T12:38:27.081+01:00Really interesting parable. I think that almost ev...Really interesting parable. I think that almost every difficulty I have with leadership indecision and almost every disagreement I have with my fellow Christians stems from working out whether we should be watchmen or gatekeepers.<br />Gallant tells me that Zion has high walls and wide gates.Andy Crisphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00364253673079197627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post-86417663296329598592011-07-02T09:31:43.466+01:002011-07-02T09:31:43.466+01:00I didn't read it as being just allegory about ...I didn't read it as being just allegory about our church, but as being a parable about paradox generally.<br /><br />I know I've often been caught between two things that are right and had to seek wisdom for which to choose at which moment. Leave a son to make a wrong choice in order to learn - or step in and head things off? Both can be right, but not always. Just one example, but it seems to come up again and again.<br /><br />Plenty of wisdom in the scriptures, for which I'm really grateful, but it doesn't always clearly prescribe how I should choose to act - and occasionally it can seem to point in two paradoxical directions at the same time.<br /><br />I think I might be learning wisdom but I'm not there yet. :-)s0upyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17290984956124386324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post-52863291486703568202011-06-30T15:44:46.099+01:002011-06-30T15:44:46.099+01:00I only pointed to words from Jesus, not mine. I th...I only pointed to words from Jesus, not mine. I think the article is more allegory than parable. We do have to face that Scripture ultimately keeps bringing us to hard either/or choices. My real concern is what are our sources? There is more than enough that is clear for us to be getting on with (for example Jude verse 3).rob (enduring)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post-52518851964487369042011-06-30T11:28:10.368+01:002011-06-30T11:28:10.368+01:00"If we are open, we rarely resort to either-o..."If we are open, we rarely resort to either-or: either creation or evolution, liberty or law, sacred or secular, Beethoven or Madonna. We focus on both-and, fully aware that God's truth cannot be imprisoned in a small definition." (Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel)oftherainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05389963197140404290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post-66105705748626598312011-06-29T17:08:44.919+01:002011-06-29T17:08:44.919+01:00There's another good parable here if you'r...There's another good parable <a href="http://single4jesus.blogspot.com/2011/06/big-picture.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> if you're interested.<br /><br />Not one of mine; written by a friend.s0upyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17290984956124386324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post-39921974611077336632011-06-29T16:30:16.456+01:002011-06-29T16:30:16.456+01:00A somewhat narrow interpretation from pierscjc.
A...A somewhat narrow interpretation from pierscjc.<br /><br />A much narrower one from rob.<br /><br />Rearing its head in many guises, paradox strikes again. Caught between the good and the opposite good; the right and the right; God's will on the one hand versus, one the other hand - God's will.<br /><br />Balance wouldn't, couldn't have worked here, no no. Only a discovery of the possibility of the co-existence of two paradoxical truths, and the true wisdom of living in them both at the same time - and with one another too (that's the real challenge).<br /><br />A good parable.<br /><br />At the risk of placing you between a rock and a hard place, can we have a Chapter Two about how it actually worked out in practice after, say, 35 years or so?<br /><br />:-)s0upyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17290984956124386324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post-43182075987854410922011-06-29T16:08:49.456+01:002011-06-29T16:08:49.456+01:00Thanks Rob. That scripture - from the mouth of Jes...Thanks Rob. That scripture - from the mouth of Jesus, no less - brings a vital truth; a truth, indeed, which the watchmen may have found resonant with their own insights. The gatekeepers, of course, wouldn't deny such truth, but the pages of scripture that they'd have likely thumbed more readily would have been those that speak of great multitudes beyond counting and the express will of God that none should perish. And who among us can say that either party were wrong - or right?n0rma1https://www.blogger.com/profile/04759839214467484759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post-3238192463473208022011-06-29T08:47:30.005+01:002011-06-29T08:47:30.005+01:00Matthew 7:13,14Matthew 7:13,14robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26927801.post-32212949893284172252011-06-28T17:07:02.291+01:002011-06-28T17:07:02.291+01:00Let me see. Man made walls (rules to preserve our ...Let me see. Man made walls (rules to preserve our form) and gates (outreach, emphasis on welcoming all), in tension, and walls of fire that mean Hly Spirit life which achieves both. Interesting. So we seek God for his answer in those terms...pierscjchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08378326068908722571noreply@blogger.com