Breaking Belief.
Breaking the summer silence. For those of you who take time to read and follow my work have been so supportive. Even the reality that you’re reading this post shows how dedicated you are to sharing life with me to some extent. Other than the occasional Instagram post I have hardly written anything. Part of me thinks that I need to be older and gain more experience to justify writing, however, there are perspectives I want to share that I don’t really hear in the circles I’m part of. I’m primarily referring to a centre ground. Our desire to be correct in our beliefs or hold onto our beliefs so tightly inevitably results in division, war, conflict, and disruption of shalom. We need to hold specific beliefs in order to navigate the numerous ways of functioning in our world. This is unavoidable. The problem is that people insert their identity into these beliefs. We are not what we believe but what we believe forms who we are. This discrete differentiation does not permit us to have insane beliefs or function in reality in chaotic forms. It seems that we should believe things that enable us to function in harmony with the people around us but how do we orient ourselves if the beliefs others hold are paramountly destructive or exploitive to people or planet? This is where internal conflict erupts. My desire for bringing peace to earth directly contrasts other desire for living within the world however they want. I desire to communicate and love others in a way reflecting the Christ, which is what I think maybe the only concept that could enable us to form harmony that overflows from a community.
A Christocentric love not only calls for inclusivity of all people but also permits unity as a result of radical reform in our lives. The tradition of prophets in the old testament held this position throughout history and in a time where we may not have a formal acknowledgement of prophets, it seems that ideology shifters occupy that space for our modern context. I want to avoid bastardizing that role to people who are simply popular due to social media, podcasts or book sale and emphasize that the people within small communities doing their best to live out the role of reformers may be creating more change. You will often never hear of these people. Their fundamental role in society is overshadowed by the eccentric egos of the people around them who are still striving for self-fulfilment. It’s these unknown people who are doing the radical, uncomfortable, Christocentric work that creates the unbearable paradox of actually living what you claim to believe.
This week I hope you take a long look at what you claim to believe and attempt to begin the journey of removing the superfluous in order to make room for the essential essence of reality. The photo below are from multiple trips with my film camera earlier this year. If you guess the location of them I’ll send you a free print. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
