The book tracks Jesus's story and its implications in prose and poetry-in scripture, story and song, sketches and snippets of essay. After starting with a chapter on ways of being with scripture (taking it seriously but often not literally) and suggestive chapters on God and the Old Testament, it moves from Jesus's incarnation through his ministry and passion for the Kingdom of God to his Passion and bodily resurrection. These are followed by chapters on "what happened next", including two chapters on contemporary Christianity, the good and the bad of it. The "take" on Jesus, as both title and sub-title suggest, is broad, in some ways quite orthodox but insisting on his call for compassion, social justice, inclusiveness and wholeness for all. It's also about Jesus alive and with us now, albeit in a different dimension from those with which we are familiar. The many meditations are often brief, and the poetry is "for people, and not just for critics and other poets"! There is much here to think about, but it's not an academic tome. It can be provocative, and often it's just plain fun!

In Him All Things Hold Together

Jesus, as Comfort, Challenge and CompanyBy Rosemary Poole Morris

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Rosemary Poole Morris
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4678-7427-4

Contents

Start Here! (An Introduction)...................................................................ixChapter 1: Scripture: Working With It, Playing With It, Being With It...........................1Chapter 2: What Jesus Started With: God.........................................................23Chapter 3: What Jesus Started With: The Old Testament ( = The Hebrew Bible).....................43Chapter 4: "Holy Christmas!"....................................................................63Chapter 5: Holy Christmas?......................................................................79Chapter 6: Getting Going........................................................................97Chapter 7: Rabbi—1........................................................................115Chapter 8: Rabbi—2........................................................................129Chapter 10: Holy Week—2...................................................................163Chapter 11: ... And What Happened Next..........................................................179Chapter 12: The New Testament...................................................................199Chapter 13: Needed Theological Addendum!—Trinity..........................................217Chapter 14: ... and Goes On Happening...........................................................229Chapter 15: ... and Still Happening.............................................................249Chapter 16 Why Jesus?—And Other Big Questions.............................................269Endnotes........................................................................................291Index Of Writers Mentioned, And Of Poems........................................................295

Chapter One

SCRIPTURE: WORKING WITH IT, PLAYING WITH IT, BEING WITH IT.

The Diamond Mine

Darkness, here. But, yes! for here and here and here and here sweet saving glints of Life.

Careful how you tread: Is thus-and-so what God desires or simply human smallness?

Careful, then. But joy! For here and here and here and here these gorgeous glints of Life.

Describing Elephants ...

I love the old fable about the blind men encountering an elephant and seeking to describe it. Since each had hold of a different part—tusk, ear, trunk, tail, for example—quite a debate could have ensued! And they'd all be right (sort of). And wrong.

Part of being human is having to deal with "elephants" that defy description—e.g., Life, God and Jesus—and it seems to me that, all too frequently, churches have firm hold of some parts of Cosmic Elephants while under-attending to other parts. Think of the differences between the Christian Left and the Christian Right, for example; and I'm sure the same thing happens in other religions.

"Creatureliness" is a great word, similar to "finitude," but earthier, as befits us all. It's a great word to ponder, especially when we're sure we're right. Anyway, this book is full of "des-cribing elephants" and, doubtless, too many certainties. But may you find good tusks, trunks and tails—and may you and I both never forget that the reality is a lot bigger, more diverse, more mysteri-ous and more lively than all our codes, credos and certainties.

Our Bible is another "elephant." This chapter presents vari-ous perspectives aimed at increasing thoughtful involvement with it—as opposed to honoring but rarely opening it, "swallowing it whole," or using it as a billy-club on ourselves or others.

When toward scripture our thought is just scribal, I think we dishonor the Bible. It's a free-wheeling mix that we'd better not "fix" or to Bible-malpractice we're liable.

When folks disagree, we would lead 'em, and with tidbits of scripture we'd feed 'em. But perchance here's the rub: Bible's no billy-club but a document aiming at freedom:

Not penning us in with its "not-to's" Nor wiping us out with its "ought-to's," It seeks all to nourish to help all to flourish— just what the Creator has sought, too.

A Riddle:

What

1. Contains a library

2. Grew in odd and complex ways, maybe sometimes even "by committee"

3. Has a great description of a hangover

4. Has many oddities, inconsistencies, puzzles, humor, beauty, savagery, and even bits of blasphemy and obscenity

5. Is very old, grew over a long time, and may contain a book by a woman

6. Insults every native of Crete

7. Outlaws most of our clothing

8. At one point calls "happy" those who take "little ones / and dash them against the rock"

9. Indicates that when people fight and, because of the fight, a woman has a miscarriage but where "no harm follows" to the woman, a punitive fee should be paid; but where there is "harm" to the woman, then the "eye for an eye" rule applies. Implication: unborn child is not a full-fledged person,,,

10. Is significantly responsible for bringing us a Priceless Treasure

11. Is unique and sacred

12. ... And maybe plays ping pong?!

Answer: The Bible

Behind the Riddle:

1. Picture library shelves labeled "History," "Poetry," "Letters," "Gospels," and so on. The word "Bible" means "library." Thus "the Bible says thus-and-so" should be rephrased as "the book of _____ in the Bible says thus-and-so."

2. Various strands appear to have been woven together, for example; and much of the Old Testament may have been pulled together by the Jewish priests in exile in Babylon.

3. Wow! Proverbs 23:29-35. The Good News version really shows it off: Show me someone who drinks too much, who has to try out fancy drinks, and I will show you someone miserable and sorry for himself, always causing trouble and always complaining. His eyes are bloodshot, and he has bruises that could have been avoided. Don't let wine tempt you, even though it is rich red, and it sparkles in the cup, and it goes down smoothly. The next morning you will feel as if you had been bitten by a poisonous snake. Weird sights will appear before your eyes, and you will not be able to think or speak clearly. You will feel as if you were out on the ocean, seasick, swinging high up in the rigging of a tossing ship. "I must have been hit," you will say, "I must have been beaten up, but I don't remember it. Why can't I wake up? I need another drink."

4. See Jer. 20:7 ff, especially in the original Hebrew, for the blasphemy, and Gal.5:12 in the original Greek for the obscene-ity. Tsk, Tsk, Paul! Clearly, a real letter from a real person!

5. Some parts may go back several thousand years. And some scholars (e.g., Christopher Bryan) believe that a woman may well have written "Hebrews." Prisca?

6. From Titus 1:12-13: "`Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.' That testimony is true." Ugh! Whoever actually wrote this, it would have appalled Paul the Missionary—and Jesus of Nazareth! Throughout ancient Mediterranean culture, writing under someone else's name in order to gain...