Really wonderful reflection! Thank you for reminding me that God’s servants have so many strands of goodness. I have this sense that humanity is in the liminal space between the end of empire (City of Man) and the coming Kingdom that was the emphasis of Jesus’ teaching and life here. The only guardrails now are the ones that guided those first believers. I have a sweet, elderly relative of 82 who has devoted her life to Christ in the context of a Protestant tradition. We were talking once about the coming Kingdom and I said I believed all the divisions in which we’ve invested so much energy would fall away. All the structures and definitions until all that remained was the Great Table where we all belong. She looked thoughtful, then hopeful, then bemused. “But what will it be like?” she asked. “I don’t know,” I answered, “but it will be wonderful.”
A thoughtful reflection, thank you. I would only like to emphasize a point that runs alongside your own: We cannot render to God what is God’s without also rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Jesus was no Zealot intent on overthrowing Rome; rather, he acknowledged Caesar’s place. St. Paul’s Roman citizenship gave him real legal protections—his right to be tried, his appeal to the Emperor—that he used to advance the Gospel. The City of God is not built apart from the City of Man, but in its midst—where witness renders both their due.
Appreciate this, Paul. I happened to be re-reading Hamlet this weekend and what you write about thinking spatially vs. temporally really illuminates that text. Hamlet is famously accused of indecision ("to be or not to be"). Because he doesn't act swiftly to avenge his father's murder, the whole kingdom is thrown into disarray--or so, centuries of literary scholars have told us. But reading it more closely, I can see that Hamlet is grappling with "Time is greater than space." Bloodshed and land grabs are easy. It takes time to build a better world.
Thanks for this wisdom, Paul. You have done us a very good service. It takes a lot of thinking and talking together to keep the "two cities" distinction operating in the dialectical reality of U.S. citizenship. As William Green says above, it can't become a divide. Is the key keeping our focus on the "image of God" freedom and dignity of the human person--the other? That keeps us from ganging up in the "right" or the "left" to grasp power "over" them. Onward!
Really wonderful reflection! Thank you for reminding me that God’s servants have so many strands of goodness. I have this sense that humanity is in the liminal space between the end of empire (City of Man) and the coming Kingdom that was the emphasis of Jesus’ teaching and life here. The only guardrails now are the ones that guided those first believers. I have a sweet, elderly relative of 82 who has devoted her life to Christ in the context of a Protestant tradition. We were talking once about the coming Kingdom and I said I believed all the divisions in which we’ve invested so much energy would fall away. All the structures and definitions until all that remained was the Great Table where we all belong. She looked thoughtful, then hopeful, then bemused. “But what will it be like?” she asked. “I don’t know,” I answered, “but it will be wonderful.”
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A thoughtful reflection, thank you. I would only like to emphasize a point that runs alongside your own: We cannot render to God what is God’s without also rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Jesus was no Zealot intent on overthrowing Rome; rather, he acknowledged Caesar’s place. St. Paul’s Roman citizenship gave him real legal protections—his right to be tried, his appeal to the Emperor—that he used to advance the Gospel. The City of God is not built apart from the City of Man, but in its midst—where witness renders both their due.
💗
Appreciate this, Paul. I happened to be re-reading Hamlet this weekend and what you write about thinking spatially vs. temporally really illuminates that text. Hamlet is famously accused of indecision ("to be or not to be"). Because he doesn't act swiftly to avenge his father's murder, the whole kingdom is thrown into disarray--or so, centuries of literary scholars have told us. But reading it more closely, I can see that Hamlet is grappling with "Time is greater than space." Bloodshed and land grabs are easy. It takes time to build a better world.
Thanks for this wisdom, Paul. You have done us a very good service. It takes a lot of thinking and talking together to keep the "two cities" distinction operating in the dialectical reality of U.S. citizenship. As William Green says above, it can't become a divide. Is the key keeping our focus on the "image of God" freedom and dignity of the human person--the other? That keeps us from ganging up in the "right" or the "left" to grasp power "over" them. Onward!
💗