This Sunday we "broke in" the new Pei Wei here in Waco. A fabulous experience. And at the end of our meal, I got this. On the one side of the fortune was one of the typical hopeful phrases we are accustomed to in fortune cookies. On the other side, a Chinese phrase. Put these two together, and you get the first self-interpreting fortune cookie that I've ever experienced. And, of course, after eating greasy Chinese food, this fortune was appropriate.
Theological Musings on Fortunes and Scripture: I love fortune cookies. When I get one, there is a sense of anticipation about what's inside. I do not believe the the fortunes in fortune cookies mean anything in and of themselves. However, what I find fascinating about fortunes is the way they encounter us at particular moments in life and how they hold sway over us to the degree that we allow them. For instance, "Face any problem with dignity." Empowered by this encounter, I may be more aware of the issues I face and may make more of an effort to have dignity. None of this comes from a fatalism about fortune cookies, but simply from an encounter with the text. What if our encounter of Scripture was like this more often. What if we met the word with the anticipation of a fortune cookie? What if we saw in Scripture language that contextualized our daily experiences? Maybe Scripture has become too familiar and encountering it like a fortune can revitalize its power. Of course, if we go down this road, any word that we encounter can function this way relative to the way it impacts us. I think that the call of Christian discipleship is to allow Scripture to impact us like this as the First Word, and then let that Word be the context that illumines all other words. Hmmm...that's something worth thinking about...
No comments:
Post a Comment