Deepening our Christianity

the Monday Newsletter of Paul Prins

Edition #8 · 3 July 2023

Blessings Reader,

I experience change as a bit of a paradox. Here, I am not speaking of the many little and almost unnoticed differences between our days. Neither am I speaking about changes thrust upon us by circumstances.

Those intentional and methodical changes that we work so hard on. The paradox is that without a degree of abandonment of what was, we cannot grab what is to be.

When I was a teen, I was able to learn rock climbing. I was a tall teenager. It was a sport that I could easily excel at. At least initially. There would soon be a move on the wall that would require me to commit. To abandon where I was in the hope I could keep climbing. Of course, I fell many times. It is hard to abandon what you've worked hard for.

Freeskiing was similar. When you are learning how to jump and ride rails, it all starts incrementally. Little improvements here and there. Yet, a point comes when one has to act with abandon. As you learn to spin or flip, you abandon what you know. The first time you go off a jump over 30 meters (100 feet) you abandon a lot.

In the last week, we've implemented some meaningful changes to Urban Monasticism. It feels terrifying. For three years of my life, I've been slowly building what we had. Now so much of it is different. Unlike the examples above, there is no fast way to know if big life changes will work. We do the work up front, we learn what we can, and a moment comes when we have to let go and move forward. I hope these changes help us grow in wonderful ways.

The paradox of this change is that we have to abandon old known ways for new figments. For those figments to come into focus, we must first let go. Without letting go, we'll never get close enough to see the details of what's to come. Will we have faith that God is with us as we leap.

Until Next Week

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Posted since the last Edition

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Unpublished Photo for this Edition

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Curated Goods just for You

Sharing what I've come across from around the internet that may encourage or help you.

• ​Christian nationalism and biblical literalism independently predict conspiracy thinking ~6 Minutes
  ​There is tension for us proclaiming truth, when large parts of the visible Church actively engage with conspiratorial thinking. This research indicates a positive correlation between conspiracy thinking and biblical literalism or/with Christian nationalism. Another reason to encourage us to teach fullness of scripture, hermeneutics, and bring awareness to the complexities that give us our modern critical texts and translations.
• ​Why Read the Bible in Hebrew ~ 8 Minutes (44 Tweet Thread)
  ​This thread is a wonderful look at the how biblical languages can help bring depth to our readings of stories we know so well. In addition to some other wonderful herminutical work that Ari Lamm does here. I hope that this kind of reading encourages you, and help keep yourself open to how much we all have to enjoy and learn about God and the Bible.

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A Prayer for the Week to Come

God, can you give us rest in the midst of change. Let us find strength in you, as we need to trust you to guide our steps. Might you be so gentle, kind, and tender with us to give us simple signs that you are near. Just as you let Thomas touch your wounds to believe. Help draw us back to you and into you.
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