i'm not really sure why i randomly decided to write a blog post while trying to fall asleep on a tuesday evening except for the fact that there are thoughts, tense with energy floating above my bed and my patience is slowly losing its rationality.
i have been in berkeley at the lovely institution we wish to call plts for close to four months now and i'm still trying to catch my footing. where do i fit at such a place?
i'm 22 years old, a suburban minnesotan in a large city, biblically liberal, theologically a little conservative, socially possibly too liberal for my candidacy committee to admit, a soellist wanna-be liberation theologian, half hearted feminist, hater of earthquakes, quietly witty, sometimes an ass hole, passionate, not soft spoken but very reflective, yeah yeah yeah.
as i continue to try to find my place at this new place overlooking the bay, i continue to be affirmed in this one inkling: i am pretty sure that there is room at God's table for all of us.
and when i say all, i really mean all.
ok. background. go.
i have always believed that God is loving, inclusive and that God's redemptive act through Jesus was and is intended for everyone regardless of social status, gender, political background, race or sexual preference. there are some, but i'm not sure of many people who would disagree with this, especially many of my friends at the hippie seminary of the west aka plts. however, if we truly wish to proclaim this gospel than we must be willing rid ourselves of our own fine print clauses.
i have little interest in trying to convert my self-proclaimed "conservative" friends to my own beliefs and understanding of God, even if i may secretly wish that they would. more important than trying to "reclaim" christianity from whatever group you wish to hate on, we should be focused on learning how to live and work together and oh, hey, maybe to love each other too. after all, we are all children of God and made in God's image. perhaps we too often stray away from this concept because it is much easier to point fingers than to do the hard work of loving someone.
i think the belief that God sent God's only son, jesus, to suffer and die for our messed up lives is proof enough that God is interested in eventually having us all at his crazy-ass table.
if we are called to be christians then we are called to love one another, regardless. so, the next time you want to punch someone in the face for hatin' on obama, maybe you should try seeing them as God may: justified, beautiful, forgiven and loved.
