ten confessions

Though I wonder whether this meme smacks of being a slightly less invested “truth or dare” I’ll partake:

I confess: that I am green with envy toward those with an equal mastery of theology, fiction and poetry. I cower in their presence and would most likely be ashamed to introduce myself at a convention.

I confess: that I often judge theology bloggers for not taking words seriously enough.

I confess: that I myself can not live up to my own standards for those words.

I confess: that though I regard Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Works as the theology I will spend the remainder of my days chewing on, were he still alive he’d hardly be the kind of person I’d feel comfortable living with in community. His Christological center shapes the course of my thinking on community, but I wouldn’t be able to handle his chain smoking. He’d no doubt find my conversational style unbearable and would regard my music as nonsensical. My abstinence from alcohol would drive the nail in the coffin.

I confess: that my tolerance for academic theology and music are severely tempered, even hampered, by the presence of my young children, my dedication to twelve step recovery, and a carnal love for the idiot box.

I confess: that were I forced to choose between two all expense paid trip tickets to see Lucinda Williams and Charlie Louvin perform in a few weeks, or the International Bonhoeffer Congress 2008 in Prague, I would choose Lucinda and Charlie. This fantastical dilemma would throw the whole course of my theological/musical worlds into catastrophe, and who knows but that I would end up mentally scarred and crippled for life. Perhaps this is what “Lead us not into Temptation” means to me at this moment.

I confess: that sometimes I fear that most of the theological problems I grapple with personally (communal ecclesiologies, historical theology, economic and ecological practical strategies) have no real impact on the world, and that precious time was wasted valuing things that most people on planet earth know better than to trifle with.

I confess: that I am only a marginal sports fan. I gladly take free tix to Chicago White Sox games, and enjoy donation Chicago Cubs hot dogs after the games (because someone else went and picked them up). I engage in frivolous talk about possibilities with my friends who are real fans, but in my heart of hearts I have as little real interest in baseball as I do America’s presidential candidates. Maybe less.

I confess: that I doubt the impact of carbon offsets on the environment. I can’t see how donating money to plant trees in California eliminates daily green house gases and makes one carbon neutral. I want to help but I don’t think that works scientifically. Why not just say “donate and feel less guilty”?

I confess: for all the reading and writing I do regarding Evangelicalism and politics, I suspect that I know very little beyond what is reported. This makes me happy and sad at the same time, but mostly relieved that God has it under control.