The broken body...
Walking around campus at lunch today, I walked past four different bible study/worship groups; one out on the lawn, the rest in separate classrooms, all with guitars and praise songs and fewer than 20 people. We have the Pasadena Christian Club and the Christian Club (don't confuse them) and half a dozen others. What the theological or personal divisions were that led to all of this separation, no one can ever say... but it hurts the heart.
That's it for today; I've got a good post percolating in my brain about young women from traditional backgrounds and the simultaneous expectation of virginity until marriage and academic success... But I'll get there another day.
Yeah, Hugo, it does hurt when we're convicted that our Lord prayed for us (in John 17) to be visibly, not just invisibly, united. I agree with you, and visible unity is one of my regular prayers.
And while you disagree with us, Hugo, this is a major reason why so many of us on the orthodox end in ECUSA feel so strongly against what ECUSA has done: Whether intentional or not, it's a blow to the unity and the catholicity of the church. ECUSA's actions (as evidenced in its words to the rest of the Anglican Communion and to those who disagree in ECUSA) are an argument for the independence, not the interdependence, of segments of the worldwide church. The result will be (and, sadly, already is) more divisions of Christians, not fewer.
It seems to me that we'll have more visible unity the more that we adhere to the maxims of the Vincentian canon.
Peace of Christ,
Chip
Posted by:Chip | March 09, 2006 at 07:04 PM
God knows it's hard to study when you're not getting laid...
Posted by:Sara | March 09, 2006 at 07:27 PM
Rarely have two comments, from two commenters I respect, been so focused on two utterly different aspects of such a short post.
I'm inclined to agree more with Chip than Sara, though there is wisdom in both comments.
Posted by:Hugo | March 09, 2006 at 09:22 PM
Sorry to be unclear, Hugo, I was being sarcastic. I just meant that I don't know what someone's virginity has to do with their academic status.
Posted by:Sara | March 09, 2006 at 09:37 PM
Maybe each group was focused on a particular area of study or book of scripture that they were interested in. Maybe they're from different dorms. Maybe a study group of 50 people would be unwieldy and unproductive. Why do you assume that several small groups instead of one large one are a bad thing?
Posted by:Space Chick | March 10, 2006 at 06:37 AM
Sara, I'm going to answer that question in my next long post. Space Chick, these groups don't work together, cooperate, or share resources -- trust me, I've advised them. They exist in isolation from each other all too often. And as Chip says, for those of us who are Christians, we are supposed to work for unity so that all may be one... hence my sorrow.
Posted by:Hugo | March 10, 2006 at 07:33 AM
Here's the question, then, Hugo - Which group do you want to compromise its convictions?
Let's be brutally honest, since I'm good at that - I'm a very traditional Catholic, all the way down to attending an FSSP chapel, and I'll most the time attend an SSPX chapel rather than a Novus Ordo service, unless that NO church accepts the GIRM. And I don't see me backing off of this.
Liberal Catholics want dialogue? Fine - ya'll split off from me - you come back and do it the orthodox way, and we'll talk....
...but I don't see those talks leading anywhere which will make them happy.
I don't imagine the reverse is any more true - do you really see the ECUSA removing Gene Robinson as a Bishop for the sake of unity?
Well, there you go. Sometimes conviction forbids compromise.
Posted by:The Gonzman | March 10, 2006 at 11:39 AM
And re: Gene & ECUSA - that's your church, I know; not Catholic - probably confusing, but I'm not conflating the two.
Posted by:The Gonzman | March 10, 2006 at 11:41 AM