“We have never lost sight of paradise”

Just a short note, as I am tired and District Assembly goes into full swing too early tomorrow. Rev Deane Perkins gave the Gould Discourse tonight…on “Becoming a Religion for our Time.”

It was amazing… he outlined a perspective that he called “paradisical theology” – the idea that in Early Christianity, it was “Heaven on Earth” that was core to Christianity, not the crucifiction and resurrection. Deane suggested that our denomiation already is perhaps more “Christian” than later Christians… that we are the inheritors and must be the proclaimers of this new perspective.

He said (transcribing from my feverish notes)

We have never lost sight of paradise. W have never lost sight of beauty and truth. We have never lost sight of the struggle and search for more just ways to meet all peoples’ needs. We have never lost sight of our task as caregivers and stewards of the environment.

And so now it is up to us to live it, do it, be it.

UPDATE: 5/19/11: Here’s a link to the text.



Support this site

I am an entrepreneurial minister, which means I am a freelancer, and every part of my income comes from the work I do. The Hymn by Hymn Project was and is a labor of love, but I now am incurring increasing costs for hosting the site.

If everyone who visited gave just $5, those costs would be covered in a single week.

Whether you give once or monthly, your generosity will keep Hymn by Hymn free and available to to the tens of thousands of people who benefit from it.

Please support the project!

links

Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning

Read my thoughts about congregational life at Hold My Chalice

Subscribe

%d bloggers like this: