April Fool's Day | How We Can & Should Be "Mad as a Hatter"

 

The world says get

and Jesus says give.

+ The Faces of Jesus

As we approach this April Fool's Day, considering how to live out following Jesus, the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11) that "consumes nothing good but everything evil," I continue to hear Alice in Wonderland's refrain "curiouser and curiouser." 

And I'm brought back to this foolishly wise quote by the late pastor and author, Frederick Buechner, who invites me to wonder like Alice again, and Tom Holland, agnostic historian and author, who encourages Christians to be honest about the mad things they believe in and to encourages everyone else to understand the air we breathe:

If the world is sane,
then Jesus is mad as a hatter
and the Last Supper 

is the Mad Tea Party.

The world says,
Mind your own business,
and Jesus says,
There is no such thing as your own business.

The world says,
Follow the wisest course and be a success,
and Jesus says,
Follow me and be crucified.

The world says, Drive carefully
—the life you save may be your own—
and Jesus says,
Whoever would save his life will lose it, and
whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

The world says,
Law and order,
and Jesus says,
Love.

The world says,
Get
and Jesus says,
Give.

In terms of the world's sanity,
Jesus is crazy as a coot,
and anybody who thinks he or she 

can follow Him
without being a little crazy too
is laboring less under a cross
than under a delusion.

+ Frederick Buechner,

The Faces of Jesus
"Under a Delusion"

Rather than speaking
with the voice of prophecy,
rather than explaining
to a grieving and anxious people
how the dead will rise
into the blaze of eternal life,
rather than proclaiming
the miracles and mysteries
that they uniquely exist to proclaim,
(too many) Church leaders 

seem to have opted instead 

to talk like middle managers. 

... 

The future for local churches
is to remind people
where these ideas come from.
They come from believing in mad things,
that there is a God
who created all human beings equally,
gave them an inherent dignity
because they’re created in God’s image.
...
People want the supernatural.

+ Tom Holland

Historian, Author and Agnostic

Dominion:

How the Christian Revolution

Remade the World

Bonus Posts:

+ Living and Loving Curiously w/ Wonder 

+ Igniting Our Hearts

May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.

Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇

With anticipation and joy,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us

Love Over Fear | Learning to Become Curiouser and Curiouser

Ted Lasso Iconography by Ckeaton2288

Curiosity

helps coax the heart

out of hiding.

+ Love Over Fear

Love Over Fear: Facing Monsters, Befriending Enemies, and Healing Our Polarized World was one of the best books I read in 2024 (finished it right before stepping into the curious job of being a part-time chaplain at a school for the 3rd year in a row). 

Dan White Jr. invited me again to become "curiouser and curiouser" as Alice experienced in Wonderland. Below is a bit of what the invitation to become curiouser was about, making me smile like a Cheshire Cat at the wonder and whimsy of Jesus, the somehow curious Teacher who knew everything and yet asked to hear more from those He loves.

I hope these small collection of words help you close your year with an increase in wonder and whimsy as you look forward to what's coming next beyond control and our wildest imaginations.

God Asking Questions

More questions proceed from Jesus' mouth than answers. 

Jesus asks 307 questions to be exact.

Asking questions was central

to Jesus' work of befriending.

It is a kind of listening

that is not defensive,

not critical,

not suspicious.

It should unsettle us that a God who knows everything uses questions as His main mode of being with others.

In Luke 9:18 we get a classic example of Jesus using a question to unearth something deeper, "Who do the crowds say I am?" Why did Jesus ask this? Did He not know? Jesus embraced some limits. My hunch though is that Jesus was genuinely curious — He desired to discover those around Him and help them discover what was deep within them.

Jesus moves past appearances.

Jesus is more interested in

ushering the soul into the daylight.

Why is it not a habit to be curious

about each other?

This assumes humility,

that we don't already know

the motivations that lurk

behind other beliefs,

statements, or positions

within the heart.

Curiosity gives away power 

to another.

We cannot discover someone's story if we have already decided someone's narrative.

Cheshire Cat Lit poster by Robin Kaplan

Curiosity is Dangerous (& Disruptive)

We (often) ask more questions to robots than we do the human around us. But genuine curiosity toward those who believe differently than us, live differently than us, worship differently than us — it's a scarce attribute.

Within history, there have been world leaders and forces that have sought to snuff out curiosity: Fidel Castro, Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin. The Taliban destroyed works of art. ISIS burns works of literature in villages in the Middle East. The Nazis degenerated art exhibits where they tried to deface all modern paintings. During the Middle Ages, curiosity was almost taken out of existence because established church wanted to convey to the masses that everything worth knowing is already known.

Being curious is a powerful disrupter 

in the face of fear.

Being curious about information

is essential, but being curious

about each other is an

act of defiance!

On researcher reports that "on average, people spend 60 percent of conversations talking about themselves — and this figure jumps to 80 percent when communicating via social media platforms." Researchers found that there is a dopamine effect, it just feels better. Talking about ourselves gives us a neurological buzz. We often tend to focus more on impressing others with our persona, our education, our eloquence, or our stories. It takes mindfulness to shake off the anxious need to be recognized and celebrated by the other. 

Believing Jesus already sees you,

loves you, and affirms you,

frees you up to see others — 

to be interested in them. 

The actual word "curiosity"

derives from Latin word cūriōsitās,

which means "careful."

To be curious is to believe 

that everyone, yes everyone,

should be treated with carefulness.

Curiosity is a disruptive practice,

but when combined with compassion

it is downright divine.

Taking the (often) unnoticed path of Compassionate Curiosity in the midst of the noise and the bombast requires that we must be interested, be inquisitive, and be interpersonal.

Curiouser? Be Interested

Our points of difference can either be barriers or bridges. There is always something genuinely interesting about someone unlike you. Everyone has a story to be discovered.

Curiouser? Be Inquisitive

When we pause our reactions of attacking or avoiding, what's next? Learn to ask questions. Questions might seem like a passive instrument, but in a hostile world, they are more like a pry-bar that opens the soul. When you find yourself about to make a statement, turn it into a question. ... Curious questions create the space for something new to emerge, something unpredictable, something new to arise between us; all kinds of possibilities that did not exist before.

Curiouser? Be Interpersonal

Too often we are preoccupied with our to-do list, checking our phones, and mulling over better ways to spend our time. Sure, we are physically present, but our attention span is in another universe. To be interpersonal we need to take our five senses — taste, sight, touch, smell, and sound — captive in the moment of conversation. Jesus uses all five senses to be present with others:

Taste

Purposely feasting with others

Sight

Looking intently at those around Him

Touch

Being available to reach and be reached

Smell

Entering into the stench of death 

Sound

Listening to the cries of the people

As one who has diagnosed ADHD, holding my attention in one place does not come naturally. What has been remarkable is that over time, because of the goal of compassionate curiosity, I have been able to retrain my senses incrementally: expressing warmth in a firm hug, making eye contact, sitting still, asking careful questions, listening intently, and verbalizing what I'm hearing.

Curiouser? Be Indistinct ... ?

It is fascinating that Jesus doesn't preach three-point sermons that lay out His airtight case for why He is right. He hardly puts the philosophical smack down on His doubters. Many of Jesus' detractors are looking for a verbal sparring match, coming at Him with accusations and arguments. Instead of retorts and well-defended statements, He meets their assaults with more and more questions and stories ...

I'd probably have been with the disciples on this one. "Jesus, why are You doing this? You're telling stories but nobody is getting your point." The disciples are frustrated by His subjective parable-telling methods. Why not just make it plain-speak? It has always puzzled me. Why does Jesus seemingly indicate He doesn't want to be clear?

I have a working theory on this. Parables (stories) serve as a kind of curiosity-creating technique. Parables tuck the treasure beneath the surface, out of the reach of those who seek knowledge, not transformation. Some people will listen, and it sparks questions. If Jesus told it straight, there is no exploration required. He is enticing listeners to tune their ears to a different frequency. I suspect if the disciples had not asked Jesus about the parables, He may not have explained them. 

The subterraneous meaning
of the Kingdom of God
is found through the gateway
of being inquisitive.
Could this be where it starts?

Those who ask Jesus

for further explanation

are the ones to whom

the deeper meaning is revealed.

Is it ever okay to be ambiguous? 

I believe it is, because Jesus was, quite often.

The work of connection takes priority rather than efficiency of clarity. Does this mean we don't hold convictions? I do. You do. Of course we do. Convictions are not the problem; our postures with each other are. In order to build the bridge of listening to each other, relearn how to stay still and stay curious. To be indistinct is to be at peace not being heard, seen, or acknowledged for the opinions I hold. This is an act of humility.

Love Over Fear:

Compassionate Curiosity

+ pgs. 183-184, 186-188, 191-196

Bonus Curious Posts:

+ Listening with Wonder

+ Being "Mad as a Hatter" 

More 2024 Reading Recs:

The Deep Down Things  

The Ache for Meaning 

Beholding 

Deep Down Faith 

Searching for Enough 

 Mission Is the Shape of Water

Moving at the Speed of Your Soul

Love Over Fear

The Anxiety Opportunity

The Air We Breathe

Can I Say That?

Holier Than Thou?

How to Tell the Truth
Our Church Speaks

With presence and peace in Christ,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us

Be a Goldfish ... ? | Considering The Air (or Water) We Breathe

 

Be a Goldfish Poster + Ted Lasso

An older goldfish swishes

past a couple of small fry.

"How's the water, boys?" 

he enquires.

"Water?" they ask. 

"What's water?"

This little exchange is how the book, The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality by Glen Scrivener begins. 

But more credit goes to goldfish being on the rise due to Ted Lasso's famous quote from the wildly popular Apple TV+ show when Lasso says to his beloved player, Sam, who is beating himself up over a mistake that led to a goal by his teammate and rival, Jamie Tartt, in a Richmond scrimmage:

You know what
the happiest animal on Earth is?
It's a goldfish.
You know why?
It's got a 10-second memory.
Be a goldfish, Sam.

In relation to dwelling on mistakes, this is a good coach's (and a good friend's) advice so that we quickly learn from little failures and then let them go, which will most likely lead to more growth and joy in life. (Similar to another classic Lasso quip is "Be curious, not judgmental.")

But in relation to the world we live in, there are things we probably should remember, including that we are often goldfish who forget the cultural water we swim in every day if we live in the 21st century Western world. And if we are being compared to goldfish in this way, here is what Scrivener proposes about the water we swim in:

If you're a Westerner —

whether you've stepped foot

inside a church building or not,

whether you've clapped eyes on a Bible or not,

whether you consider yourself an atheist ...

 — you are a goldfish,

and Christianity is the water 

in which you swim.

This provocative statement grabs many a reader's attention, no matter what their spiritual background is, and Scrivener does a thoughtful and thorough job of supporting this hypothesis across his entire book. The Air We Breathe may be the nonfiction book I've recommended most in the past couple years because of its combination of humor and candor in helping consider:

In some ways in life
it may be good to be a goldfish,

but in perhaps other ways,
maybe we should remember

the water we swim in for good reason.

This post provides some brief adapted excerpts from the Introduction and Final Words sections of The Air We Breathe to invite you consider if the bold (and bolded) statement above has some merit to it. If your interest is piqued, I encourage you to purchase the book and read all of it. You may not agree with it all, but I think it will give you some good goldfish food for thought. After all, as one Tom Holland said (the not-yet-Christian historian and author of Dominion, not the actor):

It is not necessary to be a Christian

to appreciate the force of Glen Scrivener's

argument in this punchy, engaging

and entertaining book.

Introduction:

Focus on Your Breathing

I'm going to ask you to focus on your breathing. This is a technique common to so many of the great religious traditions. The spiritual teacher does not invite you to start your breathing. You've got that life skill down pat — 20,000 breaths a day; you're a natural. But there's something centering about noticing your breathing. Are you doing it now? Suddenly you're slowed down. You're aware of your dependence. You're inhabiting your body as a creature with needs and rhythms and physicality. You are mindful of your connection to the world around you and your place within it.

You might consider yourself a total outsider to Christian faith. My first word is: don't be so sure. Goldfish might not know the chemical composition of H2O, but it's still central to their lives. In the same way, I'm guessing that these concerns resonate with you:

equality,

compassion,

consent,

enlightenment,

science,

freedom and

progress.

None of these values are self-evident, nor are they widespread among the civilisations of the world. So where did they come from, and how did they get to become "the air we breathe"?

The extraordinary impact 

of Christianity

is seen in the fact that

you don't notice it.

You already hold particularly

"Christian-ish" views,

and the fact that we think

of these values as natural,

obvious or universal

shows how profoundly

the Christian revolution

has shaped us.

If that two-sentence summary strikes you as novel, bizarre, stupid or offensive, that's OK. I don't expect instant agreement (or otherwise).(But) like air, Christianity is so pervasive that we cannot help depending on it, even as we protest against it. We might feel that Christianity is: 

unequal,
cruel,
coercive,
ignorant,

anti-science,

restrictive and

backwards.

That is, in fact, a pretty common list of objections to the Christian faith, and, at points, the shoe fits. But I didn't pick those seven objections at random. I simply reversed the seven core values listed before. The reason why those seven accusations bite is because, deep down, we believe in the seven values. Our problems with Christianity (and we all have problems with it) turn out to be Christian problems.

I want to encourage you to see that what we're witnessing in the world are the ongoing convulsions of the Jesus revolution — a revolution predicted, proclaimed and propelled from the depths of history and experienced in the details of the everyday.

Any notions that our modern, liberal views are obvious, natural or universal must contend with the profoundly alien views taken by the rest of the world and the rest of history. As the writer L.P. Hartley put it, "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." Major landmarks in the development of the Christian story include the exploration and establishment of these seven values:

 | 1 | 

Equality

We believe in the equal moral status

of every member of the human family,

no matter their rank, race, religion,

gender or sexuality.

 | 2 | 

Compassion

We believe a society should be judged

by the way it treats its weakest members.

| 3 | 

Consent

We believe that the powerful have no right

to force themselves on others.

| 4 | 

Enlightenment

We believe in education for all and

its power to transform a society.

| 5 | 

Science

We believe in science: its ability

to help us understand the world

and improve our lives.

| 6 | 

Freedom

We believe that persons are not property

and that each of us should be in control

of our own lives.

| 7 | 

Progress

We believe in moral improvement over time

and that we should continue to reform society

of its former evils.

Introduction:

More than WEIRD

While these values are Western focused, this is not because "West is best." Even the "successes" are mixed. And Christian history is far more global than our telling of it here.

Long before European Christianity
was a force in the world,
the faith had spread south — 
Ethiopia was one of the world's

first Christian countries — 

and east — 

the Byzantine Empire was a

1,000-year Christianised civilization

which, in many ways, outshone its

"younger brother" in the West.

Today, Christianity is the

most diverse sociological phenomenon

the world has ever seen.

About a quarter of Christians live

in Central or South America,

a quarter in Africa and 

a quarter in Europe, and

the last quarter is fairly evenly split

between North America and Asia.

What's more, its make-up is set 

to continue a shift southwards

and eastwards.

For instance, the rate of 

Christian growth in China

has been estimated at 10% per annum

for the last 40 years.

If that rate continues,

there will be more Christians in China

than in the United States 

by the year 2030.

Christianity is not 

a Western phenomenon.

For example, the average

Christian Anglican in the world today

is a black, teenage girl from Nigeria.

(Nigeria, by the way, contains more

Anglicans than Britain has people.)

WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic) has its roots in the Jesus revolution, but the revolution is global.

Final Words:

History's Great "Leap of Faith"

When people consider a "leap of faith" view of Jesus, most conclude it's not for them. It takes a bold kind of person to wager their life on an invisible saviour.

But that is not what faith is like. And here is a deeper problem: this is not what life is like either. The "leap of faith" view of believing or more likely not believing in spirituality assumes that most of the time we walk around on solid ground — no faith necessary. We simply live by science and reason and what can be proved under laboratory conditions. In this view, most people live a grounded, evidence-based life while a few "religious" folk choose to believe in an unproven higher plane. That's the real problem with the "leap of faith" view.

But the Christianisation of our world has been history's great "leap of faith." In terms of the values that we take for granted, we are all mid-air (ex. leaping with history, swimming like goldfish) ... Our fundamental attitudes and goals assume that we and others are profoundly significant moral beings. We treat each other (or, at least, we feel we ought to treat each other) as bearers of a dignity that cannot be proved or earned. We take it on faith. In philosopher Larry Siedentop's phrase, Christianity has taught us to "wager on the moral equality of humans". In other words, we step out into the world on the basis of prior beliefs about ourselves and others. And it's a gamble because maybe I'll treat the other person as supremely valuable, and maybe they'll treat me like less in return. Nevertheless, I make the wager. I live by faith. And so do you.

We are all believers already.

We do not need to take a

"leap of faith."

Our culture has already

taken an almighty leap.

(And it's not just human rights

and moral equality — 

it's all seven WEIRD values.)

But what about the ground

beneath our feet?

You may not believe that Jesus

is your Maker-with-a-capital-M,

but perhaps you've seen that,

through the ebbs and flows of history,

(i.e. read all of The Air We Breathe)

he is the maker of your

moral universe.

Read through the Gospels slowly

 — the biographies of Jesus in the Bible

entitled Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

 — and see if you don't sense in Jesus

a power truer and deeper than

the values you're standing on:

a Compassion beneath 

the compassion you prize,

a Love beneath

the love you believe in.

In all this, the encouragement

is not to "leap";

it's to find your feet.

Jesus Christ has proved himself

to be a foundation for billions.

(In history and around the globe, 

with about a quarter in South America,

a quarter in Africa and 

a quarter in Europe, and

the last quarter fairly evenly split

between North America and Asia.)

John Dickson uses the analogy

of a song and its singers.

Jesus has given the world

a beautiful song.

His people have often

sung it out of tune — 

sometimes we've been

the most discordant voices of all.

But the song remains

good and beautiful.

The kingdom of Christ is unique,

and not just in its unparalleled

size and longevity.

It's different in that while 

other empires rise and fall,

Christ's kingdom ...

rises — repeatedly.

"Christianity has died many times

and risen again;

for it had a God who knew

the way out of the grave."

+ G.K. Chesterton

The Air We Breathe

+ pgs. 11-18, 222-226, 231

Bonus Podcast

+ Speak Life: He Split the Room

Other Thoughtful Considerations:

Jesus, I Have My Doubts

The Ache for Meaning

The Anxiety Opportunity 

Curiouser and Curiouser

Living with Wonder

Planting Seeds in the Dark

Wrestling with God in Doubt

Next post: 

Can I Say That?

Many blessings of peace and presence,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us