The Drama of Embrace

Loretta Rivers is a professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Since Hurricane Katrina she has been attending our church. Loretta moved back to the crescent city last week and we were all sad to see her go. She gave me a small stack of books as a parting gift. One of the books was Truth or Consequences: The Promise and Perils of Postmodernism by Millard J. Erickson. I was struck by a section in the book titled "Reducing One's Own Conditionedness." His guidance is very helpful. He says that we should "practice the ancient philosopher's dictum, 'know thyself.'" Erickson also says, "The other major effort that will help narrow the circle of subjectivity is genuine interaction with others..." Both of these efforts create the enviroment nessary for genuine cooperation and understanding. When I read Erickson's words I was reminded of a passage written by Miroslav Volf that paints a vivid picture of this type of healthy interaction. He speaks of the drama of embrace. Volf asserts that this drama has four functional elements or acts.

1. Opening the Arms - "...open arms are a sign that I have created space in myself for the other to come in and that I have made a movement out of myself so as to enter the space created by the other.

2. Waiting - this movement respects the other. One is not forced into relationship.

3. Closing the arms - this is the powerful sign of reciprocity.

4. Opening the arms again - the other is not absorbed. "I" is honored as "We" is created.

I think that both Erickson and Volf should guide our interaction as bloggers. This medium holds out great hope for healthy community building and action planning. For it not to decay we must be careful to know ourselves, create the space necessary to welcome others, and honor each other's unique contributions. I have been blessed by the blogging community and want to see it remain a place of healthy interaction. In short, I want it to be a drama of embrace. God bless you and your ministry.