Incoherent Lives
I just finished reading Alan Mann's Atonement for a 'Sinless' Society. He considers atonement in the rubric of shame and postmodern thought. For the postmodern, the deepest aspect of shame is an incoherent story--an incoherent self--and, since we are storied beings, an incoherent ontology. There is a tension between our 'ideal' self and our 'real' self and we present false selves to cover the tension. The life of Christ is one lived without any tension. In the Eucharist, one encounters the story of Jesus and identification with this story is made possible. In this identification, there is death of the self and God becomes the author.
This is a clever and creative book, though a little abstract from time to time. But it did get me thinking: My life is not coherent; according to Mann, I am not I at-one. If I am not at-one with myself, can I be at-one with God?
In my life, I suffer the effects of being overly analytical, unsatisfied, and existential. The irony--not lost on me--is that these traits are exactly what drive the things I most love to do (preach, research, write) and they are the traits most necessary when I do these things well (which isn't necessarily that often). (Too many sermons stink from lack of analysis and no contact with the existential. ) However, my life becomes incoherent when analysis, existentialism, and lack of satisfaction grow through too many parts of my life. Those things which are strengths in some areas become hazardous weaknesses in others. This seems to me quite incoherent. But, why should this incoherence not be a sign of grace? Why shouldn't I consider the good these weaknesses have as signs of God's Spirit at work? If this is the case, then grace lifts me out of (a form of) coherence and makes my life a blessed incoherence. (Of course, coherence with strengths would be better than incoherence with strengths and weaknesses.) Does this defeat Mann's book? No, but it may show that perhaps his story is a little too thin (lacking the complexity of what it means to be human).
Does anyone else relate--that the things which are your greatest assets in some parts of life are your greatest torment in others?
This is a clever and creative book, though a little abstract from time to time. But it did get me thinking: My life is not coherent; according to Mann, I am not I at-one. If I am not at-one with myself, can I be at-one with God?
In my life, I suffer the effects of being overly analytical, unsatisfied, and existential. The irony--not lost on me--is that these traits are exactly what drive the things I most love to do (preach, research, write) and they are the traits most necessary when I do these things well (which isn't necessarily that often). (Too many sermons stink from lack of analysis and no contact with the existential. ) However, my life becomes incoherent when analysis, existentialism, and lack of satisfaction grow through too many parts of my life. Those things which are strengths in some areas become hazardous weaknesses in others. This seems to me quite incoherent. But, why should this incoherence not be a sign of grace? Why shouldn't I consider the good these weaknesses have as signs of God's Spirit at work? If this is the case, then grace lifts me out of (a form of) coherence and makes my life a blessed incoherence. (Of course, coherence with strengths would be better than incoherence with strengths and weaknesses.) Does this defeat Mann's book? No, but it may show that perhaps his story is a little too thin (lacking the complexity of what it means to be human).
Does anyone else relate--that the things which are your greatest assets in some parts of life are your greatest torment in others?
posted by Aaron Perry at
10:51 AM
1 Comments:
yes, i can personally relate. (but i don't want to explain).
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