Countdown to Easter: Boldness and Creativity
Two clips I've run across over the last few days have impacted me particularly powerfully, and a strange feature with both of them is that I can't really pinpoint why. I guess they collectively touch upon themes or traits that I've recently been considering at some length, one that has become marginalized of late while the other has taken center stage with little tempering.
The human Jesus of Nazareth possessed an immeasurable number of virtuous characteristics, but two that stand out particularly, for me, were these: Boldness and Creativity. These were also central features of the early church, and of virtually every hero of the faith I've ever come across. But like I said, boldness has gotten a bad rap of late, while creativity has become a almost a virtue without boundary. I don't have much to say about the latter development, because I think it will play itself out as more and more people engage in empty creativity such that, eventually, the market will sort itself out, if you will.
But on the issue of boldness, I think these two clips speak to the issue of why it is a virtue and why its become such a disfavored virtue of late. And again, this is a bit difficult to articulate, and I guess if I had to try to pinpoint why these two clips struck such a cord, I'd put it like this. Both clips creatively depict boldness in some form. The first embodies the type of boldness that shines a light, that touches hearts and minds, a Spirit-enabled boldness (leaving aside for a moment the content of the message, which I might have one or two qualms with). The second, immensely creative piece, contains a message about boldness gone awry, boldness as pure power, the type of boldness that Jesus' boldness came to counter. As we approach the anniversary of the inauguration of new creation, lets strive to embody the one and challenge the other.
Like I said (twice) this is tough to articulate. So I'll stop trying. Here are the clips.
Grace and Peace,
and Boldness and Creativity,
Raffi
The human Jesus of Nazareth possessed an immeasurable number of virtuous characteristics, but two that stand out particularly, for me, were these: Boldness and Creativity. These were also central features of the early church, and of virtually every hero of the faith I've ever come across. But like I said, boldness has gotten a bad rap of late, while creativity has become a almost a virtue without boundary. I don't have much to say about the latter development, because I think it will play itself out as more and more people engage in empty creativity such that, eventually, the market will sort itself out, if you will.
But on the issue of boldness, I think these two clips speak to the issue of why it is a virtue and why its become such a disfavored virtue of late. And again, this is a bit difficult to articulate, and I guess if I had to try to pinpoint why these two clips struck such a cord, I'd put it like this. Both clips creatively depict boldness in some form. The first embodies the type of boldness that shines a light, that touches hearts and minds, a Spirit-enabled boldness (leaving aside for a moment the content of the message, which I might have one or two qualms with). The second, immensely creative piece, contains a message about boldness gone awry, boldness as pure power, the type of boldness that Jesus' boldness came to counter. As we approach the anniversary of the inauguration of new creation, lets strive to embody the one and challenge the other.
Like I said (twice) this is tough to articulate. So I'll stop trying. Here are the clips.
Grace and Peace,
and Boldness and Creativity,
Raffi
