Today I am going to take a step that I know is risky. I am going state some ideas that are very important to me. Some of them I have believed for many many years. Some others, I believe, have grown stronger with the passage of time – some over a matter of years and some in recent months, weeks, and days – and also with my increasing “chronological giftedness” – I am now 67 years old.

God has always been an important part of my life. From time to time in my journey of life I have felt like I understood more than I have at other times in my life – it has not been a continuum – more like a path with many twists and turns – forward, back, and forward yet again. Whether it has been a time in my life when things were going well, or a time when I thought that things likely could not be much worse – in all those times – God has always been an important part of my life.

Many times I have said, “If you understand everything that you believe you need to know about God, then you need a larger, bigger, more comprehensive God.” I am still convinced that this is true. With each passing day it seems more obvious to me that major problems were created by two events in history. The first, the “great schism” of 1054 which for all practical purposes separated the east from the west – a division that has continued to the present time. In my thinking, the primary problem with this event is that the western church allowed most of mystery to become the sole property of the eastern church. The second, the “protestant reformation” of the sixteenth century when the protestant reformers for all practical purposes handed what little mystery was left in the western church over to the Roman Catholic church. This sent the protestants on a road of logic, facts, and knowing – the properties of the mind – without the benefit of mystery as expressed in and through the arts – the properties of the heart.

During recent years some western protestants have begun to “rediscover” some of the eastern religious traditions that seem to have been missing since the “great schism” – in truth, they have not been missing – they have been ignored by the western church which has too much pride to admit that it is not able to know everything. I never cease to be amazed when I hear of a “new” idea that is hundreds and thousands of years old.

A phrase that is part of our Presbyterian heritage refers to “the peace, unity, and purity” of the church. I have heard a number of people argue that the order of these three words do not matter. i disagree. Unity cannot exist peace is present. This does not in any way imply that everyone agrees about everything or anything. Real peace – shalom – is a prerequisite for unity. Finally, I believe that peace and unity are matters of human construction, but that purity is in the sole province of God. Purity is not a list of doctrines and dogmas that are a creation of the human mind, but a product of the Creator.

Finally, at least for this day, the arts can no longer be the luxury of a few. The arts are a vital necessity for all parts of creation. The arts are part of the language of mystery – part of the vocabulary of not knowing – a way for creation to listen to the Creator.

These thoughts will continue in the following posts. It is my hope that some of you will be willing to join the conversation. I can’t imagine that we will agree on everything, but I require that our discussions be conducted in peace – with dignity and with an open mind which might allow us to hear each other which involves more than just listening.

So for now – grace and peace!