"The bowler hat was a motif in the musical composition that was Sabina's life. It returned again and again, each time with a different meaning, and all the meanings flowed through the bowler hat like water through a riverbed. I might call it Heraclitus' ("You can't step twice into the same river") riverbed; the bowler hat was a bed through which each time Sabina saw another river flow, another 'semantic river': each time the same object would give rise to a new meaning, though all former meanings would resonate (like an echo, like a parade of echoes) together with the new one. Each new experience would resound, each time enriching the harmony."In the novel there are somewhat different, less than religious, connotations to the bowler hat. However, take those away and the bowler could represent, for me and many others, Christianity broadly and Lutheran worship life at Creator more specifically for some of us. Christianity, like the bowler hat, runs through my life - returning again and again always bursting with new meaning. I am sure this is true for how all faiths work in the cultural lives of their adherents.
I make this observation because of Pastor Dorothy's sermon emphasizing the teaching Jesus gives on eternal life in today's gospel lesson in the following verses:
"...since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
We sang They Will Know We Are Christians as our opening Creator Praise song. All the other hymns and readings supported Christian unity through community. A very affirming worship on the whole. At the same time there was a darker undertone due to recent events that were on most people's minds.
Pastor Dorothy referenced them indirectly, namely the Manchester bombing and, closer to home, the racially charged murder of two men last Friday here in Portland. She gave Jesus' above definition of eternal life but, together with the other two references mentioned, there was a deeply human plea that the today's gospel lesson, on the surface, seems to leave unaddressed.
Eternal life - defined as "knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ who God has sent" - is not what most of us would commonly think of as being eternal life. Our instinct is to desire God with all just authority and control, to reward or punish "good" or "evil" actions with the appropriate consequences.
Despite what we proclaim about God's grace and love being the operative force in our lives there is still our strong desire to put the death of Jesus in the context of a reward / punishment system and declare that all the good work of Jesus, who he was, and his death on the cross finally yielded an ultimate trophy - the reward of eternal life.
The Manchester bombing and the murders on the Max here in Portland defy this transactional view of God's justice and yet, despite all the important teachings of Jesus in the New Testament we still long for divine justice to uphold and to conform to our vision of human justice.
Creator's council had the opportunity to meet Ricky Best, one of those who murdered last Friday, when he and his wife Myhanh made a successful presentation to have their business, the Happy Valley Learning Center, give tutoring classes for local school children and use the church building during the week. His smile and earnest manner impressed us when we met. To reflect on the particulars of his death feel scandalous and arbitrary. I know all our hearts go out to Myhanh and their family and, somehow, this is an event where the bowler hat is appearing again.
And hopefully each time the bowler hat does appear in my life, it moves a better definition of eternal life ever closer to my heart.
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