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Cruciformity: Cruciform Theology, Christology, and Reciprocal Kenosis

Part 4: The Cruciform Icon through a High Christology Lens
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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

– John 1:1-4

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As is stated in prologue to John’s Gospel, Christ existed before having been made manifest in the person of Jesus – for Christ is, before anything else, God’s Eternal Word, referred to in the Greek as the Logos…

Cruciformity: Cruciform Theology, Christology, and Reciprocal Kenosis

Part 3: The Cruciform Icon through a Low Christology Lens
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“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

– John 15:12-13
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As most folks surely know, orthodox christian doctrine states that Jesus the Christ was both fully God and fully Human. Paying attention to how these two natures interpenetrated within his life is the source of both the strangeness and the ingenuity and imagination of the Christian faith…

Cruciformity: Cruciform Theology, Christology, and Reciprocal Kenosis

Part 2: Cruciform Theology and the Cruciform Icon
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“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
– 1 John 4:7-8

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There is a school of thought in the Christian tradition known as Cruciform Theology. This theological perspective, following Paul’s Christ hymn in Colossians (“image of the invisible God…”), essentially treats the image of Christ Crucified as an icon…

A Simple Practice to Break through the Protective Shell around our Hearts

In our last post: A Simple Practice to Discover how Deeply you Love Yourself, we discussed the struggle many of us face in loving ourselves. The simple act of looking at ourself in the mirror and saying “I love you” is often challenging, because the concept of unconditionally loving ourselves, exactly as we are, isContinue reading “A Simple Practice to Break through the Protective Shell around our Hearts”

A Simple Practice to Discover how Deeply we Love Ourselves

When we struggle to love ourselves, all of our other relationships – romantic, familial, friendly – will be troubled as well. Here is a free, simple practice to help us assess our relationship with our own heart. No, it’s not an online questionnaire with a bunch of multiple-choice answers that never quite express the nuancesContinue reading “A Simple Practice to Discover how Deeply we Love Ourselves”

Perspectives on the Abbey: A Thousand Ways to Kneel and Kiss the Ground

“God is not a question to be answered, but a mystery to be experienced.” How do you all relate to this sentiment? In my time at Abbey of the Redwoods, I have experienced a soul-nourishing community that affirms that everyone must discover their own unique path to the Divine. As for myself, I ultimately believeContinue reading “Perspectives on the Abbey: A Thousand Ways to Kneel and Kiss the Ground”

Cruciformity: Cruciform Theology, Christology, and Reciprocal Kenosis

Part 1: The Strangeness of the Particular ___________________________________________________ “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation For by Him all things were created, both in heaven and on earth“ – Colossians 1:15-16 ___________________________________________________ The Christian faith is deeply strange. And certainly, given that it is an outpouring of human imaginationContinue reading “Cruciformity: Cruciform Theology, Christology, and Reciprocal Kenosis”

Meditation on Hope vs Faith

The Smiles of the Bathers The smiles of the bathers fade as they leave the water,And the lover feels sadness fall as it ends, as he leaves his love.The scholar, closing his book as the midnight clock strikes, is hollowand old:The pilot’s relief on landing is no release.These perfect and private things, walling us in,Continue reading “Meditation on Hope vs Faith”

Embracing Love for our Experience: Loving Negative Emotions

Embracing Love, Part 2 Last week we discussed Embracing Love for Ourselves: Overcoming Guilt and Shame as the first step in embracing Love and joining in the New Spiritual Awakening that is rippling through humanity. We’ll talk more about loving ourselves in the future, but if we’re struggling to love the current experience we areContinue reading “Embracing Love for our Experience: Loving Negative Emotions”