Theologizin' Bigger into the Arms of Community

Day 2: A Tree in a Story about a Forest

“Victor Frankl whispered in my ear all the same. He said to me I was a tree in a story about a forest, and that it was arrogant of me to believe any differently. And he told me the story of the forest is better than the story of the tree…I asked God to help me understand the story of the forest and what it means to be a tree in that story.”

Donald Miller, A Million Miles in A Thousand Years

Welcome to Day 2 of Theologizin’ Bigger into my 25th birthday, which is on Friday.

The quote above may come as a surprise as it does not derive from the author whose debut book title “Theologizin’ Bigger: Homilies on Living Freely and Loving Wholly” inspired this series. Still, it introduces an idea so crucial to my understanding of bringing my whole self to the exercise of thinking and feeling things about God.

I teetered on whether to use this quote because of my changing thoughts about its author over the years. But, the idea still very much holds weight in my heart and supports well what I’m trying to communicate in today’s reflection: While theologizin’—integrating my whole self into my efforts to worship, understand, and follow God—gratifies my urge to protest forces that are quick to silence my spiritual perspectives and contributions, I cannot allow self-indulgence to be my guiding principle for theologizin’.

At some point, my aspirations to creatively express my ponderings must render the stories of those I daily encounter just as important as my own. While where I come from is irrefutably crucial to the way I understand divine activity in the world, my background is not the exclusive lens by which I theologize. My net’s gotta be cast a little wider.

I once read a sermon by Martin Luther King Jr. where King stated that we are dependent on over half the world by the time we brush our teeth in the morning. Our bed frames may be made in Europe, our headrests from Asia, our sinks from Africa, and our toothbrushes from Australia, and… well you get the picture. Our reliance on a network much larger than our individual selves and immediate communities is inherent in our daily existence. It just depends on us whether we recognize this truth and receive it as a gift. Many resent it, and it is evident in their crusty theologizin’ habits.

When our intention to theologize changes from a mostly private practice to a communal conversation, we learn to embrace and be embraced by the beloved of God around the world. As a Christian, this shift from thinking my relationship with God was primarily about me, a single tree, securing my future spot in heaven to being more forest-minded, has been hard but already so rewarding. There’s room in God’s kingdom for our healthy perspectives and messy stories to shape our commitment to theologize bigger.

Photo by NASA on Unsplash