🛠️Weekend Wisdom: The Great Reversal
Easter's divine paradox: finding hope in uncertainty, strength in vulnerability, and resurrection in life's reversals
Dear friends and family,
As we journey through Holy Week, one theme has emerged across our exploration: the great reversal at the heart of our faith. From Good Friday's darkness to Easter's dawn, we encounter a God who turns our expectations upside down.
This Week's Insights
Our week began with an unplanned response to an editorial in The Dispatch about American decline, exploring how a resurrection lens offers hope beyond decline narratives.
From there, our journey took us through several key themes:
Faith vs. Certainty
In Monday’s theological exploration, We reconsidered faith not as blind certainty, but as trust amid uncertainty. Like the disciples during that first Holy Week, we're invited into a faith that holds both trust and questions in creative tension.
Weight-Bearing Faith
Tuesday's personal essay - Sajeena’s favorite - used barbell training as a metaphor, we explored how faith grows stronger under appropriate resistance. Doubt and difficulty don't weaken faith – they strengthen it.
Duty as Covenant Participation
On Wednesday, I examined how covenant offers a richer framework than contract, where duty springs from relationship. Jesus exemplifies this in Holy Week, fulfilling his mission through loving commitment.
America's Diverse Theological Heritage
Thursday's essay reminded us that America's religious history is far more diverse than nationalist narratives suggest. Recovering suppressed stories helps us resist theological distortions.
Emergency Commission on Patriotic History
Friday's satirical piece exposed how religious-political formations often seek to control which stories are told and which are suppressed.
The Great Reversal
These threads converge in Easter's message. God reveals divine presence in weakness and trust in a world fixated on power and certainty. The disciples' triumph expectations became a cross, yet God was bringing redemption in this reversal.
Practicing the Reversal
Easter invites us to participate in this great reversal:
Embracing trust over certainty
Finding strength in vulnerability
Building covenant relationships
Recovering complex truths
Surrendering control
Find accessible explanations and practical steps in this week’s Simply Said and Participatory Freedom Practices posts on our Substack.
Simply Said (For Youth): Faith vs. Certainty
Practicing Participatory Freedom: Covenant Relationships
As we move through these sacred days, may we notice God's reversals in our lives—bringing hope to despair, possibility to dead ends, and resurrection to tombs.
With you on the journey, Craig
Weekend Wisdom is a Saturday digest that brings together the threads from our week's exploration. Each edition includes "Simply Said" (making complex theology accessible) and "Practicing Participatory Freedom" (practical applications for daily life).
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