Grace and Meatballs

Concluding Thoughts

As I engage each of these mediums, my brain hurts. It’s a good mind stretch, similar to working out muscles that have been left to atrophy. But with any paradigm shift of thinking, I find myself wondering how I can utilize this information in a valuable, meaningful and significant manner. But then I realize that part of this process of Pop Culture and Theology is simply that – a process. “You figure out a puzzle, you solve a problem, but you kneel in a mystery.” (Leonard Sweet) In the week of this class, I found myself kneeling quite a bit.

While struggling through how to listen and decode pop culture, I also found myself more energized than any class I’ve taken in seminary to discuss this topic, with anyone who would be willing to stay engaged. In fact, one of our class days, I nearly stopped on my run to ask a guy about the name of the band on the back of his shirt. I realized I had a place to dialogue. The good news of Jesus Christ has become truly good news because I see how we are all asking for the kind of relationship that he offers. The entry points make sense now.

When I’m reading a book for seminary, I usually read a lighter fare alongside. Interestingly, I was reading Anne Lamott’s “Plan B:Further Thoughts on Faith” alongside “Matrix of Meanings.” The two thoughts processes coincided often. As closure for what I gained from this class, Anne’s statement about grace hit the mark:
“Maybe this is what grace is, the unseen sounds that make you look up. I think it’s why we are here, to see as many chips of blue sky as we can bear. To find the diamond hearts within one another’s meatballs. To notice flickers of the divine, like dust motes on sunbeams in your dusty kitchen. Without all the shade and shadows, you’d miss the beauty of the veil.” P. 162