I love this guy...
Richard Beck on Ghosts:
"When it comes to God, more than anything else, people are wrestling with ghosts.
And by that I mean people are wrestling with their past. Their home. Their church. Their early and formative experiences with God. These ghosts are ever present. They haunt every conversation about God, faith, and the church. Nine times out of 10, if someone expresses a view about the church they are talking about a ghost. Some residual hurt that has never healed. Nine times out of 10, if someone expresses a view about God they are talking about a ghost. A parent. A church. A preacher.
Ghosts haunt it all. So much so it’s hard sometimes to tell when we are talking theologically or therapeutically. The wounds of the past spill forward into any conversation about the life of faith."
I don't think it's only negative history like wounds, positive events and memories inform our views too.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
ReplyDeleteBut given that Dr. Beck is a rather popular blogger on the subject of Christian Theology, you can bet your last eyedropper of distilled, hallucinogenic mushrooms that he gets a fair bit of intense "conversation" directed at him from the wounded many.
In my own discussions with those who are angry at the church, I hear a lot of scary ghosts - but there are good ghosts, too, you're right. Comforting ones.