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Monday, November 26, 2007
Tuesday Book DIscussion: The End of Memory week 4
On page 110, Volf states based the human tendency to commit injustice, we have two unacceptable options:

"We can simpy disregard justice (as Nietzche did) and abandon the world to the interplay of forces, thus plunging the unprotected weak into suffering; or we can insist on the relentless pursuit of justice and end up with a "rectified" world-in-ruins, a world completely torn apart by the unsparing hands of retributive justice."

The third option (drum roll for this big shocker, please) is forgiveness. Volf writes,

"In the memory of the Passion we honor victims even while extending grace to perpetrators. shouldering the wrongdoing done to sufferers, God identifies it truthfully and condemns it justly."

Although Volf argues for an ultimate healing where offenses no longer comes to mind because love has entirely suffused and reconciled the human community with one another in and with God, he is careful to point out that "one should never demand of the those who have suffered wrong that they "forget" and move on....Any forgetting other than that which grows out of a healed relationship between the wrongdoer and the wronged in a transformed social environment should be mistrusted."

Clearly this works for catastrophic and clear cut wrongs, but what about the smaller offenses where perceptions plays a huge role not only in memory but in interpretation?

I've thought of this idea recently and wondered, since God *could* forgive without the cross, because God is God, if part of the atonement is to both honor the victim by validating the inexcusability of the wrongdoing, while offering grace to the one who does wrong. And in situations where memories differ and it's a game of he said, she said, then if God in Jesus died for ALL sin, God covers whoever *deserved* (from our human standpoint) punishment, and we all are called to show grace to ourselves and one another, even when we disagree about who was wrong, who was more wrong etc.

1. Is there a sense in which, in God you can either be right or your can be happy (because God in Christ has made all things right)?

2. What criteria do you use to decide what truths/memories are worth fighting for and what can be let go and healed by a general appropriation of the Passion with its grace and its humbling effect on all people?

On page 171 Volf analyzes Kierkegaard's depiction of three women abandoned by their lovers, who act as forgiving as a good Christian possibly could, yet remain largely unhealed and despairing. The women are un-liberated by their forgiving actions because "the bond between the lover and the beloved is 'an alliance of self-love that shuts God out.' As a result of this selfish idolatry, the self of each woman is left unprotected and subject to the mercy of her fickle lover."

3. In what situations have you deluded yourself into thinking you were selflessly loving another but in actuality you were putting a human love ahead of keeping your ultimate identity in God, to your own detriment?

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posted by Jemila Kwon at 7:34 PM ¤ Permalink ¤ 7 comments
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Book Discussion Week 3: The End of Memory by Miroslav Volf
This week we’re continuing the conversation about memory, forgiving and reconciliation discussed in Volf’s book. About the middle of the book, Volf moves toward what he considers the overarching theme that guides memory and the redemption of relationships. With that in mind, let’s begin today’s discussion.

Pages 87-92 – in this section, Volf begins talking about moving from the process of remembering to action based on memory. He discusses Tzvetan Todorov’s idea of exemplary memory, memory that moves toward action in that it learns from past wrongs and seeks justice in future similar situations

Volf believes the concept of exemplary memory is hollow. He states, “As a rule, it is not that we fail to draw lessons, but too often in a way that tramples justice underfoot and fans the fires of conflict rather than fighting injustice justly and promoting peace.” pg. 93

What are examples that you have seen where memory serves as a lesson that is applied to future situations? Have those lessons encouraged the fighting of injustice by promoting peace or by returning wrong for wrong?

Volf believes that in order to act justly, even in the face of wrong, sacred memory is necessary. For him, sacred memory is found in the meta-narrative of the redemption found in the Exodus and Passion stories. For Volf, sacred memory provides the space to understand ourselves, our community, our future and ultimately, God.

“Memories of these pivotal events from sacred history, I suggest, should serve as the broad framework that regulates how we remember wrongs suffered in our everyday lives.” pg. 94

Volf posits that redemption and love are the themes found in the Exodus and Passion stories, and when rightly understood, they change everything. There is one quote, in particular, that I would like to share.

“…the memory of the Exodus guards against the tendency to pursue healing at the expense of others. Even though God is the God of Israel, God is not a private deity to be placed at the service of particular interests; rather, God desires the flourishing of all peoples… We cannot consistently worship the God of Exodus while pursuing our own healing by oppressing or injuring others.” pg. 109

This quote challenges me. Often times I feel wronged and react to pursue my own health, to the detriment of others. But, like Jemila last week, I wonder how this forgiveness and right action really works in a broken world. Volf states earlier, “After all, suffering inflicted by others is an assault against the conviction that we live in a moral universe.” pg. 91

Living within the disappointment of a broken world, but resting in the hope of God’s love and redemption seems to be the crucial understanding. How have you seen that work out in circumstances you have been involved in? Is it difficult or easy for you to remember and act in light of God’s redemptive work through history and why? How would our actions as individuals and within our faith communities differ if we really understood that God desires the flourishing of all peoples?

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posted by Amy at 12:12 PM ¤ Permalink ¤ 3 comments
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Book Discussion week 2: The End of Memory by Miroslav Volf
Hi Women friends (and friends of women,) sorry for the delay on the book discussion post.

1. On pages 50-53, Miroslav Volf describes a moral obligation to remember truthfully and illustrates this point with examples of events remembered in an inaccurate order. Volf connects this with the biblical injunction not to bear false witness. Do you think remembering the correct order of events is an important feature of remembering truthfully? How do you think the biblical authors viewed the importance of factual truth and neat histories?

2. On page 65 Volf writes,

"to 'cover' or 'forget' wrongs, we must remember them in the first place!...the purpose of truthful memory is not simply to name acts of injustice, and certainly not to hold an unalterable past forever fixed in the forefront of a person's mind. Instead, the highest aim of lovingly truthful memory seeks to bring about the repentance, forgiveness, and transformation of wrongdoers, and reconciliation between wrongdoers and their victims.
When these goals are achieved, memory can let go of offenses without ceasing to be truthful. For then remembering truthfully will have reached its ultimate goal in the unhindered love of neighbor."

I think this is a beautiful exposition of the ideal situation (given that people/communities hurt and get hurt,) but what about situations of what is known is pyschology as magical thinking occurs, where an abuser seems to change and the victim believes it, and then the cycle of abuse happens over and over again? What does it mean to remember rightly in such situations of contrition and promise of change without lasting transformation? I know many of us have faced person situations where this is relevant and I am looking forward to any practical as well as reflective insights on what it means to love, forgive, remember or forget in these situations.

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posted by Jemila Kwon at 3:29 PM ¤ Permalink ¤ 4 comments
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Book Discussion: The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly In a Violent World
This month we are looking at memory and how the ways we recall painful things can lead to grace or its opposite. Miroslav Volf's book, Remembring Rightly looks at how memory of sin can serve good or evil, and whether it is an ultimate and eternal part of responding to experience or part of a process of healing that will, at least in eternity lead to forgetting. You can read a summary and review of Remembering Rightly here.

1. Have you ever had an argument because of a different memory or interpretation of memory about a hurtful event or series of events?

2. How has memory helped you become a better lover of God and people?

3. How has memory been a stumbling block in the way of grace and healing?

Here's a quote I found espcially poignant:

"In memory, a wrongdoing often does not remain an isolated stain on the character of the one who committed it; it spreads over and colors his entire character" (p 15)

4. What practical ways can we invite God to help keep our memories and interpretations of events seasoned with salt and light?

5 Did you uncover any provocative quotes you'd like to share, or angles that would be helpful for us to explore?

Feel free to get into this topic even if you haven't read the book; the important thing is to wrestle with the ideas! :)

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posted by Jemila Kwon at 12:15 AM ¤ Permalink ¤ 5 comments