If I had a favorite theologian, Frederick Buechner would be right up there. I have most of his books and they are in threads. I love "Wishful Thinking" if, for no other reason that it has one line in it!
"All theology, like all fiction, is, at its heart, autobiography!" Later, in The Sacred Journey, he added, " The place God takes you to is where your deep gladness and world's deep hunger, meet!"
I love both of those lines. I believe them both. I believe that Paul was changed by watching the stoning of Stephen followed by a verification of the experience on the Damascus Road. We are molded and formed theologically by the sum of knock-down, drag out experiences we have had, good and bad. My theology was formed in Charleston, daughter of a preacher, who watched our bigoted society deal with integration. I was taught by example that all people are created equal and I cling to that theology and can do nothing else. I married, had children and worked in a public university for over 30 years. I was exposed to greed, selfishnesness, kindness, betrayal and all the rest of human emotions and, when I was good, I opted for holding out for the good. I believe the first verse I ever learned, "God is good!" I have found nothing to supplant that theology even though I have changed the way I live out my theology.
I want to continue to find meaning in my theological positions. I want to fight the injustices I run across in my business of living. I do not want to lay down and play dead for the rest of the time I am on earth. I want to be there for somebody every day more than I want them to be there for me. I want to write my thoughts, and think, so that someday, someone will understand what I felt when my hunger and gladness met!
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