The Gospel

Trading Kleos Aphthiton for Kharis Aphthiton

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses.  You are saved by grace [kharis]!  ~ Ephesians 2:4-5

I let a week lapse between this and my last post, and I thought about not posting this at all and calling it a season.  But it wouldn’t stay quiet, and I knew I would get nothing done if I failed to heed the call.  Also, it fits quite nicely after my last post.

In my last post, I talked about how the reason for the manger was the cross and resurrection of the Messiah.

But the reason for the Cross was to give us kharis aphthiton – undying grace.

This is not a phrase you’ll find anywhere, but I liked the word play with kleos, and  kleos aphthiton – undying glory – IS a phrase, and a very important one to the ancient Greeks…

(more…)

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sleeping beloved

The Sleeping Beloved Saga

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.”  So the LORD God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement.  So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place.  Then the LORD God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.  And the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ’woman,’ for she was taken from man.” ~ Genesis 2:18-23

I wanted to end my Sleeping Beloved saga where we began.  It was a cyclical journey, after all…

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sleeping beloved

Maleficent: From Villain to Savior

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her.  Then I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope.  And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. ~ Hosea 2:14, 15

Once again, this post contains spoilers from Disney’s 2014 Maleficent…

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Phillip: A Better Troylus

It’s written in our hearts to long for a Warrior-Lover.  We long to be worth fighting for, to be worth the struggle.  It’s also written in our hearts to be a warrior-lover for someone else – to fight passionately for our beloved, no matter the cost.  We want to be both the beloved and the warrior-lover, and in God’s story, we get to be.  He is our Warrior-Lover, who saw us as worth fighting for, even unto death.  Likewise, after experiencing such lavish love, we are called to be warrior-lovers to those around us – to show them the same love shown to us.

And yet, we don’t always feel like we have a Warrior-Lover, and often we fail to be warrior-lovers ourselves…

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sleeping beloved

Love-Based Identity

Before the hedge, our Sleeping Beloved is simply called “the Princess.”  She has no name – no separate identity.  She has a mask of deeds to hide her heart behind, and takes drastic actions in trying to awaken her sleeping heart.  

But then a briar hedge begins to grow.  It protects “the Princess” from harm – in this case, from men who would come upon her in her sleeping state (like in the first two versions).   She is given a new name based on that which protects her: Briar Rose…

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Deed-Based Identity

In each version of our story, we’ve seen how the identity of the Sleeping Beloved has been destroyed or challenged – it’s why she needs to be awakened by love in the first place; however, I haven’t made a practice of pointing it out.  There was just too much going on in those stories to focus on the undercurrent theme of identity.

With the Grimms’ version, the theme takes center stage.  I talked in my last post about how our Princess wears a beautiful, perfect mask – a mask made of deeds to earn love.  She is able to live behind her mask for a while…but then, something snaps…

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sleeping beloved

Behind the Mask

And so, our Sleeping Beloved travels back to her native Germanic roots (a connection Wilhelm Grimm made as well).  However, she has changed drastically since her ancestress Brunhilde was placed in a deep sleep for disobeying an order from the All-Father.  This “new” Sleeping Beauty is…well, perfect. 

Maybe it’s because I grew up in the post-feminist world, or perhaps it’s because I’ve made my fair share of mistakes.  Either way, I’m cynical.  Well good for her.  She’s the good girl.  Everyone loves her.  She’s beautiful and modest; kind and clever.  I bet she wakes up with perfect hair, too…

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The Final Victory

So ends the “original” tale of Sleeping Beauty: the enemy is vanquished and all are allowed to live in peace and contentment. 

I love how in both the Sleeping Beauty story and Revelation, the victory comes suddenly, almost unexpectedly, and in the nick of time.  The fear of the young queen and her children is palpable – “minions” are about to throw them into a vat of vile creatures.  The “beloved city” is under siege from the forces of darkness.  There is no escaping their fate…

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The Last Battle

The triumphal entry has occurred…and so Sleeping Beauty lives happily ever after, right?  Nope.  There’s still the ogress mother-in-law to deal with.  There’s still one more enemy left to fight. 

This portion of Perrault’s tale mirrors Talia’s story…

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The Triumphant Entry

I love the image of our Sleeping Beauty claiming her rightful place beside her bridegroom.  I imagine her entering with joyful tears in her eyes.  After all this time, she is finally going to be united with her true love.  This, this is what she has been waiting for…and I can’t help but think that it is so much sweeter because of the wait.

As I say that, I’m acutely aware of how painful the waiting can be.   For while we wait, we must grapple with the possibility that what we hope for may not come true…

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