May 12, 2010

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

I often hum the song that the title of my blog is from even though it's before my time, but I'm thinking of different kind of sign now.

A common theme that has been occurring lately is that of signs not being the reality but pointing to the reality. This message has been utilized to drive home many points such as interpretations from the Scriptures all the way to ceremonies and rituals performed in the church. The overall message is that none of these ceremonies, rituals, symbols are necessary for salvation. However, it is important to acknowledge that they can be a means of grace for individuals.

It seems that the point we always seem to hit is where we no longer view the rituals as simply a means of grace and start viewing them as necessary for our faith. Then of course there is also the danger of doing them out of routine; the dreaded "that's how we've always done it" response. Now, don't get me wrong I'm not advocating tossing it all out the window. In fact I'm one of those annoying people that you have to work hard to convince to change anything....should I admit that in writing? I think there's enough evidence out there regardless. What I do advocate is the remembrance that these ceremonies, rituals, symbols are signs, pointing to the reality of God's grace, love and forgiveness in our lives. The knowledge that they themselves are not anywhere close to the reality because nothing we can do could ever possibly come close to showing the reality of God.

Well, that's me out on a limb for today. Hope everyone has a good one!

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