The unchanging faith that is dedicated to change... And, the mystery of Christ.

I like this quote:

Even though our faith may be 2,000 years old, our thinking is not. True progress is a balance between preserving the essence of a certain way of life and changing things that are not essential. Christianity was born a revolutionary faith, and we have preserved that ... Paradoxically, we have succeeded in not changing the faith that is itself dedicated to change
 - His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Christian World.

It reminds me that we need innovative theology in the Christian faith - by innovative theology, I mean theological perspectives that are grounded in the unchanging truths of the the Gospel of Christ, yet flexible enough to find fresh expressions in varied and changing contexts.

Theology, in this vein, is not dry, dead, and static - it is deeply rooted in eternal truth, yet fundamentally relevant to current reality.

I suppose one could say, this is the mystery of the incarnation of Christ?  The archetypal person, Jesus, who is the logos that is present before the creation of the world, is courageous enough to take on human form, to find a fixed expression in time and space by becoming a historical person.  Yet at the same time He remains fully God (and fully human).  What a wonderful, divine, mystery, one ousia with two hypostasis.

It sounds strange to say - and please believe me I do not intend it as vanity - but I have recently been re-reading my book 'Christ at the Centre'.  In that book I attempt to make a strong case for the fact that there can be "no expression of the mystery of God with first having an experience of the mysterious God" (p.10).  In some senses, spirituality is a precursor for good theology, and of course true transformation is the result of good theology.

I continue to live my life in order to fully experience Christ in every situation, person, and task - no matter how grand or humble.