Here I stand.....

 

"Here I stand I can do no other" Martin Luther

Today I was sadly reminded by a dear friend of how easily I can be legitimately viewed as potentially irreverent and offensive when I talk about Christianity and the Church. I took no pleasure or offense in that reminder, but I confess I was fully aware before, during and after each time I posted on the Blogespehre of the potential to be misunderstood or to offend and I willingly ran that risk to be yet another voice in the world today.

I started the "Robert the Irish guy" Blog in response to the concerns that some of my comments on the YLC St. Louis blog caused could be viewed as on behalf of Young Life as a whole. I never dreamt that anyone could imagine my views were representative of our organization and I quickly removed all the posts I'd made to ensure no one could make that erroneous connection.

And ironically the main reason I started writing a blog was because many of my friends repeatedly encouraged me to allow a wider audience the option to hear my voice express yet another opinion on current issues being discussed inside and outside Christianity.

When I did start writing a Blog it was inspite of having recognized the serious limitations that a Blog places upon me in regards to how I am understood and how little I can positively control how my words are received by those who read this Blog.

I'm a writer and as such I have a "voice." This literary term denotes the unique tone, tempo, and tenor of a writer's written words. It includes influences from cultural, socioeconomic, educational, racial and family of origins as well as that indecipherable element I believe God put into the writer.

I have such a "voice" and as the years have passed I've become more comfortable with it and with the reactions to it. For the longest time I was deeply ashamed of who I was and how I was perceived by those around me. For years I'd try to fit other people's standards at the expense of even a rudimentary authenticity to my own voice.

But over time I came to the realization that this world needs many different kinds of voices if it is to see the whole of the world and all that is within it. In that realization has come a semblance of peace about the myriad reactions to my own unique contribution to Humanity's choir of voices. I'm more tolerant and empathetic towards those who dislike or are disconcerted by my voice as well as more tolerant and patient with my own dislike and disconnection with other people's voices.

So because of having a dear friend gently and compassionately bring this problem of my potentially disconcerting communication style to my attention today I was thinking about my voice/style and that led me to a desire to share with those of you who read this Blog a little of my own soul. In seeking to achieve this end I wondered about how best to show you all how it is I see my own voice and I hit upon the picture above as a great example of how I both hear and speak to the world around me.

The picture was taken by me in Florence, Italy, I loved it at first glance and took it, partly because I knew it would provoke my many dear friends who are Lutheran pastors and partly because I adored the total irreverence inherent in the graffiti artist's defamation of an iconic figure.

I have a great reverence for Martin Luther and the incredible moral courage it took to stand before his world's Church leaders and say he disagreed with how things were in the House of God. "Here I stand I can do no other" is reputedly what Martin Luther said to his superiors at the Imperial Diet of Worms in the Spring of 1521. Ignoring the disputed historicity of the actual words, I think it is safe to claim that it is undeniable that the words reflect the essence of Luther's actions and attitude.


While I'm not attempting to attribute Luther's level of impact to my own words and actions I do see him as a role model for how one can stand up to what they see as abuse and hypocrisy in an institution they are committed to serve and honor.

If you read this Blog and feel at times I'm too general in my condemnation or too offensively sweeping in my perceptions I beg you for an indulgence as my words come from a passion to see Humanity and Christianity live up to our greatest potential rather than stoop to our lowest potential.

But despite those lofty origins I accept and confess that they are filtered through an irreverent and often blunt Irishman whose "voice" can be abrasive, simplistic and as intolerant as the graffiti artist who defamed the image of a mighty icon of courage and conviction.

So,"here I stand" whether I'm being Luther-like or Graffiti Artist-like, and I'm incredibly grateful for friends who are willing to sit with me and gently remind me of the potential damage my words can cause and who love me despite my prolific tendency to deface iconic images from Christianity's past and present. To my friend who shared his heart today I publicly and seriously say "thank you" for taking to time and effort to share your heart with an irreverent Irishman.