Imagine swallowing
your saliva.
Do it.
Now imagine spitting
in a cup.
Imagine swallowing
that spit.
Do it.
Imagine hugging
yourself.
Do it.
Now imagine hugging
someone
you despise.
Do it.
It’s all in your mind.
…
Nonaligned faith and practice in the present
Imagine swallowing
your saliva.
Do it.
Now imagine spitting
in a cup.
Imagine swallowing
that spit.
Do it.
Imagine hugging
yourself.
Do it.
Now imagine hugging
someone
you despise.
Do it.
It’s all in your mind.
Kenosis
Posted on 6.05.2015
I am tired of myself.
And not, let me say,
in any morbid, psychopathological sense.
(And why do we so quickly go there?
I’ve become impatient with the mental health frame and worry.
How everything is shadowed
by diagnoses and the fear
of being mentally ill.
Because really,
who among us is healthy?
Let me be sick for a moment.
If that is
Richard Beck is Professor and Department Chair of Psychology at Abilene Christian University, as well as author and blogger.
His blog Experimental Theology explores the interface of Christian theology and psychology, with a particular focus on how existential issues affect Christian belief and practice. For example, he has spent enormous amounts of time writing about the theology of Calvin and Hobbes.
Beck’s most recent blog post is “The Psalms as Liberation Theology.”
…Richard Beck publishes a powerful blog called Experimental Theology, about which he writes:
The title of this space comes from two places. First, as a research psychologist I try to integrate theology with the experimental social sciences. Second, many of the essays here are theological experiments, exploratory and provisional essays that do not necessarily represent my views on matters of faith or ethics.
His June 18th post arises from leading a weekly bible study at a
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