About Andrew

Life has been busy, so that could explain the long bout of silence in the blogging, but to be honest, I haven't been stirred by anything much lately... until I listened to Rob Bell -- yep, him again -- quoting this guy, Andrew Sullivan, in his recent sermon about the Force that is behind every living thing. This Andrew guy wrote:

This, it seems to me, is the true mystery of the incarnation, the notion that in Jesus, God became man. I believe this in the only way I can: that one man represents, for all time, God's decision to truly be with us. The reason I call myself a Christian is not because I manage to subscribe, at any given moment, to all the truths that the hierarchy of my church insists I believe in, let alone because I am a good person or a "good Catholic." I call myself a Christian because I believe that, in a way I cannot fully understand, the force behind everything decided to prove itself benign by becoming us, and being with us. And as soon as people grasped what had happened, what was happening, the world changed forever. The Gospels - all of them, including some that were rejected by the early Church - are mere sketches of a life actually lived, and an experience that can never be reduced to words or texts or doctrines...

Naturally, once I'm properly smittened, I look this guy up. I went to his blog. Turns out, he is primarily a political writer. But links later, I found his blog-debate with Sam Harris, the rising spokesperson for atheism, who is also a very strong, intelligent writer. And then I couldn't stop reading. It's not a relaxing piece of reading, nor is it 'urgent.' You might find it moving, though, like I did, to encounter two highly articulate, contemporary people engaging in a real, passionate debate. I even prefer the forum of letter-writing for stuff like this, because you can track back. I'm sure Sam and Andrew can kick each other's ass on stage, too, but there is something very - I dunno - civil, erudite, about writing.