Sunday, January 15th is Martin Luther King weekend and I thought an appropriate time to think about one of the important ideas of the theologian Paul Tillich.
Tillich believe that we encounter the forces of, what he called, Non-being. I want to preach a sermon on what those forces of non-being are, how they hurt us, and how we can confront and defeat them.
Of course, it will be different for each of us but what are some of the forces of non-being?
I think there are people who judge us and who will put us in their box and won't let us become who we are. Those are the factors of non-being and they must be confronted.
I think there are circumstances beyond our control and they continue to put us down. For some of us it is something that happened in the past that we cannot overcome. For some of us it is the fear of the future. We have no control over those things unless we confront them but when we confront them we can defeat them and they must be confronted.
What are the factors in your life that deny you your fullness of being? Is it the past or the future? Is it a job that's dehumanizing or a bias against you? Is it your own insecurity or fear that is a factor that defeats your sense of being?
How do we defeat those forces?
I think we name them and we look beyond them?
What do you think about this?
What are the forces for non-being in your life?
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your ideas with the readers of the blog click on the 'comments" box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
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