Ronnie McBrayer

A Tale of Two Tales, Part 2

In this second part of "A Tale of Two Tales," Ronnie continues his discussion of Genesis 1 and 2, fusing with it the Creation Psalms (8, 19, and 33), and summary of the Church's ongoing - but necessary - suspicion of science. Ronnie says, "We live in a universe so vast - so massive - that we cannot comprehend it. It is useless, almost, to even share the data. Yet, the cosmos has been this enormous, this incredible, the whole time - we just didn’t know it. And when I say the whole time, I mean for all of human history and for at least the last 13 billion years. Yet, if the universe is this incredible, what does that say about God? That God doesn’t exist? You could credibly come to that conclusion. We could have spirited, unceasing debate about it - believers, skeptics, agnostics, and atheists. But for those who believe in God as Creator: This God is more spectacular than you ever dreamed possible."
 

A Tale of Two Tales, Part 1

"The story of Genesis 1 and 2 is a story of two stories, a tale of two tales, about creation," so Ronnie proposes in this first of two talks on the subject. Ronnie invites 21st Century believers and skeptics to consider anew the questions being asked and answered at the outset of the Hebrew Scriptures. Straight to the point, he says: "We cannot read these two chapters literally; the people who wrote them didn’t. We cannot read these as historical; the Jewish community didn’t. We cannot read them as scientific; that was impossible for people living during the Iron Age. Rather, let’s do what our spiritual ancestors did. Let’s tell two stories. Let's open our hearts to all of God’s revelation: For I am proposing that spirituality and science are two different languages speaking to one, single reality" (Reading by Anna Balfour; artwork by Elena Mozhvilo).
 

We Got Spirit

From Ronnie's talk on Acts 2 for Pentecost Sunday: "A major challenge - a genuine problem when it comes to our religious institutions - is predictability. Everything can be so rote, mechanical. Expected. Boring, if you like. Dead. No joy, no laughter, no life. I’m not saying churches or denominations should intentionally 'mix it up,' or that they should throw out their liturgy or their well-established typical order of service. Because order and routine can be comforting. I am saying that they - we - denominations - churches - individuals - we must be open to the Spirit of God. We must let God work - even when - especially when - it surprises us or catches us off guard."
 
*Artwork is “Pentecost” by Jen Norton

King of Kings

"Acts 1, traditionally read on Ascension Sunday, is not about Jesus floating away into the ether. This is a story about power; a story about a different kind of power, a power opposite of today’s brand of pseudo-Christianity driven by ambition (which is the same violence that fueled the Crusades). The moment one uses force, coercion, strong-arm tactics, or manipulation in the name of Jesus, that is the precise moment one denies Jesus...Jesus rises to heaven so his people will be empowered - not be put into power. His intent is to heal the world, not take it over. To help, not harm; to restore, not simply rule; to harmonize, not to hate; to bind together, not tear apart; to set people free - mind, body, and spirit - not to limit, intimidate, enslave or prop up the empires of this world, held together by the rubber bands and paper clips of greed, violence, and the exploitation of the weak by the strong." - RM

Teach Your Children Well

Fusing the cautionary tale of Jesus from Matthew 18 with the prophetic words of the late Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Ronnie speaks of "teaching our children well." This talk sounds an alarm on the dangers of hate, how it is passed along to younger generations, and how we all have a role - a duty - to resist it.

Get Together

In a talk spanning from Thomas Cahill's summary of ancient Ireland to what William Miller playfully calls, "Refrigerator Rights," Ronnie speaks from Acts 2:42-47 on the importance of genuine community: "Even if you have just one, two or three others - a precious few, whose hearts are bound together with yours on the journey - it becomes enough to get you through the hardest of times. It will be enough social glue for the center to hold. It will  attach skin and bones to the abstract. It will bring the presence of God to bear in the world...and it just might save you...your town...your country. It might save civilization itself." 
 
 

Walking Blues

Two of Jesus' disciples took to walking the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) with the blues. Their journey ended with the unexpected. Ronnie says, "This is one of the more remarkable post-resurrection accounts in the New Testament. There are so many opinions, interpretations, applications, observations, and themes here. It is like the proverbial blind men reaching out to describe an elephant. we can only take in parts of it." But the part Ronnie centers on in this dark is how Jesus met these travelers right where they were - in doubt, confusion, and grief. He embraced them - joined them - not demanding that they come to him.

Ring of Fire

Speaking from 1 Peter 1:3-9, Ronnie talks about the role of struggle and suffering in our lives: "There is no gold without the fire. There is no remaking or remolding without the hammer and the anvil...There are no short cuts; no quick fixes; no easy exits. The only challenge is making it today - not tomorrow or next week; the only task is what is - not what could be, might be, or should of been; and the only way out is through - not getting around it, not getting over it - but going into it, and out the other side. Faith - and whatever it is about us that will be eternal - is made and built this way." 

The Dream of the Rood, Easter 2023

“The Dream of the Rood” is an ancient Christian poem, written in Old Anglo-Saxon English. It is a story-telling, meaning-making, Jesus-explaining tale that was shared by word of mouth in a time when Anglo-Saxons, largely could not read - and they certainly didn’t have a runic translation of the Bible. We don’t know who wrote this poem. It’s likely we will never know. But if you are an English-speaker, this poem is one of the earliest known tellings of the gospel in our language. Reflect upon this ancient story in union with Colossians 2 and 3. Happy Easter!

Sympathy for the Devil? Or at Least for Judas.

From the Palm Sunday Reading of Matthew 26, and based on a song by the legendary Woody Guthrie, Ronnie takes an off-center look at Judas Iscariot. He says, "All the disciples believed that Jesus going to Jerusalem at Passover was for the purpose of pulling some messianic rabbit out of his hat. Now, the kingdom would come, as Jesus, like Clark Kent, would explode from a phone booth, revealing his super-human powers. But it didn’t happen. Jesus failed. Jesus lost. Jesus was overcome. And strangely, the words they mocked Jesus with as he hung on the cross became true: 'He saved others…but could not save himself.' Judas cannot live with himself. When they laid Jesus in that grave, Judas  chose to crawl into the grave with Jesus - unable to see or understand what would happen just hours later, on Easter morning."