Credos

I've been rethinking Creeds lately. The thing that strikes me about creeds is that they have an ability to connect us to those who have come before. But its more than that really...well it used to be. See I've thinking that our ancient brothers and sisters in Christ believed that that their hearts were actually the center of their being. Unlike mondern understanding that the brain contains what makes us human (the ability to speak language, think complex thoughts, etc.), for the ancient Christian "belief" meant committing the heart to. A literal translation here makes me think merely of committing my heart and my love to that belief. But committing the central essense of our being to something is different (for me anyways).

So a creed could be...

I committ my heart - that which is my center...my every essence of my being to God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth...

I committ my heart - that which is my center...my every essense of my being to Jesus Christ...

I committ my heart - that which is my center...my every essence of my being to the church...

AMEN.

[a thought about "church" in this use. For myself I have to think about "church" as the followers of Christ and not simply a particular tradition or denomination. In this way I'm confessing to committ myself to the struggle, tension, messiness of being in relationship with people]