Raven 43: The Dark Side

Lutheran pastor Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber once said: "Theologically I'm not liberal. What I see in a lot of what would be categorized as liberal theology is what we call a high anthropology, which is a very high opinion of human beings and what we can accomplish, like 'All the good of God is inside of you!' And I'm like, 'Are you kidding? It's dark in there!'" At a talk I once attended, Bolz-Weber mentioned that her path had led her briefly to Unitarian Universalism. She quipped, "Unitarians are so cute. They have this high, high view of human goodness. It's like they never read the paper." She's looking at you, Woodpecker!

Case

Next day, Woodpecker came around when Raven was cleaning up after a windstorm, and asked, "Do you think I could be a teacher?"
Raven looked her over. "What's the dark side?" she asked.
Woodpecker hesitated. "I'm not sure there is one," she said.
Raven turned away, saying "Then how can you be a teacher?"

Verse

"All in all, you're just another brick in the wall" (Pink Floyd)

Something doesn't and something does love a wall.
Protecting, preserving, nurturing --
Isolating, trapping --
Defining.
Liberation requires containment.
Your bounds manifest the boundless.
But how can a brick know how it is important
And how it isn't?

Case by Robert Aitken; introduction and verse by Meredith Garmon

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