Receiving Gifts - E7 - Narrative Theology

Instead of a binary decision between accepting gifts without discernment, or blocking them without engagement (neither of which would make for good improv theatre), there is also a third option, that of over-accepting, which focuses on the way we receive the gift.  

Rather than focus on what the gift IS, or what the gift is FOR, or even whether it is good or bad, we can focus on what the gift COULD BE.  In the context of narrative theology, how can this gift be understood in a faithful way?  What does the way we accept the gift say about the kind of people that we are and want to be?  What can this gift become in the larger story of God as we move the narrative forward towards the final and fifth act?

Fr Yuri and Fr Geoffrey discuss the idea of "over-accepting", an active way of receiving that allows us to keep our identity and our relevance in the story, while being faithful to the story that has already unfolded and the story that is yet to come. 

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What is Enacting the Kingdom?

Welcome to ‘Enacting the Kingdom’: A Podcast about Liturgical Worship.

Fr. Yuri Hladio is an Orthodox Christian Priest with a life-long desire to keep learning. Fr. Geoffrey holds a doctorate in Liturgical Theology and is the co-director of the Orthodox School of Theology at the University of Toronto. Together they explore the liturgical services of the Orthodox Christian Church.