Generous Orthodoxy
December 15, 2004
Dear Friends
Yesterday was my 29th wedding anniversary which is not significant of itself other than giving me the opportunity to reflect on 10,593 days of grace, and the generosity of the one person who has been willing to embrace my idiosyncrasies and find me loveable.
On the first day of our service at Good Hope College near Cape Town I recall being bemused by the Principal’s prayer that ‘God would help us to love the unlovable’. The school was surrounded by squalid squatter camps filled with victims scarred by poverty, substance abuse, disease and the consequences of discrimination. It may not be correct, but it is never the less true that there are people whose depravity makes them hard to love! Conversely it may be the case that we construct our lives so exclusively as pristine Christians that we too, become hard to love!
Generosity is a theme that attracts my attention. It is a value that I promote on the one hand among members and donors, but it is also a corrective to the scrooge propensities that reside as the occupational hazard of Treasurers! Brian Maclaren has recently published a book called Generous Orthodoxy. He recognises the need for Christians to be orthodox in their belief and their behaviour, but he appeals for generosity in our acceptance of those that differ from us and suggests that our validity lies more in what we are prepared to do (and to be) for others, beyond self-serving ministry.
During this season each of us will generously endow those we love, not because it is a duty, or to address their needs. We have a need to be generous as a gift outgoing. The Christmas message and the theme of the season is for us to extend our regard to those of opposite persuasion, of opposite welfare, and of opposite identity.
May God continue to bless you and your dearest.
Victor Pilmoor
Treasurer