Mistake made holy

I cheated on my hairdresser.  I let someone else wax my eyebrows.  Cheating on a hairdresser in some ways is a more serious offense than cheating on your spouse.  And don’t ever try to divorce one either, a hairdresser that is.   It is a painful process.  So, now because of my cheating ways I have a huge chunk of my left eyebrow missing.  And yes it is noticeable.  The lady at the Bobbie Brown counter even casually suggested that she “do my whole face,” when I stopped by just to buy my tube of lipstick.  I have worn that same shade of pink for about 10 years.  She asked, “Honey, I could do your whole face for you in about five minutes and show you Bobbie’s new technique for eyebrows.”  Translation, “You look ridiculous and I am embarrassed for you and want to help.” Justin, my hairdresser, said, before I ever sat down in his chair, “Kathleen, did I do your brows the last time you were here?”  Translation, “WTH, you are starting to sport stripper brows.” I broke down and confessed that I had cheated on him.  He laughed and said, “Well, I can show you a trick till it grows back and how about let’s not ever repeat this mistake.”  I left that day with the mistake corrected. 

I was stunned as I suppose the rest of the Western world and Christendom with Pope’s Benedict’s announcement that he would be resigning the papacy, something that has not happened in 600 years.  I am not sure what a retired Pope does exactly and apparently the Church is not clear on this either.  Things, like what will he wear, how he will be addressed and where will he live and what will he do are on the top of the concern list.  He doesn’t get to take part in the election of the new pope but he did appoint 67 of 117 cardinals who will be at the conclave, so in a way he does influence the outcome quite a bit.  He is a theological conservative.  He reintroduced the Tridentine Mass.  It’s a form of the Roman Rite Mass found in the Roman Missal that was published in 1570.  It was the most widely celebrated mass in the world and celebrated exclusively Latin.  It fell out of use after Vatican II in 1969. 

My protestant theology does not completely agree with the Tridentine Mass but my heart loves the beauty and ceremony of it.  So, had I been pope, I would have re-introduced it as well.  I loved the way Benedict dressed as well. Pope Benedict XVI has re-introduced several papal garments that had fallen into disuse.  He started wearing the red papal sources which had been used since Roman times, but Pope John Paul II preferred brown or black.  He also began wearing the red papal hat which had not been seen since 1963.  I think he may have reminded us by his love of aesthetics that in a world that looks increasingly ugly there is still beauty, whether it is in a Latin chant, an embroidered altarpiece or a cassock.  Beauty reminds us the goodness of God.

I suppose that humans often being humans often second guess their choices and wonder if our choices are mistakes.  Like my eyebrows.  A mistake.  I doubt the Pontiff thinks he made a mistake accepting the office, but some will criticize.  Often our choices are often less than perfect and we suffer the consequences. 

I often wonder if Jesus thinks the Church was a mistake.  A mistake made holy.  The Church certainly doesn’t look like he intended.  In fact, the argument can be made the Church is far from its roots.  It started out as a Jewish community centered on agape relationship.  The relationship was far more important than the doctrine.  The early church struggled with diversity but understood it as a sign of the Holy Spirit.  The followers of Peter and James had walked and talked with Jesus and strived to imitate Jesus.  The story transformed lives.  Jewish practices were central to their worship.  It was not seen as contradictory.  They embraced the paradox and mystery of faith.

Pauline Christianity highlighted the vision of Jesus.  Again, Paul opened the church to the marginalized and taught that love changes heart. The followers of Paul felt the grace of Christ changed hearts and lives and minds.  The story of the Gospels is what transforms not a set of beliefs.  Paul seemed to ask everywhere, “If Christ, then what?”  I don’t think Paul is nearly as polarizing as we like to think, I just think the Church fails to understand him.

The Church struggled in the third and fourth centuries but St. Martin preached the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, and the power of Christ transforms lives. St. Martin preached that living as if the story was true was far more important than believing the story to be true.  St. Martin was not a popular bishop.  He embodied a more egalitarian leadership style and practiced a more humble life than other church leaders of his day. His influence only last a few generations beyond his death.  The church hierachary only tolerated St. Martin and replaced the priests he taught as they died out with more familiar structure of authority.

It was the Celtic Christians of the third and fourth centuries that most intrigues me. They practiced open monasticism.  Many leaders were women.  Celtic Christianity focused on one’s relationship with an anam cara or soul friend, a person with whom one partnered to receive and give unconditional love and unconditional truth and insight.  I could have used one last week to stop me from entrusting eyebrows to a complete stranger.  I also as I am sure we all could, use a soul friend from time to time to address mroe serious concerns.  Celtic communities were focused on helping one live as though they believed. 

These movements were the Church that might have been. They were not perfect any more than the institutionalized church of today. They made mistakes. They lived in tension.

"Christianity started out in Palesitine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosphy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Euroupe and became a culture; it moved to America and became an enterprise."  Sam Pascoe

I suspect that is probably the real miracle of the Church.  It was a mistake, really.  A human construction of what to do with the question, “If Christ, then what?”  How do we live a life like Jesus and how do we live as if our beliefs are true.  It is a mistake made holy.

It is the beauty of Lent.  Recognizing our mistakes, our mortality, our humanity, how often we fail,  our and embracing our brokenness.  But the most important recognition of all...is what God does with all of our mistakes.  Mistakes made holy.