How can you live in the tension of the ‘now, and not yet?’ Oliver Hersey and J.R. Briggs, author of The Sacred Overlap - Learning to Live in the Space In Between reflect on the mystery of the Christian life, as it relates to prayer, community and difficult questions we wrestle with.
Briggs said “If you think about the overlapped life – it’s kind of like closing one eye. You can still see, but your depth perception and your peripheral vision is skewed significantly. We need both eyes in order to see with sharpness, clarity and depth.”
He talks about the “mandorla,” an almond shaped frame of light that surrounds holy persons in Christian art. Briggs said this concept has been around for a long time. He pointed out that the trinity symbol, includes the mandorla, two overlapping circles with a space in between.
Briggs argued that Western culture is uncomfortable with the mystery of faith, due to the Enlightenment. He said “Eastern culture is much more comfortable with mystery, and not having everything solved. That’s the world that Jesus grew up in. If we only understand Him on facts, but we don’t let Him be God in the mystery, we really miss out.”
J.R. Briggs is the founder of Kairos Partnerships. He hosts the Resilient Leaders podcast, and serves on the board of directors for Jerusalem University College.
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Produced by Kelsey Bowse, edited by Alex Carter
