James talks about Christianity having been thought of as grasping onto a theory about what God has done for us and then acting according to a moral code. Is that what Christianity has been like for you? How or how not?
Until relatively recently, Christianity has been a theory/belief system that was to inform my behavior, exactly as James articulates.
What is your relationship to the Bible? Do you think of it as an act of communication from God?
My understanding of the Bible has (and continues) to evolve. I see it as a human record of human beings wrestling with their understanding of G-d, and I also see it as G-d’s attempt to communicate with us something about us and something about G-d. I see G-d as the still, small voice that is beckoning us to do justice and mercy.
James says that habits are what make excellence possible.
What beneficial practices have you been inducted into?
Prayer, meditation, recovery, service, forgiveness.
Who inducted you or how did you acquire your “stable dispositions”?
I believe wholeheartedly that, “we desire according to the desire of another.” As such, much of my personality has been shaped by my family of origin, American consumer culture, and such. More positively, I find that I am increasing drawn (or being drawn) into another disposition, one that I believe is Christianity.
What impact might an act of communication from God have on your life?
A profound impact, in that it is capable of reorienting me utterly to an understanding of myself (and humanity) being liked and loved into a new way of being. That’s AWESOME.