“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.
–William Shakespeare; From Romeo and Juliet.
After deciding it was high time I staked my claim on the worldwide blogosphere in May 2005, I had one minor detail to arrange: I had to conjur up a name that would accurately and appropriately describe what I was experiencing in life at the time—I was a 25 year old missionary on Capitol Hill who was emerging through terra nova (new territory) experientially, professionally, personally, and spiritually.
As I tried to communicate to people what I was experiencing at that particular stage in my life, the word re-understanding continued to enter into my explanation. Back then I was re-understanding several things: myself, my life course, the world and culture around me, theology, God, and what it meant to be a follower of Jesus Christ in 21st century America. So I called my blog novus•lumen—a combination of two Latin words: novus, which means “fresh” or “new” and lumen, meaning “clearness” or “understanding.”
I was experiencing a “fresh clearness” and “new understanding” about faith, life and everything in between. And my blog was the space that I chronicled that freshness and newness.
The same is true today.
Those who are fluent in Latin may notice a technical problem with my blog’s name: the term “novus lumen” is not technically correct and should read Novum Lumen, or even Lumen Novum for a more natural Latin. While the combination is a disconnected, technical embarrassment, that is the point. I want there to be dissonance and a disconnect between what I want to say and express, with what is written and articulated in word, because that is the theme of my spiritual opus.
In perfect thematic parallel, I and others feel dissonance in our faith and lives, and a disconnect between what is Revealed and what we know or are able to articulate about that Revelation. In our effort to reunderstand Christian spirituality we often cobble together pieces of what is Real in an effort to express that Reality. In the same way I cobbled together two bits of Latin to convey meaning, we seek to take bits of Truth to fashion together an understanding of Meaning. While it may be disconnected and not entirely technical, it is still our attempt at understanding God, His Reality, and His Story, nonetheless.
Furthermore, often times what I write in this space will be a discombobulated mess, an amalgamation of words, thoughts, ideas, and sentences that create anything but a choral euphony. Yet in that mess, meaning is somehow conveyed. In the spirit of my Latin word-smithing, I do not pledge to write technical or consistent prose. My desire is to write from the heart of dissonance, to weave in and out of inharmonious syllables/words/phrases in order to create a harsh-toned effect. Why?
Because this is the manner in which Jesus danced.
In an effort to move the disciples through terra nova into novus lumen, Jesus used dissonance to further define and clarify the boundaries of the Kingdom of Heaven, for instance.
Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:23-25)
It was only when Jesus created discordant tones that the disciples could begin to see the Kingdom of Heaven for what it was. Jesus deliberately used imagery that would cause the disciples to gasp and do a double-take in an effort to teach, instruct, and convey meaning about His Reality.
In the same way, I desire to move me and others through new territory into freshly understanding a range of aspects of faith, culture, politics, and life, all the while exploring the tension that exists between them all.
That’s my promise to you. To provide fresh, clear insights into faith, life, and everything in between.
