mystery

I've been thinking a lot about mystery and wonder this Christmas season, trying to recognize more of it in my life. You might enjoy the article copied below from NPR on mystery.

Utterly Humbled by Mystery
by Richard Rohr
Morning Edition, December 18, 2006 ·
I believe in mystery and multiplicity. To religious believers this may sound almost pagan. But I don't think so. My very belief and experience of a loving and endlessly creative God has led me to trust in both.

I've had the good fortune of teaching and preaching across much of the globe, while also struggling to make sense of my experience in my own tiny world. This life journey has led me to love mystery and not feel the need to change it or make it un-mysterious. This has put me at odds with many other believers I know who seem to need explanations for everything.

Religious belief has made me comfortable with ambiguity. "Hints and guesses," as T.S. Eliot would say. I often spend the season of Lent in a hermitage, where I live alone for the whole 40 days. The more I am alone with the Alone, the more I surrender to ambivalence, to happy contradictions and seeming inconsistencies in myself and almost everything else, including God. Paradoxes don't scare me anymore.

When I was young, I couldn't tolerate such ambiguity. My education had trained me to have a lust for answers and explanations. Now, at age 63, it's all quite different. I no longer believe this is a quid pro quo universe -- I've counseled too many prisoners, worked with too many failed marriages, faced my own dilemmas too many times and been loved gratuitously after too many failures.

Whenever I think there's a perfect pattern, further reading and study reveal an exception. Whenever I want to say "only" or "always," someone or something proves me wrong. My scientist friends have come up with things like "principles of uncertainty" and dark holes. They're willing to live inside imagined hypotheses and theories. But many religious folks insist on answers that are always true. We love closure, resolution and clarity, while thinking that we are people of "faith"! How strange that the very word "faith" has come to mean its exact opposite.

People who have really met the Holy are always humble. It's the people who don't know who usually pretend that they do. People who've had any genuine spiritual experience always know they don't know. They are utterly humbled before mystery. They are in awe before the abyss of it all, in wonder at eternity and depth, and a Love, which is incomprehensible to the mind. It is a litmus test for authentic God experience, and is -- quite sadly -- absent from much of our religious conversation today. My belief and comfort is in the depths of Mystery, which should be the very task of religion.

Lunch Box Faith

As my 6-year old son stretched and began to open his eyes this morning, he moaned that he didn't pack his lunch the night before (something his parents typically expect him to take care of), worried that he would head off to school empty handed. Anxiety over food, which we have plenty of, was his first thought today.

Jesus said, "O you of little faith," (Luke 12:28) worried about food and clothing; life is about so much more. But I, like my son, get stuck on little things that my Father provides in abundance and seldom do I stretch my faith past a little lunch box to long and prepare for His kingdom.

For Those Who Have Boys, Or Not

I received this in an email and thought it was worth sharing.

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4-inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a ! crowded restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.

8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9.) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.

10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old boy.

11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15.) VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.

21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

25.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

Sara Lee Spirituality

I had to laugh. Did you know that Sara Lee makes "Heart Healthy" hotdog buns? I mean, what's the point? (OK, I found them in my pantry, so I bought them.)

 

You may laugh along, but isn't that the philosophy so many of us live (forget what we "say" we believe)? It goes something like this, "As long as I incorporate enough 'good' in my living, I'll be OK in the end; it doesn't really matter that what's inside (or in the "heart healthy" bun)."

Somehow we manage to make ourselves feel OK if the "tube steak" is tightly hidden in the healthy bread.

 

But, I must confess - it sure did taste good. :)

"Ooooooooh Fudge!"

I don't remember where we were last week when that line came up from "A Christmas Story." What a great movie, ranks up there with the other Christmas traditions like "It's A Wonderful Life."

I had another flash back to "A Christmas Story" yesterday while we were at the park. It reminded me of the kid who stuck his tongue to the flag pole. While eating lunch at a picnic table, a metal one with small holes all through it, my eight year old son got this grimacing look on his face, "My finger's stuck!" And it was - kind of like the Chinese handcuffs we use to pick up at the fair. Pulling only produced pain, too much to keep pulling. I just knew the fire department would have to cut the entire table up just to remove his jammed finger.

Fortunately, I had some chapstick. It provided enough slippage to remove the stuck digit. No fire department needed. It was worth the laugh though.

The Party Line

I know I listen to too much talk radio. It's like having someone else go to the gym for me. But that's another subject.

A couple of days ago I was listening to Rush. One caller, a soldier who spent time in Iraq as a medic, was telling Rush how he "converted" a fellow soldier from being a liberal (i.e., Democrat) to being a conservative (i.e., Right). Rush saluted the guy for "doing the Lord's work over there."

That doesn't really bother me; I expect that from Rush. What gets under my skin is the idea it communicates to those already antagonistic to the message of Jesus: Christian = Republican = political power.

But, are we, those who claim to follow Jesus, that much different from the Ditto Heads? For the most part, those who call themselves Republicans (or Democrats) identify themselves by the votes they cast.

Does my identity come from casting a vote for Jesus and then learning to talk the party line? Listening to the "right" radio stations? Does it mean being right and showing how the other guy is wrong?

And what is it that I belong to as a follower of Jesus? Is it all about majority rule? Am I beholden to an ideology? Is the church really and practically that much different from a political party? I sure hope so, but I'm thinking there's too much confusion between the two.

You Are Not Your Own

“Do you not know that … you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block.

The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn’t we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.” If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?

(Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest)

extremitas

cross
Originally uploaded by reider.

I cry out to God Most High,
  to God who fulfills His purpose
      for me.

Psalm 57:2

stirring the inner parts

Emotions are powerful, like the wind: uncontrolable yet necessary, delivering sweet fragrance and laying low the beautiful, delicate and dangerous.

Without emotion life is reduced to a statue, no will to move and be.

Oh, that I could harness my emotions for good; not tame them but give them room to be.

How Long

How much longer will the pain endure?
How much longer till they find a cure?
How much longer till we reach the shore?
How much longer, we must know the score?

You are on a journey you know not where,
Moving so rapidly from here to there.
Have you chosen the right junction,
Paused to ask the deeper question?
Who am I and where am I goin'?

it's not that simple

I heard a guy on the radio today. New Orleans is his home. His house and family were spared from any serious damage. He said, "God really blessed us!"

This is a common response when God does something "good" for us. And I put good in quotes because I think our definition is too short sighted and therefore flawed.

Here's my question for you. If God really "blessed" this man the way he thinks God "blessed" him, what does that say for everyone else who lost everything?

What do you think?

It's Too Small A Thing ...

I may be spiritualizing this text a bit that refers to the Messiah and the scope of his ministry. The LORD said, “It is too small a thing” for Jesus to redeem the nation of Israel; the Messiah will bring salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa 49:6).

This brings two things into focus for me. First, that planting a church is too small of a goal, and it isn’t specific enough. We could call ourselves a church with just two or three Jesus-followers gathered together. Jesus is not against the church, He is her Head. But Jesus is not interested in seeing a local church established, even one that we might call a “life-giving church.” The goal of the church is not to have children (new baby churches that grow and mature). The goal is to fill the earth, not make children, if we are going to use the parent-child analogy, or mother-daughter image. We can’t have one offspring, pat ourselves on the back, kick back and think we’ve done our duty. The goal, role, mission of the church, as the incarnation of the Messiah, is to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

If 25% of people in America who don’t go to church would visit a church if invited by a friend (according to a Barna Research Group survey), are we going to be satisfied to find that 25% and build our own little kingdom? What about the other 75%. What strategies will we initiate to reach the 75%? And do we have the best purposes and goals that chart the course for the church to help us develop the right strategies?

If we live in a community of 20,000 people and 30% (6,000) are in church on any given Sunday morning, we could establish a significant church with the 25% (5,000) who would visit if asked. But what about the remaining 9,000 people in the community? Will they be left out all together? They obviously have no interest in the “church.” Should we just wait till they do have an interest so that they will attend “church” with us? Or can we be assured that they will develop some interest in visiting a church if we just leave them alone? The more penetrating question that we need to answer is, “Do we have any responsibility for these 14,000 people that have no relationship with a local church?”

The second thing that strikes me from Isaiah 49:6 is that creating a relevant Sunday worship gathering (or high energy children’s and student programs, you name the ministry or program), even if it is the “best” in our area is “too small a thing.” Eighty to 100% of the focus and energy of the people who make up the church can’t be spent on one morning (and/or one evening) out of the week. But when we think about “church” we think about Sunday morning and maybe about our small group that meets one other hour during the week. At most, we are talking about five hours out of the week that receives almost all of the attention and energy, the resources of the local church. And all of that goes toward the 20% of the population of our communities (if we live in the Bible Belt) that attend “church” on Sunday morning. It’s way too small a thing to focus most of our effort on the few that show up every Sunday. This is not the heart of our redeeming God.

Turning Faith into Elevator Music

There’s something about “Christian” legal organizations and the like that makes my stomach hurt. I don’t always like the decisions our government makes, be it congressional, presidential or judicial. I want our government to do more to protect the life of the unborn than the convicted murderer. And because I’m inclined to think issues like abortion are quite serious, it influences my involvement in the political process.

At the same time, there are “Christian” organizations (often functioning like PACs) that would have me feel guilty if I don’t financially support their work. It’s not that I want the government to make laws and policies exactly opposite of what these “Christian” PACs are fighting for, but my deep conviction is that God doesn’t want me spending His money that way.

There is a thoughtful article dealing with this topic called Turning Faith Into Elevator Music. Here is a taste of what William J. Stuntz, Professor at Harvard Law School, has to say.

“Seeing the Ten Commandments in public spaces is a little like hearing the Miranda warnings on "Law and Order," which doesn't make anyone think about the real meaning of Miranda (whatever that is) because it doesn't make anyone think at all. It's the social equivalent of elevator music. Religious people shouldn't want their faith to be elevator music.”

Read it! It's worth thinking about.

Love Hurts, But That's What Makes It Great

Do we really know love, great love, apart from pain?

I feel pain, an internal kind of heart pain if I sense that my wife is disappointed with me, or if I have done (left undone) something that has pained her. I may not be aware of the specific cause, only the apparent hurt because I know her. Pain is real.

In love there is both trust and expectation. We expect that the one we love, the one who loves us, will do or act according to what is best for us and we will behave in order to obtain what's best for the one we love. We trust them with our love, with our very heart, our person, our soul. In loving someone we give ourselves to them with the expectation that they will in turn love us and not hurt us.

This will never work perfectly on the human level because we are all broken - we don't work exactly like we're suppose to. If we know we are broken and the person we love is broken, then we know also that by loving someone we are creating a relationship, and pain is part of relationships between broken people.

Then why do we bother with relationships? First, without relationships we experience the pain of loneliness, which is unnatural and potentially worse than being wounded by someone we love. Second, I believe there is the hope of love, the hope of relationships void of pain. This was possible with the first man and woman until they doubted God. And there is the possibility of partially experiencing this with God as He loves us perfectly even though our love for Him is not yet perfected.

It's as if our souls remember a story of perfect love from long, long ago that has such a ring of truth and reality to it that we want to believe it and go searching for it. But over time, pain may so scar the soul that this story of perfect love is finally forgotten and hope dies.

This is not true for the child of God though. He has a new heart that cannot be overcome by the scars of pain. The blood that pulses through this new heart is the blood of Jesus and the temporary wound caused by broken people don't scar this heart. The Great Physician's surgery leaves no scar. Even though woundings come and still cause pain, the new heart never loses hope. Because His love for us, toward us, in us; His love that flows through us to those around us; is perfect, steady, always achieving what is best; we are able to persevere, to never give up even though the ones we love will hurt us and we will hurt the One who is perfect love.

DO NOT DOUBT THE GREATNESS OF HIS LOVE FOR YOU!
Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

squirrelly

why don’t they just make up their minds? their in the road, minding their own business when I intrude on their space. all of a sudden they panic. as fast as their little legs will move them, their off, doing their dead-level best to avoid mortality. something happens, but i’m not at all sure what. they about-face and run into my line of travel. what is it about these small brained creatures that makes them abandon the safety of their first choice and return themselves squarely in the lane of danger? and why am i so much like them?

the way is hard

God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings.
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

For it was fitting that he (Jesus), for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
- Hebrews 2:10

poverty

desire
Originally uploaded by reider.

Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker
- Proverbs 17:5

God is Maker of the poor.

What's Your WorldView

Maybe I've been spending too much time at the John Welsey College library? My wife would definitely agree!

I took this quiz and here's the verdict:

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan.

You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 75% Emergent/Postmodern 71% Reformed Evangelical 71% Fundamentalist 71% Classical Liberal 64% Neo orthodox 57% Charismatic/Pentecostal 46% Modern Liberal 43% Roman Catholic 36% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Sojourner

I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! (Psalm 119:19)

We are on our way to Ghana, West Africa tomorrow. There are so many things we need to remember: passport, malaria meds (and other vaccinations), and a hundred other little things that we will need during our trip.

Our team, mostly students, will rely on translators to communicate with the people. We will be in a foreign world, and our differences will be blatantly obvious: a large group of mostly white people in places where we may not see any other pale faces. Without translators, bus drives who know the cities, and cooks who protect our weak stomachs from unusual food that would wreak havoc, about all we could hope to do is survive. And even that would be very difficult.

This two week trip will give us condensed picture of what the psalmist describes as the whole earthly experience for the child of God.

Experiencing the Incarnation

Last weekend we had a retreat for our mission team that will be leaving for two weeks of service in Ghana. On Friday night, we were sitting in the round and Ken said that we should speak words of encouragement to each other. And he showed us what he meant by speaking to my wife, who was in tears before he finished a complete sentence.

As someone else in the group began encouraging someone, I found this narcissistic desire welling up in me to hear words of affirmation from someone in the group (which is a little unusual b/c the first thing I usually worry about in that kind of setting is "What will I say?"). Would anyone have anything nice to say about me?

There is one girl in the group who is somewhat of an outsider, not familiar with most of the other students in the group. But I know her pretty well, so I decided to encourage her.

The atmosphere in the room that night was, how do I say it, mysterious. It was as if Jesus was in the room loving us. Someone would speak up, "The thing I love about Grant is ..." The mystery of the incarnation is still all around us.

We sang a song with a verse from Psalm 139:17 that says, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" It blew me away that He chose to live in us and express Himself through us. We were experiencing Him, hearing Him and feeling His presence as we spoke to each other. How awesome is just one of His thoughts.

That was a week ago. And only this morning did it hit me. The affirmation I longed for came as I spoke encouragement into someone else. After we were done, that young girl gave me a hug, not just a hug but an embrace. And my wife said, "Thank you for saying that to her. I was going to speak to her, but I think it meant more coming from you." I had received more by giving than I would have by quietly waiting and hoping someone would speak to me.