AllTheseThings

Oops, I did it again

I’m three-quarters of my way through the read-through-the-bible-in-a-year. Some of it has been tough going (Leviticus) but one of my favorite parts has been stumbling across familiar verses, back in their natural habitat. Bible verses are often lifted out of context, sometimes so kids can memorize them and sometimes so we can memorize them (put them on a very small post-it and stick them to the desk). But in the extraction process they almost always get cut off from the rich context that brings them to life.

An example of this was the verse I came across not too long ago: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

It’s an easy one to remember; short and sweet. It’s normally used as a meditation, when the pace of life is overwhelming. “Be still…..be still” we repeat to ourselves. For most of us, that’s enough challenge for one day. We can barely get to “…….and know that I am God.”

But look at where that verse is placed:

8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
       the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
       he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
       he burns the shields with fire.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
       I will be exalted among the nations,
       I will be exalted in the earth."   

In my self-centeredness, I had made that isolated verse all about me: about my rest and sense of inner peace. But back in context, it’s first and foremost about the power and majesty of God, who gives us the freedom to “be still” because he is always at work. I like that version much better than my own.

Philomena

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Reducing Abortion Reductions

Here is an interesting post about Tony Campolo's effort to soften the pro-abortion plank in the Democrats platform.  I couldn't find a permalink, so you'll have to scroll down to find the entry.  The highlights about the inner-workings at the DNC meeting, and a pro-life, evangelical Christian Democrat follow:

Tony Campolo is a rare bird indeed--an evangelical Protestant who’s also a Democrat and pro-life. He was on the platform committee and worked on the plank dealing with abortion. At yesterday’s meeting of pro-life Democrats, Campolo was introduced as the committee member responsible for the new language endorsing the goal of “reducing abortion.” He said that he’d first proposed the term “abortion reduction,” but there was objection from the pro-abortion rights types who dominated the committee. So he countered with “reducing abortion.” Campolo said he didn’t know why abortion reduction was a problem for the pro-choicers since “reducing abortion” means the same thing. Campolo also talked about what he failed to get in the abortion plank, among other things a statement that abortion involves serious moral issues...

So, it was too controversial to say having an abortion involves serious moral issues--not, mind you, to say that it is 'morally wrong', just that it involves moral issues, which might be serious.  Fascinating inside look on how the DNC's platform committee thinks.

With serious blogging issues,

Thomas More

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The Whole Hole: Wearing or Carrying

I was golfing the other day and got into a difficult situation.  Playing very poorly, I needed to put together a very good hole to redeem myself.  The pressure was on.  Fortunately I was wearing my WWTD bracelet - "What Would Tiger Do?"  What a relief...if it wasn't for the bracelet I would have totally messed up the whole hole!!!  But because I was reminded by the bracelet - I ripped a 350 yard drive right down the gut of the fairway, stuck a 4-iron to the heart of the green and snaked in a 20 foot putt for Eagle.  Do you know why?  That is what Tiger would do!  WWTD baby!!!

Ha, ha!  If only it was this simple.  Of course my problem in golf is NOT that I FORGET what to do, it is that I CAN'T do it!  Why?  I'm not Tiger!  What makes Tiger a miraculous player in difficult situations is not what he does at that moment - it is what he had been doing in nearly every moment before that, PRACTICING GOLF!  Tiger lives in total surrender and submission to golf, and it shows, it makes a difference when the chips are down - it is not magic, Tiger has been transformed by what he was willing to suffer (the grueling practices, forfeiting other activities etc...).

The "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets have all but disappeared, and for the few of you who took this sincere idea to the ultimate limit in the form of a tatoo, I ask for your forgiveness in advance.  But as I have been thinking about spiritual formation of late I have been struck by a flaw in the WWJD approach to the life of faith.   See, my problem isn't forgetfulness - certainly, I am forgetful, but, it is only the beginning or a symptom of my larger problem which is, I'm FALLEN, I'm not as "good" as I need to be, as life requires.  I'm fallen and I can't get up!

Believe it or not, there are times when I remember what Jesus did and know what he would do in a given situation, and it is CLEAR to me what I should do - but I don't do it. Why?  I'm not Jesus!  And I need much more than a reminder to become like Jesus, I need to be transformed.  Tiger puts himself in a place to be transformed, I must do the same.  Of course the comparison breaks down because Tiger is achieving in high pressure situations based on his talent and sweat, I, on the other hand, can do what Jesus did ONLY through God's grace.  However, I still need to do something to be transformed, live in submission and surrender to God - I need to put myself in the place of grace...prayer, study, worship, community, service etc... also known as the spiritual disciplines.  I can't do what Jesus did when the chips are down ("just do it"), without doing what Jesus did BEFORE the chips are down.  As a Christian I am called to the "obedience that comes from faith" (Rm. 1:5) and if Jesus had to "learn" obedience (Heb. 5:8) through suffering then it wasn't magic, and maybe I will have to as well. 

Islam holds that mankind's problem is forgetfulness, that's our hole. Christianity disagrees - we are fallen, as in broken, shattered - WAY beyond reminding.  If Islam is right, wearing the right bracelet could save the world, we can redeem ourselves!! Abracadabra!  If Christianity is right, wearing a bracelet won't make a difference if we're not carrying a cross - His Cross...OUR Cross, willing to suffer in order to obey. 

We have to put together our whole hole because it is going to take more than a magical reminder to save par.

Fore!!!!

Didymus

Playing by the Rules

One of the guilty pleasures of getting home in the afternoon to pack for a trip is being able to watch daytime television. This is perfect viewing for my distracted brain: light, fluffy nonsense to half-pay-attention-to while I’m locating and folding and sealing into ziplock bags.

Having said this, the last time I had such an afternoon, I did get caught up in a particularly fascinating episode of “Oprah”. She was talking to people who suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). To illustrate their problem, her camera crew followed a group to a camp where they were subjected to “total immersion therapy”. People who feared spiders had to hold them. People with a fear of germs (one guy kept his left hand in his pocket at all times to keep it sterile) had to put their hands on the floor and then lick them! It all seemed very cruel, but also fascinating and of course all the participants were on the show to say how much the experience had helped them recover and live a normal life.

What struck me was one segment of the narration where Dr Oz, Oprah’s health guru, said that, although OCD behaviours (e.g. going back to the house 10 times to make sure you turned the oven off, washing your hands every 2 seconds..etc) seem like a waste of time and energy to those of us who don’t suffer from the disorder, they make perfect sense to the individual engaging in them. The reason is that they have constructed a set of rules in their head which make the behaviour make sense. “If I don’t wash my hands very 2 seconds, I will get sick and die”. If you really believed this, wouldn’t you be tempted to wash your hands every 2 seconds too? Wouldn’t you rearrange your schedule to make sure you could keep your hands clean?

What I took from this, more than a greater understanding of OCD, was a greater respect for the power of rules. There are some which are obvious, good for society and therefore enforced by law, but there are many other smaller rules which we orient our lives around. “I have to be in bed by 10 and up at 6”. “I have to do grocery shopping on Saturday afternoons”. “I have to have only one serving of carbs each day”. These are small rules, and may be different for all of us, but they are no less powerful. We are reassured when we keep them and shameful when we don’t.

As our church prepares to look in more depth at God’s rule about the Sabbath, I think this requires us to first identify the other rules we live by, ask ourselves where they came from and why we hold onto them so tightly. Did God tell you anything about carbohydrate portions? Will He be mad if you have fries with that? What will happen if you don’t do your weeks grocery shopping straight after church? There seems to be a big difference between God’s rules and our rules. God’s rules are for His glory and our good. Our rules are for our glory (sense of control) and lead to exhaustion.

Let’s all take a nap, and start our day again....

Philomena

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When You Visit A Billionaire’s House…

…you take your shoes off.  At least that’s what we did when a friend took us to a palace on the beach in Florida.  It was a private tour.  A friend of a friend arranged a visit when the Master was away but the servants were still working.  One side of the house broached the inlet, the other the wild ocean itself.  Beach: private.  Pools on property: multiple.  Bottles in the cellar: tens of thousands (such people invest and sell the wine, in case you were wondering how any soul could consume such vast amounts).   Cool marble on bare feet isn’t too disagreeable, nor are Monet’s hard on the eyes.  Rooms “themed” upon countries of the world means one can step from a Roman mosaic to an English parlor with the turn of a hallway.  But there are alarms, private keys, gates, cameras, the entire apparatus of precarious wealth.  A small price to pay for 30 years of….what?  Security, perhaps, physical comfort, certainly, a global array of diverting activities (one can boat, fly, glide, and dive), and yet, the refrain of many who worked around the Master knew that the Master wasn’t happy.  “You know”, said our old salt of a tourguide, “I’ve been around this place for over a decade, and I’ve seen what money means and what it doesn’t; I believe now more firmly than ever that what matters most to me, and what gives the greatest satisfaction are my wife and my 3 children.”  He spoke truly.  Top class wealth, in the Master’s case, translated into utter boredom, which is a problem money can scarcely solve.  The American dream is, well, dreamlike when achieved, but I’m not sure it’s the same as being awake to reality.   

St. Nicodemus

A Slower Walk is a Better Walk

Isn’t it strange that time has elasticity to it?  Certain hours go by very quickly and certain hours go by very slowly.  Nor do all days or minutes seem the same length.  On the one hand, it seems as if we have very little control over how fast things seem to go; we simply ascribe the fast days to days which were “fun” or “good” and slow days to the ones which were boring or tedious.  However, there is at least a connection between how much we try to do and how short time is.  When we have a myriad of things to do, the time seems like quicksilver.  Or, when little needs be done, the days themselves yawn with laziness and fullness of space.  The less we stack into an hour, the more time we are given back – not mathematically, of course, but at least in how time feels to us.

All this is very abstract, I know, but it stems from a walk along a river I took today.  With no need to get anywhere, no need for “fun” or recreation, and no need, really, other than to amble, I found that one hour lassoed an eternity.  Walking along the river, in the deep redwood forest, I had time for all sorts of distractions, though that’s the wrong word.  In fact, the slower I walked, the more things there were to notice: a root in the river, lapis-coloured snakes, a frightened fawn, the heat of the sun.  Hornets had built a nest in the riverbank and monarch butterflies shared the waterway with dragonflies and every buzzing thing.  I’m not sure these are “distractions” insofar as to attend to them gave time just that quality of length: such attentions stretched time.  In our frantic lives, where most duties stretch us thin, it’s nice to stretch time back a little in return.  By walking slowly.

St. Nicodemus

What not to wear

You may have seen a TV show called “What not to wear”, where two fashion gurus take ordinary folk and show them how to dress in a way that flatters their body. Well, that’s the polite description of what they do. It really amounts to telling people that everything in their closet is unflattering and they need to throw it away and start again. Beware of watching this show. It will make you realise that you too have a totally unflattering wardrobe and cause you to spend ridiculous amounts of money trying to rectify the situation. But without the constant attention of two fashion gurus, your attempt may be in vain. (At least, mine was). I think I’m right in saying that this show originated in the UK, where people are a little more forthright with their opinions…..(“Do these pants make my butt look big?” “Yes”.) But with the promise of whole new stylish life ahead, who can reject such criticism?

I was reminded of that show this morning, when I spotted this article. I’m pretty sure that our style gurus from both sides of the Atlantic would disapprove. I’m also not quite sure how you can walk around for half the day in this situation and not realise it! Exactly how small was the passenger? And if you don’t mind me asking, how large was the, er, transportation?!! Anyway, enjoy the article and take home the important message: small nocturnal rodents in your underwear will ALWAYS mess up your outfit. 

Philomena

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All for a good cause?

I have often been accused of over-thinking a situation. This may well be another one of those times, but this is something I’ve been (over) thinking about recently….

In the church, and especially in small groups, we often meet newcomers who have a lot of material needs. Some of them have just recently fallen on hard times. Others have a long history of calamity.

How sympathetic I am to their situation (and how willing I am to help) is very much tied to which of these groups they fall in to. If they seem to be reasonable people who’ve had bad luck then I generally feel happy to help if I can. If I talk to them and hear about a string of bad decisions (still to be recognised as such) then my alarm bells start ringing and the barriers come up.

Is it our place to judge people in this way? God calls us to help someone in need, but should that help ever be conditional on the recipient having sound judgement? If not, then how can we be sure that our provision for them will really help? 

There is more I could say, but I don’t want to be accused of over-writing as well as over thinking, so I’ll just let you, my fellow Saints and friends, straighten me out.

Philomena

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Set free

There have been a lot of worship songs floating around in my head recently. Today, these words are going round and round as I work…..

“My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace”

I have no idea why. We didn’t sing them last Sunday. But nevertheless it is interesting to think about the words. “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free”. I just looked at the guy who sits next to me at work and wondered what they would mean to him, a pretty hardcore atheist. To him it might be like a foreign language, or at the very least, some old fashioned words written by a religious fanatic.

But I wonder if I can relate to them any more than he can. Did I ever feel like I was “in chains”? If I didn’t, can I really appreciate being “set free”? But it is good this morning to have those words in my head (coming from who-knows-where) and to remember that sin is slavery and life with Christ is freedom. Whether I realise it at the time or not, I was in chains and I put myself back in chains every day when I chose anything other than God. It’s sad when we see it the other way around: sin becomes “freedom” and God is oppressive. I know that’s the prevailing wisdom out in the world, and probably in the thoughts of my friend in the next cubicle.

I’m thinking about breaking out in song to see if I can get the message across. Although, I might find myself back in chains when they lock me up for being a religious fanatic!

Philomena

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Finley's Birthday

This is a remarkable story about a mother who--mercifully--failed in her attempt to abort her son.  She had lost a child previously to a kidney disease, and her second son has kidney problems.  Fearing the emotional trauma of losing another child to kidney problems, she thought she would abort baby number three--Finley.  The mom had the procedure, which failed.  She learned it didn't work weeks later upon feeling "fluttering" in her tummy and returned to the hospital.  Learning the boy had survived, she decided to carry him to term.

Finley was born and has only minor kidney problems.  Doctor's anticipate he will grow and have a 'normal' life.  Hopefully someone will follow up with Finley and his mom after his first steps, first day of school, prom, graduation, wedding, or child's birth, etc. to see if they think mom made the right decision. 

Thomas More

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