What are you passionate about? What is it that gives your life purpose and direction? For some people the answer is “Nothing.” For others, it might be family, a political cause, cheering for your favorite sports team, playing computer games and trying to make it to the next level; etc. Like the Prodigal Son in the famous story told by Jesus (Luke 15) we are often driven by passions or desires that in the long run leave us empty and lost. No wonder Comedian George Carlin could make us laugh (and wince) with his comedy routine on our love for stuff and its importance in our lives. Down deep inside, we know that stuff will not ultimately satisfy us.
The writer Henri Nouwen describes this experience as “addiction.” Writing in The Return of the Prodigal Son (pp. 42-43) he says this about “addiction”.
“Addiction” might be the best word to explain the lostness that so deeply permeates contemporary society. Our addictions make us cling to what the world proclaims as the keys to self-fulfillment: accumulation of wealth and power; attainment of status and admiration; lavish consumption of food and drink; and sexual gratification without distinguishing between lust and love. These addictions create expectations that cannot but fail to satisfy our deepest needs. As long as we live within the world’s delusions, our addictions condemn us to futile quests in “the distant country” leaving us to face an endless series of disillusionments while our sense of self remains unfulfilled. In these days of increasing addictions, we have wandered far away from our Father’s home. The addicted life can aptly be designated a life lived in “a distant country” It is from there that our cry for deliverance rises up.
I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found. Why do I keep ignoring the place of true love and persist in looking for it elsewhere? Why do I keep leaving home where I am called a child of God, the Beloved of my Father? I am constantly surprised at how I keep taking the gifts God had given me—my health, my intellectual and emotional gifts—and keep using them to impress people, receive affirmation and praise, and compete for rewards, instead of developing them for the glory of God.
Ouch! Do you see yourself in any of this? Unfortunately, I do. Maybe my addiction and passionate pursuit isn’t to accumulate wealth and power, status and admiration, but it is often a search for recognition, affirmation and unconditional love. And like the prodigal in Jesus’ parable, I discover that what I really need and what I have really been searching for is something more basic, more radical, and more fundamental. I realize the truth that there is a passionate desire that stands behind and under all the other desires of my life. And that that fundamental passion can only be satisfied in returning home, returning to the Father’s unconditional love.
It is not easy to realize this, to “come to myself” to use the words of the parable (Luke 15:17). It is hard because as I look around, it seems that everyone has the same passion, everyone is pursuing the same goals – the successful life as defined by my culture, my society, my family and friends. It is hard to break from the script and live a different narrative. Not many of us like going against the flow, especially when it means being different. In many ways it is easier to give ourselves over to the “addictions” and illusions that hold sway over the people around us. Like those in the movie The Matrix at least we’re all sharing the same “illusion.”
We protest when confronted with our apparent addictions, whether it is alcohol, work, sex, achievements, the need for more and more entertainment and “fun” to fill our waking hours and days, or the accumulation of material things. When confronted, we defend ourselves, often by either comparing ourselves to others who we believe are far worse than we are or by pointing to others who are similar to us, so we aren’t so bad.
Addiction is the craving and need for something or things that ultimately do us harm. And the ultimate addiction is for a life lived apart from God at the center. This does the ultimate harm because it cuts us off from the real source of Life and wholeness. Addiction is destructive because it is fundamentally a form of idolatry. It is ascribing ultimate worth to something or someone that isn’t God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was right when he said: “Whatever you can’t get enough of, that’s your god.”
But sometimes we listen and we make a move to “kick the habit”, break our addiction when we are confronted with the truth of our bondage and the toll this passion is taking on us and our soul. Some of us can do it “cold turkey”, but most of us need help. We need someone to be there – to work and walk with us. We need to find alternatives to the things that have been the focus of our lives. We need to cultivate a new focus and a new passion that liberates and empowers us rather than entraps us.
And the interesting thing is that when our relationship with God takes center stage in our lives, the other things of life – people, things, experiences, desire and passion assume their rightful place. And where there was craving and a mild to intense sense of dissatisfaction because what we used to desire and pursue didn’t ultimately satisfy, now that we are focused on the right center and desire – to know, love and live with God—the other things of life are richer and more satisfying.
Now getting there isn’t easy, as anyone who has tried to kick a habit knows. But the resources God makes available to us – the Spirit, prayer, the community of the faithful, trained counselors and compassionate friends, etc.—make it possible to break our addictions. Whether they be physical, emotional or spiritual.
Have you kicked your “addiction”? We need to live for something or someone. Our desire for things that can ensnare us and we can become addicted to is evidence that we were created to live passionately and wholly in a growing, maturing relationship with God. Have you come home to the life that God wants to give you? Or are you still in the “far country” trying to feed your addiction for things that don’t satisfy? The choice is ours.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
"Follow Me"
The great Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, once told a story of a flock of geese that was starting to head south to escape the blast of wintry winds. The first night they landed in a farmer’s yard and filled themselves with corn. Next morning they flew on--all, that is, except one. "The corn is good," this big goose said, "so I will stay and enjoy it another day." The next morning he decided to wait still another day, and another after that, enjoying the delicious food. Pretty soon he had developed a habit. "Tomorrow I will fly south," he said. Then came the inevitable day when the winds of winter were so severe that waiting longer would mean freezing to death. So he stretched his wings and waddled across the barnyard, picking up speed as he went. But sadly, he was too fat to fly. He had waited too long.
Are you a procrastinator? I have to admit that I often am. Sometimes it really doesn’t matter much, but there are other areas in life that do matter and that is especially true in the area of giving attention to growing as a follower of Jesus.
One of the common invitations of Jesus, especially in the Gospel of Matthew, is the call to "Follow Me." Seems simple enough. But, like many of those original listeners, we find some way to either miss the call, delay the call, or avoid the call by trying to unpack it in ways that might seem a bit more palatable. We are especially good at rationalizing. We invest a lot of time evaluating the meaning of this statement – “Follow Me.” What is the intent? Did Jesus really mean it? Is this merely hyperbole?
Jesus says, "Follow Me,"-- but we question the consequences of such an action. If we really pushed this in the church we could easily upset people, lose members and cause division. After all, it is clear that the Kingdom Jesus talks about is at odds with the “kingdom” that is me. And then there are the many ways that Jesus’ call to discipleship challenges the consumerist, entertainment-oriented, self-absorbed society in which we live. But Jesus says: “Follow Me.”
Jesus says, "Follow Me" –And we think that maybe we should slow down a bit and discuss this another time. Really, it isn’t a convenient time. There is my family, my friends, my job, my classes, my career, etc. etc. There just isn’t time.
Jesus says, "Follow Me" -- but we think we should conduct a study and then we can react with more information. Let’s parse those words. What did they mean in the first century context in which Jesus’ lived. What is the truth, the meaning behind those words. We need to study this invitation more.
Jesus says, "Follow Me" – and we wonder: but what will it cost in dollars? This is especially true for churches. Our budget is already so tight. To follow Jesus may mean that we have to re-evaluate our budget priorities and what we are spending our money on and that can be an unsettling thing to do. Let’s face it, there are pet ministries and things we have always done that might need to be set aside or scaled back if we “follow” Jesus. That might not make some people, influential people, too happy. No, we need more time to think this through, especially the financial cost.
And in the midst of all our deliberation and procrastination, it is as if God says to us: "For Jesus' sake, and your own, just follow HIM."
Scot McKnight is a professor of Religious Studies at North Park University. He has written a lot about what it means to follow Jesus. His books are not always easy to read. They can be quite disturbing, especially for those of us who feel that we have Jesus all worked out.
In a recent book, One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow, he tries to answer a very basic question: What is a Christian? And his basic answer is that a Christian is someone who follows Jesus. That sounds simple enough and not too different from what many of us have heard in church, Sunday School, in popular Christian devotion books, etc.
But McKnight wants to remind us that following Jesus is more than making a decision to accept Jesus. It involves a life-long journey that is committed to embracing and sharing Jesus’ kingdom vision. It is easy to get stuck at the beginning of the Christian life – having made a decision, been baptized, even pretty regular at church and still not get it. It is easy to procrastinate about moving on and following Jesus in all areas of life. Only that is enough to satisfy our deepest longings and fulfill the purpose of our existence. And only that is “following Jesus”
This is the way McKnight puts it: “Christianity isn’t enough. Religion isn’t enough. Being accepted in a church isn’t enough. Climbing the corporate ladder isn’t enough. Solving intellectual problems isn’t enough. Chasing the American dream isn’t enough. Finding the person to love isn’t enough. Sex isn’t enough. Friends aren’t enough. Science isn’t enough. Politics isn’t enough. Money isn’t enough. Clothing isn’t enough. Food and drink aren’t enough. The only thing that is enough is Jesus, and the only way to get to Jesus is to follow him, and that means one thing: giving your One.Life to him and to his dream.”
The point is that the call to “follow me” is a radical call. Jesus wants far more than to be accepted into one’s life. He wants to take over, and his essential call is to trust him enough to surrender one’s life, one’s entire being to him. And as we do that, we are swept up by that which consumed Jesus’ life – the kingdom of God, the will of God done in all areas of life.
To say “yes” to Jesus and not embrace this radical call but instead to piddle around with a safe, culturally inoffensive, tame church life is to miss the point of Jesus’ invitation. And the sad thing about it is that one day we might find ourselves like the goose at the beginning of this Musing – unable to fly, too fat, too tied to the earth to fulfill our calling and purpose.
Do you hear Jesus’ invitation – “Follow Me.” Don’t procrastinate.
Are you a procrastinator? I have to admit that I often am. Sometimes it really doesn’t matter much, but there are other areas in life that do matter and that is especially true in the area of giving attention to growing as a follower of Jesus.
One of the common invitations of Jesus, especially in the Gospel of Matthew, is the call to "Follow Me." Seems simple enough. But, like many of those original listeners, we find some way to either miss the call, delay the call, or avoid the call by trying to unpack it in ways that might seem a bit more palatable. We are especially good at rationalizing. We invest a lot of time evaluating the meaning of this statement – “Follow Me.” What is the intent? Did Jesus really mean it? Is this merely hyperbole?
Jesus says, "Follow Me,"-- but we question the consequences of such an action. If we really pushed this in the church we could easily upset people, lose members and cause division. After all, it is clear that the Kingdom Jesus talks about is at odds with the “kingdom” that is me. And then there are the many ways that Jesus’ call to discipleship challenges the consumerist, entertainment-oriented, self-absorbed society in which we live. But Jesus says: “Follow Me.”
Jesus says, "Follow Me" –And we think that maybe we should slow down a bit and discuss this another time. Really, it isn’t a convenient time. There is my family, my friends, my job, my classes, my career, etc. etc. There just isn’t time.
Jesus says, "Follow Me" -- but we think we should conduct a study and then we can react with more information. Let’s parse those words. What did they mean in the first century context in which Jesus’ lived. What is the truth, the meaning behind those words. We need to study this invitation more.
Jesus says, "Follow Me" – and we wonder: but what will it cost in dollars? This is especially true for churches. Our budget is already so tight. To follow Jesus may mean that we have to re-evaluate our budget priorities and what we are spending our money on and that can be an unsettling thing to do. Let’s face it, there are pet ministries and things we have always done that might need to be set aside or scaled back if we “follow” Jesus. That might not make some people, influential people, too happy. No, we need more time to think this through, especially the financial cost.
And in the midst of all our deliberation and procrastination, it is as if God says to us: "For Jesus' sake, and your own, just follow HIM."
Scot McKnight is a professor of Religious Studies at North Park University. He has written a lot about what it means to follow Jesus. His books are not always easy to read. They can be quite disturbing, especially for those of us who feel that we have Jesus all worked out.
In a recent book, One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow, he tries to answer a very basic question: What is a Christian? And his basic answer is that a Christian is someone who follows Jesus. That sounds simple enough and not too different from what many of us have heard in church, Sunday School, in popular Christian devotion books, etc.
But McKnight wants to remind us that following Jesus is more than making a decision to accept Jesus. It involves a life-long journey that is committed to embracing and sharing Jesus’ kingdom vision. It is easy to get stuck at the beginning of the Christian life – having made a decision, been baptized, even pretty regular at church and still not get it. It is easy to procrastinate about moving on and following Jesus in all areas of life. Only that is enough to satisfy our deepest longings and fulfill the purpose of our existence. And only that is “following Jesus”
This is the way McKnight puts it: “Christianity isn’t enough. Religion isn’t enough. Being accepted in a church isn’t enough. Climbing the corporate ladder isn’t enough. Solving intellectual problems isn’t enough. Chasing the American dream isn’t enough. Finding the person to love isn’t enough. Sex isn’t enough. Friends aren’t enough. Science isn’t enough. Politics isn’t enough. Money isn’t enough. Clothing isn’t enough. Food and drink aren’t enough. The only thing that is enough is Jesus, and the only way to get to Jesus is to follow him, and that means one thing: giving your One.Life to him and to his dream.”
The point is that the call to “follow me” is a radical call. Jesus wants far more than to be accepted into one’s life. He wants to take over, and his essential call is to trust him enough to surrender one’s life, one’s entire being to him. And as we do that, we are swept up by that which consumed Jesus’ life – the kingdom of God, the will of God done in all areas of life.
To say “yes” to Jesus and not embrace this radical call but instead to piddle around with a safe, culturally inoffensive, tame church life is to miss the point of Jesus’ invitation. And the sad thing about it is that one day we might find ourselves like the goose at the beginning of this Musing – unable to fly, too fat, too tied to the earth to fulfill our calling and purpose.
Do you hear Jesus’ invitation – “Follow Me.” Don’t procrastinate.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Gift of Friendship
Rabbi, writer, and storyteller Harold Kushner shares a story about friendship:
I was sitting on a beach one summer day, watching two children, a boy and a girl, playing in the sand. They were hard at work building an elaborate sand castle by the water’s edge, with gates and towers and moats and internal passages. Just when they had nearly finished their project, a big wave came along and knocked it down, reducing it to a heap of wet sand. I expected the children to burst into tears, devastated by what had happened to all their hard work. But they surprised me. Instead, they ran up the shore away from the water, laughing and holding hands, and sat down to build another castle. I realize that they had taught me an important lesson. All the things in our lives, all the complicated structures we spend so much time and energy creating, are built on sand. Only our relationships to other people endure. Sooner or later, the wave will come along and knock down what we have worked so hard to build up. When that happens, only the person who had somebody’s hand to hold will be able to laugh. (When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough)
A few weeks back, Connie and I celebrated our 42nd anniversary. I can still remember the day when I told Connie’s dad that I was going to ask her to marry me. He smiled at me and said, “Don’t you just want to be good friends?”
At the time I was taken aback and of course said that I loved her too much to just be friends. Now, as I reflect on our 42 years together, I have come to see that conversation in a new light. I know that her father was only joking about friendship as opposed to marriage, but there is something to be said for remaining friends, even though we have become husband and wife.
Friendship, at all levels, is a gift. Someone has said that there are “friends of the road” – those who pass through—and “friends of the heart” – those with whom we are invested, connected, safe, and growing. This latter group -- these close, intimate, best friends are a rarity and we probably have only a handful in this life. These are soul mates and they are rare. As Thomas Moore notes in his book Soul Mates, “Friendship is not essentially a union of personalities, it is an attraction and magnetism of souls.” And the double blessing is when this soul mate is also your life mate.
All friendships go through stages and trials, even crises. This is also true of those special friendships. What usually keeps them together is a deep sense of commitment, communication, respect and grace. I hope that you have found such a friend or are such a friend.
Kushner is right – the waves of life, the really big ones will inevitably come and knock down the complicated structures we have worked so hard to erect in life and how blessed we are to have somebody’s hand to hold through it all. Over and over again I have seen this as a pastor. I have seen it in the lives of those who have made plans and worked hard to build a life together only to face a crisis so sudden and unexpected that their world began to tumble in around them. But they found strength and the ability to go on after the castles had tumbled in because they were able to hold on to one another. In our life together, while the waves have not been so overwhelming, Connie and I have experienced the sustaining, comforting and empowering power of not only an enduring friendship but also of the love that undergirds it. And for that, I am ever grateful.
Let me leave you with an insight from Thomas Moore: “If the body is in pain, one of the first things to look for is infection; if the soul is in pain, we might look for lack of friendship.”
Peace
I was sitting on a beach one summer day, watching two children, a boy and a girl, playing in the sand. They were hard at work building an elaborate sand castle by the water’s edge, with gates and towers and moats and internal passages. Just when they had nearly finished their project, a big wave came along and knocked it down, reducing it to a heap of wet sand. I expected the children to burst into tears, devastated by what had happened to all their hard work. But they surprised me. Instead, they ran up the shore away from the water, laughing and holding hands, and sat down to build another castle. I realize that they had taught me an important lesson. All the things in our lives, all the complicated structures we spend so much time and energy creating, are built on sand. Only our relationships to other people endure. Sooner or later, the wave will come along and knock down what we have worked so hard to build up. When that happens, only the person who had somebody’s hand to hold will be able to laugh. (When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough)
A few weeks back, Connie and I celebrated our 42nd anniversary. I can still remember the day when I told Connie’s dad that I was going to ask her to marry me. He smiled at me and said, “Don’t you just want to be good friends?”
At the time I was taken aback and of course said that I loved her too much to just be friends. Now, as I reflect on our 42 years together, I have come to see that conversation in a new light. I know that her father was only joking about friendship as opposed to marriage, but there is something to be said for remaining friends, even though we have become husband and wife.
Friendship, at all levels, is a gift. Someone has said that there are “friends of the road” – those who pass through—and “friends of the heart” – those with whom we are invested, connected, safe, and growing. This latter group -- these close, intimate, best friends are a rarity and we probably have only a handful in this life. These are soul mates and they are rare. As Thomas Moore notes in his book Soul Mates, “Friendship is not essentially a union of personalities, it is an attraction and magnetism of souls.” And the double blessing is when this soul mate is also your life mate.
All friendships go through stages and trials, even crises. This is also true of those special friendships. What usually keeps them together is a deep sense of commitment, communication, respect and grace. I hope that you have found such a friend or are such a friend.
Kushner is right – the waves of life, the really big ones will inevitably come and knock down the complicated structures we have worked so hard to erect in life and how blessed we are to have somebody’s hand to hold through it all. Over and over again I have seen this as a pastor. I have seen it in the lives of those who have made plans and worked hard to build a life together only to face a crisis so sudden and unexpected that their world began to tumble in around them. But they found strength and the ability to go on after the castles had tumbled in because they were able to hold on to one another. In our life together, while the waves have not been so overwhelming, Connie and I have experienced the sustaining, comforting and empowering power of not only an enduring friendship but also of the love that undergirds it. And for that, I am ever grateful.
Let me leave you with an insight from Thomas Moore: “If the body is in pain, one of the first things to look for is infection; if the soul is in pain, we might look for lack of friendship.”
Peace
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Losing Our Identity
Terry Hershey tells a story in his book Sacred Necessities: Gifts for living with Passion, Purpose, and Grace about a visit with his family to Joshua Tree National Park in California. He writes:
While driving, we saw a coyote standing by the side of the road. Literally, just standing. We stopped the car. I’ve seen many coyotes. But always from a distance. Always skittish, running away from any scent of humans. This one was young. And was, apparently, victim of the National Park syndrome: people throw food to animals, animals begin to rely on food handouts, animals grow accustomed to humans and grow less afraid. I was sad, watching as the pup came to our car door. Wanting to chase him away, and to scold him, “Please don’t do this. Please. When you do this, you are not a coyote anymore.” He stood still, his eyes waiting? Pleading? Resigned?
And then he adds these words:"Perhaps he reminded me of someone I knew, the younger Terry, ever so eager for adulation and handouts, willing to give up his identity for them.”
These are haunting words. They remind us that it is easy to get sucked into the games the world plays about what is important and what we really should want out of life. The world around us really does want us to think that status, success, adulation, possessions, climbing the ladder of “success”, becoming popular and expanding our circle of “friends” will help us to discover and become the person who lives integrally with his/her real being.
But Gandhi was right, “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” Most of all, Jesus was right when he said that “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions” (Luke 12:15). And we could add: a meaningful life is not based on our accomplishments, notoriety, popularity, number of degrees, etc.etc.
At this time of year there is a lot to celebrate for those who are graduating from high school and university. They have reached a major mile stone and transition point in their lives. They have accomplished something significant and they should celebrate the accomplishment. But I am afraid that for so many of these graduates they see these accomplishments not for what they mean to their personhood so much as benchmarks on the road to “success.” Instead of enjoying and living the journey they are focused on an allusive goal out there somewhere in the distance that somehow will define them and give substance and meaning to their lives.
If the Christian understanding of life is correct; if Jesus’ interpretation of the will of God is correct, we find our identity and the ultimate meaning of our lives in our relationship with God – we are children of God and persons of dignity and worth. The focus of life is the kingdom of God – the will of God done in all areas of life (Matthew 6:10,33). This identity is not dependent on what we achieve, who we know or what we have. It is not dependent on what schools we go to, degrees we possess, the number of books we write, the number of positions we hold or have held, but on who we are in and with God.
This doesn’t mean that we do not have goals in life. Goals that are in keeping with kingdom values can help us to live faithfully in line with our identity as persons created in the image of God. But to understand the message of Jesus is to realize that what really matters in life is not “something out there” somewhere or something based on what I accomplish, but that what really matters is being faithful to who I was created to be and redeemed to be in Christ. To believe that somehow my worth and dignity, my happiness and contentment, the meaning and significance of my life are based on what I accomplish (even for God) is to lose our identity and to set ourselves up for disappointment. Like the coyotes who have come to depend on the scraps doled out to them rather than living in keeping with their nature, we have lost something of what it means to Be.
Perhaps in Hershey’s story about the coyote there is also the painful reminder that often times we prefer the things the world doles out to us because we don’t want to do the hard work of living in relationship with God and being who we are intended to be. After all, it seems so much easier and a lot less challenging to accept what the world offers and affirms rather than to live a life that God offers and affirms. Let’s admit it -- the life of the kingdom of God is really out of step with much of what goes on in this world and what the world sees as important and crucial.
But it isn’t too late for us. It is not easy to listen to the voice of God over the siren call of the world, but it can be done. And if it is, then not only do we experience the challenge and satisfaction of a life well lived, we also find that much of what the world holds up for us to pursue and possess are really empty promises.
While driving, we saw a coyote standing by the side of the road. Literally, just standing. We stopped the car. I’ve seen many coyotes. But always from a distance. Always skittish, running away from any scent of humans. This one was young. And was, apparently, victim of the National Park syndrome: people throw food to animals, animals begin to rely on food handouts, animals grow accustomed to humans and grow less afraid. I was sad, watching as the pup came to our car door. Wanting to chase him away, and to scold him, “Please don’t do this. Please. When you do this, you are not a coyote anymore.” He stood still, his eyes waiting? Pleading? Resigned?
And then he adds these words:"Perhaps he reminded me of someone I knew, the younger Terry, ever so eager for adulation and handouts, willing to give up his identity for them.”
These are haunting words. They remind us that it is easy to get sucked into the games the world plays about what is important and what we really should want out of life. The world around us really does want us to think that status, success, adulation, possessions, climbing the ladder of “success”, becoming popular and expanding our circle of “friends” will help us to discover and become the person who lives integrally with his/her real being.
But Gandhi was right, “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” Most of all, Jesus was right when he said that “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions” (Luke 12:15). And we could add: a meaningful life is not based on our accomplishments, notoriety, popularity, number of degrees, etc.etc.
At this time of year there is a lot to celebrate for those who are graduating from high school and university. They have reached a major mile stone and transition point in their lives. They have accomplished something significant and they should celebrate the accomplishment. But I am afraid that for so many of these graduates they see these accomplishments not for what they mean to their personhood so much as benchmarks on the road to “success.” Instead of enjoying and living the journey they are focused on an allusive goal out there somewhere in the distance that somehow will define them and give substance and meaning to their lives.
If the Christian understanding of life is correct; if Jesus’ interpretation of the will of God is correct, we find our identity and the ultimate meaning of our lives in our relationship with God – we are children of God and persons of dignity and worth. The focus of life is the kingdom of God – the will of God done in all areas of life (Matthew 6:10,33). This identity is not dependent on what we achieve, who we know or what we have. It is not dependent on what schools we go to, degrees we possess, the number of books we write, the number of positions we hold or have held, but on who we are in and with God.
This doesn’t mean that we do not have goals in life. Goals that are in keeping with kingdom values can help us to live faithfully in line with our identity as persons created in the image of God. But to understand the message of Jesus is to realize that what really matters in life is not “something out there” somewhere or something based on what I accomplish, but that what really matters is being faithful to who I was created to be and redeemed to be in Christ. To believe that somehow my worth and dignity, my happiness and contentment, the meaning and significance of my life are based on what I accomplish (even for God) is to lose our identity and to set ourselves up for disappointment. Like the coyotes who have come to depend on the scraps doled out to them rather than living in keeping with their nature, we have lost something of what it means to Be.
Perhaps in Hershey’s story about the coyote there is also the painful reminder that often times we prefer the things the world doles out to us because we don’t want to do the hard work of living in relationship with God and being who we are intended to be. After all, it seems so much easier and a lot less challenging to accept what the world offers and affirms rather than to live a life that God offers and affirms. Let’s admit it -- the life of the kingdom of God is really out of step with much of what goes on in this world and what the world sees as important and crucial.
But it isn’t too late for us. It is not easy to listen to the voice of God over the siren call of the world, but it can be done. And if it is, then not only do we experience the challenge and satisfaction of a life well lived, we also find that much of what the world holds up for us to pursue and possess are really empty promises.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Thanking God for the Little and Hidden Things
If you are uncomfortable with talking about the human body or about things that relate to bodily functions you might want to stop here. But if you believe that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) and that the incarnation is not simply a nice, although difficult to grasp, theological affirmation, but an awesome celebration of God having become flesh in Jesus and affirming our humanity, then you might want to read on.
In a recent issue of The Christian Century, Rodney Clapp, a writer on theology and culture penned a column entitled “Bodily Blessings”. In the article he shared how he was dealing with some health issues and that last winter he spent five weeks on a catheter. He talks about the impressions the experience made on him. He talks about the drama of getting older, of the humiliation, vulnerability and humility he felt as a result of this experience. He also relates the joy he experienced when the catheter was removed and he could go to the bathroom on his own. He writes: “What an earthly, elemental, taken-for-granted thing it is: to pee on your own. At the time it seemed perfectly meet and right to offer praise for this activity.”
He goes on to talk about the Christian affirmation of a bodily spirituality grounded in creation, the incarnation, and the ultimate resurrection of the body – all fundamental Christian orthodoxy. While there have been some that have despised the body and tended towards a Gnostic, Greek emphasis on the spirit and the undervaluing of the gift, the earthiness of the human body, this isn’t mainline Christian theology, especially when we take the Incarnation (God becoming flesh in Christ) seriously. He also points out that the rejection of the body is not a part of Jewish understanding of what it means to be human.. He even shares a Jewish morning prayer for saying after the use of the toilet (“The Blessing of Asher Yatzar”) that goes:
Blessed are you, HaShem, our God, King of the universe Who formed man with intelligence, and created within him many openings and many hollow spaces; it is revealed and known before the Seat of Your Honor, that if one of these would be opened or one of these would be sealed it would be impossible to survive and stand before You (even for one hour). Blessed are you, HaShem, Who heals all flesh and does wonders.
Clapp notes that this prayer is all the more amazing since it puts side by side “God’s throne and the lowly toilet seat.” When was the last time you gave thanks to God for being able to go to the bathroom?
As a pastor I have visited with many people in the hospital and at home who miss the small things – being able to scratch an itch but not able to because they are paralyzed or in a body cast; being able to go to the bathroom unaided; wanting to turn over in bed but not being able to because of severe burns. I remember being in Myanmar once with some people one of whom had severe constipation and how she prayed and prayed for relief. But there are other things, simple things that are easy to take for granted until they are taken away – being unable to taste a good meal because we have a severe head cold; being unable to see the beauty of a sunset or the face of one we love because of blindness or something else that interferes with our vision. I am sure that you can think of things that you have taken for granted and only after some event or accident have come to see how much they are missed.
My point is that we are called to thank God for the little things and the “hidden” things just as much for the great events in life for which we so often easily thank God.
What is it that you take for granted? It is the companionship of a friend? Is it a cold drink on a warm summer day? Is it a warm, dry place to rest on a rainy night? A shady spot on an extremely sunny day? Is it a healthy bowel movement? Whatever it is, there is nothing so small in life that we can’t appreciate it and thank God for it. We are fearfully and wonderfully made! Bless the Lord and do not forget all his blessings, even the small ones
In a recent issue of The Christian Century, Rodney Clapp, a writer on theology and culture penned a column entitled “Bodily Blessings”. In the article he shared how he was dealing with some health issues and that last winter he spent five weeks on a catheter. He talks about the impressions the experience made on him. He talks about the drama of getting older, of the humiliation, vulnerability and humility he felt as a result of this experience. He also relates the joy he experienced when the catheter was removed and he could go to the bathroom on his own. He writes: “What an earthly, elemental, taken-for-granted thing it is: to pee on your own. At the time it seemed perfectly meet and right to offer praise for this activity.”
He goes on to talk about the Christian affirmation of a bodily spirituality grounded in creation, the incarnation, and the ultimate resurrection of the body – all fundamental Christian orthodoxy. While there have been some that have despised the body and tended towards a Gnostic, Greek emphasis on the spirit and the undervaluing of the gift, the earthiness of the human body, this isn’t mainline Christian theology, especially when we take the Incarnation (God becoming flesh in Christ) seriously. He also points out that the rejection of the body is not a part of Jewish understanding of what it means to be human.. He even shares a Jewish morning prayer for saying after the use of the toilet (“The Blessing of Asher Yatzar”) that goes:
Blessed are you, HaShem, our God, King of the universe Who formed man with intelligence, and created within him many openings and many hollow spaces; it is revealed and known before the Seat of Your Honor, that if one of these would be opened or one of these would be sealed it would be impossible to survive and stand before You (even for one hour). Blessed are you, HaShem, Who heals all flesh and does wonders.
Clapp notes that this prayer is all the more amazing since it puts side by side “God’s throne and the lowly toilet seat.” When was the last time you gave thanks to God for being able to go to the bathroom?
As a pastor I have visited with many people in the hospital and at home who miss the small things – being able to scratch an itch but not able to because they are paralyzed or in a body cast; being able to go to the bathroom unaided; wanting to turn over in bed but not being able to because of severe burns. I remember being in Myanmar once with some people one of whom had severe constipation and how she prayed and prayed for relief. But there are other things, simple things that are easy to take for granted until they are taken away – being unable to taste a good meal because we have a severe head cold; being unable to see the beauty of a sunset or the face of one we love because of blindness or something else that interferes with our vision. I am sure that you can think of things that you have taken for granted and only after some event or accident have come to see how much they are missed.
My point is that we are called to thank God for the little things and the “hidden” things just as much for the great events in life for which we so often easily thank God.
What is it that you take for granted? It is the companionship of a friend? Is it a cold drink on a warm summer day? Is it a warm, dry place to rest on a rainy night? A shady spot on an extremely sunny day? Is it a healthy bowel movement? Whatever it is, there is nothing so small in life that we can’t appreciate it and thank God for it. We are fearfully and wonderfully made! Bless the Lord and do not forget all his blessings, even the small ones
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
God's Presence and Our Inattentiveness
The other night Connie and I were having one of those end-of-the-day conversations some couples have. I commented that I felt that I hadn’t accomplished much that day and had, in fact, wasted the day. It seemed that the day was pretty much a write off without anything significant being accomplished. Connie reminded me in her loving and realistic way that she didn’t think that spending time with her and with our daughter and granddaughter was nonproductive and insignificant. As usual, she was right. Trying to salvage some ground I corrected myself and said that I just felt that I hadn’t accomplished anything “productive.”
As I reflect on that conversation, I am reminded how wrong I was. I had a great time earlier in the day with our daughter and granddaughter as we sampled a new place to eat and talked and laughed together. I did find some time during the day to be quiet and to read and pray and get in some reflection. But the nagging question is what is “productive” anyway? And why is “productive” and “significant” only measured in terms of what useful, industrious work gets done; what can be pointed to and “valued” in the light of what is turned out.
Like many other people, I am the product/prisoner of my success-driven, results–oriented society and culture that evaluates one’s worth on the basis of what one does or produces or contributes rather than on “being”, being someone. And as a Christian, a Protestant Christian, there is always the pressure of the Protestant Work Ethic (ala Max Webber and the Puritans) lurking in the background. It is usually “doing” rather than “being” that really counts.
Now, I’m not discounting the importance of meaningful work or the proper stewardship of time, gifts and opportunities. But my fixation on needing to accomplish something, to see something tangible and concrete and point to something that I could check-off my “to do” list, did bother me.
It made me think again about the importance of such things as relationships, and the value there is in “wasting” time with others and God (to use a phrase from Klaus Issler’s Wasting Time with God: A Christian Spirituality of Friendship with God). The more I reflect on the Christian life, the more I realize that it is relationship. The relationship does bear fruit, it is productive, but the productivity is a result of the deepening of relationship. Focusing on the production as a sign of one’s worth or contribution is to miss the essential quality and value of life which is life lived in and with God. It is cultivating an attentiveness, an awareness, an openness to the giftedness and wonder of God and of life God gives. Or to use a term of the counselor and spiritual writer Robert Wicks, it is cultivating “Prayerfulness.” Wicks defines “Prayerfulness” as: “Being in the present with your eyes wide open to experiencing God and life in dynamic new ways.”
If the Apostle Paul was right, that God is the one in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28; cf. Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3) and the Psalmist is correct that God wants us to be still and know that God is God (Psalm 14:10) and Jesus wasn’t simply uttering pious niceties when he talked about abiding/remaining/resting in union with him, then learning to be attentive, aware to God’s presence in our life and world is really the first task of the follower of Jesus. In this “being” present to God and the wonder of life, we may appear to be “unproductive” or “wasting time”, but actually we are living out our true identity.
Instead of looking for God in the big, extraordinary, astonishing, sensational things of life, maybe the cultivation of our awareness, our prayerfulness, means learning to see how God reveals himself and his many gifts, especially grace, to us in the mundane and unexpected.
There is a story that goes:
The man whispered, “God, speak to me.”
And the meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.
So the man yelled, “God, speak to me.”
And thunder and lightning rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said,” God, let me see you.”
And a star shone brightly.
But the man did not see.
And the man shouted,” God, show me a miracle.”
And a life was born.
But the man did not notice.
So the man cried out in despair, “Touch me, God, and let me know that you are here.”
Whereupon God reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
This little story speaks volumes about the busyness and lack of attention that is present in most of our lives. God uses many ways and opportunities to reveal himself to us, but most of the time we are so focused on something else or locked into the ways that we think God will or ought to speak to us or show himself to us, that we miss the evidence of God’s grace that comes to us in the unexpected as well as the routines of life.
The hard truth is that the cultivation of awareness or prayerfulness requires refocusing and opening ourselves up to the presence of God. It requires some discipline. In some ways it requires making some lifestyle changes if we are going to know God more deeply. Marjorie Thompson (Soul Feast, p. 11) writes, “It would be nice if we could simply ‘practice the presence of God’ in all of life, without expending energy on particular exercises. But the capacity to remember and abide in God’s presence comes only through steady training.” But instead of being more work or toil or something that binds us, spiritual disciplines offer freedom to recognize God in the world. Henri Nouwen (Making All Things New, p. 68) writes, “Through a spiritual discipline we prevent the world from filling our lives to such an extent that there is no place left to listen. A spiritual discipline sets us free.” Worship, prayer, Bible study, silence, and service are just some of the spiritual disciplines that God has given to us to make us more attentive to those evidences of His grace that come to us on a daily basis. And if we allow them to shape our lives, then, like Brother Lawrence in Practicing the Presence of God, even while working we can be aware of the presence of God and the wonder of life.
Let me ask you a question that I continually ask myself: How often have we asked, begged God to reveal himself and missed it when it came? The lesson is to learn how to be sensitive to the many ways, large and small, that God reveals himself. And if we do, no day will be insignificant or wasted. Prepare to be surprised and blessed!
As I reflect on that conversation, I am reminded how wrong I was. I had a great time earlier in the day with our daughter and granddaughter as we sampled a new place to eat and talked and laughed together. I did find some time during the day to be quiet and to read and pray and get in some reflection. But the nagging question is what is “productive” anyway? And why is “productive” and “significant” only measured in terms of what useful, industrious work gets done; what can be pointed to and “valued” in the light of what is turned out.
Like many other people, I am the product/prisoner of my success-driven, results–oriented society and culture that evaluates one’s worth on the basis of what one does or produces or contributes rather than on “being”, being someone. And as a Christian, a Protestant Christian, there is always the pressure of the Protestant Work Ethic (ala Max Webber and the Puritans) lurking in the background. It is usually “doing” rather than “being” that really counts.
Now, I’m not discounting the importance of meaningful work or the proper stewardship of time, gifts and opportunities. But my fixation on needing to accomplish something, to see something tangible and concrete and point to something that I could check-off my “to do” list, did bother me.
It made me think again about the importance of such things as relationships, and the value there is in “wasting” time with others and God (to use a phrase from Klaus Issler’s Wasting Time with God: A Christian Spirituality of Friendship with God). The more I reflect on the Christian life, the more I realize that it is relationship. The relationship does bear fruit, it is productive, but the productivity is a result of the deepening of relationship. Focusing on the production as a sign of one’s worth or contribution is to miss the essential quality and value of life which is life lived in and with God. It is cultivating an attentiveness, an awareness, an openness to the giftedness and wonder of God and of life God gives. Or to use a term of the counselor and spiritual writer Robert Wicks, it is cultivating “Prayerfulness.” Wicks defines “Prayerfulness” as: “Being in the present with your eyes wide open to experiencing God and life in dynamic new ways.”
If the Apostle Paul was right, that God is the one in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28; cf. Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3) and the Psalmist is correct that God wants us to be still and know that God is God (Psalm 14:10) and Jesus wasn’t simply uttering pious niceties when he talked about abiding/remaining/resting in union with him, then learning to be attentive, aware to God’s presence in our life and world is really the first task of the follower of Jesus. In this “being” present to God and the wonder of life, we may appear to be “unproductive” or “wasting time”, but actually we are living out our true identity.
Instead of looking for God in the big, extraordinary, astonishing, sensational things of life, maybe the cultivation of our awareness, our prayerfulness, means learning to see how God reveals himself and his many gifts, especially grace, to us in the mundane and unexpected.
There is a story that goes:
The man whispered, “God, speak to me.”
And the meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.
So the man yelled, “God, speak to me.”
And thunder and lightning rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said,” God, let me see you.”
And a star shone brightly.
But the man did not see.
And the man shouted,” God, show me a miracle.”
And a life was born.
But the man did not notice.
So the man cried out in despair, “Touch me, God, and let me know that you are here.”
Whereupon God reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
This little story speaks volumes about the busyness and lack of attention that is present in most of our lives. God uses many ways and opportunities to reveal himself to us, but most of the time we are so focused on something else or locked into the ways that we think God will or ought to speak to us or show himself to us, that we miss the evidence of God’s grace that comes to us in the unexpected as well as the routines of life.
The hard truth is that the cultivation of awareness or prayerfulness requires refocusing and opening ourselves up to the presence of God. It requires some discipline. In some ways it requires making some lifestyle changes if we are going to know God more deeply. Marjorie Thompson (Soul Feast, p. 11) writes, “It would be nice if we could simply ‘practice the presence of God’ in all of life, without expending energy on particular exercises. But the capacity to remember and abide in God’s presence comes only through steady training.” But instead of being more work or toil or something that binds us, spiritual disciplines offer freedom to recognize God in the world. Henri Nouwen (Making All Things New, p. 68) writes, “Through a spiritual discipline we prevent the world from filling our lives to such an extent that there is no place left to listen. A spiritual discipline sets us free.” Worship, prayer, Bible study, silence, and service are just some of the spiritual disciplines that God has given to us to make us more attentive to those evidences of His grace that come to us on a daily basis. And if we allow them to shape our lives, then, like Brother Lawrence in Practicing the Presence of God, even while working we can be aware of the presence of God and the wonder of life.
Let me ask you a question that I continually ask myself: How often have we asked, begged God to reveal himself and missed it when it came? The lesson is to learn how to be sensitive to the many ways, large and small, that God reveals himself. And if we do, no day will be insignificant or wasted. Prepare to be surprised and blessed!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Finding My Deepest Longing
The French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and follower of Jesus, Blaise Pascal, once penned a prayer entitled “You Alone”:
Everything that is not you, God,
cannot fulfill my hopes.
God, I seek and desire you yourself.
To you alone, my God, I turn.
You alone could create my soul,
you alone can create it anew.
You alone could stamp it with your image,
you alone can stamp it anew
and impress your countenance on it again,
which is Jesus Christ, my Savior,
who is your image and the sign of your being.
As I reflect on this prayer I find that it challenges me to look at what I really want or desire in life. Amidst the noise, pressure, group compulsions, rivalry, competing “goods”, direct and indirect control by others, and multitudes of things that fill my days and life, I find it hard to really listen in freedom to the real desire of my heart. There are actually many things I desire – health, security, comfort, affection, etc. But as I look at each of those desires, I really find that there are desires beyond those desires. What is the genuine, deep longing in my life?
Now, as a follower of Jesus, I know what it SHOULD be. Jesus makes that very clear in Matthew 6:33 that the desire that is to be pre-eminent in my life is the Kingdom of God/the doing of the will of God. After all that was the focus and deep desire of Jesus’ life. But how do I get there?
Peter van Breemen writes that “The will of God isn’t something strange and terrible that gets laid down on top of us and to which we must blindly bow. On the contrary, it corresponds to our true deepest being.” He further writes: “If we could all realize our most authentic longings, then the kingdom of God would be here.” (The God of Our Deepest Longings, p. 11)
What I think he is trying to say is that if we keep pushing back beyond our stated desires, we find that ultimately they bring us back to the fundamental longing to live out our identity as people created for relationship with God. God wants to see the unfolding and true fulfillment of our person. This is what it means to live authentic lives. This is what it means to “delight” in the Lord. And the Psalmist reminds us: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Why? Because if our delight/joy, pleasure/contentment is in God, our desires align with God’s longings for us.
I find that often I am more delighted in the gifts that God gives rather than delighting in the Giver. My joy is often in what I receive from God more than finding my joy in God. I really would like to be able to say with the prophet Habakkuk (3:17-18):
Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet will I rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
I have a long way to go, but I am on the journey. First comes joy in God – the gracious, loving God revealed in Jesus. And when I find my joy there, I am free enough to surrender everything. And when I do, I can experience the fulfillment of my deepest longing – a peace that the world cannot give or take away (John 14:27)
Everything that is not you, God,
cannot fulfill my hopes.
God, I seek and desire you yourself.
To you alone, my God, I turn.
You alone could create my soul,
you alone can create it anew.
You alone could stamp it with your image,
you alone can stamp it anew
and impress your countenance on it again,
which is Jesus Christ, my Savior,
who is your image and the sign of your being.
As I reflect on this prayer I find that it challenges me to look at what I really want or desire in life. Amidst the noise, pressure, group compulsions, rivalry, competing “goods”, direct and indirect control by others, and multitudes of things that fill my days and life, I find it hard to really listen in freedom to the real desire of my heart. There are actually many things I desire – health, security, comfort, affection, etc. But as I look at each of those desires, I really find that there are desires beyond those desires. What is the genuine, deep longing in my life?
Now, as a follower of Jesus, I know what it SHOULD be. Jesus makes that very clear in Matthew 6:33 that the desire that is to be pre-eminent in my life is the Kingdom of God/the doing of the will of God. After all that was the focus and deep desire of Jesus’ life. But how do I get there?
Peter van Breemen writes that “The will of God isn’t something strange and terrible that gets laid down on top of us and to which we must blindly bow. On the contrary, it corresponds to our true deepest being.” He further writes: “If we could all realize our most authentic longings, then the kingdom of God would be here.” (The God of Our Deepest Longings, p. 11)
What I think he is trying to say is that if we keep pushing back beyond our stated desires, we find that ultimately they bring us back to the fundamental longing to live out our identity as people created for relationship with God. God wants to see the unfolding and true fulfillment of our person. This is what it means to live authentic lives. This is what it means to “delight” in the Lord. And the Psalmist reminds us: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Why? Because if our delight/joy, pleasure/contentment is in God, our desires align with God’s longings for us.
I find that often I am more delighted in the gifts that God gives rather than delighting in the Giver. My joy is often in what I receive from God more than finding my joy in God. I really would like to be able to say with the prophet Habakkuk (3:17-18):
Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet will I rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
I have a long way to go, but I am on the journey. First comes joy in God – the gracious, loving God revealed in Jesus. And when I find my joy there, I am free enough to surrender everything. And when I do, I can experience the fulfillment of my deepest longing – a peace that the world cannot give or take away (John 14:27)
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