Here are three book series I've enjoyed over the past several years.
Honor Harrington by David Weber
--On Basilisk Station is the first book and is free from the publisher, Baen. I think there are 18-20+ books in this series which started in the 90s. Many of them were released free on CDs included with some of the hardback edition. I've read most of the books with legal electronic copies and got the rest from the library. I've read the first dozen or so books twice and would send money to the author if he had an electronic tip jar.
I guess the genre would be epic space opera. I like the development of Honor as she grows from a new space captain to a commodore then admiral. Generally, Weber has developed a really rich world with different star nations/empires/confederations. There are differences in political systems, technological innovation, social structures etc that are interesting and believable. The space battles are technical without losing dramatic tension in the details. Relationships are maintained and developed over books and when some characters die, it's easy to feel moved by the loss of a dear personality. I do think the series loses some umph after a while, but it's quite good for the first 8-10 books which is impressive on its own.
The Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham
--Daniel Abraham was part of the team that wrote Leviathan Wakes. That scifi noir book had a bit too much of a horror element for my taste, but my electronic copy from the library included the first book of the Dagger and Coin series at the end. The Dagger is a reference to violence while the Coin references business maneuverings.
In this Lord-of-the-Rings-type fantasy world with a more interesting mix of races, one young man fraudulently comes to military and political power while another young woman fraudulently comes to economic power as a representative of a powerful banking house. I find this juxtaposition of economic power vs military/political power to be rare in fantasy books, and it's done well in this series. There are also several sub-themes about religious belief and fallibility of certainty, the power of the unempowered, and faithfulness/loyalty.
Odyssey One by Evan Currie
--First, I'm only on the second of the 4 or 5 books in this series. The space battles are gripping and epicly long (because they are told from many different perspectives). But of course, this is not sufficient for me to recommend as a partially read series.
This is a spoiler, but it comes early in the first book, so I feel less bad about doing this. The Odyssey is the first spaceship sent from Earth into deep space. And on this maiden voyage it picks up another human from a planet far away and a culture tens of thousands of years older than humanity on Earth. I find this proposition really intriguing and am enjoying the slow unfolding of how this could be. I also enjoy the cultural interchange between the Earth humans and the space human.
Apparently, the first book Into the Black has an early, poorly edited version, and a second better edited version. I read the second edition and didn't find the editing a problem, but there have been many complaints about the first edition--so don't get that one.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Lent 2015
Lent started on Wednesday.
This past year I've been listening to a lot of talks by Dallas Willard and I read his Spirit of the Disciplines (which I cannot find at the moment sadly). A Baptist minister and philosophy professor at USC, his talks have given me much to think about.
I have participated in some kind of fasting at different times for different reason since I was about 16. I've fasted for God's favor, in seeking God's will, in overcoming diseased thoughts, and because the whole church was encouraged to. But I have liked best how Willard explains fasting and disciplines in general. I'll need to find the talk, but he says something like the disciplines give us an opportunity to experience "not having things our way". And I think that feeds into the Lord's prayer, "Thy will be done."
I am fasting this season. It does not make be virtuous; it is not might righteousness. But it is an exercise to submit myself to "not having things my way". And I for that I look forward to the journey.
This past year I've been listening to a lot of talks by Dallas Willard and I read his Spirit of the Disciplines (which I cannot find at the moment sadly). A Baptist minister and philosophy professor at USC, his talks have given me much to think about.
I have participated in some kind of fasting at different times for different reason since I was about 16. I've fasted for God's favor, in seeking God's will, in overcoming diseased thoughts, and because the whole church was encouraged to. But I have liked best how Willard explains fasting and disciplines in general. I'll need to find the talk, but he says something like the disciplines give us an opportunity to experience "not having things our way". And I think that feeds into the Lord's prayer, "Thy will be done."
I am fasting this season. It does not make be virtuous; it is not might righteousness. But it is an exercise to submit myself to "not having things my way". And I for that I look forward to the journey.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
A look back over 2014
Right before bed last night, I was trying to remember 2014 before it slipped away. For me, it was hard to get back further than our fall family crisis. The aftermath of that felt like it had sucked up so much recent oxygen. But thankfully N has a better memory than I.
I started off the year writing daily in preparation for a new paper. I did well for 2-3 months which should have established a habit, but then I got depressed in March while tapering off my winter antidepressant (for the 2nd time). That threw a wrench in a lot of things. I had also up until then been extremely consistent with my weightlifting which had moved from a gym into my garage. Both writing and lifting fell off, writing more than lifting.
About that time, I also agreed to begin leading the women's ministry at our church. That was really exciting in many ways and allowed me to exercise some of my gifts that had lay dormant for a while. In particular, I enjoyed developing a mission statement for the ministry and some thoughts on undergirding pillars to guide making choices. I also enjoyed mentoring my team that led various parts of the ministry.
In the late spring, our daughter was diagnosed with some mild developmental delays which was honestly, shocking to me. I think as a newbie parent, I never suspected a thing about our oldest. But we have a good pediatrician and a good preschool teacher. So we went off to speech and occupational therapy. That took up most of what was supposed to be a laid back summer. During the less laid back summer, our son decided to potty train himself which was a GODsend. Love it.
Despite falling off the writing wagon, I was able to pull together a conference paper and traveled with the kids to the Pacific Northwest in August to escape the late summer heat and deliver the talk. It was great! The kids also got to see their older 2nd cousins and loved it. They continue to ask to return to hangout with them.
A few weeks after our return, our oldest started kindergarten, eek! She attends a half-day afternoon session while our son attends a morning preschool a few times a week. Our minivan is getting a workout. But kindergarten has been better than we anticipated. Specifically, she loves her daily dose of PE and her main language arts/math teacher is delightful and attentive to making accommodations where L needs it and providing extra challenges too. I was generally the freaked out mom sending her first to kindergarten, but our family crisis came the second week of school and effectively squashed my brain space to fret about that. This is probably better for everyone. Now that life is slightly more stable, I'd like to meet with her teacher about 1st grade. We'll see. As a reference point, our dear L read Charlotte's Web yesterday. I can't keep up, but hopefully her teachers can.
While I don't really want to discuss our family crisis, here are a few random highlights from the fall. In September, I started attending a small women's group. I think they call it mentoring. I call it my Jesus group where we encourage one another to allow Jesus to be the center of our authentic (read messy) lives. Love that time; love those ladies. Also in September, one of N's college friends came out to visit us, and it was great to be able to reconnect with him.
Our family minivan lost its AC over the summer (bad timing), but we muddled through and looked to replace the 14-year-old van by April 2015. We were able to get a great, nay superb deal, on a 6-year-old, low-mileage van in October. I feel like the Beverly Hillbillies driving this enormous van with all its bells and whistles. The kids still don't know it has a DVD player with two screens that fold out of the ceiling.
In November, N's project released to the public, Halo: Master Chief Collection. The project was panned soundly by critics, but the ship should right itself soon and fanbois around the world can rejoice.
In mid-December, my mom came to visit for the holidays which was great for us, although my dad is alone overseas while she's here. However, they say they are moving back to the states next year. I'll believe it when I see it.
On a more sobering note, I had my severest episode of depression to date a few weeks ago. After talking with a psychiatrist, I'm moving off an antidepressant to a mood stabilizer. The transition has not been particularly smooth, but I am generally hopeful that we'll land on something that will help me avoid another debilitating episode like that one.
At the end of 2014, I'd say I was weary but hopeful, and perhaps most of all grateful for the way God gently teaches me His sufficiency in all things.
I started off the year writing daily in preparation for a new paper. I did well for 2-3 months which should have established a habit, but then I got depressed in March while tapering off my winter antidepressant (for the 2nd time). That threw a wrench in a lot of things. I had also up until then been extremely consistent with my weightlifting which had moved from a gym into my garage. Both writing and lifting fell off, writing more than lifting.
About that time, I also agreed to begin leading the women's ministry at our church. That was really exciting in many ways and allowed me to exercise some of my gifts that had lay dormant for a while. In particular, I enjoyed developing a mission statement for the ministry and some thoughts on undergirding pillars to guide making choices. I also enjoyed mentoring my team that led various parts of the ministry.
In the late spring, our daughter was diagnosed with some mild developmental delays which was honestly, shocking to me. I think as a newbie parent, I never suspected a thing about our oldest. But we have a good pediatrician and a good preschool teacher. So we went off to speech and occupational therapy. That took up most of what was supposed to be a laid back summer. During the less laid back summer, our son decided to potty train himself which was a GODsend. Love it.
Despite falling off the writing wagon, I was able to pull together a conference paper and traveled with the kids to the Pacific Northwest in August to escape the late summer heat and deliver the talk. It was great! The kids also got to see their older 2nd cousins and loved it. They continue to ask to return to hangout with them.
A few weeks after our return, our oldest started kindergarten, eek! She attends a half-day afternoon session while our son attends a morning preschool a few times a week. Our minivan is getting a workout. But kindergarten has been better than we anticipated. Specifically, she loves her daily dose of PE and her main language arts/math teacher is delightful and attentive to making accommodations where L needs it and providing extra challenges too. I was generally the freaked out mom sending her first to kindergarten, but our family crisis came the second week of school and effectively squashed my brain space to fret about that. This is probably better for everyone. Now that life is slightly more stable, I'd like to meet with her teacher about 1st grade. We'll see. As a reference point, our dear L read Charlotte's Web yesterday. I can't keep up, but hopefully her teachers can.
While I don't really want to discuss our family crisis, here are a few random highlights from the fall. In September, I started attending a small women's group. I think they call it mentoring. I call it my Jesus group where we encourage one another to allow Jesus to be the center of our authentic (read messy) lives. Love that time; love those ladies. Also in September, one of N's college friends came out to visit us, and it was great to be able to reconnect with him.
Our family minivan lost its AC over the summer (bad timing), but we muddled through and looked to replace the 14-year-old van by April 2015. We were able to get a great, nay superb deal, on a 6-year-old, low-mileage van in October. I feel like the Beverly Hillbillies driving this enormous van with all its bells and whistles. The kids still don't know it has a DVD player with two screens that fold out of the ceiling.
In November, N's project released to the public, Halo: Master Chief Collection. The project was panned soundly by critics, but the ship should right itself soon and fanbois around the world can rejoice.
In mid-December, my mom came to visit for the holidays which was great for us, although my dad is alone overseas while she's here. However, they say they are moving back to the states next year. I'll believe it when I see it.
On a more sobering note, I had my severest episode of depression to date a few weeks ago. After talking with a psychiatrist, I'm moving off an antidepressant to a mood stabilizer. The transition has not been particularly smooth, but I am generally hopeful that we'll land on something that will help me avoid another debilitating episode like that one.
At the end of 2014, I'd say I was weary but hopeful, and perhaps most of all grateful for the way God gently teaches me His sufficiency in all things.
Friday, October 31, 2014
90 Minutes to Princess Leia buns
Commentary at the end.
Supplies
6mm/J hook
brown yarn, worsted weight
fiber fill
needle
Headband as base--30 min
Make foundation chain of 10 (or a multiple of 3 ch plus an extra 1 ch)
FOUNDATION ROW: 4 ch (counts as 1 dc and 1 ch), *skip 2 ch, (1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc) all into next ch; repeat from * to end
ROW 1: 4 ch (counts as 1 dc and 1 ch), 1 dc into ch sp between first 2 dc, *(1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc) into ch sp between next 2 dc; rep from * to end.
Repeat until length is ~1.5" or ~4cm less than circumference of the head.
sc ends together to form a band. Tie off and leave a 10"/25cm tail.
Bun--30 min each
Each bun is formed by making a tube, which is filled with fiber fill to make a snake, which is then wound to make a bun.
Start with 4 foundation single crochet, 1ch
sc in a circle down one side of the foundation single crochet, 1 sc in the end, sc down the other side of the foundation single crochets (should be 9 stitches).
Continue in a spiral with sc into every stitch which will form a tube. Every 2"/5cm add some fiber fill loosely. Continue until snake forms bun of desired size. My snakes were 10"/25cm long.
Snake tails are formed by adding a decreases: 2 sc together, every 4 sts until the point comes together. Tie off and leave 10"/25cm tail.
Putting it together
Roll snake into a bun with the tail on the outside. Using a yarn needle and the extra yarn at the end of each tail, sew the tail down. Pass the needle and yarn through the fiber fill to the inside of the roll. Run the needle in and out anchoring the inner rolls of the snake to one another. Tie off and trim excess. Repeat with other snake.
Lay the band seam out (not against the head), and place one bun over seam. Using the left over yarn from tying off the band, anchor the bun to the band in 3-4 places that are not all in a straightline.
Repeat with other bun using a 12-14"/30-35cm piece of yarn. Done.
COMMENTARY--generalization and optimizations
So this project needed buns and something to attach the buns to it. The buns get kind of big and heavy. So any kind of headband would work, ie a simple band made of sc or dc rows. But I recommend a width of 4"/10cm. I also recommend that it be fairly snug which is why I recommend measuring the head and subtracting length to account for the stretch in the yarn. Even more stable would be a beanie and there are many patterns available for that.
Because I was aiming for speed I used a large hook. The tradeoff is that the fiber fill peaks through the holes in the buns. A smaller hook would produce a tighter weave that would keep the fiber fill in better.
All in all a fun simple project for a last minute Halloween addition.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Not too weak (or whiny) for God
Last week, my devotional presented an odd passage from Judges 6. I say odd only because I don't venture off to read Judges much. Zepheniah might be less read, but only just.
But I have been totally captivated by this little interchange.
The set up is this: Moses walked the people of the Israel around the wilderness for 40 years; Joshua leads them in victory to the promised land flowing with milk and honey. But after Joshua dies, generations pass, and no one remembers what God has done and they start doing their own thing. So during this time of the judges, the people of God run amok; God sends them a judge to deliver them; they run amok; God sends them a judge to deliver them. Rinse and repeat OVER and OVER. Here we're reading the calling of the next judge, Gideon.
But what I could hug him for is the next line, "...but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?" It's stuff like this that makes the Bible stand out as literature over the millennia. I had an old teacher who liked to quote Ezra Pound saying, "Great literature is news that stays news." Through the ages, who hasn't felt this way in times of trouble?
Gideon, if you read the opening of the chapter, is threshing wheat. But instead of doing it in the open, he's hiding in a wine press. The bad guys, the Midianites, have taken over the land to the extent that crops are being destroyed and people of God are living in caves. Gideon can be forgiven for his incredulity. Everything in his experience points to being abandoned by God. Wherever God is, He's not with them.
And the response is equally awesome. We find out a few verses later that Gideon's own dad has set up altars for several other (non)gods. The one, true God could have played His own abandonment card. It's not like His people were being faithful to him. Instead, Gideon is commissioned and affirmed in 14.
But nerd boy won't have any of it. God says, "Go in the strength you have...," and Gideon answers, "What strength?" Gideon has a very clear picture of his circumstances--he is personally weak, his family is weak, his nation is weak. There is no defeating Midian; it's not happening.
The reality of Gideon's circumstance does not, however, phase God. The God equation in 16 is "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive." It's as if it would take a thousand pounds to crush Midian, and Gideon's got a toy hammer. But God does not care because He's going to bring a monster truck to the party. All Gideon has to do is get in the cab and put the hammer in the glove box.
I love this story of what I imagine to be a pimply, weakling having a very unheroic discussion with God. We live in a culture at-large and a church culture of strength and success. But weakness is common, and here we see that it isn't off-putting to God.
But I have been totally captivated by this little interchange.
The set up is this: Moses walked the people of the Israel around the wilderness for 40 years; Joshua leads them in victory to the promised land flowing with milk and honey. But after Joshua dies, generations pass, and no one remembers what God has done and they start doing their own thing. So during this time of the judges, the people of God run amok; God sends them a judge to deliver them; they run amok; God sends them a judge to deliver them. Rinse and repeat OVER and OVER. Here we're reading the calling of the next judge, Gideon.
12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”I love that in 13, after the angel calls him a "mighty warrior", Gideon starts off with a "pardon me". I don't know if this is what the translators intended, but I'm picturing a 17 year old, sunk-chested nerd. In other words, not a mighty warrior.
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” ~Judges 6
But what I could hug him for is the next line, "...but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?" It's stuff like this that makes the Bible stand out as literature over the millennia. I had an old teacher who liked to quote Ezra Pound saying, "Great literature is news that stays news." Through the ages, who hasn't felt this way in times of trouble?
Gideon, if you read the opening of the chapter, is threshing wheat. But instead of doing it in the open, he's hiding in a wine press. The bad guys, the Midianites, have taken over the land to the extent that crops are being destroyed and people of God are living in caves. Gideon can be forgiven for his incredulity. Everything in his experience points to being abandoned by God. Wherever God is, He's not with them.
And the response is equally awesome. We find out a few verses later that Gideon's own dad has set up altars for several other (non)gods. The one, true God could have played His own abandonment card. It's not like His people were being faithful to him. Instead, Gideon is commissioned and affirmed in 14.
But nerd boy won't have any of it. God says, "Go in the strength you have...," and Gideon answers, "What strength?" Gideon has a very clear picture of his circumstances--he is personally weak, his family is weak, his nation is weak. There is no defeating Midian; it's not happening.
The reality of Gideon's circumstance does not, however, phase God. The God equation in 16 is "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive." It's as if it would take a thousand pounds to crush Midian, and Gideon's got a toy hammer. But God does not care because He's going to bring a monster truck to the party. All Gideon has to do is get in the cab and put the hammer in the glove box.
I love this story of what I imagine to be a pimply, weakling having a very unheroic discussion with God. We live in a culture at-large and a church culture of strength and success. But weakness is common, and here we see that it isn't off-putting to God.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Tough times
This past month's hiatus was intentional. We have been navigating a painful family crisis, and internet space wasn't where I planned to process anything. We're out of the acute, immediate, fighting for each day phase, but unwinding all this will take a while.
So here are some general reflections on the past month:
So here are some general reflections on the past month:
- Choosing to not hide allowed us to experience a lot of love and grace from many directions.
- I did not always know what I needed, but I was needy.
- The crisis was big enough to be clearly not fixable, and this was freeing.
- When the abiding presence of a loving God was all I could hold on to, it was enough.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
A little crazy: a confession
We're in the middle of a heavy cycle of needing to replace worn out, broken things in our house. After such a long time of making things last and stretch and saving up for the day when that old item will just have to be replaced, having new things is actually a harder transition than I thought it would be.
This weekend we got a new stove. I think the last time I encountered a new stove I was 17; it was my mom's new kitchen in a new house that I was about to move out of--and I didn't cook. My whole adult life I've been making do with whatever the apartment/house came with. And it's been fine. I think I like used things or I'm at least very comfortable with them. I'm not sure what freaks me out more; the shiny newness of the oven, the fact that it works so well, or that it's stainless steel.
I'm definitely still in the "whoa, it might get a scratch" phase. I'm completely unprepared for how fast the oven pre-heats and how quickly the water boils/onions burn. And I completely pooh-poohed the whole stainless steel fad, but this model only came in that finish. But I take solace that it's more stainless steel trim with a black top and oven door; black being the color I originally wanted.
In other words, I'm a little crazy and messed up in the head.
New feels like a very different mindset from used. We upgraded our couch this summer by buying our friends' leather couch. Love the couch, love remembering visits with said friends, love that we didn't pay full price for it, and love that it came pre-loved so I don't worry so much when I see my kids launching themselves over it. The couch slid into our lives seamlessly (after the guys huffed it into place).
The oven seems different. Maybe because we were never expecting to replace it. We know our water heater and HVAC are getting extras years through careful maintenance. We know our cars are getting long in the tooth, but our oven? I feel surprised, but I shouldn't be. The death sentence was pronounced in July but with our hot summers, we postponed the purchase just using the grill outside. It's not baking season. So I really had plenty of time to prepare for a new stove.
I think part of me just can't let go of the immigrants' daughter, poor grad student life. The oven just seems too fancy and functional for little ole me. And for that matter so does the leather couch, but at least I know the secret story that it's a hand-me-down.
Ah well, I'll give my little crazy self a hug and get on with jet boiling, stir frying, and convection baking till the cows come home.
This weekend we got a new stove. I think the last time I encountered a new stove I was 17; it was my mom's new kitchen in a new house that I was about to move out of--and I didn't cook. My whole adult life I've been making do with whatever the apartment/house came with. And it's been fine. I think I like used things or I'm at least very comfortable with them. I'm not sure what freaks me out more; the shiny newness of the oven, the fact that it works so well, or that it's stainless steel.
I'm definitely still in the "whoa, it might get a scratch" phase. I'm completely unprepared for how fast the oven pre-heats and how quickly the water boils/onions burn. And I completely pooh-poohed the whole stainless steel fad, but this model only came in that finish. But I take solace that it's more stainless steel trim with a black top and oven door; black being the color I originally wanted.
In other words, I'm a little crazy and messed up in the head.
New feels like a very different mindset from used. We upgraded our couch this summer by buying our friends' leather couch. Love the couch, love remembering visits with said friends, love that we didn't pay full price for it, and love that it came pre-loved so I don't worry so much when I see my kids launching themselves over it. The couch slid into our lives seamlessly (after the guys huffed it into place).
The oven seems different. Maybe because we were never expecting to replace it. We know our water heater and HVAC are getting extras years through careful maintenance. We know our cars are getting long in the tooth, but our oven? I feel surprised, but I shouldn't be. The death sentence was pronounced in July but with our hot summers, we postponed the purchase just using the grill outside. It's not baking season. So I really had plenty of time to prepare for a new stove.
I think part of me just can't let go of the immigrants' daughter, poor grad student life. The oven just seems too fancy and functional for little ole me. And for that matter so does the leather couch, but at least I know the secret story that it's a hand-me-down.
Ah well, I'll give my little crazy self a hug and get on with jet boiling, stir frying, and convection baking till the cows come home.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
On fire for Jesus, burning bush edition
 |
| Flame On: Burning Bush |
This week I've been reading in Exodus and one verse has stuck with me throughout the week.
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up." ~Exodus 3:2-3Here's are the thoughts I've had:
First, apparently bushes on fire are not interesting. Good to know. BUT bushes on fire that aren't being destroyed? Very interesting and worth closer inspection.
Second, if we step back and look at this symbolically, what got Moses' attention was a situation that should have caused destruction didn't. When I think about lives of Christians that have impressed me, I see a common thread of surviving and even thriving despite cruelly destructive pressures--illness, death, injustice, betrayal, etc. Like Moses' burning bush, this is a strange sight and I've got to know what's going on.
Third, if we step back yet again, most of us don't want to be on fire for Jesus this way. When on fire of Jesus means being enthusiastic, "passionate", or pumped, we're ok with that. We question ourselves when our feelings aren't dramatic. Dramatic feelings are good! we think. If being on fire for Jesus means appearing to be caught in a life threatening situation that should, absent a miracle, consume us, we're all ready to check out. I know I am.
On fire for Jesus as an emotional ploy seems like something we can manufacture with enough bass, hand waving, and repeated lyrics. MOAR COWBELL!! On fire for Jesus as a supernatural consuming but not-consumed event--that is outside of ourselves. That is something else. And whatever it is, like Moses' burning bush it is a strange yet attractive sight. I think we need more of Moses' burning bush.
**
Paper cut by Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik
On fire for Jesus as an emotional ploy seems like something we can manufacture with enough bass, hand waving, and repeated lyrics. MOAR COWBELL!! On fire for Jesus as a supernatural consuming but not-consumed event--that is outside of ourselves. That is something else. And whatever it is, like Moses' burning bush it is a strange yet attractive sight. I think we need more of Moses' burning bush.
**
Paper cut by Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik
Thursday, August 21, 2014
The slow grace of listening
One of the most difficult things about this summer has been the addition of several appointments a week to the schedule as well as a new membership to the YMCA. The appointments we just had to be at. The Y, well, since we're paying, we'd better go. And all of a sudden, our lives were hurried in a way that we usually haven't been.
Other people have written about this, I'm sure, but I think hurry lives on the opposite end of grace. And I particularly believe this when I think about the power of unhurried listening. This week I had a conversation with an old friend and gifted listener. It's not that he never said anything, in fact, he talked a lot. But he listened, and he asked follow up questions that were insightful and demonstrated loving care without having to say, "I lovingly care for you." And some of those follow up questions skipped back two or three topics because he had been listening with his heart and attuned to the Spirit.
The slow grace of listening is gracious precisely because listening can only occur with the investment of time. When we listen, we are handing over precious moments of our lives to another person. And when we listen, we embody the message that this other person's life, thoughts, and interests matter. Whatever would count as the spiritual opposite of fastfood and facebook, that's what listening is.
Listening is something anyone, believer or non-believer, can do. But listeners who walk in the Christ life have a bonus resource. First, we can ask for supernatural discernment to hear the heart behind the words. And second, we can ask for supernatural guidance for how and when to respond.
This world is all about love. I love chocolate cake. I love One Direction. I love community service. I love my family. All you need is love. I love you. But when it comes to this costly way of loving--listening--we're not so all about that. So the third thing that Christ in us accomplishes is that we have a model and resource for sacrificial loving.
Other people have written about this, I'm sure, but I think hurry lives on the opposite end of grace. And I particularly believe this when I think about the power of unhurried listening. This week I had a conversation with an old friend and gifted listener. It's not that he never said anything, in fact, he talked a lot. But he listened, and he asked follow up questions that were insightful and demonstrated loving care without having to say, "I lovingly care for you." And some of those follow up questions skipped back two or three topics because he had been listening with his heart and attuned to the Spirit.
The slow grace of listening is gracious precisely because listening can only occur with the investment of time. When we listen, we are handing over precious moments of our lives to another person. And when we listen, we embody the message that this other person's life, thoughts, and interests matter. Whatever would count as the spiritual opposite of fastfood and facebook, that's what listening is.
Listening is something anyone, believer or non-believer, can do. But listeners who walk in the Christ life have a bonus resource. First, we can ask for supernatural discernment to hear the heart behind the words. And second, we can ask for supernatural guidance for how and when to respond.
This world is all about love. I love chocolate cake. I love One Direction. I love community service. I love my family. All you need is love. I love you. But when it comes to this costly way of loving--listening--we're not so all about that. So the third thing that Christ in us accomplishes is that we have a model and resource for sacrificial loving.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Getting to know Grace
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| Grace and Mom, 1994 |
I remember in middle school, she returned from a trip to South America with a gift for me, a bird made out of animal horn. I remember liking the bird, but really marveling that she had thought of me while traveling.
When I was in high school, she tutored my mom in English. I don't remember anyone else spending time with my mom like that. They were dear friends, taking walks and praying together for many years.
Miss Mutzabaugh was the never-married founder of the National Institute of Learning Disabilities which worked closely with the church and Christian school I attended. She traveled to other countries to help missionary parents with learning disabled children have the skills to help their child and stay on the field. She was my example of a woman doing big things outside of home life. But more importantly, she embodied the Jesus-life and showed me what it was like to see people and not projects, to see people and not see labels and expectations.
But I was thick and even though I grew up in a Christian home, in a church, with Grace in my life, it wasn't until I got to college that I understood God's grace. Somewhere between the lovely community of believers I met and the books I read, it finally sank in that there was nothing I could do to make God love me more (and nothing I could do to make God love me less).
As a black-and-white perfectionist, this was revolutionary and deflating. I could not try harder, collect more achievements, do anything to increase the love of God for me. But the primary orientation of my life up to then had been precisely doing more, doing better. So once you can't do anything to earn God's love, what do you do? The doing is what is called discipleship, it's training to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18).
Some time after I left home, Grace developed Alzheimer's and had to be moved out of her house. Many of her books came to our house, and maybe a dozen or so are with me now. Looking over those titles, I got a glimpse of how this friend chose to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in a lifeling process of letting God be Lord over all that she was, heart, soul, mind, and strength.
What Grace chose to read, how far she chose to travel, or how she chose to love my family did not earn her a place a heaven. But these were part of an ongoing habit in her life to entrust herself to God. This is discipleship; this is what we do in grace; this is what it means to say yes to Jesus. We apply the strength we have to move in the direction of the will of God and trust in the power of the Holy Spirit for the rest.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Incredible opportunity
When I was finishing university and looking around for what to do next, my internet searching brought up a professor doing work that I thought was interesting. So I applied to his department, and they flew me out to visit. It was a fun visit and I enjoyed sitting in on his class and office hours, but I decided not to go to graduate school straight out of college.
In the end, I wanted to learn from him so much, I re-applied to the program, moved to a big city I didn't like, and took his crazy 4-8PM courses for years. At one point, I was sick of that city and sick of the lack of funding in the department and looked to transfer to another program in another city. But I couldn't find a researcher I'd rather work under. And so I stayed in that expensive, crowded city, in that poor department, but with that professor. For all his faults and the surrounding difficulties, being his student was an incredible opportunity.
This is really good news. It is a damaging half-truth to focus on our eternal souls when what we really mean is that we want Jesus to get us into heaven after we die. Indeed, it's a logical fallacy because eternity includes now. The good news of the Bible is not about later. The good news is about now and forever.
What Jesus actually says in "Great Commission" is this (which I've broken up for emphasis):
[Jesus] must be clearly seen as the most important thing in human life, and being his apprentice as the greatest opportunity any human being ever has. ~Dallas Willard, "How does the disciple live?"Being a student of Jesus is the most incredible opportunity. It is inconceivable yet true that the one who is right about everything invites us to learn from him. This learning doesn't consist of long-distance, over-the-internet lectures. This learning is an in-the-flesh, moment-by-moment, intimately-near and out-of-love experience. And from it, we can learn what is good, true, and beautiful.
This is really good news. It is a damaging half-truth to focus on our eternal souls when what we really mean is that we want Jesus to get us into heaven after we die. Indeed, it's a logical fallacy because eternity includes now. The good news of the Bible is not about later. The good news is about now and forever.
What Jesus actually says in "Great Commission" is this (which I've broken up for emphasis):
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
~The good news according to Matthew, chapter 28, vs 17-20
There are many points to make here, but what I want to push back against is our Christian cultural emphasis on just going. "Go means Go" I've heard pastors preach. And that's great. I agree. But what's to happen when we arrive? Making disciples. Introducing people to the incredible opportunity of learning all that is good, true, and beautiful with and from the loving Creator God.
What are we to be about? What does being a disciple look like? We'll keep digging into that next week.
What are we to be about? What does being a disciple look like? We'll keep digging into that next week.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
He is right about everything
For the next little bit, I'd like to reflect on this article called "How Does the Disciple Live?" by Dallas Willard.
Willard starts off this way:
As Jesus’ disciple, I am his apprentice in kingdom living. I am learning from him how to lead my life in the Kingdom of the Heavens as he would lead my life if he were I. It is my faith in him that led me to become his disciple. My confidence in him simply means that I believe that he is right about everything: that all that he is and says shows what life is at its best, what it was intended by God to be. “In him was life and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4 NAS)
The idea of apprenticeship has fallen by the wayside. Perhaps if you're in the trades it might not have, but among the people I spend time with we don't talk about and don't know about apprenticeship. The best we get is Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer's Apprentice. But the idea is that a novice learns from an expert by spending time with and being under the direct instruction of an expert.
Somehow in the Christian-ese I grew up in the word disciple and follower came up frequently, but this idea that Jesus is a life expert from whom I should learn how to live life did not. And this is true even though the word disciple finds its root in the Latin word for student, discipulus, -a.
Willard pushes this idea even further writing, "...I believe that [Jesus] is right about everything." Honestly, that rubs me the wrong way. I know that he's God, creator of the universe, etc. etc. blah, blah, blah, but "right about everything" seems so inflexible, so hard nosed.
But then I ran into this other quote:
When the imitation of Christ does not mean to live a life like Christ, but to live your life as authentically as Christ lived his, then there are many ways and forms in which a man can be a Christian. ~ Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer.The goal is not to become a Jewish carpenter from two thousand years ago. The goal is to learn His heart because that is and can only be right about everything.
Our church has been going through the 10 commandments which my small group went through only a few months before. (That, by the way, is a lot of 10 commandments.) Why would modern, new covenant, post-Jesus believers spend that much time with the 10 commandments? It's not to live a small, legalistic life. It's to live a large and enlarged life. The tagline for this sermon series is "Set free to live free".
Jesus, the expert on life, the creator and sustainer of life, is not just a savior for the down-the-road judgment day. He provides the pattern and instruction for how to live our right-now life. And far from being a ball and chain, the Jesus way is the best, and freest way to live.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Resting, Secured, Shielded
Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,I've been savoring this verse this week. Over the weekend, we hosted some friends while they packed out their house for a big move. They did the literal heavy lifting (and cleaning, and sorting, and details), all we had to do was watch 5 kids under 5 (with help) and provide 3 square meals a day. I know why they were exhausted, but somehow we were too.
for he shields him all day long,
and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.
Deuteronomy 33:12*
And then this verse.
Like lemonade on a hot summer day.
I think about all the uncertainty of a move and am comforted that in God our friends are secure and shielded. And then I think about how tired we all were by the end of the weekend and that image of resting between his shoulders is so powerful. There are many cultures that tie their babies on their backs up between the shoulders. How safe, how close, how restful.
I also notice that the beloved in this verse does nothing but rest. The Lord provides the security, the Lord does the shielding, the Lord does the loving. I think we fail to take that seriously to our detriment. We're afraid that if we rest in our loving God, something important isn't going to get done. We're not going to be secure or shielded if we don't do something. But this verse says differently.
While you're thinking about that, enjoy this trailer about beauty from unlikely places.
*Moses' blessing to the tribe of Benjamin, read the whole chapter for neat blessings given to the 12 tribes of Israel.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Blessed are the uncool
I had cool thoughts coming together this weekend to write up. But then I read this in Brennan Manning's Furious Longing of God and realized this was better than anything I could do.
I say to you,
Blessed is he who exposes himself to an existence never brought under mastery,
who does not transcend,
but rather abandons himself to my ever-transcending grace.
Blessed are not the enlightened whose every question has been answered and who are delighted with their own sublime insight,
the mature and ripe ones whose one remaining action is to fall from the tree.
Blessed, rather, are the chased, the harassed who must daily stand before my enigmas and cannot solve them.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
those who lack a spirit of cleverness.
Woe to the rich, and woe to the doubly rich in spirit!
Although nothing is impossible with God, it is difficult for the Spirit to move their fat hearts.
The poor are willing and easy to direct. Like little puppies they do not take their eyes from their master's hand to see if perhaps he may throw them a little morsel from his plate. So carefully do the Poor follow my promptings that they listen to the wind (which blows where it pleases), even when it changes. From the sky they can read the weather and interpret the signs of the times. My grace is unpretentious, but the poor are satisfied with little gifts.
~Hans Urs Von Balthasar; Heart of the World (Fort Collins, CO: Ignatius Press, 1980)
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Summer oatmeal
We eat a lot of oatmeal here. We buy 10lbs at a time.
Anyways, I've been just pouring boiled water over my old fashioned oats and leaving it alone while tending to the kids. By the time, I've got them going, my oats are ready. I've now done 1 cup of boiling water over 1/2 cup of oats enough times that I can eyeball the amount.
For the kids, I've been doing baked oatmeal because I could dump in eggs, oil, and milk which bumps up the fat and protein in their breakfast which I like. But now it's summer and I don't feel like turning on the oven, plus our oven has gone wonky.
So today I tried this:
6 cups of oats
3/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
cinnamon
And then I poured over boiling water to the level that I usually see when I make my own oatmeal. I would guess that I was in the neighborhood of 8-10 cups of water. I think the box would call for 12 cups of water.
Anyways, I put a lid on the pot and walked away for 15 min while changing the kids and getting the breakfast table set up.
Turned out pretty good. I poured some milk over their portions to cool it off. I later added a big scoop of protein powder since I didn't add eggs.
As a no bake alternative, I liked this. We'll see if the kids take to it.
Anyways, I've been just pouring boiled water over my old fashioned oats and leaving it alone while tending to the kids. By the time, I've got them going, my oats are ready. I've now done 1 cup of boiling water over 1/2 cup of oats enough times that I can eyeball the amount.
For the kids, I've been doing baked oatmeal because I could dump in eggs, oil, and milk which bumps up the fat and protein in their breakfast which I like. But now it's summer and I don't feel like turning on the oven, plus our oven has gone wonky.
So today I tried this:
6 cups of oats
3/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
cinnamon
And then I poured over boiling water to the level that I usually see when I make my own oatmeal. I would guess that I was in the neighborhood of 8-10 cups of water. I think the box would call for 12 cups of water.
Anyways, I put a lid on the pot and walked away for 15 min while changing the kids and getting the breakfast table set up.
Turned out pretty good. I poured some milk over their portions to cool it off. I later added a big scoop of protein powder since I didn't add eggs.
As a no bake alternative, I liked this. We'll see if the kids take to it.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Special enough to be ordinary
Likewise, I think about the apostle Paul, who said he'd learned the secret to being content whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want (Philippians 4:11-12). Or how after listing his exalted resume, he said it was garbage (Philippians 3:4-9). There was no need to dress up because of who Jesus was to him. T-shirts or suits, PB & J or filet mignon, Motel 6 or the Ritz Carlton, whatever! because he was in Christ.
That, however, is not the world we live in. Every message we receive is about the exceptional. Part of it is that our very nervous systems give more attention to the extraordinary and new. So we're more aware of and seek those sorts of things.
But then we add a layer to the exceptional--we try to tie our worth and value to experiencing or owning the exceptional. The logic might be something like this: "If I am noticeable, then I am valuable." And conversely, "If no one notices me, I'm not valuable."
And off we go to buy the right stuff, date the right person, earn the right degree, get the right job, so that we'll be noticed and valuable. Or we can buy the wrong stuff, date the wrong people, have the wrong degree, work the wrong job, and poof! We're nothing.
But the story of the Bible is one of intimate noticing. God talks to Adam and Eve in the garden and notices when they try to hide. He notices Hagar when she runs away from Abraham and Sarah's abuse. The people of Israel, not powerful or mighty, are the object of his noticing, pursuit, protection, and judgment throughout the stories of the Old Testament.
When we join with Paul in grasping our "In Christ" status, that we are the objects of God's loving care and noticing, I think we can become t-shirt and flip-flop wearing Lamborghini drivers. We can be graciously ordinary. We've got nothing to prove. We can have nothing worth posting to facebook, nothing worth writing a news story about, no star stickers or merit badges, no 26.2s on our cars, no designer clothing, no alumni rings. Instead, we can wear our raggedy t-shirts, and not-so-skinny jeans, make non-organic mac & cheese for our kids, take a modest car camping vacation on a muddy, used-to-be-a-lake, and sing off key on Sundays in our not-that-hip church.
In fact, I think that ordinary, not-crazy, everyday love is what Paul encourages the believers in Thessalonica toward. This he says is how to live out loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. ~I Thessalonians 4:9-12As children of the King, we're already special. There's no need to be more special, in fact, we can't make ourselves substantially more special. Sure we can gain notoriety, but only temporarily. So we're free to just live and love the people around us in the most everyday, unnoticeable, not-facebook-worthy ways.
Photo: PacificCoastNews.com
Thursday, June 5, 2014
The Ministry of Silliness
With preschool aged kids around the house, I'd say our lives are a mix of the sweet, sour, and silly. Lately, we've been in high friction mode with a lot of "That's my toy!" and "But I was playing with that!" followed by "Waahhh!!" Drives me nuts, but also makes me more aware of when the house rings with laughter and cackles. It might only be for 30 seconds, but it's gold.
This week, I've been meditating on Hebrews 4:14-16, particularly this idea of approaching God's throne with confidence.
The other part of our confidence is supposed to be in the fact that Jesus walked the earth and lived human life and can understand our weaknesses. I'm making a bit of a leap here, but I think this works out in all the language used to describe our new relationship with God as one of adopted children.
As I think about this and I think about approaching God's throne of grace with confidence, I think this confidence we're to come with is not the confidence of triumph and ability, but the confidence of relationship. It is like the confidence my children have that we find them delightful, that we are after their good, that we desire to help them*. In this, I think we need to spend more time meditating on Jesus' call to have faith like a child.
*We do have punchy parent moments where we screw this up.
This week, I've been meditating on Hebrews 4:14-16, particularly this idea of approaching God's throne with confidence.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.~Hebrews 4:14-16In the text, this confidence appears to rest in two things: first, that Jesus has ascended to heaven as our great high priest, and second, that Jesus lived our human life and "gets" it. An Old Testament high priest offered sacrifices on behalf of himself and the people of Israel for their sins. But the blood of animals had to be offered regularly to cover sins. Jesus, as the high priest, offered himself as a sacrifice not on his own behalf, but on behalf of all humanity for all time. So that's one part of our confidence, that in Jesus, we are expiated, our sins have been paid for and do not prevent us from coming before God's majestic throne.
The other part of our confidence is supposed to be in the fact that Jesus walked the earth and lived human life and can understand our weaknesses. I'm making a bit of a leap here, but I think this works out in all the language used to describe our new relationship with God as one of adopted children.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry,“Abba, Father.” ~Romans 8:14-15Yesterday, we were out at a big birthday dinner, and our kids were at one end of a long table happily into all the sprinkly condiments. There was salt and pepper getting shaken out, there was sugar and pepper, pepper in water, sweet n low and who knows what. The parent-self wanted to chastise them for doing it wrong. But the kid-self remembered all those grown-up dinners my brothers and I attended where we entertained ourselves in the same way albeit Chinese style: tea and soy sauce, tea and chili paste, chili paste and mustard and green onions, and so on.
As I think about this and I think about approaching God's throne of grace with confidence, I think this confidence we're to come with is not the confidence of triumph and ability, but the confidence of relationship. It is like the confidence my children have that we find them delightful, that we are after their good, that we desire to help them*. In this, I think we need to spend more time meditating on Jesus' call to have faith like a child.
*We do have punchy parent moments where we screw this up.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
The mysterious ascension of Jesus
If you're an orderly-minded person, you should just go find something else to read.
This Thursday is for many Christians the Feast of Ascension which commemorates the Jesus' return to heaven after his resurrection and is celebrated 40 days after Easter. I have never celebrated the Ascension; I've never heard a sermon on it that I remember (although I did have a pastor who loved Acts, so he may have covered it at one point); I basically have never thought about it.
But this year, I noticed, and I'm trying to rectify the issue.
First off, in proportion to the space given to Jesus' sermons and actions, the description of his return to heaven takes up very little space. In fact, if you will indulge me, I'll provide all the scripture describing the event*:
The body had wound marks from the nails. It could eat food. (Luke 24:40-43) This enfleshed being, not some dissolved spirit, was taken to heaven which isn't literally up but is actually elsewhere and near at the same time. Or so they say. It seems wonderful and totally sci-fi at the same time.
So where does that leave us? Well, for one thing, however, heaven and earth are organized and related, if I thought I understood it, I certainly don't now. Jesus, as a physical human, is somewhere in heaven, a nonphysical reality. Do his lungs still need oxygenl? Go to the bathroom?
For another thing, Jesus is not with us, but he did send the Holy Spirit. And that was for our good (John 16:7). And Jesus promises to come back (John 14:3, 18, 28). So in the Holy Spirit, God is with us, but God the Son is not, but he will come back. Clear as mud? I don't know what to do with this, but at the least, this points to the idea that my life and history are not complete. There will be a time of deeper union and intimacy between Jesus and individuals, his bride the church, and earth itself.
Finally, and perhaps most tangibly, the resurrected and ascended body of Christ shows us that the whole life of Jesus could not be stopped by death and so in Christ, our whole, embodied lives are saved. On the other side of death, Jesus had the body that he had lived in to walk and talk, eat and sleep, laugh and cry. It's from there that we get the encouragement that "...whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (I Corinthians 10:31)" Our very bodies and all that we do in them, hugging, hitting, holding, hiding, these things Jesus died to save. So that our hugging, hitting, holding, and hiding would become actions embued with and transformed by our loving God.
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*This is not to say that there aren't suggestions in the Old Testament of something of this sort. Nor is it to say that Jesus wasn't talking about this in John 14-17 (although the disciples certainly didn't get it). Nor is it to say that the rest of the New Testament doesn't touch on the implications of this, but as far as the Gospels go, there's not a lot.
This Thursday is for many Christians the Feast of Ascension which commemorates the Jesus' return to heaven after his resurrection and is celebrated 40 days after Easter. I have never celebrated the Ascension; I've never heard a sermon on it that I remember (although I did have a pastor who loved Acts, so he may have covered it at one point); I basically have never thought about it.
But this year, I noticed, and I'm trying to rectify the issue.
First off, in proportion to the space given to Jesus' sermons and actions, the description of his return to heaven takes up very little space. In fact, if you will indulge me, I'll provide all the scripture describing the event*:
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. ~Luke 24:50-53
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.So this week, I read NT Wright's chapter in Surprised by Hope on the Ascension and Dallas Willard's chapter in The Spirit of the Disciplines, "Salvation is a Life". Both of these guys talked about stuff I had never contemplated, but I'll just present one theme that came through in both author's writing: Jesus had a human body after resurrection that was taken to heaven.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”~Acts 1:9-11
The body had wound marks from the nails. It could eat food. (Luke 24:40-43) This enfleshed being, not some dissolved spirit, was taken to heaven which isn't literally up but is actually elsewhere and near at the same time. Or so they say. It seems wonderful and totally sci-fi at the same time.
So where does that leave us? Well, for one thing, however, heaven and earth are organized and related, if I thought I understood it, I certainly don't now. Jesus, as a physical human, is somewhere in heaven, a nonphysical reality. Do his lungs still need oxygenl? Go to the bathroom?
For another thing, Jesus is not with us, but he did send the Holy Spirit. And that was for our good (John 16:7). And Jesus promises to come back (John 14:3, 18, 28). So in the Holy Spirit, God is with us, but God the Son is not, but he will come back. Clear as mud? I don't know what to do with this, but at the least, this points to the idea that my life and history are not complete. There will be a time of deeper union and intimacy between Jesus and individuals, his bride the church, and earth itself.
Finally, and perhaps most tangibly, the resurrected and ascended body of Christ shows us that the whole life of Jesus could not be stopped by death and so in Christ, our whole, embodied lives are saved. On the other side of death, Jesus had the body that he had lived in to walk and talk, eat and sleep, laugh and cry. It's from there that we get the encouragement that "...whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (I Corinthians 10:31)" Our very bodies and all that we do in them, hugging, hitting, holding, hiding, these things Jesus died to save. So that our hugging, hitting, holding, and hiding would become actions embued with and transformed by our loving God.
---
*This is not to say that there aren't suggestions in the Old Testament of something of this sort. Nor is it to say that Jesus wasn't talking about this in John 14-17 (although the disciples certainly didn't get it). Nor is it to say that the rest of the New Testament doesn't touch on the implications of this, but as far as the Gospels go, there's not a lot.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Excellence and the Jesus life
I went to college on a scholarship and hanging around other scholarship kids and advisers, I got the sense that we were supposed to win awards and make discoveries and start businesses that were newsworthy. At the same time, I thought people touted as role models of success were obsessed with whatever it took to get there, their personal lives were in shambles, and along the way their ethics were questionable.
It didn't seem like following Jesus and being famously successful were compatible. But it also seemed ridiculous to think that following Christ was a commitment to mediocrity and lameness. I was pretty confused.
Recently, I've been working through Dallas Willard's thoughts on becoming formed in Christ, and while it's really dense material, I'm coming to see that part of what he's advocating is what I call "process over product", a theme I've reflected on often.
I was first introduced to this idea years ago. At that time, I was digesting the idea that defining my relationship with people by whether they made an active profession of faith in Christ was, well, a bad idea--overly product-oriented. Instead, maybe I should be a real friend invested that person's in-and-outs of life--more process-oriented.
This time around I'm digesting the idea that holiness is not an end point (product). Instead, it's the byproduct of life animated by Jesus' life (process). So what I aim for isn't doing holy things, what I aim for is cooperating with God taking over all aspects of my life.
Willard talks about how salvation isn't about a future ticket to heaven instead of hell, instead our life, our present life, is saved. This made me think about Colossians 2:13 which says, "When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! (The Message)" God through the death AND resurrection of Jesus fills our sin-dead lives with real life.
So when I think about excellence, I'm beginning to think I have been looking at things backwards. Yes, if the goal is public recognition for being awesome, it's easy to lose sight of Jesus along the way. But if the goal is living my life in the Jesus way, or more conventionally, following Jesus, then being publicly recognized for being awesome might be a result. But if it doesn't happen, I think a life lived in the Jesus way isn't going to care that much.
It didn't seem like following Jesus and being famously successful were compatible. But it also seemed ridiculous to think that following Christ was a commitment to mediocrity and lameness. I was pretty confused.
Recently, I've been working through Dallas Willard's thoughts on becoming formed in Christ, and while it's really dense material, I'm coming to see that part of what he's advocating is what I call "process over product", a theme I've reflected on often.
I was first introduced to this idea years ago. At that time, I was digesting the idea that defining my relationship with people by whether they made an active profession of faith in Christ was, well, a bad idea--overly product-oriented. Instead, maybe I should be a real friend invested that person's in-and-outs of life--more process-oriented.
This time around I'm digesting the idea that holiness is not an end point (product). Instead, it's the byproduct of life animated by Jesus' life (process). So what I aim for isn't doing holy things, what I aim for is cooperating with God taking over all aspects of my life.
Willard talks about how salvation isn't about a future ticket to heaven instead of hell, instead our life, our present life, is saved. This made me think about Colossians 2:13 which says, "When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! (The Message)" God through the death AND resurrection of Jesus fills our sin-dead lives with real life.
So when I think about excellence, I'm beginning to think I have been looking at things backwards. Yes, if the goal is public recognition for being awesome, it's easy to lose sight of Jesus along the way. But if the goal is living my life in the Jesus way, or more conventionally, following Jesus, then being publicly recognized for being awesome might be a result. But if it doesn't happen, I think a life lived in the Jesus way isn't going to care that much.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
How to eat and elephant (2): Pray for a miracle
I recently talked to a friend about his experience moving to live among the urban poor. And he said, "When I got here, the [veteran minister] said, 'It's two steps forward, three steps back, and you pray for a miracle.' and I thought that was a bit cynical. But the longer I'm here, more more I see that it is two steps forward, three steps back and you pray for a miracle. But you know what? Miracles happen."
When Moses was born, Pharaoh had ordered all the young Hebrew babies to be killed. Well, his mother didn't obey that order. Instead she hid him for three months. And then she put him in a basket on a river. A pastor once commented that we needed to heed Moses' mother's example and ask God to show us what was our part and when it was time to leave things to God.
So a few weeks ago, I wrote about how to eat an elephant and said, "One bite at a time." As I've been thinking about that, I think that's only half the answer. All we are able to do is one bite at a time. So that's what we offer to the process. But to be honest, we can't finish the elephant before it rots or we explode. So we need a miracle. Thankfully, God is in the business of miracles.
What's it like to live "one bite at a time, expecting miracles"? Well, I can't speak from a lot of personal experience, but this seems to be a freeing way to live--doing what we are able, in a measured way, then leaving the rest to the miracle-working God.
We've had a couple things come up in our lives recently that have thrown me on the hamster wheel of anxiety. There are many questions about future outcomes, most of which we have no direct control over, no matter how much we wish differently. There are a few things we can do faithfully, our one-bite-at-a-times, but the rest is up to God and well out of our hands.
I wonder if needing to remember that God works miracles is why the Old Testament stories repeatedly include reminders of God's miraculous deliverance of the Isrealites from Egypt. Maybe I'm not the only one that forgets that impossible miracles are not impossible for God. The ten plagues? The parting of the Red Sea? Manna from heaven? Water from a rock? Hugely impossible things for the Isrealites, they could never conjure those happenings, but God could and did, out of his power, out of his love.
So how do you eat an elephant? One bite at the time and pray for a miracle.
When Moses was born, Pharaoh had ordered all the young Hebrew babies to be killed. Well, his mother didn't obey that order. Instead she hid him for three months. And then she put him in a basket on a river. A pastor once commented that we needed to heed Moses' mother's example and ask God to show us what was our part and when it was time to leave things to God.
So a few weeks ago, I wrote about how to eat an elephant and said, "One bite at a time." As I've been thinking about that, I think that's only half the answer. All we are able to do is one bite at a time. So that's what we offer to the process. But to be honest, we can't finish the elephant before it rots or we explode. So we need a miracle. Thankfully, God is in the business of miracles.
What's it like to live "one bite at a time, expecting miracles"? Well, I can't speak from a lot of personal experience, but this seems to be a freeing way to live--doing what we are able, in a measured way, then leaving the rest to the miracle-working God.
We've had a couple things come up in our lives recently that have thrown me on the hamster wheel of anxiety. There are many questions about future outcomes, most of which we have no direct control over, no matter how much we wish differently. There are a few things we can do faithfully, our one-bite-at-a-times, but the rest is up to God and well out of our hands.
I wonder if needing to remember that God works miracles is why the Old Testament stories repeatedly include reminders of God's miraculous deliverance of the Isrealites from Egypt. Maybe I'm not the only one that forgets that impossible miracles are not impossible for God. The ten plagues? The parting of the Red Sea? Manna from heaven? Water from a rock? Hugely impossible things for the Isrealites, they could never conjure those happenings, but God could and did, out of his power, out of his love.
So how do you eat an elephant? One bite at the time and pray for a miracle.
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