Mercy Not Sacrifice

Points of Agreement

2012-01-29T10:34:00.001-05:00

Mark Driscoll posts abound on the internet these days. I don’t usually “beat the bandwagon drum”….and instead often opt for topics that might have been the latest news….a few years ago. But Driscoll has piqued my curiosity.

Last night I listened to a dozen or so of his You Tube videos..listening to him talk about the Twilight series, The Shack, Thomas Kincaide paintings, TULIP, how to know if you are one of the elect, yoga…the movie Avatar. You won’t find his videos on God Tube. He is a bit too….ahhhhh…..irreverent for God Tube.

in spite of myself, I found myself actually liking him. Believe me I was all set not to based on the quotes I read beforehand... some were included in my last post.

The guy has a gift for public speaking…for preaching. He is hilarious. If his career as a preacher ever falls through, he is shoe in for stand up comedy. I was entertained by most of what he had to say. And challenged.

Challenged because I disagree with him on many points. Eternal conscious torment, penal substitution, God hating sinners, his opinion of The Shack as bordering on demonic immediately come to mind.

Although I would rather look for points of AGREEMENT, the points of DISagreement are, oftentimes, what clarifies what I do believe and why I believe it.

Did I find any points of agreement? Well in a roundabout way I did….

In a sermon about why God is just and hell is right….

We are all hypocrites. We all want to receive mercy and give justice.

Yep.

And sometimes I hear them declaring…buried within their sermon..(what I believe to be) truth….in spite of themselves….

In another sermon, while explaining the gist of the 5 Points of Calvinism versus the 5 Points of Arminianism…concerning Irresistible Grace, Driscoll says this:

if God wants to love you, God wants to save you, God wants you to meet Jesus....you can fight and argue but eventually he's going to change your heart and you will meet Jesus.

Is that not the heart of Christian Universalism? If God wants you to meet Jesus…you will meet Jesus. Eventually, he will melt the hardest heart, bend the stubbornest knee….and every tongue will (joyfully) proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord.

What we need to apologize for?

2012-01-26T21:14:00.002-05:00

Right about the same time I was pondering Thomas Merton’s gracious message to unbelievers, I ran across a blog post about Mark Driscoll’s recent interview with Justin Brierley on a blog called Cognitive Discopants.
The interview turned into a my church is bigger than your church because there is strong male leadership…namely….”me” (Mark Driscoll) Your church (Brierley’s) is a wussy church because there are no strong male leaders. Your church is pastored by a….WOMEN….who just happens to be Brierley’s wife. In fact, according to Driscoll, there really aren’t any strong young leaders in all of England who are preaching the true gospel.
And the true gospel? Well, of course the true gospel is a belief in penal substitution and a literal hell with eternal, conscious torment. Otherwise….you are wishing for a God who is a mom….who embraces everyone.

Driscoll: Do you believe in a conscious literal eternal torment of hell?
Brierley: What has that got to do with the issue of women in leadership, if you don’t mind me asking?
Driscoll: It does. It depends on your view of God. Is God like a mom who just embraces everyone? Or is he like a father who also protects, and defends, and disciplines? If you won’t answer the question, I think I know the answer.

There is so much offensive in this quote…where do I start? How about with another quote? Not from this interview but from a sermon series at his church…Mars Hill. From Jesus Took Our Wrath (Propitiation)

You have been told that God is a loving, gracious, merciful, kind, compassionate, wonderful, and good sky fairy who runs a day care in the sky and has a bucket of suckers for everyone because we're all good people. That is a lie... God looks down and says 'I hate you, you are my enemy, and I will crush you,' and we say that is deserved, right and just, and then God says 'Because of Jesus I will love you and forgive you.' This is a miracle.

I could (should?) stop here…but here’s another

There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in his hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a pride fighter with a tattoo down his leg, a sword in his hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity. Mark Driscoll, Relevant Magazine, 2007

The above quote is well known and oft repeated. While I was looking for the original source…when and where it actually came out of the “horse’s mouth”….. I came across a post on Justin Scott’s blog that had not only the source of the quote but also an interesting post about being a “chick-ified” Christian man. Well worth a visit to read the post from last July. I added his blog to my Google Reader feed.
Yes, indeed…penal substitution….eternal conscious torment…..two of the more heinous doctrines associated with Christianity held up as benchmarks of the faith.
Check out the whole Driscoll /Brierley interview HERE. And check out Driscoll’s response to some of the backlash HERE.

Merton’s Aplology to Unbelievers

2012-01-21T19:56:00.001-05:00

While surfing here and there the other day….not sure what I was looking for or researching….but I happened upon a blog post from “yesteryear.” Yesteryear as in 2008…Thomas Merton’s Apologies to an Unbeliever on a blog still “open for business” The Other Journal – The Intersection of Theology and Culture.

Like Merton, I often feel Christians owe nonbelievers (not to mention followers of other faith traditions) a big, fat apology.

Merton died shortly after he wrote the essay and the conversations that might have taken place with unbelievers never happened. In fact, the ensuing years saw an uprising of religious fundamentalists like Phyllis Schlafly and the Eagle Forum, Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority, Pat Robertson and The Christian Coalition, Anita Bryant and Save Our Children. The list goes on and on…Focus on the Family, American Coalition for Traditional Values, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, Christian Right.

Robert Inchausti, the author of the article, sums it up

But in the years following his death, the late seventies and eighties, religious people launched an offensive against secular society, science, and atheism. Their primary weapon was a rigid, reductive, Biblical literalism. This new passionate, doctrinal rigidity ultimately gave birth to the backlash of militant atheisms we are now currently experiencing.

And it goes on to say….

In recent years Christopher Hutchins, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and others have published best-selling polemics challenging Christianity with little or no recognition of the apophatic tradition. The combative tenor of these books is no doubt a response to the onslaught of twenty-plus years of know-nothing pop apologetics that has so polarized and dumbed down the national conversation concerning faith that when I read these books, I find myself agreeing with everything they say.

And no wonder these guys…the atheists with the loudest voices… are so pissed about some of the things these right wing, fundamentalist groups have tried to implement and enforce through the years! (check out some of the links in the list of right wing organizations)

And yet at the same time, I also find in them the flawed logic of the straw man fallacy. The God they do not believe in is not a God I ever believed in.

Me, neither!! I’ve long believed that militant atheists and militant Christians have a lot in common in the way they read the Bible. Both groups take it literally…at face value. One group picks away at its inconsistencies and contradictions, The other group goes to great linguistic gymnastics in order to reconcile the obvious inconsistencies.

But Merton wrote about a new day that he hoped was dawning.

Quoting the article’s author again….

This is the culture where every practicing contemplative, mystic, and true scientist has always labored, and now that the skeptics have vented some of their resentments and the magic Christians have had their say, perhaps a real conversation about our place in the cosmos can begin free from invective, straw man arguments, and polemical grandstanding.

Free from polemical grandstanding and invective straw man arguments? For some of us…not quite yet. More in my next post…after this bonus quote from Merton

“The dread of being open to the ideas of others generally comes from our hidden insecurity about our own convictions. We fear that we may be “converted” – or perverted – by a pernicious doctrine. On the other hand, if we are mature and objective in our open-mindedness, we may find that viewing things from a basically different perspective – that of our adversary – we discover our own truth in a new light and are able to understand our own ideal more realistically. Our willingness to take an alternative approach to a problem will perhaps relax the obsessive fixation of the adversary on his view, which he believes is the only reasonable possibility and which he is determined to impose on everyone else by coercion…This mission of Christian humility in social life is not merely to edify, but to keep minds open to many alternatives. The rigidity of a certain type of Christian thought has seriously impaired this capacity, which nonviolence must recover.”
From Passion For Peace by Thomas Merton

Job Security? Not Unless You Believe in Hell…

2012-01-08T12:32:00.001-05:00

Rob Bell recently made a big splash with his book Love Wins. Firestorm might be a more appropriate way to describe the ensuing reaction.

He was lambasted by fundamentalists like Justin Taylor in a blog post written before Taylor even read the book. The post was linked to via Twitter by John Piper….with the sentiments

“Goodbye, Rob Bell.”

Take note. That is how quickly some Christians will kiss your ass goodbye if you don’t share the beliefs they hold the nearest and dearest.

People wrote books refuting his book. Francis Chan’s Erasing Hell, Mark Galli’s God Wins: Heaven, Hell, and Why the Good News Is Better than Love Wins, Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven written by a group of theologians including J.I. Packer.

None of the ensuing controversy seemed to affect Bell’s employment status. Even though he resigned from his church near Grand Rapids, Michigan to move to L.A…..and peddle his wares on a broader scale, it was his own choice. He wasn’t handed a pink slip for his beliefs.

Others have lost their ministries….their jobs….for questioning the status quo.

Most everyone knows about Carlton Pearson….former megastar of the charismatic chuch and Azuzu Street fame. One day while watching a program on TV, God tapped him on the shoulder and changed his entire belief system. He naively thought that if he simply educated the church folk, they would skip along in lock step belief. Ah….no.

He lost a huge chunk of his membership….lost his church and finally ended up in a mainly gay congregation. Now he is the pastor of a mega new thought church in Chicago.

Another pastor, Chad Holtz, posted a supportive note on Facebook about Bell’s book and ended up fired over it. From Marrow’s Chapel…a United Methodist Church no less. Perhaps his congregation missed the official United Methodist stand on the very question Bell raises in his book….right there on the official United Methodist website for all the world to see…..

There are persuasive arguments that include the faithful, thoughtful, and respectful use of Scripture on both sides-- affirming and denying universal salvation. The Book of Discipline, which is the only official printed voice of the UMC, does not make a statement specifically about universal salvation. This places the question in a possible gray area, but the Discipline says what it says. One must read the doctrine there and attempt to understand it as well as possible.
Rev. Dr. Diana Hynson Director of Learning and Teaching Ministries in the Congregation General Board of Discipleship

And now today, an acquaintance on Facebook, Jackson Baer, posted a video on his wall talking about how he was fired from a church where he ministered for 3 1/2 years as a youth pastor. How come? Because he refuses to renounce his belief in universal reconciliation. He has a new book out called “What the Hell”….and he is wondering that exact thing….what the hell just happened? He loved his church, he loved the people there….and now he is on the outside looking in.

Christians are loathe to let go of their hellfire and brimstone….and they are quick to kick to the curb anyone who doesn’t share their beliefs about an angry, vengeful God who is more monster than savior…..

Next post, I’ll include links to several other books I’ve come across that discuss the nonexistence of an eternal hell. It’s a question God settled in my heart a long time ago, shortly after I became a Christian at the ripe old age of 40 something. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it….and like William Barclay, I Am a Convinced Universalist…..

11:05 pm….12-31-11

2012-01-01T11:59:00.001-05:00

11:05....on New Year's Eve. 55 minutes until the ball drops. For me it's not New Year's until the ball drops in Times Square. Even when I lived in a different time zone....when the ball dropped in Times Square….that signaled the start of the new year.

This night has always been very sentimental for me. Memories of New Year's Eves past...spent with family...many long since gone. Memories of little kids, sound asleep in their beds..., stroking chubby little legs in terry cloth sleepers and pj's with plastic feet. Whispering, "I love you" and "I'm so glad I have you." Memories of bigger kids...struggling to stay awake to ring in the New Year...to see the ball drop. And now....bigger kids still. Two at parties...one babysitting.

Keith and I spent the evening here at home...wouldn't have it any other way. His brother's family makes a yearly trek to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls to ring in the New Year. Not me. Not Niagara Falls....not the bars...not Times Square with an estimated 1.5 million people (can you imagine the traffic jam??)

I've been going through some of the articles I've annotated at the gym on my kindle. (I love my kindle) One in particular that talks about all this 2012, the world is ending stuff. The article points out that it is not the world ending...but an era. An epoch....a mindset, a way of looking at things....a halt, an about face...perhaps a new beginning. Hopefully a new beginning.

Things are a bit mixed up right now....with the kids, and school, and vehicles and questions like "how the hell will we afford to help them with all these expenses?"

A quote from one of the articles (Navigating an Uncertain Future: Guidance for the Unpredictable Road Ahead ~ Alan Seale from The Evolutionary Mystic blog) stands out....

We really have to tune in every day and say, what am I to do now? Today? This period of life? This month? This cycle? This season? And then go and find the tools, the resources and the people to be able to do that work. We need to all be supporting each other in that.

and if you are afraid?

When I dare to be powerful—to use my strength in the service of my vision—then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

OH MY GOD, the movie....2

2011-12-25T17:41:00.001-05:00

This afternoon, Keith and I watched the movie I mentioned in my last post. Oh My God. It was a documentary....just like it advertised itself to be. I was intrigued by the far flung and diverse opinions of God expressed by the folks around the globe....from many walks of life.....believers of many different religions. It included the opinion of a devout fundamentalist evangelical Christian (Tim LaHaye) and the almost carbon copy, other side of the same coin.....devout fundamentalist kill the infidel Muslim (who both were quick to express their belief that anyone from another faith system...other than theirs, of course....were going straight to hell.

Another part of the movie that intrigued/repulsed me was the sacrifice of a live goat....snapping the bones....skinning it. Pretty much what you might have seen if you stepped back into the pages of the Old Testament when blood sacrifice was rampant. The group was an African tribe...who had converted to Christianity but still believed sacrifices were necessary.

It showed one particularly unlikely pair of friends walking hand in hand....arm in arm. A rabbi and a Muslim cleric....outside of Palestine....where Jews and Muslims are not supposed to be friends.

If you get a chance it's worth the 90 minutes it takes to watch the movie. It doesn't give definitive answers...but stimulates questions that just might lead us a bit closer to our own answers to the question the movie revolved around....."what is God?"

Oh My God! the movie….

2011-12-19T08:10:00.001-05:00

This morning on Facebook, someone posted a quote from "Oh My God," the feature length documentary by Peter Rodgers, The premise of the movie intrigued me.

In every corner of the world, there’s one question that can never be definitively answered, yet stirs up equal parts passion, curiosity, self-reflection and often wild imagination: “What is God?”

Filmmaker Peter Rodger explores this profound, age-old query in the provocative non-fiction feature Oh My God. This visual odyssey travels the globe with a revealing lens examining the idea of God through the minds and eyes of various religions and cultures, everyday people, spiritual leaders and celebrities.

Keith checked to see if it was available on Netflix and indeed it was. It should arrive sometime the end of the week, in time to watch on Christmas afternoon. Our Christmas Days are usually quiet....the kids head off to their dad's about noon and we eat leftover Chinese food and hang out. Everybody has to have their traditions, afterall.

I will post a review of sorts after we watch the movie. It did not get very good reviews for content. (although the photography is described as stunning) so we'll see.....

There is also a book called the "Oh My God Chronicles" written by Rodger. There is an excerpt from the book to read PDF style on line.

He talks about his father, famed photojournalist George Rodger, known for his photographs of WWII that were published in Life Magazine. He was with the British army when they liberated the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp on April 15, 1945. His photographs were among the first "proof" of the atrocities committed by the Germans. Of the scene he witnessed, he says this....

Under the pine trees the scattered dead were lying, not in their twos or threes or dozens, but in their thousands. The living tore ragged clothing from the corpses to build fires, over which they boiled pine needles and roots for soup. Little children rested heads against the stinking corpses of their mothers, too nearly dead themselves to cry. An emaciated man approached me. "Look, Englishmen," he said. "This is German culture." And he fell down dead in front of me. Bodies with gaping wounds in the region of the kidneys, liver and heart testified to the cannibalism that had been resorted to, degradation begetting degradation.

Which brings us back to the oft asked questions of theodicy....a question way beyond the scope of this post.

How the Light Enters and Shines….

2011-12-17T17:10:00.001-05:00

The wound is the place where the Light enters you. –Rumi

I came upon the Rumi quote as I was stumbling here and there on (where else) the internet this morning. It reminded me of a devotional I saved from a book of devotionals by Joni Erickson Tada. She talked about the light of Christ falling on the broken pieces, the shattered pieces of our lives....and how God can turn the shattered ruins into a kaleidoscope through which his light can shine. I think it is majorly cool when two people as different as can be....from different eras and cultures and belief systems convey the same deep truth. Joni said it this way.....

Shattered glass is full of a thousand different angles, each one picking up a ray of light and shooting it off in a thousand different directions. That doesn’t happen with plain glass, such as a jar. The glass must be broken into many pieces. What’s true of shattered glass is true of a broken life. Shattered dreams. A heart full of fissures. Hopes that are splintered. A life in pieces that appears to be ruined. But given time and prayer, such a person’s life can shine more brightly than if the brokenness had never happened. When the light of the Lord Jesus falls upon a shattered life, that believer’s hopes can be brightened.

Your life may be shattered by sorrow, pain, or sin, but God has in mind a kaleidoscope through which His light can shine more brilliantly.

Bonus quote:

With a closed mind and heart, the light cannot enter.

-Shelby Taylor Weaver

Time to dust off the Christmas letter again….

2011-12-12T08:58:00.001-05:00

I’ve posted the following “letter from God to his children” the past few Christmases. I’m posting it again….spurred on by a visit to the AFA website where they are, once again, bravely defending Jesus in the ongoing Christmas Wars. Again. Another year. SSDD.

They are “naming names” of the merchants who don’t use the specific catch phrase for this time of year, the ONLY true north statement of the season.

Merry. Christmas.

OR…they don’t use it appropriately.

OR…they don’t use it often enough.

Happy Holidays doesn’t cut it. Season’s Greetings….nope.

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Petsmart was named way back in October…yes….October because their advertising and their website set up seemed to slight Christmas. They groveled sufficiently to warrant a move from the “Companies Against” to the “Companies For” Christmas list.

Yes, they have a list.

They have a button too….!!!

But I digress…..

And Walgreens was on the verge of the shit list….but they groveled too.

And so keeping with my annual tradition…along with reading the Christmas story in Luke (several times)…a story that always brings tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat….I am posting this annual letter from God to his children.

I don’t know who authored this brilliant letter….but he certainly deserves a high five, a thumbs up and a wish for the “happiest of holidays.”

Dear Children,
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My Son's name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I didn't send my Son in December, it was some of your ancestors who decided to celebrate My Son's birthday at what was, in ancient times, a pagan festival; although, I do appreciate Jesus being remembered...anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate Jesus' birth just, GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My Son's birth, then make room on your lawn for the nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all my followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all the trees. You can remember me anytime you see a tree.

Instead of fusing over trimmings and traditions, consider giving My Son one of the gifts below this Christmas…

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing George (Barack) complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone who's hurt you in the past, forgive them, and give them the gift of a future-free from the pain, shame, and guilt of yesterday's yuck.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile, it could make the difference. Also, you might consider supporting the local Hot-Line: they talk with people like that every day.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one.

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary, especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name. You may already know someone like that.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. Be sensitive to the needs of others. A few cans of food or a simple gift can go along way towards good will on earth.

10. Finally if you want to make a statement about your belief in Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Please, if you love me, love my children-all of them, especially the ones that challenge your traditions. I'll take care of all the rest.

Invite others to a Christmas festival that has more to do with eternity than all the trimmings and traditions of December 25th.

"Merry Christmas!" means: "I love you." – God

Trust the Catcher – 2

2011-12-11T14:18:00.001-05:00

And I came upon another quote I snipped somewhere, sometime that continues this train of thought.....

That Being, who gave me existence, and through almost threescore years has been continually showering his favors upon me, whose very chastisements have been blessings to me ; can I doubt that he loves me? And, if he loves me, can I doubt that he will go on to take care of me, not only here but hereafter? This to some may seem presumption ; to me it appears the best grounded hope ; hope of the future built on experience of the past. ~Benjamin Franklin

which reminds me of a verse from Isaiah that I used to use as my signature line….

Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you. Isaiah 46:4

Indeed he will….

Trust the Catcher….

2011-12-07T20:13:00.001-05:00

I've been cleaning up some of my "database." Files, snippets, quotes, old emails....etc...scattered all over the place....like on my computer, flash drives, Evernote, SpringPad, Zoho Notebook, AOL Mail and Windows Live Writer. (What can I say….I’ve tried a lot of note programs) Sometimes when I go back through files, I find treasures I've forgotten about. And snippets....far flung and diverse....seem to fit together. You will see a few upcoming posts birthed because of this "spring" cleaning project. Some, like this post, will rely mostly on words written by others....

There is a story told by Henri Nouwen in his book Our Greatest Gift: Meditations on Dying and Caring

"The Flying Rodleighs are trapeze artists who perform in the German circus Simoneit-Barum. When the circus came to Freiburg two years ago, my friends Franz and Reny invited me and my father to see the show. I will never forget how enraptured I became when I first saw the Rodleighs move through the air, flying and catching as elegant dancers.

The next day, I returned to the circus to see them again and introduced myself to them as one of their great fans. They invited me to attend their practice sessions, gave me free tickets, asked me to dinner, and suggested I travel with them for a week in the near future. I did, and we became good friends.

One day, I was sitting with Rodleigh, the leader of the troupe, in his caravan, talking about flying. He said, "As a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher, The public might think that I am the greatest star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump."

    "How does it work?" I asked.

    "The secret," Rodleigh said, "is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything: when I fly to Joe, I have simply to stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron behind the catchbar."

    "You do nothing!" I said, surprised.

    "Nothing," Rodleigh repeated. "A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him."
    When Rodleigh said this with so much conviction, the words of Jesus flashed through my mind: "Father into your hands I commend my Spirit." Dying is trusting in the catcher. To care for the dying is to say, "Don't be afraid. Remember that you are the beloved child of God. He will be there when you make your long jump. Don't try to grab him; he will grab you. Just stretch out your arms and hands and trust, trust, trust."

…..and the related snippet....from a very favorite author of mine...Max Lucado, in his book, When God Whispers Your Name. He tells the story of a game he played with his five year old daughter...leaping from the bed into his arms. I've seen versions of this game played in my own house....participants.... my own kids and their dad. Jump from a high step......jump from the top of the refrigerator. The leap was always accompanied by shouts and gleeful giggling.

They played a variation of this game sometimes. He tossed them in the air...they soared to great heights. Way. Up. There. There were a few close calls but he always caught them. They loved it. Me....not so much.

But I digress.

Max sums up how we can learn to have the faith of a little child in the trustworthiness of our Father's arms and be assured of His ability to always catch us.....

Part of the answer can be found in Sara’s little leaps of faith. Her older sister, Andrea, was in the room watching, and I asked Sara if she would jump to Andrea. Sara refused. I tried to convince her. She wouldn’t budge.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I only jump to big arms.”

If we think the arms are weak, we won’t jump. For that reason, the Father flexed His muscles. “God’s power is very great for those who believe,” Paul taught. “That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead” (Eph. 1:19—20). Next time you wonder if God can catch you, read that verse.

The very arms that defeated death are the arms awaiting you.

Body, Soul and/or Spirit?

2011-12-04T07:58:00.001-05:00

This body, soul, spirit thing ....as in whether we are two dimensional beings (dichotomy) or three dimensional beings (trichotomy) ....has been a controversy for quite a while. How come I didn't know that?

It goes way back. Way, way back. As far back as Plato who toyed around with theories about the "tripartite soul." And St Augustine who identified 3 Laws....Divine Law. Natural Law. Temporal Law. Or his 3 Characterizations of the "Soul"...Memory, Understanding, Will. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa, Luther, Oswald Chamber, T.Austin-Spark, Watchman Nee all came down on the trichotomy side of the debate. It is also one of the main "go to" beliefs in kingdom ministries.

Two verses in scripture came to mind when I stumbled across this subject this morning.

1 Thessalonians 5:23
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:12 -
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Far too often, in far too many versions of the Holy Bible, the English word chosen to convey the meaning of the word in the original language is....ah....way off. Sometimes when you check the Strong's Concordance it doesn’t even come close. I’m obviously not a Biblical scholar but it doesn't take a Biblical scholar to check out what the King James says a word means against what the Strong's Concordance says a word means….and come to your own, hopefully spirit led, conclusion.

Sometimes the translators will use the same English word to translate different Greek or Hebrew words. Or visa versa. Sometimes they will use different English words for one word in the original language. Sometimes this accurately conveys the meaning….other times….not so much.

But in both verses above, the word translated spirit is the Greek word Pneuma. The word translated soul is the Greek word Psuche.

The Scofield Study Bible says this about the distinction:

Man a trinity. That the human soul and spirit are not identical is proved by the facts that they are divisible.

…the distinction between spirit and soul may be traced. Briefly,that distinction is that the spirit is that part of man which "knows" 1 Corinthians 2:11 his mind; the soul is the seat of the affections, desires, and so of the emotions, and of the active will, the self.

“Because man is ‘spirit’ he is capable of God-consciousness, and of communication with God (Job 32:8; Psa. 18:28; Prov. 20:27);

because he is ‘soul’ he has self-consciousness (Psa. 13:2; 42:5, 6, 11);

because he is ‘body’ he has, through his senses, world-consciousness” (The Scofield Study Bible, page 1270.

So....man, a triune being, has the potential to bridge the gap between the two realms, the physical and the spiritual. He is linked to the visible realm....the earth....the material world with his body and he is linked to the spiritual, "other worldly" realm, beyond the veil…. by his spirit. The soul is sort of the swing vote. I can submit to be ruled by the spiritual man and be "seated with Christ in heavenly places"....or allow the carnal man to "be the boss of me." (My friend “Kansas Bob” wrote a post a while back that talks about how we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit to accomplish this)

I found the following quote in an article called "Discovering Your Identity." Disclaimer...there are parts of the article that I don't agree with....like the spiritual warfare kind of view about "the enemy"....and there is a rather blatant altar call toward the end of the article....but he has a really interesting way of explaining the body, soul, spirit concept.

MAN'S SOUL
With the union of man's body and spirit, he became "a living soul." The soul is that aspect of man's being that, like a photographer's dark room, develops the impressions of the external world around him, which have been gathered by his physical senses, into distinct expressions of thought, emotions, and desire.

1. Man's spirit is the seat of his God-consciousness - where God dwelt!
2. Man's soul is the seat of his self-consciousness - where self dwelt.
3. Man's body is the seat of his world-consciousness - where his senses dwelt.

Makes sense to me…….

Which Voice?

2011-11-28T16:08:00.001-05:00

I found this serendipitously on my FB feed this morning. It is a quote from Neal Donald Walsch that talks about the two voices....and goes along quite nicely with my post yesterday about Job....

..... you have two voices with which you speak: your

Mind Voice and your Soul Voice.

These two voices are also — all the time — speaking to you.

Which voice you listen to will determine

which voice you speak with.

God invites you to listen to — and speak with — your

Soul Voice. This will vastly improve your personal

communications… to say nothing of your mood.

I might quibble with Neal about his terminology....specifically the use of the word soul to refer to what I think should be referred to as spirit. I get the idea though....

Which voice you listen to will determine

which voice you speak with.

Whose spirit?

2011-11-26T19:25:00.001-05:00

I've been reading through Job VERY S...L...O...W...L...Y. Here and there, now and then....

The other day at the gym, I picked up where I left off the last time. Chapter 26. Interesting chapter. In verse 4, Job asks one of his miserable comforters a probing question.....

4 To whom have you spoken these words, and whose spirit has spoken through you?

To whom have you spoken and whose spirit is speaking?

A good question to ask ourselves, often and earnestly, in our day to day communications. When we are talking to our kids, our spouses, our coworkers....ourselves....are we speaking with a namaste spirit? The christ in me recognizes the christ in you.

Or do we direct our comments, observations, suggestions.....demands.....to adam (the carnal man/the egoic mind/outer man/old man).

The power of life and death is in the tongue.....indeed it is.

Just prayed to a god that I don’t believe in….

2011-11-13T11:12:00.001-05:00

After a year long (and then some) hiatus, I’ve been hitting the gym just about every morning. I’ve been getting up early (as usual) but instead of lollygagging around on the internet sipping a strong “not for wimps” cup of coffee for an hour or more, I’ve been heading out to my cold, frost covered car and driving to Planet Fitness. Once there, I read the blogs I’ve saved in google reader and other miscellaneous stuff I’ve earmarked to read…on my Kindle 3 while pedaling or hoofing it on the treadmill. Killing two birds with one stone.

I suspect some insights and thoughts are a result of the endorphins that are circulating through my system. I’ve read there is a difference in the way the brain processes thoughts when you are exercising.

I’ve gotten so many ideas for blog posts, I’m pondering a new “at the gym” tag. We’ll see. No telling how long this early morning exercise resolution will hang on.

The idea for this post came, not from google reader or anything saved on my kindle, but from the Planet Fitness music blaring from their speakers. Usually an annoyance that fades to the background, these lyrics captured my attention.

“I’m still alive but I’m barely breathing”

“Just prayed to a god that I don’t believe in”

The song is called Breakeven from The Script. It is an ode to lost love. An “I’m dying here while you are out there living it up” song. The song emphasizes that he is “falling to pieces.”

It made me think about how often we turn to the god that we “don’t believe in” when our world is crashing down around us and we are “falling to pieces.”

Wasn’t is C.S. Lewis, no stranger to incredible pain when he lost his beloved wife, Joy, who penned the words

But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. --C.S. Lewis

And George MacDonald said this

As cold as everything looks in winter, the sun has not forsaken us. He has only drawn away for a little, for good reasons, one of which is that we may learn that we cannot do without him. --George MacDonald

And there is the oft repeated “no atheists in foxholes” quote.

I won’t get into the perpetual, seemingly unanswerable question of whether God merely allows or directly causes our suffering. I suspect it’s a bit of both and not strictly an either or thing. But he uses our distress as his megaphone to break thought our deafness. Many times when we have nowhere else to go, we turnj to the god that we don’t believe in….and find, to our utter amazement, that he is indeed there.

My “testimony” is a variation of that very theme.

I’m including a video of the song in this post. Videos come and go on You Tube, so it will inevitably become a dead link. I think it’s really interesting what they do with the photographs in the video.

The Kindness of God….

2011-11-05T22:20:00.001-04:00

One of the blogs in my google reader feed posted the lyrics to a hymn written in 1854 by Frederick William Faber. Farber was a Calvinist turned…oddly enough…Catholic priest. At the time, Catholics were reluctant to sing Protestant hymns…and they had none of their own. So Farber composed quite a few hymns…including the one posted on Steve McVey’s blog, There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy.

The lyrics speak of the kindness of God…kindness in his justice and Heaven’s kindly judgment of earth’s failings. One verse that I especially liked….

For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of our mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.

And when I got to thinking about his kindness, the verse in Romans that proclaims it his kindness that leads us to repentance came to mind…

Romans 2:4
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

And then another song that my friend, annie has mentioned on occasion; Wayland the Rabbit, by Seals and Crofts

One fine morning, as Dad was walking, just to see what he could see.

He spied, a little white rabbit. He was frozen as solid as he could be.

And Dad cried, as he knelt down beside him. He asked God, "How could you be so cruel?"

And his heart broke, for the little white rabbit.

"But you see that the owl would never have been so gentle, And God is so kind."

Which triggered another memory in my ring around the rosie thought process….from an article I read a long time ago…and saved excerpts from in my files. It was a short writing that talked about the verse in Matthew where Jesus says:

Are not, two sparrows, for a farthing, sold? And, one from among them, shall not fall upon the ground, without your Father; Matthew 10:29 Emph

I googled it and found the link.

How can we make sense of this crazy, godless world? by Dave Farcas. A quote from the article….

He literally experiences the death of the sparrow; He suffers it's death empathetically.

I would like to quote Jacques Ellul's comments on this, "In other words, death comes according to natural laws, but God lets nothing in his creation die without being there, without being the comfort and strength and hope and support of that which dies. At issue is the presence of God, not his will."

And God is, indeed, so kind…..

Sitting with the ashes…

2011-10-25T07:18:00.001-04:00

I just read an article in the November edition of Reader’s Digest called “Love, Faith and War.” It is a short article (duh…Reader’s Digest, after all) about two chaplains in Afghanistan. Very well written….with carefully chosen quotes and situations that brought the story to life.

I checked the RD website to see if the story was on the internet but I couldn’t find it. (There is an article called “Fifty Secrets Nurses Won’t Tell You”…..interesting read….and a bunch of other interesting titles)

There was a snippet, a quote by Capt. David Knight, that stuck out.

“Much of the chaplains job, he says, is not resolving problems or offering advice but simply being present as the patients and the staff cope with terrible situations”

“You need to be OK with people hurting, he says.”

He calls this sitting with the ashes, a reference to the Biblical story of Job, who lost his family, his health, and all his possessions. “He was sitting in the ashes mourning and his friends came and sat with him,” he says.

Now granted, Job’s friends are infamous for their “miserable comforting” techniques…..but perhaps there is a lesson to be learned there too. What not to do when we sit in the ashes with someone who is hurting.

As a mom, I’ve had to sit with the ashes. All three of my kids have had difficulties and heartache in their lives. Many times….most times…they brought it on themselves. There have been times when, out of futility and necessity, I’ve stopped beating my head against the brick wall of trying to control the situation and simply been there with them in the ashes.

Right now, one of my kids is going through a challenging situation. Nothing that will matter all that much ten years from now, but a costly, most definitely avoidable mistake that involves a lot of unpleasant untangling and damage control. And I’m sitting with the ashes.

And it hurts like hell to watch someone you love in distressing situations. Especially your kids. Especially your “mom, I’m and adult now” kids. They are….yet they aren’t. A time of transition…with one foot still in the old world of childhood and dependency….but the other foot in a new world of “I’m my own person and can do what I want.”

And I wonder if God feels that way about us. He tells us, he warns us, he guides us….but sometimes we get that rebellious burst of “I’m my own person and can do what I want.” And when things fall apart, he sits with us in the ashes.

I know he does because I’ve felt his presence very strongly in the ashes. And I believe his heart aches for us when we make a mess of things….and he promises that he will (eventually)bring beauty out of the ashes…..

Choose Your Contradiction….

2011-10-22T11:15:00.001-04:00

I came upon a snippet in an essay I was rereading this week…for the umpteenth time,The Voice of the Good Shepherd on the God Quest website. I highly recommend the essay…and all the other writings on the website.

This article deals with the “two voices” running throughout scripture' (mainly the Old Testament) where in one passage God gives meticulous instructions about the who, what, when and where concerning sacrifice and in another passage God asks incredulously….WHO told you to do that?

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand?

There are numerous….hundreds….of places where the Bible contradicts itself. God bashers delight in these contradictions. This “proves” to them that the Bible is nothing but a collection of hogwash.

If taken at face value, the Old Testament God is pyscho to the nth degree….and detestable, as voiced by Thomas Paine in The Age of Reason.

"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel."

The Bible is written to the spiritual man (a head nod to Keith, who first taught me this concept) but the problem is that in this realm, our understanding is tainted by our carnality. And we twist and adapt and interpret the words of scripture to fit our beliefs.

It’s a cliché, and oft repeated, but you truly can prove anything from the Bible. And volumes have been written propping up bullshit theologies using the words of scripture as the basis.

The snippet, I came upon in this insightful essay…..

Choose your contradiction.

Because in fact, we all do. We focus on the verses that prop up our (bullshit?) theologies and ignore, or explain away or trivialize the verses that do not conform to our beliefs.

WE. ALL. DO. IT.

That’s because the veil has not been completely rent…and our spiritual understanding is sometimes contaminated by our carnal thinking.

My personal benchmark for interpreting scripture is to filter everything in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation through the image of the invisible God who has been revealed to us by Jesus.

My friend annie…her filter is “God is Light. God is Love. And in Him there is no darkness.”

We all have our filters. We all have our blinders. We all choose our contradictions. Choose carefully. Choose prayerfully.

A Sufficient Realization of Love…..

2011-10-11T12:22:00.001-04:00

I’ve been sorting through (and compiling) a lot of old files and writings that I have stashed on various programs here and there and everywhere. On my computer…..flashdrives…in Zoho Docs and Zoho Notebook…on this blog (published and in draft form)…saved in Evernote and Mozilla Scrapbook….and my most recent favorites, Springpad, Dropbox and Sugar Sync.

(My ultimate goal is to write an E-book…more on that in an upcoming post)

One of the benefits of going through old stuff is finding lost treasures that have new meaning, especially when combined with snippets and excerpts and original thoughts from more recent eras.

This post is a compilation of just such a mish mash. And it deals with the atonement. One of my pet topics….

God may thunder His commands from Mount Sinai and men may fear, yet remain at heart exactly as they were before. But let a man once see his God down in the arena as a Man--suffering, tempted, sweating, and agonized, finally dying a criminal's death--and he is a hard man indeed who is untouched.

- J.B. Phillips, "Your God Is Too Small

Not untouched….nor ultimately unchanged. So unlike the substitutionary/penal satisfaction view of the atonement that declares a sin- offended God must extract his pound of flesh before he can forgive us.

But God was in Christ…reconciling the world…

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends

and…..

…a sufficient realization of love breaks down all barriers and melts the hardest heart…...

Love Will Conquer
There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer;
no disease that enough love will not heal;
no door that enough love will not open;
no gulf that enough love will not bridge;
no wall that enough love will not throw down;
no sin that enough love will not redeem . . .
It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble;
how hopeless the outlook;
how muddled the tangle;
how great the mistake.
A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all.
If only you could love enough you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world . . .
Emmet Fox

A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all….

Uh-oh….Better trade in that iPhone, Margie….

2011-10-08T08:53:00.001-04:00

I came upon an article this morning….on a blog I follow called Jesus Needs New PR….that talked about the irony of Margie Phelps posting the WBC’s plans to picket Steve Jobs memorial on Twitter….via the iPhone.

Google it, articles about her twitter feed abound….

And later…she twittered her self righteous, self justifying, delusional rationalization…as hypocritical religious zealots are inclined to do…

Rebels mad cuz I used iPhone to tell you Steve Jobs is in hell.God created iPhone for that purpose! :)

Mmmmm—hmmmm. Sure he did, Margie.

The Raven Foundation Revisited

2011-10-01T19:36:00.001-04:00

Back in 2008, I wrote a post about a new (then) site that focused on mimesis, mimetic rivalry and Girard’s theory called The Raven Foundation. By (divers and sundry) happenstance I found myself there again tonight.

My how they’ve grown!!!

There is so much information there for anyone interested in learning about mimetic rivalry. There are a lot of links at the top of the page. Hover over and a drop down list appears with a plethora of links to blogs, movie reviews, events, online study guides that all deal with Girard’s theory of mimesis, mimetic rivalry and scapegoating. The focus is on how an understanding of mimetic rivalry can further the cause of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

It really is worth a visit….but if you explore even a few of the many resources available there. plan to stay awhile.

Oh and a side note…in my original blog post….several years ago, I linked to an article called Girard For Dummies. It is now a dead link and unfortunately, I can’t find the article anywhere else online.

The Finished Work-Subjectively and Objectively

2011-09-26T10:42:00.002-04:00

More divers and sundry stuff….
I’ve been reading through Job…admittedly at a very slow pace. I find myself pausing often… saying in deep profound wonderment…

“Huh?”

Job is not all that easy to understand. Especially in the King James Version. Poetic and lovely…but with so much symbolism and oblique wording…difficult to wrap my mind around the meaning. I’ve had more luck with The Message…and the other day, I read a few chapters from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Wow…

I loved chapter 26…where Job answers Bildad. And sitting out here on the back deck, enjoying a gorgeous early fall afternoon, I tried to write a post about it. But the ideas would not congeal.

Reluctantly, I forced myself to go vacuum and dust…and even clean the bathroom.

And then I connected some dots between the verses in Job and an email sent out earlier today by Gary Sigler about the finished work. The finished work of the cross.

There are a lot of kingdom ministries that are preaching the finished work. There are a lot of ministries that are not even close to kingdom theology that are teaching the finished work. Eckhart Tolle comes to mind. A lot of what is considered new age also comes to mind.

Gary Sigler said it this way:

Of course the work was finished as Jesus said from the cross. The scriptures also says that the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Many hear these truths and begin to try and believe the work was finished and therefore there is nothing left for us to do. They say “We are finished and there is no further processing needed.” To me this is a foolish thing to say. Some of those who are claiming this are still full of negative things in their lives. Since they believe there is no more processing they are stuck with a doctrine that is useless to them.

He goes on to say:

I do believe the works were finished from the foundation of the world. However the work was finished in the spirit and must be worked out in our experience. There is an objective truth and a subjective truth. They are both true but if we only have the objective it will not bring change to our lives. We must have the subjective experience of becoming all that Jesus said and taught.

And

However you have fallen in your mind and have lost the reality of being complete.

Fallen in your mind? Keith has a favorite tag line…in fact it is the name of his blog. We are spirit beings…on a human journey. In this realm…this human realm….spirit beings on a human journey…the truth of who we are is covered…veiled….

One of the verses in Job 26 declares…..

⁹ He obscures the view of [His] throne,
spreading His cloud over it.

The NLT words it this way:

He shrouds his throne with his clouds.

Connecting a few dots….the Strong’s meaning of throne?

seat (of honour), throne,
royal dignity, authority, power

As unbelievable as it may seem, the presence of God abides within US. We are his throne, his seat of honour, his dwelling place, his temple.

But the view has been obscured by his clouds.

His doing? Our doing? The answer depends on where you weigh in on the free will/total determinism scale. Did we fall? Did he “push” us? Did he set us up so there was no other possible outcome? Scripture provides equally compelling, yet opposite answers to that question…depending on where you look and what you choose to believe.

The Bible tells us we are alienated (to be shut out from one's fellowship and intimacy) from God IN OUR MINDS. Perhaps part of the purpose of this life is to discover/uncover the mystery of who(se) we really are. To restore the fellowship we once shared with God. To renew our minds. To put all the traces of adam to death.

I’ll close this post with one more quote from Gary’s email….

“Therefore you must have the eyes of your understanding opened and the veils removed from your mind so you can experientially walk in the completeness.”

A few more thoughts on allowing….

2011-09-18T16:12:00.001-04:00

Just a few more thoughts on allowing

Allowing does not always step in and shield someone from the consequences of their behavior. As Sue and I talked about in the comments, there is a fuzzy line between allowing and enabling. Sometimes mercy is in order....other situations might require a tougher kind of love.

Ray Prinzing, a yesteryear kingdom preacher used to say, "If it is, it's right." And Byron Katie, creator of "The Work" uses the tag line "Loving what is." While I can't really fully embrace either comment, there is an element of truth in the thought that there is only so much we can do to change the circumstances we find ourselves....and our loved ones in.

Obviously there are situations that are not right...and some things are impossible to love. But to quote another oft used phrase....don't know who to credit it to...."It is what it is." And that is reality. That is what we have to deal with...perhaps allow....maybe even accept.

And there is always the chance we are wrong about situations, what people should do, even about our most cherished opinions and beliefs.

I came upon a snippet in Readers Digest that was taken from an article on Venture Beat in the Entrepreneur Corner entitled The Stupidest Things Ever Said at Sales Meetings.

It was a list of really dumb things both buyers and sellers had uttered at sales meetings...but the one that got my attention....

“The all male ad agency team telling my female marketing team that they understood tampons better than us.”

Sometimes we know not of what we speak...

Allowing --- MYOB

2011-09-12T08:38:00.001-04:00

Hebrews 1:1 describes God's method of communicating with our forefathers .... at many times and in various ways or as the King James Version describes it, in “divers and sundry ways”

He hasn't stopped this diverse and sundry thing. He "talks" to me that way all the time.

It started (as it often does) on google reader...in a blog post about achieving inner peace. A number list...with 5 guidelines for inner peace. The one that caught my eye was # 4. Master the Art of Allowing.

Hmmmm. Allowing. Interesting word. it means, among other things, “to to make it possible for someone to do something, or to not prevent something from happening” Some synonyms with a bit more of a negative connotation are endure or tolerate.

I learned a lot about allowing when one of my kids was in her "I've lost my mind" phase of teenage rebellion. Finally, in desperation, I stopped beating my head against that brick wall. Sometimes the harder we try to change/control things, the more resistance we generate in the person we are trying to change.

This explanation of allowing (authored by Evita Ochel owner of the website EvolvingBeings.com) mentions how parents many times think they know what is best or how their children should be...parents aka "entities who seem to think they own" their children.

She credits parents with planting the seed for this nasty little habit of trying to change our loved ones...mold them into who we think they should be. Sort of a sins of the father kind of thing. Pressuring them to do the things we think they should, pressuring them not to do the things we think they shouldn't.

I learned that this is rarely a very a successful endeavor.

So before we get into what allowing is, let's determine what allowing ISN'T. While it does contain aspects of MYOB, it does not turn a blind eye to injustice. A quote I came across the other day (one of those divers and sundry things) on someone's FB feed:

‎"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." Desmond Tutu

How to decide when to MYOB and when not to is tricky echoed in the words of the oft repeated prayer attributed to St. Francis.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Some situations demand that we speak up. Some things we cannot allow. Exactly what those situations are, well, I am not all that clear about. A good idea might be to follow the leading of the spirit...and do what he tells us to do.

Another thing that allowing is not...is an obligation to be a doormat. We really do get to choose if we participate in any situation. Allowing a loved one....family member, spouse, friend... the right to make their own decisions and choices does not mean we have to hang out in a situation that is intolerable.

So...the author of this article thinks that allowing means "letting each person be as they are." Which is directly related to the directive of Jesus when he said not to worry about the speck of dust in another's eye and to concern ourselves with the plank in our own eye.

More to come on allowing....

Weekly Quotes….on (non) violence

2011-08-31T06:51:00.001-04:00

Just went back to work yesterday after being off for 9 days. Keith and I were on vacation…sort of….very busy. His dad was here for the week…his annual late summer visit during the Little League World Series here in Williamsport (the town’s claim to fame) That involved some day trips here and there…and we took Emily off to college…..a bittersweet day.

I thought I would get all kinds of posts written. Not. I have pondered starting a weekly series kind of thing…one a round up of interesting websites….another a round up of interesting quotes that I’ve come across in my web journeys. I take a lot of web journeys and find all kinds of really interesting stuff buried in cyber space. So…today, perhaps marks the beginning of the quotes of the week round up. Notable Quotables? Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes (stole that title idea from Keith) Whatever. Following are a few quotes I came across. Since I’ve been frequenting peacekeeping websites these past few weeks, the quotes have a nonviolent peacekeeping tone…..

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations. ~David Friedman

All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.
-Voltaire

"Only in America can you be pro-death penalty, pro-war, pro-unmanned drone bombs, pro-nuclear weapons, pro-guns, pro-torture, pro-land mines, and still call yourself 'pro-life.'” ~ John Fugelsang

If you're a Christian who supports killing your enemies and torture, you have to come up with a new name for yourself.
...Christians have been lawyering the bible to try to figure out how "love thy neighbor" can mean "hate thy neighbor" and how "turn the other cheek" can mean "s***w you, I'm buying space lasers". Martin Luther King gets to call himself a Christian because he actually practiced loving his enemies.
...Jesus lays on that hippy stuff pretty thick. He has lines like "Do not repay evil with evil" and "Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you." Really. It's in that book you hold up when you scream at gay people. And not to put too fine a point on it, but "non-violence" was kinda Jesus' trademark. Kinda his big thing. To not follow that part of it is like joining Greenpeace and hating whales. Bill Maher

And one more link….

2011-08-18T07:33:00.001-04:00

Crooks and Liars published an article on Monday about this Dominionist/Christian Reconstructionist stuff. Most of it is a rehash of the other two articles I posted the other day….but if you scroll down to the bottom of the article (before the comments) there is a 7ish minute video about Greg Boyd’s view of the kingdom of God and how it relates to politics.

I really like Greg Boyd and I’ve written about him and his trailblazing sermon series, The Cross and the Sword and other assorted posts about him and his theology HERE…. He lost a substantial portion of his church when he preached that series (which inspired his book, The Myth of a Christian Nation)…..something like 25%….a thousand people out of a congregation of four thousand. That was back in 2004 or so.

I’m not going to beat this dead horse much longer. I’ve written about Dominionism….researched it enough to know that it stinks to high heaven. It is the “Christian” version of Sharia Law…which also stinks to high heaven. They share more similarities than differences…..with some of the more hard core proponents actually believing that homosexuality, teenage rebellion and blasphemy should be capital offenses. In their view, they ARE capital offenses since they get a lot of their guidelines from the Old Testament. Welcome to Uganda anyone?

Now…would they/could they infiltrate our government and actually make any of these changes? Do any of the presidential hopefuls truly believe this stuff? Are their reported ties made up….exaggerated….fabricated? Is it just more of the ssdd mudslinging that goes on in politics….with both sides equally guilty? I don’t know.

If you have the time and the inclination, research it. Google it. Pick up Rushdoony’s 3 volume “encyclopedia sized” books (remember World Book anyone?) The Institutes of Biblical Law. Or check out Gary North’s site (Rushdoony’s son in law) with 90 free e-books by various authors defining some of their beliefs. Hmmmmm….just at a quick glance, I see several books based on Leviticus are available.

But my two cents worth is this….it is the inclination of fallen man to try to set up, cover up, prop up, make up their worldly kingdoms. A kingdom with minute, explicit, all encompassing rules and regulations based on their interpretation of their own particular holy book. Deeming this right and that right….this wrong and that wrong. Meticulous systemS of punishments and consequences. It is all based in the knowledge of good and evil….fruit from the tree that God told Adam not to eat of. And it matters not if they are gleaning their rules from the Quran or the Holy Bible….if they are reading it from a knowledge of good and evil perspective….they will never get it right.

Thoughts? Comments?

Are they Dominionists?

2011-08-16T22:23:00.001-04:00

Today on my Facebook feed, there were links to two separate articles voicing concerns that several of the top presidential hopefuls on the Republican side (duh) of the great political divide have strong ties to….and a strong leaning toward….Christian Theocracy and Dominionism. Both articles provided a lot of history about the movement which was spawned and promoted by the likes of Rushdoony, Gary North, David Chilton…but its roots go way back, All the way back to the Old Testament…..and the belief that God’s chosen people (then the Jews…now the Christians) were mandated to take dominion of society.

Some of these guys were seriously wacko….promoting all kinds of things which were rooted in OT biblical law. Watch out gays. Watch out divorcees. Watch out sassy teenagers. It’s Christendom’s version of Sharia law.

I wrote a series about that aspect of it a while back …..” No Clean Hands”

I also wrote a post about something shocking I came across….on line….an article written by William Einwechter, at the time an elder at Immanuel Free Reformed Church in Stevens, Pennsylvania. He wrote an article about the Biblical mandate to stone disobedient teenagers. He later published a more thorough explanation of what he meant….not a retraction but a more detailed explanation outlining the criteria. You can’t just kill your 12 year old for smarting off….there has to be a more sustained pattern of behavior. But if my family had followed his guidelines….I’d have two living children today instead of three because one of them would have been stoned to death during her years of all out rebellion.

I’m not sure if the articles are still available online. The hosting site was (mercifully) hacked. I think his church is still in full swing though….and his book is still available. There are quotes and excerpts in my blog post though and some links that are still live. if anyone is interested in a truly bizarre example of twisting scripture, you can read about it HERE.

One of the articles I read today was authored by Frank “knows of what he speaks” Shaeffer. His dad, Francis, was one of the forefathers of this movement. Frank, himself, was a pillar of the far (far) Christian Right until he jumped ship and joined the other side.

The other article was written by Michelle Goldberg, author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism…and no….never a member of the Christian Right. Her article is informative and balanced. Even though Frank wrote from his unique “once upon a time” insider’s perspective, there was some rancor in his writing that was off putting. Perhaps seeing it all up close and personal like he did stirs up those resentful emotions.

Christian Domionism flies under the radar. Both of these articles inform the reader of its origins, its beliefs and its skewed goal of making America into a Christian society….for Christians and non Christians alike…believers and non believers.

It has more similarities to Sharia Law than differences.

Check out Frank’s article HERE. Check out Goldberg’s article HERE.

Who is that looking out of your eyes?

2011-08-14T22:51:00.001-04:00

A while back I happened upon an article entitled “Disbelieving Free Will Makes Brain Less Free” Free will versus determinism aka total sovereignty aka predestination aka fatalism has always been a burr under my saddle. For years I struggled with it…analyzed it….pondered it….argued with Keith about it….discussed it on message boards and e-lists….and fought with God about it. Then…suddenly, the obsession went away.

I simply decided I had to pick a lane…and so I did.

The article discusses an experiment that tracks reaction time between those who read a passage that discounted free will and those who read a passage that supported free will. But this post isn’t really about this specific article….or the experiment…but rather about a rhetorical question that came up in the comments.

It was posted by someone called revlynn and he said:

One of the questions I pose to my clients & students on a regular basis is, "Who/what is it that is looking through your eyes?" Science can explain "seeing", but has yet to explain "looking". The mind looks, the brain sees, the mind interprets.

That question has all sorts of implications and nuances when we consider the dual nature of human beings….the carnal and the spiritual. On her FB page, my friend Dena used the phrase, “I real-eyes I am spirit”

So….just who is it that is looking out of YOUR eyes? Are you seeing with your “real eyes?” Is it adam or is it Christ?

I didn’t know Tony Campolo had a blog….

2011-08-09T21:57:00.001-04:00

I happened upon it yesterday as I was wandering around the internet. My launching pad was the google alert I set up for “mercy not sacrifice.” Every day an email arrives listing when and where the phrase, “mercy not sacrifice” caught google’s attention. I’ve found several really interesting sites that way. This time it was Tony Campolo’s blog, Red Letter Christians.

And so I poked around the site a bit and found several blog posts I paused to read. Among them….

Whose Death Does God Cheer? ….a post about the killing of Bin Laden.

Hiroshima and the Transfiguration, a Meditation

Why Christians Don’t Like Jesus

Ahhhh….there you go. The title of that last post mirrors a line in a series I am reading called “What the Bible Really Says.” The chapter about the Good Samaritan (something I’ve written about here before) closes with this….

The Gospels report that many people who heard the teachings of Jesus became his disciples. But there were many others who heard him and became his enemies.

In today’s world it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a disciple and an enemy. Many times those who claim to most reflect his heart and teachings miss the mark spectacularly. Those called by his name….Christ One’s….seem to have skipped entirely the chapters on love and forgiveness, compassion and generosity, loving your neighbor AND loving your enemy.

Tony’s focus is emergent, peace promoting, social justice seeking red letter theology. The God we see revealed in the red letters.

A Christian Does Not Commit Mass Murder?

2011-07-29T07:25:00.001-04:00

There was an article on Huffington Post that caught my eye this morning. It was about the Norway killer and Bill O’Reily’s lambasting of the mainstream press for repeatedly referring to him as a Christian fundamentalist. A few snippets from the HuffPo article….

O'Reilly singled out the New York Times, which called Breivik a "Christian extremist" in an article. Breivik also referred to himself as a Christian, as did the Norwegian police, and his 1,500 page manifesto has been described as coming from a Christian perspective. In the manifesto, he writes that he does not have a "personal," religious relationship with Christ, believes in Christianity "as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform," which he says "makes [me] Christian."

But Bill O’Reily says, no way jose’…..he was not a Christian. And didn’t I say the same thing here…in my last post when I quoted the kooky 1389 blog guy?

Whoever shot up the youth camp wasn't a Christian despite what he (or others) might claim. That isn't something that a Christian would do.

And now, I’m in the uncomfortable position of disagreeing with MYSELF. Sort of. That’s how it is when you see things from too many different angles. And agreeing with Bill O’Reily. Sort of.

Okay…so even though nobody…none of us….. can really know what is in another’s heart, it kind of stands to reason that if we claim to be Christian, we follow the teachings of the namesake of our faith….Jesus. And if the Bible says that “by their fruits you shall know them” then clearly, this guy Breivik did not display the fruits of true Christianity. And neither did many of those who have claimed the religious banner of Christianity down through the ages. Hitler, Mussolini (as O’Reily used as an example), the witch hunters, crusaders, inquisitioners, ethnic cleansers, executioners, bomb droppers.

So it all gets very messy and unclear and hard to figure out. To me (and O’Reily) this guy was clearly NOT a Christian if you define being a Christian as a follower of Jesus. Right wing…fundamentalist….working to restore Europe to a Christian state….yes….but a follower of the one who said, love your enemies, do good to them who persecute you….doubtful. And I think that one of the clearest directives, a true north statement, for what it means to follow Jesus and how that translates into real life situations comes from the musical pen of one of my favorite singer songwriters….John Prine.

Jesus don’t like killing, no mater what the reason for…..

This post needs spiffed up and polished but it’s hitting the web “as is”…..

Links to two articles that discuss this…from the Sorry, O’Reilly: Anders Breivik Is A Christian perspective…..and ……..

Huffington article

The Atrocities in Norway….some of my musings…

2011-07-25T12:48:00.011-04:00

This morning I’ve been reading about what happened in Norway…looking at pictures of the small Island where a bunch of young adults (kids as young as 15) were having youth camp. Their parents were members of the ruling party in Norway….the Labor Party and they were young party activists. The shooter, not an Islamic terrorist as originally suspected, but a home grown, disgruntled, angry Norwegian. Pissed off about Muslims taking over Europe, immigration policies, political Marxists.

He uploaded a 4 part You Tube video shortly before the attacks..and a 1500 page manifesto…outlining his beefs, his beliefs and political opinions…and even included his trial and error bomb making escapades (because before the shooting rampage, he also bombed the Oslo political district) The manifesto covered a two year period…he had planned this for a long, long time.

And just an FYI for all those who downplay the very real, very dangerous influence of the hate rhetoric of zealous anti-Islamist bloggers….

Breivik’s manifesto, entitled “2083: A European Declaration of Independence” was filled with comments from the cyber pages of their blogs. Notably, Atlas Shrugs, JihadWatch, The Gates of Vienna.

The title was chosen because of his target date for the triumph of Christian forces in the European civil war he called for in order to drive out Islamic influence. Oh…yes….Breivik was a Christian. According to his comments on a very conservative (radical ) anti Islamic website called Document.no…..

I myself am a Protestant and baptized / confirmed by my own free will when I was 15.

I visited a site this morning named “Islam Versus Europe – Where Islam Spreads, Freedom Dies" (catchy little tag line, no?) Obviously an anti Islamic website with comments from other anti Islamists…including one by 1389AD….associated with another charming blog called 1389 Blog – Counterjihad!. And in keeping with the line of reasoning that even a broken watch is right two times a day, he/she does say something dripping with truth….

Whoever shot up the youth camp wasn't a Christian despite what he (or others) might claim. That isn't something that a Christian would do.

The “whoever” reference alludes to the most recent post on the 1389 blog which was rambling on about the possibility that Breivik might not be the actual perp….even though he claimed responsibility (but added he was not guilty) and that he posted the You Tube thing…and the manifesto he’d labored away at for over two years. I can only spend so long on a site like that before I have to come up for a breath of fresh air. I’ve included the link to both sites if you want to take a look see.

Oh…and he also used quotes from the Unabomber’s writings.

But anyway…..

All three of my kids are in the same age group as the victims on the island. It evokes a horrified disbelief, an empathetic sadness….sorrow for the victims whose lives stretched before them like an unopened book. Lives, snuffed out, stolen from them. Their bodies littered the shore of the Island…and the water. Like the victims in the Twin Towers…escape by whatever means seemed the only option. Many of the victims tried to swim to the mainland. Some of them drowned, others, he shot.

He dressed as a policeman and for 90 minutes he meticulously picked off the teenagers….shooting and killing at least 85 of them…and wounding 97 others. At last count. Some are still missing. These were teenagers! Kids as young as 15. It was reported that he laughed and joked as he searched them out…cajoling…come out, don’t be afraid, I’m a cop. Don’t be shy.
He said his acts were atrocious but necessary.

"Once you decide to strike, it is better to kill too many than not enough, or you risk reducing the desired ideological impact of the strike."

According to Wiki:

It is also reported that the shooter used hollow-point bullets or frangible bullets to cause as much damage as possible. The gunshot wounds are hard to treat, as there is only an entry-wound and no exit-wound, nor any large fragments inside the body.

And Breivik was a frequent poster on another anti Islamist/conservative/anti internationalist website called Document.no. I read through a lot of comments (thanks to Google Translate) he wrote….from 2009 to as late as October of 2010.
He echoes many of the same anti Islamic comments I have read all over the internet, mirror copies of comments made by American bloggers, commentators and commenters, e-list members etc. etc. etc.

They are taking over. You are not safe. Your children are not safe. Your country is not safe.

Just google it…the websites with transcripts of his ramblings abound. A few of the comments that I took note of below …

The truth is so ugly that it has the potential to scare many moderate cultural conservatives back into apathy.

We were honest once but Marx and Mohammed have forced us to become more like them, unfortunately.

He comments on the November 2009 terrorist train attack in Russia that left 39 dead….

I do not understand why CNN mentions the extreme right and the national Socialists. I have never ever heard of a right extreme or national Socialist terrorist attack of importance on European soil. This sounds like wishful thinking.

And finally this…again proving that even a broken watch is right twice a day….

For me it is very hypocritical to treat Muslims, Nazis and Marxists different. They are all supporters of hate-ideologies.

Islam (ism) has historically led to 300 million deaths
Communism has historically led to 100 million deaths
Nazism has historically led to 6-20 million deaths

Not sure where he gets his figures…or some of the other figures he uses in his comments. Some seem skewed and inflated….purposely misleading (or was HE misled?) But he sums it up by saying….

ALL hate ideologies should be treated equally.

Who can argue with that?

Whether the hate ideology resides in the minds of Islamic terrorists who vow jihad against western culture (and yes, I freely acknowledge they exist) or from the pages of history…in Nazi Germany and the atrocities executed against the Jews….or the Christian Crusades….or the witch hunts…the dark ages….the genocide in the Old Testament….and yes….even now…on the cyberpages of the far right wing bloggers who espouse sweeping prejudice and hatred against any group of people.

All hate ideologies should be treated equally. Let’s call a spade a spade….hate mongering is hate mongering….whether the target group is a different religion, a different race, a different political persuasion or a different sexual orientation.

And now…. few quotes on hate….thrown in “free of charge” :)

Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.
George Washington Carver

I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.
Booker T. Washington

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that,

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hate crimes are the scariest thing in the world because these people really believe what they're doing is right.
Cher

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
Hermann Hesse

Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
Charles de Gaulle

We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.
Jonathan Swift

PS....The formatting is off on this post. Not sure why...copying and pasting etc. and I've dinked around with it for a while this morning trying to correct the gaping holes...and places where the margins are erratic....and where the paragraphs are all scrunched up together....to no avail. So....I am leaving it as is and getting ready for work.....even though it bugs the hell out of me.

Passing Adam food through the slot….

2011-07-13T06:49:00.001-04:00

I'm spending the weekend at my mom's....which means "no internet access w/o a trip to McD's" I was there for an hour or so this morning but they had the a/c so low, I was absolutely frozen when I left. So, here in my mom’s apartment, I've been going through notes, snippets, copies of web pages, blog ideas, quotes etc. etc. etc. that I have saved on my computer. I keep coming up with more ideas for posts than I will probably ever have time to write about.

This one just struck my fancy, taken from a blog called the Four Mass'keteers…a Catholic leaning blog (evidenced by the name--the "Mass"keteers....which I never noticed till just now) I liked the following snippet from a recent post....that originally came from a daily meditation on The Magnificant, a site I've never visited but may....later.... when I get within broadcasting range of a wifi router......

First the snippet….

Snippet>>>>>>>>>

The Magnificat has a meditation today, as they do everyday, that one should contemplate on for hours allowing the words to touch our hearts, our souls - to melt the ice at the center of our beings...

Yielding To The Holy Spirit
Tears are the humble, created water of my heart that corresponds to the powerful uncreated water of the Spirit’s life in me. Tears are perhaps the most rejuvenating and re-creating water of all, the evidence that I have allowed grace to melt the ice at the center of my being.

As Leon Bloy says strikingly, where there are tears, there is the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit of God is always, as at the beginning, “hovering over the waters”

What areas of my life are still rigid, refusing to yield resistance and be shaped by God’s fingers? “Flecte quod est rigidum,” we pray in the Veni, sancte Spiritus.

In what parts of my person do I still allow the old inflexible grouch of sin to have his way? Each one of us, according to our state in life, has different strategies for allowing the old Adam and Eve to survive in us. We may have that rascal, the decrepit old self, locked away safely, but surreptitiously we still pass him food through the slot in the dungeon door, do we not?

A couple of phrases in this short meditation captured my attention….

Melting the ice at the center of our being.

and…..

Each one of us, according to our state in life, has different strategies for allowing the old Adam and Eve to survive in us. We may have that rascal, the decrepit old self, locked away safely, but surreptitiously we still pass him food through the slot in the dungeon door, do we not?

"Adam doesn't want to die"....

Keith used to say that now and then when we talked about spiritual things. I didn't really understand it then...still don't really get it....not completely. This separation in us--the true and the mistaken identity....spiritual/ carnal....adamic/christ...this “two natures beat inside my breast” concept....but I have a deeper understanding now than I did then.

So Adam doesn't want to die and apparently "we" don't want to kill him. But he’s gotta’ go, the Bible is clear on that, and tells us to crucify "the rascal."

If we have any hope of killing him off, we've got to stop passing him food through the slot. I alluded to a poem above....written, I think, by Ray Prinzing....

Two natures beat within my breast

One is cursed, the other blessed

One I love, one I hate

The one I FEED will dominate......

Hmmmmmm.

Evil Perpetrated Against a Child…

2011-07-06T07:41:00.001-04:00

In the conversation between the brothers (aka Ivan’s tirade) in Fyodor Dostoevsky's, The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan’s big beef was the evil perpetrated against children…under the omnipresent eye of God. That was his ultimate “WTF is wrong with this picture” moment….no fair, this isn’t right, time out, you’ve got to be kidding. Children should not suffer the way they do. Especially at the hands of adults. Especially not at the hands of adults who are supposed to love them and care for them….their parents. Sometimes that is the most treacherous place for a child to be is in the care of their parents.

It’s really not like me to comment on current events in a post. It is more my style to wait until the event is a distant memory and then write about it. The reasons? Perhaps procrastination…and too much I want to write about, not enough time to write it. Maybe a bit of my “far from the maddening crowd” mindset. If the vast majority of blogs in the Blogosphere are writing about it, I probably won’t be.

But the current events of the past few days so fit the topic of my last post that I would be remiss not to mention dear little Caylee Anthony and the great evil perpetrated against her at the hands of an adult. Probably an adult who was responsible for her care.

I love my Facebook feed, It serves as a sort of demographic of popular opinion. I have friends on FB that span the range of the spectrum--liberal/conservative, fundamentalist/new age. So I get a plethora of opinions and viewpoints. There are no shortages of viewpoints about the Casey/Caylee Anthony case. They run the gamut from “fry the bitch” to “our justice system worked the way it’s supposed to” to “what was the jury thinking?” and “this is the OJ verdict for a younger generation.”

I don’t know. I didn’t follow the trial…and only read about it helter skelter during the three years the case captured the media’s attention. Is Casey guilty? I don’t know. If she is guilty, why would she do such a thing to her own child? Just another question mark…amongst the endless number of question marks surrounding suffering and evil….especially when it involves children.

Again as I mentioned in my first post….Epicurus summed it up:

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?”

Why?

That is the heart wrenching cry of those tormented by the POE, the Problem of Evil.

Why? Why? Why?

Theodicy tries to answer the question….and there are no shortages of opinions about it…and we’ll take a look at a couple of the most interesting theories in upcoming posts….but nobody REALLY knows for sure…and so the question remains

Why?

The Conversation Between the Brothers….

2011-06-30T20:42:00.001-04:00

Long ago and far away, I ended the first post in this series….The POE Revisited….

More in my next post about the conversation between the two brothers, Ivan and Alyosha. Here is the link to the excerpt.....Fyodor Dostoevsky on the Problem of Evil from the Brothers Karamazov.

Perhaps the title of this post isn’t quite accurate. What goes on between the brothers isn’t actually a conversation….it is a one man dissertation. Ivan presents his complaints against God to his brother …monologue fashion. Alyosha… mainly listens.

And it is the children…the suffering children….the stereotypical argument that is so often raised against God…that bothers Ivan the most. He makes his case using examples of suffering children….facts and anecdotes that he’s collected from newspapers and books. And he has some really abhorrent examples.

The “theory of theodicy” he rails against is one of the many explanations mankind has come up with to reconcile the big three pillars of theodicy….the goodness of God, the omnipotence of God…and the existence of suffering.

Ivan is a made up character birthed from the mind and imagination of Fyodor Dostoevsky but he is a composite of many real life people who also find the POE and mystery of suffering….especially the suffering of children, to be the ultimate paradox…the unexplainable enigma…the “fly in the ointment”….the unforgiveable sin for a God who is supposed to be love. The suffering of children is a frequent theme in Dostoevsky’s work so perhaps he, too, is trying to hash it all out…make sense of it…through his writings?

The angle Ivan chisels away at in his monologue is the necessity of suffering for an eventual, eternal harmony. The conclusion comes to is “no way, Jose’” It’s not worth it. And he uses the examples of children to prove his point….even though he muses that….

I meant to speak of the suffering of mankind generally, but we had better confine ourselves to the sufferings of the children. That reduces the scope of my argument to a tenth of what it would be.

but….

I took the case of children only to make my case clearer.

Of the other tears of humanity with which the earth is soaked from its crust to its centre, I will say nothing. I have narrowed my subject on purpose.

I’ve had trouble getting started on this series. Perhaps because I don’t know exactly what I want to say. There is so much to say…so many aspects of it to explore. I’m just going start typing and see what unfolds…looking at it from several angles. Writing brings a clarity to thoughts, gives them form and order. A bit like free style mind mapping, without the map.

Can You Pray Away the Gay….?

2011-06-23T18:47:00.001-04:00

This morning, via someone’s facebook link, I watched a 10 minute video of a “pray away the gay” altar call by Damon Thompson, an Alabama preacher who heads up a youth ministry called The Ramp.

His style of preaching is similar to many preachers I’ve heard….and the southern accent is sort of disarming. He seems likeable. He seems sincere.

He dubbed it the hardest altar call anywhere…any time. And yet they came. Crying, shaking, kneeling face down on the floor, pounding on the altar with clenched fists, hands raised in pseudo victory.

My heart hurt for those teenagers…and the message he drummed into their heads….just a carbon copy message of so many other preachers in so many other churches. Homosexuality is an abomination. You are second rate…detestable. God wants nothing to do with you the way you are. The Holy Spirit? Well he’s not about to share your house with a homosexual devil.”

“God has not nor will he ever coexisted [sic] with the devil,” Damon began. “And God’s not gonna come live in there with you and your homosexual devil.”

Sorry Damon…there is no “gonna come live in there” about it. He is already there in all those sobbing, quivering kids.

The seed of God is in ALL humanity. Gospel of John? He is the light that lights every man that comes into the world? Sound familiar? He is our life force, our spark…our very breath. Without him sustaining us…it’s curtains…all over but the crying….the fat lady sang. Ever hear of laminin? You can read a little about it HERE and check out this video. What about Acts 17? In Him we live and move and have our being?

Psalm 139? Where can I run from your spirit? Even if I make my bed in hell….behold THOU. ART. THERE.

I truly believe that the verses “about homosexuality” in the Bible, understood in their proper context and not just taken at face value (a concept anyone who has embraced universal reconciliation should be familiar with) are not talking about modern day committed homosexual relationships.

And just a side trip/rabbit trail here for anyone who takes issue with the idea that there is such a thing as a committed homosexual relationship…clinging instead to the stereotypical belief that gay equals promiscuous….just a couple of thoughts to consider.

A lot of gay folks are hiding their true sexual orientation…and really…who can blame them? Living in a society where many frown on gay marriage, it isn’t as viable an option as it is for those of us born on the hetero side of the human sexuality spectrum. For many, their careers, their standing in the community….in the church would be destroyed if they came out in such a blatant (courageous) way. So they settle for encounters…rendezvous…..without outward commitment.

And as for those who are truly promiscuous….who engage in risky behavior with many sex partners? If someone has been brainwashed into believing that they are a worthless piece of shit…less than….not good enough…vile, even….then they are apt to act the part…..just like their heterosexual counterparts who have internalized a sense of unworthiness.

Sermons and altar calls like the one depicted in this video, go a long way toward promoting that sense of unworthiness. Watch the faces of these kids….contorted with pain….wanting to be anyone but who they were created to be.

The POE Revisited

2011-06-19T22:56:00.001-04:00

The idea for this series was sparked as I read some of the excerpts from The Brothers Karamazov. How loving your specific neighbor was so suprisingly difficult to pull off. In that same chapter, Fyodor Dostoyevsky deals with another big theological paradox. Perhaps the biggest paradox there is....

The POE....the problem of evil....suffering....how to reconcile a loving God....an omnipotent God....with all the evil and suffering in the world. That is the basis of theodicy, the defense of God's goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil.

From my own experience, I've found that his defense...or vindication, the word used in some dictionaries "ain't easy." I wasn't a Christian very long before I was faced with reconciling those three key points that form the theodicy riddle, the "therein lies the question" quandary/paradox/koan....

The goodness of God
The omnipotence of God
The existence of evil

Epicurus summed it up:

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?”

It haunted me for the longest time and I was just absolutely, totally pissed off at God about all the starving children, death, disease, pestilence, natural disasters etc that abound in our world. We were barely on speaking terms, He and I. Well, mainly "I." He was still whispering softly to my heart but I wasn't interested in listening, I had a major pout going. Huge chip on my shoulder.

But I wanted....needed....answers. And so I googled....and surfed.....and clicked on link after link about suffering and evil. The Brothers Kromanov might have inspired this series, but I have no shortage of resources to draw from. I have dozens, possibly hundreds, of articles saved on my computer....about suffering, the POE…..all trying to answer questions like…. just where the hell is God when we suffer. I printed many of them off and saved them in binders. I have at least as many links saved in my favorites and just as many quotes saved in my quotes file.

I plan on this being a series....but you know how I sometimes stray from the original, central theme. I think the conversation between the two brothers is profound. It sums up the problem of evil in a nutshell....succinctly. Perhaps it will remind some of you of a long forgotten required reading assignment in English Lit....or perhaps it will be prose that many, like me, never struggled to read and understand. And when it comes to the problem of evil, who really does understand?

More in my next post about the conversation between the two brothers, Ivan and Alyosha. Here is the link to the excerpt.....Fyodor Dostoevsky on the Problem of Evil from the Brothers Karamazov.

It’s all a matter of perspective :)

2011-06-13T19:25:00.001-04:00

And another snippet from Craig Harper’s motivational blog…a blog I mentioned a while back. He has a great sense of humor…although in some of his writings he is somewhat on the….ah….course side. Quote follows….

A few years back, I met with a guy who wanted my help to lose some weight; not an altogether uncommon request in my world. Without giving you specific details, it’s fair to say that he was morbidly obese. That is, huge. Somewhere in the vicinity of double his ideal bodyweight.

Or, half his ideal height.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like so many other things, it's all a matter of perspective....

You can find this wiener dog magnet at Cafe Press

Bucket List? Phucket List?

2011-06-07T06:44:00.001-04:00

I came upon a post this morning…long after I should have been in (and back out of) the shower…on The Naked Pastor. It was buried within the feeds from the (way too) many blogs that live in my google reader account.

The blog is called…The Naked Pastor..and is owned and operated by David Hayward. The post was called The Phucket List. Yep…a play on words…a sort of round about phonetic spelling…enabling him to say a word without really saying it…although we know exactly the word he is sort of saying. Very clever.

The post was inspired by the movie, Bucket List. We all have a Bucket List….things we want to do before we die…and I suspect we all have a Phucket List too…or we should. In the bucket…stuff that, upon first glance, seems totally pertinent and important but upon further pondering and evaluation actually isn’t…and so it should go live in the Phucket Bucket.

Check out the post. Check out the blog. He’s also an artist/cartoonist and his cartoons are sure to bring a wry smile to your face. And give some thought today to what’s in your phucket bucket….what it should be filled with….and what it shouldn’t.

Who are your untouchables/unspeakables?

2011-06-05T22:19:00.001-04:00

This is the fourth…or fifth….post in a (long drawn out) series that has touched on all kinds of stuff. Gays, gay marriage, gay agendas, what Jesus did, what we should do based on what Jesus did. And particular people as opposed to hypothetical people who are easier to hate and the paradoxical fact that sometimes hypothetical people are easier to love. Easier, that is, than the individuals we get down and dirty with in our every day face to face lives.

After proclaiming that the law could be summed up as Love the Lord thy God with all you heart, soul, strength and mind and love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus was asked… okay then….just who exactly is my neighbor?

Ah...loaded question. And as usual, Jesus provided a loaded answer. Rather than just flat out tell them, Jesus used an analogy, a story....a parable. He told them the story of the Good Samaritan. In my web wanderings, I came across an article, "Touch The Untouchable - Speak the Unspeakable" that talked about this particular parable and had some really interesting insights into what Jesus was trying to get across.

In the article, Dr. Edwina Hunter,the Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, talks about how scandalous this story would have been to the Jews he was addressing. The Jews loathed the Samaritans.

So the gist of the story, a Levite and a Priest happened upon a man...robbed, beaten and dumped on the side of the road….and neither of them stopped to help. But the Samaritan did. So then Jesus asked another trick question, “who was a neighbor to this man?” Nobody could/would utter it out loud. They so vehemently hated Samaritans, they wouldn’t even speak the word!!

So without actually saying Samaritan, the asker answered "The one who showed him kindness." Yep….right answer.

A quote from the article:

Jesus' original audience was shocked because they and the Samaritans hated and despised each other. So? So, what does this parable have to say to us? We can hear that only if we translate it very personally. Whom do I, whom do you despise, fear, hate so much that you hate even to speak the name? Or take it further. Jesus said that the Samaritan actually touched the man who had been left for dead. Touched? He touched one who, for him and his, was untouchable. What is Jesus saying? He is saying that we will never understand who our neighbor is -- who the one is that we are to love as ourselves -- until we are able to touch the untouchable one and speak the unspeakable name. Biblical scholar, Robert Funk, says that we have to ask, "Whom would I least like to be touched by?" By whom would I least like to be helped, indebted to? Only then can we understand, hear what Jesus was saying.

There you have it….it turns out that even the folks we cannot stand…the ones we loathe….are our neighbors. The untouchables….the unspeakables. We are supposed to even love them as we love ourselves. For some of us our untouchables are gay. For some of us, our unspeakables are Democrats….or Republicans….or Catholics….or Muslims. How about fundamentalist, evangelical Christians? Yep, even those folks.

Check out the article……and think about the questions. Who is your neighbor? Turns out it is every one. Jesus did not let us off the hook about loving our neighbors….not the ones on the other side of the globe….not the ones on the other side of the street.

My Body Is My Enemy…

2011-05-30T21:14:00.001-04:00

I found this quote buried within a post on Martha Becks blog. I am, of course, using it out of context….but wow...what far reaching implications!! As someone who has had a weight problem most of my life, I get this. I SO get this. But in "enlightenment" circles, in awakening articles...in some interpretations of scripture...in Buddhist theology, there is also the pervading belief that “my body is my enemy.” I must overcome the flesh.

Question then? Why did God put us in fleshly bodies if they are our enemy? Why did he choose to incarnate in a fleshly body as Jesus? Perhaps it is not so much that our body is our enemy, perhaps it is more so that our body must be reconciled with our spirit and then…and only then …will we be complete. Is this the hybrid (thanks Ron Sigler) that the NT speaks of? The new creation man? And the old man, the carnal man, that adamic man is the one who only knows himself as a body? Just musing....

“Particular People”

2011-05-23T15:37:00.001-04:00

So...a while back....I wrote a few posts about the gay agenda....and how several folks did an about face in their views when they began to interact one on one with folks they had once considered their enemy. They began to see specific human beings or what Ted Grimsrud refers to in his article "What Did Jesus Do?" as "particular people." But like a Buddhist koan, there is a paradox in this truth.

….the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. Niels Bohr

While it is easier to love and accept particular people…it is also easier to hate and avoid particular people.

And, yes, it is easier to hate huge chunks of hypothetical people....it is also easier to LOVE huge chunks of hypothetical people.

Martha Beck said that she recognizes burn out in herself when she develops the following attitude.....

Though you live to serve humanity, you hate everyone.

That is a sentiment echoed by one of Fyodor Dostoevsky characters in The Brothers Karamazov

The more I love humanity in general the less I love humans in particular.

In my dreams, I often make plans for the service of humanity, and perhaps I might actually face crucifixion if it were suddenly necessary. Yet I am incapable of living in the same room with anyone for two days together. I know from experience. As soon as anyone is near me, his personality disturbs me and restricts my freedom. In twenty-four hours I begin to hate the best of men: one because he's too long over his dinner, another because he has a cold and keeps on blowing his nose.

I become hostile to people the moment they come close to me. But it has always happened that the more I hate humans individually, the more I love humanity.

And he goes on to say:

"I must make one confession," Ivan began. "I could never understand how one can love one's neighbours. It's just one's neighbours, to my mind, that one can't love, though one might love those at a distance.

Critic James Breech writes…about the above confession/insight

“He loves humankind in general because he hates his concrete neighbor”"

Ahhhhh....but Jesus....had a keen insight into human nature.

.....he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man for he himself knew what was in man.

And he understood this catch 22 "particular people" principle..and he is not letting us off the hook about loving the guy next door. The one with the barking dog and the lawnmower at 6 am….or the loud party in the middle of the night.

In fact, he summed up the law as loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus healed and ministered a wide variety of people...the woman at the well, the woman caught in the act of adultery, blind beggars, epileptics, a leper, a centurion's servant, Peter's mother-in-law, two Gentile demoniacs, tax collectors, sinners, the daughter of a synagogue leader.

He announced he had come to the lost sheep of Israel but his ministry crossed all boundaries and social classes.

Jesus showed us ….by word and action….that everyone is our neighbor…..

Christians “dissing” Christians…and other perplexing questions….

2011-05-19T05:56:00.001-04:00

This weekend I came across some writings on a blog by Peter Kirk called Gentle Wisdom. He's written several posts lately on the Rob Bell thing...specifically about the way another blogger named Adrian Warnock handled the whole "Love Wins" concept. (More on that...and the universalism issue in an upcoming post) I was not familiar with Adrian...or his website. I took a look around and he seems to be a Calvinist....and he definitely does not agree with Rob Bell's theology.

But that is not the point of this post. It seems the blogger at Gentle Wisdom was having some second thoughts about some of his comments. And he cites a post by Martin Trench, another UK pastor (all three of these guys are in the UK) called "Do You Ever Feel Like a Hypocrite?"

It is a thought provoking post. And it grapples with questions I've asked myself many times. Oh….like perhaps…..

"And just who do you think you are, missy, writing some of the bitchy things you post on your blog?" "Pretty full of yourself, aren't you?"

I will admit my posts sometimes take on a somewhat…ahh….sarcastic tone.

Following are a few quotes from the Hypocrite post...

I hate to hear Christian’s judging other people. It seems clear to me that Jesus taught “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged” (Matthew 7:1-2). Why is it then, that so many Christians love to pass judgment on other people? Even on other Christians? The vitriolic, hate-filled, Tweets and blog posts that many Christians (including some well known pastors) put out, is, (in my humble opinion), a disgrace to the name “Christian” and an embarrassment to the gospel.

I would not disagree.

If you don’t like another preacher or author – don’t listen to them or read their books. It’s simple. You don’t have to preach hate and accuse them of all kinds of crimes against God or hurl names like “heretic” about.

Again...no arguments here.

So I do not like to see people judging other people, and I tend to be pretty free from judgmental attitudes myself …….. with one exception. I tend to judge judgmental people. I know it sounds ludicrous, but I tend to judge their level of Christianity by the fact that they go about judging other people’s Christianity.

Yes, indeed....

And there's more. He also discusses those mean spirited theological debates that often turn very ugly and hateful. Like a dog chasing it's tail...they go round and round and round but don't get anywhere or accomplish anything. Participants tend to stick their fingers in their ears while silently reciting the “close minded mantra.”

(la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la....I can't hear you)

But then..the purpose is not to hear .....the purpose is not discussion. The purpose is to defend and prove one's pet theology. Two topics that often spawn this kind of debate....

free will vs. sovereignty

universalism vs. hell

These two topics have been debated down through the ages and only rarely do minds or hearts change.

So he doesn't like these kinds of discussions. I don't either. And I usually bow out of them on e-groups and message boards....because they are fruitless time wasters.

And there is something else that bugs him....

I know that it sounds self-righteous of me, but I can’t stand seeing or hearing people being self-righteous.
If I see you going after another person, I am going to go after you!

And here is where my views differ somewhat (and where it gets hazy and blurred) He thinks that's a bad thing. And perhaps, it is a bad thing if you journey around the internet searching for heresies and threats to the faith and differing theologies. If you are searching simply to find and set right those who have a different world view...or scriptural view....or moral view...perhaps that is self righteous.

And really....are those who espouse different world/scriptural/moral views a danger? Perhaps Adrian Warnock and others who have spoken out against Rob Bell feel it is their Christian duty to call out a perceived universalist. But is it really? Where do you draw the line?

Perhaps I feel it is my Christian duty to call out those who take their theology to such an extreme that it hurts others. Seriously, irrevocably hurts others.

I am thinking of the "Christian" backed initiative in Uganda that makes homosexuality a crime punishable by DEATH. Talk about an Old Testament mentality. Sharia Law anyone?

And I am thinking of Fred Phelps and his gang. Who doesn't want to speak out against idiots like Fred Phelps?

And looking back….didn't Christians and their unwillingness to oppose Hitler play a part in his regime? And even Hitler declared he was just doing the will of God.

I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator.

- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 2

So exactly where does self righteousness end and "I'm my brother's keeper" kick in?

Good questions. I hope you didn't expect to find definitive answers in this blog post.

I do, of course, have an opinion. For me, a good rule of thumb is to determine if there is a real live, actual victim in the situation. To quote Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, author and activist...

"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe."

and

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest."

Grey’s Anatomy on Gay Marriage….

2011-05-16T15:22:00.001-04:00

Grey's Anatomy is the only TV show I watch. For those of you who have not been following the story line...two of the doctors...Callie and Arizona (interesting name, no?) are lesbians. The show has tastefully chronicled their love affair through ups and downs which include (but are not limited to)

Callie's dream of having children. Arizona's refusal (in spite of the fact that she likes kids...being a pediatrician and all) Several break ups. Several make ups.

Arizona left Callie standing at the airport as they were waiting to board a flight bound for Africa where Arizona had taken a new job in a back woods, jungle pediatric clinic. Callie quit her job to go along. Last minute change of plans. Ooops. See ya' later.

So Callie (who technically seems to be bisexual) found refuge in the arms of her bud, Dr. Mark Sloan. The refuge produced a baby.

Arizona came back....couldn't live without Callie. Yes, but....you ditched me. And. Big AND. I'm pregnant with Mark's baby.

More turmoil surrounded the dropping of that little bombshell.

So there have been ups and downs and disputes between Mark and Arizona (she didn't care much for him before he impregnated Callie...and now...well, not even that much)

And then....soap opera drama....a major car crash. Callie almost died. Some cliffhanger moments. Baby almost died. More cliffhanger moments.

And then....all was well....they were on the mend, they were planning a wedding. A wedding that fell apart. Callie's mom is a diehard catholic. Wouldn't touch the baby. Finally admitted she couldn't even stay for the wedding. And then....the minister who was slated to marry them (and there were many who would not) was in a car crash and couldn't perform the ceremony.

“Forget this nonsense,” Callie said, “It’s all just a sham anyway.”....and called off the wedding. It was Dr. Bailey...surly, sarcastic chief resident who delivered the following poignant speech to a teary eyed Callie who was moping on the couch….kleenex in hand.

I just love this speech.....

"Okay, first of all, you do not need the law, or a priest, or your mother to make your wedding real. And the church can be anywhere you want it to be: in a field, on a fountain, right here in this room, anywhere. Because where do you think God is? C'mon now! He's in you, he's in me, he's right here between us.

Wow...profound....he's in you. He's in me. He's right here between us. That omnipresent thing. Or as David coined it in in the Psalms, where I can go from your presence? Wherever I go, behold thou art there!!!

Now your church hasn't caught up to God yet. Your mother, she hasn't caught up to God yet. And, by the way, she may not ever catch up, but it's okay. It's okay.

It seems that many, many Christians who profess to know him have not caught up to God yet.

If you are willing to stand up in front of your friends and family and God and commit yourself to another human being, to give of yourself in that kind of partnership, for better or worse, in sickness and health — honey, that is a marriage, that is real, and that's all that matters.

Which is a great explanation for the reason gays want to marry in the first place…for the same reasons heterosexuals want to marry. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always turn out as planned. Bailey, who is newly divorced continues…

Besides, girl, I got legally married to a man in a church. Look how good that turned out."

Yep....as others have pointed out....

Heterosexuals have been doing a fine job of ruining the 'institution' of marriage for decades.

Freedom From the Fear of Death….

2011-05-10T21:00:00.001-04:00

Cruising here and there….this Mother’s Day….virtually speaking that is. In “real time” I haven’t left the house all weekend…’cept a quick trip to McD’s this morning with Keith. My kids came to me for Mother’s Day lunch…bearing Chinese food from Wing Wah. It was nice having them all under my roof….sitting at my table…just like old times. Just like the meals of yesteryear….

With one notable exception, though. NOBODY WAS FIGHTING. The older they get, the more they seem to like each other.

So today when I was surfing, I came upon a sermon about Good Friday (Yes, I know that was for Easter...which…yes, I know was a couple of weeks ago…but it’s that day late/dollar short thing again) The following snippet of a painting was used for an illustration in the sermon. It obviously depicts the hand of Christ after the crucifixion. The discoloration is what captured my attention.

I’ve seen many depictions of Jesus after the crucifixion. His hands always have rather neat, sanitary looking wounds….like something that might have been caused by a ten penny nail or a big tack…and they are usually lily white. Yet, it was something more akin to a railroad tie that crushed his hands. There would have been bruising before death. There would have been discoloration after death. The picture is mesmerizing.

Below is a small thumbnail of the whole painting. Landscape view. Like peering into a coffin. Like looking at a corpse. Because Jesus was a corpse. Dead as the proverbial doornail. This picture…for me anyway…drives that point home.

This picture haunted the famous Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky after he saw it in a museum. He put his thoughts about it in the mouth of one of the characters in his novel “The Idiot”.

“A man could even lose his faith from that painting.”

and

When you look at the corpse of this tortured man, a particular and curious question arises: if all his disciples, his chief future apostles, if the women who followed him and stood by the cross, if all those who believed in him and worshipped him had seen a corpse like that…how could they believe, looking at such a corpse, that this sufferer would resurrect?

But that is exactly the point. They didn’t think he would resurrect. He was dead. He was a corpse. We’ve all peered into a coffin and looked a corpse in the face wondering where they were. IF they were. As in…is there life after death or is this all there is? Even the most devout Christians wonder sometimes. That was part of the reason Jesus came and lived….and died as one of us. As the Son of Man. He showed us that death is not the end. Hebrews 2

14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God.

Death where is your victory? Where is your sting?

Christians gone stark, raving mad…

2011-05-08T17:30:00.002-04:00

I came upon a story earlier today…on several blogs…outraged at Stephen Bishop, a pastor in Russiaville, Indiana. Apparently at last week’s children’s sermon, he decided to use some dramatic methods to spark the evangelistic zeal of the church’s youth.
Quoting the pastor on FB (page..now private and unavailable, but there are some screen shots HERE and HERE and HERE)
“Well, yesterday's sermon was a big hit! We had a mass execution of feeder fish that I pulled out of a fish tank and then threw all over the floor. The kids were in shock and then started to pic[sic] them up and put them back into the fish tank. Obviously, most of them died in the effort...the point however was made that they cared more about .15 cent feeder fish then[sic] they do about their friends dying w/o Christ.”

He defended his methods…and the non-worth of the fish…and gave a lot of lip service to justify his methods. He also claimed that the elders of the church approved the demonstration. There is a big, long list of comments (mostly negative) and the original post…about this pastor’s actions on reddit.
Google it if you want to read more. Just another example of Christians gone mad in their methods to win the world to Christ. Geeez. I’m sure Jesus is so proud…..

Coming out of a gay agenda fixation….

2011-05-02T16:32:00.001-04:00

And so....the fear of a homosexual agenda....which was based, at best, on ignorance and hearsay and, at worst, downright deceit and bigotry, delegates gays to a nameless, faceless "them." As in "them vs us." It is oh so easy to demonize nameless, faceless people. They go from strangers to enemies in no time flat.

In this post, I'm going to write about two guys who, at one time, saw gays as nameless faceless thems....enemies. But their perspectives changed when circumstances forced them to take a closer look and they actually saw gays....as in, really saw them....for exactly what they are. People just like them. People just like you. People just like me.....in all of our eclectic splendor. Not carbon copies. Not exactly the same....with diversity and variation and eccentricities to rejoice in and celebrate.

The first guy was on a mission to protect heterosexual marriage. His name was Louis J. Marinelli, a conservative-Republican. The guy behind the 2010 Summer for Marriage Tour that took place in July and August 2010....sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage. In March of 2010, he hooked up with Brian Brown, director of the National Organization for Marriage about sponsoring and participating in a series of traditional marriage rallies here and there across the country. It was at one of these very rallies, in Atlanta, that the counter protestors...the folks he had "made a profession out of opposing" "became real people" almost instantly. He said

For the first time I had empathy for them and remember asking myself what I was doing.

But....it didn't stop him. He toned it down a bit....made his campaign a bit fairer and more balanced although he admits he used strong and unnecessary rhetoric. Especially the You Tube videos he produced.

And then:

One article I wrote, towards the end of October, 2010 caught the attention of a blogger by the name of RJ, who writes on the blog AmIWorking. He responded to my article about the homosexual agenda with an article addressed personally to me regarding marriage equality. In short, his article had the miraculous effect of instantly putting things into perspective for me.

At that point, between what I had witnessed on the marriage tour and RJ’s post about marriage equality, I really came to understand that gays and lesbians were just real people who wanted to live real lives and be treated equally as opposed to, for example, wanting to destroy American culture. No, they didn’t want to destroy American culture, they wanted to openly particulate in it. I was well on my way to becoming a supporter of civil marriage equality. You can read my statement retracting the statements I made about gays and lesbians here.

I read about him in an article entitled I Now Support Full Marriage Equality"

And te other guy....a former Presbyterian minister....who preached against homosexuality from the pulpit. His turning point....points....getting to know "particular people"

In the article I preached against homosexuality, but I was wrong Murray Richmond talks about what changed his views

1. An online (platonic) friendship with a gay Christian man who had struggled with his sexuality for a long time...until he finally accepted it and himself.

2. One of his gay parishioners who had tried for years to rid himself of an attraction for men....using alcohol, therapy, marriage, support groups etc. wanted to try...in desperation...an exorcism.

3. A woman, former wife of a minister who left her for another man. She refused to dis him, saying instead that he was the best pastor she had ever known but he came to the point he could no longer live with the lie.

Richmond questions why homosexuality has been singled out as a litmus test for True Christianity in the first place, a lightning rod for self-righteousness? (A good question to ponder)

His conclusion?

.......it's easy to condemn homosexuality if you are not gay. It is much harder

than condemning pride, or lust or greed, things that most practicing Christians have struggled with. It is all too easy to make homosexuality about "those people," and not me.

Ah-ha... back to the us vs them theme

We all have our "thems." We all have our "those people." Folks we see as so different from us, there is little hope of embracing their differences. For me, it is far right wing, totally conservative folks...who are, in my view, bigoted and hypocritical, who live by the letter of the law and not by the spirit of the law.

Modern day Pharisees.

Okay....let's try to wrap up this rambling post.

A belief in a covert homosexual agenda turns individuals into clumps of nameless, faceless, dehumanized "thems" who are easy to fear/hate/mistrust.

I'm going to close with a comment from a post on a blog called "The Faulking Truth" Very interesting play on words going on there in that title. His opinion concerning a homosexual agenda. Is there one?

In reality, the gay agenda is not unlike the agendas of the civil rights or womens suffrage movements before it. It is an agenda based on acceptance and equal rights under the law and in the eyes of the general public. And unlike the extremist Christian agenda, it doesnt seek to overthrow governments or indoctrinate everyone to a homosexual or lesbian way of life.

Can fundamentalist, evangelical Christians say the same?

Ruffled Feathers….

2011-04-27T18:21:00.001-04:00

While cruising hither tither around the internet one morning....checking out productivity blogs....I came upon several very interesting snippets here and there. A couple from this guy....Craig Harper topped the list.

In an article about why we have become such an overweight world he devoted several paragraphs to what he referred to as the feather ruffling answer. (he is writing in Australia...ranked #21 on the list of fattest nations. But FYI...the US is #9) His opinion…we make the wrong dietary choices, of our own accord…sometimes spur of the moment…sometimes in less than ideal circumstances…but as the old adage goes. Nobody puts a gun to our head and makes us eat.

While his article is mainly about diet and healthy eating, it occurred to me that some of the wisdom carries over into other areas of our lives. Anytime we ask a question or venture to offer our opinion about something we risk ruffled feathers….other folks…or even our own.

The thought that I am probably ruffling a few feathers crosses my thoughts every time I broach some of the more controversial topics I write about here on this blog….which is….often. Inerrancy, homosexuality, free will/sovereignty, Islam…..and the list goes on.

And truthfully, I find my feathers ruffling a bit in my journeys around the internet and in my day to day life.

Picture from The Telegraph…Reuters

We all have opinions. I’m pretty sure every one has heard the off color catchphrase….comparing opinions to….well, you know. Something else we all have. So I am going to close this post with some wise words from one of the founding fathers of this country….Benjamin Franklin.

“For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.” Ben Franklin

Happy Easter….

2011-04-24T16:21:00.001-04:00

At a a ministry resource website….buried within a collection of devotions, called 56 Devotions on Short Notice, I happened to click on this one the other day. I tucked it away, especially for Easter. I am at my mom’s for Easter…just me….the rest of the family stayed put. At my mom’s, the only internet access I have is at the local McD’s. I’ve been using their free wifi for an hour or so. What a deal. The place is virtually deserted. The coffee…any size….is a dollar. There are free refills….

So even though Easter Day is half over…this is a good message year round. And no matter what your view of the atonement is or the scope of what you think was accomplished there, this still fits.

Across the barriers that divide race from race,

Reconcile us, O Christ by your cross.

Across the barriers that divide rich from poor,

Reconcile us, O Christ by your cross.

Across the barriers that divide people of different faiths,

Reconcile us, O Christ by your cross.

Across the barriers that divide Christians,

Reconcile us, O Christ by your cross.

Across the barriers that divide men and women, young and old,

Reconcile us, O Christ, by your cross.

Amen.

2nd Corinthians 5:

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

The Homosexual Agenda? Is there really such a thing?

2011-04-19T21:57:00.001-04:00

Well, I'll be.....it seems I learn new stuff every single time I fire up my computer and venture out into the world wide web...where I continue my ongoing, informal....somewhat haphazard, education....a student at Cyberspace "U." I love the internet.

And today...at Wikipedia...I learned a new word. "Homosexualist." I didn't even know such a word existed. It was coined by Scott Lively and Kevin Avery. The following from wiki....

The use of homosexualist in this way first appeared in 1995 in Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams' book The Pink Swastika, "to refer to any person, homosexual or not, who actively promotes homosexuality as morally and socially equivalent to heterosexuality as a basis for social policy."

These guys even went so far as to blame the horrifics of the Nazi regime on pervasive homosexuality within its ranks.

Lively and Abrahams in The Pink Swastika argue that alleged homosexuality found in the Nazi Party, specifically within Ernst Rohm's SA, contributed to the extreme militarism of Nazi Germany, and write about the gay agenda in this context.

Oh for goodness sakes.....

How about the total depravity of the egoic mind/carnal nature/adamic man contributing to the extreme militarism of Nazi Germany? Greed, envy, selfishness, fear, scapegoating, a sacrificial mindset (the sacrifice of others that is), power lust.

So now homosexuals share at least some of the blame for the Holocaust? Seriously?

But these guys are but one link in the chain that eventually led to the “outing” of the much feared…much touted homosexual agenda.

Pretty much the entire populace of right wing America knows about the existence of a gay agenda, but most gays don't have a clue about it. The vast majority of gay folks are doing what you and I are doing.....leading ordinary, everyday lives. They are not covertly promoting an agenda. They are not militant, violent or unruly. They are more likely to spend a Saturday afternoon at the nearest Borders sipping coffee and leafing through a magazine than dressing up in an outlandish costume and marching in a gay pride parade.

From a blog post I happened upon in my “studies"

As Oklahoma City teacher Kelly Forbes put it, “We have a gay agenda? I must have missed that meeting.”

So where did the idea come from?

Well....stir together a little conjecture, mix in a few "scientific studies" with biased and misrepresented outcomes, make propaganda movies to "educate" and warn the unwary in schools and churches. Take an article written purely as satire and proclaim it to be truth. Every time the manifesto is read, omit the disclaimer at the beginning clearly identifying it as satire....and repeat it and repeat it and repeat it.....

The history of events that led up to the belief in a homosexual agenda can be found HERE and HERE and HERE if you are interested.

And the saddest part of this whole thing is that many of these underhanded methods were wrought by Christians. Followers of Jesus.

Believing that there is such a thing as a homosexual agenda makes the GLBT community into nameless, faceless enemies. It is easy to hate folks you don’t see as individuals. (and on a related note, it’s easier to love vast chunks of humanity than it is to love the annoying guy who lives next door. More on that in an upcoming post)

And in my next post, I’m going to “introduce” you to a couple of guys I “met” on the internet who bought into the gay agenda thing…and spoke out strongly against gay marriage. One from the pulpit….the other by organizing public rallies backed by a national organization. But something changed them both. They started to see gays as individuals….real people. Just like Kathy Baldeck from Canyon Walker Connections…..who I talked about in my post the other day.

More to follow:

The Harrowing of Hell

2011-04-13T05:45:00.001-04:00

I haven’t forgotten that I have a “part 2” to write in the post birthed from reading the article “What Jesus Did Do” but….running late this a.m. and I have the following post all set to go…living in the queue at blogger.

I found a post “stub” (as wikipedia refers to incomplete articles on their site) that has been gathering dust for quite a while in my Evernote files. I found it today while poking around in my “database.” With all the talk about Rob Bell recently and the “is he or isn’t he?” debate…I thought it might be a good time to dust the cobwebs off of this and actually post it.

During the time consuming and tedious process of "migrating" my blogs out of the new Bloglines, (“new” meaning not nearly as good as the old bloglines and now, a really crappy RSS reader) and saving them all in Google Reader… I came across many blogs I’ve earmarked over the past few years. One of these was

λογοι Words on existence

Not sure of the pronunciation of the title…but an interesting blog. And an interesting quote from an interesting post about universalism from that blog….

I’m not a universalist, but I hope God is.

This is a sentiment I have heard and been tantalized by since I was old enough to understand what grace is.

I had a youth leader growing up who once described his hope for Christian Universalism by saying, “Maybe when we get to heaven, God looks to hell, looks back at everyone around him, and says with a huge smile on his face, ‘Let’s go get ‘em!’”

Sort of what scripture declares Jesus already did when he descended into hell to preach the Gospel to the souls in prison? (1Peter 3:19–20 and 1Peter 4:6) He does hold the keys after all…the keys to death and hell.

According to Wikipedia, Jesus’ descent into hell is often referred to as the “harrowing of hell.” Different faith traditions view it differently. (Surprise!!) It is included in two creeds…The Athanasian Creed and the Apostles Creed. Some denominations omit or alter the “descended into hell” clause. The Methodists for instances, render it:

was crucified, dead, and buried.

Catholics -

was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead

But the Orthodox celebrate it. For them it dwarfs the significance of the empty tomb. Easter is celebrated by the icons that depict Jesus’ descent into hell. From Wiki:

The icon shows Jesus, vested in white and gold to symbolize his divine majesty, standing on the brazen gates of Hades (also called the "Doors of Death"), which are broken and have fallen in the form of a cross, illustrating the belief that by his death on the cross, Jesus trampled down death. He is holding Adam and Eve and pulling them up out of Hades. Traditionally, he is not shown holding them by the hands, but by their wrists, to illustrate the theological teaching that mankind could not pull himself out of his ancestral sin, but that it could come about only by the work (energia) of God. Jesus is surrounded by various righteous figures from the Old Testament (Abraham, David, etc.); the bottom of the icon depicts Hades as a chasm of darkness, often with various pieces of broken locks and chains strewn about. Quite frequently, one or two figures are shown in the darkness, bound in chains, who are generally identified as personifications of Death and/or the Devil.

The Orthodox view is intriguing, reflecting the Christus Victor view of the atonement…

The gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew 16:18)

WWJD about GLBT Christians? Figuring it out based on What Jesus Did Do…

2011-04-11T16:55:00.001-04:00

I usually try to read when I go to the gym....while hoofing it on the treadmill or pedaling the incumbent bike. I (finally) went to the gym again yesterday. Emily and I have both been on a several month long hiatus from the gym. On me, it shows. On Em...not at all. We both went back this week...Emily twice...me, well...I made it there once. I figure her workouts cost me about 25$ each...and mine... 50 bucks. I have the fees automatically deducted from my checking account...so whether our Nikes hit the treadmill or not, the money still comes out. But I digress....imagine that!!!

When I went to the gym after work the other day, I took an article I had earmarked to read "when I have more time." It is one of, literally, thousands of earmarked articles. A plenitude of articles...not nearly enough time.

This particular article came from a website I happened upon during our week in Tennessee, while taking a break from church in our motel room…doing what I do best….cruising the internet. I've earmarked it to explore in more depth...but...a plenitude of websites...not nearly enough time.

It is called "Peace Theology." The website is authored by Ted Grimsrud, a Mennonite...a denomination known for their anti-violence/peace theology beliefs. Thus the name. Peace Theology. It has a lot of stuff....all written/collected from a non violence perspective. Very cool.

The article that caught my eye was under the section about the church and homosexuality. My own personal view....the church has a sorry ass record when it comes to its treatment of homosexuals. And this guy thinks so too. The article is entitled "What Did Jesus Do?" and seeks to outline a christlike pattern of relating to homosexuals based on a variation of the once very popular catch phrase, WWJD...What Would Jesus Do?

Can we know for sure what Jesus would do (or more importantly what Jesus would have me do) in any given situation? Perhaps not...although this article points out that we can come pretty darn close by taking a look at what Jesus DID DO.

Jesus was radical. I'm not so sure we realize how radical he was. On so many occasions, Jesus defied the rules of his "denomination" by healing, interacting with...actually fellowshipping with the untouchables of his day. And there were a lot of untouchables.

In our modern day world, we don't have to worry about ceremonial cleansing if we brush up against someone with eczema. Menstruating women are not banished to the garage or the shed out back until they are no longer "unclean." Thank goodness. Tax collectors, Roman soldiers, Samaritans. Oh my God, especially Samaritans. And Gentiles. And dead people. But Jesus was not all that concerned with the rules and regulations of his day. He touched the untouchables.

Just like the Jews, Christianity also has a long list of untouchables. The list varies from denomination to denomination...from liberal to conservative....emergent to evangelical...but there is, indeed, a list, sometimes unspoken...but often not. Sometimes the list of untouchables is a top...top priority to the group. And for far too many Christians, homosexuality is at the top of that list. Even liberal, emergent Christians, with a "love the sinner/ hate the sin" mindset, speak out against homosexuality.

Jesus did not take much time out of his busy schedule to preach about sexual sins. Homosexual or heterosexual. He did spare the woman caught in the act of adultery...entrusted the telling of the gospel to the Samaritan woman by the well....let a woman of rumored ill repute wash his feet with her hair. These things speak volumes and cast the light of understanding on how he might have interacted with homosexuals. Perhaps we should take our cue from him there too.

And perhaps we should seriously consider that annoying beam/speck thing he just had to go and say.

During my "research" of this topic, I came across several very interesting websites. (My research usually amounts to questions that pop into my head while reading/writing about a particular article/book/topic that I then submit to the magic google search engine) I found several web sites for “coalitions” of gays and straights. One in particular that intrigued me was a website called Canyon Walker Connections, the website of Kathy Baldeck, who (quoting this from memory) as recently as 2004, did not think she would see any gay folks in heaven. Although now an impassioned advocate for gays, at one time she was on the other side of the issue…for 20 or so years....until God used (quoting from Kathy's blog)

......a Native American, lesbian, then-agnostic woman to draw me out from my white girl, straight girl, Christian enclave to understand the inequality, the injustice and the church wounding meted out by Jesus followers. Hey, I recognized it; I was one of them. It took five more years for me to push open the door fully wide and start to shout to the church. I went to the Gay Christian Network Conference in January 2007 as the first straight supporter, knowing absolutely no one prior to my arrival. Two months before, I was not even sure GLBT believers existed. Then, to discover that they were organized?!

In a room of 300 GLBT Christians that first night in worship, I was overwhelmed. It was then that I put two feet in. I crossed the line and threw the door to my soul and spirit open wide . The Holy Spirit was indeed in the midst of His people. Don’t bother discounting this as an “emotional” experience thus allowing you to justify ignoring my message. I’ve done this now for five years and the conviction only deepens. Attending the conference immediately brought the end of a five year relationship with a quite homophobic man that I actually wanted to marry. Purpose or person? I’ll take purpose for three months of unbearable agony, please.

What a brave woman!!

More tomorrow on some of the other links I ran across...more from the article on Peace Theology....and more on what we can ascertain about what we should DO based on what Jesus DID DO....

Vacation…

2011-04-07T21:33:00.001-04:00

Keith and I spent last week in Tennessee. First part of the week in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Second part of the week in Lake City…a little town in the vicinity of Knoxville (give or take 50 or so miles) at the yearly conference at Lake City Christian Fellowship…pastors -Justin Philips and his wife Sheryl. We spent the time with wonderful people…some old friends…some new friends. We heard 10 of the 11 “official sermons”…and left for home Sunday morning (missed the last service)

As is always the case with me…the sermons were kind of a launch pad for my own thoughts and ponderings. I don’t always come to the status quo conclusions and most “answers” just inspire “questions” for me. Below are a few links to webpages of some of the folks we heard speak.

Lake City Christian Fellowship

Apostolic City Church (Kelvin Mohammed)

Extravagant Grace (Bert White)

Word and Spirit Ministries (David Levister)

New Life MInistries (Kay Fairchild)

Rending Hearts?

2011-04-01T14:53:00.001-04:00

I ended my last post…many moons ago…with the following paragraph from the Daily Episcopalian about the line in the Prayer of Manasseh about bending the knee of the heart:

Then, in a beautiful mixed metaphor, the poet “bends the knee of my heart,” not in excuses or self-justification, but in pure supplication.

And it is the sentiment about “not in excuses or self justification, but in pure supplication” that brings me to the verse in Joel.

Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. Joel 2:13

“Rend” is not a word that comes up very often in day to day conversation. In fact, even though I had a pretty good idea of what it meant, I looked up the meaning just to be sure. Same word.com gives the following synonyms:

"break, divide, rip, rive, sever, slit, split, sunder"

When God instructs them (and by implication…us) to rend their hearts and not their garments he is talking about a mindset of supplication…(as the Daily Episcopalian points out) The directive from God is all about inward rending…and not the ripping of clothing in mock remorse. Rending garments was a tradition of the Jewish people. A good example? The Pharisees were good at putting on a show…at outward appearances..at wailing in false repentance. But it was all fake. They were “posers” putting on a front. They, of course, did not fool Jesus. And he told them so.

Matthew 23:25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.26 "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. 27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Jesus saw their hearts. Being God and all, he could see right through their pretence. They didn’t fool him. Neither do we. If only our garments are rent…in an outward show of piety…an outward show of repentance then God really does not have the opportunity to “write his laws on our hearts.” We have to open ourselves to his prodding and guidance as he shines the spotlight of awareness on our heart. It is not meant to beat us down but rather to build us up.

We can be assured that each step deeper into the Lord's Presence will reveal areas in our hearts which need to be cleansed. Do not be afraid. When the Spirit shows you areas of sin, it is not to condemn you, but to cleanse you. Francis Frangipane

Rend your hearts and not your garments. Bend the knee of your heart. God will replace your heart of stone with a heart of flesh. And he will write his laws there……

Rending and Bending Hearts….

2011-03-21T19:15:00.001-04:00

I came across two snippets about the heart the other day...via a website that posts daily lectionary based devotionals called The Daily Office. A new one every day...contents include prayers/ intercessions/ scripture/etc. There are headings like... Collect of the Day / Benediction/ Invitatory/ Jubilate/ Antiphon/ Old Testament Lesson/ New Testament Lesson/ Prayers (guided and scripted) Canticles. It resounds with ritual and convention....as in stained glass windows, heavy oak pews, ornate communion vessels. It comes across as very "high church" Pretty much the polar opposite of my flying by the seat of my pants, haphazard style of "quiet time." The site is called the The Daily Office from the Mission of St. Clare.

Probably because it is the season of Lent and Easter, the theme is repentance. The two snippets that caught my attention and stuck in my thoughts are about the heart. One is from a short book in the Apocrypha called The Prayer of Manasseh. The other from the book of Joel.

I found a few articles about the Prayer of Manasseh...following is a brief, concise description of the prayer found in a post on The Daily Episcopalian.

This Manasseh was a king of Judah, reigning from (roughly) 687-642 BC. And, as far as 2 Kings 21 was concerned, he wins the Worst King of Judah EVER award. The shortlist is idolatry, sacrificing his own children, and widespread murder… The version that 2 Chronicles 33 tells has a twist, though; here he’s carried off to Babylon where he prays a great prayer of repentance, God forgives him, and he returns to try to reverse the evil he has done.

Another resource I found says this....

Most scholars believe that the prayer was originally composed in Greek, but for such a short book—about 400 words in English—the problem of determining the original language is difficult. Because the Prayer of Manasseh survives both in Greek and in Syriac, Latin (two forms), Ethiopic, Armenian, and Old Slavonic translation, it was clearly popular in the first three Christian centuries, among both Jews and Christians.

Check out more information HERE

Daniel J. Harrington writes: "What were the words of Manasseh's prayer? Inquiring minds wanted to know. According to 2 Chronicles 33:18-19 the words were preserved in 'the Annals of the Kings of Israel' and in 'the records of the seers.' But neither of these books has been preserved. The Prayer of Manasseh represents what an anonymous author imagined that Manasseh should have said or would have said in his prayer. It was most likely composed in Greek and reflects the language and style of the Septuagint. It is included in some Septuagint manuscripts in a special section called 'Odes.' The most important versions are in Latin and Syriac, and it is included in church manuals from the third and fourth centuries C.E. (Apostolic Constitutions and Didaskalia). The earliest evidence for the work's existence comes from the third century C.E., so it could have originated at any time between the composition of 2 Chronicles and then. It was probably written by a Greek-speaking Jew outside the land of Israel, though Christian authorship is not impossible." (Invitation to the Apocrypha, pp. 166-167)

So the gist of this is that The Prayer of Manasseh is not the exact prayer Manasseh prayed...and it was written much later, long after Manasseh was gone. But it is what he could have, should have, might have said. And perhaps God laid the exact words on the heart of the anonymous author of The Prayer because it really is a great prayer. A quote by Madeleine L'Engle I happened upon sums it up quite well....

"Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand. Truth can be dangerous."

and in another place a variation of that same thought....

it's truth, not fact, and you have to take truth seriously even when it expands beyond the facts.

The beginning of the prayer finds "Manasseh" describing the majesty, splendor, power and glory of God. In verse 7 he focuses on the mercy of God....

for You are the Lord Most High, compassionate, patient, and merciful

And then he declares his version of "God be merciful to me a sinner." like the tax collector in the temple.

For I have sinned more than the number of sand of the sea; my lawless deeds are multiplied, O Lord, multiplied, and I am not worthy to look and see the heights of heaven because of the multitude of my unrighteous deeds.

And let’s just say that, in spite of the hyperbole, Manasseh was not really overstating the case. He HAD INDEED sinned. Among his many crimes….he shot down all the reforms his father Hezekiah had put in place. He brought back idol worship, rebuilt the altars of Baal and profaned the temple. And he sacrificed his sons in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. Some add the murder of Isaiah to Manasseh’s rap sheet. Method of execution? Isaiah was sawed in half.

So…Manasseh was definitely not a nice guy. And he was well aware of this when he knelt to pray.

In verse 11 he utters my favorite words of the prayer....

And now I bend the knee of my heart, begging for your clemency.

Another version words it thusly....

And now I bend the knee of my heart, beseeching thee for thy kindness.

To wrap this post up (but to be continued in another post) here is one more quote from the Daily Episcopalian….

Then, in a beautiful mixed metaphor, the poet “bends the knee of my heart,” not in excuses or self-justification, but in pure supplication. In these words there is absolute conviction of two things: first, the poet’s sinfulness; second, the character of God—that our God is the God who forgives.

And it is the sentiment about “not in excuses or self justification, but in pure supplication” that brings me to the verse in Joel…in my next post.

Especially…

2011-03-17T06:08:00.001-04:00

Non universalists...those who do not believe that God is going to save/reconcile/restore everyone.... often dispute the clear logic set out in 1 Timothy 4:9-10

9 This saying is reliable and worthy of complete acceptance by everybody. 10 With a view to this we toil and strive, [yes and] suffer reproach, because we have [fixed our] hope on the living God, Who is the Savior (Preserver, Maintainer, Deliverer) of all men, especially of those who believe (trust in, rely on, and adhere to Him). Amplified

9 You can count on this. Take it to heart. 10 This is why we've thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We're banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers. 11 Get the word out. Teach all these things The Message

The naysayers, think…and often vehemently argue… the verse somehow excludes all of those who don't believe NOW. Only “real time, right now” believers qualify. But that’s not what is says at all. It says especially those who believe....as in...I love cookies...ESPECIALLY white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Or I like to drink coffee....ESPECIALLY Columbian. The other varieties of cookies…sugar, oatmeal raisin, Oreos....chocolate chip (can’t forget chocolate chip!!!) and the other types of coffee...espresso, mocha java, hazelnut…are not excluded. They just don't qualify for the "especially" category.

I have a song on my MP3 player that explains this “especially believers” concept pretty well...

One day every tongue will confess You are God
One day every knee will bow
Still the greatest treasure remains for those,
Who gladly choose You now

Did you catch that? The greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now. The “especially” folks. They get the greatest treasure.

And what might that "greatest" treasure be?? Why, a relationship with the living God, the Savior of all people, of course. A relationship....Now. Not off in the future...but now, right now. Today, as we go about our daily lives as believers, he will be our refuge and strength. Our ever present help in times of trouble. Our wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And there is no greater treasure....

I came upon an article about fear….

2011-03-08T07:14:00.001-05:00

I came upon an article about fear this weekend. I forget what I was even googling, but the article, God’s Confidence vs. Our Fears, was there among the search results. The article emphasizes a great verse that I should commit to memory and repeat a couple hundred thousand times a day.

Proverbs 3:25-26: “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your feet from being snared.”

Have no fear of sudden disaster? Are you kidding? Seriously? I am the princess of “What if?!!!!" My mother is the reigning queen. She taught me everything she knows about worrying. I learned from a pro. I am a pro. I am so good at it. I can conjure up the most unlikely and far fetched scenarios….usually focusing on the worst case ones. They rarely happen. And the article points out a quote by Mark Twain.

“I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”

Yeah? Well what about the quote the gist of which is…

I know worry works. The things I worry about never happen.

Great quotes pointing out, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, the futility of worry….

Yet, somehow such fears of the unknown are not chased away by a clever quote. Knowing that most fears never happen doesn’t bring sleep late in a worry-filled night.

Worry usually doesn’t keep me awake at night. It does, however, occupy my thoughts many, many days. And often I am aware of danger lurking just around the corner. Anticipating the rug being pulled out from under me….or the other shoe dropping. Thud!! It seems the fear of sudden disaster is always kind of hovering in the background. So what’s all this about the Lord being your confidence?

I guess it’s all about perspective. Enlarging our perspective from micro to macro. Minor to major. Carnal to spiritual. Earthly to heavenly. This world is not our home. This body is not the real us. What happens to it, here in this realm, is of no lasting consequence and might even be for our ultimate good. (what?!!!) And when this whole concept is just too much for the egoic mind to wrap itself around, we can cling to the verse…my new mantra….the Lord will be your confidence.

What do Elvis and Thich Nhat Hanh have in common?

2011-02-28T17:49:00.001-05:00

What do Elvis and Thich Nhat Hanh have in common? A belief in oneness. Of God with humanity…of humanity with humanity. That we all have one father. Or as it declares in Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Elvis said it this way:

Everybody comes from the same source. If you hate another human being, you're hating part of yourself.

And Thich Nhat Hanh….

We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.

Great truths that roll off the tongues of rock idols and Buddhist monks are backed up by the great Truths in scripture…declared by none other than Jesus….

Their Future Glory (John 17)

20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³ I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. ²⁴ "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

When I looked up the meaning of some of these words in the Strong’s…a couple of interesting things stand out. The word translated “glory” is “doxa” in the Greek. Among its meanings…

a most glorious condition, most exalted state

Jesus declares that the same glory…the Father gave him, he gave his disciples…and he also gave us. He’s not praying just for his disciples in these verses but for all those who will believe. That we may be one. In Jeremiah (32:39) God declares he will give them (and by implication…us) one heart and one way. Everybody….

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:28 )

and the…

uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. (Col 3:11)

all one in Christ…

Christ is all and in all

I also looked up the meaning of the word translated barbarian. One of the meanings…

one who speaks a foreign or strange language which is not understood by another

That does not necessarily mean the language of a nation or people....although that is one of the definitions listed. The Greeks considered anyone who did not speak or understand Greek barbarians aka foreigners. And it wasn’t a derogatory term in New Testament days. It wasn’t until after the Persian War that the word barbarian started to have negative connotations.

So one who speaks a strange language not understood by another could easily describe the language of a different religious groups whose terminology or views are “strange” to us. The strange language could easily be the "lingo" associated with new age....new thought....Buddhist....Hindu etc. etc, or… to the Buddhist or Hindu, the strange language could be “christianese.”

And what about the Scythian? Well, the Strongs describes that particular member of the “one” as

….an inhabitant of Scythia or modern day Russia--by the more civilized nations of antiquity the Scythians were regarded as the wildest of barbarians

So that doesn’t even leave out those folks we are at odds with. It doesn’t even leave out the “wildest of barbarians.” I don’t particularly like that aspect of “oneness.” I really prefer to share my space with those I like…those who do me no harm…those who are kind and considerate…but that’s not what it says. (and for the record, I am so not there yet)

Which brings me to one of the other meanings of “Doxa”…the English word “Glory.”

judgment, view, opinion, estimate, whether good or bad concerning someone

but adds this clarification…

in the NT always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honour, and glory

So could an aspect of the “glory” Jesus talks about…the glory God gave him that he in turn gave them….and us…also involve an accurate assessment of who He was and who they were and who we are? Could that be what he meant when he said…all those who will believe?

I’ve heard it said in Universalist circles that “everybody is saved, they just don’t know it yet.” But perhaps the truest declaration is not just that everyone is is saved but that everyone is…ONE…we just don’t know it yet. Nobody is excluded. Even the barbarian is part of the “in crowd.” Even the Scythian, the wildest of all barbarians is included….all one in Christ Jesus.

This post is getting long, but I want to point out one other aspect of Jesus’ words.

that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

Perfected in unity. Perfection implies completion. It is in unity that we are perfected…completed….rendered full (Strongs again) A lot to think about. A lot to understand. A lot for the carnal nature to be disgruntled about….but laid out clearly in Scripture and in the strange language of the sacred writings of so many religious traditions.

The Will of God

2011-02-22T06:49:00.001-05:00

During this whole "living at the hospital" ordeal there have been times, events and circumstances that have been exercises in total frustration. When I went back last weekend to visit, she was doing much better after the second actual surgery to drain fluid and blood from both of her lungs and chest cavity. When I say surgery I mean under total, deep anesthesia. There were many, many procedures that required a lighter level of anesthesia....and some of the nasty things they did to her "didn't require" any at all. She had three PICC lines put in with great, great difficulty (and total lack of functionality)....a pacemaker (that caused bleeding into the cavity around her heart and collapsed her lung...main reason for the second surgery) numerous scope things....down the throat...another round on the ventilator…so many unpleasant, frightening ordeals. Yet when I went back this weekend she was quite calm. In a good mood actually. It was almost as if God held her there in the fire (hospital) until she stopped struggling. And I am learning some lessons about struggling too.

“A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps”(Proverbs 16:9)

Lest anyone think I've joined the total determinism gang, I haven't. I do believe however that we are not totally free and there will be situations we get stuck in no matter how much we struggle. No matter how much squawking and bitching and moaning we do, we are going to be held in the fire (a place or situation where we don’t want to be) until we stop struggling. That is the essence of my car seat analogy.

When my kids were little they always...always… rode in their car seats the whole time the car was in motion. No exceptions. Protesting…kicking, screaming, fighting made no difference whatsoever to the final outcome. The car seat was non negotiable. One way or another they were going in the car seat and they were staying there until we reached our destination. Fortunately, they never put up much of a fuss and getting them into their car seat was no big deal but I’ve seen some life and death struggles going on in other vehicles…parent pitted against a 20 lb child.

Some of the situations God puts us in are also non negotiable (and for our good) and we cannot get out of them...no how...no way. Sometimes the only thing we can choose is our attitude. My attitude throughout this hospital ordeal was pretty good. Could have been better but I know my mom appreciated me being there. Looking through the “retrospectascope” I realize I should have struggled less and accepted more and I would have saved myself a lot of stress and frustration. The whole thing was a “carseat moment.”

Reminds me of two similar thoughts about making plans. One from the Qu'ran...the other from the book of James. Both pretty much say the same thing...and remind me that I need to seek his will and way first. To do otherwise is a bit like beating my head against a brick wall. And you know the saying about how good it feels when you stop....

SHAKIR 18:23/24 And do not say of anything: Surely I will do it tomorrow, Unless Allah pleases; and remember your Lord when you forget and say: Maybe my Lord will guide me to a nearer course to the right than this.

James 4:13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

So I spent all weekend hanging out in her hospital room. She is feeling a lot better (and at this writing is actually in the rehab part of the hospital working on the final phase of her recovery) A lot of the time she dozed in the chair…and I sat quietly reading…making use of their guest wifi. At one point, late on Sunday afternoon she asked me the same question she asked shortly after her surgery.....

"This was a wasted day wasn't it?"

"For who?"

"You....me.....both of us" she replied.

Ahhhhhh......but it didn’t feel like a wasted day. And after all, in God's economy, nothing is wasted. Eventually, all things work together for good, don't they? I don’t think any of the time either of us spent in the “carseat” was wasted. Some of the lessons are yet to be revealed…but they are there, contained in the experience. The tricky part is figuring it all out.

My husband, Keith wrote a post about some of his struggles during this same period of time…from his perspective. Check it out HERE.

ICU Psychosis

2011-02-14T22:28:00.001-05:00

My mom did not do so well right after the valve replacement surgery. (FYI…presently she is doing very well even though she has a long way to go to recover fully) Physically she was in good shape....but she let her mind and worries get the best of her. Anxiety attacks...that raised her blood pressure very high, dangerously high, after heart surgery. She thought she was in immediate danger. The trite, oft repeated phrase, my perception is my reality comes to mind. Her perception became her reality. Because she thought she was doing poorly...she did do poorly. So began the balancing act. Calm her down with meds so she had no choice but to relax...sort of. The meds, however, disoriented her to the point of paranoia. It was a classic case of (another trite saying) damned if you do, damned if you don't. It was not pleasant. It was not fun. It was kind of the straw that broke the camels back (another one.....!) and I was impatient with her.

I spent hours and hours of time.....sitting.....bedside... aware that I would much rather be spending my two weeks vacation time sitting beach side (with her sitting there with me....sipping frozen strawberry daiquiris) Or probably more to my liking...sitting at home, reading and typing and pondering. Two weeks of that would be, for me, bliss. But no...there we both were, logging another day in the Butler Hospital...in ICU. At one point, as if reading my thoughts she said..."This has been a wasted day, hasn't it?" "It's just been a day, Mom. It's fine, I'm fine....you are fine... everything is FINE,"

I lied. It wasn't fine. I was tired...and cranky and homesick....and she was in the throes of recovering from open heart surgery. She was obviously less "fine" than I was....but neither of us was "fine."

Coincidentally, at the time I was reading a book called "Living on 24 Hours a Day" by Arnold Bennett. At some point, don't remember when, I downloaded it (for free) onto my kindle. It was an old book, written in 1910...missing the copyright restrictions by a decade. He describes time as the most precious of commodities.....

The supply of time is truly a daily miracle, an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it.

You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions. A highly singular commodity, showered upon you in a manner as singular as the commodity itself!

No one can take it from you. It is unstealable. And no one receives either more or less than you receive. Talk about an ideal democracy! In the realm of time there is no aristocracy of wealth, and no aristocracy of intellect. Genius is never rewarded by even an extra hour a day. And there is no punishment. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you. No mysterious power will say:--"This man is a fool, if not a knave. He does not deserve time; he shall be cut off at the meter." It is more certain than consols, and payment of income is not affected by Sundays. Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt! You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste to-morrow; it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour; it is kept for you.

I said the affair was a miracle. Is it not?

Okay...so barring death we all get the same amount of time in our day. 24 hours. But there's the rub. (another one of those sayings)

You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul.

And thus the anxiety of wasted time....

Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? And when I say "lives," I do not mean exists, nor "muddles through." Which of us is free from that uneasy feeling that the "great spending departments" of his daily life are not managed as they ought to be?

Which of us is not saying to himself-- which of us has not been saying to himself all his life: "I shall alter that when I have a little more time"? We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.

We are haunted, more or less painfully, by the feeling that the years slip by, and slip by, and slip by, and that they have not yet been able to get their lives into proper working order.

Yep...that's me. I am keenly aware of time passing...almost to a point of preoccupation (bordering on obsession) with it. I know I have a limited amount left here in this earthly realm...and want to spend it wisely since I have wasted vast years and years in the past. Lost in my thoughts...my mind constantly getting the best of me....in a mental state not that much different than my mom's as she teetered on the edge of what they call "icu psychosis."

Most of us do it....waste time in a state of self induced psychosis. Sometimes we waste time by struggling against circumstances....like I've been doing for the past 10 or 12 days. Rather than going with the flow (<<<<<) and walking in the spirit and trying to live in a state of awareness of his leading. Another trite saying I've heard concerning time management with the focus on spiritual things (which is most definitely not the main focus of Mr. Bennett's book)

There IS enough time to do everything God wants us to do...when we follow his leading and focus on discerning what he wants us to do.

I was listening to a Gary Sigler message on my way to the hospital the other day. He said that the answer to every situation we find ourselves in is within us. That would include how to use our time wisely, no? If we go inside and seek God's leading...he will lead us. He is the ultimate "day timer." Franklin Covey's 7 Habits...David Allen's Get Things Done System pale in comparison to God's time management program. More on that in the next post....

PS…In this post, I’ve pointed out several trite and overused expressions. That’s because I learned another new word in the 24 Hour book…and I’m going to, perhaps, turn it into a post. The word?

Hackneyed.

Definition?

banal: repeated too often; over familiar through overuse

It occurs to me that many Christian catch phrases fit this description…and thought it might be a good topic for a post or two. Whether I get anything written or not…only time will tell :_)

At the Butler Hospital – You Are Awesome In This Place…

2011-02-10T06:05:00.002-05:00

Written ‘now”
The following post was written during my mom’s hospitalization and surgery to have a faulty, leaky valve replaced. She has been plagued with complication after complication requiring more and more invasive, painful, frightening procedures. I was there for the surgery (6 days prior to and 6 days after) but she has gone through the past week alone. Yesterday she had to endure another surgery…with full anesthesia.. to drain fluid and blood from her lungs. It was hard being here while she is there, alone. They didn’t know the extent…if they would be able to do it through 2 small incisions or if they would have to do the open heart thing again. Fortunately the least invasive procedure seems to have worked and she is doing well. Thank goodness. I am weary for this to end. And she probably feels like she is lost in some macabre nightmare.
I still believe what I wrote in the following post. That God is there…that he is in fact…everywhere. The other day my daughter Emily posted the following “verse” on her FB wall….
‎"You were made with a purpose. The God of this universe will hold your hand through everyday of your life, for every laugh and every moment that takes your breath away. For the moments, the phone calls, and the news that make your heart drop and turn your world upside down. Yeah, my God is big enough for those moments as well."
I googled it…thinking it must be scripture from The Message Bible or lyrics to a song…but I couldn’t find it. When I asked her about it later she said it was from one of her old journals. She wrote it. She is indeed one of the living epistles the Bible speaks of.
My post follows…but really…how can I improve on the sentiments expressed by my 17 year old daughter?
Written “then”
I feel God all over the place in this hospital. Perhaps because I am not in patient care areas in the hospital where I work, I don’t notice it as much. Perhaps it is because I am out of my normal, usual surroundings here (and very, very homesick) Maybe I am more attuned/ receptive to spiritual things here than at home… figuring out when to go to the grocery store....and the timing of other mundane tasks. Time has lost its meaning this past week. Almost like it has been suspended. I'm in a time warp. A bubble...
Perhaps that is why I notice that the air here is heavy with His presence. Almost tangible.
Here in this hospital, the family of heart surgery patients wait in the ICU Waiting Room. On the day of my mom’s surgery, I was there early...long before regular visiting hours began. The solitude in the room was interrupted when, one by one, members of a big family started to arrive. They were distraught. Some of them were crying. Some of them were hugging. One woman started to sob. Let's face it....the waiting room in ICU is often not a very happy place.
A woman who was part of the group struck up a conversation with me by the coffee pots. She was here from Florida. Her best friend was the ICU patient. She came to say goodbye to her friend. That morning they were removing life support. She told me her friend and her family were all believers. Strong believers. Later, I heard them say that one by one they went in and said their goodbyes. Then they all gathered in the room to be with her when she died. Very sad. Yet, I felt Him there with that family.
I feel Him now...sitting in the lobby waiting for ICU visiting hours. He permeates this place.
A song has stuck in my head for the past few weeks. I listened to it a couple of times this morning....sitting here typing on my mini dell. And it occurs to me that it is true. No matter what place we find ourselves in....He is there. And He is Awesome. And He is “big enough.” Video follows....

At the Butler Hospital 2 - More Living at the Hospital…

2011-02-08T05:24:00.001-05:00

And more of my "living at the hospital" saga. Still sucks big time. But we are making progress. Mom had her surgery yesterday. It went well. She is off the ventilator. Very very upsetting to see her last night with the tube stuck down her throat, in a state of near panic. no..not near panic. Sheer panic. It made it worse every time I came near the bed because she was sure I, of all people, would help her and she struggled all the more. Plus...since I have to talk myself out of panicking every time I go to the dentist and he sticks his fingers in my mouth, I can imagine the terror from having something stuck down my throat...gagging me....preventing me from swallowing. Finally they got her off the breathing machine about 5:30 this morning.

She was still confused when I saw her for a few minutes this morning. They are very strict with visiting hours here in the ICU. They weren't always. The new rooms are designed with couches for family members to stay....very spacious. More like a hotel than a hospital room (if you ignore all the built in equipment) But people took huge liberties....10...15 people crowded into the rooms. People brought their little kids...put their toys down on the floor and let them play (under foot of the nursing staff that was trying to do their job and tend to the patients) Mom's nurse told me one big family took over an empty ICU room, ordered pizza and sat around for hours visiting. WTF?

And so, people like me, who would be content to just sit on the couch and stay out of the way...hopefully with the hospital wide guest wifi working properly.... get screwed because some people have no sense...or manners....or whatever.

My mom is not exactly a believer. Now, I am not a Bible beater/evangelizer...dead set on the goal of winning souls for the Lord. I know he is perfectly capable of winning souls without me. If he happens to use me...to plant a seed....to water a seed, that is wonderful. And I hope this blog does give some cause to ponder...and seek the Lord for answers about who he really is..and what his character and nature really are.

But anyway...I had my speech all planned. I was going to tell Mom to remember that God was with her. That he loved her. That he was nothing like the God they taught her about in my grandmother's joyless religion. But they whisked her away so quickly all I got to say was, "I've been praying for you." and "I love you."

This morning, after telling me that she had been worried about me worrying about her...she raised her hand and said, "Thank you God." Then I got to say MY line. "You know he was with you the whole time, don't you." And then she said that she knew Grandma (her mom) and Grandpap (her dad) and my sister (who passed away 10 or so years ago) were all with her. The great cloud of witnesses the Bible talks about.

And the fact is that I feel God all over this hospital. And I haven't even been to the chapel :) I did just this morning notice where it is and will stop in there later today. More on that thought...about God being all over this hospital in my next post.

At the Butler Hospital – A New Word…

2011-02-06T11:04:00.001-05:00

The next four or five posts…that I’m going to post over the next few days….were written last week…and the week before. During the two weeks I spent with my mom…mostly at the Butler Hospital. She had open heart surgery…a worn out, leaky valve was replaced. I was there pre/ during / and post op….at times so very homesick…weary, frightened, frustrated. Pick an emotion and I’m pretty sure I experienced it during the two weeks. It was a roller coaster kind of thing for me…and obviously for her. She is doing very well. I’m glad I was there for her. Post follows:

~~~~~

The last few days have sucked big time. I've spent them hanging out in the hospital with my mom....while the medical staff dinks around trying to figure out if, whether and when she needs valve replacement surgery. Seriously I have been away from home and work for a week and have really not accomplished anything other than sitting with her (which I realize is a worthwhile endeavor) but I am frustrated because I know that AFTER the surgery is when she will need me most.

As is often the case, the best laid plans have been shot to hell by actual events. This was supposed to be pacemaker surgery. They thought that a pacemaker/defib would fix what ails her. Come to find out that it is valve surgery that will fix the problem....not a defib. But we have been waiting to find out when the surgery will be. If she has to stay in the hospital till then...if she is able to go home in between etc. etc. I've been staying in touch with work...but as soon as I update them, damn if things do not totally change. Right now I am waiting for physical therapy to come and evaluate her for discharge. We are hoping they decide she should stay in the hospital until the surgery next week. Either way, I am probably going home...working tomorrow...perhaps a bit on the weekend ....and waiting to hear when I need to come back for the surgery.

And the dinking around continues....

But anyway...last night, on my 40 minute drive back to her apartment (where I’ve been staying during my “vacation”) ...I was listening to a Christian station on the radio. A status quo Christian channel. But there was an interesting sermon...that introduced me to a new word. Reciprocity. Cool word. I may have seen it in print but had never heard it pronounced.

The preacher talked about how when we sow, we expect to reap immediately. He compared it to farming. You don't plant the seed and expect results the next day. Sometimes in life that's exactly what we expect. Sometimes we reap what we've sown fairly quickly. Others times...not so much.

Law of reciprocity...sowing and reaping....karma....cause and effect. An interesting concept. And indeed...sometimes it does seem to take a long time for all the chips to fall where they may....and then there is always grace that enters into the equation.

Following are a few quotes I found on sowing and reaping….

Men are not punished for their sins, but by them. ~Elbert Hubbard

Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity. ~Edwin Hubbel Chapin

The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else. George Bernard Shaw

"The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy."
~Florence Shinn~

"Just as there is no loss of basic energy in the universe,
so no thought or action is without its effects,
present or ultimate, seen or unseen, felt or unfelt."
~Norman Cousins~

Tsze-Kung asked, "Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?" The Master said, "Is not Reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. ~ Confucius

You cannot do wrong without suffering wrong. Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you waste your youth, no repentance will send the shadow back upon the dial, or recover the ground lost by idleness,or restore the constitution shattered by dissipation, or give back
the resources wasted upon vice, or bring back the fleeting
opportunities. The wounds can all be healed, for the Good Physician,blessed be His name! has lancets and bandages, and balm and anodynes for the deadliest; but scars remain even when the gash is closed." Alexander Maclaren

"John," said a father to his son, "I wish you would get me the hammer."
"Yes, sir."
"Now a nail and a piece of pine board."
"Here they are, sir."
"Will you drive the nail into the board?"
 It was done.
"Please pull it out again."
"That's easy, sir."
"Now, John," and the father's voice dropped to a lower key, "pull out the nail hole."

Every wrong act leaves a scar. Even if the board be a living tree the scar remains. Dwight Moody – Sowing and Reaping

More about the Truth....

2011-01-29T16:53:00.000-05:00

Because of some of my "truth" as I know it musings in a recent post, I thought I would post the following thoughts on the truth...what it is, if it can be believed and how the truth can sometimes actually harm us. Posted for your ponderments.....from the No Nonsense Guide to Enlightenment by Blair Warren

The Truth Shall Set You FreeFrom the No Nonsense Guide to Enlightenment A man with inoperable cancer decides to attend an event led by a wellknown faith healer as a last ditch hope to stay alive. Despite pleas from his family and his doctor to avoid the "charlatan," the man goes anyway.   Though he is a little skeptical, he does feel a mysterious "something" go through his body when the preacher pronounces him cured.
The next day his doctor assures him the cancer is not only still there, but that it is, in fact, getting worse. But the man is confident he has been healed. He begins to exercise daily, take his medication faithfully and even thanks God every day for bringing him in contact with the healer who made this all possible.   Though the doctor is correct, the cancer hasn't disappeared, the man's sudden zest for life and newfound hope is truly inspiring. The doctor had given him just three months to live, he has now made it over six months and there's no end in sight. But then one day the man sees a story on television that exposes the faith healer as a fraud. His doctor and family members call him to make sure he saw the story so that he could now know the truth. He assures them he did. He feels foolish and ashamed but within days the truth sets him free; he dies in his sleep.
Though I have doubts about faith healers myself, I told you this story to make an important point. While there are clearly times when we need to know the truth about what is going on in our lives, there are just as many times when the truth is the worst thing we can know. Was the faith healer "wrong" to give the man false hope? Well, since the man experienced a sudden and miraculous new zest for life and lived twice as long as had been expected, it is ard to say it was "wrong." But what about the others the faith healer treated who weren't so ucky? Now surely he was "wrong" to give them false hope. After all, they didn't receive any benefit.
Believing that something called “the truth" is the ultimate goal of enlightenment and that knowing it will set you free presents some interesting questions.
Who will decide what is ultimately true and how can we be sure they aren't lying to us? And once the "truth" is determined, how can we be certain there isn't another discovery just around the corner that will prove our current "truth" to be false?   Can we ever know what is "really" true or can we only believe certain things to be true given our current understanding of reality?
And how do we address the issue of truth in art?   If the goal of enlightenment is to discover “the truth,” that is, the model of thought that most accurately maps to physical reality, then wouldn’t a crystal clear photograph be more valuable than, say, a “sloppy” portrait by Van Gogh?   Too bad Van Gogh didn't have a camera. He could have created a more valuable (i.e. more useful)work of art and saved himself a lot of time, and perhaps an ear, in the process. Of course this is ludicrous.   There are times when a photograph is more “truthful” than a painting and vice versa. A police officer would probably find a suspect's photograph more "truthful" than an artist's rendition, whereas a patron of the arts would be the other way around. Who’s right? Whose “reality” is more true? Who knows. Who cares. Perhaps the better question is, whose “reality” is most useful at the moment?
So will the truth set you free? It can. But free from what? Just remember our hypothetical cancer patient and how well the truth served him. Perhaps there are times when a beautiful illusion beats reality hands down

Musing on the Truth...1

2011-01-27T16:31:00.000-05:00

Recently, on the Heart to Heart forum, buried within a series of posts buried within a thread....I came upon a snippet that caught my attention. The person posting....a woman, said that she is for the most part, a "bible girl" because she's found all the truths contained in writings like A Course in Miracles in the Bible. But the dilemma was that those who are sola scriptura want nothing to do with any truths contained in ACIM. And at the same time, those new agey folks who are into ACIM, don't really put much merit in Bible folks. And so, even if there are overlapping truths, there can be no communication between the two groups because they eye each other suspiciously...and actually disregard what the other group has to say.

Perhaps its the terminology. Perhaps its because the Bible only believers think they have all the truth...and the ACIM folks resent that mindset.

I am always on the lookout for truth. I think it can be found in so many different places. My home base is the Bible and my touchstone...my benchmark...the truths contained there...at least as God has revealed them to me. (I know that what I find to be truth not everyone does. Not sure how to explain that....or reconcile someone else's truth with my truth, but for now, I've got to go with what has been revealed to me...)

No moral to the story. No real point to this post other than to muse, "outloud" and perhaps spur some similar musing for anyone reading.

Same Theory at Work -2

2011-01-25T19:24:00.001-05:00

I came across a commentary on the Huffington Post article, The Great Gay Awakening, on a blog I follow called "Losing My Religion." The Huffington article is written by Cathleen Falsani. She starts the article by saying:'

Some of my dearest friends are gay.

Most of my dearest friends are Christians.

And more than a few of my dearest friends are gay Christians

She goes on to say:

As an evangelical, that last part is not something that, traditionally and culturally, I'm supposed to say out loud. For most of my life, I've been taught that it's impossible to be both openly gay and authentically Christian.

And that is the big question...can you be openly gay and authentically Christian?

Even assuming that committed gay relationships are a sin (and I don't believe they are) isn't that akin to asking the question "Can you be openly overweight and authentically Christian?"

The Bible does condemn gluttony after all.

And can you be divorced and remarried for other than purely biblical reasons and authentically Christian?

You get my point, no?

And that was pretty much the road the author took "back in the early 90's" Even if it was a sin she felt called to love rather than judge. And she says that loving them was easy…but

Finding clear theological answers to questions about homosexuality has been decidedly not so.

She quotes Jay Baker (Tammy Faye’s son) a well known evangelical Christian as saying:

Examining the original Greek words translated as "homosexual" and "homosexuality" in three New Testament passages, Bakker (and others) conclude that the original words have been translated inaccurately in modern English.

And how about this little tidbit...which I haven't run across in any of my reading....

The word "homosexual" first appeared in an English-language Bible in 1958.

So since homosexual is not an a word in the original language of the New Testament...but rather a word coined by the translators....what does the original word actually mean? According to Baker, it refers to

male prostitutes and the men who hire them. The passages address prostitution -- sex as a commodity -- and not same-sex, consensual relationships, he says.

So was it a new revelation in 1958 that caused the Bible guys to coin a new phrase that plummets a whole lot of people to the "abomination" category. Making up words as we go caused a whole lot of trouble with other concepts like...oh....hell for instance.

And we all know that the Bible has been used to support all kinds of heinous, bigoted, unfair, ridiculous practices. And the church...the mainstream evangelical church...has bought it....promoted it, and enforced it all in the name of “for the Bible tells me so” when in actually the Bible says no such thing....

The church has, at best, lagged behind...and at it's worst, it has actually been the oppressor many times throughout history. Can anyone really trust the evangelical church to be their moral beacon?

Baker says we must "weigh all the evidence."

And everyone should...prayerfully and with an open mind take another look at the scriptures. And, guys especially, should try to get past what I’ve heard referred to as the "ick factor." The "ick factor" is the emotion that is evoked by a mental image of two guys having sex. Truly, it should not be part of the equation...not is it any of our business.

One of the commenters at Losing My Religion took issue with the statement about the church always being behind saying that

….there have been some denominations where this isn’t anything new. the UCC ordained a openly gay pastor in 1974. and before the the Unitarians were way out in front. so the church means the Evangelical one.

He also provides a link to a list of other progressive "firsts" for his denomination...

Will there come a day when we look back in a "remember when" kind of way...and think of the time when homosexuals were marginalized and held in disdain? I think it will happen, but just like there are those who have not caught up to the civil rights movement and still think the white race has a leg up on every other ethnic group, there will be some who will drag their feet. And, like with the civil rights movement it won’t be right….

The Same Theory At Work…?

2011-01-18T19:42:00.001-05:00

French political theorist Montesquieu observed wryly in 1748: "It is impossible for us to suppose these creatures [enslaved Africans] to be men; because allowing them to be men, a suspicion would follow that we ourselves are not Christians."

The above snippet was buried in an article originally posted in the Washington Post and then reposted and commented on here and there all around the web yesterday. The article was called, Five Myths About Why the South Seceded.

But the quote took me far, far away from the original purpose of the article which was to debunk certain myths about the causes of the civil war. It made me think more about the psychology behind the quote rather than the historical events it referenced. Namely...Denial.

If, back in Motesquieu’s day the status quo was discarded...and enslaved Africans were seen as they truly were....men....then a + b would have to = c. If they were indeed men...and if they continued to be enslaved, mistreated... as if they were somehow lower or less, then what would that do to the whole, "We are Christians" concept? Pretty much shoot it all to hell.

And so...flash forward to the present and homosexuals. Can you see any connection? The Christian right is anti gay. You've heard the drill. It's not normal. It's an abomination. They are lower....less. And if Christians ever stop seeing it....seeing them...that way well....what parallels can be drawn with Montesquieu's quote?

I am a Christian. I am not anti gay. I think the verses in the Old Testament used to condemn committed homosexual relationships are as outdated as the requirement to stone adulterers, the ban on garments of mixed fabric....banishing my daughters to the back shed when they are having their period....or not ordering shrimp the next time we hit Red Lobster for lunch (which is pretty much never since I am not much of a seafood fan)

And....I think the verses in the New Testament that appear to condemn homosexuality only do so if taken at a King James surface glance. If the customs and taboos of the time are taken into account....along with the word meanings in the original language, I think the infamous verses penned by the Apostle Paul are condemning the depraved temple worship popular at the time. Not committed homosexual relationships.

But there are risks in considering that the gay couple down the street might have relationship as legitimate as their own....that homosexuals are not lower or lesser. Any inklings along those lines might be best avoided. Otherwise, what suspicion might follow? What kind of a shadow might that cast on their Christianity? Perhaps better to ignore the truth...and go on believing what they've always believed. But….

When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken, or cease to be honest.

Just something to consider…perhaps something to peer into a bit more closely….to ponder….

Too Lofty For Me….

2011-01-16T16:11:00.001-05:00

This weekend...in between bouts of January "spring cleaning"....I found three quotes that string together nicely. And so, in this post...I am stringing them.

I found two of them on annie's facebook feed. The other came from notes I was looking through....excerpts from a garage sale book I found a summer or two ago. Spiritual Notes To Myself by Hugh Prather. It was a quarter at the garage sale....totally worth

it. And now the quotes...

God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination, and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, "O Lord, Thou knowest." Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God's omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints ~ A W Tozer

Hmmmm...election, predestination, sovereignty….guess these things fit in the Psalm 139 too lofty for me category. At one point I wanted to know. Correction. At one point, I demanded to know. How His Sovereignty interplays with our will. The purpose of evil. Why is there suffering? At lot of stuff just does not seem fair in this physical realm. In fact, it seems downright unfair. Even though in life I haven't personally gotten the short end of the stick too many times, I can get pretty offended for those who have. And I still...ten years later....don't have definitive answers. Just a handful of theories, musings..... ponderings. Guess I am not theologian material...but I'm pretty sure I'm not nearing sainthood either.

Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair ~ G K Chesterton

That does seem like a better plan since demanding answers is a bit like beating your head against a wall.

And the quote from Spiritual Notes To Myself?

Here I am moving from point A to point B to point C in a fog. But God gently replies "Take my hand and I will lead you out of the fog" Then I get stubborn and say, "you didn't answer my question."

We ask God which apple we should buy, and think divine Love leaves the one with the rotten core for someone else. We may even think God saves one or two from the crash and leaves all the other to burn to death. We actually believe that what favors our body is a sign of God's grace.

Do I really think god doesn't know my question? Hugh Prather

Of course he knows our questions. And in due time....when God deems us ready...he will will whisper the answers…..

More Musings on the Arizona Shooting…

2011-01-12T20:37:00.001-05:00

Out of all the news and discussions, accusations and controversy swirling around the Arizona massacre, something else stood out. Something that deserves more than a few snippets mentioned here and there in the news coverage of this story. The heroism of two husbands who tried to protect their wives from the attack...using their own body as a shield.

From the Washington Post about Mavvy and Dorwan Stoddard

Dorwan Stoddard, 76, died shielding his wife from the barrage of bullets. Mavanell "Mavy" Stoddard, 75, was shot in the leg several times but is expected to recover, friends said.

"He was a hero," said neighbor Marge Osterman.

Friends and church members knew well the Stoddards' love story: They were high school classmates in Tucson who moved away, married other people and made a life. When their spouses died, they moved back and reconnected. Both were leaders in their church benevolence ministry.

"They normally go out to breakfast every Saturday," said their pastor, the Rev. Mike Nowak. On this Saturday, Mavy told Nowak, she had wanted to tell their congresswoman that she was doing a good job.

I read somewhere else that Mavvy talked to him for about ten minutes after the shootings, his breath labored...and then he stopped breathing.

The other couple.....Dorothy and George Morris...high school sweethearts

Dorothy Morris, known to her friends as "Dot," was a retired homemaker and secretary who lived north of Tucson in Oro Valley, Ariz. Dorothy died in the shooting. Her husband George, a former Marine and retired airline pilot, remains hospitalized after suffering two gunshot wounds. One of the couple's daughters said George Morris tried to protect his wife of 50 years by throwing her to the ground and trying to get on top of her to shield her. The couple both grew up in Reno, Nev., and were high school sweethearts.

How much these two men must have loved their wives…

Musings on the Arizona Shooting…

2011-01-11T07:38:00.001-05:00

I've been reading a lot the past few days about the shootings...and murders in AZ...that included the murder of a 9 year old girl who attended the event with a neighbor to learn more about the political process. She had been elected to the student council at school. Ironically, Christina Taylor Green, was born on 9/11/01. When I see Christina's picture, I see a beautiful little girl, sparkly eyes, big smile.

Her picture takes me back to when my kids were that age. And, since Christina is a girl, I think back on both of my girls at age 9.

As a mom, this really hits where it hurts. We go along pretending that we have some control over the wellbeing of our children. We monitor their friends and activities. We warn them about talking to strangers and being ever vigilant about not ever going anywhere with anyone they don't know. We watch what they eat and how much they sleep and what medications they take. When they are teenagers we warn them of the dangers of driving distracted, or in the snow, or alcohol abuse. We give them curfews and guidelines. Always trying to forget that...out of the blue...in a split second we can lose them. A car crash, an illness, an abduction....a crazed gunman nursing a grudge against an elected official. Wrong place/wrong time taken to the nth degree. And just like that...gone.

Christina's dad was quoted as saying,

We were four people. Now we're three.

And that is every parent's worst nightmare.....

CS Lewis Blog…

2011-01-06T07:27:00.001-05:00

From time to time, when I check my blog stats...one of the posts that comes up again and again in the most viewed posts is the one entitled "CS Lewis and Prayer." In fact, I checked just now and it was the number one viewed post for the week....and the month. Apparently, even though I didn't have a clue when I named the post, CS Lewis and Prayer is an oft used search query and google has sent many visitors my way because of it. So CS Lewis is a popular guy....and a popular search on google.

Recently, I came across a blog dedicated entirely to the words of CS Lewis.... quotes from Lewis along with the author's thoughts and opinions and views about the quotes. It is called Mere CS Lewis. I just added it to my google reader...and you should add it to your RSS reader of choice. Check it out HERE.

One more..two more things….

2011-01-01T20:54:00.001-05:00

Just want to include two links to finally end this series of posts on Christmas. The first link is to a page that lists cases where the ACLU did indeed fight on behalf of Christians. Check it out here.

The other link is to a very illuminating article about the origins of the Christmas Wars…with other interesting opinions (both in the article and in the comments) about how many atheists view Christmas. The article is called

An Open Letter To Christians: Merry Christmas From An Atheist

Finishing up this Christmas Wars stuff…

2010-12-28T17:00:00.001-05:00

Well...for most Christians, Christmas is over for another year. I think the Orthodox celebration, at least for those who still follow the "old calendar," takes place on January 6th....but for most mainstream denominations, Christmas 2010 is history. I intended to post more about the Christmas Wars. I read quite a bit about it but didn't actually get the reading morphed into a blog post.

My own brush with the Christmas Wars was pretty limited. Keith and I had a few discussions about it. We see the phenomena from a different perspective.

As far as experientially....concerning holiday greetings, two come to mind.

I stopped at the liquor store, to purchase a few bottles of wine to have on hand for the holiday celebration. A sixtyish, midrange friendly guy checked me out. We talked a bit while he ran my debit card. I told him that I usually wait until the morn of December 24'th to think about purchasing wine. And I am usually not the only one because the little liquor store down the road from me is always amazingly busy...and the shelves rather bare on Christmas Eve morn.

As I was leaving, without over thinking anything, in fact without even thinking about it at all, I extended my best wishes to the clerk by saying "have a great holiday!!" I wasn't thinking about the Christmas thing when I said it. I was tired after running all over the place that Saturday morning. The liquor store was my last stop and I was sincerely wishing him...and his....a nice holiday. He responded by clearly and purposefully wishing me a Merry Christmas. To which I responded....Merry Christmas to you, too.

If not for all this Christmas Wars stuff, the exchange would not have even registered. I would have chalked it up to "season's greetings" and "goodwill to men" but now every exchange takes on this subtle undertone.

The other check out experience that sticks in the brain waves was at Sam's on December 22nd. Getting close to the actual day. The mall parking lot was packed....Sam's not as much. Sort of like the peak of a Saturday...or Sunday....afternoon. I had a piece of pizza...did my shopping and checked out.

The people in front of me...a woman older than me and her grown son, kind of doddered around. Not sure exactly the hold up. Something to do with the card or the purchase, whatever, I was preoccupied with my mental inventory of what was left to do before Christmas. The clerk was very friendly. Not a fake friendly. She was cheerful and polite. At the end of the checkout process, she sincerely wished me a happy holiday. I wished her one as well. No mention of Christmas.

Now for a faithful soldier in the Christmas Wars (pro Christmas) this would have been taken as a slight, a defeat in battle. Sam's might be blacklisted.

Because, yes, there are actually sites that report on the content and sincerity of the greetings doled out by checkout clerks....those initiated by the clerks and those initiated by the good soldiers in this fight. If the soldier initiates the greeting (already a minus in their eyes) and the response is not enthusiastic enough or does not actually include the words "Merry Christmas" that too is counted as a slight and goes against the store. Think I'm kidding? Check out the many comments on the website called Stand Up For Christmas. Or how about the one below.

Just the usual “happy holidays” crap from sales people … to which I shout “MERRY CHRISTMAS!!” What hogwash.

By all means shout your Christmas greetings to get your point across about the reason for the season and all.....

And then there are others who employ technology to rank a store's Christmas Spirit. The following was about Banana Republic....

Rating: Christmas-Offensive
Comment: I clicked on their ad and used their search function. Typing in "Christmas gifts" I got "Holiday gifts." Narrowing my search, I typed in "Christmas" and got "0 results for this search." They will get the same number of purchases from me.

Another comment I happened upon

In this all-inclusive republic of ours, Christians get the short end of the stick when it comes to public policy, all because it’s assumed that since they are the majority, they can afford to be tolerant. Thus, unless their communities can come up with the money to fight an ACLU lawsuit, or unless they can get some lawyers to take the case for them pro bono-in which cases they still might lose, depending on the judge and the circumstances-they should just suck it up and quit being such crybabies.

I think part of the problem is that Christians aren't content with anything other than the whole stick...short end/long end, they want it all. They want theirs to be the only game in town. They seem to forget the principles the Bible clearly lays out for followers of Jesus. How about compassion to start with?

Perhaps the less than enthusiastic store clerk is not just anti-Christmas. Perhaps she is just worn out from the frantic pace those who work in retail maintain during the Christmas season. Perhaps she is one of the thousands and thousands of people who find themselves in varying stages of depression. Is shouting Merry Christmas in response to her lack luster greeting really what Christians are called to do? Will that encourage her to put Christ back in Christmas?

Christmas is over for this year....but it's never to early to prepare for the battles of the next holiday...I mean, Christmas....season.

Onward Christian Soldiers....

Jello Christmas…

2010-12-24T10:02:00.001-05:00

No...not a recipe...but a story I read years ago in a Christmas edition of Woman's Day magazine. Long before I was ever on the internet. I think I wrote it out longhand and included it in my Christmas cards that year. I googled it yesterday at work...after it popped into my head....initiated by a sentimental email thing that hit my inbox yesterday. I am pretty sure it is a totally true story. Like I said, I first happened upon it, in a hard copy Woman's Day magazine. I still find it very touching....

JELLO CHRISTMAS

By Sandra Bateman, American Fork, Utah

It was but a few short days until Christmas in 1966. Two young elders of the Mormon Church walked the streets of Laredo, Texas, knocking on doors in search of someone who would listen to their gospel message. No one, it seemed, in the entire city had time to hear the teachings of the Savior, so intent were they that the celebration of His birth should suit their own purposes.

Filled with discouragement, the two young men turned their backs to the approaching twilight and began the long walk home. Retracing their steps of the afternoon, they came upon a low, wind-swept riverbank. Jutting from its brow stood the barest means of a shelter, constructed of weathered wooden slats and large pieces of cardboard. Strangely, they felt moved to go to the door and knock.

A small, olive-skinned child with tangled black hair and large dark eyes answered. Her mother appeared behind her, a short, thin woman with a tired but warm smile. In her rich Spanish alto, she invited the young men to come in and rest awhile. They were made welcome and seated on the clean-swept floor. The little one-room shanty seemed to be filled with shy, smiling, dark-eyed children. The mother proudly introduced each of them--eight in all—and each in turn quickly bobbed his or her head.
The young men were deeply moved at the extreme poverty they saw. No one in the family had shoes, and their clothes were ill-fitting and in condition beyond mending. The walls of the little home showed daylight between the wooden slats, and eight little rolls of bedding were pressed tightly into the cracks to help keep out the draft until they were needed for sleeping. A small round fire pit dug in one corner marked the kitchen. An odd assortment of chipped dishes and pots were stacked beside an old ice chest, and a curtained-off section with a cracked porcelain tub served as the bathing area. Except for these the room was barren.

The mother told how her husband had gone north to find employment. He had written that he had found a job of manual labor and that it took most of his small wage to pay his board and room. But, she told the young men, he had managed to save fifty cents to send them for Christmas, with which she had purchased two boxes of fruit gelatin. It was one of the children's favorites and would make a special treat on Christmas day.

The next morning, as soon as the local shops opened, the young men hurried to the dime store and purchased as many crayons, cars, trucks and little inexpensive toys as they could afford. Each was carefully wrapped in brightly colored paper and all were put in a large grocery bag.

     That evening the two young men took their gifts to the shanty on the riverbank. When they knocked, the mother swung the door open wide and invited them in. They stepped inside and in halting Spanish explained to the children that they had seen Santa and he had been in such a hurry, he'd asked if they would deliver his gifts to the children for him.
     With cries of delight the children scrambled for the bag, spilling its contents upon the floor and quickly dividing the treasured packages. Silently the mother's eyes filled with tears of gratitude. She stepped forward to clasp tightly one of each of the young men's hands in hers. For long moments she was unable to speak. Then, with tears still welling from her eyes, she smiled and said, "no one ever has been so kind. You have given us a special gift, the kind of love that lights Christmas in the heart. May we also give you a special gift?" From the corner of the room she drew out the two small boxes of fruit gelatin and handed them to the young men. Then all eyes were moist. All knew the true meaning of giving, and none would ever forget that at Christmas, the greatest gift of all
was given.
    (NOTE: This story won 1st Prize in the 'Woman's Day' Greatest
    Gift Contest.)