So much is being said these days about division, things that cause or lead to the separation of groups of people. In religion, politics, it doesn't matter, schism is the word. It appears that centuries of Utopian philosophy, wars to end all wars, even ecumenical movements and indoctrination have not been able to change this phenomenon which grips human beings so tightly that one group can just think of another and feel the burn of hatred. When one's first thought regarding another is rage, indignation or elitism, one is lost.
The problem here may be that of groups themselves. It is easy to vilify a group, it typically has no face, no eyes, no feelings. It is a thing. It is a thing that is often created to represent something that another group holds up as bad, counter cultural, or sinful, depending on one's perspective. That group, they say, is a threat to the future of our group because they.....!
Jesus did not minister to groups. He spoke to and showed love to individuals who came to him in faith. He did not require their membership in his group, but He did tell them what membership required of them as individuals. Many found those requirements too difficult and moved on. Likewise, St. Paul's greatest accomplishment was not to try and bring individuals into an established group, but to show people that, yes even they, who were not born into a specific group- even they were able to receive the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus.
Groups serve their purpose, certainly, but when it gets right down to it, I want to know what being in the group means to the individual. Can we talk without feeling threatened, can we listen and understand why this or that is so important? Can we have a discussion over dinner and a glass of wine? Can we share fun stories of our children, our companions, our lives, and find things that we share as people who stand in God's love, and go away friends rather than enemies? Can we exist without fear that my way is steamroller coming down the ideological highway to crush your beliefs and vice versa? We all have such a small space and such a limited time to share on this earth. Is it really God's will that we do so in such a fractious, fearsome manner?
God's message is love, Jesus' message is healing, reconciliation. How can this not be a good thing? How can clinging to fear of anything be better than this?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
"It ain't me babe, no, no, no..."
The words have a familiar ring. To wit, my daily friend, Oswald Chambers, "God puts us where we will best be able to Glorify Him, and it is not left to us to judge where that is." And if we do try to judge, cue the music once more, we might sing "...it ain't me you're looking for babe".
No one ever called by God has jumped at the chance to serve in the way He has decided. Nearly all of the heavy hitters in Judeo-Christian faith history had their excuses: "you must be kidding, you must be thinking of someone else...I can't speak well...I'm lame...I'm not educated...I am not a member of that society..." Of course, everyone knows the example of Jonah, the man who ran away to hide himself from God.
I have run from God for years, hiding in misguided career paths, relationships, idleness, and duplicity. I've spent a great deal of time celebrating when there was nothing to celebrate, looking for things I already had and asking for help when none was needed. All of this was an attempt to escape, to hide from a reality so blatantly evident, that looking at it burned my eyes like the light from a welding rod. I hid behind self invented missconceptions, bigotries and arrogance, putting myself in the position of the intellectual, a gnostic elitist. But like the character Jonah, I could not escape the Furies, and I definitely lived in the belly of the leviathan. More than once.
It is true that one is always free to choose one's path. As long as one is willing to accept the consequences of the choice, it seems that everything is OK. This is easy for those with little to no conscience, outcomes mean nothing to them, hurt doesn't exist. Or does it? I believe we all have a conscience, we all know in our hearts that God is there, somewhere. It is the denial of that one thing that makes a wrong path become a road to emptiness. Then, all that's left is looking back and feeling that one's time here really didn't matter. There is nothing more depressing than believing in a wasted life.
God always wanted me to know, that only when I can come to the realization that it is His will and not mine, the running stops. The confusion ends. The hurting goes away. Only when I give up the quest for something outside of my own soul do I find the missing piece. Only when I quit asking do I get the answer. My path has always been set, I have been too fearful to walk it. Now I no longer seek. Now I must do.
No one ever called by God has jumped at the chance to serve in the way He has decided. Nearly all of the heavy hitters in Judeo-Christian faith history had their excuses: "you must be kidding, you must be thinking of someone else...I can't speak well...I'm lame...I'm not educated...I am not a member of that society..." Of course, everyone knows the example of Jonah, the man who ran away to hide himself from God.
I have run from God for years, hiding in misguided career paths, relationships, idleness, and duplicity. I've spent a great deal of time celebrating when there was nothing to celebrate, looking for things I already had and asking for help when none was needed. All of this was an attempt to escape, to hide from a reality so blatantly evident, that looking at it burned my eyes like the light from a welding rod. I hid behind self invented missconceptions, bigotries and arrogance, putting myself in the position of the intellectual, a gnostic elitist. But like the character Jonah, I could not escape the Furies, and I definitely lived in the belly of the leviathan. More than once.
It is true that one is always free to choose one's path. As long as one is willing to accept the consequences of the choice, it seems that everything is OK. This is easy for those with little to no conscience, outcomes mean nothing to them, hurt doesn't exist. Or does it? I believe we all have a conscience, we all know in our hearts that God is there, somewhere. It is the denial of that one thing that makes a wrong path become a road to emptiness. Then, all that's left is looking back and feeling that one's time here really didn't matter. There is nothing more depressing than believing in a wasted life.
God always wanted me to know, that only when I can come to the realization that it is His will and not mine, the running stops. The confusion ends. The hurting goes away. Only when I give up the quest for something outside of my own soul do I find the missing piece. Only when I quit asking do I get the answer. My path has always been set, I have been too fearful to walk it. Now I no longer seek. Now I must do.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Is there not one among them?
An ancient psalmist wrote:
"Help me LORD, for there is no godly one left;
the faithful have vanished from among us.
Everyone speaks falsely with his neighbor;
with a smooth tongue they speak from a double heart.
O LORD, watch over us
and save us from this generation for ever.
The wicked prowl on every side,
and that which is worthless is highly prized by everyone."
Sounds as if this could be a post in the comments section of a modern blog.
If it sounds familiar, if it seems that the psalmist was a prophet, there is good reason for it. People haven't really changed, as a whole, and it doesn't seem like they will anytime soon. Some will say this is due to the battle waging between the cosmic forces, good waiting patiently to triumph over evil when some future cataclysmic event happens. Some see it as evidence that people are simply idiots, and must be herded and overseen by the wise who get their wisdom from...I'm not certain.
Highly prizing what is worthless seems to be the national pastime in our culture, how else does one explain American Idol, The Bachelor and (fill in the blank with any of thousands of modern necessities). I'm not an entertainment basher, but the time, money and energy invested in such silliness is amazing. Obviously, people want these things. Dittos with football, basketball, etc. , all except baseball, which is, of course, necessary. And that is the point, we all have something.
Some will also say that it is up to us to change this, that it is our duty to seek out others and convert them to our way of thinking, yes, if everyone would accept (fill in another blank), or if Jesus would simply come on back, or if we could just eliminate those cretins who are ruining everything- then we would be OK. We would have peace. Right. The other side of the coin is that if all the good people capitulate to the bad people out of love and kindness by extending their neck to the enemy's chopping block while telling them about peace on earth, only the bad would prevail.
Is there no answer to this evil other than total annihilation of creation?
Although we live in an age where truth holds little value (has it ever?), where sound bites set social and political policy, where baseless accusations are thrown out just to obfuscate the real evil lurking around the corner, we are not treading new ground. As humanity goes, we've seen it all before and we will see it all again. The Utopians have sought ways to cure these problems, but even they always get stuck on the question of rules and who imposes them.
It is my humble and wacky opinion that things are just the way God intended them to be, and God never intended for anything to be easy, clear, or risk free. I can only know good if I have experienced bad, I can only know peace if I have also known turmoil. I can only know myself I've had my very being called into question. In those times, it is God who waits at the bottom of the pit. It is God who says, try again, this time with courage, this time with a little more faith.
I will never convert the terrorist in Afghanistan, but I can tolerate my neighbor. I can accept that no one else thinks exactly as I do, and that with enough conversation, enough listening and enough love (where God catches me in that pit), we can be brothers, at least for a time. It has to begin somewhere. Christianity began at the foot of the cross. The same place we all begin.
"Help me LORD, for there is no godly one left;
the faithful have vanished from among us.
Everyone speaks falsely with his neighbor;
with a smooth tongue they speak from a double heart.
O LORD, watch over us
and save us from this generation for ever.
The wicked prowl on every side,
and that which is worthless is highly prized by everyone."
Sounds as if this could be a post in the comments section of a modern blog.
If it sounds familiar, if it seems that the psalmist was a prophet, there is good reason for it. People haven't really changed, as a whole, and it doesn't seem like they will anytime soon. Some will say this is due to the battle waging between the cosmic forces, good waiting patiently to triumph over evil when some future cataclysmic event happens. Some see it as evidence that people are simply idiots, and must be herded and overseen by the wise who get their wisdom from...I'm not certain.
Highly prizing what is worthless seems to be the national pastime in our culture, how else does one explain American Idol, The Bachelor and (fill in the blank with any of thousands of modern necessities). I'm not an entertainment basher, but the time, money and energy invested in such silliness is amazing. Obviously, people want these things. Dittos with football, basketball, etc. , all except baseball, which is, of course, necessary. And that is the point, we all have something.
Some will also say that it is up to us to change this, that it is our duty to seek out others and convert them to our way of thinking, yes, if everyone would accept (fill in another blank), or if Jesus would simply come on back, or if we could just eliminate those cretins who are ruining everything- then we would be OK. We would have peace. Right. The other side of the coin is that if all the good people capitulate to the bad people out of love and kindness by extending their neck to the enemy's chopping block while telling them about peace on earth, only the bad would prevail.
Is there no answer to this evil other than total annihilation of creation?
Although we live in an age where truth holds little value (has it ever?), where sound bites set social and political policy, where baseless accusations are thrown out just to obfuscate the real evil lurking around the corner, we are not treading new ground. As humanity goes, we've seen it all before and we will see it all again. The Utopians have sought ways to cure these problems, but even they always get stuck on the question of rules and who imposes them.
It is my humble and wacky opinion that things are just the way God intended them to be, and God never intended for anything to be easy, clear, or risk free. I can only know good if I have experienced bad, I can only know peace if I have also known turmoil. I can only know myself I've had my very being called into question. In those times, it is God who waits at the bottom of the pit. It is God who says, try again, this time with courage, this time with a little more faith.
I will never convert the terrorist in Afghanistan, but I can tolerate my neighbor. I can accept that no one else thinks exactly as I do, and that with enough conversation, enough listening and enough love (where God catches me in that pit), we can be brothers, at least for a time. It has to begin somewhere. Christianity began at the foot of the cross. The same place we all begin.
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