Mental Yoga

Some people have minds like concrete - They are firmly set and all mixed up.

I am always amazed at people who have only a vague understanding of some issue, but have definite opinions.  We are uncomfortable with doubt and we want to fill in the blanks with things for which we are certain.

There are things that I know nothing about.  I don't understand why there is rioting in Ferguson.  I am am a middle aged white guy living in a small town.  I get along with my neighbors and the people in the community.  I don't understand what causes people to riot.  But that's just it, I don't understand.  Other people must see their communities differently than I see mine.  I can't just say that they're all crazy.  No, there is something else there.  I just don't know what.  Probably in times of uncertainty we would all be better to keep an open mind, listen more and talk less.

If we can keep an open mind in areas where we know little, we have the opportunity to perform a bit of mental yoga.  Our mind can bend and stretch as it wraps itself around new possibilities.  And as Emerson said, "A mind stretched by a new idea never returns to its original dimensions."

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And so it was with Thomas, the disciple known for doubting.  He didn't get to see Jesus when he first returned and he found it hard to believe.  But he also didn't walk away.  He stayed with the group and kept his opinions flexible.  

Watch this clip of Pastor Sparks talking about Thomas.

I find myself identifying with Thomas a lot.  I am a first class doubter.  I want evidence and most things in life don't happen as controlled experiments.  We pray for provision and when the money comes in it is easy to think that it might have happened anyway.  We pray for healing and when the person gets better it is easy to think that they could have gotten better anyway.  After all, people get better without prayer.  If you don't have these doubts, then your brain is wired significantly different than mine.

A pastor once told me that we should not avoid the questions and the doubt, but rather we should embrace them.  We should treat them as opportunities to grow.  God is God.  He is up to the challenge.  We need to have a mind and a faith that is flexible enough to let God work in us. And like Thomas, we can be stretched to a new dimension.  Now there is something to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

What We Were All Thinking

In every circle of friends there seems to be that person who is in charge of brutal honesty.  When something is going on they say something that seems outrageous and they are left saying, "Hey, we were all thinking it."  Joan Rivers was quoted as saying that she made a career out of saying what everyone else was already thinking. Our culture seems to have two settings.  We are either on politically correct-beat around the bush or full throttle rude.  There does not seem to be a setting for straight forward honesty.

Among the disciples, Thomas seemed to be that person.   He is criticized for being the doubter, but in fairness, the other disciples did get to see Jesus for themselves.  It's hard to believe that the other disciples would not have had a similar reaction in his place.  

Watch this video clip from Pastor Sparks.

The hardest type of honesty is with ourselves. Even for that person who is willing to say outrageous things, being honest with self is a rare gift.  It is easy to say what everyone is thinking about them, but not so much what they are thinking about me.  Or more importantly, what I'm thinking about myself.

So there it is.  Honesty is tough and the toughest kind of honesty is admitting to ourselves about our own weakness and doubt.  We like to put up a front on the outside, but we often put up that same front on the inside as well.  

A good prayer for today is "God, please let me be honest with myself." There is a good place to start.

Post 100 - Something a Little Different

This is the 100th post on this blog since it launched last February.  Thanks for all of the support as we have been casting a few more stones into the soup.

In honor of post 100, I thought that I would share with you a passage from Mere Christianity by CS Lewis.  If you have never read this book, it is well worth your time.  You will ger much more out of it than you will reading this blog.

One thing that I had always struggled with was the idea that Christ has to die to pay the price for my sins. My thought process was, "Well God is God.  He could set up a system that doesn't require Christ's death."  Now I am not a theologian but I found some reassurance in this passage.

We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ's death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary: mere plans or diagrams to be left alone if they do not help us, and, even if they do help us, not to be confused with the thing itself. All the same, some of these theories are worth looking at.

The one most people have heard is the one I mentioned before -the one about our being let off because Christ had volunteered to bear a punishment instead of us. Now on the face of it that is a very silly theory. If God was prepared to let us off, why on earth did He not do so? And what possible point could there be in punishing an innocent person instead? None at all that I can see, if you are thinking of punishment in the police-court sense. On the other hand, if you think of a debt, there is plenty of point in a person who has some assets paying it on behalf of someone who has not. Or if you take "paying the penalty," not in the sense of being punished, but in the more general sense of "standing the racket" or "footing the bill," then, of course, it is a matter of common experience that, when one person has got himself into a hole, the trouble of getting him out usually falls on a kind friend. 

Now what was the sort of "hole" man had got himself into? He had tried to set up on his own, to behave as if he belonged to himself. In other words, fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor-that is the only way out of a "hole." This process of surrender-this movement full speed astern-is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death. In fact, it needs a good man to repent. And here comes the catch. Only a bad person needs to repent: only a good person can repent perfectly. The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it. The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person-and he would not need it.

Remember, this repentance, this willing submission to humiliation and a kind of death, is not something God demands of you before He will take you back and which He could let you off if He chose: it is simply a description of what going back to Him is like. If you ask God to take you back without it, you are really asking Him to let you go back without going back. It cannot hap pen. Very well, then, we must go through with it. But the same badness which makes us need it, makes us unable to do it. Can we do it if God helps us? Yes, but what do we mean when we talk of God helping us? We mean God putting into us a bit of Himself, so to speak. He lends us a little of His reasoning powers and that is how we think: He puts a little of His love into us and that is how we love one another. When you teach a child writing, you hold its hand while it forms the letters: that is, it forms the letters because you are forming them. We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand while we do it. Now if we had not fallen, that would be all plain sailing. But unfortunately we now need God's help in order to do something which God, in His own nature, never does at all-to surrender, to suffer, to submit, to die. Nothing in God's nature corresponds to this process at all. So that the one road for which we now need God's leadership most of all is a road God, in His own nature, has never walked. God can share only what He has: this thing, in His own nature, He has not.

But supposing God became a man-suppose our human nature which can suffer and die was amalgamated with God's nature in one person-then that person could help us. He could surrender His will, and suffer and die, because He was man; and He could do it perfectly because He was God. You and I can go through this process only if God does it in us; but God can do it only if He becomes man. Our attempts at this dying will succeed only if we men share in God's dying, just as our thinking can succeed only because it is a drop out of the ocean of His intelligence: but we cannot share God's dying unless God dies; and He cannot die except by being a man. That is the sense in which He pays our debt, and suffers for us what He Himself need not suffer at all.

Again, I don't know the theology behind this, but the idea that God needed t surrender and repent so that he could share His experience with us is one that I can wrap my head around.  As we enter the Christmas season, it is good to remember why he came.

Second Hand Faith

Group work.  In the workplace as in school sometimes an task is done with others.  Everyone pitches in to get something done.  Share ideas, share the work, share the credit.  That's how it's supposed  to work.  Sometimes in our group though, someone is skating along on the work of others.

We all know that person.  They are on their phone, or in threst room or at the vending machine.  The work gets done because others are willing to do it.  We call this coattailing.  

Coattailing is riding on the coat tails of others.  It happens in a lot of places besides team projects.  Some politicians get into office with a particularly strong presidential candidate or with a familiar last name.  Some politicians get voted in not based on their own qualifications but because they happen to have the same last name as someone who used to be in office.  

We could add to the list those who inherit great wealth.  They get to live and be successful, not through their own efforts, but rather those of previous generations.

But the kingdom of God is not like this.  We cannot be saved based on another's faith.  Each of us has to do it on our own.  Here, watch this video from Pastor Sparks.

There is no second hand faith.  We cannot get into heaven on another's coattails.  Each of needs to work it out in our own terms and in our own way.  This creates a faith that is very personal to us.  But that what it tales if we are looking for a relationship with God and not a set of rules and traditions.

Something to Be Proud Of

Have you ever worked really hard on something.  I mean you have given it your all and it turned well and then you look back on it and say to yourself that the effort really paid off.  I think everyone has.  There are things that require that much effort or well refined skill that when they are done we are exceptionally proud of our accomplishment.

I suppose that it's only natural for us to take pride in what we do.  A strong work ethic is a national value.  Personally, I have found over the years that hard work can compensate for a lot of other short comings.  We like to think that the people who put the most into something have the most success, Effort = Results = Pride.

But here's the thing, The Kingdom of God doesn't work this way.  Not at all.

We don't earn our salvation through our works, Salvation is there for the asking.  There is nothing to do to earn it, there is nothing for us to be proud of because we did nothing to earn it.  We can never be god enough to earn salvation.  By accepting the redemption that God offers through faith in Jesus Christ, salvation is ours.  That's it.  So there is nothing to be proud of, but everything to be thankful for.

Self Evident Truth

"We hold these truths to be self evident, all men are created equal..." We find this line near the beginning of our founding document, the Declaration of Independence.  We are all created equal.  We all begin our lives the same way, born as a baby with nothing.  But that all changes quickly.

While we are born with nothing we spend our lives making up the difference.  We accumulate things and those things plug our lives.  The things give us status and joy.  They can also bring stress and worry.  After all everything that you own also owns you.

On the TV show "Hoarders" they show people who have become completely owned by their stuff.  They are so attached to the things that they accumulate that they can let any go.  It is a mental problem that gets solved not only with a therapist but a large dumpster.

While the show feature people who hoard things, other people hoard too.  Some people hoard money. others hoard power, position, status, celebrity.  Some people hoard friends and have to constantly be in touch,afraid of losing any of it.  Possessions, power, status these things give us a sense of security in this world.  We didn't bring it with us, and we won't be leaving with it.

In the tenth chapter of the book of Mark, Jesus is asked by a rich young man what he needs to do to have eternal life.  Jesus tells him to sell every thing and give it to the poor.  The man was sad because he had great wealth.  He was hoarding wealth and it was affecting his ability to rely on God.  When we put our trust in the things of this world, whether money or power or things, we separate ourselves from God,

We are all created equal, and while we don't live our lives equally, there is one other point where true equality kicks in.  

We are all equal in death.  The things of this world will give us no comfort.  The only thing that can carry us through is or faith in God.  And in that we are all created equal.

On My Terms

Once when I was participating in a school-to-work program, I went on a tour of a factory.  The plant manager walked me around and showed me what they were doing.  The idea was to take skills used in the workplace and incorporate them into lessons in the classroom.  At one point in our discussion I asked about what he looked for in an applicant.  He said that the first thing was a high school diploma without which he wouldn't even call the applicant for an interview.  He said, "If you don't get a high school diploma, that means that you are the kind of person that makes your own rules, and I just gon't have the time for you," Some people like to make their own rules,

Some people make their own rules.  We even celebrate the attitude.  It speaks of independence and freedom and it is very enticing.  Unless you are the one dealing with someone making their own rules.  When you are left holding the bag, a few rules don't seem like such a bad idea after all.

How about this, a person who is simultaneously making their own rules and needing your help.  They dictate the terms by which you can help them.

If you come to my house, If you do it at this time, If it doesn't require much from me.., Then you can help me.  I make my own rules.

We try to set the terms.  It never works.  Salvation is about realizing that life is better when accept God's authority in out life.  That can't happen when we are making our own rules/

I Don't Know What to Say

Have you ever been left speechless? Sometimes it's good; sometimes it's bad; sometimes it's weird; but the events don't allow the brain to fully process what is happening.  You are left tongue tied.

One Christmas my wife painted for me a watercolor of a red headed woodpecker.  That summer, two red headed woodpeckers took up residence near our yard.  They were regular visitors to our feeders.  Later in the summer a third one showed up.  The young ones have brown heads not red.  The red headed woodpecker is a striking bird and I really enjoyed having them around.  So there it was on Christmas morning.  My wife had spent hours upon hours painting this picture for me.  I was so overwhelmed and caught off guard, It was such a thoughtful and personal gift, "Thank You'seemed insufficient.  I didn't know what to say.

Sometimes words cannot express what we feel   The birth of a child, the loss of a parent.  Great failures, great triumphs, great worries.  There are poets who, with enough time, can craft a description of our emotions.  For most of us though, in the moment words can elude us.  And why should that surprise us.  Our emotions, our thoughts, our experiences are complicated.  Sometimes we aren;t really sure why we feel the way that we do.

When my son was born, it was a bit of a crazy day.  I think it always is when a child is born.  I remember that night.  My wife was sleeping.  I was sitting in a rocking chair in the hospital nursery holding our new son.  The mixture of joy and relief and excitement were so overwhelming, years later I still can't really describe it.

So when we are struck silent, how do we pray? When we have no words, what do we say to God.  How do we ask for guidance or mercy or favor, when we don't really understand ourselves what we are feeling?

Jesus speaks to us.  When we don't know what to say; when words fail us; God understands and fills in the gap.  We open ourselves to prayer and God does the rest.  

Why

Ebola is a scary disease.  Most of the people who get it die and in the process infect other people.  Ebola has been known for decades but it was isolated to small villages and rural areas in Africa.  Transportation was so bad that when there was an outbreak, it stayed in one place.  Now with improved transportation, sick people move around and the disease spreads.  Last report was that over 5000 people in Africa have dies from the disease, and of course there are the cases here at home.

As bad as Ebola is, it is likely not the worst thing that will happen this year.  There are hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding and wild fires.   War and genocide kill thousands.  The United Nations estimates that over 20,000 people a day die from hunger or hunger related problems.  There are plenty of problems in the world and I haven't even mentioned the state and local issues that we hear about at election time.  

The question is why?

Why why why why why.  Why do bad things happen?  God is loving and kind and all that.  God is all powerful and could make it all stop.  So why.  Why do bad things happen?

This question is not easy.  I can't say that I have the right answer, only an answer that works for me.  Some people think that it has some thing to do with contrast.  Without bad how can we appreciate good.  How can we really know love if we have never known hate.  I don't buy it.  This is logic that says it is good to hit your head against the wall because it feels so good when you stop.  I don't think that I need ugly to appreciate beauty.  I don't need death to appreciate life.  So this one doesn't work for me.

Some people believe that it has something with God making us suffer so that we will draw closer to Him.  I don't buy this either.  This casts God in the role of tormentor.  There is a rare mental disorder called "Munchausen by Proxy" where a parent inflicts harm on their children to gain attention as a caregiver,  I don't believe that God does this.

So what is it.  I think the answer is simple.  Sometimes bad things happen.  Most, but not all, are the result of bad decisions on our part.  Say someone gets hit by a drunk driver.  There were so many ways that people could have chosen differently and created a different outcome.  From the person drinking, to the bartender, to the friends to the person who got hit.  Life is a collection of our choices and their consequences.

Even the Ebola outbreak is mostly caused by the abject poverty of the region.  The world has largely ignored Africa and when challenged, the infrastructure was not equal to the task.

God gives us free will.  We cannot expect that our free will to be suddenly suspended when it might cause problems.  We need to accept the consequences of the decisions that we make.

So then why do we need God?

I think that bad things happen.  And when they do, God is there to help us through.  He doesn't leave us or forsake us.  He is along with us as we go through the storms of poor decisions.  He gets to us.

I could ask God why there are so many poor people, hungry people, suffering people in the world.  He might ask me the same question