"Is the mystery within which we live, and to which we are inescapably bonded, ultimately gracious or indifferent? Are we grounded in a reality that cares for us or not? That is for us or against us? The Christian response to these questions is that the hallmark of God is graciousness. God cares for us. God is for us. This takes us to the heart of the reality we call grace." - Richard M. Gula
The Incarnation is the proof of God's loving care for us. If the story is true, it is the most remarkable story ever told on this planet...that somehow the God who created a universe billions of light years across, full of galaxies and stars innumerable, entered into the small Child in the stable in Bethlehem for the sole purpose of human redemption. It is a mystery unfathomable and such a strange way to save the world. As the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe says as she is about to sacrifice Aslan, "Did you think by this to save the human creature?" The Answer from the Deeper Magic from beyond the Dawn of Time is a resounding, "Yes!" that echoes through the timeless halls of eternity!
"It's still a mystery to me that the hands of God could be so small...."
"So wrap our injured flesh around you,
Breathe our air and walk our sod,
Rub our sin and make us holy,
Perfect Son of God,
Perfect Son of God."
Welcome to our world...You who called the galaxies and stars into being. We were too busy with being ourselves to even know it was You. So angels sang to a group of lowly shepherds and foreign astrologers were wise enough to read your signs in the skies and come to find You.
Forgive us for being so tied up in ourselves that we missed Your coming. Help us not to miss it again in this season of parties, shopping, and busy-ness. Turn our hearts to a quiet stable in Bethlehem to ponder this Great Mystery. Let us be still and know that this is God who has entered our world because God loves us and cares for us.
Welcome to our world........
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Faith of a Marshwiggle
"'One word, Ma'am,' he said, coming back from the fire, limping because of the pain. 'One word. All you've been saying is quite right. I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you've said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only real world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia.'"
- The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis
- The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis
Friday, December 3, 2010
The Invisible Presence
Shasta: "Then it was you who wounded Aravis?"
Aslan: "It was I."
Shasta: "But what for?"
Aslan: "Child," said the voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own."
Shasta: "Who are you?"
Aslan: "Myself...."
-From The Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis
"If what you want is an argument against Christianity (and I well remember how eagerly I looked for such arguments when I began to be afraid it was true) you can easily find some stupid and unsatisfactory Christian and say, 'So there's your boasted new man! Give me the old kind.' But if once you have begun to see that Christianity is on other grounds probable, you will know in your heart that this is only evading the issue. What can you ever really know of other peoples' souls - of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him. You cannot put Him off with speculations about your next door neighbours or memories of what you have read in books. What will all that chatter and hearsay count (will you even be able to remember it?) when the anaesthetic fog, which we call 'nature' or 'the real world' fades away and the Presence in which you have always stood becomes palpable, immediate, and unavoidable?"
- Mere Christianity, Book IV, Chapter 10, C.S. Lewis
"No sooner had He spoken than I caught a glimpse of the Light that had escaped the Most Holy Place when the Lord first entered the torn veil. It continued its boundless journey through the ages, touching every time and every nation. It was not a haphazard flash of light, but a calculated methodical search for everyone who ever lived. Upon each one, the Light of His Glory rested, urging, nudging, calling, drawing each person to Him who sits on the throne....I sat in awe of the Light's gentle determination to shine in the heart of every living person, revealing the love and forgiving power of the Christ of God." - from Romancing the Divine, Don Nori, p. 175
Aslan: "It was I."
Shasta: "But what for?"
Aslan: "Child," said the voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own."
Shasta: "Who are you?"
Aslan: "Myself...."
-From The Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis
"If what you want is an argument against Christianity (and I well remember how eagerly I looked for such arguments when I began to be afraid it was true) you can easily find some stupid and unsatisfactory Christian and say, 'So there's your boasted new man! Give me the old kind.' But if once you have begun to see that Christianity is on other grounds probable, you will know in your heart that this is only evading the issue. What can you ever really know of other peoples' souls - of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him. You cannot put Him off with speculations about your next door neighbours or memories of what you have read in books. What will all that chatter and hearsay count (will you even be able to remember it?) when the anaesthetic fog, which we call 'nature' or 'the real world' fades away and the Presence in which you have always stood becomes palpable, immediate, and unavoidable?"
- Mere Christianity, Book IV, Chapter 10, C.S. Lewis
"No sooner had He spoken than I caught a glimpse of the Light that had escaped the Most Holy Place when the Lord first entered the torn veil. It continued its boundless journey through the ages, touching every time and every nation. It was not a haphazard flash of light, but a calculated methodical search for everyone who ever lived. Upon each one, the Light of His Glory rested, urging, nudging, calling, drawing each person to Him who sits on the throne....I sat in awe of the Light's gentle determination to shine in the heart of every living person, revealing the love and forgiving power of the Christ of God." - from Romancing the Divine, Don Nori, p. 175
Dueling Billboards
It seems that with the Christmas season beginning once again, an old argument is once again surfacing. Atheists around the country are beginning an ad campaign to voice their views against the existence (should I say non-existence?) of God and Christianity. These views are being posted in very prominent places, such as on billboards and the sides of public transportation. This seems to have provoked a firestorm of controversy nationwide, particularly from some Christian groups who are outraged. Since so many other people are expressing their views about this issue, I have decided to make a few comments here to both sides.
First, I am amazed at the Christian response from those who want to try to ban atheists from publicly expressing their views and making an attempt to convert people to them. It is as if some Christians are not aware that there have always been those who do not believe in the existence of God and have been vocal in their views. I have many friends who hold no belief in God and we disagree and have lively conversations about it with the open intent of trying to convert each other to the other side. This is a healthy thing and has caused us to respect each another and find common ground, rather than condemning. As a Baptist, I am a defender of religious liberty, and that liberty includes the right of individuals not to believe in a God and to openly express their views. These rights are protected under freedom of religion and freedom of speech. This is part of the debate of the marketplace of free ideas and when the debate is conducted civilly and with respect for opposing views is a very healthy exercise. So the attempt by some groups of Christian ministers to have these ads banned or censored is simply misplaced. This debate is as old as Christianity itself...actually as old as religion itself... and will continue as long as history continues. Is faith so fragile that it cannot withstand the light of questioning and opposing views? I hope not.
In Fort Worth, Texas atheists are running a campaign with billboards on the sides of city buses stating "Good without God." This is a legal ad and violates no city, state, or federal laws. Churches can also purchase advertising as well if they so choose. So I have no problem there. My problem is with the message itself. It implies that the heart of the Christian message is that people can not be good without God...that Christianity is really only concerned somehow with "mere morality." I agree with atheists, that in looking at some Christian groups morality could be mistaken the central concern of Christianity. Having been a philosophy teacher for more than twenty years I am well aware that moral systems about the good and the right can and have been developed without recourse to any kind of religious language and to "reason" alone. I'm also aware that there are "good" people with whom I share a strong moral base who do not believe in God. But I am reminded of the words of C. S. Lewis concerning "nice" people.
"'Niceness' - wholesomeness, integrated personality - is an excellent thing. We must try by every medical, educational, economic and political means in our power, to produce a world where as many people as possible grow up 'nice'; just as we must try to produce a world where all have plenty to eat....
For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man." -Mere Christianity, Book IV, Chapter 10, C. S. Lewis
Christianity is concerned with more than "mere morality" and making human beings "good." "Can't you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?" The question sounds as if it were asked by a person who said to herself, "I don't care whether Christianity is, in fact, true or not. I choose beliefs not because they are true, but because they are helpful." In fact, Christianity believes that the real universe is more like what Christianity has to say about it than other views. Christians differ with atheists about the nature of basic reality. They differ on what they believe is the truth about the very basis of that reality, God. Is there a God or not, and if there is, how does that shape my views and beliefs about the whole of reality and how life ought to be lived? Having taught philosophy for so long, I'm aware of the difficulties in "proving" the existence of God, with the debate about revelation and whether that's possible, what it is, and what it means about our ways of knowing things. These are all part of the ongoing discussion between atheists and theists and will continue to be so. But the crux of that matter simply is not whether there can be "good" people with out belief in God. The truth of the matter is that there are, and I know some of them. In fact, the sign on the Fort Worth city bus is a straw person fallacy of the Christian position.
This leads me to the dueling billboard signs in New York. They are within viewing distance of each other. One reads: "You know it's real. This season, celebrate Jesus." A short distance away the atheist billboard reads: "You Know it's a Myth. This Season, Celebrate REASON!" At the bottom it reads: "American Atheism - Reasonable since 1963." The trouble with the atheists' sign is that it implies that if you believe in Christianity that you are not one who has or uses "reason." I take exception to this view, since I like to see myself as a person who understands "reason" and uses the processes involved in it. The problem here lies in the old adage: "He who defines the terms, wins the arguments." Atheists have defined reason in a certain way and those who do not hold to that view of "reason" are thus not "reasonable." Reason, in fact, involves discovering a set of premises, some of which amount to assumptions, and using a set of rational methodologies to reason validly or correctly to conclusions, ranging from strong to weak in their establishment. These methodologies are agreed upon methods which any can learn and use. The difficulty is in establishing premises that all agree to and can reason from, since differing premises can lead to very different conclusions. In this case a central premise is whether or not God exists. What I resent about the atheists' billboard is that it implies Christians are ignorant of all that's involved in "reason" and blindly choose to accept "Christian" views with no recourse to reason. This is patently false and since it's earliest days Christian apologists have sought to take the tools of reason and apply them to the faith that has been confessed. The billboard makes a simple and false generalization about both reason and Christianity.
Having been a Christian for my whole life, a teacher of philosophy, and an educator I am well aware of the difficult philosophical problems involved in establishing the existence of God and of religion in general, and Christianity in particular. However, my job in education has never been to indoctrinate students into believing in God, but to give to them the tools of reason and set them on the task of trying to arrive at their own answers to important philosophical questions such as the ultimate nature of reality and the consequences that come from whatever we believe about it. So, in this season where the Christian religion is in the forefront of things, let's continue the discussion with respect and dignity for both sides....and maybe arrive at some common ground to improve our lives and the society around us.
First, I am amazed at the Christian response from those who want to try to ban atheists from publicly expressing their views and making an attempt to convert people to them. It is as if some Christians are not aware that there have always been those who do not believe in the existence of God and have been vocal in their views. I have many friends who hold no belief in God and we disagree and have lively conversations about it with the open intent of trying to convert each other to the other side. This is a healthy thing and has caused us to respect each another and find common ground, rather than condemning. As a Baptist, I am a defender of religious liberty, and that liberty includes the right of individuals not to believe in a God and to openly express their views. These rights are protected under freedom of religion and freedom of speech. This is part of the debate of the marketplace of free ideas and when the debate is conducted civilly and with respect for opposing views is a very healthy exercise. So the attempt by some groups of Christian ministers to have these ads banned or censored is simply misplaced. This debate is as old as Christianity itself...actually as old as religion itself... and will continue as long as history continues. Is faith so fragile that it cannot withstand the light of questioning and opposing views? I hope not.
In Fort Worth, Texas atheists are running a campaign with billboards on the sides of city buses stating "Good without God." This is a legal ad and violates no city, state, or federal laws. Churches can also purchase advertising as well if they so choose. So I have no problem there. My problem is with the message itself. It implies that the heart of the Christian message is that people can not be good without God...that Christianity is really only concerned somehow with "mere morality." I agree with atheists, that in looking at some Christian groups morality could be mistaken the central concern of Christianity. Having been a philosophy teacher for more than twenty years I am well aware that moral systems about the good and the right can and have been developed without recourse to any kind of religious language and to "reason" alone. I'm also aware that there are "good" people with whom I share a strong moral base who do not believe in God. But I am reminded of the words of C. S. Lewis concerning "nice" people.
"'Niceness' - wholesomeness, integrated personality - is an excellent thing. We must try by every medical, educational, economic and political means in our power, to produce a world where as many people as possible grow up 'nice'; just as we must try to produce a world where all have plenty to eat....
For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man." -Mere Christianity, Book IV, Chapter 10, C. S. Lewis
Christianity is concerned with more than "mere morality" and making human beings "good." "Can't you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?" The question sounds as if it were asked by a person who said to herself, "I don't care whether Christianity is, in fact, true or not. I choose beliefs not because they are true, but because they are helpful." In fact, Christianity believes that the real universe is more like what Christianity has to say about it than other views. Christians differ with atheists about the nature of basic reality. They differ on what they believe is the truth about the very basis of that reality, God. Is there a God or not, and if there is, how does that shape my views and beliefs about the whole of reality and how life ought to be lived? Having taught philosophy for so long, I'm aware of the difficulties in "proving" the existence of God, with the debate about revelation and whether that's possible, what it is, and what it means about our ways of knowing things. These are all part of the ongoing discussion between atheists and theists and will continue to be so. But the crux of that matter simply is not whether there can be "good" people with out belief in God. The truth of the matter is that there are, and I know some of them. In fact, the sign on the Fort Worth city bus is a straw person fallacy of the Christian position.
This leads me to the dueling billboard signs in New York. They are within viewing distance of each other. One reads: "You know it's real. This season, celebrate Jesus." A short distance away the atheist billboard reads: "You Know it's a Myth. This Season, Celebrate REASON!" At the bottom it reads: "American Atheism - Reasonable since 1963." The trouble with the atheists' sign is that it implies that if you believe in Christianity that you are not one who has or uses "reason." I take exception to this view, since I like to see myself as a person who understands "reason" and uses the processes involved in it. The problem here lies in the old adage: "He who defines the terms, wins the arguments." Atheists have defined reason in a certain way and those who do not hold to that view of "reason" are thus not "reasonable." Reason, in fact, involves discovering a set of premises, some of which amount to assumptions, and using a set of rational methodologies to reason validly or correctly to conclusions, ranging from strong to weak in their establishment. These methodologies are agreed upon methods which any can learn and use. The difficulty is in establishing premises that all agree to and can reason from, since differing premises can lead to very different conclusions. In this case a central premise is whether or not God exists. What I resent about the atheists' billboard is that it implies Christians are ignorant of all that's involved in "reason" and blindly choose to accept "Christian" views with no recourse to reason. This is patently false and since it's earliest days Christian apologists have sought to take the tools of reason and apply them to the faith that has been confessed. The billboard makes a simple and false generalization about both reason and Christianity.
Having been a Christian for my whole life, a teacher of philosophy, and an educator I am well aware of the difficult philosophical problems involved in establishing the existence of God and of religion in general, and Christianity in particular. However, my job in education has never been to indoctrinate students into believing in God, but to give to them the tools of reason and set them on the task of trying to arrive at their own answers to important philosophical questions such as the ultimate nature of reality and the consequences that come from whatever we believe about it. So, in this season where the Christian religion is in the forefront of things, let's continue the discussion with respect and dignity for both sides....and maybe arrive at some common ground to improve our lives and the society around us.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Stripped Bare
"In spite of everything that I have so far written, things here are revolting...my grim experiences often pursue me into the night...I can shake them off only by reciting one hymn after another, and that I am apt to wake up with a sigh rather than with a hymn of praise to God. It is possible to get used to physical hardships, and to live for months out of the body, so to speak - almost too much so - but one does not get used to the psychological strain; on the contrary, I have the feeling that everything that I see and hear is putting years on me and that I am often finding the world nauseating and burdensome....I often wonder who I really am - the man who goes on squirming under these ghastly experiences in wretchedness that cries to heaven, or the man who scourges himself and pretends to others (and even to himself) that he is placid, cheerful, composed, and in control of himself, and allows people to admire him for it (i.e., for playing the part - or is it not playing a part?). What does one's attitude mean, anyway? In short, I know less than ever about myself, and I am no longer attaching any importance to it. I have had more than enough psychology, and I am less and less inclined to analyze the state of my soul...There is something more at stake than self-knowledge."
-From Letters and Papers from Prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 22-23.
Who am I? They often tell me
I would step from my cell's confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friednly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
Compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?
Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!
- Letters and Papers from Prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
-From Letters and Papers from Prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 22-23.
Who am I? They often tell me
I would step from my cell's confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friednly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
Compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?
Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!
- Letters and Papers from Prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Waiting
Well, today begins Advent and the journey towards Bethlehem. But this year Bethlehem seems a thousand miles away...and the walk to it seems impossible. However, I am reminded of hope...and I decide to undertake the journey anyway, for what seems impossible to me is just the ordinary for God....
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:4
"Christmas is the promise that the God who came in history and comes daily in mystery will one day come in glory. God is saying in Jesus that in the end everything will be all right. Nothing can harm you permanently, no suffering is irrevocable, no loss is lasting, no defeat is more than transitory, no disappointment is conclusive. Jesus did not deny the reality of suffering, discouragement, disappointment, frustration, and death; he simply stated that the Kingdom of God would conquer all of these horrors, that the Father's love is so prodigal that no evil could possibly resist it." - From Reflections for Ragamuffins, by Brennan Manning
The world had waited...
From the casting out of Eden's bower
And the promise of serpent crush'd,
Through quiet mist
And thundering deluge
Between seas parted
And people freed
And mountains quaking.
And still the world waited...
Through judges tried and trying,
And kingdoms united,
The divided.
Through fall, separation, and exile,
Amid prophet's cries
And armies turmoiled.
And still the world waited...
Through kingdom rebuilt,
Freed, then conquered -
Hellenistic, Antiochan, and Eagle standards unfurl'd.
'Til then, when angel voices proclaimed
That in a quiet manger in Bethlehem
Eternity and time were joined together inseparably
And the waiting was over...to begin again.
And now the world waits
Anxiously, hopefully, expectantly
For the final act,
The curtain ringing in
Where time will become eternity
Unto the ages of the ages.
There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey
And all those who seek it shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless
And sight for the blind
To all who've been born of the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity
Stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin
Forget not the hope
That's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessnessWhen you were lost?
There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey
- Michael Card, Copyright 1986 Maple End Music/Birdsong
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:4
"Christmas is the promise that the God who came in history and comes daily in mystery will one day come in glory. God is saying in Jesus that in the end everything will be all right. Nothing can harm you permanently, no suffering is irrevocable, no loss is lasting, no defeat is more than transitory, no disappointment is conclusive. Jesus did not deny the reality of suffering, discouragement, disappointment, frustration, and death; he simply stated that the Kingdom of God would conquer all of these horrors, that the Father's love is so prodigal that no evil could possibly resist it." - From Reflections for Ragamuffins, by Brennan Manning
The world had waited...
From the casting out of Eden's bower
And the promise of serpent crush'd,
Through quiet mist
And thundering deluge
Between seas parted
And people freed
And mountains quaking.
And still the world waited...
Through judges tried and trying,
And kingdoms united,
The divided.
Through fall, separation, and exile,
Amid prophet's cries
And armies turmoiled.
And still the world waited...
Through kingdom rebuilt,
Freed, then conquered -
Hellenistic, Antiochan, and Eagle standards unfurl'd.
'Til then, when angel voices proclaimed
That in a quiet manger in Bethlehem
Eternity and time were joined together inseparably
And the waiting was over...to begin again.
And now the world waits
Anxiously, hopefully, expectantly
For the final act,
The curtain ringing in
Where time will become eternity
Unto the ages of the ages.
There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey
And all those who seek it shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless
And sight for the blind
To all who've been born of the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity
Stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin
Forget not the hope
That's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessnessWhen you were lost?
There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey
- Michael Card, Copyright 1986 Maple End Music/Birdsong
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Why the Mystery? Some beginning thoughts
Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace. — Frederick Buechner
"We have been brought up with the absurd prejudice that only what we can reduce to a rational, conscious formula is really understood and experienced in our life. When we can say what a thing is, or what we are doing, we think we fully grasp and experience it. In point of fact this verbalization - very often it is nothing more than verbalization - tends to cut us off from genuine experience and to obscure our understanding instead of increasing it.
Faith does not simply account for the unknown, tag it with a theological tag and file it away in a safe place where we do not have to worry about it. This is a falsification of the whole idea of faith. On the contrary, faith incorporates the unknown into our everyday life in a loving, dynamic and actual manner. The unknown remains unknown. It is still a mystery, for it cannot cease to be one. The function of faith is not to reduce mystery to rational clarity, but to integrate the unknown and the known together in a living whole, in which we are more and more able to transcend the limitations of our external self."
- New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton, pg. 136
"Lightly men talk of saying what they mean. A glib saying. When the time comes to you at which you will be forced to utter the speech which has lain at the centre of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over again, you'll not talk about joy of words. I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, not let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?" - C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces
"We have been brought up with the absurd prejudice that only what we can reduce to a rational, conscious formula is really understood and experienced in our life. When we can say what a thing is, or what we are doing, we think we fully grasp and experience it. In point of fact this verbalization - very often it is nothing more than verbalization - tends to cut us off from genuine experience and to obscure our understanding instead of increasing it.
Faith does not simply account for the unknown, tag it with a theological tag and file it away in a safe place where we do not have to worry about it. This is a falsification of the whole idea of faith. On the contrary, faith incorporates the unknown into our everyday life in a loving, dynamic and actual manner. The unknown remains unknown. It is still a mystery, for it cannot cease to be one. The function of faith is not to reduce mystery to rational clarity, but to integrate the unknown and the known together in a living whole, in which we are more and more able to transcend the limitations of our external self."
- New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton, pg. 136
"Lightly men talk of saying what they mean. A glib saying. When the time comes to you at which you will be forced to utter the speech which has lain at the centre of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over again, you'll not talk about joy of words. I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, not let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?" - C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces
Echoes of Joy
Joy is the serious business of heaven - in a better country it is the End of ends! - C.S. Lewis
Joy, that light and airy song that flashes in
the twinkling stars and
dances lightly on the wind
Joy, that melodious song that bursts forth
in spring
from tongue of bird and beast
and that explodes its brilliance in the foliage of creation
Joy, that deepness of brass and drum
that thunders in the heart of rivers
or in the voice of leviathan
Joy, that mighty rushing wind which blows in the
heart of all things
Joy flows at the center of the universe
Joy was there in Eden - echoing in history
Joy has filled the ages since
The angels sang joy at Incarnation - there was
Joy in His life and echoes of joy even at
His death - reverberating until joy resounded in the Resurrection
For two thousand years the echoes of joy have continued -
sometimes loud, sometimes soft,
sometimes far away and difficult to hear,
yet there nonetheless
And still we wait for joy in the triumph of His coming
in that finality of all things
Joy will burst forth again - forever
and the whole universe will echo its song -
For joy runs at the heart of all things.
Joy, that light and airy song that flashes in
the twinkling stars and
dances lightly on the wind
Joy, that melodious song that bursts forth
in spring
from tongue of bird and beast
and that explodes its brilliance in the foliage of creation
Joy, that deepness of brass and drum
that thunders in the heart of rivers
or in the voice of leviathan
Joy, that mighty rushing wind which blows in the
heart of all things
Joy flows at the center of the universe
Joy was there in Eden - echoing in history
Joy has filled the ages since
The angels sang joy at Incarnation - there was
Joy in His life and echoes of joy even at
His death - reverberating until joy resounded in the Resurrection
For two thousand years the echoes of joy have continued -
sometimes loud, sometimes soft,
sometimes far away and difficult to hear,
yet there nonetheless
And still we wait for joy in the triumph of His coming
in that finality of all things
Joy will burst forth again - forever
and the whole universe will echo its song -
For joy runs at the heart of all things.
Credo
"As I sit in the study on a beautiful, cool August afternoon, I look back with many thanks.
It has been a great run. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Much could and should have been better, and I have by no means, done what I should have done with all that I have been given. But the over-all experience of being alive has been a thrilling experience. I believe that death is a doorway to more of it; cleaner, clearer, better, with more of the secret opened than locked. I do not feel much confidence in myself as regards all this, for very few have ever 'deserved' eternal life. But with Christ's atonement and Him gone on before, I have neither doubt nor fear whether I am left here a brief time or a long one. I believe that I shall see Him and know Him, and that eternity will be an endless opportunity to consort with the great souls and the lesser ones who have entered into the freedom of the heavenly city. It is His forgiveness and grace that give confidence and not merits of our own. But again I say, it's been a great run. I'm thankful for it and for all the people who have helped to make it so, and especially those closest and dearest to me."
-by Samuel Moor Shoemaker (written two months before his death)
It has been a great run. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Much could and should have been better, and I have by no means, done what I should have done with all that I have been given. But the over-all experience of being alive has been a thrilling experience. I believe that death is a doorway to more of it; cleaner, clearer, better, with more of the secret opened than locked. I do not feel much confidence in myself as regards all this, for very few have ever 'deserved' eternal life. But with Christ's atonement and Him gone on before, I have neither doubt nor fear whether I am left here a brief time or a long one. I believe that I shall see Him and know Him, and that eternity will be an endless opportunity to consort with the great souls and the lesser ones who have entered into the freedom of the heavenly city. It is His forgiveness and grace that give confidence and not merits of our own. But again I say, it's been a great run. I'm thankful for it and for all the people who have helped to make it so, and especially those closest and dearest to me."
-by Samuel Moor Shoemaker (written two months before his death)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
A Terrible Prayer
I have always been terrible at praying.
I forget.
My mind wanders.
I don't pray enough.
I don't understand what prayer is
Or what prayer does.
If prayers were school...
I would flunk praying.
But prayer isn't school...
It is mystery.
Maybe the mystery is...
Jesus loves terrible prayers.
Maybe...
When I can't think of anything to say, He says what I can't say.
When I talk too much, He cherishes my too-many words.
When I fall asleep, He holds me in His lap and caresses my weary soul.
When I am overwhelmed with guilt at my inconsistent, inadequate praying
He whispers, "Your name is always on my lips."
I am filled with gratitude, my soul overflows with thankfulness and I...
I...find myself saying over and over again, "Thank You."
Praying the mystery.
-Mike Yaconelli
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Thoughts for a Dead Pigeon
And you say that the battle is over
And you say that the war is all done
Go tell it to those
With the wind in their nose
Who run from the sound of the gun.
And write it on the side of the great whaling ships
Or on ice floes where conscience is tossed
With the wild in their eyes
It is they who must die
And it's we who must measure the cost.
And you say that the battle is over
And finally the world is at peace
You mean no one is dying
And mothers don't weep
Or it's not in the papers at least.
There are those who would deal
In the darkness of life
There are those who would tear down the sun
And most men are ruthless
But some will still weep
When the gifts we were given are gone.
Now the blame cannot fall on the heads of a few
It's become such a part of the race
It's eternally tragic
That that which is magic
Be killed at the end of the glorious chase.
From young seals to great whales
From waters to wood
They will fall just like weeds in the wind
With fur coats and perfumes
And trophies on walls
What a hell of a race to call men.
And you say that the battle is over
And you say that the war is all donje
Go tell it to those
With the wind in their nose
Who run from the sound of the gun.
And write it on the sides
Of the great whaling ships
Or on ice floes where conscience is tossed
With the wild in their eyes
It is they who must die
And it's we who must measure the loss,
With the wild in their eyes
It is they who must die
And it's we who must measure the cost.
You Say That the Battle is Over, by David Mallet, 1978 Cherry Lane Music Company
(ASCAP)
I saw a dead pigeon at church today.
It was not
flying, or
eating, or
walking, or
roosting.
It was dead.
They said
it was a nuisance.
They said
what they fed it
wouldn't harm it -
it would only affect its legs -
making it unable to roost.
Sounded innocent enough -
then.
But no one explained
that when pigeons can't use their legs,
they can't land.
And when they can't land,
they can't rest.
And they fly, and
fly, and
fly until
exhaustion and hunger set in.
And they fall to the ground,
struggling,
and die.
A nuisance?
No more sunlit Sunday mornings,
with courtyard full of
dappled white and
mottled grey.
No more peaceful background noise of
soft cooing and
rustle of feathered wings.
No more shadows
in sunlight
on stained glass windows.
All must end for -
nuisance.
O God, make us aware
of living things around us.
Make us reevaluate ourselves
and look for beauty.
Make us truly see
wind, and
water, and
wood.
Make us friend to
whales, and
harp seals, and
hares, and
pigeons.
Friends of life -
That's what we ask You to make us.
So that when you return
and demand of us an -
accounting,
we will have a world with
pigeons.
And you say that the war is all done
Go tell it to those
With the wind in their nose
Who run from the sound of the gun.
And write it on the side of the great whaling ships
Or on ice floes where conscience is tossed
With the wild in their eyes
It is they who must die
And it's we who must measure the cost.
And you say that the battle is over
And finally the world is at peace
You mean no one is dying
And mothers don't weep
Or it's not in the papers at least.
There are those who would deal
In the darkness of life
There are those who would tear down the sun
And most men are ruthless
But some will still weep
When the gifts we were given are gone.
Now the blame cannot fall on the heads of a few
It's become such a part of the race
It's eternally tragic
That that which is magic
Be killed at the end of the glorious chase.
From young seals to great whales
From waters to wood
They will fall just like weeds in the wind
With fur coats and perfumes
And trophies on walls
What a hell of a race to call men.
And you say that the battle is over
And you say that the war is all donje
Go tell it to those
With the wind in their nose
Who run from the sound of the gun.
And write it on the sides
Of the great whaling ships
Or on ice floes where conscience is tossed
With the wild in their eyes
It is they who must die
And it's we who must measure the loss,
With the wild in their eyes
It is they who must die
And it's we who must measure the cost.
You Say That the Battle is Over, by David Mallet, 1978 Cherry Lane Music Company
(ASCAP)
I saw a dead pigeon at church today.
It was not
flying, or
eating, or
walking, or
roosting.
It was dead.
They said
it was a nuisance.
They said
what they fed it
wouldn't harm it -
it would only affect its legs -
making it unable to roost.
Sounded innocent enough -
then.
But no one explained
that when pigeons can't use their legs,
they can't land.
And when they can't land,
they can't rest.
And they fly, and
fly, and
fly until
exhaustion and hunger set in.
And they fall to the ground,
struggling,
and die.
A nuisance?
No more sunlit Sunday mornings,
with courtyard full of
dappled white and
mottled grey.
No more peaceful background noise of
soft cooing and
rustle of feathered wings.
No more shadows
in sunlight
on stained glass windows.
All must end for -
nuisance.
O God, make us aware
of living things around us.
Make us reevaluate ourselves
and look for beauty.
Make us truly see
wind, and
water, and
wood.
Make us friend to
whales, and
harp seals, and
hares, and
pigeons.
Friends of life -
That's what we ask You to make us.
So that when you return
and demand of us an -
accounting,
we will have a world with
pigeons.
A Life of Steadfast Love
"Nothing must interfere with proclaiming the Good News of eternal life and helping people to a way of life that would enable them to grow toward eternity - a way of peace and justice, with room for human dignity to be recognized and for love to blossom."
- "His Steadfast Love," (pg. 5) Reflections for Ragamuffins, by Brennan Manning (HarperSanFrancisco, 1998)
After twenty years of studying ethics, struggling with issues, trying to find the Good and to do the Right thing...to be a virtuous person...all of those struggles and suddenly it is clear to me in Brennan Manning's words. A simple, yet profound statement of the Christian life and ethic. We are first and foremost called to the proclamation of the Good News of eternal life in Jesus Christ. That is the Gospel...and we must always remember that is our task. But the Good News calls people in the direction of abundant life. ..the way of life that leads to God's New Kingdom that has come and is coming. And that life to which we are called and to which we call others is a life of individual peace and justice and one in which we work toward corporate peace and justice in a fallen world. Working for peace and justice grants human dignity and seeks the central virtue of the Kingdom of God...self giving, other affirming, community building love. In this all the ethical issues that are tossed about in conversation...family, government, economics, sexual issues of all sorts, biomedical issues, the life of virtue...all of these are derived from this simple statement. We must take the language of the peace and justice of the Gospel and apply it to all of these issues and that will require a Christological hermeneutic applied to the authority of scripture. Here is a simple statement of my theology and ethics...found in a simple statement, but profoundly life changing when understood by the heart.
"Christ is not a principle according to which the whole world must be formed. Christ does not proclaim a system of that which would be good today, here, and at all times. Christ does not teach an abstract ethic, that must be carried out, cost what it may. Christ was not essentially a teacher, a lawgiver, but a human being, a real human being like us. Accordingly, Christ does not want us to be first of all pupils, representatives, and advocates of a particular doctrine, but human beings, real human beings before God. Christ did not, like an ethicist, love s theory about the good; he loved real people. Christ was not interested, like a philosopher, in what is 'generally valid,' but in that which serves real concrete human beings. Christ was not concerned about whether 'the maxim of an action' could become 'a principle of universal law,' but whether my action now helps my neighbor to be a human being before God. God did not become an idea, a principle, a program, a universally valid belief, or a law; God became human....Formation according to the form of Christ includes, therefore, two things: that the form of Christ remains one and the same, not as a general idea but as the one who Christ uniquely is, the God who became human, was crucified, and is risen; and that precisely because of the form of Christ the form of the real human being is preserved, so that the real human being receives the form of Christ,"
- from Ethics, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, pgs. 98-99.
"Mere morality is not the end of life....The people who keep on asking if they can't lead a decent life without Christ, don't know what life is about; if they did they would know that a 'decent life' is mere machinery compared with the thing we men are really made for. Morality is indispensable: but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be gods, intends for us something in which morality will be swallowed up. We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear - the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy." - C.S. Lewis
- "His Steadfast Love," (pg. 5) Reflections for Ragamuffins, by Brennan Manning (HarperSanFrancisco, 1998)
After twenty years of studying ethics, struggling with issues, trying to find the Good and to do the Right thing...to be a virtuous person...all of those struggles and suddenly it is clear to me in Brennan Manning's words. A simple, yet profound statement of the Christian life and ethic. We are first and foremost called to the proclamation of the Good News of eternal life in Jesus Christ. That is the Gospel...and we must always remember that is our task. But the Good News calls people in the direction of abundant life. ..the way of life that leads to God's New Kingdom that has come and is coming. And that life to which we are called and to which we call others is a life of individual peace and justice and one in which we work toward corporate peace and justice in a fallen world. Working for peace and justice grants human dignity and seeks the central virtue of the Kingdom of God...self giving, other affirming, community building love. In this all the ethical issues that are tossed about in conversation...family, government, economics, sexual issues of all sorts, biomedical issues, the life of virtue...all of these are derived from this simple statement. We must take the language of the peace and justice of the Gospel and apply it to all of these issues and that will require a Christological hermeneutic applied to the authority of scripture. Here is a simple statement of my theology and ethics...found in a simple statement, but profoundly life changing when understood by the heart.
"Christ is not a principle according to which the whole world must be formed. Christ does not proclaim a system of that which would be good today, here, and at all times. Christ does not teach an abstract ethic, that must be carried out, cost what it may. Christ was not essentially a teacher, a lawgiver, but a human being, a real human being like us. Accordingly, Christ does not want us to be first of all pupils, representatives, and advocates of a particular doctrine, but human beings, real human beings before God. Christ did not, like an ethicist, love s theory about the good; he loved real people. Christ was not interested, like a philosopher, in what is 'generally valid,' but in that which serves real concrete human beings. Christ was not concerned about whether 'the maxim of an action' could become 'a principle of universal law,' but whether my action now helps my neighbor to be a human being before God. God did not become an idea, a principle, a program, a universally valid belief, or a law; God became human....Formation according to the form of Christ includes, therefore, two things: that the form of Christ remains one and the same, not as a general idea but as the one who Christ uniquely is, the God who became human, was crucified, and is risen; and that precisely because of the form of Christ the form of the real human being is preserved, so that the real human being receives the form of Christ,"
- from Ethics, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, pgs. 98-99.
"Mere morality is not the end of life....The people who keep on asking if they can't lead a decent life without Christ, don't know what life is about; if they did they would know that a 'decent life' is mere machinery compared with the thing we men are really made for. Morality is indispensable: but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be gods, intends for us something in which morality will be swallowed up. We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear - the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy." - C.S. Lewis
Monday, November 22, 2010
Real Worship...the ordinary and extraordinary aspects in the movement of God's grace
"Mass had already begun, and the priest was reading the epistle. Then a brother in a brown robe came out, and you could see he was going to lead the children in singing a hymn. High up behind the altar St. Francis raised his arms up to God, showing the stigmata in his hands; the children began to sing. Their voices were very clear, they sang loud, their song soared straight up into the roof with a strong and direct flight and filled the whole church with its clarity. Then when the song was done, and the warning bell for consecration chimed in with the last notes of the hymn and the church filled with the vast rumour of people going down on their knees everywhere in it: and then the priest seemed to be standing in the exact center of the universe. Then the bell rang again, three times.
Before any head was raised again the clear cry of the brother in the brown robe cut through the silence with the words: 'Yo creo...' 'I believe' which immediately all the children took up after him with such loud and strong and clear voices, and such unanimity and such meaning and such fervor that something went off inside of me like a thunderclap and without seeing anything or apprehending anything extraordinary through any of my senses (my eyes were open on precisely what was there, the church), I knew with the most absolute and unquestionable certainty that before me, between me and the altar, somewhere in the center of the church, up in the air (or any other place because in no place), but directly before my eyes, or directly present in some apprehension or other of mine which was above that of the senses, was at the same time God in all His essence, all His power, all His glory, and God in Himself and God surrounded by the radiant faces of the uncountable thousands upon thousands of saints contemplating His glory and praising His Holy Name. And so the unshakable certainty, the clear and immediate knowledge that heaven was right in front of me, struck me like a thunderbolt and went through me like a flash of lightning and seemed to lift me clean up off the earth."
Thomas Merton quoted on pg. 151 of The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton, by Michael Mott
I love my church, Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas and I am grateful to have had moments like Merton describes in the serious work of worship that goes on each Sunday there.
Before any head was raised again the clear cry of the brother in the brown robe cut through the silence with the words: 'Yo creo...' 'I believe' which immediately all the children took up after him with such loud and strong and clear voices, and such unanimity and such meaning and such fervor that something went off inside of me like a thunderclap and without seeing anything or apprehending anything extraordinary through any of my senses (my eyes were open on precisely what was there, the church), I knew with the most absolute and unquestionable certainty that before me, between me and the altar, somewhere in the center of the church, up in the air (or any other place because in no place), but directly before my eyes, or directly present in some apprehension or other of mine which was above that of the senses, was at the same time God in all His essence, all His power, all His glory, and God in Himself and God surrounded by the radiant faces of the uncountable thousands upon thousands of saints contemplating His glory and praising His Holy Name. And so the unshakable certainty, the clear and immediate knowledge that heaven was right in front of me, struck me like a thunderbolt and went through me like a flash of lightning and seemed to lift me clean up off the earth."
Thomas Merton quoted on pg. 151 of The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton, by Michael Mott
I love my church, Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas and I am grateful to have had moments like Merton describes in the serious work of worship that goes on each Sunday there.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
A Tame God?
Ephesians 3:14-21
Romans 8:18-39
There's a wideness in God's mercy
I cannot find in my own
And He keeps His fire burning
To melt this heart of stone
Keeps me aching with a yearning
Keeps me glad to have been caught
In the reckless, raging fury
That they call the love of God
Now I've seen no band of angels
But I've heard the soldier's songs
Love hangs over them like a banner
Love within them leads them on
To the battle on the journey
And it's never gonna stop
Ever widening their mercies
And the fury of His love
Oh, the love of God
Oh, the love of God
The love of God.
Joy and sorrow are this ocean
And in their every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all Hell could never close
Here I'm tested and made worthy
Tossed about and lifted up
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God
-Rich Mullins
Now what is the other horrible thing we do to God besides making Him reasonable? We tame His love, we make it a version of our own...we romanticize it, sweeten it, make it syrup-py! It becomes something less risky, something we can control. It is less demanding of us, allows us justly to make others our enemies and love those who are easily loved. I am reminded of the words of C.S. Lewis:
"...(I)t would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
-pgs. 1-2, "The Weight of Glory," C.S. Lewis
This is why the New Testament writers chose to use the little used "agape" - so it would not be confused with all those other human loves - not that they are bad, they are just not eternal love.
But beware! Rich Mullins was right. There is a wideness in God's mercy we cannot find in our own. (A friend of mine thought it was "There's a wildness in God's mercy." Maybe he was closer to the Truth.) God's love is for the whole universe God created, and it is a powerful love, this reckless, raging fury that brought the galaxies into being. There are several lessons to be learned here.
First, God is not a tame God. In his Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis portrays the Christ character as Aslan the Lion. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe this conversation occurs:
"'Who is Aslan?' asked Susan.
'Aslan?' said Mr. Beaver, 'Why don't you know? He's the King...It is he, not you who will save Mr. Tumnus....'
'Is - is he a man?' asked Lucy.
'Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the Great-Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the Great Lion.'
'Oooh!' said Susan. 'I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.'
'That you will, dearie, and no mistake,' said Mrs. Beaver ' if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking they're either braver than most or else just silly.'
'Then he isn't safe?' said Lucy.
'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver. 'Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn't safe. But He's good. He's the King, I tell you.'
'I'm longing to see him,' said Peter, 'even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point.'"
A tame lion? A safe God? By the heavens, no! Our God is not a tame God! A God who is tamed is domesticated, controllable. He can be negotiated with, bullied, moved in our directions. And the God of Jesus Christ is no tame God!
Second, God's love is not a possession, but a participation. The wideness of God's mercy covers the entire creation. We have no right to love only safe people. God's mercy was to all! Christ died once for all! If God loves all, then so must we, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, social status denomination. There are no longer any dividing walls in Christ - no Jew nor Greek, no slave nor free, no male nor female. All are in Christ. All belong to God and if they do, then how can the wideness of our love as Christians be any less!
Finally, God's love is not a "safe" love. There is risk here. This life is an ocean of God's love upon which we are tossed about. We are tested and in those testings made worthy - we learn more of this love of God and are pulled deeper into the waters. But do not fear the angry deep, for God has always heard the cry of saints in deep waters and in their trials is love's participation. As the hymn says, "In the world's great troubles, risk yourself for God."
Scary, you say! Yes, for it is holy love from a holy God. But it is only the reckless, raging fury that they call the love of God that could save us. Thanks be to God!
Romans 8:18-39
There's a wideness in God's mercy
I cannot find in my own
And He keeps His fire burning
To melt this heart of stone
Keeps me aching with a yearning
Keeps me glad to have been caught
In the reckless, raging fury
That they call the love of God
Now I've seen no band of angels
But I've heard the soldier's songs
Love hangs over them like a banner
Love within them leads them on
To the battle on the journey
And it's never gonna stop
Ever widening their mercies
And the fury of His love
Oh, the love of God
Oh, the love of God
The love of God.
Joy and sorrow are this ocean
And in their every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all Hell could never close
Here I'm tested and made worthy
Tossed about and lifted up
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God
-Rich Mullins
Now what is the other horrible thing we do to God besides making Him reasonable? We tame His love, we make it a version of our own...we romanticize it, sweeten it, make it syrup-py! It becomes something less risky, something we can control. It is less demanding of us, allows us justly to make others our enemies and love those who are easily loved. I am reminded of the words of C.S. Lewis:
"...(I)t would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
-pgs. 1-2, "The Weight of Glory," C.S. Lewis
This is why the New Testament writers chose to use the little used "agape" - so it would not be confused with all those other human loves - not that they are bad, they are just not eternal love.
But beware! Rich Mullins was right. There is a wideness in God's mercy we cannot find in our own. (A friend of mine thought it was "There's a wildness in God's mercy." Maybe he was closer to the Truth.) God's love is for the whole universe God created, and it is a powerful love, this reckless, raging fury that brought the galaxies into being. There are several lessons to be learned here.
First, God is not a tame God. In his Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis portrays the Christ character as Aslan the Lion. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe this conversation occurs:
"'Who is Aslan?' asked Susan.
'Aslan?' said Mr. Beaver, 'Why don't you know? He's the King...It is he, not you who will save Mr. Tumnus....'
'Is - is he a man?' asked Lucy.
'Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the Great-Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the Great Lion.'
'Oooh!' said Susan. 'I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.'
'That you will, dearie, and no mistake,' said Mrs. Beaver ' if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking they're either braver than most or else just silly.'
'Then he isn't safe?' said Lucy.
'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver. 'Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn't safe. But He's good. He's the King, I tell you.'
'I'm longing to see him,' said Peter, 'even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point.'"
A tame lion? A safe God? By the heavens, no! Our God is not a tame God! A God who is tamed is domesticated, controllable. He can be negotiated with, bullied, moved in our directions. And the God of Jesus Christ is no tame God!
Second, God's love is not a possession, but a participation. The wideness of God's mercy covers the entire creation. We have no right to love only safe people. God's mercy was to all! Christ died once for all! If God loves all, then so must we, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, social status denomination. There are no longer any dividing walls in Christ - no Jew nor Greek, no slave nor free, no male nor female. All are in Christ. All belong to God and if they do, then how can the wideness of our love as Christians be any less!
Finally, God's love is not a "safe" love. There is risk here. This life is an ocean of God's love upon which we are tossed about. We are tested and in those testings made worthy - we learn more of this love of God and are pulled deeper into the waters. But do not fear the angry deep, for God has always heard the cry of saints in deep waters and in their trials is love's participation. As the hymn says, "In the world's great troubles, risk yourself for God."
Scary, you say! Yes, for it is holy love from a holy God. But it is only the reckless, raging fury that they call the love of God that could save us. Thanks be to God!
The Advent Conspiracy
Advent is upon us and I have a suggestion...no, really a request for all of you....
As he got older my Dad and I used to have conversations about Christmas and all the hassle of buying gifts for family members, finding just the right gift, how much money to spend, etc. I would ask him what he wanted for Christmas. He would always reply that he had enough, and really didn't need anything else. He suggested that we give gifts to those who really needed them in the family's name. We never really convinced the other family members about this wish, but it has become even more importnant to me now.
My near death experience this summer has caused me to do a great deal of thinking. I look around myself and realize that I have all that I really need...a lovely, loving wife, two wonderful daughters and their wonderful husbands, my dogs and the cat who give me great delight, great extended family and friends and a loving church home. I have enough to eat and a warm place to sleep. But what I really have is the one gift that God gave me this summer, more life to experience all of these wonderful things.
Because of this I want to invite you to join the Advent Conspiracy. This year instead of spending all of that money on gifts we don't need or will return the day after Christmas, why not spend that money on real gifts? Give the gift that you have been given to others, the gift of life. Spend your money on gifts that will really make a difference in the lives of people throughout the world. Join the Advent Conspiracy...and change the season to one of true gift giving. If you want to know what I would like for Christmas, then understand the conspiracy! Give the gifts of life...clean water, animals, school supplies, meals....real hope, real change.
Here are several places to find real opportunities to give the gift of life:
http://www.adventconspiracy.org - Watch the video! Give the gift of clean water to people who need it...a thing so simple that we take for granted.
http://www.heifer.org - give a charitable gift to provide animals to change people's lives.
http://www.thefellowship.info - Check out the CBF Gift Catalog and find multiple opportunities to change lives world wide.
What if Christmas became a world changing event again?
Come join the Conspiracy!
God, who gives seed to the farmer to plant, and later on good crops to harvest and eat, will give you more and more seed to plant so that you can give away more and more fruit from your harvest.
Yes, God will give you much so that you can give away much, and when you take your gifts to those who need them they will break out into thanksgiving and praise to God for your help.
So, two good things happen as a result of your gift - those in need are helped, and many overflow with thanks to God.
Those you help will be glad not only because of your generous gifts to themselves and to others, but they will praise God for this proof that you really do love the Lord.
And they will pray for you with deep fervor and feeling because of the wonderful grace of God within you.
Thank God for His Son - His gift to wonderful for words.
- II Corinthians 9:10-15 from the Living New Testament
As he got older my Dad and I used to have conversations about Christmas and all the hassle of buying gifts for family members, finding just the right gift, how much money to spend, etc. I would ask him what he wanted for Christmas. He would always reply that he had enough, and really didn't need anything else. He suggested that we give gifts to those who really needed them in the family's name. We never really convinced the other family members about this wish, but it has become even more importnant to me now.
My near death experience this summer has caused me to do a great deal of thinking. I look around myself and realize that I have all that I really need...a lovely, loving wife, two wonderful daughters and their wonderful husbands, my dogs and the cat who give me great delight, great extended family and friends and a loving church home. I have enough to eat and a warm place to sleep. But what I really have is the one gift that God gave me this summer, more life to experience all of these wonderful things.
Because of this I want to invite you to join the Advent Conspiracy. This year instead of spending all of that money on gifts we don't need or will return the day after Christmas, why not spend that money on real gifts? Give the gift that you have been given to others, the gift of life. Spend your money on gifts that will really make a difference in the lives of people throughout the world. Join the Advent Conspiracy...and change the season to one of true gift giving. If you want to know what I would like for Christmas, then understand the conspiracy! Give the gifts of life...clean water, animals, school supplies, meals....real hope, real change.
Here are several places to find real opportunities to give the gift of life:
http://www.adventconspiracy.org - Watch the video! Give the gift of clean water to people who need it...a thing so simple that we take for granted.
http://www.heifer.org - give a charitable gift to provide animals to change people's lives.
http://www.thefellowship.info - Check out the CBF Gift Catalog and find multiple opportunities to change lives world wide.
What if Christmas became a world changing event again?
Come join the Conspiracy!
God, who gives seed to the farmer to plant, and later on good crops to harvest and eat, will give you more and more seed to plant so that you can give away more and more fruit from your harvest.
Yes, God will give you much so that you can give away much, and when you take your gifts to those who need them they will break out into thanksgiving and praise to God for your help.
So, two good things happen as a result of your gift - those in need are helped, and many overflow with thanks to God.
Those you help will be glad not only because of your generous gifts to themselves and to others, but they will praise God for this proof that you really do love the Lord.
And they will pray for you with deep fervor and feeling because of the wonderful grace of God within you.
Thank God for His Son - His gift to wonderful for words.
- II Corinthians 9:10-15 from the Living New Testament
A Rational God?
This is the irrational season
When love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason
There'd have been no room for the child.
-Madeleine L'Engle
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten son of God, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
The rationality, the reasonableness of the Incarnation. Not a strange thing for a Christian who is a teacher of philosophy to be pondering, wouldn't you say? But Advent is here and that means Christmas is just around the corner and I will soon be standing face to face, once again, with that event in which the Word became flesh!
Two things, which may at first appear totally unconnected, have moved my mind in this direction. One is a song sung by 4Him entitled "This is Such a Strange Way to Save the World" that Christian radio stations around the country are beginning to play again in this season. The other is a passage in Madeleine L'Engle's The Irrational Season. I'll begin with an extended quote from L'Engle and perhaps you'll begin to understand.
"The enfleshing of the Word which spoke the galaxies made the death of that Word inevitable. All flesh is mortal and the flesh assumed by the Word was no exception in mortal terms. So the birth of the Creator in human flesh and human time was an event as shattering and terrible as the eschaton. If I accept this birth I must accept God's love, and this is pain as well as joy because God's love, as I am coming to understand it, is not like man's love.
What one of us can understand a love so great that we would willingly limit our unlimitedness, put the flesh of mortality over our immortality, accept all the pain and grief of humanity, submit to betrayal by that humanity, be killed by it, and die a total failure (in human terms) on a common cross between two thieves?
What kind of flawed, failed love is this? Why should we rejoice on Christmas Day? This is where the problem lies, not in secular bacchanalias, not in Santa Clauses with cotton beards, loudspeakers blatting out Christmas carols the day after Thanksgiving, not in shops fill of people pushing and shoving and swearing at each other as they struggle to buy overpriced Christmas presents.
No, it's not the secular world which presents me with problems about Christmas, it's God.
Cribb'd, cabined, and confined within the contours of a human infant. The infinite defined by the finite? The Creator of all life thirsty, and abandoned? Why would he do such a thing? Aren't there easier and better ways for God to redeem his fallen creatures?" (pgs. 17-18)
This really is such a strange way to save the world! Why Joseph? Why Mary? Why a stable near a small rural village of no importance? WHY???
And what good did it do? The human heart is still evil. God comes to save us and we still produce bigger and more terrible wars, slums, and insane asylums. Why? It is so unreasonable.
Oh, the rest of Christology has it right; God's Word bringing the galaxies to life, billions of flaming stars scattered across an unfathomable expanse. Here is an event worthy of a "reasonable" God; an event of power and grandeur beyond comprehension.
But what is this Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us? This man, this Jesus of Nazareth confounds my imagination. A God/Man? Unreasonable!!! Impossible!!!
Perhaps here lies the problem. So many philosophers and theologians wish to make God "possible," reasonable, comprehensible to human intellect; domesticate God so that God is easy to believe in. But what kind of God would that be?
Here then is the heart of the matter. "The wisdom of God is foolishness to this world." God is not a cold naked intellect, an impersonal principle, a natural law, that governs the universe. God is a person, the highest person, "the" Person, beyond all our comprehension. And God is that which naked intellect knows not, God is love.
In the long run, maybe it is not God who is unreasonable, but us. Our limited human abilities demand that God be like our understanding of things. But maybe true reason is bound up in love incomprehensible. And who wants a "comprehensible" God anyway?
So, is Christianity irrational? Maybe from a human standpoint. But that is not the standpoint I desire. If the wisdom of God is foolishness, then count me the greatest of fools!
A strange way to save the world? You bet, and thanks be to God!!!
When love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason
There'd have been no room for the child.
-Madeleine L'Engle
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten son of God, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
The rationality, the reasonableness of the Incarnation. Not a strange thing for a Christian who is a teacher of philosophy to be pondering, wouldn't you say? But Advent is here and that means Christmas is just around the corner and I will soon be standing face to face, once again, with that event in which the Word became flesh!
Two things, which may at first appear totally unconnected, have moved my mind in this direction. One is a song sung by 4Him entitled "This is Such a Strange Way to Save the World" that Christian radio stations around the country are beginning to play again in this season. The other is a passage in Madeleine L'Engle's The Irrational Season. I'll begin with an extended quote from L'Engle and perhaps you'll begin to understand.
"The enfleshing of the Word which spoke the galaxies made the death of that Word inevitable. All flesh is mortal and the flesh assumed by the Word was no exception in mortal terms. So the birth of the Creator in human flesh and human time was an event as shattering and terrible as the eschaton. If I accept this birth I must accept God's love, and this is pain as well as joy because God's love, as I am coming to understand it, is not like man's love.
What one of us can understand a love so great that we would willingly limit our unlimitedness, put the flesh of mortality over our immortality, accept all the pain and grief of humanity, submit to betrayal by that humanity, be killed by it, and die a total failure (in human terms) on a common cross between two thieves?
What kind of flawed, failed love is this? Why should we rejoice on Christmas Day? This is where the problem lies, not in secular bacchanalias, not in Santa Clauses with cotton beards, loudspeakers blatting out Christmas carols the day after Thanksgiving, not in shops fill of people pushing and shoving and swearing at each other as they struggle to buy overpriced Christmas presents.
No, it's not the secular world which presents me with problems about Christmas, it's God.
Cribb'd, cabined, and confined within the contours of a human infant. The infinite defined by the finite? The Creator of all life thirsty, and abandoned? Why would he do such a thing? Aren't there easier and better ways for God to redeem his fallen creatures?" (pgs. 17-18)
This really is such a strange way to save the world! Why Joseph? Why Mary? Why a stable near a small rural village of no importance? WHY???
And what good did it do? The human heart is still evil. God comes to save us and we still produce bigger and more terrible wars, slums, and insane asylums. Why? It is so unreasonable.
Oh, the rest of Christology has it right; God's Word bringing the galaxies to life, billions of flaming stars scattered across an unfathomable expanse. Here is an event worthy of a "reasonable" God; an event of power and grandeur beyond comprehension.
But what is this Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us? This man, this Jesus of Nazareth confounds my imagination. A God/Man? Unreasonable!!! Impossible!!!
Perhaps here lies the problem. So many philosophers and theologians wish to make God "possible," reasonable, comprehensible to human intellect; domesticate God so that God is easy to believe in. But what kind of God would that be?
Here then is the heart of the matter. "The wisdom of God is foolishness to this world." God is not a cold naked intellect, an impersonal principle, a natural law, that governs the universe. God is a person, the highest person, "the" Person, beyond all our comprehension. And God is that which naked intellect knows not, God is love.
In the long run, maybe it is not God who is unreasonable, but us. Our limited human abilities demand that God be like our understanding of things. But maybe true reason is bound up in love incomprehensible. And who wants a "comprehensible" God anyway?
So, is Christianity irrational? Maybe from a human standpoint. But that is not the standpoint I desire. If the wisdom of God is foolishness, then count me the greatest of fools!
A strange way to save the world? You bet, and thanks be to God!!!
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