Pink Couch

Making Sense of our Lives

2011-12-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

People who are able to make sense of their difficult or traumatic experiences are more resilient, more able to have secure attachments than those who haven’t. A child who has one person in their life who is present to them, who sees them, who is able to help them make sense of their experiences will survive even traumatic experiences more readily than one who doesn’t. (It has to do with the connections between the left brain and its rationality to the right brain and its bodily and emotional responses. For those who know about neuroscience, please forgive my limited understanding and explanations!)

When we read Scripture, we enter into the story of history and find our own place in it. I read the prophets and discover that the pattern of God’s work is the pattern of death and resurrection, not “progress”. I remember that God is a God who brings life out of death. I identify with the lamentations of Jeremiah and remember that in spite of how things looked at the time, God did fulfill his promises to his people. When I participate in communion I remember and reenact God bringing life out of death. My brain is making sense of my own experiences – making a narrative, putting it into context. I am entering into and finding my place in the story.

Reading the Bible ... participating in communion ... changes your brain.

Yet Lie Still and Sink Beneath

2011-12-09T08:56:00.000-08:00

From today's Daily Strength for Daily Needs:
"Be not troubled; for if troubles abound, and there be tossing, and storms and tempests, and no peace, nor anything visible left to support; yet lie still, and sink beneath, till a secret hope stir, which will stay the heart in the midst of all these; until the Lord administer comfort, who knows how and what relief to give the weary traveller, that knows not where it is, nor the way to look, nor where to expect a path."

Exercise is Medicine

2011-12-03T15:35:00.000-08:00

I have been going to Paul, my physical therapist for a problem that started a month ago. Paul is a great physical therapist. "Exercise is medicine:" he says. "If you don't do the exercises, I can't help you."

Yesterday I discovered that I have been sitting down wrong. Standing up too. You would think that I know how to sit down and stand up - but one develops these bad habits, sometimes the result of an injury, and ones whole body begins to adapt to it. It throws things off, and causes weaknesses and pain in unexpected places. Everything shifts a little, until doing it wrong feels right - and doing it right feels wrong.

You see where I am headed with this, right?

The only way to change this is 1) to have someone point it out to you, someone who knows how your body ought to be working, and show you how to do it differently, and 2) decide that you are going to change the pattern, and then practice, practice, practice. At first it feels wierd, and you have to concentrate. (I am doing 3 sets of 10 - sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up. Watch in the mirror .. are my knees straight? are my feet straight ahead? Where is my weight? ) Over time the new habit becomes more natural and the pains and disability the old habit caused begin to go away. (I know this because Paul has helped me change other bad body mechanics habits.)

#1 above is the equivalent of spiritual direction. You rarely can recognize these patterns yourself - you just know that you have weakness and pain somewhere and don't generally know why. A spiritual director is one who has learned to recogize the workings of the soul and has learned some exercises for it.

#2 above is the equivalent of repentance (change your mind and your direction) and spiritual discipline.
Now I know I sit down and stand up wrong. Just knowing that doesn't change it. I need to exercise. So here I go - another set of 10. So simple... but gets the job done.

God Works in Stuff

2011-12-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

One reason we don’t understand spiritual practices very well is that we often think of human beings as bodies who have a soul ... that is, the real me is somehow inside this body, not integrally connected with it. This is dualist Greek philosophy, not Hebrew thought! The Biblical view is that human beings are embodied spirits. God, who created the natural world and was Himself incarnated in Jesus - works in real stuff – blood and hormones and neurons, not in some magical, disembodied way.

Because we are human – embodied spirits - our training takes place through practice. We are creatures of habit, and our brains, our emotions, our impulses, our responses are conditioned. That is the process by which we are transformed.

It’s a long process, and I really don’t think there are shortcuts.

Changing Your Brain

2011-12-01T07:56:00.001-08:00

In recent years, neuroscience has demonstrated why spiritual practices work. (Note: I like to refer to "spiritual practices" rather than "spiritual disciplines. Anyone can practice! Discipline sounds like ... pushups. I really hate pushups.)
As Daniel Siegel, author of Emotional Intelligence wrote in his book Mindsight: "How we focus our attention shapes the structure of our brain." Think about that one for a while. The practices you engage in every day change the physical structure of your brain.

What I Learned at Harvard

2011-11-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

I recently went to the Harvard Medical School Coaching conference, thanks to my generous friend Patty. (I now have a certificate with the Harvard crest on it...).

Here is what I discovered ... much of what is current in coaching circles are things that we followers of Jesus should already know. Meditation ... gratitude...mindfulness ... positivity... having a mission bigger than yourself ... community... all these are practices that the Christian community has known for centuries. I came away feeling that while Christians have been chasing management and programs, business has been discovering the value of investing in human beings.

So I am going to be posting a series of reflections on the practices of our life with God ... by which I mean a life that is truly and fully human. More about that later!

My Top Picks: Reading on Spiritual Formation

2011-11-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Gordon Smith, On the Way: A Guide to Christian Spirituality.
This brief volume is theologically and practically rich – one of my most recommended books! (Regent College Publishing, available on Amazon, but unfortunately, not on Kindle.)

Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rythyms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation , IVP
Barton provides an accessible introduction to essential spiritual practices and how to develop a “rule of life.” At under 200 pages, this is an easy read.

Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
Many of the books we read are compilations and summaries. Nouwen is an “original source” who fundamentally influenced the discussion of spiritual transformation in our generation. In this small volume, he draws on the Desert Fathers in inviting us to the practices of Solitude, Silence, and Prayer.

James C. Wilhoit Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community.
This excellent book is a corrective to some of the more individualized views of spiritual transformation. This is a more substantive book proposing a “curriculum for Christlikeness, grounded in the gospel and the grace that makes it available.”

Dallas Willard: The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives
This book is sure to become a classic for the Christian life. Indispensible introduction to the place of spiritual disciplines in the Christian life. This is a book you should have in your library and reread periodically.

N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters.
If you are looking for a solid theological perspective, read this!! Few books expound the “telos” , the goal of our transformation and why it matters to God and to the world. (“We are designed to be, in the end, fully renewed, image-bearing human beings.”) Wright is one of the few leading theologians who can write for the general public in an engaging way. It will challenge you!

A Prayer for Caregivers

2011-09-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

O Lord of love

Let thy blessing be upon us and fill us with thy love.

Deliver us from all unkindness;

From offense given or taken;

From unrighteous anger and an impatient spirit;

From a hard and unforgiving temper;

And from evil-speaking;

From an unquiet and discontented spirit;

From gloominess and despondency;

From fears and misgivings,

From doubts of thy boundless love,

And from forgetfulness of thy tender mercies; deliver us, O lord,

And fill us with the fullness of Thy love;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord

Amen.

We Love Our Lyme Doc

2011-07-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

We love our Lyme doc. We just got back from the quarterly trip to see him. It’s a crazy place ... small, modest quarters, full of people ... Ron and Jim the nurses, Kathy the receptionist, Misha and Yvonne the other docs, ... and lots of really really sick people.

But not as sick as they were. In the waiting room are people from Canada, Chicago, Montana, Washington ... some of them had moved there in order to be treated by this doctor. I asked one young woman, who had moved there from Chicago, “Are you getting better?” “5 months ago I couldn’t have carried on a conversation with you” she said.

Then there is Steve, the Lyme doctor. “Kathy!!” he says: “Bring me more sick people!!.” He examines L., asks questions, listens and looks. He revises the treatment plan and looks her in the eye: “You can get better,” he says firmly. “I know you’re not diggin it now ...you have a ways to go, but you will get better.”

We believe him. Please, God, we believe him.

Someday, these people – Steve and Ron and Jim and Misha and Yvonne – will be recognized as the pioneers they are, tenaciously treating a pernicious, misunderstood disease, dismissed and even persecuted by the larger medical community – and literally giving people back their lives. In the meantime, we are grateful.

A Little Doggy Message

2011-04-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

This morning my prayers included this:
"Thou that knowest our thoughts, make Thyself known to our hearts."

A month ago, a kind stranger gave my daughter this dog to be her friend

and companion. His official name is "Legacy Custom Made". She called him "Gabriel". He is perfect for her - sits on her lap, sleeps on her bed, keeps her company.

Yesterday he had to have some dental work done. The bill came to $780. Yes.

Today a couple from church called and asked if we would let them cover Gabe's vet bills. (And didn't retract the offer when they heard how much it was yesterday!) God sent the dog. And then He sent the money to keep him.

I know that the way God has finally made Himself known to us was on the cross, which event we remenber today. But, strangely enough, today it was through a little doggy, and the generosity of others, that He made Himself known to my heart.

A Birthday Gift for Me

2011-02-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

I got a little birthday gift yesterday. My friend Shana called to say that she and Tyler are engaged. I love Shana. She is a treasured friend – I love her enthusiasm, and her ideas, and her clarity of thought. It pleases me more than I can say to think of Tyler seeing her and loving her.

The call came at a particularly despairing moment. I was realizing how thin my devotion to Jesus really is. At this point, I can’t honestly say I want transformation, or glory, or the kingdom. I just want this present circumstance to be over. That is all I want right now. Relief.

But with Shana’s call, I was reminded that she loves me for myself, as I do her . She is in my heart, as I am in hers. Her happiness is mine. And I was reminded of this quote by Bernard of Clairveaux ( a great lover of God): “Brethren, let us take heart again! Even if we are nothing in our own hearts, perchance something of us is hidden in the heart of God.”

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us...

Deep Heavenly Gold ... continued

2011-02-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Anticipating that some might quarrel with the use of the word friendship in the last post ... let me elaborate.

When Laurie was in the process of leaving this life, friends were gathered around her bed for days (and nights.) She could no longer speak or move, and she didn’t look too good. But each time one of us came into or left the room, we went to her and kissed her, patted her hand, rubbed her feet, spoke to her. We remembered her, saw her, recognized her – not for anything external – but for who she is as a person. We treasured her, in our minds and conversation. We looked at Laurie, and we saw her.

None of us thought she was somehow perfect. But she was herself, unique. And we each had a unique relationship with her. There were many others who knew her, and some who were much closer to her (pause, as I refrain from saying uncharitable things ...) who never really saw her.

What was so evident in that hospital room was love/friendship. To be known in this way, I think was Laurie’s deepest desire. That was how she saw people. The reason her little gifts and jokes were so treasured is that they were so individualized – so personal – coming out of her knowledge of us. (When she gave me a t-shirt that said “Not My Problem”, she knew exactly why I needed that t-shirt!!)

That is what God is after too. He is a person (not The Force!) and his intention is for friendship – with us, and for us with one another. Mutual recognition ... enjoyment ... treasuring ... and maybe even private jokes and secret gifts. Yes .... I am sure of it.

Deep Heavenly Gold

2011-02-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

I am contemplating the death of my friend.

Contemplation is not just thinking. It comes from the Latin root con (with) and temple (a place set apart for observation). It is to consider, observe, ponder.

I find that our normal mode is to envision or anticipate what we think ought to be. We have in our minds a narrative of what would be good, or right, or happy. I had a narrative about Laurie – what I wanted to happen. That’s not what happened. Instead, I am seeing a different narrative unfold.

God never – yes, I think that is not too strong to say – never operates on the basis of the narrative we have constructed. Instead He acts – and our part is to consider, to contemplate – those actions. He is not an idol, fashioned by us to do what we want. (see Isaiah 40)

One reason for that, I suspect is that we are after different things. We want to “fix” people. God, on the other hand is after love, or since that is an overused word – friendship.

Sometimes we try and force the facts to fit our narrative. But, as Laurie said, “Beauty lies in the true story.” I want to contemplate the true story. As I do, I am seeing something richer, deeper, more profound than the story I had in mind.

"Christian contemplation only starts when the deep heavenly gold begins to glint through the turbulent surface of earthly affairs."

Hans Urs von Balthasar

To be continued ...

My Everyday Friend

2011-01-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

Laurie was my Every Day friend... the one who knew what kind of a day I was having and what I needed from the store. For the last few years we have accompanied each other through hard things and wrestled with the hard questions together, like 2 wobbly skaters who hold each other up. She always made me laugh - in the midst of the most difficult situations, she had something funny to say. She had so many losses in the last 3 years - her beautiful curly red hair, 4 inches of height, her beloved horse, and even her husbands presence - but she was so courageous and resilient.

Over the past 2 days, I got to sit at her bedside with other friends. We all had heard of one another ... but we were from different eras, different contexts of Laurie's life. We laughed and told Laurie stories and cried and rubbed her feet and kissed her and told her how we loved her. It was a sacred time, full of "sharp sorrow and great wonder" as my friend Gwen described such a time. I hope that when I die, I can be accompanied to the threshold by my women friends as Laurie was.

I have lost my skating partner.

Holy Week at the Hospital: Reflection

2010-04-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

Thy life on earth was grief, and thou art still
Constant unto it, making it to be
A point of honour now to grieve in me,
And in thy members suffer ill.
They who lament one cross,
Thou dying daily, praise thee to thy loss.

George Herbert
Sent from my iPod

Holy Week at the Hospital: Observation#2

2010-04-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Some doctors say stupid things.
I.e. "have you thought of taking a
sleeping pill?"
(Suggestion: look at the list of current meds
you are holding in your hand.)
"you need to trysome smile therapy!"
Code Silvery gray!

Sent from my iPod

Holy Week at the Hospital: Observation#1

2010-04-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Code Red means fire. When it is called they close the room door.
Code Gray is "combative person".
They call that when they see me coming towards the nursing station.
Code Silver, on the other hand means "person with a weapon".
That may be next. Or perhaps "code silvery gray?

A Good Man

2010-03-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

When I first met my husband I noticed two things right away (well, in addition to the fact that he is 6’5”…) – he asked me a question and was interested in what I thought … and he picked up a fully packed dresser from a U Haul and set it up on a 4 foot loading dock. Impressive … a handy guy to have around!
Now, in a difficult time, Terry shines. He is a rock - steady, hard-working, reliable and consistently kind. He even brings me flowers. He is a good man.

Life is hard. I am so grateful that we can help each other through it.

My Book List

2010-03-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Here is my list of favorite books ... Happy Reading!

Good Books!
Compiled by Carolyn Culbertson
Especially recommended books
♥ Beloved books

Prayer and Prayers
♥Tileston, Mary. Great Souls at Prayer (only available in the large print edition currently – sometimes you can find an old one, a small volume which is a lovely find, as long as you are not bidding against me on ebay! The entire text can be found at http://www.archive.org/details/greatsoulsatpray00tile) This book has been teaching me to pray God-centered prayers for the past decade.

The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions by Arthur G. Bennett

♥Prayer. Hans Urs von Balthasar. Not an easy read! But whatever you do get from it is very rich and Christ focused. Von B. was a Catholic theologian of the 20th century, influenced Joseph Ratsinger (now Pope Benedict.)

Phyllis Tickle, The Divine Hours This is a “daily office” of prayers and readings following the Book of Common Prayer. Especially helpful for those times when you have trouble praying your own prayers.

Spiritual Direction

Tom Ashbrook, Mansions of the Heart: Exploring the Seven Stages of Spiritual Growth. Very helpful and readable introduction to the wisdom of Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle. Recommended for those who want a greater understanding of growing in the love of God.

Anita Ahlberg, Handbook of Spiritual Disciplines, A thorough introduction to spiritual disciplines with practical application suggestions.

Ruth Barton, Sacred Rhythms, Solitude and Silence. A good introduction to spiritual practices.

J.I. Packer, Guard Us, Guide Us. (This is a new book by one of the most trusted theologians of our time)

Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich, The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith

M. Craig Barnes, When God Interrupts: Finding New Life Through Unwanted Change, (IVP)

David Benner, The Gift of Being Yourself. (Very helpful exploration of the need for the “double knowledge, i.e. knowing yourself and knowing God.)

______ , Invitation to Love

_______ , Spiritual Companions (on spiritual direction).

Francois Fenelon Spiritual Letters to Women. Fenelon was a 17th century archbishop.

Gerald Sittser, A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss, (Zondervan). Dr. Sittser is a professor at Whitworth College, who lost his mother, wife and child in an accident. This is the one book I have given to people who are the midst of loss and grief. It is sensitive, honest and yet hopeful.

Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Discovering Our Hidden Life in God,
________ The Spirit of the Disciplines
________Hearing God.

Gordon Smith, Courage and Calling: Embracing Your God-Given Potential (my favorite book on vocation, work and life’s direction)
♥___________, Listening to God in Times of Choice. (The best on discernment and decision making.)
♥___________, The Voice of Jesus: Discernment, Prayer and the Witness of the Spirit (IVP) (includes some of the same material from Listening to God, more comprehensive.)
____________, On the Way (An excellent introduction to basic spiritual disciplines – not just for beginners
___________, Alone with God (Regent Publishing) a guide to a day of prayer.
__________, Beginning Well (about conversion)

Buchanan, Mark, The Rest of God. Mark is a pastor in British Columbia, a good writer, very engaging, easy to read. This one is about Sabbath and rest.
Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in 10.000 Places, (The first of a 5 book series on spiritual theology – these will be classics.)
____________, Eat this Book
___________, The Jesus Way,
___________, Tell it Slant
___________, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity,
___________, Under the Unpredictable Plant,
___________, Subversive Spirituality,
___________, The Wisdom of Each Other,
__________, Take and Read (an annotated reading list of Christian classics). (Peterson has greatly influenced me in the area of spirituality and ministry.)
Dawn, Marva, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly (Dr. Dawn is an excellent and practical theologian and all of her books are worth reading.)

Keith Anderson and Randy Reese, Spiritual Mentoring: A Guide for Seeking and Giving Direction

Margaret Silf, The Inner Compass: An Introduction to Ignatian Spirituality

Brad Jerzak, Can You Hear Me? On listening prayer… this was a stretch for me… but I learned and was challenged.

Theology

Paul Marshall, Heaven is Not My Home: Living in the Now of God’s Creation.

John Stackhouse, Can God Be Trusted?: Faith and the Challenge of Evil, (Oxford University Press). The best book on the question I have read- it deals with the question from a theological viewpoint.
_____________, Humble Apologetics – a must read for apologetics in a pluralistic society.
_____________, Finally Feminist ( if you dare…)
_____________, Making the Best of It (on theology of culture)

Tom (N.T.) Wright, Mark for Everyone (N. T. Wright, a British theologian, also wrote, John for Everyone, etc. a series of new, very readable comment on books of the New Testament) I highly recommend this series as an aid to Bible reading. Expensive but worth it!
___________, Simply Christian (An engaging and well written introduction to Christianity.)
___________, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (His newest. Don’t miss it.)
___________, Evil And the Justice of God

Fee, Gordon, How to Read the Bible Book by Book, Excellent guide for reading through the Bible.

Evangelism and World Mission

Hunter, George III, The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West…Again.

Nabeel Jabbour, The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross: Insights from an Arab Christian. A must read!

Fiction and Theology
Frederick Buechner, Now and Then, Telling Secrets, The Gospel as Comedy, Tragedy and Fairy Tale – or anything by him. Such beautiful writing!
Wendell Berry, ♥Hannah Coulter
_______ A Place on Earth
_______Jayber Crow, (or anything by him… he is a novelist and essayist I have come to greatly appreciate. My favorite living novelist.)

George Elliot, Middlemarch ( a novel with great insights on vocation)
Shusako Endo, Silence

Matt Mikalatos, Imaginary Jesus

History

Gerald Sittser, Water From a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries. An excellent and readable introduction to different aspects of spirituality through the years.

Parenting

Eugene Peterson, Like Dew Your Youth: Growing Up With Your Teenager.

Christian Classics

Underhill, Evelyn, The Spiritual Life
________ Fruit of the Spirit,
________♥Concerning The Inner Life. Many of Underhill's works can be obtained from : Morehouse Publishing 800-877-0012)

C.S. Lewis – everything, but especially Miracles.

Augustine, Confessions

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, The Cost of Discipleship

J.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, Knowledge of the Holy

John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress. Everyone should read this, regularly.

The Poems of George Herbert

Sometimes it feels like this...

2010-03-05T10:55:00.000-08:00

"O that thou should give dust a tongue
To cry to thee,
And then not hear it crying! all day long
My heart was in my knee,
But no hearing."

an excerpt from "Denial" by George Herbert (1593-1633)

My Prayer for Today

2010-02-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

Well actually, MYprayer for today is HELP! But this one, from Great Souls at Prayer, says it better...

Almighty God, The Refuge of all who are distressed,
Grant unto us that, in all trouble of this our mortal life,
we may flee to the knowledge
of Thy lovingkindness and tender mercy;
That so, sheltering ourselves therein,
the storms of life may pass over us,
and not shake the peace of God that is within us.
Whatsoever this life may bring us,
grant that it may never take from us
the full faith that Thou art our Father.
Grant us thy light,
that we may have life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

A Prayer for Today

2009-12-01T09:27:00.001-08:00

Lord,
Be with me everywhere and at all times,
In all events and circumstances of my life;
To sanctify and sweeten whatever befalls me;
And never leave or forsake me in my present pilgrimage here,
Till you have brought me safe through all trials and dangers
To be ever with you,
There to live in your sight and love,
World without end.
Amen.

I John 4: Test the Spirits

2009-11-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

To see a contemporary example of the kind of thing that John was talking about - check out Oprah's interview with her guru, Eckhart Tolle. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI9YPT2Sae8) It is just the same kind of philosophy that was beginning to affect the young churches of the first century.

John insists that "the universal consciousness" has a name and a face: Jesus, the Christ. And a pattern - righteousness, the way Jesus walked. And an outcome: self-sacrificing love that shows up in tangible care for people with bodies.

It is pleasant to talk about "universal consciousness" and "awareness." But the Spirit of Jesus points to Jesus, his way and the people he loves.

See What Kind of Love...

2009-11-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking all week about another word to use for love to help me get a better grasp on it. I think of partnership, intimacy, union, and friendship, trying to walk around the word and get more of the facets... see what kind of love...

Everything in our lives with Christ is a function of that relationship. Joined with Jesus, we are God's children. In chapter 3 John describes some of the outworkings of that relationship ... becoming more like Him, living in a way that is consistent with the way our Father is, loyalty to his purposes (if He is out to destroy the works of the devil, how can we promote them?) and loving our brothers more than ourselves - as He did.

When Dan and Rachel were married, Roger, in his best man toast, said, "Rachel, I welcome you into my heart. I will love you like I love my own sister." I have often thought of that as a good description of love - "welcome you into my heart". When you welcome someone into your heart, what touches them, touches you. Your life intersects with theirs. God has welcomed us into his heart. If we are there - staying there, abiding there, - it shows up in our lives, in our love.

What Not To Love

2009-11-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

One more thing on 1 John 2 before we move on to chapter 3. John tells us what to love - God and people - and what not to love. The Message puts it well: "Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him."

"The world" used in this way refers to the whole system that tries to run things apart from God: what is valued, what is avoided, how people look for life apart from God. Loving those ways keep us from loving God - and also keep us from loving people. Other people become a means to our ends.

This is more subtle than it first appears. It is easy to think that we are not "worldly" because we are not chasing fame, fashion and fortune. (And if we do, I got news for you - we're losing...). But it is easy for others to be props on our stage, and not to see them, not to value them for themselves.

The next chapter begins with maybe my favorite verse in the book " See what kind of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God - and that is what we are!" Let that simmer in your mind and heart for a while ... See what kind of love ... What kind of love is it?

2009-11-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

I read a blog by a young man who had been an avid Christian in his teens - and now is an avid atheist. Puzzled by how otherwise intelligent people (like his parents, for whom I stopped to pray) could believe in God, he was at a family wedding when he had an ah-ha moment.

All the people there had based their lives on faith in Christ - the way they think and live and all of their family and friends were centered on faith in Christ. They couldn't think "rationally" because they would have to go against their whole community! He alone, in his opinion, had had the courage and intellectual honesty to do so. (He is so very young...)

Of course I disagree with his conclusion - that community commitment keeps people believing in God - because it fails to account for the very many whose commitment to Christ costs them their family, friends and even their lives. But he has a point.
John wrote his letter "that you may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." The more I read this letter, the more I see that that is the whole crux.

Fellowship - unity - partnership with God has 3 irreducible elements, and John goes around and around them through the whole book. Fellowship with God involves truth to believe, a way to live and a community to love. It involves the whole person, what we think, how we live, what we love. Pretty simple, really, but believers generally get tripped up on one of the other of those! At the end of his life, John has the heart of the matter.

For me, our young atheist is partly right. Part of what keeps me faithful to Christ and to his truth is ... well, you! When I feel weak or doubting, I don't have to carry it all myself. I just join in with the community of faith, with others who are more knowledgeable, more faithful, more intimate with God than I am. I need people like Laura T. at church who loves Jesus and follows him in the midst of big challenges. (Thank you Laura!)I need them - I need you - and they need me. That is part of what it means to be in "fellowship."

I will continue to think and read and pray about this ... I hope you will too!

God is Light - I John 1

2009-10-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

This paragraph contains a well-known and often quoted verse – “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We know it – we just forget to actually do it!

The older I get, the more important this seems to me. Nothing is more essential to life with God, with one another and for our growth and well-being as a person.

God is light (life, purity, revealing) There is no partnership between light and darkness – if light is there, the darkness is driven out. How then can people who are sinful – who have dark places in their hearts and lives – that is, people like us, be in partnership with the God who is light?

People who are in partnership with God do not walk in darkness, habitually avoiding seeing what is in them that is at odds with God, with life. They walk in the light – as a pattern of life, they allow the light of God’s presence and his word to reveal what is there. They acknowledge what is there – recognizing and admitting what is sin and death to them. And – this is important - they acknowledge that Jesus has taken all of that on himself on the cross.

I am learning to ask, in every situation: Lord show me more about this – what is it that I am feeling? What is behind that response? What do I love more than I love you? Where am I looking for life?

Our response to a glimpse of our own part of the brokenness of the world (sin) can be:
“I am not listening … where’s that remote?
“It isn’t really wrong … its not my fault … if he/she/it/they would just…
"I am such an idiot … why don’t I ever change?"
"I will be better than that from now on..."

NO! – here is what John reminds us to do – confess it, acknowledge it! “Lord here I am, this is what I really feel/think/do/am.” Then carry it to the cross – “He himself has borne our sins on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." Give thanks for his grace and mercy. It is enough.

This is the pattern we follow all our lives. You won’t ever get past it, or won’t need to do it anymore. The result of walking this way over time is, I think, greater humility, a greater appreciation for the mercies of God, and a greater compassion for the others around you.

There is a warning here as well – John makes it clear that those who walk in darkness – in a way of life that is out of character with God – are proving that they have no partnership, no fellowship, with him.

No Secret - I John 1

2009-10-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

“Just suppose I could show you a way to accomplish anything and everything you choose to accomplish in your life... You would be interested in hearing about that, wouldn't you?” James Arthur Ray, promoting his “Harmonic Wealth Weekends”

There have always been plenty of people claiming to have some secret knowledge - something which, for the initiated, brings them into the real "secret" of life, into wealth, success and happiness. This recent one required being in a sweat lodge with 60 other people ... and $10,000.

John has something entirely different - public knowledge. He is telling us what he (and others) saw, touched and heard. His message is not based on someone's ideas. It comes from something that happened. This message, the gospel is not good advice. It is good news.

This public fact - the life, death and resurrection of Jesus - is what convinced me to be a Christian. And it is what I go back to when I have doubts, when I begin to wonder if this is all something we have made up, group think, no different than the poor deluded people in the sweat lodge. Something happened - and I can find no other explanation, no other conclusion for it than the one John and his friends came to.

John writes "so that you may have fellowship with us... and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." I have been pondering that this morning ... what does it mean to have fellowship - partnership, union, participation, intimate connection - with the Father and the Son? (One place I am looking at is John 17.)What do you think?

“No particular religion matters, neither ours nor yours. But I want to tell you that something has happened that matters, something that judges you and me, your religion and my religion. A New Creation has occurred, a New Being has appeared; and we are all asked to participate in it … Don’t compare your religion and our religion, your rites and our rites, your prophets and our prophets … All this is of no avail. We only want to show you something we have seen and to tell you something we have heard… that here and there in the world, and now and then in ourselves is a New Creation, usually hidden, but sometimes manifest, and certainly manifest in Jesus who is called the Christ.”
Paul Tillich, The New Being
Quoted in Frederick Buechner, Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation

Book Club Blog -

2009-10-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

Pastor John (the letter doesn't say who wrote it - but it has traditionally been accepted that it was the Apostle John. Notice the same themes and language in this letter as you find in John's gospel) is writing to a community of believers. There are problems in the community (if you are, or ever have been part of any community whatsoever, perhaps this does not surprise you...)

Here are some of the things I noticed that John seems to be concerned about.
1. Some wrong teaching about Jesus - people were promoting a "spiritualized Jesus" denying that he really came "in the flesh", that he was really human. There were "anti-christs", or as my friend Matt calls them "imaginary Jesuses." (1:1-2, 4:1-2, 5:1-2)
2. This was sowing confusion and doubt in the community ... are we "spiritual" enough? (3:19, 4:3ff)
3. There was conflict in the community: arguments, one-upmanship, not taking care of one another. (3:16, 4:20)
4. People were concerned with being "spiritual" , but not with being righteous - that is, in right relationship with one another and with God. (2:4, 3:7)

What did you notice? What were the "big ideas" in this letter? What is the tone?

Here is a quote from Eugene Peterson to think on: "If Jesus is divested of all human features and characteristics, loving Jesus is stripped of all the details that have to do with the life we are actually living with our family and neighbors. And here's the thing: a dehumanized Jesus is a lot easier and more pleasant to love than a difficult spouse, or an angry teenager, or a rude neighbor, or an insufferably boring brother-in-law - all of them so very very human."

For this week, read chapter 1. There are just 2 paragraphs - what is John emphasizing here? Why is this important?

Book Club: 1 John

2009-10-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

We are starting up the Book Club again, reading and considering I John together. I need the company of reading with others! Read along with us, and post your comments.
This week we are reading the whole letter - after that we will read one chapter each week. I hope that you will be reading it throughout the week, letting it percolate through your mind and life.
If you've been reading, you will have noticed that I John isn't very linear in its presentation. The writer meanders through several themes, revisiting them, weaving them together. As you read, you can tell what is on his mind. What kinds of things does he address? What does it tell you about what is going on with the community he is writing to?
Hmm...if John were to write us a letter, I wonder what he would say?

Clear Thinking

2009-10-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

I am not always a very clear thinker ... and that is one reason I need people like Professor John Stackhouse. He is clear, concise, cogent and comprehensive. He is writing on his blog a series about Why Christianity is Believable. You should read it! (See the link to the left.)

My Dead Friend Evelyn

2009-10-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

My dead friend Evelyn (Evelyn Underhill, 1875-1941) continues to be my mentor. Here is something from The Fruits of the Spirit, that I needed to hear this morning:

"If, in spite of all conflicts, weakness, suffering, sins, we open our door, the Spirit is poured out within us, and the first mark of its presence is not an increase of energy, but joy and peace. We should not have guessed that. Yet real love always heals fear and neutralizes egotism, and so, as love grows up in us, we shall worry about ourselves less and less, and admire and delight in God and His other children more and more, and this is the secret of joy."

Lena

2009-09-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

As a child, Laura desperately wanted a dog. We never thought it was possible - we lived overseas, and when we moved to the US, we lived in a house without a back yard. In 1997, our friends the Stalsbrotens adopted a guidedog. Laura wanted one too! We investigated, read books -and Terry one day confessed"Actually, I would really like to have a dog..."

So we applied with Patty Taylor, a puppy raiser for Guidedogs for the Blind, to adopt the yellow lab she was raising - if she failed to make the grade as a guidedog and became available for adoption. We had a home visit and interview, and were approved. And we waited. And Laura prayed for that dog.

One day in December of 1997, Patty called and asked to talk to Laura. "Do you want a dog?" she asked? Laura burst into tears. The next day, we met Lena. She was a gift from God, for Laura, for our family. For me.

She was Laura's friend, her doggy-girl They went to 4-H together, to the County Fair, won ribbons with their teamwork. She was mellow and not terribly smart. She made us laugh. She was well-behaved -except for one thing - she would eat everything that was accessible that was even remotely imagined to be edible. A ball of twine. Whole peaches with the pits. A half a bag of the neighbor dog's food. A chocolate cake. Two whole pounds of See's Candy. She was a familiar visitor to the vet's office. Yesterday she went there one last time, looked into my eyes for reassurance while Dr. Testerman gave her the injection, laid her head on her paw as she always did, and went to sleep.

I miss her. She was always so happy to see me, and I liked that. It was so strange and lonely to walk into the house and not have her greet me. She was a good dog and I give thanks to God for her.

A Prayer (for when you don't have one of your own.).

2009-09-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Grant me, O Lord, to trust in You with all my heart.
for as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength,
so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God,
now and forever.

An Update on Laura

2009-09-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

The summer of 09 ... doctor bills, insurance forms, hours on the phone with all my new friends at Blue Cross, the hyperbaric chamber, middle of the night massages and reading aloud to my sleepless girl, prescriptions and supplements and trying to find nourishing things that she can eat. Maybe its best not to ask me "So! How was your summer?"
Laura is back in Spokane now, ready to start school - and we are hoping and praying for the best. (Her condition, by the way, is called Undifferentiated Spondyloarthropathy, a type of arthritis that causes inflammation of the tendons around the joints. She has had it since she was 16 or so - but it is only this year that it has flared up with this severity.)It has been up and down for her with pain, nausea and fatigue. She seems to be a little better at the moment. She is taking medication that suppresses the immune system - and the H1N1 flu, mild for most people, is dangerous for young people with suppresses immune systems.
I am thankful for good doctors, for insurance coverage (if she hadn't gone back to school in January, she would not have been on our insurance. So far this year: $10,000 worth of medications), and for the mercies of God. And I appreciate your prayers.

A Morning Prayer

2009-08-06T10:10:00.001-07:00

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day. Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

No, No, No, No!

2009-07-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

This morning I heard a pastor talk about suffering. It was well meaning. However, I am going to say not just that I disagree with it, but that it is a view that is pernicious, destructive to faith and unworthy of God. (I have held it, and preached it, and that is how I know this.)
The talk went like this:
1. Why does God allow suffering?
2. Because God is using it for our good to make us like Christ.
3. When we get the lesson He is trying to teach us, we won’t have to be in pain anymore. (yes, that is what he said.)

The fact that God has, through the great reversal of the cross, redeemed suffering should not be used as an explanation of suffering. God does not explain evil – he only trumps it, on the cross. He takes the worst that his enemy can do – the death of the Son of Man – and turns it around into the best that can ever happen. And that is what he does with suffering, and with evil. He does use it for our good – but that is not a why – it is instead a how.

The question is asked “What is God tying to teach you in this?” Yikes. God does not try. God is not up there saying “Gee, she/he still doesn’t get it! I guess I will keep her from getting pregnant/let her child be in pain/give him a brain tumor/” NO, NO, NO! Infertility and pain and sickness are part of this fallen world. God does not stop them. But he will transform them, make them into instruments of His love and use them for our sanctification. It is indeed true that the mercies of God, experienced through suffering can deepen and remake human beings. As C.S. Lewis said “Pain carves out places in our hearts for joy to dwell.”

And when you “get it” you do not get out of your pain. This is the equivalent of the faith healer telling the sick person “if you had enough faith, you would be healed!” It is cruel, and wrong to say so.

If you are suffering, in pain, let me say this to you. God does not offer you an explanation. What explanation can be enough? ( “Our ears still ring with the cry of artists like Dostoyevsky whose Ivan Karamazov had protested passionately against suffering inflicted on a child, ‘I would persist in my indignation, even if I were wrong.’” Henri Blocher, Evil and The Cross) He instead offers Himself, entering into it in Christ, walking with us through it by His Spirit, and triumphing over it through the cross.

“…the problem of evil is not something we will “solve” in the present world, and ..our primary task is not so much to give answers to impossible philosophical questions as to bring signs of God’s new world to birth on the basis of Jesus’ death and resurrection and in the power of his Spirit, even in the midst of “the present evil age.” N.T. Wright, Evil and the Justice of God

I am sure that that is what our good brother was after.

Holy Week - Luke 20

2009-04-07T11:48:00.001-07:00

I got a call at 5 :30 am that my dad, who is 88, was being taken to the hospital with heart issues. I just got back from the hospital ( he's doing OK). As the passage is about resurrection, I thought it is appropriate to talk about that.

Jesus was talking to a group who were distinctly non-mystical - for them, the Law was a way to live, here and now, and death would be the end. Jesus refutes that, saying "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." At this time most of the Jewish people believed that when God intervened, in the "Day of the Lord" when He came to Jerusalem (see chapter 19), defeated their enemies (see chapter 23), established His kingdom (see 19:11), that the righteous would be raised from the dead, to live again on earth. Until that time the faithful dead were asleep in the shadowlands. They did not believe that somehow their "souls" without their bodies, would go off to heaven: that was a Greek notion.

Jesus affirmed the resurrection of the dead - and a few days later, he became the first - the forerunner. He was not disembodied, or a "spirit" - he had a new, resurrected body, but one that could eat and talk and - so significantly - bore the scars of his suffering. The scars were not forgotten, wiped away - they were part of his resurrected body.

I believe that we have been confused by Greek philosophy about the idea of heaven. The biblical concept is that we are not souls who have a body - but that we are embodied spirits, and that we will have new bodies, bodies like the Lord Jesus' resurrection body, bodies that will live on a new earth, with Jesus and with one another. (If you want to know more, I recommend N.T. Wright's "Surprised by Hope." It is the best book I have read in the past year.)

I believe and am convinced that the best is ahead of us. As C.S. Lewis wrote: "All their life in this world, and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page; now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better that the one before."

Holy Week: Luke 19

2009-04-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been hard: my friend's cancer, my daughter's diagnosis. It is now, in the midst of the hard things, that it is important to pay attention to the foundation on which my life is built. And these chapters are that foundation. I think that Jesus really lived, died and rose from the dead. And that is the most important fact of my life.

So - in the midst of the busy-ness and the sorrows and the worries of life - let's take time this week to remember the most important thing, the thing that doesn't change.

In the chapters we have been reading, there has been a dual focus - the increasing buy-in of the disciples, and the increasing hostility of the opponents. Jesus has been making the invitation - and the warning - quite plain. In Chapter 18 there is a stark contrast - the rich young ruler who goes away blinded by wealth - and the blind beggar who follows, rejoicing.

Chapter 19 opens with the story of Zacchaeus and one response to Jesus "he hurried down and received him joyfully" - and closes with the other -the "principal men of the city... seeking to destroy him." The story of the tenants in chapter 20 sums up the situation: The "owner of the vineyard" sends his beloved son. "But when the tenants saw him they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Let us kill him, so the inheritance may be ours."

The choice is so starkly put. Either Jesus is the rightful king - or we wish him dead. Kind of shocking to put it like that, isn't it? There is just not much room here for the "just a good man" theory of Jesus. (If one wants to hang on to such a theory, one must avoid reading the gospels...) Do "good men" generally claim to be the rightful king of the world?

Judgment - More from Luke 16

2009-04-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

Jesus told stories to reveal truth. Here is one of mine.

Laura's roommate moved out with little notice last weekend - she said she found a place that was $100/month cheaper. Laura had been a good friend to her, and was deeply hurt by this. The roommate knows she didn't treat Laura well, and so hasn't come back or called (or come back to clean up the room she vacated), even though Laura has just been diagnosed with a chronic illness - and needs friends now. I think she doesn't want to face us. Maybe she is telling herself what was bad about living with Laura, or what Laura did wrong.

And there is nothing at all that Laura - or I - can do to mend things. Unless the roommate is willing to face her, there can be no relationship, no possibility of reconciliation.

In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. It is more a story about what was happening right then than a story about the afterlife. The opportunity to make things right was there, right in front of them. But if they refuse to listen, refuse to admit where they have been wrong, there is no chance for them -"even if someone should rise from the dead. "

The Dishonest Manager - Luke 16

2009-03-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

No, this is not about AIG - although, come to think of it, maybe they could learn something from this story!

The story of the dishonest manager is a puzzling one. Jesus is apparently commending this crook - who cheated his boss, then when discovered and fired, cleverly cheated him some more in order to save his skin. What should we make of it?

Remember that Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. He has been telling stories that indicate what happening - the true owner has shown up and is calling the stewards to account. He has just invited them to join the party - to welcome the "younger brothers" who have been lost, but now are found. The leaders have lost their jobs as stewards - but now they have the opportunity to demonstrate grace to the other debtors. The "sinners" still think that the teachers have an "in" with God. If the teachers join Jesus in forgiving debts, they show off the generosity of the owner. (Generosity was a prized quality in the middle eastern culture.) They make the owner look good and make friends for themselves at the same time. There is still time for them to come to the party, to find grace for themselves, and grace for their fellow debtors.

Rejoice With Me - Luke 15

2009-03-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

Make sure to read verses 1,2 carefully - they are the key to this passage!

In each of the stories, something lost is found - and there is an invitation to rejoice. In the parable of the lost son there are really two lost sons. Both essentially wish their father dead so they can have his stuff. They don't want him.

But the father in the story is persistent. The story ends with uncertainty - the father "came out and entreated him" to join him in welcoming his brother back, to rejoice with him. And the story does not say whether the older brother does or not.

The story echoes what is happening at the moment: Jesus is welcoming back the lost, the "younger brother." The "older brothers", sure that they are the ones who deserve to inherit everything, stand back. Will they come in to the party? Will they respond to the invitation to "rejoice with me!"

Tim Keller has a great book out on this parable, called Prodigal God (as well as a sermon series available on Redeemer Presbyterian Church website.) It is one of the best explanations of the gospel I have ever read. Don't miss it - and get one to give away.

Tensions - Luke 13,14

2009-03-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

Kristen said last week about Luke 11 and 12: " He sounds mad!" There is more of that tension in these chapters!

In the news today, everyone is incensed over the bonuses paid with taxpayer's money to the executives who made such a mess of things. Makes people mad! They were meant to be good stewards of what belongs to someone else.

That is what is going on these chapters. This is a critical moment in the whole salvation story. The Word and the kingdom had been entrusted to one people. Now the master has shown up - and they are put to the test: will they recognize the rightful master, or resist? These chapters are full of warnings. They come at a critical moment: Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem, where prophets are killed. This is the moment to respond. Jesus is asked: "Will the number of those saved be few?" He responds with a answer, not about numbers, but about timing: the door is still open, but it won't be for long. (Remember that the warnings about the consequences of rejection of Jesus and his message came true within a generation, when the Romans overran Jerusalem in 70 AD, the temple was destroyed, and the people scattered.)

God always intended that His kingdom was for all nations - not just one. They were meant to be lights to the world. Jesus' rejection and death opened the way for all people - the poor and undeserving (all of us!) - to come in to the great banquet. We come in by the narrow door - Jesus himself.

The section is full of serious teaching for the disciples. They - we - are the ones entrusted with representing the kingdom. May Jesus, by his Spirit, keep us from neglecting the important things: justice, the love of God, the love and healing of our neighbor - and the presence of the Master, Jesus himself, .

Friends - More on Luke 11

2009-03-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

In our Book Group we talked about prayer, and the story Jesus told about the friend going to get some bread in the middle of the night. Everything Jesus says here about prayer is about relationships - Father, children, friends. Relationship is central to prayer. It is not a matter of technique or getting the words right - it is a child asking her father for what she needs, a friend going to get food for another friend.

When I was coming back from Boston, delayed by snow, I was thinking about who I could call to come to get me at the shuttle at midnight. There aren't too many you would ask to do that - but the ones you would ask, you know that they will do it if they can - because of friendship, or because they are family. It is all based on the relationship.

When Dan and Rachel were here getting together a team of ministry partners, they made some friends. When they left, someone told them: "When we first met you we didn't think we could be one of your ministry partners. But now we have to - we are your friends."

Jesus said in John 15 "No longer do I call you servants because the servant doesn't know what the master is doing. But I have called you friends..." Jesus brings us into partnership with God, into the family business, so to speak, giving us his own Spirit. We have taken His aims as ours. So we ask for what we need, for what our friends need. And we trust that he is not asleep, not indifferent- but is doing what we both want done.

Kingdom Imagination

2009-03-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

We have been talking a lot about the Kingdom of God (maybe because Luke uses the term 51 times in his gospel, 27 times in this section we are now reading!). Here is a quote from Eugene Peterson's new book Tell It Slant to add to our growing understanding:
"'Kingdom of God'" is the term Jesus used frequently as a metaphor for the all-inclusive work of God's rule, God's dominion that Jesus is both proclaiming and enacting.... Kingdom is what is going on all the time, whether we are aware of it or not. But it is Jesus' intent to make us aware of it. Kingdom requires a total renovation of our imagination so that we are able to see what our eyes do not see, so that we are capable of participating in what will not be reported in tomorrow morning's newspaper."

The Father Has Chosen to Give You the Kingdom - Luke 11, 12

2009-03-05T08:53:00.000-08:00

Jesus has been announcing and demonstrating the message of the kingdom: “God is God, Jesus is Lord, the power of evil has been defeated, God’s new world has begun…. All people everywhere are invited to come in, to join the party, to discover forgiveness for the past, an astonishing destiny in God’s future, and a vocation for the present.” (N.T. Wright)

Last week we saw that Jesus designated a new people of God and has begun to instruct and train them in representing the Kingdom of God. In these chapters we begin to see what it means that “the Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.” There is a lot of material here - we can sum it up in three pictures:

The Persistent Friend (11:1-23)
Jesus is entrusting his followers with his own authority. Jesus acted in loyalty to the Father – therefore the Father entrusted him with all power and authority. He gives His followers His Spirit – so that they too can be the Father’s representatives, doorways and windows for his love, blessing and provision to break into this world. The kingdom comes through those who say yes to the King, who welcome his rule. Jesus is the “stronger man” who breaks into the “strong man’s” realm and sets his captives free. In prayer we are given the same responsibility and authority.

The Lighted Lamp (11:24- 12:3)
“Something greater” than the miracle of Jonah or the wisdom of Solomon is here, Jesus says. It is something much more radical. Representing the reign of God isn’t just a matter of conforming on the outside - washing the outside of the cup - but of radical transformation from within. It’s no good just to send the demons out – the Spirit of God must be at home in the house.

The Wise Manager (12:4-48)
It is the owner’s job to give the steward the authority he needs to represent the owner, and also to provide for whatever the steward needs to do his job. The steward’s job is to represent the interests of the manager – not his own interests. God entrusted his plan for the rescue of the world he created to his Son – the Son has entrusted it to his people. It is a serious responsibility.

Book Club Blog : Luke 9,10

2009-02-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I heard a story about the kingdom of God breaking in.

My friend had a challenging workplace situation - people were tense, blaming each other, trying to cover up their own mistakes and highlight the mistakes of others. In the middle of that my friend, being a follower of Jesus, inserts a new thing - forgiveness, serving others instead of her own agenda, the offer of friendship. It changed the tone, opened a way for something new.

"Every disciple," Jesus said, "when fully trained, will be like her master."

In the early chapters of Luke we saw that the promised kingdom of God breaks in. The kingdom is announced: good news for those who recognize that they are poor and welcome the invitation.
Now there is a shift, How will the kingdom of God, the reign of God come? Now we begin to see his plan: the kingdom comes through ordinary people who join Him in the Way.

In Luke 9 the training begins. The whole middle part of Luke – (9:51- 19:27) is a long section that takes them from Galilee to Jerusalem. If you have a “red-letter edition” you will see that it is almost all red letters. Jesus is training his followers. Here are some observations about that training:

Jesus gives them his own power and authority (9:1) to “overcome all the power of the enemy.” (10:18)
He commissions them to do just what He does: announce the kingdom, heal the sick, defeat evil. (9:1)
Herod is perplexed. The crowd is confused. It is the ones who follow him who see him for who he really is. (9:7, 19, 28-36)
Jesus tells them to do something they can’t do with their own resources - feed the crowd. They need to learn that they are dependent on him for resources. Jesus feeds the crowd – through his followers.
They are with him – when he withdraws to pray and when he enters the fray. (oops, sorry, inadvertent rhyme ). They are always learning from him to be true sons and daughters. (remember that Luke points out that there were women following too.)
They are invited to the way of the cross. He sets his face towards Jerusalem – the place of his “exodus” (Most versions say ‘departure”- but the word is actually exodus!) The way he invites them along is not one of power and success. The way Jesus rules is not by killing his enemies – but by dying for them.
Like Jesus, they were invited to a singular focus, a singular allegiance to the Kingdom of God. (9:57-62)
They are nothing special: they lack faith, they don’t understand, they have some bad ideas (shall we blast them?? They thought they were Jack Bauer), they wanted to be “the greatest”, and they are not wise and learned but little children. (They come back excited over what God has done through them – and Jesus thanks God that he hasn’t revealed this to the smart people! Kind of pointed, don’t you think?)
They are blessed – happy and privileged – to see what they see when they follow Jesus.
There is “one thing necessary” (10:41) – and that is to learn from Jesus, sitting at his feet.

Now – a question in my mind. Why is the story of the Good Samaritan placed there? Any thoughts?

Be Careful How You Hear - Luke 7,8

2009-02-12T10:35:00.000-08:00

Jesus is announcing the presence of the kingdom – in words and deeds. In the presence of the king, life is being restored – the centurion’s servant (“they found the servant well”), the dead son (“the dead man sat up and began to speak and Jesus gave him to his mother”), the woman of the city (“her sins, which are many, are forgiven … go in peace”), the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear. People seeing and hearing and coming to life.

And who is welcoming the kingdom? Who is it for?

Jesus had said “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Here are some observations about what characterizes those who receive the kingdom:

The centurion was aware he had no claim on the kingdom – though powerful in the kingdom of this world, he was poor when it came to God. Not one of the people of God, he did not expect that he was entitled. But he recognized authority in Jesus – authority that was given by the God of the universe (who else could raise the dead and forgive sins? The centurion, being in Capernaum, had seen all this). And so, acknowledged his poverty, his unworthiness – he asked.
The widow had nothing – absolutely nothing. Her only son would have been her means of support and her only hope for the future.
The “woman of the city” knew she had a debt and, understanding what Jesus had been saying to the crowds (maybe she was at Levi’s big shindig!) knew that even she was welcome to the kingdom. She responded with love and gratitude.
The crowd and the Pharisees and lawyers had some expectations of what they expected in a prophet from God, what he ought to say and do, and what kind of people he ought to shun (“what did you go out to see?” “If he were a prophet, he would know what kind of person was touching him.” ). The Pharisees like Simon thought the kingdom belonged to them – they were the ones who kept the law, after all, who understood the Scripture!

Jesus’ “parable of the sower” (really it should be called the parable of the soils) makes it clear that it is the condition of the heart of the hearer that matters. Are the hearers the sort of people who are prepared to receive it? "As for that good soil, they are those who hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience … Be careful how you hear … My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

So – its poverty and receptivity that make way for the kingdom of God to take root, bringing life in us, among us. Do you see yourself in these stories?

I am going to stop there – because I think that 8:22 starts a new emphasis. So instead of going on to 9, 10, let’s stay with 8:22-56 for another week! (Maybe that has something to do with the fact that this is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible?)

The Kingdom of God at The Lord's Gym

2009-02-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

The Lord’s Gym is in part of the New Life Church. I was there to help with a Navigator seminar “Listening and Healing Prayer” There were about 60 people at the seminar, and a recovery rally in the next room, neighborhood teenagers playing basketball in the gym, vets using the exercise machines, women shopping at the Lord’s Closet for free clothes. It’s a busy place.
The New Life Church is a recovery church – and the people there were either recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, workers or some combination. I sat with Sally* who had a tattoo around her neck and said coming there kept her from getting into trouble; with Sue, Cindy and John who were homeless and living in the shelter. Andrea had been out of prison a week… Molly had just been kicked out of the clean and sober house and didn’t know where she was going to go. Sometimes, she confessed, she stole food – just like she and her sister did when they were kids and no one was there to take care of them. No one there had anything left to hide, or bothered to pretend that they had much going for them. They sang the worship songs wholeheartedly.
During the weekend we listened to the Lord, prayed for one another, cried, ate pizza and chips and celebrated God’s love, forgiveness and welcome. Many of these people were used to being problems… they had social workers and psychiatrists and parole officers. They almost all had parents who were alcoholics or addicts and been abused in some way – beaten, neglected, raped. Told how worthless and unwanted they were – told by their parents and other adults that they were white trash, or an effing lying bitch, or stupid. This weekend at the Lord’s gym they were told something different – that they were children of God, brothers and sisters, loved and forgiven and that they could help each other. They prayed for each other, and it wasn’t the experts, or the professionals or the educated people who heard God – but each of them. The kingdom of God showed up there in the Lord’s gym.
Do I really believe that knowledge, intelligence, education, financial security, and a good family background aren’t the hard currency of the kingdom of God? As I read Luke, I see that the people who received the kingdom – the ones to whom the kingdom belonged - were the desperate, the outcasts, the ones with a big debt to be forgiven… the poor. The ones who know they are poor.

*the names are changed

Luke 5, 6 New Things...

2009-02-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

Luke has established Jesus’ continuity with the past: This is the fulfillment of God’s rescue plan! But now we begin to see how very different it looks when God breaks in than we expect it to.

In 4:43, Jesus states his purpose: to tell the good news of the kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God – the reign of God, comes out of the future, breaking into the present. It is not a return to anything – it is radically new, different and surprising. We are invited to step into it now. And when we do, we are not determined by our past, but by our future in God’s new world.

Look at the stories in this chapter and how something new breaks in to people lives. Peter is the fishing expert. He knows how things work. Jesus steps in, shows him something entirely new, and invites him into it. The leper recognizes the person who has the power to change his condition. But will he, he wonders? The paralytic and his friends come hoping for something new – and get more than they expected. Levi had a new kind of life offered to him from out of the blue, unearned and unlooked for. The parable Jesus tells (5:36-39) punctuates all this change – there’s no making incremental change here, no adding on a little Jesus to what you already have. This is turning everything upside down. And some, who like things as they are, won’t like it … “the old is good” they say.

Jesus himself is the center and the heart of all this change, the bridegroom himself. The kingdom has arrived in Jesus – he is making everything new, the fulfillment of all the old stories and the long preparations (like the Sabbath 6:1-11). He puts together a new people (6:12-16, 12 apostles, 12 tribes of Israel) and gives them a new charter, (6:17-49) like God gave a charter to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy. It’s pretty crazy! “You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all!” (6:20) What????

The kingdom of God is always coming to us, every day. It is really hard to change, frightening to let go of old ways of doing things, old certainties about God or about yourself, old habits of personality that you think are just you. But I tell you what … I really, really, really don’t want to get stuck. You can get stuck at any age, but I am at an age when people very often do get stuck, give up repenting, give up turning around, embracing the kingdom that is always coming and the unexpected Jesus who is turning things upside down and inviting us into His new world. Sometimes it is only when the “old” isn’t so good that we are ready to get up and follow when the invitation comes.

So I am looking out for the invitation today.

Luke 3,4 The True Son

2009-01-30T16:19:00.000-08:00

The story so far …
God created Adam and Eve to be his true children, to live in fellowship with him and act as his regent on earth. They were designed to live with responsibility and creativity and fellowship – like the One who made them. But man rebelled against that vocation, choosing to act independently of God, wanting to be god.

But God didn’t give up. He chose one man, Abraham, one family, one people to fulfill the vocation that He had given mankind. They were to act as His regents, live as his people and through them, God promised, all peoples would be restored as well. How did Israel respond to that calling? You can read the story in Psalm 78.
They forgot God’s covenant and refused to live by his law (Ps. 78:10)
They forgot what He had done (78:11)
They willfully put God to the test by “demanding the food they craved” ( v18)
They “spoke against” God, asking: “Can God spread a table in the desert? He provided us water, but can he also give us food??” (v 19)
They did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance. (v22)
They were disloyal and faithless, and “aroused his jealousy with their idols”; i.e. they put other things above God. (uh oh.)
Their hearts were not loyal to God, their spirits were not faithful to Him. They decided it would be better to be back in Egypt with their meat pots without God, than out in the desert and starving with God. (its all about the food…) (Ps 78:8)
They tested him at Masseh (means testing) When things got difficult, in spite of all He had done, they asked “Is the Lord with us or not?” (Ex. 17:7)

God still doesn’t give up though! Psalm 78 ends with God’s choice of David – one faithful shepherd “with integrity of heart”. God’s good rule on earth would one day come – through one like David who would be faithful to God. In Luke 3, John the Baptist is paving the way for this One … Jesus comes to be baptized - and a voice from heaven declared “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus is taking on the vocation of being the true human being, the true Son.

But he must first demonstrate that he is faithful to God – a true son and not a rebel. So, like Israel, he is tested in the desert. And in contrast to Adam, in contrast to Israel, he refuses to provide for his own needs, refuses to doubt God’s faithfulness, refuses to take the place of God. He stays loyal to God and to His calling to be God’s true Son.

Then, immediately, in Nazareth – he announces His vocation as the Son, begins to make the point that this vocation is not only towards the nation of Israel but to the nations of the world, and then begins to exercise his vocation, bringing good news to the poor, freeing the captives, bringing sight to the blind. In the presence of the true Son of God, the kingdom – the rule of God through His anointed representative – has arrived!

Here is what I realized as I listened to the Spirit speaking to me through this text: I, like Israel, am prone to forget what God has done, to want most whatever it is I think will give me life, to be loyal to me and not to God. (I feel sad about that: I think that it would hurt God’s feelings to be distrusted.) But really this story is not about me. There is one who was loyal to his Father above himself, who was the true son, the true human being, and his loyalty brings the benefits of God’s rule to me too.

And I am so glad God is not a quitter.

Luke 1,2 - God Breaks In

2009-01-23T10:26:00.001-08:00

On Inauguration Day, CNN put together a “photosynyth” – a compilation of thousands of photos taken when President Obama took the oath of office. The completed photo shows the moment from all different perspectives and distances.

Luke’s narrative about Jesus is similar. In oral tradition, events were recounted by people to one another until a composite story emerged. This story was told and retold – using the same words and phrases (like some of your family stories which always use the same words!). This oral account was trusted – people could write anything in books, but a witness (my aunt Hannah was there!) was reliable.

At the time Luke compiled his narrative later in the first century, the message of Jesus has spread beyond the towns and villages where they had taken place. The original witnesses were dying (or scattered by the Roman crackdown in 68-70 AD). Luke researched and compiled the histories to preserve the story.

Notice the historical details in the story – this is something that happened – in history, in the lives of real people. The historic details are there right next to the things that we think of as “supernatural” – angels, prophecies, impossible births. Into the world of ordinary people – a priest doing his duty, a faithful but disappointed old woman, a young girl, shepherds doing their jobs- In the midst of time and space and ordinary people – God breaks in, and transforms the “ordinary” into the place where we meet God. Earth and heaven overlap. The poet George Herbert calls prayer “heaven in ordinarie.” After Luke 1,2 nothing is just ordinary – it is all the place where God has shown up and is showing up.

Notice too, that this is a promised break-in! The chapter is full of references to the ongoing story of which this is the next and greatest chapter – the promise of Elijah (1:17), the promise of a King to sit on David’s throne (1:32,33), the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel (1:68-79) and to the whole world (2:29-32). Remember that at this time, God had been silent for 400 years – no word from the Lord, no prophet. In that time they had been overrun and oppressed by one pagan nation after another. The rulers of this world were in power, it seemed. Where was God? Had he abandoned them? Had He given up on them, forgotten his promises? There were some who still hoped and looked for some change, some intervention, who were faithful to what God had told them, who were steeped in His words in the past, who still had faith that He was faithful. And when God did break in – they recognized Him.

Those who watched the 2009 inauguration against the backdrop of another gathering 46 years ago on the Capitol Mall had a fuller understanding of its significance. Those who saw the events in this chapter against the backdrop of Israel’s story understood its cosmic significance. Without that backdrop it would have been not much more than a surprising local story (“Elizabeth is Expecting: Why isn’t Zach Talking?”). Against that backdrop it becomes a story that is personal, national and cosmic. It is the same with our stories!

This I think is the story Luke tells – God breaks in. As you read the book, look for this: when God breaks in, what did that look like? Who are the kinds of characters in the story? What is it that God does when he breaks into the “ordinary” world? What did people expect it to look like? What was surprising – or disconcerting – about it? How do people respond? … How do you respond?

A Book Club

2009-01-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

Some of my friends in England – not being familiar with the idea of “bible study” - called our group a book club. We are having a “book club” here in Anacortes, reading the gospel of Luke. I would like to invite you to join in if you would like some companionship and structure for your Bible reading for the next few months. I will be posting here some of the fruit of our study and meditation and living-it-out.

I am so convinced that there is nothing more important in life than being “with God” - nothing more important for me and how I live and nothing more important for my effect on other people and the world around me. There is nothing more important, more valuable for me – and therefore nothing I want more for my friends. I am so convinced that the way that happens is that God speaks – through His word, by His Spirit, in the company of His people and in the context of real life – and as we hear and say yes to Him through the days of our lives we meet Him, we find Him, we are changed by him and find life in Him. It is a long process – not quick or easily measured, and takes patience.

This year has been a challenging one to my faith –I have asked myself again – what is God up to? What can I expect? Did we just make all this up? Does the story that the Bible tells make sense in life? And where I come back to – as I have before – is that in spite of the mysteries, in spite of all that I do not understand (and do not like), in spite of how hard it is to live out of the truth the Bible tells – there is no where else to go to find life. As Peter said to Jesus when Jesus asked him if he wanted to go away too “Where would we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

So my motivation for this time together is not primarily for greater knowledge of the Bible (although that is valuable) and not just for getting together (even though I love that and need it!). My motivation is that we would be stimulated to hear God speak in His word and listen and be transformed.

Everyone has wrestled with the practice of a “quiet time” - tried, succeeded sometimes, failed sometimes, felt guilty, etc. I would like to encourage you to aim to spend at least a few minutes each day in listening to the Word – even if it is just a paragraph, or a verse. I know it is hard to find the time to do, (especially when you have young children and work!) and you won’t always succeed. But I think that it is so valuable that it is worth persisting. It doesn’t matter whether you "get something out of it." If you listen every day, inviting the Spirit to speak, ready to say yes – you will be transformed over time.

Here is a way to approach reading: (Based on the tradition of “lectio divina” or sacred reading. Sounds so clever in Latin!)

Prepare: Invite the Spirit to speak to you – remind yourself that you are listening to a person – the God who speaks.
Read (lectio): the chapter or just one story or paragraph, or verse. What stands out to me? What gets my attention?
Meditate (meditatio): Mull it over. Why does this stand out to me? What would it have been like to be there? What puzzles me about this?
Pray (oratio): Respond to God – Is there something He is saying to me here? God is speaking - what is my reply?
Live (contemplatio): As you go through your day or week come back to the words or thoughts that stood out to you. How does this connect with my life?

Here is a quote I like from Eugene Peterson’s Eat this Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading:

"Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don’t simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus’ name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.”

We will be reading about 2 chapters a week (starting this week), and finish by Easter. It's too fast, but there is value in reading in order to get a bigger view of the story. But don't be constrained by that ... stick with the word or verse or story that speaks to you, long enough so that you can hear.

I do best when I read in company with others. I hope that you will join us!

Here is something to ponder ...

2008-11-16T07:07:00.001-08:00

"The purpose [of God's becoming man] is that God's inner nature and life should be opened up to us, should become familiar to us, and that we should experience with our very being, and thus also with our minds and senses, what it means to say that God is love." ~ Hans Urs von Balthasar

2008-11-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

I once heard Handel’s Messiah performed at the Royal Albert Hall, with the majestic pipe organ there, with orchestra and combined choirs of hundreds of voices. It was … glorious.

Every year our church tries to sing the Hallelujah Chorus. Painful. Very, very painful.

Life feels like that to me. There is amazing music to it – you can hear it in your head, and hear notes and phrases of it around you * … but it falls so far short of what you know it could be. We are so out of tune, off the rhythm of what we know we can be. I am so out of tune and off the rhythm that I can hear in my head from time to time. Painful. Very, very painful.

I am very glad to know that in the end, Jesus wins – and we will get to be part of the combined choir: human beings and this creation as we dream it, as God dreamed it. Won’t that be a relief?

The Spirit and the Bride say “Come!”

*Here are a few I have seen lately: friends and neighbors bringing meals to Laurie’s family … giant golden maple leaves decorating the trail at Washington Park, Malisa and Brian dancing at their wedding, a practically perfect apple pie (even if I do say so myself), friends who pray.

The Pink Couch Has Moved...

2008-11-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

...not the blog, the actual couch. We got a new couch - which I hesitated over, since the pink couch is kind of an institution. But don't worry, pink couch fans - we moved it into the room which will now be my study - with a view of the garden and a table for the tea tray... coming?

Credit, Bailouts ... and Prayer.

2008-10-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Everything affects everything else. Someone borrows – or lends – imprudently, and ultimately, cumulatively, people lose their jobs and their houses and their health insurance.

When you or I listen to God, when we pray, when we choose faith and obedience, it doesn’t only affect us and the people right around us. Everything affects everything else. The person who prays is like an underground river that causes springs to appear unexpectedly and vegetation to sprout up in unlikely places. (see Ezekiel 47) There is so much more than you can see.

About the Culbert Report...

2008-09-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

I wish I had thought of that title! But my daughter-in-law Rachel is smarter than me. Do read her latest blog about "The Shack."

Sufficient, Inexhaustible ... A Quote from Hans Urs von Balthasar

2008-09-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

“Harassed by life, exhausted, we look about us for somewhere to be quiet, to be genuine, a place of refreshment. We yearn to restore our spirits in God, to simply let go in Him and gain new strength to go on living. But we fail to look for him where he is waiting for us, where he is to be found: in his Son, who is his Word. Or else we seek for God because there are a thousand things we want to ask him, and imagine that we cannot go on living unless they are answered. We inundate him with problems, with demands for information, for clues, for an easier path, forgetting that in his Word he has given us the solution to every problem and all the details we are capable of grasping in this life. We fail to listen where God speaks; where God’s word rang out in the world once for all, sufficient for all ages, inexhaustible.”

“This is my beloved Son: listen to Him.”

Don't Panic.

2008-09-02T09:23:00.000-07:00

So far, 2008 has been a year of doubts, questionings, and feelings of discouragement, disappointment and failure. I am writing about this now, while I am still in it, so that you will know what to do when you are in it. So here is my prescription:
1. Don’t panic. (If you have your copy of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, you will already know this.)
2. Continue with spiritual disciplines. Just show up. Give thanks. Hear the Word, especially the gospels. Read other people’s prayers when you have trouble with your own – the Psalms, or prayers from the saints of the past (I have Great Souls at Prayer compiled by Mary Tileston and The Complete Book of Christian Prayer)
3. Stay connected with people of faith. Read old books: when my faith falters, I just go along with Augustine, and C.S.Lewis, Teresa of Avila and Evelyn Underhill, and others of that great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12. Talk to someone experienced and wise, someone who has been there and will walk alongside you and pray for you (and who doesn’t panic either.)
4. Don’t engage in arguments with yourself. You can’t win. Be patient, and ask for God’s mercy.
5. Read Psalm 143, and make it your prayer. Whenever you are recalled to your doubts and fears, call out to God: “Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails!” He will do for you, and in you, what you cannot do for yourself.

To Regent College...

2008-04-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I’m graduating. It has only taken me 12 years … 12 years of escaping from kids and work and ministry and driving up to Regent … 12 years of discovery of God, of myself, and of what I call my “dead friends” on the shelves of the library. Apart from the occasional jibes at my chosen occupation (I have been on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ for 35 years. I hope that is balanced by the fact that my husband is in construction, a marketplace kind of guy, which Regent folks like), my experience at Regent has been one best described by … delight. I kept coming to Regent because it gave me such joy. I will never forget one day in my “Journey Through John” class when Dr. Rikk Watts said “Stand up! We have to sing!” in response to what we were reading … and that is just how I have felt, so many times.
So I want to thank everyone in the offices and library and bookstore, the custodians and the baristas, the TA’s and the professors and my fellow students - with the most heartfelt gratitude. My experience at Regent ranks as one of the best gifts of God in my life, right up there along with my family, my friends, and yes, Campus Crusade for Christ. People ask me, when they hear that I am (finally) getting my MCS, what I plan to do with it, and I have to say that I guess I will live with it … in the best sense of the word.

A Meditation for Holy Thursday

2008-03-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Anselm of Canterbury (1033 - 1109) may be best known as a philosopher, but his writing was for the purpose of stirring up the mind to admire and love God. In the tradition of the Benedictine monks, he encouraged the meditative reading that started with words and ended in prayer. On the day when we remember Jesus' supper with his friends, here is a prayer of Anslem's to stir up our minds...

My God,
I pray that I may so know you and love you that I may rejoice in you.
And if I may not do so fully in this life,
let me go steadily on to the day when I come to that fullness.
Let the knowledge of you increase in me here,
and let it there come to its fullness.
Let your love grow in me here,
and there let it be fulfilled,
So that here my joy may be in a great hope,
and there in full reality.

Lord,
You have commanded, or rather advised us,
to ask by your Son,
and you have promised that we shall receive,
‘that our joy may be full.’
That which you counsel through our ‘wonderful counselor’
is what I am asking for, Lord.
Let me receive that which you promised thorough your truth,
‘ that my joy may be full.’

God of truth,
I ask that I may receive,
so that my joy may be full.
Meanwhile, let my mind meditate on it,
let my tongue speak of it,
let my heart love it,
let my mouth preach it,
let my soul hunger for it,
my flesh thirst for it,
and my whole being desire it,
until I enter into the joy of my Lord, who is God, one and triune, blessed forever.
Amen.

Heaven in Ordinary

2008-03-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

We read, said C.S. Lewis, to know we are not alone. I have been reading George Herbert lately, 17th century British clergyman and poet. Here is his Prayer (1). It takes some figuring out - it is worth mulling over, ruminating on it.

Prayer the Church’s banquet, Angel’s age,
God’s breath in man returning to his birth
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet[i] sounding heaven and earth;
Engine[ii] against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tower,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-days world transposing[iii] in an hour,
A kind of tune which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy and love and bliss,
Exalted Manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,
The land of spices, something understood.

[i] Plummet – a plumb line, taking the measure of both heaven and earth
[ii] Engine: a siege engine, laying siege to God
[iii] As in transposing a tune from one key to another

And now, something for the Dessert Saints...

2008-03-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

Needing a brownie to go with that tea? Here is my recipe, from my dear friend Gwen's sweet mama. Ah, yes, the glory of God displayed through the gifts of God and the creativity of humanity... (with a shout out to my friends at BSU...)

Anna Laura’s Brownies

4 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 1/3 stick butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 1/3 c. flour
2 t. vanilla
½ t. salt
(2 c. nuts)

Melt chocolate and butter. Beat eggs, add flour, sugar, salt. Add chocolate and butter, vanilla and nuts, stir. Bake in buttered 15 x 10 (jelly roll size) pan 25 minutes at 350.

Icing

4 squares unsweetened chocolate
2/3 stick butter
2 c. powdered sugar
½ c. cream or evaporated milk
1 t. vanilla
¼ t. salt

Melt butter and chocolate. Add sugar, cream, vanilla Mix well, add more cream if mixture seems stiff. Keep warm until brownies are done (I use a double boiler). Frost while brownies are warm.
You can half this recipe ... on second thought, that's a stupid idea.

Stinters and Desert Saints

2008-03-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

In the 4th and 5th centuries there was a movement of men and women from all walks of life who went into the deserts of Egypt to live alone, pray and seek to become like Jesus. They were looking for a renewed way of discipleship to Christ, leaving behind a culture in which, following Constantine’s becoming Emperor, Christianity was becoming popular. Now that Christians were no longer persecuted for their faith, everyone wanted to be one. Following Jesus became easy. It no longer cost you your life.

In that context, there were men and women who were drawn to a more radical way of life. They found that the distractions and temptations of a comfortable life made it more difficult to follow Jesus. They wanted to take Jesus at his word, to “go and sell everything they had and give it to the poor – and come, follow Me.”

In the desert, they lived alone or near small communities of other hermits. They practiced “the discipline” - simplicity, fasting, working to provide for their needs and the needs of the poor, and prayer. There were few copies of Scripture, so they memorized what they had, and meditated on it long and hard.

In the desert, too, they fought. They fought against the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil – against greed, and lust, and pride, through the help of Jesus and discipline. They learned about themselves and their real motivations – and they learned about the humility and self-sacrificing love of Jesus. In the process, they were changed. People were drawn to them. Their charity towards others and their love of God began to shine through them – and more and more people wanted what they had, and were drawn to the desert to be near them.

I think that Stinters are modern desert saints. No, they are not perfect – neither were the desert saints! But they want something – they want to follow hard after Jesus. A comfortable, easy, distant acquaintance with Him is not enough for them. They want to do what he does, to go where he goes, to learn what He has to teach them, even though it costs them.

And so they give up the things that make them comfortable – distractions, friends, safety. And they go into the “desert” of Merida, or Costa Rica or East Asia or Lithuania or Moscow or Croatia, and they struggle – to learn about themselves, to love others. And they have nothing to depend on but God.

If you are a Stinter, take heart. You have, I am sure, struggles from the outside – and from the inside. God is doing more in you and through you than you can imagine. The desert saints (there were an estimated 30,000 men and women who went to the desert) became the impetus for a new generation of believers – including Athenasius, who fought for the truth of the deity of Christ, Jerome, who first translated the scripture into Latin, and Augustine, who became the foremost theologian of the church. And here we are today, partly because of their struggle.

Here is a quote from “The Sayings of the Desert Fathers”
“Poemen said about John the Short that he asked the Lord to take away his passions (i.e. strong emotional reactions and desires). So his heart was at rest, and he went to a hermit and said, “I find that I am at peace, with no war between flesh and spirit.’ The hermit said to him ‘Go and ask the Lord to stir up a new war in you. Fighting is good for the soul.’ When the conflict revived in him, he no longer prayed for it to be taken away, but said, ‘Lord, grant me strength to endure this fight.’

Men and women of God – Fight!