Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
2 Things
Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
-- Proverbs 30:7-8
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
-- Proverbs 30:7-8
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
The Sway of Fullness
Life once again feels very full. I move back and forth now in a sway between perceiving it to be ‘too full’ and simply a good ‘full life’. I wonder about what makes me perceive it to be one way or the other at any given time. I wonder if my disposition to it stems from either pressure I feel from others (real or not) or pressure I put on myself and that, therefore, the movement in my feelings towards this fullness of life is not really what I think it is. At times I can get quite anxious about this, but usually if I am willing to engage in a process with it, I find that my anxiousness is rooted in a belief that something is ‘up to me’ that in reality, really isn’t up to me. I’m thankful for a process that regularly leads me away from anxiousness and towards a letting go of it, a dependence on something else (someone), if you will.
When I am in or coming out of one of these seasons, I catch myself more often than not thinking that if I didn’t have to spend so much time and emotional energy at work then I could be more of the person I would like to be. I’m guessing at some simple, practical level this is logically true. But I wonder if this assessment and conclusion misses a bigger more significant point. That point being, that perhaps it is less a factor of work being an obstacle and more that it is a pathway. The nirvana that I imagine in a well organized, spacious, and thoughtful life perhaps is not achieved by sedation of certain things that impose themselves on my attention. Perhaps it is the obstacle itself that leads me towards the God that organized, spacious, and thoughtful life would afford.
As I reflect on the notion that God caused the curse in ‘working the field’ for Adam, it seems that it is in the very curse itself that God was creating something for man to find Him. Of course, we can as we regularly do, miss the point of God’s curse and therefore Himself. But I’ve more regularly noticed that a flower seems to grow from the soil of my anxiety over the lack of ability I have to get myself and keep myself in the serenity I desire. I suspect that if could I do it myself, I would again be content to hold on to ‘it’ rather than the one who provides it. This all seems to point to a God who is way ahead of us in understanding what we really need and even want in life. He is orchestrating our existence by creating opportunities that push and draw me to Himself, even through His ‘curses’. My opportunity is to believe that this is true, that it is not up to me to create my utopia or whatever mini-version of it I can concoct, and trust that it is often through the very obstacles that I feel that I find this God. I often try to find a way around such obstacles, when the opportunity is the pathway through them. God knows this. He knows the value of suffering and He lovingly does not relent to my understanding of ‘the better way’ I may be imagining.
So, off I go to another day of work…when I would rather be thinking, resting, or playing in the sunlight of the natural world. There is not only purpose in it, but a pathway to the very deepness I long for in God. Selah.
When I am in or coming out of one of these seasons, I catch myself more often than not thinking that if I didn’t have to spend so much time and emotional energy at work then I could be more of the person I would like to be. I’m guessing at some simple, practical level this is logically true. But I wonder if this assessment and conclusion misses a bigger more significant point. That point being, that perhaps it is less a factor of work being an obstacle and more that it is a pathway. The nirvana that I imagine in a well organized, spacious, and thoughtful life perhaps is not achieved by sedation of certain things that impose themselves on my attention. Perhaps it is the obstacle itself that leads me towards the God that organized, spacious, and thoughtful life would afford.
As I reflect on the notion that God caused the curse in ‘working the field’ for Adam, it seems that it is in the very curse itself that God was creating something for man to find Him. Of course, we can as we regularly do, miss the point of God’s curse and therefore Himself. But I’ve more regularly noticed that a flower seems to grow from the soil of my anxiety over the lack of ability I have to get myself and keep myself in the serenity I desire. I suspect that if could I do it myself, I would again be content to hold on to ‘it’ rather than the one who provides it. This all seems to point to a God who is way ahead of us in understanding what we really need and even want in life. He is orchestrating our existence by creating opportunities that push and draw me to Himself, even through His ‘curses’. My opportunity is to believe that this is true, that it is not up to me to create my utopia or whatever mini-version of it I can concoct, and trust that it is often through the very obstacles that I feel that I find this God. I often try to find a way around such obstacles, when the opportunity is the pathway through them. God knows this. He knows the value of suffering and He lovingly does not relent to my understanding of ‘the better way’ I may be imagining.
So, off I go to another day of work…when I would rather be thinking, resting, or playing in the sunlight of the natural world. There is not only purpose in it, but a pathway to the very deepness I long for in God. Selah.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Mystery & Logic
The Holy Spirit, in the inspiration of scripture, has kept quite a few things out of our purview, to keep us humble and open to mystery. Living with some tension, in mystery, is part of the life of faith, and it’s what keeps us growing. The minute we become dogmatic, we close our minds. There’s a lot to be said for saying, “I don’t know.” Some parents don’t say that to their kids enough.
Image: Speaking of parents, what do you think about parents who say to their kids, “You can be anything you want to be?” Is that a healthy thing?
EP: I think it’s a sick way to instruct our children. One of the important things we learn as human beings is limits: how do we live within limits? A lot of mischief is done in the world by people who want to be big, want to make a lot of money, want a lot of influence. I think it’s a mistake to say that to children. Look at the trouble it’s gotten us into.
The minute we take our humility, our inadequacy, our sense of striving out of the story, we destroy it. There’s no lack of excellence in scripture, and there’s no lack of failure and humility, but they’re all part of our organic whole, which Jesus hold together, with his presence, his forgiveness, his commands, his promises. The minute we start unraveling it, we get into a lot of trouble.
-- Interview with Eugene Peterson, “Image”, Summer 2009
In the main, and from the beginning of time, mysticism has kept men sane. The thing that has driven them mad was logic.
-- G.K. Chesterton
Image: Speaking of parents, what do you think about parents who say to their kids, “You can be anything you want to be?” Is that a healthy thing?
EP: I think it’s a sick way to instruct our children. One of the important things we learn as human beings is limits: how do we live within limits? A lot of mischief is done in the world by people who want to be big, want to make a lot of money, want a lot of influence. I think it’s a mistake to say that to children. Look at the trouble it’s gotten us into.
The minute we take our humility, our inadequacy, our sense of striving out of the story, we destroy it. There’s no lack of excellence in scripture, and there’s no lack of failure and humility, but they’re all part of our organic whole, which Jesus hold together, with his presence, his forgiveness, his commands, his promises. The minute we start unraveling it, we get into a lot of trouble.
-- Interview with Eugene Peterson, “Image”, Summer 2009
In the main, and from the beginning of time, mysticism has kept men sane. The thing that has driven them mad was logic.
-- G.K. Chesterton
Monday, August 03, 2009
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