5.07.2005
Dandelions
Yesterday I was speeding down the same freeway I've been travelling for years now, seeing the same things I always see but somehow transformed. I worshipped and praised God for the beauty of the trees, the ponds, the grass, the clouds, the vultures circling lazily and gracefully, the hawk waiting patiently, the kestrel hovering busily over the median....
And then I remembered reading a travelogueist tell about how boring the interstate highway system is. His complaint was that it misses all the quaint, interesting things on driving tours like towns, and villiages.
I reflected that that sense of boredom was a diaffection with what God had made and the interest is in the trinkets and tchotchkes that man has made.
So life isn't about finding interesting things to see but finding interest in the things you do see.
One of my favorite lines from The Mask of Zorro is where the Alcalde asks the Antonio Banderas character what he seeks in Mexico and he replies, "A sense of the miraculous in everyday life." Maybe we need to sit in our gardens, unfinished though they are at this time of year, and notworry for the moment about how we can "fix" it but how it is alive and vibrant and working even while we do nothing. Life is blooming all around us right now. Bury your hands in the soil and let the sense of life travel up your arm and let God's peace rule in yourheart. Watch the bees. They don't care if they have sweet peas that you've planted or sweet clover that comes up on its own. It is all beautiful and good to them. Find a peace in the untilled soil, the unworked ground, the undisturbed fields and woods and when you find it, then you can participate with God in the good work that he has made.
My neighbor grieves when he mows his yard full of dandelions because it is covered with weeds.
I grieve when I mow because I am chopping up beautiful yellow flowers.
May God bring many dandelions into your life,
And then I remembered reading a travelogueist tell about how boring the interstate highway system is. His complaint was that it misses all the quaint, interesting things on driving tours like towns, and villiages.
I reflected that that sense of boredom was a diaffection with what God had made and the interest is in the trinkets and tchotchkes that man has made.
So life isn't about finding interesting things to see but finding interest in the things you do see.
One of my favorite lines from The Mask of Zorro is where the Alcalde asks the Antonio Banderas character what he seeks in Mexico and he replies, "A sense of the miraculous in everyday life." Maybe we need to sit in our gardens, unfinished though they are at this time of year, and notworry for the moment about how we can "fix" it but how it is alive and vibrant and working even while we do nothing. Life is blooming all around us right now. Bury your hands in the soil and let the sense of life travel up your arm and let God's peace rule in yourheart. Watch the bees. They don't care if they have sweet peas that you've planted or sweet clover that comes up on its own. It is all beautiful and good to them. Find a peace in the untilled soil, the unworked ground, the undisturbed fields and woods and when you find it, then you can participate with God in the good work that he has made.
My neighbor grieves when he mows his yard full of dandelions because it is covered with weeds.
I grieve when I mow because I am chopping up beautiful yellow flowers.
May God bring many dandelions into your life,
Regrets
I resented the aphids on my roses
Until I remembered
Killing the ladybugs who sought shelter
In my house for the winter.
Until I remembered
Killing the ladybugs who sought shelter
In my house for the winter.
5.01.2005
Association by Guilt
This is a response to a discussion item from one of my groups:
In an earlier post I honed in on the idea of "when have we done enough?" or a definition of what constitutes acceptable performance.This is predicated on the notion that many, many sermons begin withthe premise, "We have not done enough when it comes to personal evangelism. We need to do more."
So by asking, "OK. If what we are doing today is 'not enough' then how much do we have to do before we can say 'that is enough'?" I'm sure you will agree with me that this is a bad question. What you may not agree with is that this questionis a natural segue from the premise of the admontion, i.e. we aren'tdoing enough.
My point is that this is a guilt-mongering tactic aimed at stepping up performance by making people feel badly about their lack of activity.The reason this is an illicit activity or motivational tactic isbecause there is no clearly defined standard of acceptableperformance.
So, to answer your questions...
No, it is not a guilt trip to encourage. It is a guilt trip toDIScourage people who fail to live up to some high performancestandard of what constitutes acceptable Christian behavior becausethey lack the necessary resources for achieving the establishedperformance standard.
Yes, the guilt trip is self-imposed. But it is in impostion that stems from the understanding that NO ONE can sit in such a sermon and say tothemselves, "Well, this doesn't apply to me because I'm doing asufficient amount of personal evangelism." Have you ever been to an evangelism conference or heard a sermon where ANYONE is identified as someone who does enough personal evangelism? We look at people who do an above average amount be we never admit that they have done enough and certainly never more than enough.
As for the Holy Spirit, I thought Jesus sent him as the Comforter tobelievers, not the Convictor. I thought that role only applied to theWorld. Maybe I've missed that. Where in the Bible do we see the HolySpirit's role toward believers as One Who makes us feel guilty for a lack of acceptable Christian performance? I hope you get the notion that I don't think very kindly of ANYperformance-based religion. I think performance is an outworking of an inward transformantion, not something we do to merit God's favor.That's the trouble with beign raised Calvinist, I somehow believe that grace is how we live after we are saved and not just before salvation.
In an earlier post I honed in on the idea of "when have we done enough?" or a definition of what constitutes acceptable performance.This is predicated on the notion that many, many sermons begin withthe premise, "We have not done enough when it comes to personal evangelism. We need to do more."
So by asking, "OK. If what we are doing today is 'not enough' then how much do we have to do before we can say 'that is enough'?" I'm sure you will agree with me that this is a bad question. What you may not agree with is that this questionis a natural segue from the premise of the admontion, i.e. we aren'tdoing enough.
My point is that this is a guilt-mongering tactic aimed at stepping up performance by making people feel badly about their lack of activity.The reason this is an illicit activity or motivational tactic isbecause there is no clearly defined standard of acceptableperformance.
So, to answer your questions...
No, it is not a guilt trip to encourage. It is a guilt trip toDIScourage people who fail to live up to some high performancestandard of what constitutes acceptable Christian behavior becausethey lack the necessary resources for achieving the establishedperformance standard.
Yes, the guilt trip is self-imposed. But it is in impostion that stems from the understanding that NO ONE can sit in such a sermon and say tothemselves, "Well, this doesn't apply to me because I'm doing asufficient amount of personal evangelism." Have you ever been to an evangelism conference or heard a sermon where ANYONE is identified as someone who does enough personal evangelism? We look at people who do an above average amount be we never admit that they have done enough and certainly never more than enough.
As for the Holy Spirit, I thought Jesus sent him as the Comforter tobelievers, not the Convictor. I thought that role only applied to theWorld. Maybe I've missed that. Where in the Bible do we see the HolySpirit's role toward believers as One Who makes us feel guilty for a lack of acceptable Christian performance? I hope you get the notion that I don't think very kindly of ANYperformance-based religion. I think performance is an outworking of an inward transformantion, not something we do to merit God's favor.That's the trouble with beign raised Calvinist, I somehow believe that grace is how we live after we are saved and not just before salvation.
The Gospel
I've been in discussion online about the basic question of what's the gospel. In Brian McLaren's books A New Kind of Christian, The Story We Find Ourselvels In and A Generous Orthodoxy, he speaks very loudly of us being heirs of Abraham's promise and of us being a blessing TO the world, not just receiving blessings IN the world. This resonates very deeply with me because I see it as anti-narcissism which seems to be a good thing.
The Jews both succeeded and failed in this part of the Abrahamic Covenant, just like, I believe, we are today. We are both a blessing and not a blessing. However, we are mostly on a hunt to do two things (and not just according to BMc but also general observation and non-Christian pundits):
1. Get our butts in heaven (and in more extreme cases, making sure OUR butts are the only ones in there or if other butts are in, then they are relegated to a lower status than us)
2. Getting God (or circumstances or other people) to do things for us. This may include getting prayers answered, getting legislation passed, or Bad Things not happening to us while they happen to other people.
In the current Fudagelical paradigm, is there anything more to the Christian life? So when we talk about the Good News of Jesus Christ, is that it? Is there no Good News for people who aren't one of us? Is the Good News of Jesus confined to those two core Christian principles or is there something else we are missing and missing Big Time just like the Jews did?
I'm inclined to think there is.
If you ask me it is an unhealthy focus on The Left Behind Series and missing the fact that it is a transition to the Millennium.
The Jews both succeeded and failed in this part of the Abrahamic Covenant, just like, I believe, we are today. We are both a blessing and not a blessing. However, we are mostly on a hunt to do two things (and not just according to BMc but also general observation and non-Christian pundits):
1. Get our butts in heaven (and in more extreme cases, making sure OUR butts are the only ones in there or if other butts are in, then they are relegated to a lower status than us)
2. Getting God (or circumstances or other people) to do things for us. This may include getting prayers answered, getting legislation passed, or Bad Things not happening to us while they happen to other people.
In the current Fudagelical paradigm, is there anything more to the Christian life? So when we talk about the Good News of Jesus Christ, is that it? Is there no Good News for people who aren't one of us? Is the Good News of Jesus confined to those two core Christian principles or is there something else we are missing and missing Big Time just like the Jews did?
I'm inclined to think there is.
If you ask me it is an unhealthy focus on The Left Behind Series and missing the fact that it is a transition to the Millennium.
