Listening to what someone has to say is a complicated prospect at best. It involves not only allowing the words from the person to travel and enter your ear canals, but also involves giving the person your complete attention. Listening to a person involves not only your ears, but your eyes as well as you watch their body language and posture. It involves more than just processing the sounds and syllables that person's mouth and voicebox make into meaningful symbols of thought, but also involves listening for the tone and mood of the speaker. This is why women tend to be better at it than men do, because they pay attention to all of these things instinctively, rather than just focusing on the words being said. Men tend to be pretty myopic.
Listening to God is a similarly complicated prospect. I was watching "Evan Almighty" the other day, and this one part stuck out to me. When the main bad guy Congressman addresses Evan and asks, "You talk to God? ... And He talks back?" As though this was certainty of Evan's insanity. Often the idea of God speaking to us is considered akin to hearing disembodied voices in our heads telling us to do harmful things. The other reaction is almost as equally harmful, when people start mobbing the person to whom God is speaking.
The truth is that God generally isn't as silent as we think He is. He is different. He is other. And learning to listen to Him involves many of the same elements as learning to listen to anyone else. The first and most important thing is to pay attention to Him. Give Him your complete attention. Not to your perception of what you think He is like, but to pay attention to Him as He is; completely other from us. He is everywhere there is a "where" simultaneously, knows you better than you do, and is not bound by time and space. This is the hardest thing for us to do, even with human conversation. It is harder still when attempting to listen to someone who is outside of our human senses.
The second thing to consider, is that while He may give you a heads up that something might happen involving you soon, He is rarely specific about what that might be. I think I've come to understand that this is for our own good. If we knew specifics beforehand, we might do something stupid and change the desired outcome. He often tells us, "just trust Me," for this reason. Another reason for it is that the specifics are so over our heads it would be a waste of time for Him to sit down and try to explain it to us. He's always got our best interests in mind and He asks us to believe that. When God speaks to us, it has very little to do with future events and a whole lot more to do with what's happening right here and right now. Asking Him about future events, unless He has a purpose in mind for telling you, is pointless. If it is counterproductive for His goals for you to tell you something, He will remain silent and say "just trust Me."
The third thing to consider is that He will always speak to you in a way that you can understand (assuming that you are paying attention to Him in the first place). He's not going to use signs and symbols (which are the basis of any language, verbal or visual) which are meaningless to you.
The fourth thing to consider is that He often wants to talk about things that we don't want to talk about. In my most productive prayer times, most of the "conversation" centers around things in my life which I haven't dealt with yet. It usually involves me stripping away the comfortable illusions I surround myself with and approaching Him "naked" and for that reason, it terrifies me to go there at times. He doesn't do this to be harsh, He just has different goals in mind for me than I do at times and He wants me to meet those goals even when I would rather talk about other things: ANY other things.
When we approach God, we need to ask ourselves "why are we approaching Him?" We need to examine ourselves and determine if what we want to talk about has to do with our own self-destructive desires. If what we are asking Him is clearly counter to His goals for us, we need to reconsider.
Finally, in order to really listen to Him, we have to silence ourselves. It is impossible to have a conversation with someone when you won't let them talk, and end up answering your own questions by making assumptions based on your understanding of things. In this kind of a scenario, in order to tell you anything really important, the other person would have to slap you to get your attention. Sometimes God does the equivalent of slapping us hard when we won't shut up long enough to listen to Him. He knows I've taken a few good hits with a 2x4 before I've paid attention.
Truth is, God speaks to us all the time. It's not unusual. It's certainly not proof of insanity to recognize it. It's our natural spiritual autism that keeps us from being able to hear Him. It takes a lot of effort on our part to be able to recognize and acknowledge Him when He does. It probably takes double that for Him to finally get a message across to us.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Rambling About the Desires of our Hearts
“Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture. Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this: he will make your righteousness go forth as the light, and your justice as the noon day sun. Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.” (Psalm 37:3-7, WEB)
How do you explain it when God doesn't grant the desires of someone's heart, but instead rips those desires out of their hands? How do you explain it when God strips you of everything you wanted in life? All too often these questions are ignored or twisted by well meaning Christians. The answer usually thrown out there is that "you have to have faith!" Or something to the effect of, "if you just believed more!"
The people who give these answers really just don't get it. They follow a line of thought that is extremely popular in Christian circles today which says that God wants to bless you, give you everything you want out of life, and make all your dreams come true as though God was a fairy godmother come to send them to the ball to marry a prince. It makes me angry just thinking about it.
God's one goal for us in life is to know Him. It's for us to respond to Him and come into union with Himself. His perception of our existence goes far beyond our mortal lives. Everything He does or permits to happen to us is with this in mind.He knows we are spiritually blind or autistic and His goal is to bring us out of it. He uses anything at His disposal to do it. If wealth in our lives will accomplish His purpose, then He will do it. If extreme poverty will accomplish His goal, then He will do that too.
Most often what accomplishes His goal for us is to carefully strip away our illusions. As human beings who are spiritually autistic, we tend to only put our trust in those things which we can see. This is extremely short sighted and counter productive. We only feel secure when we can see walls of protection around us. We only feel like we will have enough when we can see the source of our provision. We irrationally assume that it will always be there, and the more rational acknowledgement that it is impermanent throws us into worry, confusion, and chaos. He then takes great pains to carefully strip away these illusions of security and control that we build around ourselves like flimsy, shoddily constructed shelters on a beach.
As long as the weather is warm, the sun is out, and life seems good, those shelters give us a false sense of security. If a light rain comes, or maybe unwelcome visitors at night, they keep us reasonably dry and protected. We feel safe and warm by the light of a cooking fire nearby. But what happens when a hurricane comes? Do those shelters protect us? No. They are stripped away. The fire is blown out. We are left battered, injured, cold, and naked before the force of the storm.
Sometimes God uses hurricanes in our lives to do just this because it's the only thing that will get our attention. The desires of our hearts which we seek are really only these illusions and fantasies that we build around ourselves. God has to strip them away if we're going to progress in His goal for us, to know Him as He is.
I my life I've had several goal, dreams, and desires. So has my wife. We still do. God has sent hurricane after hurricane to strip them from us. What's funny is that I've stopped worrying about it. I've come to realize that the thing I really want most out of life is really the same thing that He wants and it's the only thing worth attaining, to know Him as He is, and to become one with Him. Everything else in life, pleasant or unpleasant, needs to line up with this goal or it's not worth having and is only a distraction from it.
God does enjoy giving good gifts to His children. There is no question about that. What good father wouldn't? But the children don't always understand what a good gift really is, and what a harmful one is. The children don't always understand why chores need to be done. The children don't understand why they need to go to school. In particular, an autistic child may not understand why their parent is doing the things they do with him or her, when everything that parent does is to help them get treatment. Sometimes treatment is uncomfortable and it hurts. For a kid with autism who doesn't understand, it may seem like the end of the world.
If we are truly delighting ourselves in Yahweh, then He is the only desire of our hearts, and He is happy to give us more of Himself.
How do you explain it when God doesn't grant the desires of someone's heart, but instead rips those desires out of their hands? How do you explain it when God strips you of everything you wanted in life? All too often these questions are ignored or twisted by well meaning Christians. The answer usually thrown out there is that "you have to have faith!" Or something to the effect of, "if you just believed more!"
The people who give these answers really just don't get it. They follow a line of thought that is extremely popular in Christian circles today which says that God wants to bless you, give you everything you want out of life, and make all your dreams come true as though God was a fairy godmother come to send them to the ball to marry a prince. It makes me angry just thinking about it.
God's one goal for us in life is to know Him. It's for us to respond to Him and come into union with Himself. His perception of our existence goes far beyond our mortal lives. Everything He does or permits to happen to us is with this in mind.He knows we are spiritually blind or autistic and His goal is to bring us out of it. He uses anything at His disposal to do it. If wealth in our lives will accomplish His purpose, then He will do it. If extreme poverty will accomplish His goal, then He will do that too.
Most often what accomplishes His goal for us is to carefully strip away our illusions. As human beings who are spiritually autistic, we tend to only put our trust in those things which we can see. This is extremely short sighted and counter productive. We only feel secure when we can see walls of protection around us. We only feel like we will have enough when we can see the source of our provision. We irrationally assume that it will always be there, and the more rational acknowledgement that it is impermanent throws us into worry, confusion, and chaos. He then takes great pains to carefully strip away these illusions of security and control that we build around ourselves like flimsy, shoddily constructed shelters on a beach.
As long as the weather is warm, the sun is out, and life seems good, those shelters give us a false sense of security. If a light rain comes, or maybe unwelcome visitors at night, they keep us reasonably dry and protected. We feel safe and warm by the light of a cooking fire nearby. But what happens when a hurricane comes? Do those shelters protect us? No. They are stripped away. The fire is blown out. We are left battered, injured, cold, and naked before the force of the storm.
Sometimes God uses hurricanes in our lives to do just this because it's the only thing that will get our attention. The desires of our hearts which we seek are really only these illusions and fantasies that we build around ourselves. God has to strip them away if we're going to progress in His goal for us, to know Him as He is.
I my life I've had several goal, dreams, and desires. So has my wife. We still do. God has sent hurricane after hurricane to strip them from us. What's funny is that I've stopped worrying about it. I've come to realize that the thing I really want most out of life is really the same thing that He wants and it's the only thing worth attaining, to know Him as He is, and to become one with Him. Everything else in life, pleasant or unpleasant, needs to line up with this goal or it's not worth having and is only a distraction from it.
God does enjoy giving good gifts to His children. There is no question about that. What good father wouldn't? But the children don't always understand what a good gift really is, and what a harmful one is. The children don't always understand why chores need to be done. The children don't understand why they need to go to school. In particular, an autistic child may not understand why their parent is doing the things they do with him or her, when everything that parent does is to help them get treatment. Sometimes treatment is uncomfortable and it hurts. For a kid with autism who doesn't understand, it may seem like the end of the world.
If we are truly delighting ourselves in Yahweh, then He is the only desire of our hearts, and He is happy to give us more of Himself.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
A Ramble About Politics
As I follow this year's election year politics in the news, I find myself in a strange position. My wife tells me that, as a priest, I need to watch how political I get with my comments and posts. She's probably right... as usual. But I find myself in the strange position of opposing candidates with whom I share viewpoints.
The truth is that I am anti-abortion. I would not support the termination of a pregnancy for any reason. I don't believe that homosexual relationships are either biblical or healthy, much less the sanction of such relationships with marriage. Like all of the candidates this year (although I'm not certain of Ron Paul), I am a professing Christian. I do believe in and practice regular prayer with my family. I don't agree with the Mormon faith on every point (although I have found a number of Mormons more faithful than traditional Christians). So why am I finding myself cringing at the idea of handing the keys to the White House to someone who share most if not all of my values in this respect? But here I find myself. I was reading yet another article today about one of the Republican candidate's positions and finding myself both agreeing with the ideas and yet similarly repulsed by his exposition of them.
I think that the single issue which divides me from any of these candidates is that they have professed that they want to see them enforced on the country as a whole. The idea is that everyone would be better off if they were forced to abide by Christian principles and religious rule. I think this is a mistake. I think history makes the case very well that theocracy doesn't work. From the lessons of history we learn that when an absolutist religion takes over the functions of government then both the religion and the government suffer for it, and no one can make the case that Christianity is not an absolutist religion. Jesus Christ is either the only way, the only truth, and the only life for those who profess Him, or He is not and there is no middle ground.
So why wouldn't we want to impose Christian rule over the land? Let me ask you this, should migrant workers here as guests of this country fight to impose Mexican rule over the land? We would say absolutely not, it's not their country. They're here as guests and they must abide by our rules, not us by theirs.
For the Church, this country is not ours to rule. No nation of this world is. We are foreigners passing through. Migrant workers and immigrants only here until we're called home. We are guests, not citizens. Our citizenship is with God in Christ, not with any nation of this world. It is just as inappropriate for us to demand that those of this world live by our rules and customs as it is for the Mexican migrant worker to demand that Americans live like Mexicans.
I will not support any member of the Church getting an abortion, taking part in a homosexual relationship, or doing anything which would damage their relationship with God through Christ. But that is for our Family. That is an internal matter. I have no say on what happens on the outside, nor should I.
The Church and the State should remain separate because the State must govern those outside of the Church as fairly as it governs those inside of it. The State doesn't have the luxury of preferring one group of people under it's jurisdiction over another. The State can't take Christian religious rules and force Muslims, pagans, or athiests to live by them and still remain fair and just. The State is of this world, and will never be anything else. As Christians, we are told to respect the authority of the State, and to pray for those rulers that are set over us, no matter how much we may disagree with them. If we were to travel to any other country, such as Mexico or Germany, we would be expected to respect and abide by the laws and authorities of those countries, and we would be held responsible if we violated those laws or disrespected those authorities. It is no different between the Church and the State. In the ancient Church, Christians didn't even attempt to seek government positions because of everything that went with it.
We must be followers of Jesus Christ first. We must be members of His Family first. Everything else is secondary, including and especially our earthly citizenship. We need to remember that.
The truth is that I am anti-abortion. I would not support the termination of a pregnancy for any reason. I don't believe that homosexual relationships are either biblical or healthy, much less the sanction of such relationships with marriage. Like all of the candidates this year (although I'm not certain of Ron Paul), I am a professing Christian. I do believe in and practice regular prayer with my family. I don't agree with the Mormon faith on every point (although I have found a number of Mormons more faithful than traditional Christians). So why am I finding myself cringing at the idea of handing the keys to the White House to someone who share most if not all of my values in this respect? But here I find myself. I was reading yet another article today about one of the Republican candidate's positions and finding myself both agreeing with the ideas and yet similarly repulsed by his exposition of them.
I think that the single issue which divides me from any of these candidates is that they have professed that they want to see them enforced on the country as a whole. The idea is that everyone would be better off if they were forced to abide by Christian principles and religious rule. I think this is a mistake. I think history makes the case very well that theocracy doesn't work. From the lessons of history we learn that when an absolutist religion takes over the functions of government then both the religion and the government suffer for it, and no one can make the case that Christianity is not an absolutist religion. Jesus Christ is either the only way, the only truth, and the only life for those who profess Him, or He is not and there is no middle ground.
So why wouldn't we want to impose Christian rule over the land? Let me ask you this, should migrant workers here as guests of this country fight to impose Mexican rule over the land? We would say absolutely not, it's not their country. They're here as guests and they must abide by our rules, not us by theirs.
For the Church, this country is not ours to rule. No nation of this world is. We are foreigners passing through. Migrant workers and immigrants only here until we're called home. We are guests, not citizens. Our citizenship is with God in Christ, not with any nation of this world. It is just as inappropriate for us to demand that those of this world live by our rules and customs as it is for the Mexican migrant worker to demand that Americans live like Mexicans.
I will not support any member of the Church getting an abortion, taking part in a homosexual relationship, or doing anything which would damage their relationship with God through Christ. But that is for our Family. That is an internal matter. I have no say on what happens on the outside, nor should I.
The Church and the State should remain separate because the State must govern those outside of the Church as fairly as it governs those inside of it. The State doesn't have the luxury of preferring one group of people under it's jurisdiction over another. The State can't take Christian religious rules and force Muslims, pagans, or athiests to live by them and still remain fair and just. The State is of this world, and will never be anything else. As Christians, we are told to respect the authority of the State, and to pray for those rulers that are set over us, no matter how much we may disagree with them. If we were to travel to any other country, such as Mexico or Germany, we would be expected to respect and abide by the laws and authorities of those countries, and we would be held responsible if we violated those laws or disrespected those authorities. It is no different between the Church and the State. In the ancient Church, Christians didn't even attempt to seek government positions because of everything that went with it.
We must be followers of Jesus Christ first. We must be members of His Family first. Everything else is secondary, including and especially our earthly citizenship. We need to remember that.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
A Ramble About Blindness
Let's try an experiment. Close your eyes and cover them over with a blindfold. Alternately, when it's late at night and there are no other lights on, turn off all the lights in your house. Get to a point where you can't even see your hand in front of your face. I started doing this when I was a kid because I was fascinated with nocturnal animals. The total loss of your sight is disorienting and you begin to wonder where everything is. Fear sets in. You begin to panic a little as you don't remember how far away the wall is, or a chair that you were certain was somewhere near you a few seconds ago. Now try walking around the room. Maybe try walking from one room to another. You'll find that you walk haltingly, reaching out your hands to feel if something is in front of you, gently moving your feet afraid of kicking something you can't see. Somewhere deep inside you, the fear of someone jumping out and surprising you is building.
One thing I learned from doing this little exercise is that nothing in the room has actually changed. There is no one else in the room that wasn't there before I lost the ability to see anything. The walls are still exactly where they were before the lights went out. The chair, the table, and the sleeping dog are right where I left them. My environment around me stays exactly the same as when I could see. The only thing which has changed is my perception of it. I have changed, not the space around me.
Our relationship with God is a lot like this. He doesn't change, but we do. All too often we do something which puts a blindfold over our eyes and we can no longer "see" Him around us even when we could "see" Him perfectly well a very short time before. It becomes frightening and disorienting. Every little thing seems that much scarier as we feel isolated and alone. He hasn't gone anywhere. He hasn't moved. He is eternally right here, and right now.
I've learned to appreciate the lessons that walking in total darkness or temporary blindness teaches me. It teaches me that even if everything goes dark, I can still feel safe knowing that it is only my perception which has changed, not the space around me. It makes me appreciate my other senses more and forces me to use them. It forces me to remember and trust that everything is right where I left it when I could see, and it reminds me that God is still who He is, and where He is and to trust that even when my perception is confused and trying to tell me something else.
One thing I learned from doing this little exercise is that nothing in the room has actually changed. There is no one else in the room that wasn't there before I lost the ability to see anything. The walls are still exactly where they were before the lights went out. The chair, the table, and the sleeping dog are right where I left them. My environment around me stays exactly the same as when I could see. The only thing which has changed is my perception of it. I have changed, not the space around me.
Our relationship with God is a lot like this. He doesn't change, but we do. All too often we do something which puts a blindfold over our eyes and we can no longer "see" Him around us even when we could "see" Him perfectly well a very short time before. It becomes frightening and disorienting. Every little thing seems that much scarier as we feel isolated and alone. He hasn't gone anywhere. He hasn't moved. He is eternally right here, and right now.
I've learned to appreciate the lessons that walking in total darkness or temporary blindness teaches me. It teaches me that even if everything goes dark, I can still feel safe knowing that it is only my perception which has changed, not the space around me. It makes me appreciate my other senses more and forces me to use them. It forces me to remember and trust that everything is right where I left it when I could see, and it reminds me that God is still who He is, and where He is and to trust that even when my perception is confused and trying to tell me something else.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
A Ramble About Weather Patterns
This idea came to me when I was working in the loading dock at Wal-Mart. When you work in the back room you run into all sorts of different people coming from different backgrounds, and having different stories to tell. A big question on a lot of their minds was why their lives seemed so bad, and other people's lives seemed so great. As I was struggling to find an answer this came into my mind. I can't say it's entirely mine, because I think some elements of it came from some of the sources I was reading at the time.
Just as there are weather patterns produced by air currents, temperatures, moisture, etc. So also there are a kind of "weatherpatterns" of Karma. Here I take Karma to mean not only the actions one takes, but also implying the consequences which result from those actions taken. On Earth there exists several different kinds of weather patterns depending on where you live in the world. In some parts of the world it happens to be sunny skies and temperate conditions most of the year, such as Southern California. In other parts of the world it happens to rain most of the year, in such places as Papua New Guinea, or the Amazon. In some places the weather is always hot and dry, in others it is nearly always wet and miserable. All of these things depend on the currents of air pressure, moisture, ocean temperatures, and how they gather and move across the surface of the Earth so that weather in such a far away place as Australia may have a direct impact on farmers in Canada whether that seems possible or not. In some places theweather patterns become so violent that hurricanes, and tornadoes form ripping through anything which stands in their way.
Every action taken by a human being has real effects and consequences not just for that human being, but also for every other human being who may or may not come into contact, direct or indirect, with the one who acted. When you have X number of actions taken by Y number of people not only alive today but also throughout history what you get is a kind of Karmic weather system of chain reactions and "currents" which impact different people in different ways. Around some people these currents coalesce into a stable, pleasant environment where everything seems to just go right for that person. Around others, it creates storm systems and even hurricanes in which the person must hold on for dear life. For some, they receive an even mix of fair and foul weather, for others it's heavily weighted in one direction or the other. Now, the first thing which must be noted is that these currents may be affected by the person's own actions, and most certainly will be, but they are not necessarily caused by that person's own actions. For example, the average Palestinian child had nothing to do with the Nazi Holocaust, but they must live with the direct consequences of that horror, which they did not perpetrate, by either living as refuges in foreign lands, or living in what to them is an occupied homeland beseiged by terrible violence because of the recreation of the State of Israel as a direct response to the Nazi Holocaust.
I think the way I think and live the way I live largely because of the different influences and interactions in my life from my parents, grandparents, teachers, world events, textbooks, friends, enemies, wife, children, and a host of other people whom I have had direct and indirect contact with over the course of my life, and of course last but under no circumstances least God Himself. Who I am is largely made up of the consequences of the actions taken and choices made by other people, including even my physical body which is the direct result of the choices my parents made as to who their sexual partner was to be. This holds true for my grandparents, great-grandparents and every ancestor I know of or don't know of. And not only this, but this holds true for not only myself but all of these people as well, save God alone. The consequences even of the actions of kings or beggars thousands of years ago still continue to swirl around us and impact who we are today.
We have the option to react one way or the other to these karmic weather patterns. And the choices we make will send new currents and chain reactions out to other people as well as ourselves. This is why it is so important to choose compassion and not selfishness. To give and not take. It is not only us who reap what we sow, but everyone else has to harvest it too.
Just as there are weather patterns produced by air currents, temperatures, moisture, etc. So also there are a kind of "weatherpatterns" of Karma. Here I take Karma to mean not only the actions one takes, but also implying the consequences which result from those actions taken. On Earth there exists several different kinds of weather patterns depending on where you live in the world. In some parts of the world it happens to be sunny skies and temperate conditions most of the year, such as Southern California. In other parts of the world it happens to rain most of the year, in such places as Papua New Guinea, or the Amazon. In some places the weather is always hot and dry, in others it is nearly always wet and miserable. All of these things depend on the currents of air pressure, moisture, ocean temperatures, and how they gather and move across the surface of the Earth so that weather in such a far away place as Australia may have a direct impact on farmers in Canada whether that seems possible or not. In some places theweather patterns become so violent that hurricanes, and tornadoes form ripping through anything which stands in their way.
Every action taken by a human being has real effects and consequences not just for that human being, but also for every other human being who may or may not come into contact, direct or indirect, with the one who acted. When you have X number of actions taken by Y number of people not only alive today but also throughout history what you get is a kind of Karmic weather system of chain reactions and "currents" which impact different people in different ways. Around some people these currents coalesce into a stable, pleasant environment where everything seems to just go right for that person. Around others, it creates storm systems and even hurricanes in which the person must hold on for dear life. For some, they receive an even mix of fair and foul weather, for others it's heavily weighted in one direction or the other. Now, the first thing which must be noted is that these currents may be affected by the person's own actions, and most certainly will be, but they are not necessarily caused by that person's own actions. For example, the average Palestinian child had nothing to do with the Nazi Holocaust, but they must live with the direct consequences of that horror, which they did not perpetrate, by either living as refuges in foreign lands, or living in what to them is an occupied homeland beseiged by terrible violence because of the recreation of the State of Israel as a direct response to the Nazi Holocaust.
I think the way I think and live the way I live largely because of the different influences and interactions in my life from my parents, grandparents, teachers, world events, textbooks, friends, enemies, wife, children, and a host of other people whom I have had direct and indirect contact with over the course of my life, and of course last but under no circumstances least God Himself. Who I am is largely made up of the consequences of the actions taken and choices made by other people, including even my physical body which is the direct result of the choices my parents made as to who their sexual partner was to be. This holds true for my grandparents, great-grandparents and every ancestor I know of or don't know of. And not only this, but this holds true for not only myself but all of these people as well, save God alone. The consequences even of the actions of kings or beggars thousands of years ago still continue to swirl around us and impact who we are today.
We have the option to react one way or the other to these karmic weather patterns. And the choices we make will send new currents and chain reactions out to other people as well as ourselves. This is why it is so important to choose compassion and not selfishness. To give and not take. It is not only us who reap what we sow, but everyone else has to harvest it too.
Monday, December 26, 2011
A Ramble About Religious Life
The Christian life is, first and foremost, a religious life. That is, it is a life which is lived by a religious rule.
"No, it's a relationship with God! How can you say that it's a religion? A religion is all about rules, laws, "do"s and "don't"s and the traditions which human beings have made up. That's not my faith. I know God and He knows me. He doesn't make me follow any rules to be saved. How dare you even suggest that!"
The Christian life is the life of a disciple. It is the life of someone who has committed themselves to learning, living, and mastering the Path of Jesus Christ. It is the life of someone who has answered His call to leave everything behind, one way or another, and follow Him. It is the life of rigorous self-discipline as we strive to crucify the self with its passions and desires.
"Wait a second, I professed faith in Jesus, I was even baptized; are you saying that I'm not a Christian because I don't try to follow everything Jesus or the Apostles said? Are you saying I'm not saved?"
Our relationship with God begins the moment Grace breaks through our spiritual disorder, and we profess faith in Christ. It is legitimized and sealed with baptism as we are joined to Christ in His death so that we might be joined to Him in His resurrection. But a relationship with God through Christ does not count as discipleship any more than being born counts as a four year college degree. You must submit to sixteen or seventeen years of schooling, or the equivalent thereof, to obtain the degree. Even so, you must submit to the religious rule of Christian discipleship if you hope to attain the high callng of God in Christ Jesus, which is deification. Typically, parents send their kids to college in the hopes of them attaining that for year degree, and pay large sums of money to see that goal realized. God the Father paid for us to have the privilege of discipleship to attain that high calling with the torture, humiliation, and gruesome murder of God the Son incarnated as a human being by ruthless men.He expects all those born into His family to study hard and achieve the goal, not waste His investment on frat parties, failed classes, and attempts at cheating to just squeak by. No parent expects that.
So, the Christian life is the life of a disciple, and it is a life lived by religious rule.
What is a "religious rule?" Put simply, a religious rule is the set of rules imposed on a religious community by their founder. The most common of such rules are poverty, obedience, and celibacy. Other rules may include the wearing of certain clothes, a prohibition against speaking, required service in the community, or a mandatory mission trip depending on the religious community in question. If someone wants to be a Franciscan, they must follow the religious rule of the Franciscan order. If they want to be a Carmelite, they must follow the religious rule of the Carmelite order. It is their choice if they want to join these orders or not. No one forces them to do it. You cannot join the order and then just do whatever you want. You will be expelled from the order after a short period of time. It is assumed that you know what you are getting into when you join and enter your novitiate.
The Church is, fundamentally, a religious community. This should be an obvious fact, but the trend in churches today is to ridicule or object to anything which uses the word "religious" in it. There were rules laid down for this community to follow as a means to further the single objective of deificiation by both our Founder, and those He chose as His immediate successors. Those rules are not pleasurable. They are not easy. And, ultimately, they will cost you everything you thought you held dear as you pursue the one single goal of the Christian life, union with God.
If you refuse to follow those rules, please don't delude yourself into thinking you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. You may be a baptized member of the Church, but you are not a disciple, and are not living the Christian life. You are a small child who is refusing to go to school and learn anything, and you will do a tremendous amount of damage to yourself and others because of your willful ignorance if someone who is learned and responsible doesn't babysit you and watch you constantly.
You must have someone teach you, and you must be willing to be instructed in order to drive a car. You must be willing to take the time to learn how it works and what the rules of the road are. If you don't, you may only damage your transmission and make the car undriveable at best, at worst you may kill yourself and many other people. The Christian life is the same way. You cannot make up your own rules and expect everyone else on the road to get out of your way and drive by the rules you think are fair.
The religious rule of the Christian life was laid down in the first three centuries by Christ Himself, His Apostles, and their successors. There is only one goal in mind, and that religious rule is geared to help you achieve that goal. The only reason why someone would refuse to follow that religious rule is if they have some other goal or agenda, and not the goal of deification. Union with God through Jesus Christ was the only goal of those who laid down that religious rule. Everything which interfered with that was expected to be stripped away.
Achieving the obedience to these rules perfectly is not the goal. The religious rule is a tool to assist you in your discipleship, but it is the means, not the end. If it becomes the end in and of itself then you are still not a disciple of Jesus Christ, but of your own self-importance and ambition with your own self-esteem as your goal and not the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It's as though you only care about what your classmates think of you; whether or not you're the most popular, and not whether or not you understand the material your supposed to be studying and move on to graduation.
God loves us deeply ad richly and that will never change. Evey parent that loves their child will want them to have the best chance of success in life possible. God is no different.
You may live in the dorm. You may wear the college sweater. You may ever show up for classes. But if you don't buckle down and apply yourself and really work hard to graduate, you're not really a student are you?
Stop making excuses. Stop expecting to be able to remain an infant for the rest of your life. There are a few people in this world who do stop growing before they reach a year old. These people have a serious growth disorder and will never be able to care for themselves, much less anyone else. This is a person to be pitied, not emulated.
Are you afraid of failing? Why? The only person really afraid of failing is the person who cares more about what other people think of him than about learning and mastering the material. Any sincere student knows that they will fail again and again until they grasp the concept, and once they do, those failures only serve to teach them what not to do. You will fail. You will struggle. But in the process of failing and struggling, you will learn, and you will come to understand what it is you are trying to learn.
Stop being afraid to live up to your commitment to Him which you made when you were baptized. Stop being afraid to really see the darkest part of yourself and learn to accept it for what it is. Stop being afraid to have a real relationship with God, and not the illusion of a relationship that you can control and feel "safe" with. Stop being afraid to face Jesus Christ naked, humiliated, and weak and realize that this is the only way to honestly face Him. The illusion you imagine, the fantasy you control in your head, won't cut it.
Stop being afraid t engage God as He is and realize that this is the best thing you could ever possibly do. Everything else is the illusion, the fantasy. God alone is the Reality and the best thing you can do is to cooperate with Him as He strips away your illusions until only He remains. The religious rule of the Christian life was laid down to foster and encourage this. The only reason why you wouldn't want to follow it is if you want to remain blind, ignorant, and separated from Him. Think about it long and hard and choose very carefully whether or not you want to be "religious."
"No, it's a relationship with God! How can you say that it's a religion? A religion is all about rules, laws, "do"s and "don't"s and the traditions which human beings have made up. That's not my faith. I know God and He knows me. He doesn't make me follow any rules to be saved. How dare you even suggest that!"
The Christian life is the life of a disciple. It is the life of someone who has committed themselves to learning, living, and mastering the Path of Jesus Christ. It is the life of someone who has answered His call to leave everything behind, one way or another, and follow Him. It is the life of rigorous self-discipline as we strive to crucify the self with its passions and desires.
"Wait a second, I professed faith in Jesus, I was even baptized; are you saying that I'm not a Christian because I don't try to follow everything Jesus or the Apostles said? Are you saying I'm not saved?"
Our relationship with God begins the moment Grace breaks through our spiritual disorder, and we profess faith in Christ. It is legitimized and sealed with baptism as we are joined to Christ in His death so that we might be joined to Him in His resurrection. But a relationship with God through Christ does not count as discipleship any more than being born counts as a four year college degree. You must submit to sixteen or seventeen years of schooling, or the equivalent thereof, to obtain the degree. Even so, you must submit to the religious rule of Christian discipleship if you hope to attain the high callng of God in Christ Jesus, which is deification. Typically, parents send their kids to college in the hopes of them attaining that for year degree, and pay large sums of money to see that goal realized. God the Father paid for us to have the privilege of discipleship to attain that high calling with the torture, humiliation, and gruesome murder of God the Son incarnated as a human being by ruthless men.He expects all those born into His family to study hard and achieve the goal, not waste His investment on frat parties, failed classes, and attempts at cheating to just squeak by. No parent expects that.
So, the Christian life is the life of a disciple, and it is a life lived by religious rule.
What is a "religious rule?" Put simply, a religious rule is the set of rules imposed on a religious community by their founder. The most common of such rules are poverty, obedience, and celibacy. Other rules may include the wearing of certain clothes, a prohibition against speaking, required service in the community, or a mandatory mission trip depending on the religious community in question. If someone wants to be a Franciscan, they must follow the religious rule of the Franciscan order. If they want to be a Carmelite, they must follow the religious rule of the Carmelite order. It is their choice if they want to join these orders or not. No one forces them to do it. You cannot join the order and then just do whatever you want. You will be expelled from the order after a short period of time. It is assumed that you know what you are getting into when you join and enter your novitiate.
The Church is, fundamentally, a religious community. This should be an obvious fact, but the trend in churches today is to ridicule or object to anything which uses the word "religious" in it. There were rules laid down for this community to follow as a means to further the single objective of deificiation by both our Founder, and those He chose as His immediate successors. Those rules are not pleasurable. They are not easy. And, ultimately, they will cost you everything you thought you held dear as you pursue the one single goal of the Christian life, union with God.
If you refuse to follow those rules, please don't delude yourself into thinking you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. You may be a baptized member of the Church, but you are not a disciple, and are not living the Christian life. You are a small child who is refusing to go to school and learn anything, and you will do a tremendous amount of damage to yourself and others because of your willful ignorance if someone who is learned and responsible doesn't babysit you and watch you constantly.
You must have someone teach you, and you must be willing to be instructed in order to drive a car. You must be willing to take the time to learn how it works and what the rules of the road are. If you don't, you may only damage your transmission and make the car undriveable at best, at worst you may kill yourself and many other people. The Christian life is the same way. You cannot make up your own rules and expect everyone else on the road to get out of your way and drive by the rules you think are fair.
The religious rule of the Christian life was laid down in the first three centuries by Christ Himself, His Apostles, and their successors. There is only one goal in mind, and that religious rule is geared to help you achieve that goal. The only reason why someone would refuse to follow that religious rule is if they have some other goal or agenda, and not the goal of deification. Union with God through Jesus Christ was the only goal of those who laid down that religious rule. Everything which interfered with that was expected to be stripped away.
Achieving the obedience to these rules perfectly is not the goal. The religious rule is a tool to assist you in your discipleship, but it is the means, not the end. If it becomes the end in and of itself then you are still not a disciple of Jesus Christ, but of your own self-importance and ambition with your own self-esteem as your goal and not the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It's as though you only care about what your classmates think of you; whether or not you're the most popular, and not whether or not you understand the material your supposed to be studying and move on to graduation.
God loves us deeply ad richly and that will never change. Evey parent that loves their child will want them to have the best chance of success in life possible. God is no different.
You may live in the dorm. You may wear the college sweater. You may ever show up for classes. But if you don't buckle down and apply yourself and really work hard to graduate, you're not really a student are you?
Stop making excuses. Stop expecting to be able to remain an infant for the rest of your life. There are a few people in this world who do stop growing before they reach a year old. These people have a serious growth disorder and will never be able to care for themselves, much less anyone else. This is a person to be pitied, not emulated.
Are you afraid of failing? Why? The only person really afraid of failing is the person who cares more about what other people think of him than about learning and mastering the material. Any sincere student knows that they will fail again and again until they grasp the concept, and once they do, those failures only serve to teach them what not to do. You will fail. You will struggle. But in the process of failing and struggling, you will learn, and you will come to understand what it is you are trying to learn.
Stop being afraid to live up to your commitment to Him which you made when you were baptized. Stop being afraid to really see the darkest part of yourself and learn to accept it for what it is. Stop being afraid to have a real relationship with God, and not the illusion of a relationship that you can control and feel "safe" with. Stop being afraid to face Jesus Christ naked, humiliated, and weak and realize that this is the only way to honestly face Him. The illusion you imagine, the fantasy you control in your head, won't cut it.
Stop being afraid t engage God as He is and realize that this is the best thing you could ever possibly do. Everything else is the illusion, the fantasy. God alone is the Reality and the best thing you can do is to cooperate with Him as He strips away your illusions until only He remains. The religious rule of the Christian life was laid down to foster and encourage this. The only reason why you wouldn't want to follow it is if you want to remain blind, ignorant, and separated from Him. Think about it long and hard and choose very carefully whether or not you want to be "religious."
Sunday, December 18, 2011
A Ramble About Holiday Saints
During the holidays, we often lose sight of where the holiday came from, or why we remember it. St. Valentine's day is a day of giving cards and romantic gifts to people, and is often degraded into little more than an excuse for sex. St. Patrick's day is a day of wearing Green, seeing leprechauns, celebrating everything Irish, and also degrades into little more than an excuse for getting roaring drunk with one's friends.Christmastime is a celebration of Santa Claus, all things warm and fuzzy, and again degrades into a frenzy of "I have to have this!" to the general shouts of glee from store owners looking to making up their losses from the rest of the year.
There are three saints which virtually everyone is familiar with, and no one really seems to understand who they were, who are associated with these holidays. They are St. Valentine, St. Patrick, and St. Nicholas. These men are recognized and venerated by every branch of the Church, east and west, and as such are a part of our collective heritage.
St. Valentine was a priest in Rome in the mid to late third century under the reign of Claudius the second, and at a time when it was illegal to preach Christ or even give aid to Christians. He was caught and arrested while performing a marriage ceremony for a Christian couple and brought before the emperor. The emperor took a liking to him at first. St. Valentine tried to bring the emperor to Christ, and the emperor executed him for it. He died around 275 A.D.
St. Patrick was taken as a slave from the coast of wales to Ireland where he served as a slave until he escaped, by the help of God, and made his way home to Britain. He was called by God to return to Ireland as a missionary and entered the priesthood to study, but was often held back because of the time he lost in his studies as a slave. Eventually he was consecrated as a Bishop with the express purpose of returning to Ireland to preach Christ and establish the Church there. He worked tirelessly at it, and could be seen as one of the first tribal missionaries among a fierce and proud warrior people. Often his greatest enemies were the other clergy back in Britain who were more concerned about tithes and income from the Irish people than the Irish people themselves, and he rejected clergy sent to "help" him in this regard and sent them packing. Through his humility, self-sacrifice, and tireless efforts the Gospel of Jesus Christ was firmly established among the Irish people by the time he passed away around 480 A.D. Because of his work, Ireland became a missionary Church that sent out clergy and missionaries to other parts of Europe as well.
St. Nicholas (Nikolaos) was the Bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey between 270 and 343 A.D. He is remembered for his generosity and anonymous gift giving. In one narrative, a man was so poor he could provide no dowry for his daughters to marry and was considering selling them into prostitution. Secretly, St. Nikolaos snuck up to their window at night and tossed a bag of gold through the window. He did it again for the next two nights. His actions spared the girls their otherwise cruel fate. There is no record of whether or not this man was a Christian or not. Another narrative tells of Nikolaos asking for wheat from sailors during a famine to help feed some people in a village who were starving. The wheat was bound for the emperor in Constantinople and the sailors were charged with making sure every grain was delivered. He assumed responsibility for the wheat and they let him have some. When the sailors reached Constantinople they discovered they had exactly as much wheat as before they met Nikolaos. The villagers found they not only had enough wheat to make bread but also enough to sow, and it lasted them for two years until the famine was over.
These were and are godly brothers in Jesus Christ who lived Jesus Christ for people and gave their lives and everything else they had in His service. They are examples left for us to follow. As we pass their feast days and the holidays associated with them throughout the year, let's remember the men themselves and what they really stood for.
There are three saints which virtually everyone is familiar with, and no one really seems to understand who they were, who are associated with these holidays. They are St. Valentine, St. Patrick, and St. Nicholas. These men are recognized and venerated by every branch of the Church, east and west, and as such are a part of our collective heritage.
St. Valentine was a priest in Rome in the mid to late third century under the reign of Claudius the second, and at a time when it was illegal to preach Christ or even give aid to Christians. He was caught and arrested while performing a marriage ceremony for a Christian couple and brought before the emperor. The emperor took a liking to him at first. St. Valentine tried to bring the emperor to Christ, and the emperor executed him for it. He died around 275 A.D.
St. Patrick was taken as a slave from the coast of wales to Ireland where he served as a slave until he escaped, by the help of God, and made his way home to Britain. He was called by God to return to Ireland as a missionary and entered the priesthood to study, but was often held back because of the time he lost in his studies as a slave. Eventually he was consecrated as a Bishop with the express purpose of returning to Ireland to preach Christ and establish the Church there. He worked tirelessly at it, and could be seen as one of the first tribal missionaries among a fierce and proud warrior people. Often his greatest enemies were the other clergy back in Britain who were more concerned about tithes and income from the Irish people than the Irish people themselves, and he rejected clergy sent to "help" him in this regard and sent them packing. Through his humility, self-sacrifice, and tireless efforts the Gospel of Jesus Christ was firmly established among the Irish people by the time he passed away around 480 A.D. Because of his work, Ireland became a missionary Church that sent out clergy and missionaries to other parts of Europe as well.
St. Nicholas (Nikolaos) was the Bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey between 270 and 343 A.D. He is remembered for his generosity and anonymous gift giving. In one narrative, a man was so poor he could provide no dowry for his daughters to marry and was considering selling them into prostitution. Secretly, St. Nikolaos snuck up to their window at night and tossed a bag of gold through the window. He did it again for the next two nights. His actions spared the girls their otherwise cruel fate. There is no record of whether or not this man was a Christian or not. Another narrative tells of Nikolaos asking for wheat from sailors during a famine to help feed some people in a village who were starving. The wheat was bound for the emperor in Constantinople and the sailors were charged with making sure every grain was delivered. He assumed responsibility for the wheat and they let him have some. When the sailors reached Constantinople they discovered they had exactly as much wheat as before they met Nikolaos. The villagers found they not only had enough wheat to make bread but also enough to sow, and it lasted them for two years until the famine was over.
These were and are godly brothers in Jesus Christ who lived Jesus Christ for people and gave their lives and everything else they had in His service. They are examples left for us to follow. As we pass their feast days and the holidays associated with them throughout the year, let's remember the men themselves and what they really stood for.
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