Originally published as a Facebook Note April 25th, 2009
I just went for a walk today. I live near Disneyland and the Anaheim Resort. The walk from my apartment following the major streets constitutes probably at least a square mile. My neighborhood is separated from the resort area by the I-5 freeway which divides the two halves of the square down the diagonal.
In order to reach the resort area from my neighborhood you have to walk all the way around the freeway. There are no paths or shortcuts across or under it. The freeway exits for the resort area lead straight into it, with "no right turn" and "no left turn" signs posted right as the exit meets Anaheim Blvd. What's odd about this is that the exit terminates at a traffic light, and a right turn or left would be no more dangerous there than at any other traffic light. The entrances to the freeway from the resort are also just as singular in purpose. They lead straight out of the resort and do not permit any side trips into the surrounding city and neighborhoods.
As you walk along Harbor next to the Disneyland resort's main vehicle entrance you are surrounded by immaculate hotels suited to nearly every budget, restaurants and eateries ranging from McDonald's to Denny's, the Jolly Roger to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. All of these places are staffed by very friendly, even perky, young adults and teenagers. There are people who are obvious tourists everywhere. The atmosphere is friendly, inviting, upbeat, and in constant motion. All of it is watched over by armed and unarmed security who stay mostly out of sight, and work tirelessly to blend in with the rest of the background, until a problem arises which calls on their intervention. And there is also the Anaheim police officers who make regular patrols on foot, bicycle, and patrol car through the parks and resorts.
As I walked through it all and somewhat blended in, several thoughts occurred to me. Most of the people who come here will only come here once in their lives. They will have saved up thousands of dollars to come here, spend a few nights in a hotel, and escape into the carefully orchestrated and sanitized world which this half of the square mile presents away from their "real" world wherever "back home" may be. They don't want to remember their bills, their employers, their schools, their real lives. They want to leave them, if only for a few days out of their entire lives, and be able to forget that they exist by immersing themselves in the family friendly illusions and dreams which the Resort Area offers.
On the other side of the freeway is my neighborhood. We live there because the rent is inexpensive... for Orange County at least. It is a predominantly Spanish speaking neighborhood. On one major street corner is a supermarket in which it is almost a requirement to know a little Spanish to purchase anything. The produce is fresh, ripe, and cheap. There's a real butcher, a real bakery, a small "Deli" of sorts which sells tacos, burritos, rotisserie chicken, menudo, chorizo, and other dishes of which it would be redundant to say they are authentically Mexican. I don't think those preparing them would know how to prepare anything else, and you're on your own if you can't say at least part of your order in Spanish. Nearby is a book and music store which proudly proclaims "musica, libros, peliculas" and no English translations anywhere on the signage. There are also a few fast food places as well.
My apartment complex is one of several along my street in various stages of disrepair. As you walk down the street on a Saturday, it is common to see people holding yard sales and trading their old things for someone else's old things. I'm not sure if any of it actually ever leaves this neighborhood after being sold. Young hispanic mothers play with their babies and watch their young children play. Older kids chase each other around. Boys strike up impromptu games of soccer in their yards, or in the school playground which is behind my complex. At night, they play street hockey in the school's parking lot.
As I have come home from work late at night, I have often found several of the men who live next to and near us surrounded around an old barely working television in the mailbox area watching a soccer game or a boxing game and being just as raucous and celebratory about it as if they were actually there. At other times, they just stand or sit with each other, drinking a few beers, swapping stories, insults, dreams, hopes, fears. One of my neighbors washes cars and fixes bicycles out of his garage. As I can tell, they work when they can get work, and share in each other's lives when they can't.
There are police who watch this area as well. They watch it like hawks, waiting for the kill. I see them patrol it several times a day, and supposedly with good reason. I have on more than one occasion caught the distinctive odor of marajuana wafting through my windows, or around the stairwell. I have see strangers simply sitting on the bench out front as if they were waiting for someone. A few times, strangers have come to my door with the shakes looking to acquire what I think was cocaine judging by the colorful names they were giving what they wanted. I have also often come home to find police units parked in the middle of the street. The officers were out with guns drawn on teenagers lying on the ground with hands on their heads. The man whose daughter we were babysitting for a time stopped coming when an undercover officer drew his gun on him as he was getting out of his car. His pregnant girlfriend who was in the car lost their child from the shock.
Illusions and realities. As human beings we fight, and scrimp, and strive, and spend everything we have saved to achieve the illusion and hold on to it, even if only for a few brief moments of our lives. We guard that illusion and even that hope of illusion jealously, and like the security in the background, when it becomes in danger of being invaded by reality, we strike back with a ferocity to force reality back into submission. But in the end, the illusion must fade when the money runs out. That's what illusions do. And when the money or resources run out, it doesn't just fade, it throws you out as though an unwelcome vagrant, without kindness, without pity, without remorse, and without compassion; all in the name of maintaining it's image. And we are left again with the shock of reality as it is, all the more painful because of the lost sweetness which we have so freshly tasted.
Reality isn't sweet. It isn't well manicured. It's life lived in the here and now with all that goes with it. Reality demands that you look at the present, and doesn't have time for illusion. Reality lives, loves, laughs, cries, shouts, gets angry, bleeds, and dies; sometimes all in the same instant. It demands your full attention and makes you pay for it. It sets the consequences of your actions in front of you and demands that you deal with them in the here and now, and will not be put off until tomorrow. Reality is the hardworking older man who lives by washing cars out of his garage. Reality is the group of kids who can't afford any more than just enjoying being with each other and playing soccer together. Reality is a boxing match shared on an old t.v. with gusto and joy or a game of pool played on a table rescued from a dumpster. Reality is the kid who can't find love or acceptance at home and so joins with others like himself and compose a new code of friendship, honor, and loyalty even if it means doing so at the expense of other's peace and security. Reality is the young mother who hides her bruises as well as she can, and hopes her husband doesn't come home drunk again.
We don't encounter God in the illusion. God is. He exists. He is right here, right now. He laughs, cries, shouts, weeps, shares, bleeds, hopes, loves, and dies right along with us here in reality. He feels it when the young mother has to take another backhand from her husband. He weeps with the older grandmother who doesn't know anymore how to help her grandson find his way out of his dark path. He empathizes when the young man can't find work, and knows just how he feels. We encounter God in the reality, where we don't want to be.
And when all is said and done, the illusion will finally fade and end. The buzz of whatever kind will pass away. The money will run out, the lights will fade, the party will be over. And then all that is left is Reality, where He is. Where He always and eternally Is. Where we don't want to be and have been fighting desperately to stay away from, and to stay away from Him.
There is no true joy without sorrow. No true pleasure without pain. No true sanity, without losing one's mind in order to find it. As Christians, it is often spoken of living in the "resurrection life". But in order for one to be resurrected, they must first die. That which has not died cannot by nature be resurrected. And so the resurrection which is commonly proclaimed is often only an illusion, and more often than not, one which is easy to see past given enough time. Truth will always make itself known as truth. Those who most often preach this kind of resurrected life do so for fear of the Cross, and the Reality it requires us to embrace. The one we don't want to embrace.
Illusions and realities. Jesus Christ spent long hours and days giving everything he had to the sick, the demonized, the lame, the crippled, the blind, the deaf, the dumb, and the dead. He spent most of His time in neighborhoods like mine with people who today could be drug dealers, young abused mothers, young men with no hope, old men with shattered dreams, societal outcasts, revolutionaries, radicals, and He set out to heal and bring healing to them all, body, mind, and spirit. Several of them were His closest friends and students and were responsible for carrying His message and salvation to the ends of the earth. If he shunned and criticized and policed anyone, it was those who fought to maintain their own illusions of power, security, and authority... and who did so no matter what it may cost anyone who got in their way, including Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus would likely be hanging out mostly in my neighborhood, not at the resort.
Are we going to follow Him or not?
Saturday, May 2, 2009
A Ramble about Saints
Originally published as a Facebook Note April 24th, 2009
I've been to a number of funerals in my life. I've said goodbye to more family and friends than I wanted to; I've said goodbye to grandparents, classmates, teachers, people I only met in passing, and a man not that much younger than myself whom the Lord had led me to guide him back to Him when he was in a great deal of pain. For him, I had to mourn his passing on my own as I wasn't able to attend his memorial. As I try to count the number of funerals I have been to, I realize I can't remember how many of them I've attended, but I remember the images of them quite well.
Some of them I knew very well, others only in passing. Some of them were quite lavish and extravagant such as a Police Officer's funeral in which I had the privilege to take part. Others were very quiet, with very few people in attendence, such as my great grandmother. Some were solemn, but without faith; remembering the person's life and understanding that their life was now gone, permanently. Others were more of a quiet celebration. I remember my grandmother Claudia's funeral, my paternal grandmother. The sense there was not that she was gone, but simply transformed and gone home.
Here soon, I will attend another. A dear friend for whom I was not there when she needed me at the end. That's a regret I will likely not get over soon. We will go, remember her with words, praise the Lord with song, and then spread the ashes of her physical form out into the ocean as she wanted. And then, we will go home, acknowledging that we will see her again... someday.
The Scriptures say that all who are baptized into Christ Jesus are joined to Him. That we are all knit together as One Body, one organism (as one of my professors once said in class), joined together by the Holy Spirit in a permanent, unbreakable bond. It also says that those who are absent from the body are present with the Lord, and that death no longer has any meaning for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. It says, "O grave where is your victory, O death where is your sting?" According to Paul, death is absolutely meaningless for those who are in Christ Jesus. It is a momentary annoyance at worst, and a release and transformation at best.
Why then do we act as though we actually believe that they're gone? If death means nothing to the body of Christ, if we really believe this, why do we assume that they're actually dead and treat the grave as this insurmountable chasm across which we lose the communion of our brothers and sisters until "someday"? Is this what He died for? To merely give us the faint hope of seeing them again "someday", or to keep us together bound in His spirit as a part of His Eternal Life, sharing His Eternal Life as one organism. If we honestly don't believe we're connceted to them anymore, or that the grave still has some power over us, why do we profess faith in Jesus Christ at all? What good does it do? If we are truly separated by death from our brothers and sisters, then the cross has failed. God Forbid It!
The resurrection begins with our death to ourselves and is completed upon the death of our physical bodies. Those who have passed in Christ are not dead but have begun there final transformation outside of time, and outside of space as we know it. They are not separated from us but are integrally a part of us through Him. They are still Family. They are still our brothers and sisters. And as the scriptures indicate in the letter to the Hebrews and in the Revelation, they know perfectly well what's going on with us, and are a great cloud of witnesses watching us run our races. What's more, do we honestly believe that knowing these things, as Family who care about us, that they're going to stand idly by and watch us as spectators, or, as Family, are they going to be caring about us, interceding for us and praying for us? What would we do in their place? What do we do now? Do I stop caring about and praying for my brothers and sisters in Christ simply because I've had my skin removed? Truth is, it would make more sense to me that having my skin removed would free me to love and intercede for them even more directly in His presence. Rather than prohibit me, it would free and embolden me to the ever present Reality that is Him, and Us in Him. "You in Me, and I in You, that they may be One in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." This was the prayer of Jesus Christ, do we honestly think the Father said no?
The thought of this threatens many, and threatens the faith and theology of many. It used to threaten mine. Communion with the dead? Isn't that being a medium? Not if those people are truly not dead but have passed from this dying body into Life in His presence. Those who have died outside of Christ, are outside of Christ, and are not a part of the body. They are dead, and awaiting judgment. I honestly can't speak for the Lord in this matter, because I'm not Him, and only He really knows what their fate will be. I only know that they are not bound to each other as we are through his Spirit, and they are not joined in His death and resurrection as we are through His Spirit.
If we believe in the resurrection, if we believe in Jesus Christ, then we must accept all that goes with it. We must act on all that goes with it. And in doing so, we can rejoice that our brothers and sisters who have gone before us are waiting for us to join them with open arms, and also extend those open arms now in the Spirit when we need them. That's what brothers and sisters are for. That's what Family is for.
I've been to a number of funerals in my life. I've said goodbye to more family and friends than I wanted to; I've said goodbye to grandparents, classmates, teachers, people I only met in passing, and a man not that much younger than myself whom the Lord had led me to guide him back to Him when he was in a great deal of pain. For him, I had to mourn his passing on my own as I wasn't able to attend his memorial. As I try to count the number of funerals I have been to, I realize I can't remember how many of them I've attended, but I remember the images of them quite well.
Some of them I knew very well, others only in passing. Some of them were quite lavish and extravagant such as a Police Officer's funeral in which I had the privilege to take part. Others were very quiet, with very few people in attendence, such as my great grandmother. Some were solemn, but without faith; remembering the person's life and understanding that their life was now gone, permanently. Others were more of a quiet celebration. I remember my grandmother Claudia's funeral, my paternal grandmother. The sense there was not that she was gone, but simply transformed and gone home.
Here soon, I will attend another. A dear friend for whom I was not there when she needed me at the end. That's a regret I will likely not get over soon. We will go, remember her with words, praise the Lord with song, and then spread the ashes of her physical form out into the ocean as she wanted. And then, we will go home, acknowledging that we will see her again... someday.
The Scriptures say that all who are baptized into Christ Jesus are joined to Him. That we are all knit together as One Body, one organism (as one of my professors once said in class), joined together by the Holy Spirit in a permanent, unbreakable bond. It also says that those who are absent from the body are present with the Lord, and that death no longer has any meaning for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. It says, "O grave where is your victory, O death where is your sting?" According to Paul, death is absolutely meaningless for those who are in Christ Jesus. It is a momentary annoyance at worst, and a release and transformation at best.
Why then do we act as though we actually believe that they're gone? If death means nothing to the body of Christ, if we really believe this, why do we assume that they're actually dead and treat the grave as this insurmountable chasm across which we lose the communion of our brothers and sisters until "someday"? Is this what He died for? To merely give us the faint hope of seeing them again "someday", or to keep us together bound in His spirit as a part of His Eternal Life, sharing His Eternal Life as one organism. If we honestly don't believe we're connceted to them anymore, or that the grave still has some power over us, why do we profess faith in Jesus Christ at all? What good does it do? If we are truly separated by death from our brothers and sisters, then the cross has failed. God Forbid It!
The resurrection begins with our death to ourselves and is completed upon the death of our physical bodies. Those who have passed in Christ are not dead but have begun there final transformation outside of time, and outside of space as we know it. They are not separated from us but are integrally a part of us through Him. They are still Family. They are still our brothers and sisters. And as the scriptures indicate in the letter to the Hebrews and in the Revelation, they know perfectly well what's going on with us, and are a great cloud of witnesses watching us run our races. What's more, do we honestly believe that knowing these things, as Family who care about us, that they're going to stand idly by and watch us as spectators, or, as Family, are they going to be caring about us, interceding for us and praying for us? What would we do in their place? What do we do now? Do I stop caring about and praying for my brothers and sisters in Christ simply because I've had my skin removed? Truth is, it would make more sense to me that having my skin removed would free me to love and intercede for them even more directly in His presence. Rather than prohibit me, it would free and embolden me to the ever present Reality that is Him, and Us in Him. "You in Me, and I in You, that they may be One in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." This was the prayer of Jesus Christ, do we honestly think the Father said no?
The thought of this threatens many, and threatens the faith and theology of many. It used to threaten mine. Communion with the dead? Isn't that being a medium? Not if those people are truly not dead but have passed from this dying body into Life in His presence. Those who have died outside of Christ, are outside of Christ, and are not a part of the body. They are dead, and awaiting judgment. I honestly can't speak for the Lord in this matter, because I'm not Him, and only He really knows what their fate will be. I only know that they are not bound to each other as we are through his Spirit, and they are not joined in His death and resurrection as we are through His Spirit.
If we believe in the resurrection, if we believe in Jesus Christ, then we must accept all that goes with it. We must act on all that goes with it. And in doing so, we can rejoice that our brothers and sisters who have gone before us are waiting for us to join them with open arms, and also extend those open arms now in the Spirit when we need them. That's what brothers and sisters are for. That's what Family is for.
A Ramble about Money
Originally published as a Facebook Note April 22nd, 2009
I recently heard from another pastor friend of mine who is starting a study series about money and finances. It's not really a bad topic. Truth is, I'm horrible at keeping track of my own finances and anyone who knows me knows this is true. But for some reason, it just doesn't strike a very good chord in me to be talking about money at what is supposed to be, essentially, a meeting to learn more about what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
I got the same reaction recently from a church newsletter I got. This particular church is usually very careful about when it mentions the offering, and usually takes great pains to not even pass around the collection plate, preferring anonymous donations dropped in the box in the back. But lately, because of the economic crisis which has been hitting everyone, they've had to start mentioning it a little more often. Pastors still need to to eat, and rent still needs to be paid. I can't really criticize this. I know firsthand what it means to draw your living from a church offering, and what that living often amounts to, when all you see is five or ten dollars here or there. It's disheartening, frustrating, and difficult.
It is my observation that many good pastors really don't want to talk about money, but find themselves forced to. It becomes a necessary evil just to keep the church's lights on, and to keep gas in their car so they can make it to church. The Bible itself several times indicates that the worker is worthy of his (or her) wages, and that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel. It becomes incredibly difficult to maintain one's credibility, though, as a servant of God and a follower of Jesus Christ who taught us not to worry about what we should eat, or what we should wear, to then have to go to their congregations and ask to be paid a living wage, and essentially to ask them for money. It's really not fair, because there seems to be a number of "pastors" who have no real issues with this and live lives some heads of state can only fantasize about.
Money tends to turn the Church of Jesus Christ into a business. Some denominations even go so far as to have their members sign what is effectively a legal document; a pledge to give so much money per month so that they can know what their balance sheet is going to look like. Many Seminaries now teach more business administration than pastoring for this reason.
In the gospels and in the book of Acts we see Jesus having taught a very different view and practice of money than the one we are taught almost from birth as Americans (in particular). Jesus taught His first disciples to give up everything and follow Him. From what can be seen from the scriptures, the first disciples literally left everything and traveled, homeless, with Jesus. Their income came from a group of women who provided for them out of their own pockets, and when they had nothing, there is no record that Jesus ever told them to solicit the people for anything. When He sent them out, He sent them out with the explicit instruction that they were to take only the clothes on their backs. He told them to not worry about what they would eat or wear or drink, but to put first the Kingdom of Heaven, and then all of these things would be given to them. In the scriptures Peter says very clearly that they had left everything to follow Him, and when Jesus called men to follow Him, the explicit or implict instruction was to leave everything else behind, or to sell it and give it to the poor.
In the Book of Acts, we see the Apsotles and other disciples carrying out the same manner of living and teaching in that everyone who was added to the Church, went and sold everything they had, and then brought the money to the Apostles. The Apostles then distributed money and food to everyone in the Church as they needed, and no one went without. When some prejudice or abuses began, the Apostles set Deacons over the whole process to police it. Notice also in Acts that this process was voluntary. It wasn't a requirement of membership. People gave in accordance with what faith they had that God would provide for them, and that faith as much or as little as was theirs was received and welcomed, and not belittled or asked for more. The only record where it was called into question has to do with a couple attempting to deceive God, the Apostles, the Church, and themselves. This deception, not their lack of faith, was met with grave consequences by God Himself through Peter.
We don't do this today. Why? I know for myself, I would be scared to give everything I had to a church's leadership if I didn't know I could trust them or the mechanism in place to ensure that me and mine were taken care of. I would be scared of the inevitable church politics and people who might slight me or mine or somehow make it so that we went hungry. And of course there is the attachment to things (something Jesus Christ taught not to be by the way), how am I to acquire those pleasant toys and luxuries for myself without money of my own? And then there is the fact that we call this form of economy "Communism" or "Socialism" in this day and age. Neither word sits well with most Americans, and most words stir up a patriotic backlash and promotion of capitalism and a free market economy. Jesus Christ, with what he taught, would be labeled a liberal communist by many in the conservative community, except of course that most of these profess to follow Him, and so conveniently gloss over and theologically sanitize this part of His teaching.
If we are going to profess to follow Jesus Christ, then we need to actually follow Him, and what he taught. The truth is that in the state which our economy and the world's economy find themselves in, what Jesus taught and the Apostles practiced would be more relevant for the Church today than at almost any other point in our history. If we all pooled all of our resources into a single fund and then doled out to everyone as need permitted within the Church, chances are no one would go hungry, have their bills unpaid, or have to worry about their rent. The rest of the world would crash down around their ears, but they would be unmoved economically and would be financially secured.
It would require following the principles of detachment from material things, and trust in God's provision which Jesus Christ taught. It would require a radical revamp of the Church as we know it. Are we willing to put our money where our mouth is and follow Him?
I recently heard from another pastor friend of mine who is starting a study series about money and finances. It's not really a bad topic. Truth is, I'm horrible at keeping track of my own finances and anyone who knows me knows this is true. But for some reason, it just doesn't strike a very good chord in me to be talking about money at what is supposed to be, essentially, a meeting to learn more about what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
I got the same reaction recently from a church newsletter I got. This particular church is usually very careful about when it mentions the offering, and usually takes great pains to not even pass around the collection plate, preferring anonymous donations dropped in the box in the back. But lately, because of the economic crisis which has been hitting everyone, they've had to start mentioning it a little more often. Pastors still need to to eat, and rent still needs to be paid. I can't really criticize this. I know firsthand what it means to draw your living from a church offering, and what that living often amounts to, when all you see is five or ten dollars here or there. It's disheartening, frustrating, and difficult.
It is my observation that many good pastors really don't want to talk about money, but find themselves forced to. It becomes a necessary evil just to keep the church's lights on, and to keep gas in their car so they can make it to church. The Bible itself several times indicates that the worker is worthy of his (or her) wages, and that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel. It becomes incredibly difficult to maintain one's credibility, though, as a servant of God and a follower of Jesus Christ who taught us not to worry about what we should eat, or what we should wear, to then have to go to their congregations and ask to be paid a living wage, and essentially to ask them for money. It's really not fair, because there seems to be a number of "pastors" who have no real issues with this and live lives some heads of state can only fantasize about.
Money tends to turn the Church of Jesus Christ into a business. Some denominations even go so far as to have their members sign what is effectively a legal document; a pledge to give so much money per month so that they can know what their balance sheet is going to look like. Many Seminaries now teach more business administration than pastoring for this reason.
In the gospels and in the book of Acts we see Jesus having taught a very different view and practice of money than the one we are taught almost from birth as Americans (in particular). Jesus taught His first disciples to give up everything and follow Him. From what can be seen from the scriptures, the first disciples literally left everything and traveled, homeless, with Jesus. Their income came from a group of women who provided for them out of their own pockets, and when they had nothing, there is no record that Jesus ever told them to solicit the people for anything. When He sent them out, He sent them out with the explicit instruction that they were to take only the clothes on their backs. He told them to not worry about what they would eat or wear or drink, but to put first the Kingdom of Heaven, and then all of these things would be given to them. In the scriptures Peter says very clearly that they had left everything to follow Him, and when Jesus called men to follow Him, the explicit or implict instruction was to leave everything else behind, or to sell it and give it to the poor.
In the Book of Acts, we see the Apsotles and other disciples carrying out the same manner of living and teaching in that everyone who was added to the Church, went and sold everything they had, and then brought the money to the Apostles. The Apostles then distributed money and food to everyone in the Church as they needed, and no one went without. When some prejudice or abuses began, the Apostles set Deacons over the whole process to police it. Notice also in Acts that this process was voluntary. It wasn't a requirement of membership. People gave in accordance with what faith they had that God would provide for them, and that faith as much or as little as was theirs was received and welcomed, and not belittled or asked for more. The only record where it was called into question has to do with a couple attempting to deceive God, the Apostles, the Church, and themselves. This deception, not their lack of faith, was met with grave consequences by God Himself through Peter.
We don't do this today. Why? I know for myself, I would be scared to give everything I had to a church's leadership if I didn't know I could trust them or the mechanism in place to ensure that me and mine were taken care of. I would be scared of the inevitable church politics and people who might slight me or mine or somehow make it so that we went hungry. And of course there is the attachment to things (something Jesus Christ taught not to be by the way), how am I to acquire those pleasant toys and luxuries for myself without money of my own? And then there is the fact that we call this form of economy "Communism" or "Socialism" in this day and age. Neither word sits well with most Americans, and most words stir up a patriotic backlash and promotion of capitalism and a free market economy. Jesus Christ, with what he taught, would be labeled a liberal communist by many in the conservative community, except of course that most of these profess to follow Him, and so conveniently gloss over and theologically sanitize this part of His teaching.
If we are going to profess to follow Jesus Christ, then we need to actually follow Him, and what he taught. The truth is that in the state which our economy and the world's economy find themselves in, what Jesus taught and the Apostles practiced would be more relevant for the Church today than at almost any other point in our history. If we all pooled all of our resources into a single fund and then doled out to everyone as need permitted within the Church, chances are no one would go hungry, have their bills unpaid, or have to worry about their rent. The rest of the world would crash down around their ears, but they would be unmoved economically and would be financially secured.
It would require following the principles of detachment from material things, and trust in God's provision which Jesus Christ taught. It would require a radical revamp of the Church as we know it. Are we willing to put our money where our mouth is and follow Him?
A Ramble about an Unacceptable Situation
Originally published as a Facebook Note April 20th, 2009
I'm sitting here in my stole about to say Mass before I go to bed tonight.
There is a question which is never far from my mind and usually running in the background somewhere. How do we fix the Church of Jesus Christ?
This assumes that somehow it's broken. Or that it is somehow disordered. Whether or not you agree with me that it is... we can argue rings around each other why it is or isn't, and get nowhere.
But I see symptoms of a much greater problem. I have previously written about the judgmentalism of various professing Christians, when Jesus Christ taught non-judgment. I have previously written about these lost sheep who have run from the Church, and whose faith exists in various states of ruin. The members of the visible Church are often the cause of those who are not a part of the Body to not want to become a part of the Body for the hypocrisy. Why would anyone want to follow Jesus Christ when we don't follow Him ourselves? Why would anyone profess faith when professing Christians often betray their lack of faith by their actions? The One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ is fractured into a thousand and tens of thousands of bickering political parties each professing that they only have the real "Truth", and this "Truth" which they profess is a theological doctrine or dogma which takes all precedence in terms of importance over what Jesus Christ actually taught, or in some cases even over Jesus Christ Himself. In the more extreme versions, murder is even committed in His Name.
The Tao Te Ching, in one stanza, says something like "when the way is lost, ultimately there remains only the facade of ritual and religion." This is a gross paraphrase--largely because I can't remember the original word for word-- but I think it carries the meaning of the original. The Buddhist would likely agree that when the Truth is lost, there is only ignorance and Self lost in the sea of transient and impermanent experiences. I would argue that when the Life is lost, there remains only the onset of decay to the body, which at first appears as attractive and healthy as it was when the Life was within it, but as each second passes by with no blood flow, it begins to rot and stink and decay as it breaks down, and then it is evident to all that what is present is a dead corpse, and not a living body.
The Way, the Truth, and the Life. This is Jesus Christ. He said what would happen when we didn't remain in Him as a branch remains in the vine. We could do nothing. Much worse, the branch would wither and die and be thrown into a fire where it would be consumed (John 15:4-6, check it out for yourself).
What then is the answer to this problem? I thought at one time another congregation, or another church, but that would only add to the problem, not correct it. Others saw the same problem in the Church's history and responded with new denominations and sects and reform movements. They responded with new theologies, believing that the old theologies were the problem to be corrected. If new teachings or new Bodies were the answer then the problem would have been corrected a long time ago, a thousand thousand times over.
It is like the illustration of Plato's cave, except those who may have been freed from the cave to experience the sunlight have themselves chosen to be shackled again to the cave seeing only the shadows, yet all the while proclaiming that they are free when any fool who can see shadows can tell that they are not.
We have, collectively if not individually, lost far more than the Truth which Jesus Christ taught, we have lost Jesus Christ Himself, and willingly chosen to be blinded again by the god of this world. We need to recover the Way, the Truth, and the Life who is Jesus Christ, and this can't be done through more theology, more division, more Bible Studies, Church meetings, sermons, rallies, tent revivals, books that don't get read except by pastors, or any other tactic which has been tried. We all can see the need unless we're totally blinded. We know something is malfunctioning or disordered somewhere. We can see the evidence for it ourselves, but we can't put our finger on it. It's just out of the range of our perception. And so we shrug our shoulders, and go back to doing what we were doing.
We need Jesus Christ. We, the Church, need Jesus Christ. We need Him. We need to be wrapped in Him. We need to live and breath Him. We need to eat, drink, dream, and live Jesus Christ. St. Paul wrote, "for everyone who has been baptized into Jesus Christ has been baptized into His death," and also "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." We don't need any or more theologies or books about Him. We don't need to discuss about Him. We don't need to do things in His name. We don't need to act for Him in His absence. We need Him. We need Him flowing through us. We need Him flowing through veins, filling our lungs, running up and down our nerves. We need Him within us and pouring out through us. When He is not present, then we decay and become blinded. The Buddha said, "there is Self and there is Truth, where Self is, Truth is not. Where Truth is, Self is not." Jesus Christ is Truth, and where He is, there is no Self to turn inward to. At the same time, where Self is present, Jesus Christ is not.
The Church, collectively, is a decaying corpse. One of the things God is really good at is resurrection, but resurrection only comes through Jesus Christ. Resurrection only comes when one dies to Self and is integrally joined to Jesus Christ in His death. Unless Self dies, Jesus Christ will not come in resurrection.
We have, collectively, lost what it means to be Christian. To follow Jesus Christ in His death, and resurrection. Very few, it seems, have individually found it. This is an unacceptable situation.
I'm sitting here in my stole about to say Mass before I go to bed tonight.
There is a question which is never far from my mind and usually running in the background somewhere. How do we fix the Church of Jesus Christ?
This assumes that somehow it's broken. Or that it is somehow disordered. Whether or not you agree with me that it is... we can argue rings around each other why it is or isn't, and get nowhere.
But I see symptoms of a much greater problem. I have previously written about the judgmentalism of various professing Christians, when Jesus Christ taught non-judgment. I have previously written about these lost sheep who have run from the Church, and whose faith exists in various states of ruin. The members of the visible Church are often the cause of those who are not a part of the Body to not want to become a part of the Body for the hypocrisy. Why would anyone want to follow Jesus Christ when we don't follow Him ourselves? Why would anyone profess faith when professing Christians often betray their lack of faith by their actions? The One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ is fractured into a thousand and tens of thousands of bickering political parties each professing that they only have the real "Truth", and this "Truth" which they profess is a theological doctrine or dogma which takes all precedence in terms of importance over what Jesus Christ actually taught, or in some cases even over Jesus Christ Himself. In the more extreme versions, murder is even committed in His Name.
The Tao Te Ching, in one stanza, says something like "when the way is lost, ultimately there remains only the facade of ritual and religion." This is a gross paraphrase--largely because I can't remember the original word for word-- but I think it carries the meaning of the original. The Buddhist would likely agree that when the Truth is lost, there is only ignorance and Self lost in the sea of transient and impermanent experiences. I would argue that when the Life is lost, there remains only the onset of decay to the body, which at first appears as attractive and healthy as it was when the Life was within it, but as each second passes by with no blood flow, it begins to rot and stink and decay as it breaks down, and then it is evident to all that what is present is a dead corpse, and not a living body.
The Way, the Truth, and the Life. This is Jesus Christ. He said what would happen when we didn't remain in Him as a branch remains in the vine. We could do nothing. Much worse, the branch would wither and die and be thrown into a fire where it would be consumed (John 15:4-6, check it out for yourself).
What then is the answer to this problem? I thought at one time another congregation, or another church, but that would only add to the problem, not correct it. Others saw the same problem in the Church's history and responded with new denominations and sects and reform movements. They responded with new theologies, believing that the old theologies were the problem to be corrected. If new teachings or new Bodies were the answer then the problem would have been corrected a long time ago, a thousand thousand times over.
It is like the illustration of Plato's cave, except those who may have been freed from the cave to experience the sunlight have themselves chosen to be shackled again to the cave seeing only the shadows, yet all the while proclaiming that they are free when any fool who can see shadows can tell that they are not.
We have, collectively if not individually, lost far more than the Truth which Jesus Christ taught, we have lost Jesus Christ Himself, and willingly chosen to be blinded again by the god of this world. We need to recover the Way, the Truth, and the Life who is Jesus Christ, and this can't be done through more theology, more division, more Bible Studies, Church meetings, sermons, rallies, tent revivals, books that don't get read except by pastors, or any other tactic which has been tried. We all can see the need unless we're totally blinded. We know something is malfunctioning or disordered somewhere. We can see the evidence for it ourselves, but we can't put our finger on it. It's just out of the range of our perception. And so we shrug our shoulders, and go back to doing what we were doing.
We need Jesus Christ. We, the Church, need Jesus Christ. We need Him. We need to be wrapped in Him. We need to live and breath Him. We need to eat, drink, dream, and live Jesus Christ. St. Paul wrote, "for everyone who has been baptized into Jesus Christ has been baptized into His death," and also "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." We don't need any or more theologies or books about Him. We don't need to discuss about Him. We don't need to do things in His name. We don't need to act for Him in His absence. We need Him. We need Him flowing through us. We need Him flowing through veins, filling our lungs, running up and down our nerves. We need Him within us and pouring out through us. When He is not present, then we decay and become blinded. The Buddha said, "there is Self and there is Truth, where Self is, Truth is not. Where Truth is, Self is not." Jesus Christ is Truth, and where He is, there is no Self to turn inward to. At the same time, where Self is present, Jesus Christ is not.
The Church, collectively, is a decaying corpse. One of the things God is really good at is resurrection, but resurrection only comes through Jesus Christ. Resurrection only comes when one dies to Self and is integrally joined to Jesus Christ in His death. Unless Self dies, Jesus Christ will not come in resurrection.
We have, collectively, lost what it means to be Christian. To follow Jesus Christ in His death, and resurrection. Very few, it seems, have individually found it. This is an unacceptable situation.
A Ramble about Lost Sheep
Originally published as a Facebook Note April 12th, 2009
Some time ago, as I was pulling one ton pallets through the crowded aisles of Wal-Mart (if it sounds dangerous and foolhardy... it was), I got this image in my head from the Lord.
There was a rancher who owned a lot of sheep, and shepherd were hired to watch over different flocks. Some flocks were larger, some were smaller, but all the sheep belonged ultimately to the rancher, not the shepherd in charge of them.
Some of the shepherds were doing their job well and faithfully. The sheep were well cared for, and the shepherds had the exhaustion and bags under their eyes to prove it. Other shepherds however were not. Some beat the sheep under their care. Some didn't feed them properly. Others overfed them but then didn't exercise them. Some were abused in other ways, or poisoned because the shepherd didn't seem to know the difference between good feed and bad. Some shepherds were fleecing the sheep far too often, as such they were sick and ill prepared for the winter.
As a result, some sheep broke from their flocks and stalls and ran for the hills, terrified of the shepherds put over them. Out in the hills, some of them were able to survive on their own and were doing ok for the most part. Others however got into poisonous plants. Some couldn't traverse the terrain and were injured; some of them seriously. Others ate themselves over cliffs as sheep are quite capable of doing.
And as I saw this in my head, I could sense the concern the Rancher had for his sheep which had fled, and the anger which he had towards the shepherds in question to whom He had entrusted His livestock. And I sensed from Him that someone needed to go get them and look after them.
I have since wrestled with this question. How? If we were talking literal sheep, one could take a tranquilizer gun and some rope and go collect them. Unfortunately, it's not quite that easy with the Lord's sheep. It would be nice if it was, but it isn't. Often, those who have been hurt or abused tend to run from anyone who looks or smells like a shepherd. And honestly, I would, too if I had been abused like that.
One thought which has run through my mind lately is that these are the people for whom Jesus targeted His ministry. He didn't target the unbeliever (read Gentile), and He didn't target those who were professedly religious (read Pharisee, Sadducee, Essene, or other). He said instead, "I was not sent except to the lost (lit. ruined) sheep of the house of Israel," and also, "those who are well don't need a physician, but only those who are sick, I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but outcasts."
So what do we do about these brothers and sisters in Christ, many of whom are baptized, who believe in Jesus Christ, yet do not trust the Church or its shepherds? Do we just write them off? Do we let them just go elsewhere? Do we let them fall off of cliffs? After talking with some pastors (several of whom I respect highly), it seems like that is the general attitude. It's their fault for not accepting the authority of the Church or the Pastor.
Another thing about these lost sheep, is that many of them seem to be my generation and younger. I was talking to an old friend of mine recently who happens to be a youth pastor. The church he serves at has lost a lot of the people (including myself) who had been in the youth group over a decade ago and now are in their late twenties or early thirties. I could sense from him that he had a real heart for them, but he too seems to be at a loss as to how to bring them back into a regular church attendance of some or any kind. After putting out an inquiry to various churches in the area, he said that the general response he got was "good luck with that."
These are the people who are most on the heart of Jesus Christ. Members of the family who have somehow been ruined and written off by the Church, intentionally or unintentionally. These are the people He went after Himself while on earth, and I believe these are the people we need to go after and take care of. But the question remains, how?
One can start another church, but there's no guarantee they'll come; and there's much more of a chance they'll think it's a really good idea, and then not show up. It looks too much like what hurt them in the first place.
If we were on a mission to rescue sheep in the hills, we wouldn't wait for them to find their way back into the pens themselves. We'd go out, round them up and get them.
So, does anyone have any ideas as to how to accomplish this, or do we once again just write them off?
Some time ago, as I was pulling one ton pallets through the crowded aisles of Wal-Mart (if it sounds dangerous and foolhardy... it was), I got this image in my head from the Lord.
There was a rancher who owned a lot of sheep, and shepherd were hired to watch over different flocks. Some flocks were larger, some were smaller, but all the sheep belonged ultimately to the rancher, not the shepherd in charge of them.
Some of the shepherds were doing their job well and faithfully. The sheep were well cared for, and the shepherds had the exhaustion and bags under their eyes to prove it. Other shepherds however were not. Some beat the sheep under their care. Some didn't feed them properly. Others overfed them but then didn't exercise them. Some were abused in other ways, or poisoned because the shepherd didn't seem to know the difference between good feed and bad. Some shepherds were fleecing the sheep far too often, as such they were sick and ill prepared for the winter.
As a result, some sheep broke from their flocks and stalls and ran for the hills, terrified of the shepherds put over them. Out in the hills, some of them were able to survive on their own and were doing ok for the most part. Others however got into poisonous plants. Some couldn't traverse the terrain and were injured; some of them seriously. Others ate themselves over cliffs as sheep are quite capable of doing.
And as I saw this in my head, I could sense the concern the Rancher had for his sheep which had fled, and the anger which he had towards the shepherds in question to whom He had entrusted His livestock. And I sensed from Him that someone needed to go get them and look after them.
I have since wrestled with this question. How? If we were talking literal sheep, one could take a tranquilizer gun and some rope and go collect them. Unfortunately, it's not quite that easy with the Lord's sheep. It would be nice if it was, but it isn't. Often, those who have been hurt or abused tend to run from anyone who looks or smells like a shepherd. And honestly, I would, too if I had been abused like that.
One thought which has run through my mind lately is that these are the people for whom Jesus targeted His ministry. He didn't target the unbeliever (read Gentile), and He didn't target those who were professedly religious (read Pharisee, Sadducee, Essene, or other). He said instead, "I was not sent except to the lost (lit. ruined) sheep of the house of Israel," and also, "those who are well don't need a physician, but only those who are sick, I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but outcasts."
So what do we do about these brothers and sisters in Christ, many of whom are baptized, who believe in Jesus Christ, yet do not trust the Church or its shepherds? Do we just write them off? Do we let them just go elsewhere? Do we let them fall off of cliffs? After talking with some pastors (several of whom I respect highly), it seems like that is the general attitude. It's their fault for not accepting the authority of the Church or the Pastor.
Another thing about these lost sheep, is that many of them seem to be my generation and younger. I was talking to an old friend of mine recently who happens to be a youth pastor. The church he serves at has lost a lot of the people (including myself) who had been in the youth group over a decade ago and now are in their late twenties or early thirties. I could sense from him that he had a real heart for them, but he too seems to be at a loss as to how to bring them back into a regular church attendance of some or any kind. After putting out an inquiry to various churches in the area, he said that the general response he got was "good luck with that."
These are the people who are most on the heart of Jesus Christ. Members of the family who have somehow been ruined and written off by the Church, intentionally or unintentionally. These are the people He went after Himself while on earth, and I believe these are the people we need to go after and take care of. But the question remains, how?
One can start another church, but there's no guarantee they'll come; and there's much more of a chance they'll think it's a really good idea, and then not show up. It looks too much like what hurt them in the first place.
If we were on a mission to rescue sheep in the hills, we wouldn't wait for them to find their way back into the pens themselves. We'd go out, round them up and get them.
So, does anyone have any ideas as to how to accomplish this, or do we once again just write them off?
A Ramble about Reincarnation
Originally published as a Facebook Note April 2nd, 2009
I've worked in the receiving department at a local Wal-Mart now for over a year and a half. Ever since I was hired the department was considered well below where the Corporate powers that be wanted it to be and what it was supposed to be accomplishing. Don't get me wrong, I and the other unloaders work hard, really hard to fight to get the freight unloaded and out to the floor on time to be stocked by the next shift of stockers. But somehow we never quite seemed to make the cut.
The standard management response to this continued under performance is to locate the problem employees and weed them out, replacing them with employees who will or at least might perform according to expectations.
In over a year and a half, I am the sole unloader left from the original receiving team when I was hired. The average size of a team is supposed to be eight people on any given night. The average length of service in receiving is about 4 or 5 months. In the time I have been there, we have undergone a complete turnover in personnel. We have changed supervisors three or four times. We have had four or five Assistant Store Managers in succession overseeing the backroom and we have had two store managers at the store's helm.
I'm reflecting on this recently, because the underperformance continues seemingly uninterrupted, the internal problems, complaints, and attitudes are exactly the same as when I was hired, the greivances between employee and manager continue to be identical, and yet it's not the same set of people.
It got me thinking. We're not the same set of people at all, and yet in some way we are. We have our own lives, our own personalities, our own sets of strengths and weaknesses, and yet we continue to perpetuate the same cycles of performance as those who came before us. It is likely that after I leave Wal-Mart, it will continue on uninterrupted still.
We do tend to carry on the ideas, attitudes, and ways of thinking of those that came before us whether we're conscious of them or not. When someone who is racist has a child, and they teach that child racism and hatred, that child, if he does not choose a different path, continues that cycle of racism and hatred. It becomes re-incarnated from parent or teacher to child or student. Racism is just one obvious example, but there are other things which get passed on. Some of them, like prejudice, are harmful, some of them, like ways of dressing or speaking, are benign, and still others, like faith and compassion, are beneficial. But they get passed on and re-incarnate into the next generation, just like the attitudes and ways of thinking have re-incarnated from unloader to unloader and manager to manager.
I've heard a lot about generational curses and how these are passed down from parent to child. I'm sure there are such things in this line of thinking as generational blessings as well. One generation seems to be reborn in the next.
The soul or psyche is unique to each individual; being a combination of the material and immaterial parts of the human being just as each physical body and life experience is unique to each individual. It does not, and really cannot transmigrate. But we do suffer the consequences of the thoughts and actions of those who come before us as they transmit those to us, either by taking on their suffering and ignorance, or by reaping the benefits of their blessing and enlightenment, or at times a mixture of both.
As I look at my children and interact with them, I see myself and my wife in them as well. We are in turn reincarnated in our children as we pass on our traits, physical and psychological, natural and learned, to them. At times it's like looking in a mirror. And yet they are themselves, unique individuals all three of them. My children both suffer for and reap the benefits of the consequences of our thoughts and actions as well more acutely than anyone else I come into contact with.
In this we also have choices to make and can make the choices to move past our generational and experiential programming. These are hard choices to make, but they can be made. My son can make the choice to react as I do to different circumstances, or he can choose a different path if he is willing and able to see it.
The choice to be a Christian is the choice to allow a single Person to override all of our physical and experiential programming and to re-incarnate Himself into us. His traits imprinted over ours, everything that He is being reborn into us. The scripture says "for you have died and your life is now hid with Christ in God." Everything which came before us and reincarnated intself into us suddenly has a death certificate signed on it, and the only real input that matters is that of Jesus Christ.
But this reincarnation takes place upon a choice which we must make on a decision by decision basis. Do we continue to dwell in our own selves, the combinations of biology and experiences which form who we consider ourselves to be, or do we abandon this self to death, pursuing Jesus Christ and who He is.
We know that this self, one way or another will end in death. This is unavoidable. We know that those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been joined to His death and died with Him already, so that when this person physically dies, it is no great loss. It is only the finalization of what already is. And as we were joined with Him in His death, so we are also joined with Him in His resurrection. His thoughts, and actions, and who He is overrides who we are or were, as the case may be. He breaks the cycle as we are united to a single, immortal Being.
With this in mind, it could be said that the true Christian life is the practice of re-incarnation, as we choose to practice the re-incarnation of Jesus Christ in us.
I've worked in the receiving department at a local Wal-Mart now for over a year and a half. Ever since I was hired the department was considered well below where the Corporate powers that be wanted it to be and what it was supposed to be accomplishing. Don't get me wrong, I and the other unloaders work hard, really hard to fight to get the freight unloaded and out to the floor on time to be stocked by the next shift of stockers. But somehow we never quite seemed to make the cut.
The standard management response to this continued under performance is to locate the problem employees and weed them out, replacing them with employees who will or at least might perform according to expectations.
In over a year and a half, I am the sole unloader left from the original receiving team when I was hired. The average size of a team is supposed to be eight people on any given night. The average length of service in receiving is about 4 or 5 months. In the time I have been there, we have undergone a complete turnover in personnel. We have changed supervisors three or four times. We have had four or five Assistant Store Managers in succession overseeing the backroom and we have had two store managers at the store's helm.
I'm reflecting on this recently, because the underperformance continues seemingly uninterrupted, the internal problems, complaints, and attitudes are exactly the same as when I was hired, the greivances between employee and manager continue to be identical, and yet it's not the same set of people.
It got me thinking. We're not the same set of people at all, and yet in some way we are. We have our own lives, our own personalities, our own sets of strengths and weaknesses, and yet we continue to perpetuate the same cycles of performance as those who came before us. It is likely that after I leave Wal-Mart, it will continue on uninterrupted still.
We do tend to carry on the ideas, attitudes, and ways of thinking of those that came before us whether we're conscious of them or not. When someone who is racist has a child, and they teach that child racism and hatred, that child, if he does not choose a different path, continues that cycle of racism and hatred. It becomes re-incarnated from parent or teacher to child or student. Racism is just one obvious example, but there are other things which get passed on. Some of them, like prejudice, are harmful, some of them, like ways of dressing or speaking, are benign, and still others, like faith and compassion, are beneficial. But they get passed on and re-incarnate into the next generation, just like the attitudes and ways of thinking have re-incarnated from unloader to unloader and manager to manager.
I've heard a lot about generational curses and how these are passed down from parent to child. I'm sure there are such things in this line of thinking as generational blessings as well. One generation seems to be reborn in the next.
The soul or psyche is unique to each individual; being a combination of the material and immaterial parts of the human being just as each physical body and life experience is unique to each individual. It does not, and really cannot transmigrate. But we do suffer the consequences of the thoughts and actions of those who come before us as they transmit those to us, either by taking on their suffering and ignorance, or by reaping the benefits of their blessing and enlightenment, or at times a mixture of both.
As I look at my children and interact with them, I see myself and my wife in them as well. We are in turn reincarnated in our children as we pass on our traits, physical and psychological, natural and learned, to them. At times it's like looking in a mirror. And yet they are themselves, unique individuals all three of them. My children both suffer for and reap the benefits of the consequences of our thoughts and actions as well more acutely than anyone else I come into contact with.
In this we also have choices to make and can make the choices to move past our generational and experiential programming. These are hard choices to make, but they can be made. My son can make the choice to react as I do to different circumstances, or he can choose a different path if he is willing and able to see it.
The choice to be a Christian is the choice to allow a single Person to override all of our physical and experiential programming and to re-incarnate Himself into us. His traits imprinted over ours, everything that He is being reborn into us. The scripture says "for you have died and your life is now hid with Christ in God." Everything which came before us and reincarnated intself into us suddenly has a death certificate signed on it, and the only real input that matters is that of Jesus Christ.
But this reincarnation takes place upon a choice which we must make on a decision by decision basis. Do we continue to dwell in our own selves, the combinations of biology and experiences which form who we consider ourselves to be, or do we abandon this self to death, pursuing Jesus Christ and who He is.
We know that this self, one way or another will end in death. This is unavoidable. We know that those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been joined to His death and died with Him already, so that when this person physically dies, it is no great loss. It is only the finalization of what already is. And as we were joined with Him in His death, so we are also joined with Him in His resurrection. His thoughts, and actions, and who He is overrides who we are or were, as the case may be. He breaks the cycle as we are united to a single, immortal Being.
With this in mind, it could be said that the true Christian life is the practice of re-incarnation, as we choose to practice the re-incarnation of Jesus Christ in us.
A Ramble about Faith
Originally published as a Facebook Note on March 28th, 2009
"There is no spoon." I watched the Matrix the other day. I don't know why, it's been a while since I'd seen it, but I just had this urge to watch it. I remember my philosophy professor telling us in class one time how ecstatic all philosophy professors were that this movie had been made. It's always been one of my favorites.
As I was watching, I got to the scene with the kid in the Oracle's apartment who was bending spoons with his mind. When Neo asked him how he did it, he said to try and remember the truth, that there is no spoon.
This phrase, this concept, keeps repeating itself in my mind. "There is no spoon." Of course what he meant was that in reality, the spoon itself was only a construct of the Matrix's program. He said bending the spoon itself was impossible, but rather it is your own perception of the spoon which bends.
Jesus said that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed, which is ridiculously small, we could tell a mountain to uproot itself, and replant itself in the sea, and it would obey. Of course, attempting to uproot a mountain just by telling it to is impossible. I'm sure many have tried faithfully.
But let's look deeply at that mountain for a minute. It's largely made of of rock and stone. That rock and stone is made up of various elements which have combined chemically to form granite, basalt, sandstone, etc. Those elements in turn are made up of certain combinations of protons, neutrons, and electrons. These sub-atomic particles are themselves, in the case of protons and neutrons, made up of quarks. Quarks, and electrons in turn have been revealed to be energy vibrations of a certain frequency and spin. That energy is of course derived from the only Source of all energy who used the energy of His own Existence, all that truly Exists as such, as the building blocks of all created existence.
Like all else created, the mountain relies on God for its very existence, for its very foundation. It, in reality, is no different than we are. It is only our perception of the mountain which we derive from our senses and experiences which makes it so much bigger, so much stronger, so much more solid and massive than we are.
When God asks us to trust Him, when he asks us to do something by faith, what He's asking us to remember is that there is no spoon. He isn't bound by our senses or perception. Should He choose it, the mountain can cease to exist instantaneously, as all He need do is cause those certain energy vibrations which form the mountain to cease vibrating. As it is all the energy of His own Existence at play, ultimately, it is as simple for Him as me to breathe in or out, or to flex the muscles of my finger.
If this is true, then why doesn't He always move those mountains when we tell them to move? I believe first that it is because we don't ask Him, we tell Him. Never a wise idea. At best it causes a good round of laughter. At worst...
Second, do we have that relationship with Him, do we keep that relationship with Him to where He would? All relationships take work to maintain. All friendships must be renewed periodically, and all marriages must involve a great deal of emotional, psychological, and physical intimacy to stay healthy. This takes action on the part of both parties. Both parties must spend quality time with one another. an old friend might accede to a request based on your past relationship with them even if you haven't seen them for ten years, but if you've repeatedly blown them off for ten years after they've tried to get together with you, how likely are they to be agreeable to it?
Third, think about Him as your Father. My kids ask me for stuff all the time. When we're at Wal-Mart they ask for toys, or drinks, or candy, or shoes, or what not. There are times when I accede to these things because I know they enjoy them and I enjoy watching them enjoy them. There are more times when I don't because I know that if I do, they will get more spoiled and cease to appreciate what they have. When they ask for lunch, or dinner, or just basic every day provision, do I withhold it to make them appreciate it more? No, of course not. They need to eat. They need clothes to wear. They need certain daily provisions, and it's my job as Daddy to see to it that they get them. Then there are times when they ask for something in their own childlike way not understanding all the implications of what they're asking. Then, a lot of those times, I know that they don't have the knowledge base for me to explain all of my reasons for saying "no." And I just have to ask them to trust me on it.
There's been plenty of times like this last thing, where I've prayed for something that seemed perfectly reasonable to me at the time, and would seem to be what He would pray for, and then He doesn't do it. But as the time passes by He has me reason through some of the ramifications of what I was asking. It's not that the request might be bad, it's just that it isn't the best for everyone involved. And sometimes, it really isn't the right time for it.
But when he asks us to trust Him, He's asking us to remember that there is no spoon. When He asks us to walk up to the mountain and tell it to move out of the way, He's asking us to remember that there is no mountain irregardless of what our senses are telling us. There is only Him.
He tells us to get out of the boat and walk on the water. We respond back and say, "what about the hurricane and the fact that water can't support my weight?" His response, "what water? All there truly is, is Me." He tells us to feed five thousand with five loaves of bread and a couple of trout. Are we feeding them with bread and fish? Or are we feeding them with Him?
He is the One who does not move through space and time, but space and time move through Him. He is the One who does not exist in creation but all creation Exists in Him.
It is our perception which must change, not the world around us. Do we perceive rock and stone and sea and sky, or do we perceive being surrounded by Him? In the Matrix, all most anyone can see is what their minds are telling them is real. Such as Cypher who in the end didn't care that the steak wasn't real, as long as his mind told him it tasted good. But then there was Neo who in the end didn't see the walls, the floors, the people, the buildings, all he could see was the Matrix code underlying everything and through this change in his perception, His experience was changed and thus his world was changed completely.
God asks us, by faith, to not see the rock and stone and storms and sea. He asks us to see the Code, Himself, which underlies it all. And by this change in our perception of the world to go forward trusting Him.
Is there a mountain in your life He's asking you to trust Him to move? Is there a sea He asking you to walk through on dry ground? Is there a raging storm He's asking you to get out of the boat and walk on the water with? Remember, there is no spoon.
"There is no spoon." I watched the Matrix the other day. I don't know why, it's been a while since I'd seen it, but I just had this urge to watch it. I remember my philosophy professor telling us in class one time how ecstatic all philosophy professors were that this movie had been made. It's always been one of my favorites.
As I was watching, I got to the scene with the kid in the Oracle's apartment who was bending spoons with his mind. When Neo asked him how he did it, he said to try and remember the truth, that there is no spoon.
This phrase, this concept, keeps repeating itself in my mind. "There is no spoon." Of course what he meant was that in reality, the spoon itself was only a construct of the Matrix's program. He said bending the spoon itself was impossible, but rather it is your own perception of the spoon which bends.
Jesus said that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed, which is ridiculously small, we could tell a mountain to uproot itself, and replant itself in the sea, and it would obey. Of course, attempting to uproot a mountain just by telling it to is impossible. I'm sure many have tried faithfully.
But let's look deeply at that mountain for a minute. It's largely made of of rock and stone. That rock and stone is made up of various elements which have combined chemically to form granite, basalt, sandstone, etc. Those elements in turn are made up of certain combinations of protons, neutrons, and electrons. These sub-atomic particles are themselves, in the case of protons and neutrons, made up of quarks. Quarks, and electrons in turn have been revealed to be energy vibrations of a certain frequency and spin. That energy is of course derived from the only Source of all energy who used the energy of His own Existence, all that truly Exists as such, as the building blocks of all created existence.
Like all else created, the mountain relies on God for its very existence, for its very foundation. It, in reality, is no different than we are. It is only our perception of the mountain which we derive from our senses and experiences which makes it so much bigger, so much stronger, so much more solid and massive than we are.
When God asks us to trust Him, when he asks us to do something by faith, what He's asking us to remember is that there is no spoon. He isn't bound by our senses or perception. Should He choose it, the mountain can cease to exist instantaneously, as all He need do is cause those certain energy vibrations which form the mountain to cease vibrating. As it is all the energy of His own Existence at play, ultimately, it is as simple for Him as me to breathe in or out, or to flex the muscles of my finger.
If this is true, then why doesn't He always move those mountains when we tell them to move? I believe first that it is because we don't ask Him, we tell Him. Never a wise idea. At best it causes a good round of laughter. At worst...
Second, do we have that relationship with Him, do we keep that relationship with Him to where He would? All relationships take work to maintain. All friendships must be renewed periodically, and all marriages must involve a great deal of emotional, psychological, and physical intimacy to stay healthy. This takes action on the part of both parties. Both parties must spend quality time with one another. an old friend might accede to a request based on your past relationship with them even if you haven't seen them for ten years, but if you've repeatedly blown them off for ten years after they've tried to get together with you, how likely are they to be agreeable to it?
Third, think about Him as your Father. My kids ask me for stuff all the time. When we're at Wal-Mart they ask for toys, or drinks, or candy, or shoes, or what not. There are times when I accede to these things because I know they enjoy them and I enjoy watching them enjoy them. There are more times when I don't because I know that if I do, they will get more spoiled and cease to appreciate what they have. When they ask for lunch, or dinner, or just basic every day provision, do I withhold it to make them appreciate it more? No, of course not. They need to eat. They need clothes to wear. They need certain daily provisions, and it's my job as Daddy to see to it that they get them. Then there are times when they ask for something in their own childlike way not understanding all the implications of what they're asking. Then, a lot of those times, I know that they don't have the knowledge base for me to explain all of my reasons for saying "no." And I just have to ask them to trust me on it.
There's been plenty of times like this last thing, where I've prayed for something that seemed perfectly reasonable to me at the time, and would seem to be what He would pray for, and then He doesn't do it. But as the time passes by He has me reason through some of the ramifications of what I was asking. It's not that the request might be bad, it's just that it isn't the best for everyone involved. And sometimes, it really isn't the right time for it.
But when he asks us to trust Him, He's asking us to remember that there is no spoon. When He asks us to walk up to the mountain and tell it to move out of the way, He's asking us to remember that there is no mountain irregardless of what our senses are telling us. There is only Him.
He tells us to get out of the boat and walk on the water. We respond back and say, "what about the hurricane and the fact that water can't support my weight?" His response, "what water? All there truly is, is Me." He tells us to feed five thousand with five loaves of bread and a couple of trout. Are we feeding them with bread and fish? Or are we feeding them with Him?
He is the One who does not move through space and time, but space and time move through Him. He is the One who does not exist in creation but all creation Exists in Him.
It is our perception which must change, not the world around us. Do we perceive rock and stone and sea and sky, or do we perceive being surrounded by Him? In the Matrix, all most anyone can see is what their minds are telling them is real. Such as Cypher who in the end didn't care that the steak wasn't real, as long as his mind told him it tasted good. But then there was Neo who in the end didn't see the walls, the floors, the people, the buildings, all he could see was the Matrix code underlying everything and through this change in his perception, His experience was changed and thus his world was changed completely.
God asks us, by faith, to not see the rock and stone and storms and sea. He asks us to see the Code, Himself, which underlies it all. And by this change in our perception of the world to go forward trusting Him.
Is there a mountain in your life He's asking you to trust Him to move? Is there a sea He asking you to walk through on dry ground? Is there a raging storm He's asking you to get out of the boat and walk on the water with? Remember, there is no spoon.
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