We normally think of Christmas as ending the year. But for Christians the year starts with Christmas. OK, the year starts with Advent, but Advent is about preparing ourselves for the celebration of Christ's birth.
The Incarnation is God becoming human, being so close that humans were actually able to touch God. If we prepare for and celebrate Christmas well it should result in our being more deeply connected to God.
But too often we finish our Christmas celebrations feeling farther from God, not closer. We're cranky and exhausted. Our Advent season has been filled with commercial and family preoccupations. Advent and Christmas are emptied of the very Presence that was meant to fill them with meaning and wonder. And we start the New Year more aware of the barrenness of winter rather than filled with new hope for the year.
As the Advent season draws to a close consider how you can make time for God in the next few days before Christmas. Take a few minutes each day to simply be with God, to look for him around you. Stop your work at home or in the office and look at the world around you with different eyes.
Jesus is all around us: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." May your Advent and Christmas open the door to a new year filled with His presence.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
finding peace
Where is peace found? The common assumption is that peace is something interior, within my soul. So it follows that to get peace, I should quiet myself and look within, listen to God speaking in a "still, small voice."
But I am embodied. I am not just a soul/spirit that happens to have a body, a material container that can be discarded with no impact on my self. I suppose we try to convince ourselves of this because of the inevitability of death and the fear of our gradual loss of physical powers as we age. But it's really just denial.
The hope of the resurrection is that this world is to be redeemed, including our bodies. The redemption of the world must mean a lot to God. Because of it, he went through the agony of the Incarnation and the Crucifixion. (We have gushy sentimental feelings about the wonder of human birth, but I'm guessing that it was experienced very differently by One who was emptying himself and purposefully not grabbing after his rightful divinity. See Philippians 2:5-8.)
And so if I am to find peace, I need to seek it not just by calming my mind, but by engaging in the physical work that God is doing in the world. Shalom is right relationships. And so I find peace internally when I am rightly aligned with God physically.
Some athletes call this "being in the zone." Artists may work on a project and forget to eat. Engineers may fuel themselves on caffeine and pizza and work through the night. But the work doesn't have to be so grand. Kathleen Norris reminds me that even housework is a way for me to participate with God in keeping order in the universe. Brother Lawrence found that doing the dishes was a way to practice the presence of God.
But I am embodied. I am not just a soul/spirit that happens to have a body, a material container that can be discarded with no impact on my self. I suppose we try to convince ourselves of this because of the inevitability of death and the fear of our gradual loss of physical powers as we age. But it's really just denial.
The hope of the resurrection is that this world is to be redeemed, including our bodies. The redemption of the world must mean a lot to God. Because of it, he went through the agony of the Incarnation and the Crucifixion. (We have gushy sentimental feelings about the wonder of human birth, but I'm guessing that it was experienced very differently by One who was emptying himself and purposefully not grabbing after his rightful divinity. See Philippians 2:5-8.)
And so if I am to find peace, I need to seek it not just by calming my mind, but by engaging in the physical work that God is doing in the world. Shalom is right relationships. And so I find peace internally when I am rightly aligned with God physically.
Some athletes call this "being in the zone." Artists may work on a project and forget to eat. Engineers may fuel themselves on caffeine and pizza and work through the night. But the work doesn't have to be so grand. Kathleen Norris reminds me that even housework is a way for me to participate with God in keeping order in the universe. Brother Lawrence found that doing the dishes was a way to practice the presence of God.
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33 NIrV)
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
the feast
What if you threw a party and nobody came?
In Luke 14 Jesus tells the story of a rich man who throws an elaborate banquet and invites several of his rich friends. On the appointed day he sends a servant to remind the invitees. But each of them has an excuse for not attending. It's odd because they all knew the event was coming but they scheduled other things on that day: a real estate deal, purchasing a fleet of vehicles (a yoke of oxen would be like a truck, so five yoke/pair of oxen would be a fleet of work vehicles), even a wedding.
So what's Jesus' point? As always, Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God. The rich people and religious leaders are talking about how wonderful God's Kingdom is. But Jesus is telling them that the Kingdom is right next to them and they are missing it. They are going about their rich and religious business and it all seems very legitimate. But the King is among them. So their business becomes their excuse for not noticing him.
God is throwing a party all around us. That was Jesus' good news: the Kingdom is right here next to us ("at hand" in the KJV). The core of his teaching and all of his stories were ways of peeling back the layers of the world to reveal the presence of the Kingdom: in a field (Mt 13:44), a yoke (Mt 11:29), a wedding (John 2), a tree, a vineyard, even a seed. But we aren't aware of it because we're occupied with all the things that make us feel important. It's not that these things aren't worth doing. It's that they can become walls instead of windows. It's like focusing so much on the glass that we miss the breath-taking panorama of God's glory just on the other side. The point isn't how grand the window is. Windows are ways to see what's outside, to let in beauty and light and warmth.
In Luke 14 Jesus tells the story of a rich man who throws an elaborate banquet and invites several of his rich friends. On the appointed day he sends a servant to remind the invitees. But each of them has an excuse for not attending. It's odd because they all knew the event was coming but they scheduled other things on that day: a real estate deal, purchasing a fleet of vehicles (a yoke of oxen would be like a truck, so five yoke/pair of oxen would be a fleet of work vehicles), even a wedding.
So what's Jesus' point? As always, Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God. The rich people and religious leaders are talking about how wonderful God's Kingdom is. But Jesus is telling them that the Kingdom is right next to them and they are missing it. They are going about their rich and religious business and it all seems very legitimate. But the King is among them. So their business becomes their excuse for not noticing him.
God is throwing a party all around us. That was Jesus' good news: the Kingdom is right here next to us ("at hand" in the KJV). The core of his teaching and all of his stories were ways of peeling back the layers of the world to reveal the presence of the Kingdom: in a field (Mt 13:44), a yoke (Mt 11:29), a wedding (John 2), a tree, a vineyard, even a seed. But we aren't aware of it because we're occupied with all the things that make us feel important. It's not that these things aren't worth doing. It's that they can become walls instead of windows. It's like focusing so much on the glass that we miss the breath-taking panorama of God's glory just on the other side. The point isn't how grand the window is. Windows are ways to see what's outside, to let in beauty and light and warmth.
TV
I don't enjoy it myself. It's not the last impression I want to have of this world.
In the book Gilead (by Marilynne Robinson) it's 1956 and John Ames is reflecting on his life, which he has been told will end soon because of his feeble heart. Television is a new phenomenon. John considers TV to be a way of looking at the world, a world that he knows through experience and engagement. He considers TV to be a pale imitation of reality, lacking depth.
Which makes me wonder: How many people die watching TV? And how many people allow TV to become an alternate reality in which they live and move and have their being? It must be a lot, judging from the abundance of ads that are trying to create in us the desire to stare at little screens (or very big screens) for most of our waking hours. From which we can probably extrapolate that more and more people are spending their last hours staring at a screen. Who needs the Matrix?
Saturday, October 27, 2012
parenting teens
My last post reminded me of two books that I recommend for parents of teens.
Eugene Peterson's "Like dew your youth" has the strangest title I've ever heard of for a book on parenting. And in that vein it's different from every other book on parenting. Peterson reflects on the experience of having raised three sons and points out that God is at work in the parents, too. So he writes about the changes that God worked in his own life and calls the reader to attend to what God is doing in her/his own life.
Kenda Creasy Dean worked on the National Study on Youth and Religion headed up by Christian Smith at the University of North Carolina. She concludes that the American Christian church is raising our adolescents to be "Almost Christian". She takes this title from George Whitefield, who wrote: "An almost Christian… is one that… is fond of the form, but never experiences the power of godliness in his heart." The book is both a warning and a guide to parents and churches who want our youth know the "power of godliness".
Eugene Peterson's "Like dew your youth" has the strangest title I've ever heard of for a book on parenting. And in that vein it's different from every other book on parenting. Peterson reflects on the experience of having raised three sons and points out that God is at work in the parents, too. So he writes about the changes that God worked in his own life and calls the reader to attend to what God is doing in her/his own life.
Kenda Creasy Dean worked on the National Study on Youth and Religion headed up by Christian Smith at the University of North Carolina. She concludes that the American Christian church is raising our adolescents to be "Almost Christian". She takes this title from George Whitefield, who wrote: "An almost Christian… is one that… is fond of the form, but never experiences the power of godliness in his heart." The book is both a warning and a guide to parents and churches who want our youth know the "power of godliness".
good writing
I came across the following two passages recently. I rarely read books one at a time. I have several that I'm reading at one time. Maybe it's a kind of ADD, one that's gotten more pronounced as I get older.
Nonetheless, a good book is a window that lets you see the world the author sees. The better the book the bigger the world that is glimpsed. And sitting with a good book also illumines the reader's life in new ways.
The first passage is from a book of blessings/poems by John O'Donohue called "To bless the space between us". This is part of a blessing called "For your birthday."
The second passage is from Marilynne Robinson's book "Gilead." An old preacher is writing to his son, born in his old age, who is still a child. The old preacher hasn't long to live.
Nonetheless, a good book is a window that lets you see the world the author sees. The better the book the bigger the world that is glimpsed. And sitting with a good book also illumines the reader's life in new ways.
The first passage is from a book of blessings/poems by John O'Donohue called "To bless the space between us". This is part of a blessing called "For your birthday."
On this echoing-day of your birth
May you open the gift of solitude
In order to receive your soul;
Enter the generosity of silence
To hear your hidden heart;
Know the serenity of stillness
To be enfolded anew
By the miracle of your being.
The second passage is from Marilynne Robinson's book "Gilead." An old preacher is writing to his son, born in his old age, who is still a child. The old preacher hasn't long to live.
This week I intend to preach on Genesis 231:14-21, which the story of Hagar and Ishmael...
"…I found a great assurance in it. The story says that it is not only the father of a child who cares for its life, who protects its mother, and it says that even if the mother can't find a way to provide for it, or herself, provision will be made. At that level it is a story full of comfort. That is how life goes--we send our children into the wilderness. Some of them on the day they are born, it seems, for all the help we can give them. Some of them seem to be a kind of wilderness unto themselves. But there must be angels there, too, and springs of water. Even that wilderness, the very habitation of jackals, is the Lord's. I need to bear this in mind.
memorials
I saw a mission-style building across the street. I went over to investigate.
The small chapel was designated as a special building by the State of California. It was built in 1912 and was inspired by the California missions. It was beautiful and clean and well-kept. And it was empty and locked up. There wasn't a single car in the parking lot.
Ironically, a statue of the Virgin Mary "who welcomes all" had just been placed at the site in May 2012 to mark the centennial of the building of this chapel. Obviously, this chapel meant something special to some group of people. But the legacy of this chapel was in the past. It was no longer a place of welcome. I know: I tried all the doors.
Churches can become memorials to the past. It's easy to look back on a time when things were really alive, when we welcomed people, when people came because they knew the Spirit was moving. But God doesn't want the Church to be about legacies. He wants the Church to be alive with the transforming power of the Spirit. Instead of erecting memorials to past times, let's cooperate with what God is doing today. And let's welcome people to join us as we participate in the transforming work of the Spirit.
The small chapel was designated as a special building by the State of California. It was built in 1912 and was inspired by the California missions. It was beautiful and clean and well-kept. And it was empty and locked up. There wasn't a single car in the parking lot.
Ironically, a statue of the Virgin Mary "who welcomes all" had just been placed at the site in May 2012 to mark the centennial of the building of this chapel. Obviously, this chapel meant something special to some group of people. But the legacy of this chapel was in the past. It was no longer a place of welcome. I know: I tried all the doors.
Churches can become memorials to the past. It's easy to look back on a time when things were really alive, when we welcomed people, when people came because they knew the Spirit was moving. But God doesn't want the Church to be about legacies. He wants the Church to be alive with the transforming power of the Spirit. Instead of erecting memorials to past times, let's cooperate with what God is doing today. And let's welcome people to join us as we participate in the transforming work of the Spirit.
rest
Jesus wants to give us rest. The world wants us to work harder. Who will we listen to?
This past week I was at a "learning community" for pastors who want to learn a new way to pastor. After hearing a local pastor speak about how he has learned to lead by practicing listening to God in all of his meetings, we were given 20 minutes of solitude to reflect on what had been shared. This was a very different learning community. It had started with a time of worship that included silence. And now instead of a time of Q&A or discussion, we were to find a place to sit with God and let him speak to us about what we had heard.
My first feeling was one of guilt and/or shame. I could hear inner voices telling me that I had time to listen to God but that's not efficient, that the leaders of Grace Community didn't have time to do things this way. So when I got back to my office I should put aside this nonsense and be productive, as would be expected of a good church leader.
And then I realized that this wasn't God's voice, it was the world's. I have a lot of things to do, but I had made time to be at this learning community. I had set other things aside so that I could hear God's voice. That wasn't something to be guilty or ashamed of.
Jesus calls me to come to him when I am weary and over-stressed. He wants to give me rest. The work of transformation in the lives of people at Grace Community is his work. If I take on his way of doing things, I will find rest for my soul. This isn't something to feel guilty about. It is a gift to receive gladly and gratefully. The world is trying to make me feel ashamed for finding rest. Jesus wants to lead me beside quiet waters and restore my soul.
Who am I going to listen to?
This past week I was at a "learning community" for pastors who want to learn a new way to pastor. After hearing a local pastor speak about how he has learned to lead by practicing listening to God in all of his meetings, we were given 20 minutes of solitude to reflect on what had been shared. This was a very different learning community. It had started with a time of worship that included silence. And now instead of a time of Q&A or discussion, we were to find a place to sit with God and let him speak to us about what we had heard.
My first feeling was one of guilt and/or shame. I could hear inner voices telling me that I had time to listen to God but that's not efficient, that the leaders of Grace Community didn't have time to do things this way. So when I got back to my office I should put aside this nonsense and be productive, as would be expected of a good church leader.
And then I realized that this wasn't God's voice, it was the world's. I have a lot of things to do, but I had made time to be at this learning community. I had set other things aside so that I could hear God's voice. That wasn't something to be guilty or ashamed of.
Jesus calls me to come to him when I am weary and over-stressed. He wants to give me rest. The work of transformation in the lives of people at Grace Community is his work. If I take on his way of doing things, I will find rest for my soul. This isn't something to feel guilty about. It is a gift to receive gladly and gratefully. The world is trying to make me feel ashamed for finding rest. Jesus wants to lead me beside quiet waters and restore my soul.
Who am I going to listen to?
Saturday, September 22, 2012
unconditional love
Christian psychologist David Seamands has said: "...the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: the failure to understand, receive, and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people."
What is unconditional love?
Here's a simple definition: getting rid of "should". Or at least being very careful of how I use the phrase, ""You should" or even "I should". When I tell someone "You should" I'm often telling them that I have expectations of them that they need to meet as a condition for my acceptance of them. When I think "I should" I could be feeling the weight of expectations from people in my life, whether or not those expectations are real.
What is unconditional love?
Here's a simple definition: getting rid of "should". Or at least being very careful of how I use the phrase, ""You should" or even "I should". When I tell someone "You should" I'm often telling them that I have expectations of them that they need to meet as a condition for my acceptance of them. When I think "I should" I could be feeling the weight of expectations from people in my life, whether or not those expectations are real.
signs
What's the most spectacular sign of God's presence that you could imagine? How would raising the dead rate? If you saw a resurrection how would you react?
In Luke 7:11-17 Jesus raises a widow's son. He does it out of compassion, which is reassuring: Jesus knows our pain. But how does the crowd react? They get it. They realize that this isn't just a parlor trick. And it's not just a valuable service provided by your friendly neighborhood Messiah ("Please form a line here to experience your own miracle."). They glorified God and said, "A great messenger from God is here." They realized that the Kingdom of God really was breaking through.
Signs should point us to God. God may give us a sign in response to a need, but the need creates the opportunity and isn't an end in itself. When I see the freeway exit sign for my street I know I'm close to home and I'm happy but I don't tell everyone about the exit sign. I look forward to being home. Jesus' signs told people that the Kingdom was nearby (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15-16), but he didn't want people to focus on the signs. At times he told people not to tell others about the sign. He wanted people to get home to the Kingdom and not get distracted gazing at the sign.
In Luke 7:11-17 Jesus raises a widow's son. He does it out of compassion, which is reassuring: Jesus knows our pain. But how does the crowd react? They get it. They realize that this isn't just a parlor trick. And it's not just a valuable service provided by your friendly neighborhood Messiah ("Please form a line here to experience your own miracle."). They glorified God and said, "A great messenger from God is here." They realized that the Kingdom of God really was breaking through.
Signs should point us to God. God may give us a sign in response to a need, but the need creates the opportunity and isn't an end in itself. When I see the freeway exit sign for my street I know I'm close to home and I'm happy but I don't tell everyone about the exit sign. I look forward to being home. Jesus' signs told people that the Kingdom was nearby (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15-16), but he didn't want people to focus on the signs. At times he told people not to tell others about the sign. He wanted people to get home to the Kingdom and not get distracted gazing at the sign.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
babies
I got to visit baby Alex yesterday, born just last Thursday. As I held him and talked to the happy but tired parents, we wondered what he would become. Afterward I wondered what God wanted him to become. What is God's vision for him? What is God's vision for Alex' parents and for me and for all of us in Grace Community?
And that begs another question: Do I trust God's vision for me? I suppose that in the eternal scheme of things I'm just starting my journey (even though I feel a lot older than that). in that sense God may see me as still an infant because there is so much for me to learn. In another sense there is so much for me to experience in each day that I should marvel at how rich each day could be. What does God envision for me in just this day?
It makes so much much sense for me to entrust myself completely to my loving Father. Even if I don't think I can trust God with my life I could try trusting him with today. In the same way I can entrust my kids and those I love to God. And I can ask God for eyes to see them and myself as he does, with his vision for our futures, starting with this day.
And that begs another question: Do I trust God's vision for me? I suppose that in the eternal scheme of things I'm just starting my journey (even though I feel a lot older than that). in that sense God may see me as still an infant because there is so much for me to learn. In another sense there is so much for me to experience in each day that I should marvel at how rich each day could be. What does God envision for me in just this day?
It makes so much much sense for me to entrust myself completely to my loving Father. Even if I don't think I can trust God with my life I could try trusting him with today. In the same way I can entrust my kids and those I love to God. And I can ask God for eyes to see them and myself as he does, with his vision for our futures, starting with this day.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
reading
Some people no longer read. They only work. They think that reading is something that kids do for school, for a teacher. Work is something grown-ups do to be productive members of society.
But a wise teacher knows the true value of reading. S/he requires reading because it can help us grow, opening us to worlds beyond us, giving us new horizons. Reading can do these things if we are open to it... and sometimes even when we're not. Kids are generally pretty open because they have just begun to explore the world. Good teachers know this, so they make kids read.
When we stop reading we are at risk to stop growing. Work is good (work was given by God as a gift to Adam and Eve) but it is not the only good. Humans are meant to always be growing, exploring, finding delight in new things. Growth is an evidence of life. When we stop growing we are at the same level as machines. Machines can work and be productive but they are not human. And humans are not meant to be machines.
What do we read? Words. God reveals himself as the Word. Jesus is the Word and he clarifies this further by telling us he is the Way, the Truth, and Life. The Word directs us, informs us, and energizes us.
I once had a teacher who didn't like to read. She preferred to write. When we write we participate in the act of creation. It's a good thing and a kind of work. But reading is different. It recharges our minds and opens our hearts and creates in us the soil out of which something good can germinate and grow, sometimes without all that much effort on our part. Because the one who causes the growth is God.
"The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." (John 6:63) We should all read more.
But a wise teacher knows the true value of reading. S/he requires reading because it can help us grow, opening us to worlds beyond us, giving us new horizons. Reading can do these things if we are open to it... and sometimes even when we're not. Kids are generally pretty open because they have just begun to explore the world. Good teachers know this, so they make kids read.
When we stop reading we are at risk to stop growing. Work is good (work was given by God as a gift to Adam and Eve) but it is not the only good. Humans are meant to always be growing, exploring, finding delight in new things. Growth is an evidence of life. When we stop growing we are at the same level as machines. Machines can work and be productive but they are not human. And humans are not meant to be machines.
What do we read? Words. God reveals himself as the Word. Jesus is the Word and he clarifies this further by telling us he is the Way, the Truth, and Life. The Word directs us, informs us, and energizes us.
I once had a teacher who didn't like to read. She preferred to write. When we write we participate in the act of creation. It's a good thing and a kind of work. But reading is different. It recharges our minds and opens our hearts and creates in us the soil out of which something good can germinate and grow, sometimes without all that much effort on our part. Because the one who causes the growth is God.
"The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." (John 6:63) We should all read more.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
preaching
I recently heard an interview with the writer of a very popular advice column. She is so popular that a selection of her columns has recently been published as a book. What makes her so popular is a quality that one person calls "radical empathy." She mulls over a letter for weeks, seeks to know the question behind the question, and then responds from a place of heartfelt concern and love.
When I was in seminary I made the mistake of taking a particular course as a once-a-week evening class. Although I only had to undergo this ordeal only once a week, it meant that I had to listen to 3 continuous hours of dry academic rhetoric, rather take it in one hour doses. (Not all of my professors were so dry, just this one and maybe a couple of others.)
I bring up these two incidents because they made me think about the role of the sermon in the life of the church community. Is the sermon supposed to be a theological treatise that may or may not be relevant to everyday hurts and challenges or is it supposed to be a wealth of human empathy to which the Bible may or may not be relevant? Obviously these are two extremes. But I know of many people who are willing to live in one end of the spectrum or the other. As a preacher, I'm challenged by this almost every week. What sort of sermon should I deliver? What I preach will shape our church community. We need both radical empathy and sound theology. I pray that I can connect the two well.
When I was in seminary I made the mistake of taking a particular course as a once-a-week evening class. Although I only had to undergo this ordeal only once a week, it meant that I had to listen to 3 continuous hours of dry academic rhetoric, rather take it in one hour doses. (Not all of my professors were so dry, just this one and maybe a couple of others.)
I bring up these two incidents because they made me think about the role of the sermon in the life of the church community. Is the sermon supposed to be a theological treatise that may or may not be relevant to everyday hurts and challenges or is it supposed to be a wealth of human empathy to which the Bible may or may not be relevant? Obviously these are two extremes. But I know of many people who are willing to live in one end of the spectrum or the other. As a preacher, I'm challenged by this almost every week. What sort of sermon should I deliver? What I preach will shape our church community. We need both radical empathy and sound theology. I pray that I can connect the two well.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Dear Dad
Dear Dad,
I miss your warm smile. I miss the way you enjoyed small things. You could spot a blessing that the rest of us missed because we were too jaded by big or expensive or new. I miss how you sometimes laughed so hard you could hardly talk to tell us what was so funny. You knew that the best things in life are free. So if something cost too much it became suspect. Cheap and simple equaled good.
I wish I had talked to you more about your memories. You were full of wisdom that came from walking closely with God for many years. It was a wisdom that was hard-won, born of both devotion and conflict. The Bible was always your compass. I wish I had asked more and listened more.
I am just starting to appreciate how deeply you loved God. Everything you did was infused with God and love for God. He was the air you breathed. And when you could barely breathe he inhaled you into himself. And now you are part of the air that I breathe.
Your loving son, Steve
Hear, my son, and accept my sayings
And the years of your life will be many.
I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
Prov 4:10-11
I miss your warm smile. I miss the way you enjoyed small things. You could spot a blessing that the rest of us missed because we were too jaded by big or expensive or new. I miss how you sometimes laughed so hard you could hardly talk to tell us what was so funny. You knew that the best things in life are free. So if something cost too much it became suspect. Cheap and simple equaled good.
I wish I had talked to you more about your memories. You were full of wisdom that came from walking closely with God for many years. It was a wisdom that was hard-won, born of both devotion and conflict. The Bible was always your compass. I wish I had asked more and listened more.
I am just starting to appreciate how deeply you loved God. Everything you did was infused with God and love for God. He was the air you breathed. And when you could barely breathe he inhaled you into himself. And now you are part of the air that I breathe.
Your loving son, Steve
Hear, my son, and accept my sayings
And the years of your life will be many.
I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
Prov 4:10-11
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
art appreciation
We have framed prints in our house that we put up because we liked them and they were painted or photographed by geniuses: Monet, Ansel Adams, Miro. But they've become decoration. We walk by them every day, but the reasons that we put them up have been forgotten.
When someone close to you dies it's like a chance to stop and look at a masterpiece again and really appreciate it. I've known my Dad all my life. I'm familiar with so many of his idiosyncrasies. But I'm seeing him in a new way now and it's changing the way that I want to live my life.
I've always known that he was focused on loving Jesus and sharing the Gospel. But now I'm seeing how these two things gave purpose to his life and changed his approach to everything. I might be focused on enjoying a restaurant's food while he would be looking for a way to talk about Jesus with the wait staff. Now that I have this time to ponder his life, I see the many people that were brought into God's Kingdom through him and the satisfaction this gave him, and I'm beginning to see the overall design and appreciate the genius of his life.
When someone close to you dies it's like a chance to stop and look at a masterpiece again and really appreciate it. I've known my Dad all my life. I'm familiar with so many of his idiosyncrasies. But I'm seeing him in a new way now and it's changing the way that I want to live my life.
I've always known that he was focused on loving Jesus and sharing the Gospel. But now I'm seeing how these two things gave purpose to his life and changed his approach to everything. I might be focused on enjoying a restaurant's food while he would be looking for a way to talk about Jesus with the wait staff. Now that I have this time to ponder his life, I see the many people that were brought into God's Kingdom through him and the satisfaction this gave him, and I'm beginning to see the overall design and appreciate the genius of his life.
Friday, August 3, 2012
work and reflect
My Dad died a week ago. A good friend asked me recently how I was experiencing God's presence in this. I replied by saying that I was balancing work to be done with time to reflect. The work makes me feel productive and keeps me from being too melancholy, but work can also keep me from engaging in and understanding the true significance of this event. So I'm taking a break from the work to write this reflection and explore more God's presence in the situation.
My Dad's heart can be summed up in two things: loving Jesus and loving to share the Gospel. More than ever I am learning to appreciate these two passions that were at the core of his being. I'm busy making arrangements for all kinds of things, but when I stop to think about why I'm doing these things, I realize that it has to all be related to loving Jesus and sharing the Gospel.
So I mourn, but not as someone without hope. I know that I'll see my Dad again and that one day we'll have new bodies and maybe enjoy playing tennis together again. But more importantly, we'll be in the direct presence of the One who loves us most, living in a world redeemed and transformed by the grace and power expressed in our Lord's life, death and resurrection.
And so I work, as someone who looks forward to participating in that redeemed and transformed world and as someone who is learning to love others into that world. I have a long way to go before I learn to love God and others as well as my Dad did while he was here. It's a good reason to keep working and reflecting.
(You can read about my Dad at forevermissed.com/gary-wong.)
My Dad's heart can be summed up in two things: loving Jesus and loving to share the Gospel. More than ever I am learning to appreciate these two passions that were at the core of his being. I'm busy making arrangements for all kinds of things, but when I stop to think about why I'm doing these things, I realize that it has to all be related to loving Jesus and sharing the Gospel.
So I mourn, but not as someone without hope. I know that I'll see my Dad again and that one day we'll have new bodies and maybe enjoy playing tennis together again. But more importantly, we'll be in the direct presence of the One who loves us most, living in a world redeemed and transformed by the grace and power expressed in our Lord's life, death and resurrection.
And so I work, as someone who looks forward to participating in that redeemed and transformed world and as someone who is learning to love others into that world. I have a long way to go before I learn to love God and others as well as my Dad did while he was here. It's a good reason to keep working and reflecting.
(You can read about my Dad at forevermissed.com/gary-wong.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
