Staring into the Sun

From Simply Christian by N.T. Wright:

A great many arguments about God - God's existence, God's nature, God's actions in the world - run the risk of being like pointing a flashlight toward the sky to see if the sun is shining. It is all too easy to make the mistake of speaking and thinking as though God (if there is a God) might be a being, an entity, within our world, accessible to our interested study in the same sort of way we might study music or mathematics, open to our investigation by the same sort of techniques we use for objects and entities within our world....The difficulty is that speaking of God in anything like the Christian sense is like staring into the sun. It's dazzling. It's easier, actually, to look away from the sun itself and to enjoy the fact that, once it's well and truly risen, you can see everything else clearly.

I almost killed a guy yesterday.

My car has a leak in one of the hoses in the power steering system, and I'd like to try not to burn out the pump before I can get it fixed. So I went down to the auto parts store to get some power steering fluid.

That's where I almost killed a man.

Here's how it went.

I went in and asked the young man behind the counter, told him that I needed power steering fluid for my 2004 Kia, and asked him where I could find it.

At that point the young man took his life in his hands and said,"Are you sure that's what you want? What did your husband ask you to get?"

I took a deep breath, tried not to jump across the counter and gouge out his eyes, and said very quietly, "My husband asked for a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk, but what I need is power steering fluid. Now, just point."

Now, my husband is a smart man, and can see a leak in a hose just as well as I can. But that's just it. I CAN see gunk dripping out of the car, and yes, I do know what a power steering pump looks like. The little fluid level chamber is very clearly marked on my car, so I can figure out for myself if the level is low. A Y-chromosome is not necessary to open the hood of the car and check these things. Kenny was not home when I noticed the problem and I did not feel any fear or trepidation about looking for the problem myself. And honestly, I probably would still first look for myself.

My Dad didn't raise me to avoid anything because of my gender. I have helped him shingle the roof and paint the workshop. I helped him do wiring in a house we lived in when I was a kid and helped him pull the transmission out of an old station wagon. He came over several years ago and helped me change out the power steering pump on a 1992 Jeep Cherokee. (See, I have power steering pump experience.) He and Mom always told me that being a girl didn't excuse me from anything. Femininity does not exclude intelligence and being ladylike does not demand dependence on others.

Paul said that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no male or female, that all are the same in Christ. No one is higher or more valuable than the other. And while we may all have different jobs, strengths, weaknesses, and purposes to fulfill, God made us all in His image. While some may believe that my being female disqualifies me from serving in particular roles in the church, I disagree. I believe that the problems occur (1)when women fail to do what God tells us to do, and (2)when others prohibit or discourage us from doing as God has commanded because of gender.

After all, to whom must I give my answer for my obedience - God or man?

Preach the gospel to all the world, and if necessary, use words - St. Francis of Assisi

I am always amazed at how God works stuff out, and has different people all thinking about the same stuff. Last week, we finished a book study on St. Benedict's Toolbox by Jane Tomaine. Benedict was an advocate, not so much of cloistering, but of monastic rule "in order to help the monastic community that he founded to better love God, self and each other by providing some guidelines on how to live a spiritual life in community." For most of us, that is relevant as a recommendation to think clearly about the guiding principles of our lives and making a conscious effort as to how we should live as disciples of Christ.

Now, I have to admit, I wasn't working on that book, but reading Simply Christian. In it, Bishop Wright talks about the fact that God's realm and our realm are separated by a spiritual veil, but overlap and interlock and we are, in fact, those points of connection, bringing the presence of God with us as we are walking, living, moving Temples of God. We live in the place between this broken creation and the Living God who loved us and it so much that He launched a rescue operation to save it and us. That was Christ's job, and as His emissaries in our own generation, it is ours as well. Jesus said, "When you have seen me, you have seen the Father." He also said that his disciples would do what he has done and even greater. That leaves me feeling quite the responsibility and quite a lot to live up to.

Then this weekend's epistle reading was Galatians 5:1, 13-25. You know, the whole Fruit of the Spirit list.

Sometimes, in a world full of sarcasm and cynicism, it's really hard to remember to respond with Christ's mind and not my own mouth, and to remember that I may be the only representative from God with whom someone may interact.

Am I behaving in a way that points to The Way, The Truth, and The Life?


Live the Life by Michael W. Smith

Were passengers aboard the train
Silent little lambs amidst the pain
Thats no longer good enough
And when its time to speak our faith
We use a language no one can explain
Thats no longer good enough

And God knows its a shame
As we look to pass the flame
We are not the worthy bearers of his name

Chorus:
For the world to know the truth
There can be no greater proof
Than to live the life, live the life
Theres no love thats quite as pure
Theres no pain we can't endure
If we live the life, live the life
Be a light for all to see
For every act of love will set you free

Theres something beautiful and bold
The power of a million human souls
Come together as one
And each in turn goes out to lead
Another by his word, his love, his deed
Now the circle is done

It all comes back to one
For it is he and he alone
Who has lived the only perfect life weve known

For the world to know the truth
There can be no greater proof
Than to live the life, live the life
Theres no love thats quite as pure
Theres no pain we cant endure
If we live the life, live the life
Be a light for all to see
For every act of love will set you free

Simply Christian by N.T. Wright

N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, is one of my favorite writers and theologians, although, I think he has said he is more a 1st century historian than theologian. Fortunately for thinking Christians, he looks continuously about 1st century Christianity and interpreting the Biblical texts in light of the historical context in which they were written.

I have just finished his book, Simply Christian, and will be posting some quotes from it periodically. In Simply Christian, Rev. Wright talks about a lot of things. And he does it in such a matter-of-fact and conversational tone that his books, while full of "Eureka" moments, aren't liable to give me a brain cramp. They can be read in little snatches at the restaurant while waiting for the food to come.

And while they are simple in presentation, the concepts he tackles aren't ones that lend themselves to today's "bumper sticker theology". As my priest is fond of replying to questions, "I think it's more complicated than that."

How much more complicated and complex must our Creator be and how arrogant is Man to think that we should be able to define and explain the Almighty?



So here's the first quote from Simply Christian by N.T. Wright:

...People often grumble as soon as a discussion about the meaning of human life, or the possibility of God, moves away from quite simple ideas and becomes more complicated. Any world in which there are such things as music and sex, laughter and tears, mountains and mathematics, eagles and earthworms, statues and symphonies and snowflakes and sunsets - and in which we humans find ourselves in the middle of it all - is bound to be a world in which the quest for truth, for reality, for what we can be sure of, is infinitely more comlicated than simple yes-and-no questions will allow. There is appropriate complexity along with appropriate simplicity.

 


Sometimes the miracle is just watching the sun come up.

Taken at Silver River State Park, FL

Musings at 40

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.
-Henry David Thoreau

How desperate do you have to be to do whatever it takes to keep your soul's song alive?

What does that look like?

Is it worth it to try?

Change my heart, O God

I heard a great sermon today about committment. My Dad preached it.

It seemed an appropriate topic seeing since my idea of what a Christian's committment looks like has recently gotten me labeled as judgemental.

I don't really think of myself as judgemental, but really I guess I am about some things.

I tend to doubt people who give the church a bad name.

I tend to doubt people who pray as the Pharisee prayed, "Lord I am grateful that I am not like this sinner," when they still smell like last night's party. Are they really committed to holiness?

I tend to doubt people who can't get past publicly praying,"Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner" because they get a different kind of attention. These people come in two types: 1) people who get a lot of mileage out of their constant state of crisis and 2) people who feel pious because others get to watch the breast-beating.

I tend to doubt people who remain silent when someone else is denigrating their faith. To me, to be silent is to assent.

I tend to doubt people who think their church is the ONLY one who has it right. Nobody has it completely right. Different churches have different emphases. They speak to different needs in different seasons of one's life.

I tend to doubt people who think their church has it COMPLETELY right. (See above)

I tend to doubt Christians who are meaner than the average unchurched person.

I tend to doubt people who are too proud to admit that someone else might have some worship traditions of value that are different from mine. "Liturgical churches can't be led by the Spirit because everyone is just reading" vs. "Evangelicals have no sense of history and tradition and therefore have no value".

And I just don't trust people who type e-mails in all caps, all lower case or no punctuation, or who can't spell.

And before anyone starts saying that I'm not supposed to judge others, I get judged as well.

My mom thinks your Christianity is shaky if you take any alcohol, including real wine in the communion cup.

My parents friends think my Christianity is shaky because I joined AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH, FOR PETE'S SAKE.

People from the charismatic, nondenominational church we used to attend think, well, I don't know what they think, because they don't call. But when we attended, people who didn't even know me offered to pray over me and lay hands on me when I asked hard theological questions that didn't lend themselves to bumper sticker length answers.

My coworkers think I'm snobby and unfriendly and exclude me because I choose not to join in the gossip, back-stabbing, and whatever else.

And those are just a few of the ones I know about.

Now, the crucial element, I believe, is that everyone makes assumptions about other people all the time. It's how we act on those assumptions that makes it judgement. I think instead of judgement, we should use the idea of condemnation. Am I condemning someone because of these things, or am I genuinely trying to show the Love of Christ to them anyway? That's how Christ works in people. As I act out the love of Christ to them, God will change my heart.