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Musings and Observations by Vernon Caston

Musings and Observations                 by Vernon Caston

Category Archives: Change

Shepherds??? . . . Kings??? MERRY CHRISTMAS

24 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by stertin in Biblical personages / passage, Change, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Proverbs, Sayings, Quotes, Refrains, Sayings, Stories, Theology - God

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Christmas, Shepherds and Rulers, thanks - Sarah Young

Shepherds?? . . . Kings?? . . . MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Shepherds?? . . . Kings?? Do they have anything in common? Kings make the rules; shepherds do their best to not break the king’s rules (. . if they want to have breakfast tomorrow!!)

It is true, in the history of the Old Testament, there was a young fellow who was a shepherd. Later, he became a king. But, David was not both a king and a shepherd at the same time.

In fact, his status was elevated when he ascended in rank.

He left behind the shepherd’s menial task of caring for those “dumb” sheep. David, once a  king, had other people taking care of the sheep. And, of course, David the king had his choice of beautiful women, one of them being the beautiful wife of faithful Uriah, a soldier. (Kings can choose their prey!!)

Who would surrender the kingly role for the very lowly shepherd’s role? No one, of course. Let’s be realistic. “I want to rule. I want to make the rules. I want to enforce the rules I make.” Thus speaks and acts out, the one who claims, “I AM THE KING.”

BUT, is history only the narrative of unknown chump shepherds enviously yearning to be a dominating king? Fortunately, there is more to the story.

“I am King of Kings and Lord of lords, dwelling in dazzlingly bright Light!  I am also your Shepherd, Companion, and Friend – the One who never lets go of your hand. Worship Me in My holy Majesty; come close to Me, and rest in My presence. You need Me, both as God and as Man. Only my Incarnation on that first, long-ago Christmas could fulfill your neediness. Since I went to such extreme measures to save you from your sins, you can be assured that I will graciously give you all you need.

“Nurture well your trust in Me as Savior, Lord, and Friend. I have held back nothing in My provision for you. I have even deigned to live within you!  Rejoice in all that I have done for you, and My light will shine through you into the world.”

1 Timothy 6:15-15 . . . . . Psalm 95:6-7 . . . . Romans 8:32 . . . . 2 Peter 1.19

MERRY CHRISTMAS  — dear family and friends

DO EVERYTHING IN DEPENDENCE ON ME

06 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Biblical personages / passage, Change, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Quotes, Refrains, Unforgettables

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DO EVERYTHING IN DEPENDENCE ON ME . . . .

From Sarah Young’s JESUS CALLING: Enjoying peace in His presence

The desire to act independently – apart from Me — springs from the root of pride. Self sufficiency is subtle, insinuating its way into your thoughts and actions without your realizing it. But apart from Me, you, can do nothing: that is nothing of eternal value.

My deepest desire for you is that you learn to depend on Me in every situation. I move heaven and earth to accomplish this purpose, but you must collaborate with Me in this training. Teaching you would be simple if I negated your free will or overwhelmed you with My Power.

However, I love you too much to withdraw the godlike privilege I bestowed on you as My image bearer. Use your freedom wisely by relying on Me constantly. Thus you enjoy My Presence and My Peace.

John 15.5, Ephesians 6.10, Genesis 1.26-27

Published by Thomas Nelson, 2004, page 262

I want to know what love is! Thanks, Celtic Thunder

03 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by stertin in Aesthetics - Beauty, Change, Music related, Other authors, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Quotes, Sayings, Stories

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Celtic Thunder, I want to know what love is, learning from each other, love takes time, mountain peaks, the life of love is a process, while running

I want to know what love is – Thanks, Celtic Thunder

This morning while I was running, the Celtic Thunder’s version of “I want to know what love is” started playing in my ear buds.   Having heard other artists’ renditions, was familiar with the lyrics; my mind went naturally with the music’s flow.  Do you want to listen also while reading the lyrics?  Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4vqSfRQ8G4&list=PLoemii1jXdeCOvYG3zUPyyy_ss1rAcsoQ&index=6

Gonna take a little time, a little time to think things over.
I better read between the lines in case I need it when I’m older

Now this mountain I must climb. . feels like a world upon my shoulders.
Through the clouds I see love shine; it keeps me warm as life grows colder

In my life there’s been heartache and pain . . I don’t know if I can face it again
Can’t stop now, I’ve travelled so far to change this lonely life

I wanna know what love is, and I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is, and I know you can show me

I’m gonna take a little time. . .A little time to look around me
cause I’ve got nowhere left to hide

It looks like love has finally found me
In my life there’s been heartache and pain. I don’t know if I can face it again
I can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far to change this lonely life

I wanna know what love is
And I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
And I know you can show me

bis

The lyrics are provocative.  They convey, depending on the listener, a variety of sentiments, hopes, and dreams.  And, that is fine.

In my case, and even more so as I listen again and again to “I want to know what love is”, I continue confirming that the life of love is a process, a dynamic and joyful process.  Changes and new experiences don’t merely happen.  They also offer opportunities of what love is, and what love can be.

As the song declares, love takes time.  Love also offers us the heights of mountain peaks to glimpse both how far we have come and what can still be ahead.  We take joy in learning from each other, giving to each other, and receiving from each other.  That joy, that sense of completeness, that opportunity to not only be loved, but to give love, stands behind the deep desire of wanting to know what love is

And, Margaret Cameron also knows.

“My truth is. . . ” they told him, and “the better love.”

25 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Change, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Proverbs, Sayings, Quotes, Refrains, Stories, Theology - God

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and vaqueros, beef, Don't get me wrong . . . . . ., key and vital lessons, My truth is . . . . ., Ohio Buckeye - Illini - Blue Ridge Mountains, tango, The better love, the pleasures' thrills paled

Once upon a time – the better love

Once upon a time, there was a man whose life’s path took him many direction. While still a youth, his roots in the Ohio Buckeye soil were replanted in the Blue Ridge mountains and streams. His “how are you?” gave way to “how y’all do-n?”

After some more transitions which took him to Cornhusker land, the Empire State, the land of Lincoln, and Mary’s Land, he left the Land of the free and the brave, ending up in the land of beef, tango music, and vaqueros.   But, his years still were not finished. The land of 10,000 lakes were still to be explored, as was the land of the Illini.

During those many years of ongoing transitions, the man picked up some key and vital lessons and principles in life. One, in particular, is the one the man wants to mention at this point.

Over time, he learned and incorporated the fact that not all people saw life as he did.   They made decisions in critical times and in rather easy times. But, they used different values. Some people seemed to live basically to pursue various pleasures; at least they called them pleasures. They diligently followed those desired pleasures until the pleasures’ thrills paled into boredom. And, then they began the search for a different pleasure or thrill.

Then, there were the folk whom he met who told him that they wanted “the truth” – the ideas that helped them make sense out of the vagaries and puzzles of life. They were looking for the “keys” to life, the secrets to success. They read the biographies of the greatly admired people, hoping to latch on to the clues to social success.

Well, the man thought to himself, “That sounds somewhat vague”, and so the man began asking for examples. They told the man things like:

“My truth”, one person told the man, is ‘happiness is the consequence of having enough riches to buy whatever I want and whenever I want it.”   Then another person told the man, “My truth is that happiness comes when I am out fishing with my friends.”

Well, it didn’t take the man any time at all to realize that this kind of search for “the truth” wasn’t going to get anywhere; it had become so personalized that there was no overarching reality holding things together. There was no North Pole which would allow every one to have a specific location point on Earth.

Where am I going with these comments? Simply to this: All our personal reality must be anchored to the God of love. God created and maintains love. God created us to live in love. That created, maintained, restored reality of love is where life finds its resting place, its joy, its solace, and its ability to strengthen us.

Don’t get me wrong – Although we should rest and take joy in God’s love, my point is this – As good as it is to be loved, it is even better, and greater, more satisfying, and even more God-like to love.   Let’s not forget – God’s love is not His response to our love for Him. God loves us humans when we don’t even love Him!

God loves even those that hate Him. God loving us is the key to Godly life.   To say it just a little differently – To love in response to being loved may be nice and appropriate. BUT, to love even those who do not love, is even better and more God like.

 

Dennis, Elvis, and Jesus (thanks, Ray Stedman)

27 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Biblical personages / passage, Change, Other authors, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Quotes, Stories, Theology - God

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clamoring for his attention, contoured hair, Elvis Presley - the King, if Jesus were on earth today!!, Ray Stedman, sent to the office, surgically lifted face

“Dennis, Elvis, and Jesus” (thanks, Ray) 

When Elvis Presley died, people all over the United States and the world were shocked at the passing of one they called “the King.” Following his death, there surfaced a great number of young men who gave evidence of how they had idolized Elvis Presley and sought to imitate him. One young man, Dennis Wise, actually had his face surgically lifted and his hair contoured to look exactly like his idol. Dennis had learned to play the guitar and had even made a few dollars by appearing as a Presley look-alike. In a newspaper interviewed about his passion to be like Elvis Presley, this is what Dennis said:

  • “Yes, sir, Presley has been an idol of mine ever since I was five years old. I have every record he ever made — twice over. I have pictures in the thousands. I have books, magazines, pillows — I even have a couple of books in German and Japanese about him. I even have tree leaves from the front of his house. It was embarrassing to me when I was in school for the kids were always teasing me. When Elvis was wearing white boots I went out and bought white boots. The kids called them “fruit boots.” Teachers would always send me to the office because my two top buttons were unbuttoned. I’d button them and then, when no one was looking, I’d unbutton them again.
  • “But I never got to meet Elvis Presley. I saw him on the stage four times. Once I tried to run up to the stage and once I stood on the wall of Graceland [the Presley mansion] and tried to see him. For 12 hours I stood there trying to get a glimpse of him. But he had so many people around him that I could never get close.”

Dennis’ words describe sheer idolatry, the longing to be intimate with some great person. This is widely contemporary today. Young people are doing the same thing with their rock starts, and with other figures in the music, the movie, and the sports world. But the tragic element in the story of Dennis Wise is captured by his words, “I could never get close to him.”

Imagine how difficult it would be to see Jesus if he were on earth today. Think of the press of people you would have to get through to even look at him, let alone talk with him. Millions would be clamoring for his attention so that you wouldn’t stand a chance to get close to him. But the good news of Easter is, not only can you know him, but he can be close to you all the time, through every situation.

The risen Lord offers to share his victory with you, to take you through whatever you must face as your close and competent Companion who will never, never leave you.

 

( An edited excerpt from “The Incredible Hope” by Ray Stedman [http://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/john/the-incredible-hope] )

 

Nine letters, two spaces, and a question mark

05 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Change, Pointing beyond the common and natural

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Curriculum Vitae, nine letters - two spaces - a question mark, self disclosure???, what they think, Who are you?, why might you not want to go there?

Nine letters, two spaces, and a question mark

Who are you? Nine letters, two spaces, and a question mark. It occurred to me as I was leaving the Fitness Center. From what and where did the question arise to my consciousness? A lot of potential answers, I suppose, as to the origin of the question, “Who are you?”   But, I forced myself to not deviate, at least right now.

“Who are you?” The question was brief and direct. Other times, I was asked the question by someone else. But this time I was asking myself. “Who are you, Vernon?” – Nine letters, two spaces, and a question mark.

In a torrent of thoughts, multiple answers came rushing to mind. And many questions also began to flood my consciousness. How much should I reveal? How much can I trust other people when answering, “Who are you?” How much history is involved when answering “Who are you?” Does the answer include my motivations, my dreams, my failures, (and which of my failures since there are so many?) my impressions of others, my frustrations, my successes (but what are the reasons to consider something a success?), my income tax reports?, my Curriculum Vitae?, what I think other people would say about me if asked ‘who is Vernon?’ (regardless of the rightness or wrongness of their answers to these questions since I suspect their answers would impact how they have treated me and thus how I have responded to them), my limitations (physical, mental, social, psychological, spiritual), how do you employ your time? To what degree are you fearful, and if so, fearful of what and/or whom?   AND, this is just a starter list!!!

Yes, who am I?

We frequently ask the question to other folk. For example, in my online courses, I commonly ask students in the first week of the course, to introduce themselves to their classmates, using a threaded discussion format. I suggest several options or parameters for them. Some students are very brief. Others are verbose. I can’t help but ask myself (but not them), “Why did they respond in the way they did?

Three little words – “Who are you?” Nine letters, two spaces, and a question mark. When did you last ask yourself that question? And, as importantly, when did you attempt to answer it? And, even more importantly, why might you not want to go there???

 

The New Testament in ONLY 39 days, 30 minutes a day

28 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by stertin in Biblical personages / passage, Change, Other authors, Quotes, Sayings, Stories, Theology - God

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39 day X 30 minutes, Audio New Testament, Chronological presentation, Max McLean, Reading the New Testament

The New Testament in ONLY 39 days (30 minutes a day)

An invigorating experience!! It brought the New Testament alive to me like never before !! . . . Costs – not a penny. . . .  Entirely flexible schedule. . . . Read by the superb Max McLean. . . . The text – the New International Version (NIV). . . . No references to verse or chapter separations . . . .Access the day you choose with a click.

  • Day 01: Luke-Acts
  • Day 02: Luke-Acts
  • Day 03: Luke-Acts
  • Day 04: Luke-Acts
  • Day 05: Luke-Acts
  • Day 06: Luke-Acts
  • Day 07: Luke-Acts
  • Day 08: Luke-Acts
  • Day 09: Luke-Acts
  • Day 10: 1-2 Thessalonians
  • Day 11: 1 Corinthians
  • Day 12: 1 Corinthians
  • Day 13: 2 Corinthians
  • Day 14: Galatians
  • Day 15: Romans
  • Day 16: Romans
  • Day 17: Colossians
  • Day 18: Ephesians, Philemon
  • Day 19: Philippians, 1 Timothy
  • Day 20: Titus, 2 Timothy
  • Day 21: Matthew
  • Day 22: Matthew
  • Day 23: Matthew
  • Day 24: Matthew
  • Day 25: Matthew
  • Day 26: Hebrews
  • Day 27: Hebrews
  • Day 28: James
  • Day 29: Mark
  • Day 30: Mark
  • Day 31: 1 Peter
  • Day 32: 2 Peter, Jude
  • Day 33: John
  • Day 34: John
  • Day 35: John
  • Day 36: 1-3 John
  • Day 37: Revelation
  • Day 38: Revelation
  • Day 39: Revelation

“The transcendental rule of addition!”

17 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Change, Clear and logical thinking, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Prayer, Theology - God

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an add-on?, When I think I know, Who can get along without the other, Who was added to what already existed?

THE TRANSCENDENTAL RULE OF ADDITION

Slowly, to my chagrin, the light dawns, Father.

When I think I know, I am tempted to ignore how little I really do know. When neglecting, or rejecting, your rightful place, every thing else is out of place.

So much is that the case, that I ignore what truly is the case – You, Father can get along without me. . . I cannot get along without You.

Forgive us, forgive me, for thinking that You are an optional add-on, or an unnecessary luxury. We, not You, Father, were what was added to the reality you created.

You, Father, were not added to anything. Such was the case; thank you, Father, that such will always be the case.

And the ring went flying – “replacing the irreplaceable”

30 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Change, Clear and logical thinking, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Refrains, Stories

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a pair of socks - a computer - a car, a ring goes flying, living forever alone?, marriage, replacing the irreplaceable?, the fortune to marry again, thrown away along with an apple core

And the ring went flying – “replacing the irreplaceable”

Many years ago, during a winter car trip in upstate New York, I opened the car window to throw out an apple core. So far, so good. What happened next soured the sweet apple savor still in my mouth.   My high school ring slipped off my finger, and accompanying the apple core, flew out the window, past the gravel at the edge of the asphalt, and somewhere into the tall grass even further from the road. I was totally caught by surprise; I now suddenly had a ring-less finger on my right hand.   By the time I came to my senses and it dawned on me what had happened, we were much further down the highway, far beyond being able to even figure out exactly where we were when the ring went flying. There was no way to get back to the spot of the tragedy. There was no way to even begin to look for it.

To say that I was sick to my stomach is an understatement. The ring was a gift from my parents for my graduation, and I had “thrown it away along with an apple core.”   In my mind, it was a tragedy.

I have to admit that I don’t know how long I kept the secret from my parents; forever would have been too short! The ring was “irreplaceable” in my mind. Even if I could have ordered and received a replacement from the manufacturer, something I was in no condition to do, I still would have lived with the sensation that what I would be wearing would “not be the same.” It would not have been the ring my parents gave me, even if it was identical in appearance.

I have had other items, as have you the reader, for which we would use “irreplaceable”.   Of course, that irreplaceable might have been a “thing” as was the ring. But, perhaps it was a friendship with a special person, a friendship that went sour and you really don’t want to talk about it; and you don’t. You know you tried to renew the friendship. It didn’t work. You tried to replace it by building a friendship with someone else. That worked until it inadvertently “slipped out” that you were using that lost friendship as the model for the new one. That put the other person on edge, and the flame of friendship lost its sparkle and only ashes remained.

Perhaps, it wasn’t a friendship. Perhaps your spouse passed away. He, or she, was the love of your life. You mourned the absence of your other half for a long time, perhaps measured in years. No one could ever take the place of that dear soul mate. The word “irreplaceable” seemed to capture the sentiments you were feeling.   You feared even the thought of marrying again. Remarriage carried the connotation of dishonoring the memory of the deceased.

Then, one day, with no warning, you started thinking – “I have misunderstood the word ‘irreplaceable’.   My mind went back to that ring that went flying out the car window. Yes, it really was irreplaceable; nothing could replace it. The folly was the attempt to “replace” it.   The folly was to keep thinking in terms of replacing what was irreplaceable.   To replace it was to attempt the impossible. A new ring would be a new ring, not a replacement.

The ring case might seem forced, although it isn’t in my mind. But, when we go to the case of living “forever” alone because the deceased spouse is “irreplaceable”, the issue is not forced at all. The word “irreplaceable” simply doesn’t fit. It isn’t appropriate. It is making what some people call a category error. A new spouse should never be considered a replacement. The words “replacement” and “irreplaceable” are imposing a set of conditions that don’t make sense.

What I have expressed above takes on particular “feel” for me. I know folk whose spouse has passed away. We talk. We can talk because we share the same experience.   It has taken me a number of years to come to what I am now aware.   I can now converse with others in the same situation without it being theoretical. I now realize that Joyce will never be replaced.   She is irreplaceable. It would be foolish to even think she could be replaced. But, if I were ever to marry again, my new wife would also be irreplaceable, and for the same reason that Joyce was.

I may replace a pair of socks, a computer, or a car. They are replaceable. Perhaps I can replace a house, my books, and the thermos which holds the tea I am sipping as I write this.

On the other hand, I can never replace a wife. She is not replaceable; she is irreplaceable. And, if I were to have the fortune to marry again, it would not be a case of trying to replace the irreplaceable. I would again be married to one who is equally irreplaceable, the love of my life. If not, trouble is on the way.

 

 

 

Christmas, John Stuart Mill, and Jesus

20 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by stertin in Biblical personages / passage, Change, Clear and logical thinking, Other authors, Pain - Evil - Suffering, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Quotes, Stories, Theology - God

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"John Stuart Mill", Harper's Magazine - 1862, the moral decay of thinking that nothing is worth a war, the ugliness of being born to die, the war for humanity, what is worse than dying?, Why take on the flesh of humanity?

Christmas, John Stuart Mill, and Jesus

While reviewing some personal items, I read again several lines by John Stuart Mill (1806-1873).  In his work “The Contest in America”, published in the Harper’s New Monthly Magazine of April 1862, Mill addressed some of the public thinking during the Civil War in the United Sates.  Mill’s article included his famous lines:

“. . .war, in a good cause, is not the greatest evil which a nation can suffer.  War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse.. . . A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”

Perhaps you wonder what Mill’s statement has to do with Christmas.  It has much to do with Christmas – the real “why?” of Christmas, not the syrupy reasons that barely even touch the edges of the real reason.

Christmas celebrations over the past 2000 years, and in a multitude of social contexts, have taken many forms and practices.  We are far removed from the first Christmas!!  We will do well to ponder why celebrate the birth of Jesus.  We will do harm to ourselves if we fail to ask the deep question, “Why did the Son of God take on flesh in the first place? And why, in the second place, did Jesus die?  Mill points to the answer, even if what he said was in the context of the deadly War between the States in the 1860’s.

Jesus, the incarnated Son of God, came to earth to take part in a war.  It is true that He held infants in his arms. Yes, He gave a hungry multitude their fill of fish and bread.  But, His reason for being on the Earth in the first place was related to the war between good (God) and evil (Satan).  It was a war “in a good cause”, that of freeing humanity from the bonds of moral evil and restoring humanity to God’s family.  This war ultimately cost the innocent Jesus his life, as he bore the “ugly” murder of crucifixion.

Jesus, born to die – it is, admittedly, ugly.  But, as Mill states, it would have been even more ugly if Jesus would have thought that nothing was worth His death!!!  Although not referring to Jesus when he wrote it, Mill’s point is appropriate.  If Jesus would have cared more for His personal safety than the spiritual freedom of His murderers and their sympathizers, Jesus would have been a miserable creature “with no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”

But, Jesus was free.  He was noble.  He knew that there was something worse than dying in the war for humans’ salvation – It would have been morally worse for Him to not die!!

This, my friends, is taking us deeply into the Why of Christmas.  The original Christmas was the necessary first step to Jesus’ victory over what is even worse than dying for the sins of others. That worse thing???  to not die for the sins of others!!!

.

.

 

Short thoughts on long topics

02 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by stertin in Change, Clear and logical thinking, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Theology - God, Uncategorized

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"a God behind God???", "Adam and Enoch - walking with God", "critical thinking", "lying as a act of conversion?", "short thoughts waiting and wanting to grow up", "telling the truth for self-serving reasons", Rahab

The expression “surrendering your mind to God” can easily be misunderstood.  It certainly does not mean that we are to cease thinking.  Rather, it means that we are to control the topics of our thinking according to God’s agenda.  We are, to some degree, responsible for that about which we think.  This issue is related to the mind-body debate in philosophy which, in part at least, looks for an answer to this question – “Is there ‘something’ in us that is responsible for some of what we think?   If there is, then that means that there is something in us that is vital, but that is not “matter.”

 * * * * *

When addressing some Christian college students, a friend of mine raised the issue of suffering, specifically the suffering that can happen when Christians are persecuted, even violently.  He went to the point of affirming that Christians facing such suffering should not shy away from it, but rejoice in the midst of it.

His statement clearly forces us to think about courageous Christianity.  And, many of us have some degree of doubt about how courageous we would be when facing torture and/or violent death.   Yet, are we treating the issue properly when only personalizing it that way, affirming that we are to rejoice in suffering?

On one hand, how do we rejoice in suffering without promoting injustice, since so much suffering is the result of someone’s immorality?  And, on the other hand, how do we rejoice in suffering and also hate sin, which we should be doing?  I am not sure I have answers to either of these two questions.

 * * * * *

Do you also experience frustration when hearing people present their ideas in an overly simplified way?  (My question, as you see, tells you what I sense in such situations.)   One of the overly simplified presentations is to lay out a false dilemma, saying that there are only two options before us.  In such cases, making an argument for one option automatically negates the opposite option.  On the other hand, a person can negate the case for one of the options, and on that basis alone affirm that the opposite option is valid.

But let’s face it, our decisions rarely involve only two options.  Yet, we want to make things simple, and ignore all the options except two of them.  Flee such over simplification, whether done by a politician, a professor, a preacher, or a prosecutor!!

Telling them what they want to hear?

27 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Change, Clear and logical thinking, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Sayings

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Is it helpful? - Is it inspiring? is it necessary?, my friend's computer expertise, telling them what they want to hear

Telling them what they want to hear?

My friend’s computer expertise far surpassed mine.  And, he was willing to help me solve a particular problem I had with my Mac. Our several years of friendship made it natural for me to request his assistance. It wasn’t the first time.

So after a meeting in which we both participated, I got out the computer, pointed out the problem (and my ignorance), and asked if he could help resolve it. “Sure enough”, he said. And, within fifteen minutes, I understood what needed to be done once I would get home. He had resolved my problem.

With the computer problem taken care of, we had some non-computer conversation, talking about personal things in our lives. In the course of that conversation I realized I was giving him some advice that he was hoping to receive. He both needed and wanted to.

My behavior – consciously telling something to someone who I knew wanted to hear just what I said – is sometimes challenged. We are told to always tell the truth, regardless of knowing that it will bring pain to the other person. We are counseled, “Even if we know the truth is going to hurt, or if it is not going to be constructive, tell them the truth anyway.”

But, is truth telling that simple a matter. “Telling the truth” is not a stand-alone behavior. Rather, I suggest that there is more at stake. Merely telling the truth is not to be our goal. Telling the truth is part of the means to an end. Telling the truth needs to be “packaged” in kindness, in loving concern, in supportive language, with a hug (literally or figuratively), and with “I love you” permeating the telling of the truth. In fact, I admit that I am wondering if usually it is better to say nothing if I can’t package it in love.

I agree with the recommendation that we evaluate what we are planning to say with questions that go beyond, “Is it true?” – Questions such as: “Is it helpful?”. . . “Is it inspiring?” . . .“Is it necessary?” . . .“Is it kind?”  That recommendation is wise advice.

These questions provide parameters that point beyond the act of telling the truth. For, the reality is that telling the truth is not the end.  It is part of the means to the end.

 

 

Eve, I can’t believe that you could mean what you just said (Thanks, Karen Carpenter)

30 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by stertin in Aesthetics - Beauty, Biblical personages / passage, Change, Music related, Other authors, Pain - Evil - Suffering, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Stories, Theology - God

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“Eve, I can’t believe that you could mean what you just said” (Thanks, Karen Carpenter)

There once was a time when everything that happened could be condensed into one short story. That time didn’t last for long, as you can imagine. Was it only a nanosecond long? Perhaps. Maybe it was even shorter than that!

In any case, and eventually, the story would expand. Characters, and more characters would be introduced. A plot of some nature would form. A dilemma would develop. If-then scenarios would shape up. These latter elements were not noticeable at the very beginning of the story of “What Was”.

This brief description is what happens in life, doesn’t it.   Think of the entire life of a child who has, up until this moment, lived only 12-18 hours outside of mother’s womb – independent existence. It would be a pretty “short” story, wouldn’t it?   But, as the child adds days, weeks, months, years, and decades, the story expands. New people are introduced, some being relatives, siblings, friends, neighbors, classmates, etc.. Challenges enter the story. And, then even more complicated challenges populate the narrative. New decisions are made, new conflicts arise, new sorrows strike as the story unfolds in a variety of nuances.

But, the story began without all those additions that came with time. Reading the initial draft of the story of an 18 hour old infant might be interesting, depending on the detail provided. I can imagine that the medical narrative of the first 18 hours of human life could fascinate some folk (if they could even understand it!!).

But, our individual stories take time to develop. We all know that, don’t we?

We also know, by this point in our life, that the story of our lives is a combination of convoluted situations along side of un-convoluted decisions we make, or perhaps un-convoluted decisions that others have made for us.   Because of this scenario, well written biographies fascinate us. Truly, fact can be more fascinating that fiction.

Allow me now to transition.

The paragraphs above were running around my mind, just shortly ago. Earlier today, I was listening to Karen Carpenter sing the song “Eve”. Karen’s brother, Richard Carpenter, later explained that he and John Bettis, in 1969, composed “Eve” after watching an episode of a British suspense anthology. In the story, a fellow becomes enamored with a female mannequin, who in turn is to be destroyed with other discarded mannequins. The mannequin is Eve.

While listening to the song, several times, I was not aware of the back story provided by Richard Carpenter. My mind, while listening, went back to the Biblical story of Eve, who was not a mannequin, but the first named woman in the Bible. Eve, along with Adam, were the human protagonists in the Creation Narrative as provided in the Biblical book of Genesis.

Now, I invite you to take a moment and listen to Eve, as sung by Karen Carpenter. (click here ) Here are the lyrics:

Eve, I can’t believe that you could mean what you just said

Think of what you are; how very far you are from being real.

Look into the mirror, nothing there to see.

Eve, I can’t believe you’d really leave him.

 

Notice how her image saddens, how lonely she’s become

Just once I’d like to see her happy before the winter comes.

 

Eve, I wouldn’t lie; the open sky is not your home

Wide as it may be, reality is here among the stones.

Thorns among the roses add to what is real.

Eve, you are a rose among the thorns here.

 

I wish her only good times before the winter comes.

Eve, and Adam, are presented in the Creation story as having no childhood experiences. They had not learned anything from anyone else until they learned things from each other and from God. In the case of Adam, he entered history as entirely innocent and unaccompanied. Eve’s entry was slightly different; her environment included a person who was already in the process of learning about life. They, then, learned from their own experiences, the experiences of each other, and from what God communicated to them. Their companion was God Himself.

At some point, Eve decided to embrace the words and “description of reality” from someone other than God and Adam. This “someone” is defined as The Serpent, commonly known as Satan.   Eve, by eating fruit that God had prohibited, expressed a newly embraced belief that someone other than God knew what was “best”, what was “most advantageous”, what was “most productive”, what was “most fitting and adequate” for human existence. In her acquiescence to Satan’s temptation, Eve walked away from her created reality of communion with the Creator God. And, rather than live as defined by God and His loving presence, she ended up with loneliness. Adam was then faced with a choice – Eve or God. He chose the former. For Adam, companionship with Eve trumped companionship with God. He ate the fruit that God had prohibited. He broke the only rule they had!!

I can appreciate the sentiment of the vocalists (Karen Carpenter), “I’d like to see her happy before the winter comes. . . . Eve, you are a rose, now living with thorns. I wish her well, but the winter is coming.!!!”

The music is hauntingly beautiful. The lyrics are provocatively warning the listener that our decisions have consequences. (Well written stories don’t have to be long. . . although some are.)

God, by nature, is good. We, by nature, aren’t, until we are created again. Thanks be to the Lord Jesus for making possible our re-creation.

 

COMMENTS ARE WELCOME

 

 

The Wisdom of an Unknown Believer who believes that . . .

25 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Change, Other authors, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Prayer, Proverbs, Quotes

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Although I know not who this believer is, I wish I did; I don’t like not being able to express my thanks ! !

The Wisdom of an Unknown Believer who believes that . . .

  • no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
  • true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
  • you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
  • it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
  • you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
  • you can keep going long after you think you can’t.
  • we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
  • either you control your attitude or it controls you.
  • heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
  • my best friend and I can do anything or nothing, and have the best time.
  • sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down will be the ones to help you get back up.
  • sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry,  but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.
  • maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.
  • it isn’t always enough, to be forgiven by others, but to truly forgive others is what will set you free.
  • no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.
  • our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but, we are responsible for who we become.
  • you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
  • people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
  • your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.
  • when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you – you will find the strength to help.
  • the happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they make the most of everything they have.

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Sowing Subversion in the Field of Relativism (thanks, Dr. Chan)

20 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Change, Clear and logical thinking, Other authors, Theology - God

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“Sowing Subversion in the field of Relativism”

Mark L Y Chan, PhD (University of Nottingham)

Due to globalization and the migration of peoples across national boundaries, religious pluralism has become more pronounced in the so-called Christian West. A shrinking world has brought religions and their adherents closer to each other.

We meet people of other races. We learn about their cultures and beliefs through television and the Internet. The growing presence of mosques and temples—not to mention ethnic (i.e., non-Western) restaurants—reflects the increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of Western societies.

This pluralism may be relatively new in the West, but it has always been the order of the day in the lands of Asia. Virtually all the major world religions have their roots in Asian history, and they continue to command the allegiance of billions.

The majority of Christians today live alongside people of other faiths. In this, they are not unlike the earliest Christians, who proclaimed Jesus as Savior and Lord in the face of the many gods and lords of Greco-Roman society.

Like them, we are called to embrace, embody, and declare the truth that God has revealed himself definitively and finally in Jesus Christ. Through his death and resurrection, sinners find forgiveness of sin and are reconciled to God. How then shall we proclaim the finality of Christ, given the fact of religious pluralism and the relativizing of absolute truth claims that often comes with it?

Living in a racially and religiously diverse society, Singapore’s Christians have had to learn not only how to live with adherents of other religions, but also how to work with them for the common good. And they are to do this without compromising their faith. Some argue that social harmony can only be achieved and maintained if religionists desist from making exclusive truth claims. The church’s challenge is to demonstrate the fallacy of this way of thinking. 

From Pluralism to Relativism

Some Christian thinkers have jettisoned the uniqueness of Christ and embraced pluralism. They maintain that all religions are equally valid paths to God or an ultimate divine reality, and that no single religion can claim to have the final word on truth.

They move beyond a descriptive and social pluralism, which allows for a diversity of religious expressions, to a metaphysical pluralism. Such pluralistic ideas (in both the West and Asia) unwittingly sound like Vedanta Hinduism, which teaches that, just as all rivers flow into the same ocean, so all religions lead to the same ultimate reality. Jesus is but one among many ways to that reality.

Some professing Christians in Asia regard Christ as but one avatar among many possible manifestations of the divine. Their relativizing of the truth of Christ owes much to the monistic assumptions of their culture. To be sure, followers of Christ in Asia need to embody the truth within their cultural contexts, but never at the expense of God’s truth.

To pluralists, religions are historically contingent expressions of an underlying ultimate spiritual reality. They argue that one should look beyond creedal distinctions to the life transformation that comes from an experiential encounter with that basic reality that all religions point to and mediate.

This decoupling of spirituality from religion not only carries the aroma of political correctness, it also sits well with the postmodern tenor of our time.

Postmodernism defies easy characterization. It means different things to different people, and Christians are not uniform in their attitude about it. What concerns us are the more deconstructive and radical aspects of postmodernism, particularly its incredulity toward absolute truth, its rejection of all overarching stories that explain life and give it meaning, and its relativization of all truth claims. These aspects have major ramifications for the whole church in her efforts to embody the whole gospel and bring it to the whole world.

The postmodern mindset is allergic to universal and absolute truth. We simply do not have access to the absolute truth, the postmodernist says; all we have are truths—social constructs fashioned from raw materials drawn from historical and social contexts. In place of truth as an overarching metanarrative, postmodernists offer community-specific stories that have no truth-validity outside the communities in which they function.

Postmodernism tribalizes truth. If truth is a matter of perspective, then everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Postmodernists celebrate a diversity of viewpoints and embrace differences. Since there is no neutral or trans-contextual platform from which to judge competing claims, one simply has to put up with a multiplicity of viewpoints jostling for supremacy and acceptance.

To the postmodern pluralist, truth is whatever emerges at the end of the struggle between claims. Truth is defined by power, because all claims to truth are simply manipulative attempts by the powerful, or those with vested interests, to impose their will.

To postmodern pluralists, to assert that Jesus is Truth Incarnate may well be a front for colonial imperialism, cultural chauvinism, or religious intolerance. Here’s a hermeneutic of suspicion in the service of political correctness!

Truth and Moral Choices

The same suspicion applies to morality. Questions of right and wrong are attempts by others to impose their will on us. Why should one accept other people’s definitions of right and wrong? Postmodern thinking soon leads to the kind of moral relativism where judging between right and wrong is a matter of private interpretation.

Without a universal framework of right and wrong, the claims of the terrorists who detonate themselves and take innocent lives have as much validity as those who dispatch troops to forcefully stop them.

On what basis can a postmodernist oppose others’ choices? Whether people are experimenting with embryos or making money off corrupt regimes or providing financial shelter for crooked business corporations, there’s no basis for saying they are wrong. Only expediency and economic pragmatism have the final say.

The same goes for decisions at the individual level. Right and wrong are most often determined on the basis of what is useful or what best fulfills a person’s aspirations.

Such decisive individualism is ironic, given the importance that postmodern thought places on community and tradition. Suspicious of authority and bereft of any transcendent and objective standard by which to offer guidance, individuals fall back on their own authority and decide what is true and right on pragmatic grounds. Postmodernism not only tribalizes truth, it privatizes it as well. We see this, for instance, in the way sexual behavior is considered a private matter, left for the individual to decide.

This individualistic orientation fits neatly with the de-centered, anti-authoritarian, and egalitarian character of our Internet age. Its impact is evident in the way spirituality is often understood. Those who sign up for a pluralistic view of ultimate spiritual reality—one that is ineffable, amorphous, and independent of religious truth claims—can be spiritual without getting mixed up in institutional religion. They are free to pick and choose from the wide array of religious ideas and fashion a mix-and-match spirituality after their own image. So we find those today who in one breath affirm the incarnation of Christ and in another preach reincarnation.

Such freedom is attractive. Adding to its appeal is the oft-repeated contention that exclusivists are naive, arrogant, disrespectful of other cultures, and intolerant of other faiths. Their absolutist views serve only to heighten interreligious tension, exacerbate intercommunal conflict, and in some cases, even incite violence. To avoid further polarizing our badly fragmented world, one must, some argue, adopt a pluralistic approach to religions and a relativistic stance on truth.

What do we make of the claims and criticisms of the relativist? And how shall we commend the truth of the gospel today? 

Commending the Truth

To begin with, the belief that knowledge of the truth necessarily translates into arrogant intolerance confuses conviction with condescension and rational disagreement with disagreeable behavior.

Over the years, the National Council of Churches of Singapore has conversed with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore about matters that concern both religious communities. They have had friendly exchanges, for instance, on how each faith understands community engagement. The bishops, imams, and theologians who gather are all committed believers, and there is no question about their having deep differences. Yet the tone of their interactions has always been gracious and respectful, and because of this, the gatherings have been productive.

Real tolerance entails putting up with what one considers to be error. Precisely because there are genuine differences between people, we see tolerance as a virtue.

By insisting that there is no such thing as universal truth, except the universal truth that there is no such thing as universal truth, relativism is as absolutist as the claim that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. One cannot insist with the pluralist that all religious and moral truth claims are equally valid, and at the same time maintain with the relativist that there is no one ultimate truth that alone makes sense of the diversity of truth claims.

The Christian faith condemns arrogance and an attitude of superiority toward people of other faiths and, for that matter, people of no faith.

To be sure, there have been bigoted Christians and very insensitive practices within missions and evangelism in the church’s long history. But these are indicative of the church’s shameful failures rather than the essence of Christian faith.

Christians are called to love rather than tolerate people, and in so doing to mirror God’s love for all people. This includes ardent relativists, sanguine pluralists, and pugnacious atheists. In commending the truth in the face of relativism, we must keep in mind that we are at root dealing with people, not cold ideas. The relativist is not just a representative of a worldview but a flesh-and-blood person with all the needs and longings of a human made in God’s image. More important than winning the argument against relativism is winning the relativist for Christ.

Convinced relativists, like people everywhere, are not immune to difficulties and troubles. A global economic downturn or a devastating earthquake does not discriminate between relativists and exclusivists. When relativists are struck down by the exigencies of life, it is rare that cogent arguments for truth will draw them. More likely, it is practical care and concern shown by loving Christians. We cannot provide warmth to a cold relativism, but we can wrap a blanket around a shivering relativist.

Meeting people of all faiths and persuasions at the level of our common humanity is a good starting place to share the truth of Christ. In the safety of genuine friendship, where trust is earned and respected, people can honestly question their fundamental assumptions. Christians can sow seeds of subversion in the field of relativism by raising questions about the adequacy of moral relativism as a guide for living. Can one really live without absolute truth? How many are actually persuaded that there is no difference between Mother Teresa and Pol Pot?

Relativists may insist on the absence of universal truth, but they instinctively assume the reality of it. This is because people have an irrepressible yearning for God and a longing for the truth. God’s truth will prevail because there is something coherent and persuasive about his Word, something that rings true to life.

Given the relativistic temper of our times, it’s easy for the church to lose confidence in the gospel as “the power of God unto salvation” and to back off from proclaiming Christ as the only way to God. To guard against this loss of nerve, Christians need to be seriously grounded in the truth of Scripture and the knowledge of Christ. The work of commending truth in our world must therefore begin at home—in the life, worship, and disciple-making catechesis of our churches.

To believe in absolute truth is to run counter to the spirit of the age. We can expect to be ridiculed, ostracized, and opposed. We need to be reminded that the one who was Truth Incarnate, the one John describes as “full of grace and truth,” became Truth Crucified at the hands of those bent on snuffing out the light of truth. Darkness did not have the last word. Light pierced the tomb of Jesus, and in the resurrection of Christ, we have Truth Vindicated.

(Dr Chan is a lecturer in theology at Trinity Theological College, Singapore, and editor of Church and Society in Asia Today.  This piece was retrieved from Christianity Today, February, 2010 at http://www.christianitytoday.com/globalconversation/february2010/index.html)

 

The Master of the Board (thanks, John Ortberg)

20 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Change, Other authors, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Proverbs, Quotes, Sayings, Stories, Theology - God

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Grandmother was at her feistiest when it came to Monopoly. Periodically leaders like General Patton or Attila the Hun develop a reputation for toughness. They were lapdogs next to her. Imagine that Vince Lombardi had produced an offspring with Lady MacBeth, and you get some idea of the competitive streak that ran in my grandmother. She was a gentle and kind soul, but at the Monopoly table she would still take you to the cleaners.  She was the Master of the Board!

When I got the initial $1,500 from the banker to start the game, I always wanted to hang on to my money as long as possible. You never know what Chance card might turn up next. The board is a risky place. I am half Swedish (on my father’s side), and Swedes are not high rollers.

But my grandmother knew how to play the game. She understood that you don’t win without risk, and she didn’t play for second place. So she would spend every dollar she got. She would buy every piece of property she landed on. She would mortgage every piece of property she owned to the hilt in order to buy everything else.

She understood what I did not—that accumulating is the name of the game, that money is how you keep score, that the race goes to the swift. She played with skill, passion, and reckless abandon. Eventually, inevitably, she would become Master of the Board. She was in control. Other players regard her with fear and envy, shock and awe. From that point on, it’s only a matter of time. She would watch me land on Boardwalk one time too many, hand over to her what was left on my money, and put my little race car marker away, all the time wondering why I had lost yet again. “Don’t worry about it,” she’d say. “One day you’ll learn to play the game.”

I hated it when she said that.

Then one year when I was ten, I spent a summer playing Monopoly every day with a kid named Steve who lived kitty-corner from me. Gradually it dawned on me that the only way to win this game was to make a total commitment to acquisition. No mercy. No fear. What my grandmother had been showing me for so long finally sank in.

By the fall, when we sat down to play, I was more ruthless than she was. My palms were sweaty. I would play without softness or caution. I was ready to bend the rules if I had to. Slowly, cunningly, I exposed the soft underbelly of my grandmother’s vulnerability. Relentlessly, inexorably, I drove her off the board. (The game does strange things to you.)

I still remember – it happened at Marvin Gardens.

I looked at my grandmother – this was the woman who had taught me how to play. She was an old lady by now. A widow. She had raised my mother. She loved my mother, and she loved me. And I took everything she had. I destroyed her financially and psychologically. I watched her give up her last dollar and quit in utter defeat.

It was the greatest moment of my life.

I had won. I was cleverer, and stronger, and more ruthless than anyone else at the table. I was Master of the Board.

And then she had one more thing to teach me. Then she said, “Now it all goes back in the box–all those houses and hotels, all the railroads and utility companies, all that property – Boardwalk and Park Place, and all that wonderful money–now it all goes back in the box.”

I didn’t want it to go back in the box. I wanted to leave the board out, bronze it maybe, as a memorial to my ability to play, and win, the game.

“No,” she said, “None of it was really yours. You got all heated up about it for a while, but it was around a long time before you sat down at the board, and it will be here after you’re gone. Players come and players go. But it all goes back in the box.”

And the game always ends. For every player, the game ends.

It’s not bad to play the game. It’s not bad to be really good at it. It’s not bad to be Master of the Board. My grandmother taught me to play to win.

But, there are always more rungs to climb, more money to be made, more deals to pull off. And the danger is that we forget to ask what really matters. We race around the board with shallow relationships, frenzied schedules, pre-occupied souls. Being smart or strong does not protect you from this fate. In some ways, it makes the game more dangerous, for the temporary rewards you get from playing can lull you into pretending that the game will never end.

Every day includes the obituaries of people for whom this week the game ended. Skilled businessmen, an aging grandmother who was in a convalescent home with a brain tumor, teenage kids who think they have the whole world in front of them, and somebody drives through a stop sign. It all goes back in the box–houses and cars, titles and clothes, filled barns, bulging portfolios, even your body.

As a student in school, I may think that the game is won by getting better grades, making first string, or getting elected class president. Then graduation arrives and the pressure to win at my job, to get promoted, to have enough money, to feel safe, and to be able to think of myself as successful. I pass somebody up and feel pleasure. Someone passes me, and I feel a stab of pain. Always I hear this inner voice: Is this enough?. . .  Did I do good? And sometimes if I’m quiet: Does it mean anything?

Then the chase is for financial security, a well-planned retirement in an active senior community where Botox and Grecian Formula and ginko biloba and Lipitor and Viagra bring chemically induced temporary immortality.

Then one day it stops. Other people keep going. Somewhere on the board, somebody is just getting started. But for you, the game is over. Did you play wisely? We all want God, but left to our own devices, we seek possessions, money, looks, power – thinking they will bring us fulfillment. But they all turn out to be just props. Props, that when we check out of this life, all go back to the great prop master. They’re just on loan. They’re not ours. They all go back in the box.

This is how my grandmother taught me to play the game of my life. My grandmother led, in many ways, a pretty simple life. She never went to high school, never led a company, never wrote a book, never traveled the world. She met her lifelong sweetheart in the eighth grade, her last year of formal education. She gave birth to three sons and then three girls, including my mother. She never moved outside the state where she was born. The only paid job she every had, that I know of, was working behind the counter in a little Swedish bakery.

She was content with her life because she knew what mattered. She had a clear understanding about what was temporal and what was eternal. She knew how to play the game.

From It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg (2007)

“Really, Lewis, are you serious??” – Counting the cost!!

15 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Biblical personages / passage, Change, Other authors, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Quotes, Theology - God

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"Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas", a dentist's visit, C S Lewis' MERE CHRISTIANITY, counting the cost, what God has in store for us, William Stuntz's wisdom

“Really, Lewis, are you serious?? – Counting the cost!!  In the previous piece, William Stuntz referred to C. S. Lewis.  This piece follows up on Stuntz’s reference.  It captivated me when I first read it many years ago; it still does.  It comes from Mere Christianity, chapter 31.

****************

I find a good many people have been bothered by what I said in the previous chapter about Our Lord’s words, `Be ye perfect. ‘ Some people seem to think this means ‘Unless you are perfect, I will not help you’; and as we cannot be perfect, then, if He meant that, our position is hopeless. But I do not think He did mean that. I think He meant ‘The only help I will give is help to become perfect. You may want something less: but I will give you nothing less. ‘

Let me explain. When I was a child I often had toothache, and I knew that if I went to my mother she would give me something which would deaden the pain for that night and let me get to sleep. But I did not go to my mother – at least, not till the pain became very bad. And the reason I did not go was this. I did not doubt she would give me the aspirin; but I knew she would also do something else. I knew she would take me to the dentist next morning. I could not get what I wanted out of her without getting something more, which I did not want. I wanted immediate relief from pain: but I could not get it without having my teeth set permanently right. And I knew those dentists; I knew they started fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth which had not yet begun to ache. They would not let sleeping dogs lie; if you gave them an inch they took a mile.

Now, if I may put it that way, Our Lord is like the dentists. If you give Him an inch, He will take a mile. Dozens of people go to Him to be cured of some one particular sin which they are ashamed of . . . or which is obviously spoiling daily life (like bad temper or drunkenness). Well, He will cure it all right: but He will not stop there. That may be all you asked; but if once you call Him in, He will give you the full treatment.

That is why He warned people to ‘count the cost’ before becoming Christians. ‘Make no mistake; He says, ‘if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect – until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said He was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.’

. . . . You must realize from the outset that the goal towards which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal. That is what you are in for. And it is very important to realize that. If we do not, then we are very likely to start pulling back and resisting Him after a certain point. I think that many of us, when Christ has enabled us to overcome one or two sins that were an obvious nuisance, are inclined to feel (though we do not put it into words) that we are now good enough. He has done all we wanted Him to do, and we should be obliged if He would now leave us alone. As we say ‘I never expected to be a saint, I only wanted to be a decent ordinary chap. ‘ And we imagine when we say this that we are being humble.

But this is the fatal mistake. Of course we never wanted, and never asked, to be made into the sort of creatures He is going to make us into. But the question is not what we intended ourselves to be, but what He intended us to be when He made us. He is the inventor, we are only the machine. He is the painter, we are only the picture. How should we know what He means us to be like?

. . . We must not be surprised if we are in for a rough time. When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well (in the sense that some of his bad habits are now corrected), he often feels that it would now be natural if things went fairly smoothly. When troubles come along – illnesses, money troubles, new kinds of temptation – he is disappointed. These things, he feels, might have been necessary to rowse him and make him repent in his bad old days; but why now? Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary: but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us.

I find I must borrow yet another parable from George MacDonald. Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurt abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

The command “Be ye perfect” is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were ‘gods’ and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him – for we can prevent Him, if we choose – He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said.

.

.

.

.

 

Another Helper (thanks, Chuck Swindoll)

06 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Biblical personages / passage, Change, Other authors, Pain - Evil - Suffering, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Quotes, Theology - God

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"I am going to die; but don't worry", Another helper? We want you., left alone?, the Teacher is leaving; now what do we do?"

Another helper? (thanks, Chuck Swindoll)

The hour was late—around midnight. Jesus and His disciples were in a second-story flat in Jerusalem. There were eleven men with Him. One had been dismissed—the unfaithful Judas. In this upper room the men were reclining around a table, and there was small talk. The focus of attention finally turned to the Lord Himself. In quiet tones, He began to communicate the vital truths they were to live by after His death. When they realized how serious He was, they were seized with panic. Why?

Keep in mind that for over three years they’d been following the man they expected to be the ruler of the world. That meant they would be charter-member officials in the kingdom. Don’t think they hadn’t thought of that! And He would establish Himself as King of kings and Lord of lords. He would overthrow Rome. He would move the hypocrites in the religious world out of power as He established a new rulership marked by integrity, peace, authenticity, and righteousness. That was their dream. . . their hope. But now, out of the clear blue, He tells them He’s going to die. In a matter of hours He would be taken under arrest and by midmorning the next day He would be nailed to a cross. By midafternoon his body would slump in death. Before dark they will have taken His body down, wrapped Him as a mummy, put Him in a tomb, and sealed it.

He—their Teacher—would be gone.

Of course they were confused! The talk of death can’t help but bring panic, cause confusion, and, in addition, create an inability to grasp a set of facts.

Before you’re too harsh on them, imagine the charged emotions. Their heads must have been swimming. I can assure you it isn’t hard for me to imagine. Right after World War II my father had a physical breakdown—maybe some would say an emotional breakdown. Perhaps it was both Whichever, I shall never forget the dreadful feeling when, as the youngest in a family of three children, I was called into his bedroom. I can still feel his hand sort of work its way from my elbow up to my shoulder. I still remember how he held me close as he trembled (though he wasn’t an old man), exhausted from the rigors of endless work—sixteen- to eighteen-hour days, six to seven days a week, for four or five years of his life. I knew I might never see my dad again on this earth. At least, I thought I wouldn’t. He gave me some information about life. He talked to me quietly and deliberately about the character he wanted me to model as I grew up without him. He told me to take care of my mother and to cooperate with my brother and sister. I shall never forget choking back the tears.

I am pleased to say he lived on. In fact, he lived many years beyond that. But at that time, if my life depended on it, when I walked out of the room that dark night, I couldn’t tell you precisely what he had said or what his words meant. I had only one thing on my mind: “My daddy is gonna die!” That stabbing realization eclipsed everything else he said. It may have been important, but I missed it. I can still recall a few words he used, but that’s about it. Death talk is like that.

That’s what happened to those disciples. They’re listening to the Messiah say: “I’m going to die, but don’t worry . . . I won’t leave you as orphans. I’m going to send another Helper.”

They thought, “Another Helper? We want you. We don’t want someone else.”

 

(Swindoll, Chuck. Growing Deep in the Christian Life. 181-183)

The Room (thanks, Josh Harris)

01 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by stertin in Change, Other authors, Pain - Evil - Suffering, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Stories, Theology - God

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"I have to destroy them", "it is finished", a card catalogue, anyone but Jesus, as I pushed away the tears - I saw Him, Between wakefulness and dreams, cards as strong as steel, cards to be written

The Room

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read “Girls I have liked.” I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn’t match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching. A file named “Friends” was next to one marked “Friends I have betrayed.” The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. Books I Have Read,” “Lies I Have Told,” “Comfort I Have Given,” “Jokes I Have Laughed at.” Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: “Things I’ve yelled at my brothers.” Others I couldn’t laugh at: “Things I Have Done in My Anger” “Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents.”

I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to write each of these thousands or even millions of cards?

But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature. When I pulled out the file marked “Songs I have listened to,” I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn’t found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of music but more by the vast time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked “Lustful Thoughts,” I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: “No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!” In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn’t matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards.

But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it. Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh. And then I saw it. The title bore “People I Have Shared the Gospel With.” The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands.

I could count the cards it contained on one hand. And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him. No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus.

I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn’t bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn’t anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn’t say a word. He just cried with me. Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card.

“No!” I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was “No, no,” as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn’t be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don’t think I’ll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, “It is finished.”

I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.

 

(retrieved from http://www.joshharris.com/the_room_my_dream.php)

 

 

THE “TAXI RIDE” – a driver’s view (thanks, Kent Nerburn)

27 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Change, Other authors, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Stories

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" - she asked., like someone out of the 1940's, my cab became a moving confessional, She asked - "Could you drive through downtown?"

The Taxi Ride

Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. It was a cowboy’s life, a life for someone who wanted no boss. What I didn’t realize was that it was also a ministry.

Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a moving confessional. Passengers climbed in, sat behind me in total anonymity, and told me about their lives. I encountered people whose lives amazed me, ennobled me, made me laugh and weep.

But none touched me more than a woman I picked up late one August night. I was responding to a call from a small brick four-plex in a quiet part of town. I assumed I’d be picking up some partiers, someone who had just had a fight with a lover, or a worker heading to an early shift at some factory for the industrial part of town.

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself. So I walked to the door and knocked.

“Just a minute”, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

“Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

“It’s nothing”, I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated”.

“Oh, you’re such a good boy”, she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”

“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice”.

I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening.

“I don’t have any family left,” she continued. “The doctor says I don’t have very long.”

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. “What route would you like me to take?” I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit
staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

“How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse.

“Nothing,” I said.

“You have to make a living,” she answered.

“There are other passengers,” I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

“You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.”

I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life. We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware–beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

What we do, what we say, they may forget — How we make them feel – they will remember

 (the narrative above – by Kent Nerburn)

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