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Musings and Observations by Vernon Caston

Musings and Observations                 by Vernon Caston

Category Archives: Refrains

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

When words are superfluous, and love is beautiful

16 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by stertin in Aesthetics - Beauty, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Refrains, Sayings

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a joyful wink, a soft laugh, a warm smile, a wistful gaze, love that is beautiful, When words are superfluous

When words are superfluous, and love is beautiful

When lovers’ fingers mutually stroke the other’s prints.

When loving eyes wistfully gaze.

When “thank you” is conveyed by a loving look.

When an embrace is tenderly accompanied by a soft kiss.

When a snuggle communicates, “I love you, honey.”

When the hands find each while walking and the resulting smiles are warm.

When “I love you” is voicelessly mouthed and received with a joyful wink.

When each knows what the other desires.

When Cameron softly laughs while touching your lips.

(dedicated to the one who knows)

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.

 

 

 

The Audacity of Changing Pointers!!

17 Friday Jul 2015

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

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Boundary Waters, bread and wine, Hillbilly - Lee Edwards High School - Asheville NC, MTYLTT, Passover, pointers to Jesus, sling shots, the audacious Jesus, the blood and the body - the wine and the bread, Wall Drug

The Audacity of Changing Pointers ! !

Leafing through the Hillbilly, I see pictures of places, events, and people. The Hillbilly was a gift from Lee Edwards High School in Asheville, NC. On its pages are pictures of and notes from friends. Standing behind those notes and pictures are events and people. The pictures and notes are pointers I use to keep the past organized and useful as I live in the present.

A similar thing happens as I twist the ring around my finger. It is hard; it is durable. The MTYLTT initials are still easily legible. The ring and the letters are pointers helping me keep today’s life organized, coherent, and significant.

The pointer – be it a wedding ring, be it a yearbook from high school, be it the baby’s book from one of my daughter’s infancy, be it a transcript from an educational institution, be it a sling shot I made from the “y” shaped fork limbs of a dogwood tree in the Western North Carolina Smokey Mountains – they all have a fixed connection. That sling shot in my hand points me back to trips from Asheville to Akron, Ohio, when my brother and I would shoot stones at road signs out the back windows of our family car. There were no such things as video games to keep young boys occupied on those long, hot summer days. But, slingshots, and stones gathered from the gravel at the gas stations and put into a sock as our ammo bag – that would do the trick for restless boys.

What we can’t do with pointers is change them so they are pointing to something else. Imagine going down the road, and you see a sign along the highway with the words, “Wall Drug” – 150 miles ahead.”   What happens if all of a sudden the “Wall Drug” signs are now pointing us toward Hoover Dam, or to Chicago, or to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota?   That doesn’t work, we say. And we are correct. We don’t change the reference point of an established pointer. Of course not. It isn’t complicated, is it?

Then, we run across a situation that challenges our thinking about pointers and references, and about the person or people who set up the pointers / signs. And, believe it or not, the person is Jesus. It happened during a very poignant gathering Jesus had with a dozen close friends. The event is described in Luke 22, in the Bible. It is also mentioned in the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11.

It was the night before Jesus died. They were gathered to celebrate Passover. The meal had a “pointer” feature. The participants recalled an event from about 1400 years before in Jewish history. At a particular moment in the meal, Jesus did what must have been completely foreign to his friends. Referring to some bread that was at the meal, and referring to some wine that was also at the meal (both the bread and the wine serving as pointers to the Exodus event those 1400 years before), Jesus said:

“This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” . . . . “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, whenever you drink it do so in remembrance of me.”

Let’s keep in mind that Jesus was not starting with a blank slate and tying a new pointer / memory to a new event. Rather, He was taking an already existing pointers (the eating of the bread, and, the drinking of the wine) and telling the apostles to transform those pointers to a completely different event!!!

Jesus was telling them to re-associate the meal (the pointer) with a different event – the Jesus event that would culminate with Jesus’ death, His resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit into the corporate life of the Jesus people!!

Jesus was telling them to reorganize memories. Reorganizing what comes to our mind when we recall events from the past!!

Consider what it would mean for a patriotic Jew to change the connotation of the Passover meal from leaving Egypt and entering the Promised Land to the Passover meal being tied to the Jesus event. Wow!!

Contextualize it this way – Picture a crowd of people on July 4th, some of the folk being vets, and they look at the raised flag and hear the boom, boom , boom of the salutes, and Jesus tells them to develop new associations – From now on, the July 4 festivities are to point toward Jesus, not to a particular event in the United States history!!! — Can you imagine someone saying that? Not only would it be considered, by many, to be unpatriotic, but it would also be considered a sign of psychological problems!!

And, Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me” when you eat the meal that for centuries has pointed to the freedom march to the new land. Now, you are to eat the meal thinking about me, about what I have done for you and what I am preparing for you”

How audacious on Jesus’ part!! And, what a tribute to what Jesus can do by making us able to associate new events with old pointers!!

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C O M M E N T S   A R E   W E L C O M E

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“If I could” – A reality check (Thanks, Celine)

28 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by stertin in Aesthetics - Beauty, Change, Music related, Pain - Evil - Suffering, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Refrains, Theology - God

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bridges burned, Celine Dion - If I could, I've watched you grow so I could let you go, If I could - a reality check, lessons left unlearned, the ache the realist swallows silently, the old normal gives way to the new normal, the voice and heart of an idealist - I like that, This too shall pass

“If I could” — A reality check (Thanks, Celine)

I have listened to this song various times. My responses to it have varied, even though the song, along with the artist, have remained the same. Perhaps it illustrates the truism that “the message is in the beholder, or the hearer, or the taster, or the feeler, or the smeller.” Whatever. Regardless, this time, and I as the one listening, experienced something different when paying attention to the lyrics. They are still haunting and stirring, but this time there was a little extra to it.

Why don’t you listen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU-okBUE-AI), and then I will try to explain what I experienced. You can compare notes, if you wish.

“If I Could”

If I could, I’d protect you from the sadness in your eyes

Give you courage in a world of compromise, Yes, I would

 

If I could, I would teach you all the things I’ve never learned

And I’d help you cross the bridges that I’ve burned, Yes, I would

 

If I could, I would try to shield your innocence from time. But the part of life I gave you isn’t mine

I’ve watched you grow. So I could let you go

 

If I could, I would help you make it through the hungry years

But I know that I could never cry your tears

But I would, If I could

 

If I live, In a time and place where you don’t want to be

You don’t have to walk along this road with me

My yesterday, Won’t have to be your way

 

If I knew, I would try to change the world I brought you to

And there isn’t very much that I could do

But I would, If I could…

Oh baby… I just want to protect you, And help my baby through the hungry years

Cause you’re part of me

And if you ever… ever, ever, need, I said a shoulder to cry on, I’m just someone to talk to

I’ll be there… I’ll be there

I didn’t change your world, But I would, If I Could!

Please do not interpret the following as indicating that I have become a deterministic fatalist, a hopeless pessimist, nor an old curmudgeon. I am as happy as ever. I am grateful for countless blessings, and I worship the Father, the Son, and the Spirit – One God in Three. How good is that !!!

Now to my point: This time when listening to Celine’s rendition, I still hear the voice and the heart of an idealist, and I like that, when there is good reason to be an idealist . . . I hear the heart of a mother who adores her child and wants the best for her. It would be tragic that the mother be otherwise. . . But, I also hear the heart of the parent who knows that some potential lessons were left unlearned, some bridges burned, some innocence lost, and time passed never to be retrieved.

Earlier times I listened and felt the pangs of identification, I ached. I projected. I imagined Celine’s infant whose life was at the portal of time, and I recalled the feelings we had with each of our three infant daughters. We wanted them to have the perfect parents, the perfect set of circumstances, the unfailing and perfect friends, the sky always bright blue that, nonetheless, always kept the earth a lusciously a verdant green. We wanted their lessons to be learned pain free, frustration free, fail free – the perfect Shangri-La.

Now, this time, I listen to Celine, and I still ache; but it is more complicated this time around. Rather, it is the ache that “If I Could” now has a companion – “But I Can’t”. It is the ache that the realist swallows silently while not bursting the balloon of the naïve innocent. It is the ache of the “Once upon the time Pollyannaish” who wonders, fearfully, what the world will be like twenty years from now.

“If I Could” has become “But, I couldn’t”. The old normal, with enough time and the accumulation of frustrating failures, gives way to a new normal. And, with that new normal comes a transition to patience, the patience that says, “This, too, shall pass.”

Thank you, Celine, for the reality check.

 

Part 15 – Sam Visits Mr. Im again: will they click?

19 Tuesday May 2015

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

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Adolf Hitler - Thomas Paine - Euripides, George Orwell - Sigmund Freud - Noam Chomsky - Robert Heimlein - Paulo Freire, Mahatma Gandhi - Charles de Gaulle - J K Rowling, Mr Im, Phaedrus - Abraham Lincoln - Friedrich Nietzsche, Power and fear, sadly unaware, Sam's third visit, the exercise of power, Thomas Hobbes

Part 15 – Sam visits Mr. Im again: Will they click?

Sam’s reaction to “Being Unaware of the Exercise of Power’ (element 7 in Part 14 of this series) caught him completely by surprise. When reading Mr. Im’s previous materials Sam had not thought of its application to other people’s lives. He had been focused on his own growing awareness of the elements of power, and how it tied into the existence of fear – his fears.

But, with the last material from Mr. Im, Sam’s eyes were opened to other people, and their fears. “Part 14 – Sadly Unaware” concluded with Neil Diamond’s song, Win the World, which hauntingly described a wife trying to gain her husband’s attention by wearing a eye-catching red dress.   Although a beautiful song, it left Sam dejected, and to some degree even lonesome, wondering if Sherry ever had any of the sorrowful frustrations expressed in the lyrics. The song had taken the theme of power into intimate personal relationships. It made sense to Sam, but it was also very painful. Did Sherry have fears she never talked about? Sam’s mental eyes were opening; it shook him.

During the weeks that Sam had been receiving Mr. Im’s materials, he was not only changing, but was also aware of it. True, although still very conscious of the fear factor, Sam was also becoming more aware of his part in his fears. He was increasingly recognizing his natural tendency to blame other people for his fear. To take responsibility, any responsibility, for his fears had been counter-intuitive. After all, it was others who were the “power brokers”, who were threatening, who controlled items that Sam wanted, etc. Now, however, Sam was realizing that his wants, his desires, his values (and he had plenty of all of those), were setting him up for fear. Others might have the items, but Sam had the needs. And, the needs were, as Sam was coming to understand, more critical than the items that Sam wanted.

He concluded that it was time to personally contact Mr. Im. On one hand, he wanted to personally thank Mr. Im. Furthermore, he also had some questions, questions that were not on his mind when he had his earlier visits with Mr. Im. So, Sam called, and got through immediately. Mr. Im’s cheerful voice greeted Sam, and they made arrangements to meet the following Monday.   That would give Sam time to read the materials again, as well as to sketch out some of his questions.

During Sam’s drive to Mr. Im’s home on Monday, his nervousness increased. It surprised him. He didn’t remember when was the last time he had become nervous about meeting up with someone. Sam normally envisioned himself as a “take charge” fellow. He knew what to do in new situations.   He didn’t get nervous. No one knowing Sam would refer to him as being easily flustered. He knew what to say. He knew how to answer. He knew how to give orders. But, when with Mr. Im, for some reason Sam’s self confidence was slipping through the sieve. In his heart, he knew that he was the novice. Mr. Im, however, was the real deal, a man who had no need for pretentiousness.

As he got out of his car, and approached the small porch, the front door opened, and Mr. Im had a warm smile that made Sam feel immediately comfortable deep inside. Sam wondered if Mr Im might have some of that delicious apple pie with ice cream, or some of those rich dark chocolate chip cookies with cold milk, or something else. The fragrance as Sam entered the house gave away the answer: It was the pie and the ice cream!

After small talk, which Mr. Im was able to do with graciousness and genuine interest, the conversation turned, easily, to Sam’s initiative of wanting to pay a visit to Mr. Im. Sam hardly realized that suddenly he was freely expressing his inner self to this gentleman with whom he had talked only two other times. Mr. Im simply had the knack of making Sam comfortable. He asked questions that probed Sam’s mind, emotions, appreciations, and fears. Yes, and Sam’s fears. It happened so easily that Sam hardly was conscious of the freedom of their conversation.

After a while of free flowing conversation about the topics covered in the seven elements embedded in the exercise of power, Mr. Im started moving the topic beyond what had been covered in the installments he had mailed Sam over the past weeks.

“Sam, what I have explained in the installments you have received is not my invention, although I do take responsibility for how they have been presented. You can find the thoughts in a variety of sources. For example, here are several pages that I have entitled simply Some quotes about Power. They quotes are quite varied, as are also the authors. Feel free to take some minutes to glance through the pages; I will get some more pie and ice cream, ok?”

The material (Some quotes about Power) quickly pointed to some of the scope on the topic. This is what Sam was holding in his hand and reviewing. As he began to look it over, he quickly concluded that the scope was very broad. He also saw some familiar names, but many were unknown to Sam.

Some Quotes about Power

  • Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. (Abraham Lincoln)
  • All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth. (Friedrich Nietzsche)
  • Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases. (John Adams)
  • Knowledge is power. (Francis Bacon)
  • Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. (Lord Acton)
  • Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best. (Edward Abbey)
  • The only way to predict the future is to have power to shape the future. (Eric Hoffer)
  • Not necessity, not desire – no, the love of power is the demon of men. Let them have everything – health, food, a place to live, entertainment – they are and remain unhappy and low-spirited: for the demon waits and waits and will be satisfied. (Friedrich Nietzsche)
  • Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. (Frederick Douglass)
  • Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder. (George Washington)
  • You only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power – he’s free again. (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
  • The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while. (Albert Einstein)
  • Power is the great aphrodisiac. (Henry A. Kissinger)
  • Never forget that the most powerful force on earth is love. (Nelson Rockefeller)
  • An alliance with a powerful person is never safe. (Phaedrus)
  • Sooner or later, man has always had to decide whether he worships his own power or the power of God. (Arnold J. Toynbee)
  • Force always attracts men of low morality. (Albert Einstein)
  • What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do. (Aristotle)
  • Silence is the ultimate weapon of power. (Charles de Gaulle)
  • Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation, and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey. (Denis Diderot)
  • “Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.” (Oscar Wild)
  • “The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it.” (Roseane Barr)
  • The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.”   (Mahatma Gandhi)
  •  “I met an old lady once, almost a hundred years old, and she told me, ‘There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history. How much do you love me? And Who’s in charge?”  (Elizabeth Gilbert) in Eat, Pray, Love)
  •  “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”   (Margaret Thatcher)
  • “The measure of a man is what he does with power.” (Plato)
  • “Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts… perhaps the fear of a loss of power.”  (John Steinbeck)
  • “Power changes everything till it is difficult to say who are the heroes and who the villains.”  (Libby Bray)
  • “It is not truth that matters, but victory.” (Adolf Hitler)
  •  “Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. ” (Paulo Freire)
  •  “You should never ask anyone for anything. Never- and especially from those who are more powerful than yourself.” (Mikhail Bulgakov)
  •  “For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.” (Noam Chomsky)
  • “When it comes to controlling human beings there is no better instrument than lies. Because, you see, humans live by beliefs. And beliefs can be manipulated. The power to manipulate beliefs is the only thing that counts.” (Michael Ende)
  • “Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” (Robert A. Heinlein)
  • “It is impossible to escape the impression that people commonly use false standards of measurement — that they seek power, success and wealth for themselves and admire them in others, and that they underestimate what is of true value in life.” (Sigmund Freud)
  • “The object of terrorism is terrorism. The object of oppression is oppression. The object of torture is torture. The object of murder is murder. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?” (George Orwell)
  • “Power was my weakness and my temptation.” (J K Rowling)
  • “Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.” (Charles de Gaulle)
  • “Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment.”  (Mahatma Gandhi)
  • “When one with honeyed words but evil mind Persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.”  (Euripides)
  • “That’s what we all want, isn’t it? Power without price.” (Kelley Armstrong)
  • All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”  (Thomas Paine)
  • “Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.”  (Elle Wiesel)
  • “The very first essential for success is a perpetually constant and regular employment of violence.”  (Adolf Hitler)
  • Knowledge is power.” (Thomas Hobbes)

Mr. Im gave Sam as much time as he wanted to look over the pages of quotes about power.   When he was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the material, he looked up to Mr. Im with a “Wow. This is not what I was expecting to get this afternoon. And, I am going to need some time to re-read this and do a lot of reflecting.”

“I understand, Sam. I have been working on this topic for a number of years. I agree that it is definitely a “Wow” issue. But, it is also super important, both on a personal level, as you have already realized, and also on a social and cultural level.

“The many people who have taught about power, and have written about it, point to how nuanced the topic can become. Interestingly, the ideological and philosophical backgrounds of the authors of these quotations also point to the topic not being esoteric. Nor is the topic a secret knowledge that only those who have been initiated into some secret sect or organization can obtain. In my case, I value the insights regardless of the source.

“I also want to mention, and do so with no hesitancy, that I also am a Christian. My ultimate allegiance belongs to Jesus, and I turn to the stories of His life as well as to his teaching material. I want to be as sure as I can be to understand his teaching and his behavior. I want to see how he handled various scenarios. In doing that, I see that the exercise of power and the experience of fear are common topics. Jesus teaches about them. Jesus lives through situations that are commonly associated with power and fear.”

“I hope all this has not put you ill at ease, Sam.”

“Not at all, Mr. Im. But, I do admit that the visit has caught me by surprise. I think I still have much to learn and to absorb. Will you be able to help me understand even further these issues of fear and power?

“If I can be of help, Sam, I will do what I can.”

C O M M E N T S     W E L C O M E

9. The first section arrives. . Thinking Christianly About Power

04 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Biblical personages / passage, Clear and logical thinking, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Refrains, Theology - God

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"Let's get started" said Sam, "power" and "peace", Jesus and power, power and the Cross, questions - - - threads - - - paradigmatic answers, switch and bait??, the depths of a Roman dungeon, the exercise of power, the first time "Christian" had arisen

Part 9 — The first section arrives. . Thinking Christianly About Power

The first section of Mr. Im’s material arrived at Sam’s office, on Friday, which gave Sam the weekend to get started. Sam had no idea what format the material would follow, how long it would be, what orientation it would take, nor what demands it would make on him. He wanted to understand this issue of power, especially in light of what he speculated was behind the original note left in Mr. Im’s house and on his desk.

“So, let’s start”, Sam said to himself.

Turning to the first page, Sam was struck by the title, which was first time the word “Christian” had come up in the conversations between him and Mr. Im. The title was “Thinking Christianly About Power”. Sam was also struck by the fact that the title did not include a specific reference to fear. That had been a key element in Sam’s questions when they had last met. Sam’s mind went, almost instinctively to “bait and switch”. Would Mr. Im do that? Although Sam had no conscious reason to think that way, it did cross his mind. Sam granted Mr. Im the prerogative to make the linkage between power and fear. He wanted to see how the paper would develop.

The first the section wasn’t really all that long. He was thinking that perhaps the sections would be ten to fifteen pages. But, the first section wasn’t anywhere close to that. Did the brevity (compared to what Sam had imagined) imply a secondary message? That would be for Sam to figure out once into his reading.

Thinking Christianly about the exercise of power

 Interest in the topic

For various reasons and for many years the theme of this small book, Thinking Christianly about the Exercise of Power: Viewed from a Christian Perspective, has captivated me. It began several decades ago when a local church congregation, on a different continent and thousands of miles away from where I am writing this book, asked me to lead the attendees in a study for their week-end retreat. Since the retreat was scheduled for Good Friday through Easter Sunday, I found myself contemplating Jesus’ resurrection as an incident and exercise of power.

Of course, Jesus’ resurrection was more than that, but certainly it was not less. Preparing for those studies was the catalyst for what became my ongoing fascination concerning the exercise of power. I began with the simple question: What makes any particular event a power event? In the case of Jesus’ death, I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that he was the victim of power-people’s plans and actions. After all, Jesus didn’t himself pound those nails that held his feet and hands to the cross.   And, killing Jesus publicly on a cross as a spectacle didn’t make him any more dead that if they had killed him in the depths of some Roman dungeon. There was more to it than just wanting to reduce the population density in Jerusalem’s by one person during the Passover Week of that particular year.

The simple question about the exercise of power in relation to Jesus’ death became a thread that, when pulled on, began to lead me to more and more questions.  Answers for these questions took me further into the topic. Before long, patterns began to emerge. The patterns began to provide some answers, while also raising even further questions. Finally, many years later, this book has taken shape.

 Conceptual introduction

On the contemporary political level

In contemporary society, at least in the society I best know, the exercise of power captivates people both individually and collectively. Governmental power ploys and struggles are part of the everyday news. In the United States, the two major national political parties strive for power. In general terms, each of the two parties views the other as an adversary.

What is the prize for winning the “game” between the two parties? Although rarely admitted in forthright language, the prize is that of having power over the general population. For the sake of maintaining good will with the voters, the power of the elected officials is re-labeled as the “granting of benefits and rights”.

While the activity mentioned in the previous paragraphs is going on, the various leaders within each party also compete with each other in the exercises of power

An examination of the prevalence and mechanisms of political power plays across the globe, in countries other than the United States, quickly confirms that the United States does not monopolize the exercise of power politics. Do we understand that reality? Do we know how it works when reduced to the basics?

On the interpersonal level

It should be said, at this point however, that the exercise of power goes far beyond the political arena. We see it in all levels of social institutions, of which there is a plethora. We are, as some describe the humans, “social animals”. There may be some relatively Lone Rangers or hermits. But, most of us live and interact with others in some kind or society. Living in society, however, does not, by definition, mean that we live well in society.

The reality is that life itself is a power struggle. From birth, through youth, and on into adulthood, we humans struggle with both who and what surrounds us. We even refer to “the struggle to live” and the “struggle to survive.” Most of those struggles are not with nature per se. They are with other people.

Our social skills permit us to sense that other, few or many, wants to impose their will upon us¸ to force us to do what they want us to do, in contrast to wanting us to be able to do what we want to do. It may be an older brother or sister, parent, teacher, coach, soldier, police officer, or even our spouse. Friction, in terms of the exercise of power, is part of our life. Power struggles appear to be inescapable; they seem to simply be part of human existence. They are not new. They are not getting fewer. In fact, the growth of the world’s population, with humans being as we are, means that there are more power struggles now than ever in human history. It goes with the human turf.

For the Christian

Beyond what has been said in the previous paragraphs, the matter interests Christians for even another reason. We desire to be victorious over what impedes a satisfying relationship with God. In this context, we can use the word sin, but other terms are also viable. We do not like to have sin (or the term of your choice) exercising power over us. We know that God is greater than sin, and we know He lives within us. “Why,” we ask, “do we see sin dominating, conquering, or having power, over us?” Is there no power source available to the Christian that can rectify this situation?

Jesus

There is at least one other reason why Christians are (or should be) interested in the exercise of power. That reason has to do with our understanding of the dynamics of Jesus’ life during His time on earth. If we ignore the fact that Jesus was a teacher, or that He was a miracle worker, or that He formed a group of followers, our resulting portrait of Jesus will be faulty and/or diminished. And in a similar fashion, if we fail to see how Jesus handled the power struggles into which he was thrust due to his roles and purposes, we will miss a critically important key to properly interpreting Him.

In such a case, the resulting view of Jesus will be faulty. In some cases our view of Jesus will be bland or superficial. I do not claim that the issue of power is ”the” secret that holds all of Jesus’ life together. In some events, the power issue is obvious. Other times, it lies below the surface.

The power issue in Jesus’ life shows up early, beginning in the passages relating to His birth and early childhood when Herod wanted to kill the infants in Judea. It shows up in the Temptation episode Jesus had in the Wilderness. The exercise of power was of critical importance in Jesus’ relationship with both disciples and opponents.   The crucifixion of Jesus was, from the adversaries’ point of view, an attempt to maintain power and position. They had lost a certain amount of clout among the populace and their only recourse was to eliminate the competition. From the disciples’ point of view, the crucifixion was the defeat of their champion. The opponents had regained their lost power, and Jesus’ disciples were lost in both fear and frustration upon Jesus’ death.

purposes of this study

This study has a two-fold purposes. One is to present a particular understanding, or view, of what the exercise of power is and how it works. A second purpose is to deal with questions like: “Is the exercise of power a blessing or a curse?” . . .  Is the exercise of power a catalyst for fear or for peace? . . . Is it realistic to think that we can live “above” fear in a world that seems to think fear is the sure fire way to success?

In trying to achieve these two purposes, the author will refer to both biblical and non-biblical material. That is unavoidable due to the nature of the theme and the extent of the exercise of power in human life.

Part 7 – Driving home: questions and more questions

26 Thursday Mar 2015

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

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his personal life was not as private as he thought, Oh if I had only asked Mr. Im, the Boss Operator, the experiences associated with being loving parents, the most unusual person he had ever met, We communicate by implication - not by declaration

Part 7 – Driving home: questions and more questions

When pulling away from the curb, Sam realized that he had learned much during his afternoon visit with Mr. Im. Now, not everything was obscure. For example, Sam now had an introductory acquaintance with the man to whom the note was sent. Sam also now knew that his personal life was not as private as he had thought it was; that gave his some shivers.

He now knew a man, Mr. Im, who was the most unusual person he had ever met, with mental abilities outstripping all the professors he had known during his university years in Ann Arbor. Sam also realized that he was out of his league in other ways. Although younger than Mr. Im, he was no where close to being as wise. Mr. Im had two grown children; Sam and Sherry had no children nor the experiences associated with being loving parents. Upon reflection, Sam was thinking that his strongest suit, and which was increasingly engulfing him, was his curiosity.

Ten minutes into the drive home, Sam’s mind was more calmly and narrowly focused. Rising to the surface was the note he himself had left on Mr. Im’s desk. (Although after his talk with Mr. Im, he had to admit that he now wasn’t sure Mr. Im was really in that bed in that room in that house!!) But, that detail didn’t disturb Sam right now.

What was not now an insignificant detail was the growing question about the phrasing and the nuances of the note itself. What was its meaning, really? What was its intended purpose? Was the note sent only to Mr. Im? Were other “employees of the agency” delivering the same note to other people the same night, with no one knowing about the others? Did the author, the Boss Operator, state the note in such a way that the reader/s would know its implied meaning based on knowing the character, the trajectory, the goals (both stated and implied), the track record up until now, all associated with the author’s value system?

If that were the case, it was not necessary to state the direct actions that should happen as a result of the note. Both the author and the recipient/s knew the game – “we communicate by implications, not declarations.” We use the grammar of the “double meaning.” Nothing can be proven in a courtroom in such a case. The person “behind” the note would be free of any legal consequences. Sam knew the words. But now, he wasn’t at all sure about the meaning or meanings, the implications, or the intended purpose of the words.

“Oh, if I had only asked Mr. Im about what I am pondering. But, I couldn’t then. It didn’t occur to me until now, when I was not so captured by being in Mr. Im’s presence. But, somehow I need to ask him. How? When? And, what other questions will also arise to ask him? . . . I wonder if any of this is happening also to Jac?

 

. . .   M  O  R  E     T  O    F  O  L  L  O  W  . . . .

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Was (Is) Jesus self-centered?? — thanks, John R W Stott

16 Monday Feb 2015

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

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If there is neutral ground - where is it?, Jesus - self-centered?, Jesus in Nazareth, Jesus' claims about Himself, the polemic Jesus

The most striking feature of the teaching of Jesus is that he was constantly talking about himself. It is true that he spoke much about the fatherhood of God and the kingdom of God. But then he added that he was the Father’s “Son”, and that he had come to inaugurate the kingdom. Entry into the kingdom depended on men’s response to him. He even did not hesitate to call the kingdom of God “my kingdom.”

 The most striking feature of the teaching of Jesus is that he was constantly talking about himself. It is true that he spoke much about the fatherhood of God and the kingdom of God. But then he added that he was the Father’s “Son”, and that he had come to inaugurate the kingdom. Entry into the kingdom depended on men’s response to him. He even did not hesitate to call the kingdom of God “my kingdom.”

The most striking feature of the teaching of Jesus is that he was constantly talking about himself. It is true that he spoke much about the fatherhood of God and the kingdom of God. But then he added that he was the Father’s “Son”, and that he had come to inaugurate the kingdom. Entry into the kingdom depended on men’s response to him. He even did not hesitate to call the kingdom of God “my kingdom.”

This self-centeredness of the teaching of Jesus immediately sets him apart from the other great religious teachers of the world. They were self-effacing. He was self-advancing. They pointed men away from themselves, saying, “This is the truth, so far as I perceive it; follow that.” Jesus said, “I am the truth; follow me.” The founder of none of the ethnic religions ever dared to say such a thing. The personal pronoun forces itself repeatedly on our attention as we read his words. For example:

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” (1)

“I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (2)

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” (3)

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (4)

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.” (5)

The great question to which the first part of his teaching led was, “Who do you say that I am?” He affirmed that Abraham had rejoiced to see his day, that Moses had written of him, that the Scriptures bore witness to him, and that indeed in the three great divisions of the Old Testament – the law, the prophets, and the writings – there were “things concerning himself.” (6)

Luke describes in some detail the dramatic visit which Jesus paid to the synagogues of his home village, Nazareth. He was given a scroll of the Old Testament and he stood up to read. The passage was Isaiah 61.1-2:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

“He has sent me to proclaim release to the captive and recovery of sight to the blind.

“To set at liberty those who are oppressed,

“To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

He closed the book, returned it to the synagogue attendant and sat down, while the eyes of all the congregation were fastened on him. He then broke the silence with the amazing words, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, “Isaiah was writing about me.”

With such an opinion of himself, it is not surprising that he called people to himself. Indeed, he did more than issue an invitation; he uttered a command. “Come to me,” he said, and “Follow me.” If men would only come to him, he promised to lift the burdens of the weary, to satisfy the hungry, and to quench the thirsty of the parched soul. (7) Further, his followers were to obey him and to confess him before men. His disciples came to recognize the right of Jesus to make these totalitarian claims and in their letters Paul, Peter, James and Jude delight to call themselves his “slaves.”

More than that, he offered himself to his contemporaries as the proper object of their faith and love. It is for man to believe in God; yet Jesus appealed to men to believe in himself. “This is the work of God,” he declared, “that you believe in him whom he has sent.” “He who believes in the Son has eternal life.” To believe in him was man’s first duty. And if so, what does that make not believing in him? (8)

* * *  * * * * * * * *

  • (1) John 6.35
  • (2) John 8.12
  • (3) John 11.25-26
  • (4) John 14.6
  • (5) Matthew 11.28-29
  • (6) see Mark 8.29, John 5.56, John 5.46, John 5.39, Luke 24.27
  • (7) Matthew 11.28-30, John 6.35, John 7.37
  • (8) John 6.29, John 3.36, John 8.24, John 16.8-9

* * *  * * * * * * * *

This selection comes from John R W Stott’s Basic Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1958. pp. 23-25. Also available in Calvin Millers The Book of Jesus, Simon and Schuster, 307-309

 

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COMMENTS ARE INVITED

 

“The Rules of Being Human” – what do you think??

05 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Other authors, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Quotes, Refrains, Sayings

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"there" is no better than "here", does the piece describe your experience?, mirrors, mistakes and lessons, rules for living, you may like it - you may hate it, You will forget all this

Recently, someone gave me a copy of “The Rules of Being Human”. Please let me know what you think. Do they have any value, truth, validation, or justification, either in part or in the whole??? The piece carries the subtitle: “Life is unfair, and no set of ‘rules’ is for everyone’. Since both you and I are human, we qualify to explore its content. Let me and others know if the piece describes your experiences to any degree, ok?

  • You will receive a body – You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for as long as you live. How you take care of it or fail to take care of it can make an enormous difference in the quality of your life.
  • You will learn lessons – You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day, you will be presented with opportunities to lean what you need to know. The lessons presented are often completely different from those you think you need.
  • There are no mistakes, only lessons – Growth is a process of trial, error and experimentation. You can learn as much from failure as you can from success. Maybe more.
  • A lesson is repeated until it is learned – A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it (as evidenced by a change in your attitude and ultimately you behavior), you can go on to the next lesson.
  • Learning lessons does not end – There is no stage of life that doesn’t contain some lessons. As long you live, there will be something more to learn
  • “There” is no better than “Here” – When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply discover another “there” that will again look better than your “here.” Don’t be fooled by believing that the unattainable is better than what you already have.
  • Others are merely mirrors of you – You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. When tempted to criticize others, ask yourself why you feel so strongly.
  • What you make of our life is up to you – How have all the tools and resources you need. What you create with those tools and resources is up to you. Remember that through desire, goal-setting and unflagging effort you can have anything you want. Persistence is the key to success.
  • The answers lie inside you – The solutions to all of life’s problems lie within your grasp. All you need to do is ask, look, listen, and trust.
  • You will forget all this – Unless you consistently stay focused on the goals you have set for yourself, everything you have just read won’t mean a thing.

 

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Too easily pleased. . . desiring too little – – Thanks, Phillips and Lewis

10 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by stertin in Advice along the way, Aesthetics - Beauty, Change, Other authors, Pointing beyond the common and natural, Quotes, Refrains, Theology - God

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"J B Phillips", C S Lewis, desire, half-hearted creatures, Kant and the Stoics, The Weight of Glory, Your God Is Too Small

Your God Is Too Small (1) was the verdict rendered by J.B. Phillips. Was he thinking of those who projected God as a huge snuggly and non-threatening teddy bear, or a super human law enforcement officer whose beat was the world, or the ever available bell hop in the hyper elegant resort fronting the idyllic seashore, or even the oversized dragon whose idea of fun was to devour helpless victims? Perhaps. In fact, probably. It wouldn’t surprise me. These and similar views of God are too small!! They ultimately fail when we face life’s dilemmas.

Because our view of God frequently is too small, so also is our view of desire. This is how C. S. Lewis describes the situation in his “The Weight of Glory” (2):

The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

True freedom in Jesus is a consequence of desiring ultimately only what the “not too small” God provides. (VC)

(1) J. B. Phillips. Your God Is Too Small. 1961.  (available as a PDF file at http://thecommonlife.com/files/books/Your_God_is_Too_Small.pdf)

(2) C. S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”. Preached originally in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, England on June 8, 1942 (available as a PDF file at http://www.verber.com/mark/xian/weight-of-glory.pdf)

 

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I wish I could say it as well as Anita does

18 Tuesday Nov 2014

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

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"needing God", I just want to love on you, I used to struggle with all I ever heard, just because He loves me, just keep trusting hat way - Anita, one of the King of King's daughter's, talking to God like "besties", viewing God as the means to our ends

“I wish I could say it as well as Anita does”

Here, quickly, is the background: I had asked the students to analytically report on the practice of viewing God as a means to our ends. Did their experience indicate that it happens? Should it happen? Can it be avoided? Should it be encouraged?

I had suggested that Jesus Himself was periodically (frequently??) perceived by those surrounding Him to be a means to peoples’ goals, ends, aspirations, dreams, plans, etc.. These people ranged from the twelve apostles to large crowds who were attracted to Jesus because of His miraculous curing of sicknesses. Some of those people thought they knew Jesus quite well.

So, the students worked on the project, submitted their responses, and I was happy to see their reports. What I read seemed to confirm what I suspected – that a strong (or the prevalent) view) is that our human neediness tends to lead us to view Jesus/God as our need satisfier. In fact some reported that “going to God to have Him solve our needs” is entirely appropriate.

I need to make clear that I recognize that this posture about God does take seriously our human frailties, deficiencies, and limitations. It also takes seriously the fact that God does provide for us, many times in miraculous ways. In fact, I think it would be Pollyannaish to pretend that we don’t “need” God. The fact is that we desperately need God.

In the context I have just described, one student’s paper jumped out at me as I read it. It is the response of a seasoned, a mature, a faithful child of the King. I wish I could say what she says, as well as she says it, and with the same “feel” it conveys. In her paper Anita included the following section:

Dr Caston, I used to struggle with the fact of all I ever heard from people was “woe is me” or “I need this or that.” It truly upset me because I related it to the way my Daddy and Momma would get when I would not thank them or give them hugs on occasion for what they did for me but also just because! 

Today I try to just talk to God daily like “besties” do.  Do I go a day or two without my “bestie talks”? Yes of course I do. I’m not perfect, and sometimes things happen.  I ask God daily for things in my life like a healing touch for a friend, comfort for someone who just lost a loved one, peace in my body to make it through another day. At the same time I like to just say “God I love you, I do not want or need or desire anything; I just wanted to love on you!! 

I know He will provide for my needs in ways that I can’t do, and He will on occasion give me my wants. But, there are those moments when He fulfills the desires of my heart not because I expected or begged Him to, but just because He loves me and wants to bless me with a gift. 

Being one of The King of King’s daughters I know He has stored up treasures in His secret places, but I do not assume I will get them. And, He has taught me I can expect to get something if I just trust in His timing and continue to live and do as I know I am suppose to.

And, so to Anita, and through her to her spiritual kinfolk, allow me to say, “You have captured very well the spirit of trusting the Lord’s love and grace for us.  I am glad to read that you have been able to escape the impact of negative examples that you have witnessed, and perhaps have even emotionally felt.  I am truly happy for you.  Your maturity shows through, and it is a maturity that appears to have left any kind of bragging far behind.  That is so good!!!

And to Anita, in particular, I want to say, “Just keep trusting that way, Anna. Never lose the sensitivity you have to the Spirit.”

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