Posts Tagged ‘ Holy Spirit ’

The night grows ever colder, Pt 1

Hello, dear readers. Ahh… so much to say, so little time for writing it before the wireless shuts off! (Long story).

The other night I wrote a post about “stories”– our own personal stories, to be exact– and how important they are. I emphasized how sometimes we need to tell our stories for our own sakes, and other times for someone else’s sake. I also told the list of all the times and ways the idea of “stories” had come up over the past two weeks or so.

Well, needless to say, it was a little amusing to me the morning after I wrote that post, as I sat with a cup of Starbucks coffee in front of me, to read the thermal sleeve– “What’s your story? Share.” (Note to all Starbucks afficionados: I don’t have a clue whether or not that’s what it actually said. That’s just what registered in my head in that moment while I was listening to someone present a lecture. Don’t blame me.) I chuckled just a little inside. “God,” thought I, “… You’re up to something, aren’t You?”

And up to something He was. This was Saturday– a day on which I felt particularly rushed, since I had a class and then was moving across town (and hadn’ t really had a chance to pack!). But just a few hours after the Starbucks moment, I suddenly discovered myself paused, ignoring the to-do list, simply nodding sympathetically while listening to someone’s story.

She’s a woman who seems to outsiders so perfectly poised, so capable, so ridiculously intelligent, and so outgoing, that you either want to hate her or kneel at her feet and beg wisdom. Her interests and talents are far-ranging and highly fascinating. She speaks four languages. She travels. She can tell a story for every word in our language and every person in our history books. She can make you laugh in a moment. She isn’t afraid to pause in the middle of a conversation and state an undisputable truth.

And yet…. and yet. Apparently after but a few minutes of dialoguing about grammar and languages and other nerdy things, I had so disarmed this woman and so convinced her that I was a friend, not an enemy, that she began to tell her story. She spoke so artlessly I’m not even sure she knew she was talking about herself until a few minutes later, as her eyes filled with tears and she tried to laugh them off… without a hint of success.

“Every day, the moment I leave this group, I start tearing myself apart for all the things I did wrong…” 
“By the time I get home most days I’m in tears…” 
“Why have I worked so hard my whole life to serve other people… and yet never been loved by any of them?”
“I live in terror of the day I’m finally left alone. For now I have my daughter. But she will be married next year. And then I’ll be completely alone.”
“I saved all my money for so long for that trip, and I hated every minute of it. There’s nothing to enjoy about coming back to a dark, cold, hotel room to be all alone.”
“I’m starting to wonder if I’ve had the equations wrong my whole life… and yet I don’t know how to do anything else.”
“I don’t understand life.”
“Being miserable? Is that what this is supposed to be? Can you fix this for me? Because I don’t know how.”

We talked– she mostly shared, I mostly listened– for well over an hour. And never in my life have I seen anyone talk with such desperate thirst to be listened to. It wasn’t a pity party. It wasn’t a confessional. It was just a heart twisted into loneliness and misery yearning for someone– just one person– to take the time to listen, to value, to care. It’s hard to explain, gang, because we’re so used to reading these kinds of stories or seeing them in movies, and we’re so used to hearing about the “power of listening” that we’ve become a bit skeptical about it. But I can tell you for certain that for this woman, having one person that actually cared was the only spark of life she’d felt for a very, very long time.

And you know what? That hour-plus that I lost from packing and moving to listening? Didn’t really hurt  me at all. In fact I can’t think of an hour that’s felt more completely right to me.

Now, I’m not telling you this story because I want your accolades. I’m not telling you just because it’s an interesting story. I’m telling you because it opens a topic I’ve been needing to write about for several months, and just didn’t know where to start. This precious woman can be our beginning.

Some of you have heard me lately use the term “whole gospel” in reference to certain books of the Bible, certain sermons, etc. It probably weirds you out a little bit– since as far as we know and have been taught, our Bible IS the whole gospel (I do believe this!). So what do I mean by “whole gospel?” Well, let’s backtrack a little bit… to the apparently “unwhole” gospel that I’m contrasting with.

If you’ve been in the church a while, you hopefully know the message of God’s Word: man’s sinful nature, our desperate need for redemption, Christ’s (the Son of God’s) coming to earth in human form and ultimate death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, our ability to have our sins “washed away” because of His death and our lives renewed through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, and finally our mission to tell others of the hope that is there for them, also, and bring them to a relationship with Christ. And, of course, there’s the part about the promise of eternal life after death– of Heaven, where we will dwell with our own Savior-King.

If you’ve been following this blog long, or have conversed with me in person much during the past nine months, you may know the parts of that gospel that I preach extra loudly (because I find them not emphasized enough in general):  

  • That “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”– means precisely that. That we should love Him with everything in us, everything we are. That life should be lived passionately. That there shouldn’t be any me left that is not showing Him. (Whew– so much easier said than done!)
  • What it means to really worship the only One worthy of worship.
  • What it means to live “holistically” for Him, instead of compartmentalizing our lives such that Christianity is just a hobby or branch.
  • What it means to be holy, set apart from the world, living according to God’s standards, giving up the things that don’t meet the standards or even sometimes the things that aren’t in themselves bad but do waste our precious time.

You may also remember my summarizing “the gospel according to Emily’s blog” (or something) like this: “Hate the sin and deceit and filth with a consuming passion, as your God does. Love the people with a consuming compassion, as your God does… so you can’t rest until you’ve actually acted out and changed their lives.”

This, as far as I can tell, is in fact the gospel presented to us in the Bible, God’s Word. And yet… I think we’re missing something. I know I was missing something until rather recently. And now I’m realizing that it was one of the most crucial pieces.

Alas… it will have to wait. I’ll let us all get a good night’s sleep, and then I’ll continue the thought.

2010
11/09
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compassion
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The Face of Trusting

As is often the case, I spent the whole day thinking about what I was going to blog about tonight – writing little notes to myself on my breaks at work, forming perfect phrases in my head and playing them on repeat whilst I drove across town, etc. And, as is also often the case, God changed my plans. Just as I was about to leave work this evening, I received an email that presented me with a different topic to write about.

It was a beautiful email. Had the crest of the British Consulate-General at the top. So beautiful.

Unfortunately, a beautiful crest does not always signify good news. In this case, the news was not exactly “bad,” but no, not good either. It was an email just to say “Sorry, no”– I wasn’t selected for the next round of a scholarship competition. For a really big scholarship that I really wanted. The good news is, there are plenty of other scholarships out there. The bad news is, I put quite a bit of time and energy into this particular scholarship application. And the worse news is, not being selected for this one makes me feel slightly (okay, a whole lot) less confident that I have any chances of being selected for anything else.

Well… not going to lie, the rest of my evening wasn’t exactly joyful. Of course, that’s partially to do with the 20+ pages of French homework I had before me… but it’s definitely also related to that feeling of low confidence, disappointment, etc.

But the funny thing is, God was already preparing me for The Email before I read it. Not five minutes before, I was having a conversation with a coworker which turned (as conversations sometimes do after six p.m.) to non-work topics. We were looking at a handout; I read aloud the word “chaos”; we began to discuss the combination of chaos and order in life, and our human tendency to call that “chaos” which really is completely ordered, but simply unwanted / unexpected. And then we talked about how freeing it is, how much more joyful life can be, when we come to a place of acceptance that “life involves the unwanted and unexpected”– that we don’t have to like situations we’re handed, but we can still accept them. I told her some of my learnings from overseas travel– that “flexibility,” as I call it, really makes life easier and much more fun. So, the hostel turns out to be dark, creepy, door-lock-less, and farther from the train station than we had hoped. And the train we needed is full. Well…. hey, it makes for new adventures, learning opportunities, and (if nothing else) really popular stories for telling later on.

So, the scholarship commission doesn’t select me. Well… hey, it makes an opportunity to trust that His plan is better, to feel the excitement of seeing a new (unknown) path opening before me, to learn a new level of peace about all those other applications, and– oh, my favorite part– to hold to a joy, even in this moment of disappointment, that may surprise a few people around me, who don’t know about this particular brand of Holy-Spirit’s-Joy we love so much.

It’ll take me a few more hours to get to this particular place of renewed joy and content. There’s still a disappointment factor– a “what was all that work for?” factor. Funny, isn’t it, considering I KNEW going into the application process that it was unlikely I’d be selected… and yet I’m still disappointed not to be. I think that’s part of our human wiring. Either that or I’m a serious adrenaline junky and just enjoy disappointing myself (but I’ll opt for the former).

But whether or not I “ought” to be disappointed, I ought to be trusting. And somehow I love that He’s giving me more opportunities all the time to trust Him when my plans don’t seem to turn out quite the way I’d expected/hoped/dreamed they would. Because, I realized this evening– if all my plans worked out, I’d probably forget about trusting Him at all. I’d love Him, and I’d talk about Him a lot– but I wouldn’t understand what it means to rely on Him for strength and peace and wisdom and joy.

And that’s an understanding I can’t afford to live without. Because, I’m pretty sure, if I tried to go out and change the world in my own strength… I’d fail utterly and probably drag a few people down with me. But if I can continue to lean more and more heavily onto Him, relying absolutely on His strength and His wisdom, filling my mind and heart less and less with my own plans and thoughts and more and more with His peace and joy… well, then, maybe He’ll allow my life to make a difference somewhere. I’m all for that.

Of course, I’m still a few hours away from being settled in this place of trusting. But at least He’s helping me think through it (and share it… because, just maybe, one of you needs to be reminded to trust).

I think my favorite thing about these moments of disappointment, and the renewed trust that must come out of them, is the way that they play into a bigger, more awesome picture than “life as I’d planned it” could. Think about it. The dark and creepy hostel experience? WAY better story, way better travels, way more laughs than I’d have come away with if my perfect travel plans had succeeded. Not getting the scholarship I wanted? It just means God’s got a better big-picture view, and He’s busy concocting something fun, beautiful, and highly humorous all at the same time. I think I like His view best. And hey, it’s got the crest of the British Consulate-General on it.

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, somehow there’s peace
It’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see
But I’m giving in to something heavenly.
– Sanctus Real, “Whatever You’re Doing”

2010
10/26
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Like a Pile of Rocks, Indeed

Hello, friends. Whew, sorry I left you hanging there for so long!! That was NOT my intention. However, the end of last week combined a scholarship deadline, a lot of craziness at work, an illness, and a shortage of internet. But now we’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming!

So… the pile of rocks. Our lives. “Alignment.” How on earth are we to find alignment among our Environments, Behaviors, Capabilities/Skills, Values & Beliefs, Mission/Identify, Purpose/Essence, and Spirit?   Well, I’m happy to go through the whole process / handout with you in person… the version we did at work, I mean. But I guess the real question I needed an answer to (and left you pondering) the past couple weeks was this: What’s missing here?  Why does it bother me that we’re talking about this, and maybe more to the point, why am I feeling so unsettled about “finding alignment”?

Here’s the answer that finally came to me last week:

As Christians, we are ALREADY supposed to be living in this alignment.

In other words, the “missing” concept here is that it shouldn’t be missing at all… that is, not for us who claim to believe. It’s true, many of us have a lot of work to do right now to figure out our unique purpose and mission here on earth.  I know that I’m meant to teach, whether in a classroom or on a blog or from a chapel stage– and to love, whether through Compassion International or mentoring or sitting in the living room of a Roma gypsy in Sofia, Bulgaria. That’s at least part of my mission and purpose. Yours will look entirely different, because you’re you. And it may be that you don’t know what yours is yet. So, as I was saying– many of us have work to do on the mission/purpose aspects. But we know the foundational factor– the “Spirit” piece– “What is the highest intent, ideal(s), or purpose for which you live and move? who or what outside of you do you want to impact?”  (I’m going to call this the “Spiritual” from now on, if I may. Makes more sense to me.) This part, we’re sure of.

Or at least we ought to be sure. If you’re not sure, from your reading of the Word of God and your conversation with Him, that your most core reason for existing is to (1) live and breathe worship for your Creator-Savior and (2) live vibrant and tangible love to fellow humans because of Him…. well then, let’s talk. (And yes, I listed two things but summed them up as one “reason.” That’s because they are intrinsically interwoven as one. Talk about alignment.) I know this is my reason for existence.

And so, from Spiritual, we move back up the list. Purpose/Essence? My core essence should be rooted in Him, as I am a creation of the Creator, a worshipper of the only worship-worthy, a lover of the Grand Lover. Within that matrix, He has created me with a very specific and snowflake-unique personality and essence. Emily is passionate, loves to learn, adores beauty in its many forms, etc. This is who I am… who He created me to be. My purpose— why I am “here on the planet”– similarly comes out of a mixture of me as creation/worshipper/lover and of the unique me He created. I’m here on the planet to tangibly love, to teach, to nurture beauty and Truth, etc.

Then to Mission/Identity. This, too, is rooted in Spiritual and Purpose/Essence. Through the matrix of who I am in Him, it emerges that He has put me here right now to have these conversations with my coworkers, to work toward my Master’s so I can teach English, and to travel as often as I possibly can. I will write this blog, I will apply to grad schools, I will lead and participate in Bible studies, I will sing out loud, and I will smile and laugh a whole lot.

It’s after this the real fun begins. Because now we get to a level where– if we’re serious about this Spiritual / highest (core) reason / foundation for existence thing– we start making decisions based on that foundation. The next level is Values & Beliefs. We could pull out a pad of paper here and make a pretty long list, right? In fact, we could pull out the whole Bible!  But here’s the thing… does what we say we believe and value really align with reality? Does it align with the Bible? Does it align with what we claim our Spiritual foundation to be? Does it align with what we really and truly believe? My whole life I’ve talked about loving the poor because the Bible tells me to… because Jesus loves them… because it’s what Jesus would do… because true religion, according to James, means caring for the widows and orphans. So then, how is it that last week I bought lunch for a homeless guy for the first time I can ever remember?

Something a coworker said many months ago, in a very different context, is this: “Run these concepts through the course of your daily life, and tell me what they actually mean.” I’ve wanted to scream this sentence at myself and a few fellow Believers quite a few times since hearing that. I sit in church or chapel, I hear great things, I nod, I vow to change. I walk out of there, I say the right words and go to the right activities and have the right Bible verses pinned up on my wall. But I sit at work all day thinking about Emily only, I drive past three homeless people to go to Starbucks and buy a white mocha, and I spend my evening watching a chick flick instead of actually preparing for Bible study later in the week. What do these Bible verses actually mean to me? Beliefs and values, no less than my own identity and essence, ought to show.

A quick side note on this before I move on: Don’t (you or I) make the mistake of thinking you’re never allowed to kick back and relax and watch a good movie. Health— physical, emotional, and spiritual– needs to be one of our fundamental values. Jesus had to pull back sometimes, too. (A separate post on this sometime.)  And the fellowship of the brethren needs to be one of our values, too. The Bible says so. And I for one find it ever so healthy. Just make sure you’re not neglecting other critical values and beliefs to “fund” these two.

Back to the pile of rocks… So, really taking our Spiritual/core foundation seriously may mean dumping some beliefs and values and taking others a whole lot more seriously.

And then to Capabilities/Skills. If I’m seriously about worshipping Him and loving His created humans in the way He has built me to do (teaching, leading, writing, singing, etc.)– are there skills I need to invest in gaining or furthering? My music major buddies know they have to practice their instrument even when they don’t want to, if they’re serious about doing their music for His glory. I know I have to do my French homework if I’m going to have the language qualifications I need to get into the grad program I want to be able to teach where I want. And maybe I’ll have to do that by not investing in some other skills. Maybe my flute-playing needs to go on the shelf for a while. And maybe that’s okay.

And then to Behaviors– another fun one. Because here, living according to my true Spiritual/core foundation, my Purpose/Essence, and my Mission/Identity means making some tough choices, limiting what I spend my time on and what comes out of my mouth, and ultimately– finding a unique kind of freedom. If you read my posts a month ago about “not caring,” you know what I’m talking about here. If I’m really all about worship, love, teaching, nurturing beauty, etc. … if I’m all about doing the work He’s given me… I have zero excuse for idle chatter, for spending hours looking at picture (of people I don’t know) on facebook, for thinking selfish thoughts all the time, and on the list goes! “Freedom?” you may be thinking. “How is this freedom?”  Well, the way I see it– allowing myself to clear away these “clutter” behaviors, thoughts, attitudes, etc. gives me the freedom to be the real me— the me I was created to be. It’s that simple. I’m never going to be perfect, but I can certain forsake a few things to allow myself the time and energy to serve Christ and love His people, and I find that rather delicious.

Finally, we end up at Environment. With all the words I’ve already used tonight, I’ll say but a few on this one. Am I where God wants me to be? And am I making the most of where He’s put me?

So… what am I trying to say through all of this? First, that workplace conversations sometimes provide WAYYYYY  too much food for thought. Second, that if we’re really about what we say we’re about… it ought to show through in every single part of us. Our thoughts, words, and actions. The way we spend our time and money. The things we say we believe and the beliefs we act out. The way we interact in our workplaces. The workplaces we allow ourselves to work in. Our goals and dreams for the future. Our efforts toward that future. Our ideas of our own selves. Our very inmost hearts, the core that is only seen by its owner and its Creator. Everything.

Many of you know the quote from Gandhi which is one of my favorite “calls-to-arm”– “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” (A friend once paraphrased this, “Be the quarters and pennies…”)  I like that he emphasizes being, as in holistic everything-you-are action.

My new call to arms? Be a pile of rocks.

2010
10/18
POSTED BY
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What Power Do We Have?

Whew. Sorry it’s been a bit quiet here this week… it’s been a bit noisy everywhere else! Such a week of work craziness, applying to scholarships, looking at apartments, chatting with an attorney about a trial I may be called to testify in (yes, that’s a new one!), and trying to get my head back in the American game… it’s not a week I could repeat too often. On the other hand, God (as usual) has taken the busyness and used it to create a huge number of powerful and humbling conversations, experiences, thought processes, and opportunities (to fail, to freeze, and to fly on wings of joy).

A few days ago I posted about ‘wicked problems,’ those problems facing our world that are so huge and complicated there are no real solutions. I also talked about our power to act, and to bring change– even if it’s just one pebble’s-ripple at a time. I’ve had plenty of time to think about it since then (haven’t been able to concentrate on work, so naturally found myself concentrating on other things!)… and there have been several more conversations about it. I must admit that when I wrote about this on Tuesday, I felt a few misgivings. It wasn’t that I thought I was wrong… it’s that I felt I was near a fine boundary line between absolutely right and absolutely wrong, and was afraid of crossing over. Well, to continue my searching on this subject, a friend shared his thoughts on the subject with me– and they offer a very different perspective (or so it first seems– but hold on) to the one I wrote about.

My friend (we’ll call him George) brought up the humanist idea that we humans can drive the world toward its natural state, which is goodness. Now, neither George nor I believe this; I am firmly committed to the Biblical truth that humanity is broken and, if tending toward anything, is tending toward more and more evil. I also am firmly committed to the truth that it is Christ, not I, who can change the human heart.

Furthermore, George offered this stunning quote from Iris Murdoch’s “The Nice and the Good” (sadly I haven’t read this work, but now I’ll have to): “A love without reservation ought to be a life force compelling the world into order and beauty. But that love can be so strong and yet so entirely powerless is what breaks the heart.” Meaning? I can walk around ‘loving’ all I want, but cannot fix the brokenness called sin and death in the lives around me. ONLY Jesus Christ, in His astounding sacrifice on the cross, and through His Holy Spirit, can fix these things. Thankfully He often uses us to administer the love, the words of grace, or even the “tough love” it takes to awaken one of His lost ones to their need for Him. Tragically, we on our own, working without His power and outside of His work, are more likely to drive them away then draw them close… and if He’s not the one drawing them, even our successes will be failure. False conversions scare me– legitimately, I think. The possibility that I could bring someone close enough to the Church to get burnt if they find themselves “not quite right”– and then to walk farther away from Christ than ever– this scares me terribly.

And so, yes– there is a danger here. I was right to feel that uneasiness of treading all too near a drop-off place. Talking about (as I do) and being committed to (as I am) “living love,” I am in the very grave danger of sliding into a place of thinking it’s MY love I need to live… and that my living love will ultimately make the difference to a soul’s salvation.

Thankfully, that’s not what I think right now, and it’s not what I thought when I wrote the post a few days ago. But now I have the ability to clarify what I did think (and leave myself a reminder for that day, if it comes, when I do start to think wrongly).

I’ve talked before about our love for God– how it should be so complete, so devoted, so “all our heart, soul, mind, and strength,” that any other love must come out of that love for Him. Our actions on this planet must be the ‘love letters’ we write Him. It’s frouffy language, but I haven’t yet thought of another way to say this thing that I so strongly believe– that everything, if it be worth anything, must come only and wholly out of and through our living worshipful adoration of the Creator God.

Well then– the groundwork is laid for me to love others to love Him, and love others through loving Him. And it doesn’t taken much studying of the Word for me to remember that it’s His Love I’m all about showing in the first place. In other words, it’s all about Him, and them, and not about me at all. If I can maintain this focus, I can keep away from the notion that it’s just me and my love that are making the difference! The other trap is thinking that by loving someone I can change his/her heart. Wrong. I can only show the Love of Christ to him/her, and leave the rest to God. As I am faithful to obey Him in everything He asks of me, His work will be accomplished (whether I see it or not). So far so good.

I think the key, then, is in our definitions of “changing the world.” When I asked that question, “What are you going to do with the world as you find it?” what was I looking for in answer? We’ve established that the world is broken beyond my ability to repair. We’ve established that my love alone isn’t enough to save even one person. So what’s the point?

Well, let’s see if I can articulate this. About a paragraph back I said that thing about being “faithful to obey Him in everything He asks of me…” And there it is. He has not asked me to actually save souls (only He can do that). But He HAS asked me to preach the good news, to give generously to those who have less, to feed the hungry, to care for the orphans and widows, to clothe the naked, to loose the chains of injustice, to shelter the wanderer. He has also asked me to spend my time not in idle words, debauchery, disagreements, anger, drunkenness, and in-fighting, but rather to live in love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest of the Christ-like passions. Seriously. Look it up. Galatians, James, Luke, Isaiah– it’s all there, absolutely clear and absolutely adamant.

And so I guess to me, that poetic question “What will you do with the world as you find it?” is not about dramatic world-altering revolutions (although that would be cool), and it’s certainly not about me saving everyone (that’s impossible). But it is about me fighting hunger by giving a fiver to someone who needs it more than I do. And it’s about me traveling to Honduras to put my arms around a little girl who was pretty sure love existed but now can actually believe it. And it’s about me joking around with the Subway artist until she sees the brighter side of life and realizes that, hey, not everyone is out to get her. And it’s about me holding onto my quarters instead of putting them into the vending machine, because that one extra dollar could actually mean a whole day’s wages to a family somewhere– if I take the time to get it to someone who can get it to them. And it’s about me spending less time vindicating myself in my political opinions and more time humbling myself serving in a soup kitchen or a nursing home. And the list goes on.

As I read my Bible (and I’m not saying I’ve got this down– this is only occuring to me in recent days’ reading), I see that not only should I continue to “live love,” but that I absolutely have no excuse not to. Let’s be absolutely honest here for a moment; if you are reading this blog (and I include myself in this!), you have more riches than millions of people across the world. You have an American-style income, an American-style roof over your head, a computer, and wireless. You may not have everything, but you’ve got something to give. Doesn’t even have to be currency. Everyone I know has something to give, even if it’s just a smile, a hug, and a brief moment of time. Well guess what– I’ve seen a few folks lately to whom a smile and a moment of feeling like someone actually cared about them might be the greatest gift possible on a human scale. And I’m not too scared to believe that gift could lead that person to turn their face just a little more toward God. And then the rest is up to Him.

S0– in summary, I’m not called to save souls, but I AM called to love. In tangible, active ways. I’m not called to end war. But I am called to end war between my coworkers if I can, by “being at peace with everyone.” I’m not called to end the hunger crisis. But I am called to end it for my little sponsored girl in Thailand– and maybe for the man standing on the street corner holding a cardboard testimony of pain.

I feel like ending this post as Shakespeare might; “If this be error, and upon me prov’d, / I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.” But thankfully I’m not yet cocky enough to feel that way. Instead I’ll say– this is what I’m seeing. What are you seeing? And in the meantime– what do you have to give?

2010
09/24
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compassion
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Are You Ready?

Greetings, all. First off, I apologize for the delay in getting a post up this week. Having just returned from the UK and jumped immediately into extra hours of work and the sea of scholarship applications due soon, I have found my time isn’t entirely my own. But, sleep is overrated, and so I’m giving up a bit of it tonight to share some thoughts.

And actually, they’re not really my thoughts. They’re largely the thoughts of a wonderful group of state managers I have the pleasure and honor of working with a couple times per month. I got back from the UK right in time for September’s training session, and I’m rather glad (for some reasons, anyway) that I did.

One of the discussions today was “wicked problems,” or those major problems surrounding us– in our workplaces, in the world– that have no easy answers, that will “break more” before being fixed, and that must still be struggled with. It’s a depressing conversation. The group listed some of the “wicked problems” in our world that they could think of quickly. I list them for you here, with a few of mine added. Some are global, some are local… all are “wickedly” difficult to defeat.

–          Racism
–          Perception
–          Lack of accountability
–          War
–          Fraud
–          Climate
–          Poverty
–          Energy
–          Population
–          Sustainability
–          Self-interest / selfishness (personal and political)
–          Lost art of compromise
–          Failing education system
–          Lack of common sense
–          AIDS crisis
–          Healthcare / health system
–          Diminished values
–          Nationalism
–          Food shortages overseas
–          Violence through religion
–          Oppression of woman
–          Economy
–          Child abuse
–          Slavery (sex slavery, child labor)
–          Fatalism/apathy

Like I said, it’s depressing. These are big issues, terribly difficult ones to even think about conquering. And what’s true is that you can probably think of several more big, scary issues that I didn’t list.

The point? Our world is horrifically, tragically broken.

My reason for making this point? We have a responsibility to do something about this brokenness. And we have the power.

In Christianity we’re all about being— not just doing. We’re not supposed to have new actions alone; we’re supposed to be a “new creation.” We’re not supposed to just tell others about God’s love. We’re supposed to be His love– His hands and feet– His catalyst for change. And with His Spirit living in us and controlling our actions and recreating our desires, we can be what God would have us be.

God loved this world and its broken people so much that He sent His Son to carry the weight of our brokenness for us and bring healing. And if God loves the world this much, and we are to love what He loves, perhaps we have a responsibility to also love and work toward healing. But not just to talk about fixing problems and creating transformation; to be it. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

And so suddenly that “depressing” list above becomes exciting as well as depressing. It is exciting because in the midst of all that broken mess, I am called to be a change, a transformation, a light. And I have the Spirit of the Sovereign God of the universe living in me ready to make it happen.

So, the question is (as a poet, though I cannot trace which one, has put it)– “What will you do with the world as you find it?”

We cannot any of us rescue the world entirely from any one of these massive problems. But we can each be a pebble that causes a ripple. And perhaps that ripple wll join another to become a wave.

I invite you to join me in finding a tangible, living answer to that question– “What will you do with the world as you find it?”

Oh, and by the way– if the world is really ending in 2012, we’d better get to work. 🙂

2010
09/22
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
compassion
focus
passion
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Holy Joy

Today I have the honor of presenting a ‘guest lecturer’ of sorts– my friend and ‘English pastor,’ Major Sylvia Watts. She’s not actually going to write this post, but rather I’m going to share her thoughts on one of my favorite subjects. A few Sundays ago, she offered a lovely devotional on ‘joy in the Lord.’ I asked for her notes and for permission to share them with you. And so here they are.

“My soul shall  be joyful in the Lord.”

Thomas Watson, the theologian, once said, “There are two things that I have always looked upon as difficult. The one thing is to make the wicked sad, the other is to make the godly joyful.”

The characteristic of the early Christians was their irrepressible joy in every circumstance. Can that be said of us today?

Someone has said that Christians today meet on the Lord’s day more to mourn a defeat than to celebrate a victory. It is true that the gospel’s center is a cross and that the New Testament Church was soaked in Martyrs’ blood, yet we only need to read the New Testament and early Church records to see that Christians triumphed in persecution, and their characteristic theme was one of unconquerable, irrepressible joy.

Follow Paul from prison to prison and mark his attitude as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, to glory in tribulations, in reproaches, in distresses for Christ’s sake. “Rejoice in the Lord and again I say, rejoice!” Listen to Peter addressing a church that faced trials: “Yet rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Evidently then, the emotion joy was not outlawed among the saints in those days. And is this surprising, when the gospel means “good news”? The angels sang it down from Heaven at Christ’s birth. It will culminate one day in Heaven again; the intention of the Lord Jesus is that His joy should remain in us and that our joy should be full.

The joy of the early Christians was not a mere hilarity (which can degenerate into irreverence). Quite simply, it was a fruit of the Holy Spirit; “the fruit of the Spirit is… joy.”

Truly those early Christians did not endure their Christianity; they enjoyed it! Do we know this Holy Joy?

Galations 4:15 poses a question; “Where is the blessedness you spoke of?” William Cowper wrote it, “where is the blessedness I knew, when first I saw the Lord– where is the soul-refreshing view of Jesus and His word?” Of course we can blame the times we live in, the modern problems we face– the fact that many people do not want the gospel, the antagonism to godliness and holy living. But the first Christians had problems, too. They faced a combination of opportunity and opposition, open doors  but many adversaries. They climbed the steep ascent to Heaven through peril, toil, and pain. So despite all adversities, we see the early Church triumphing. It met its foes and overcame them. It faced all things with courage. Let us ponder again the source of the disciple’s joy. It can surely be traced back to the evening of our Lord’s appearance in resurrection power. “Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.” The Lord’s appearance brought reassurance to the disciples, proving that it was alive forevermore. They (we) serve a risen Saviour.

But further, the Lord’s appearance brought to His disciples a foretaste of the power that they were to receive, Pentacostal power.

Joy, then, springs from a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is a fresh glimpse of Him that we all need. We cannot gaze on Him in body as did the disciples, but we can see Him through His word and receive the Holy Spirit. He will help us to enjoy our service.

If we feel that there is not within us the joy of service that there was then, we must recover our lost radiance, and we shall do so only through communion with our Lord in prayerful meditation upon His word and in obedience to His will. Could there be anything more joyful than doing His will?

Let us be joyful in the Lord.

2010
09/17
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
joy
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Quote of the Moment

I want to know if you know how to melt into that fierce heat of living, falling toward the center of your longing. - David Whyte

TRUE religion is this…