Where did you learn that?

Because much of my life happens inside an "organized" church I am often presented with people's opinions about "organized" religion. My sarcastic response is if you think organized religion is bad you should see disorganized religion, but my response is probably too organized to be of much value. The other day my disorganized mind made one of those leaps that are only possible in the freedom of free association. It seems to me that much of what we learn is somewhat accidental. Nobody said class began, nobody handed out an outline, there was no textbook and no final exam. But by the sheer power of presence, the influence of conversation and observation, we end up "knowing" some things. So at the risk of sounding self serving, how much do we learn when we simply choose to show up regularly where righteous people regularly show up? How important is it to include influence in our personal development plan?
We are often deliberate and determined when it comes to pursuing things we want to know. We spend hours on the Internet, we actually pay to go to a class we actually go to, and we ask questions. But are we deliberately including the power of influence in our lives? And what about deliberately avoiding the power of influence when the case can be made that certain influences are negative?
The Apostle Paul felt the issue was important enough to remind the Corinthians "Do you not know, 'bad company corrupts good morals'." We are not sure who he was quoting or maybe he was quoting himself, but he seemed to be concerned about the power of influence.
This leads to another concern. What is the result of our influence? How are we affecting others? I like the idea of being a person who is being positively influenced and a person that is passing that influence on to others. I am thinking that maybe I should get organized about the issue of influence in and through my life.
But I have never had much appreciation for organized influence; I get all the influence I need just spending time alone in the woods . . .

I Don't Feel Very "Orderly"

The psalmist said that God orders our steps and that He delights in every detail of our lives (psa 37:23). But things do not feel all that orderly, directed, or even thought out. A bunch of things I said yes to months ago when they all sounded so far away are now "coming due." We are a week past due with the birth of our next grandchild. It is a birth with potential complications and thus greater concern. But now that we are past the due date the window in the schedule is past and obligations are staring me in the face. And just this afternoon it took me a few hours to even find this blog site after I got my computer back from being rebuilt. Rebuilt implies to me that it should come back complete and better, not finally working but with all my information and bookmarks missing. Another verse indicates that God can cause all things to work together for good. At this point I am tempted to say I would just like some things to just work together - that would be good.
But maybe the point of all this is to look up. Maybe staring at a set of overwhelming details while praying over my shoulder "You said this would all work out" is not the right approach. Maybe I should be looking up not down to get perspective. And maybe what the old song writer said was true - "Turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of earth will grow strangely dim." So maybe none of the deadlines actually change but the energy and perspective needed to face them changes. God, just who He is, might be all the order that I need.

What Kids Do Best

Jesus scolded His disciples when they wanted to keep children from Him. He instructed them to do the opposite; they were to extend themselves to make sure children got to Him. In one of his songs, King David wrote that "from the lips of children and infants God has ordained praise." I felt the joy and power of that reality this last weekend as I watched the children of our church family present a cute and fun but poignant holiday musical.
To often in my professional and volunteer work in the community I see what happens to children who are deprived of play and praise and forced to survive. Under developed life skills become the permanent skills for life. Joy is replaced by a seriousness. And winsomeness is lost in clouds of fear, anger, depression, addictions, and desperate selfishness.
So I have a thought about children; they were created for play and praise. In play they explore their imaginations, develop their physical skills, pursue the arts, and create a mind capable of story and connecting thoughts. In praise they are able to bring all of these things into focus as they fulfill the ultimate goal of humanity. The Westminster Catechism asks the question "What is the chief end of man (humanity)?" The answer is "To know God and to enjoy Him forever." When children are given the chance to express and experience the chief end of humanity having been nurtured in an atmosphere of loving play they explode with potential.
When these things are taken away the person they could be begins to wither under responsibilities and copings they are not wired for nor are they truly capable of handling. Abuse, no fault divorce, abandonment, parentless homes, early onset competition, and the like have forced our children to grow up at unusual and unhealthy rates. And like bones that grow too fast, their personalities end up lacking the strength to support the demands placed on them. We then send these over experienced but under developed people into the world and wonder why they have trouble functioning as adults.
Just how drastically would our society change if we nurtured and protected play and praise in the lives of our children? "Suffer the children to come unto me" - Jesus of Nazareth.
Just thinking out loud . . .

The Other Thanksgiving

So here I am post Thanksgiving and pre Christmas. I have been a part of various Thanksgiving celebrations and participated in a variety of traditions. It seems that most of the traditions not related to food and football have centered around some form of expressing thanks for what we have. These are often considered to be "blessings" or "gifts."
But as I came through a series of events and conversations this past Thanksgiving I became aware of a different kind of blessing. The blessing of what I do not have. So while I am blessed to have food I am also blessed to not have hunger. I have friends and do not have loneliness. But this concept is not just limited to labeling the negative or opposite of every good thing I have. Because of Jesus and His work in my life, there are things that I simply do not have that without Him I would. I do not have confusion about identity. I do not have lack of purpose. I do not have hopelessness. I do not have certain addictions and their associated pain and loss. I do not have a blown budget and the burden of debt, even if I also do not have the income and pile of toys I sometimes think would be nice.
I heard an "old timer" - which probably means I heard somebody my age only I heard them a long time ago when I was younger - talk about what God saves us from and what God saves us to. I have been reminded this holiday season that what I do not have may be as big a blessing as what I have.

Something New

Someone was sharing with me the wisdom according to bumper stickers. They had read a bumper sticker that said "Nothing changes if nothing changes." It is kind of cute and then it is kind of deep; then it is profound. How many times have we had good intentions that never became realities? How many New Year's resolutions never made it till February?
I am reminded of another bit of wisdom - "To get something you have never had you have to do something you have never done." Desired results are not the same as the committment necessary to bring those results into reality. It seems that most of us have sincere desires for new and better things in our lives but we do not have the strength and committment to make those desires a reality.
When Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for I wonder if that means that faith is the consistent doing of things that produce what we hope for? It seems that faith in Christian circles has come to mean either how I feel about things or it is the vehicle by which I make God do things. But what if faith is the something changing of something in us so that something can change in us? What if faith is not believing that God can do something but acting in cooperation with what we believe or need God to do? If I am asking God to help me with an area of my life, maybe I need to make myself obedient to God in that area of my life. Maybe I need to bring faith - substance - to what I am asking God to help me with. If I need God's help with relationships in my life maybe I should get out of immoral relationships and treat the people in my life the way He said to treat people. If I need God's help with my finances maybe I should manage the funds I have according to His directions.
Nothing changes if nothing changes. Maybe faith is not wishing for things or just believing God can do things. Maybe faith is making changes in a way that gives substance to the desired results.
Just thinking out loud . . .

Passionate Thinking

A friend of mine once said "What the facts will not support conviction will carry." It is almost scary how true this is. It would seem that at some point the shear weight of facts would have some sort of influence but conviction seems to be an almost irresistible force. Conviction eliminates the inconvenience of listening. When you already know everything about everything it does away with the trouble of having to hear anything new or different. Conviction eliminates the need for thinking. When you already know everything about everything you can pass on gathering facts and evaluating information. Conviction eliminates all that messy relationship stuff. Why bother to get to know people when you already know who they are, how they think, and what they are up to. I have recently been identified by a person with great conviction as part of a vast conspiracy. The advantage here for this person was that they were completely spared the necessity of gathering facts or actually talking to the people involved. Conviction really speeds up the process.
I have another friend that commented that many of the interpersonal problems we have individually and at societal or even international levels happens when we get a case of "hardening of the categories." Conviction eliminates the need for thinking and hardening of the categories puts people in predetermined sub groups of good and bad.
How much harm has been done because people just knew what was going on and what people were like without ever taking the time to find out if any of their perspectives could be supported by facts?
In my case, I am sleeping pretty well while this other person is lying awake at night wondering what I am up to.

Exciting or Scary?

What is the difference between the most exciting thing you have ever done and the scariest thing you have ever done? Jeanette accuses the men in her life of only thinking things are fun if there is the possibility of bodily harm, the more harm potential the more fun.
But as I consider this question it strikes me that maybe the difference is often perspective. Is ski jumping exciting or scary? Is sky diving exciting or scary? It seems that often the issue is perspective. Perspective can be in part how we are wired. Some people seem to only have scary situations and never have excitement. Other people do not seem to be smart enough to ever be scared. Experience has much to do with it. I am not personally sure yet about the sky diving question but I heard an Army Ranger who insisted it was no big thing; he had done it many times.
When it comes to the events of life Scripture tells me that perfect love casts out fear and that Jesus has loved me perfectly. My wiring has some influence here but my experience even more. If my experience is that of being loved with a perfect love then life and all if its circumstances seem much less scary. Maybe even things like criticism are exciting opportunities to grow instead of scary events to be avoided. Maybe people are at least as potentially exciting as they are potentially harmful.
Maybe being loved by Jesus is the most important aspect when it comes to determining whether someone or something is exciting or scary.
Always thinking out loud . . .