Darkness and Light

The light has come into the world,
and people loved darkness rather than light.—John 3.19

Sometimes, when I come into my office after lunch, and the light is off, I am tempted to leave it off, and to work in the dimness.  It seems quieter.  Sometimes more peaceful than overhead lights.

Sometimes, when I walk into our family room, and Steve has the overhead lights on for his work, I find them so bright that I want to immediately turn them off.  I find relief in the darkness.

Why would anyone love darkness rather than light? 

Light shines into the corners.  It illuminates everything.  We can hide in the darkness, but we find it hard to hide in the light.

What we need, though, is light.  We need the corners illuminated so that we can clean them out.  We need the hidden places made plain, so that we can blow out the dust and dirt, and start fresh.  That process is painful, sometimes, and sometimes it is more peaceful to sit in the dark.

But God brings light.  And light is what we need.  Light brings the true peace.

Tipping Point

When Steve Jobs was designing the building for Pixar, he wanted to make sure that the cartoonists, the computer programmers and the business people interacted, rather than isolating themselves into like-minded groups.  So he created a common atrium for the building, into which he placed facilities that all people would share in common -- they would have to "mix" in this area. This led to creative collaborations that they never would have experienced otherwise.

There are advantages to working through the issues associated with being together with people who are not like us.  Who do not share our beliefs.  Who even believe that we are wrong.

Taking that idea to its extreme, there are advantages to staying in an organization with people who believe differently that we do. 

How do you decide?  How do you know when you should stay in a group with people who believe differently?  How do you know if God is calling you to this environment so that you can change minds?  Bring light to darkness? 

And how do you decide that you absolutely cannot remain?  That what is happening is so against your beliefs that you can't be associated with it?

I'm not facing this question, but I've heard of a couple people lately who are.  Where is the tipping point between being an influence and allowing your presence to be taken as assent with what is happening?

Benediction

I lift this Church of people to you.
May you guide their feet to walk where you need them to go.
May you guide their hands to reach where you need them to serve.
May you guide their hearts where you need them to love,
and may you cover them completely with your abundant grace.
Amen.

(Benediction I prayed this morning for worship  and evidence that God will provide prayer when you don't know what to say.)

Repent

Repent.  What does it mean?  We've been talking about it in church lately.  Repent does not necessarily mean sackcloth and ashes or a deep pit of dispair.  But what does it mean to "turn" to God?

• To repent is to turn to God.  To center on God.  I think turning to God means that we open ourselves to listen to God.  Where is he leading us? 
• To repent might mean that we confess our sins.  We apologize.  Perhaps to God.  Perhaps to someone else.  It might mean that we restore a relationship so that God can be seen through us. 
• It might mean that we turn toward God instead of sticking to our stubbornness.
• It might mean that we set aside our schedules and our distractions to look toward God.

What does it mean to you?

Gratitude

All-county band with my younger son as First Trumpet.  Solo in Simple Gifts.

There are things in life for which you cannot help but feel grateful.

Grateful

I read a couple of posts today from the Painted Prayerbook.

Jan, the author of this blog, says that the antidote to grumbling is gratitude.

I can understand that, and I agree with it, but the hardest part is putting into practice.  When I get going on a good rant, it is very hard to stop and be grateful for what is around me. 

In fact, when I'm complaining, probably the last thing I want to do is to stop and be grateful.

But I should.

Punta Cana Sunise

Can't be good enough

A few months ago, our older son was facing a decision at school.  Steve and I intentionally pushed him to make the decision himself -- to reason about the problem, examine the possible outcomes to the best of his ability and to choose.  We didn't leave him alone in the decision, and helped him through these steps, but the decision was his.

I think he found it difficult.

I was reading a devotional from Disciplines:

When devout followers of religious laws are told that they have a higher vision (to love their neighbor, for example, even it that means they do not obey all dietary laws), they often exerience both freedom and a sense of burden.

When we are conditioned to live within the rules, then when we are thrust beyond the rules, we do experience freedom, but we also struggle.  To quote the devotional, "It is good to be fee of some detailed laws, but how can they love enough?"

We might think we can follow the rules, and we probably find comfort in them.  But when we are called to move beyond the rules, the we loose our confidene.  How can we love enough?  How do we show grace? 

That's why God shows us grace.  We can't love enough -- we can't earn God's love through our actions.  We can't earn it by following the laws, or by not following the laws.  We can't be good enough, and we can't earn what we have been given by grace.

That's hard to accept, and yet it's the heart of the matter.

A hope hidden?

In reading about call, I am comparing Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

What I noticed today is that God is sending these prophets to speak to people and yet God knows they will not listen.  He sends Moses to Pharaoh, and God knows his heart will be hardened.  He sends Isaiah to speak to a "sinful" nation, and he knows they will not comprehend.  He sends Jeremiah to a country that God says "shall be put to shame." He sends Ezekiel to speak to a rebellious house -- "they will not listen to you."

And yet God sends them anyway.

Is there a kind of hope in those desolate statements?

Miqreh

I am (slowly, with enjoyment) reading Tikva Frymer-Kensky's book Reading the Women of the Bible: A New Interpretation of Their Stories.  The chapter I'm reading now is about Ruth. 

Ruth gets a "coincidence," miqreh, a serendipituos happening that makes one wonder about casuality.

Ruth's miqreh is that the field she chooses belongs to Naomi's relative, Boaz.  Imagine the story of Ruth if that hadn't happened.

What are the miqreh's in your life?  What "coincidences" have happened to you or around you that make you say, "Was that God?"  I think it takes faith to answer the question, "yes."  I believe that when we grant ourselves the permission of faith to answer the question, "What that God?" with an affirmative YES, then we begin to see the work of God. 

God is with us, working with us, loving us, moving around us, and we will see these perhaps daily miqreh's if we will open eyes of faith.

Moses

I'm looking at some "call" passages in Hebrew Bible.  A few thoughts from Moses:

• The notes in my Interpreter's Bible suggest that the fact that Moses didn't recognize God in the fire (burning bush) means that Moses did not know God.  I'm not sure I agree with that. I do think that even though we know God, we can look right at evidence of his presence and not see him.
• God promises shared risk, but not success.  Isn't that interesting?  What was God risking?  Failure of the plan through human involvement?
• God's name, as given to Moses on the mountain, is a verb.  Names usually aren't verbs, but it is noticable that God's name is a verb.   Can we go the step further to say that we know God through what he does?  Has done?  I think so.
• Is God's first task in this work of redeming Israel to convince Moses?  To demonstrate to Moses who he is before he shows Israel who he is?  The snake, the leprous hand -- are they signs to convince Moses?

Essentials

Last week's Friday Five:

Every area is different. What are the 5 key essentials needed for where you live?

1. From where I live, you just can't walk there from here.  An essential for living where I live is a car.
2. I live on a hill, and there are ties when it is best to park at the bottom of the hill and walk between the car and the house (because the car won't make it up or down the hill).  So, a couple of essentials for where we live is a warm winter coat, a scarf, gloves, and a hood or hat.
3. Along the same line are shoes that will keep you from falling down.  I call mine my "ugly shoes."  Boots would work as well -- tread is the key ingredient.
4. The key to the weather in WV is to be prepared for anything.  So add umbrella to the list, because it is going to rain.
5. And in the summer, it is hot, so be prepared, if you live where I live, with cool clothes in the summer.

WIsdom

The Sunday school lesson I taught today was based on Proverbs 8:22-35 -- a passage about wisdom.

What implications does it have on our understanding of creation to realize that God created the universe with wisdom at his side?  When we attempt to make decisions regarding what we will do in our lives and who we will follow, what difference does it make in our judgment to understand that the first characteristic of God as he created the universe was wisdom?

What about our own creative side?  Do we find delight in the wisdom of creation as God did?  And does?  What difference does it make in our understanding of ourselves to be told that God found joy in the wisdom of our own creation?



Punta Cana Flower