Last week, we found a swastika on the wall of a hallway in our church.
It was about the height of a fourth grader. It had been written in chalk, which was smeared as if the person who drew it tried to erase their mark, but failed. Probably, it was some childhood double-dare gone awry. But even so, it bothered us...maybe because another local church had a swastika carved onto its door last month, and its banners proclaiming God's love for all people torn down and cast onto the lawn.
Who have we become in America?
Or, maybe the better question - who have we remained?
When many of us think about civil rights issues, the 1960s jump to mind. Ironically, black and white photos and grainy television footage stand as reminders of a time when the world was truly seen in black and white. But the unfortunate reality is that fear of the other is still an enormous problem in our society today.
Racism.
Homophobia.
Islamophobia.
They are all real issues that real people struggle with every day.
Here's the thing - many of us don't see the problem. Out here in whitewashed suburbia, what are we supposed to do about it? Similarly, what about those small, rural towns where everybody knows everybody and has known everybody since forever? How can we deal with the fear of the other when we don't know the other, personally and truly?
Interestingly enough....evangelism might be able to help.
That sentence probably sounds crazy. Often, when we think of evangelism, we think of Bible-bashing, sign-waving people on street corners asking if you know what would happen to you if you died on the spot. But that's not true evangelism. Evangelism, in its most honest and honorable form, is sharing the Good News of God's love with others - not God's judgment. Evangelism that proclaims God's judgment glorifies condemnation. The world already has enough of that, and frankly, I don't think God has much interest in adding to that. Evangelism that proclaims love, on the other hand....that might be a game changer.
People say a lot of things about God, both good and bad. But what if we start here: God loves us, and calls us by name. I teach this to kids all the time - Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so....Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Why does that truth get hidden behind judgment once we grow up? We love because God first loved us. And, since God loves us, we ought to love others in a way that mirrors that love. God loves me - and God loves you.
Scripture is full of evidence to God's love. Besides the gospel narrative itself, which is entirely centered on a self-sacrificing God to the benefit of God's creation, the Bible is peppered with statements of love:
"I have called you by name; you are mine." - Isaiah 43:1
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." - Jeremiah 1:5
"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God." - 1 John 3:1
In God's love, there are no divisions. Divisions are something that we have made up as humans, to help us understand ourselves and others. Unfortunately, with these divisions, inequality has too quickly followed. We are all equal in God's eyes - with God, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave nor free, there is no longer male nor female, for all of (us) are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
This doesn't mean that there are not things that make us different from one another, or that we should ignore those things that make us unique in favor of steamrolling everyone into the same assimilated form. But it means that we should celebrate those things that make us unique as gifts that God has given us out of God's infinite creativity.
We can often see those things that make us different more easily than those things that make us the same. But the fact that we are all beloved children of God is the single most important thing. That one enormous similarity outweighs a myriad of less important differences. We don't need to be afraid of the "other," because at our very core, there is no other.
Of course, all of this means little if it isn't put into practice. We cannot say one thing and act in a way that is contradictory - this is an insult to God, and the reason why so-called evangelism often fails. It isn't enough to say that we love others as God intends if we do not put that love into action. One of the most powerful ways that we can do this is by intentionally building meaningful relationships with people that are different from ourselves. Building relationships with people different than us requires us to go out of our way, putting ourselves in environments where we will encounter people who we classify as the "other." One way that I intend to do this is by volunteering with a local organization that helps refugees settle and acclimate to life in the United States. I hope that doing so will be a particularly powerful testimony against the fear-based rhetoric surrounding refugees that currently pervades socio-political dialogue.
As we seek to build these relationships, we need to show love without an expectation of reciprocity. Love for the sake of love is a powerful testimony to God's identity, and it is a philosophy that truly has the ability to change the world. Love inspires love, and unloving hearts are changed through love.
To overcome fear of the other, we have to blur the line between "us" and "them." Evangelism can help...if the message that we seek to spread is that God loves everybody.
After all, Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world.
We should too.
Bibliography:
Meyer, Holly. "Why a Nashville pastor urges congregation to answer swastika, vandalism with love." The Tennesseean. Last modified November 14, 2016. Accessed December 1, 2016. http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/religion/2016/11/14/why-nashville-pastor-urges-congregation-answer-swastika-vandalism-love/93793792/
Teasdale, Mark. Evangelism for Non-Evangelists: Sharing the Gospel Authentically. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016.
"World Relief Nashville." Accessed December 1, 2016. http://worldreliefnashville.org/.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Ignorance is NOT Bliss.
Today, I did something I've never actually done before: gotten so angry at a comment made by a preacher in a sermon that I got up and left mid-service. Mid-sermon, in fact.
Essentially, what happened was that the pastor (more out of ignorance than spite or hatred) made a sweeping claim that Islam, as a religion, is hostile to Christianity, declaring Christians the "pagans" upon whom war must be declared, according to the Qu'ran.
*Please excuse me while I bang my head against the table.*
This idea, no matter how prevalent in the media in recent years, is absolutely untrue. Common, yes. Accurate, no. No, no, no, no, no. NO.
Are there people who identify as Muslim who are extremist terrorists who attack people? Yes. They make up the MINORITY of Muslims. And, I'd like to remind you that even Christianity has the Crusades in its past...we Christians aren't so perfect either.
I don't claim to be an expert in the field of world religions, but I've had enough religion classes to know the basis of Islam - one of the religion classes I took was a class entirely focused on Islam. For this class, I wrote a paper about Qu'ranic Reference to the Gospel, in which my research discovered that, consistently, "People of the Book" (that is, Jews and Christians, the other two traditions that trace their lineage to Abraham) are to be respected in their faiths, and NOT persecuted. In fact, according to the Qu'ran, the only time violence is acceptable is if Muslims are not being allowed to practice their faith. In no other circumstance is violence justified, according to the Qu'ran. Put bluntly, Muslim is not synonymous with terrorist, nor is it synonymous with Christian-hater.
Furthermore, having written my senior thesis on the present-day clash of Islam and the French Identity, and having a job that requires me to continually research current events involving the influx of Islam in Europe with immigration from North Africa, I know how an assumption that Islam as an evil religion can quite literally tear a society apart. Because of France's inability to coexist with these Islamic immigrants, they have passed a series of controversial laws (such as banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public) that made them the target for several terrorist threats this past fall - unfortunately, the minority extremist Islamist group making these threats simply reinforced the unfounded hatred of Muslims living in Europe. Even worse, the pump is now primed for Marine Le Pen (daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the xenophobic leader of the racist and bigoted Front National political party during the 1980s and 90s) to beat Nicolas Sarkozy out for the French presidency in the 2012 elections. Le Pen has no shortage of platforms to work from; the French Muslim population has collectively become the scapegoat for France's problems. Recently, Le Pen compared gatherings of Muslims in the streets for prayer to the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, a comment which has thrown the Le Pen name under controversy once again. In the world of scapegoating, Alfred Dreyfus will have nothing on France's Muslims if Marine Le Pen is elected president; hatred against Islam will, in effect, be made legal.
And so, when I heard a Christian pastor ignorantly supporting the idea that Islam is a hostile religion from a church pulpit, speaking to upwards of 400 people who likely don't have the background in religious study that I have (and, let's be real, I don't have all that much), naturally, I got upset.
Pastors, like anyone in a position of authority as a community leader, have a certain responsibility to the people they lead. But particularly for religious leaders, who often claim even more authority as mediators of divine ideas, it is imperative that you know what you're talking about. Making claims about an entire people group without doing significant, objective research to back up your claims is inexcusable.
And yet, I know (as a person on track for a ministry career myself) that religious leaders don't have it all together. Believe it or not, we ministry people are just like you. If I was perfect, I wouldn't have this blog about self-improvement. And so I can accept that the pastor made a mistake, even if it was a big one. It doesn't make me doubt the rest of the church's ministries, nor does it undermine the good things that the church has done in the community and overseas. God is perfect. People are not perfect, and therefore churches are not perfect. People make mistakes. Pastors make mistakes.
I just wish it hadn't been that particular mistake.
*For more information on the current problems in France, check out the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Marie_Le_Pen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Le_Pen
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8197895/Marine-Le-Pen-Muslims-in-France-like-Nazi-occupation.html
http://www.france24.com/en/20100914-french-parliament-approves-ban-full-veil-public-senate-law-fine-sarkozy-islam
**Special thanks to my friend Brandi, who listened to me rant about this on the phone this afternoon, and my sister Hannah, who endured my heated tirade on the subject at Steak and Shake tonight.
Essentially, what happened was that the pastor (more out of ignorance than spite or hatred) made a sweeping claim that Islam, as a religion, is hostile to Christianity, declaring Christians the "pagans" upon whom war must be declared, according to the Qu'ran.
*Please excuse me while I bang my head against the table.*
This idea, no matter how prevalent in the media in recent years, is absolutely untrue. Common, yes. Accurate, no. No, no, no, no, no. NO.
Are there people who identify as Muslim who are extremist terrorists who attack people? Yes. They make up the MINORITY of Muslims. And, I'd like to remind you that even Christianity has the Crusades in its past...we Christians aren't so perfect either.
I don't claim to be an expert in the field of world religions, but I've had enough religion classes to know the basis of Islam - one of the religion classes I took was a class entirely focused on Islam. For this class, I wrote a paper about Qu'ranic Reference to the Gospel, in which my research discovered that, consistently, "People of the Book" (that is, Jews and Christians, the other two traditions that trace their lineage to Abraham) are to be respected in their faiths, and NOT persecuted. In fact, according to the Qu'ran, the only time violence is acceptable is if Muslims are not being allowed to practice their faith. In no other circumstance is violence justified, according to the Qu'ran. Put bluntly, Muslim is not synonymous with terrorist, nor is it synonymous with Christian-hater.
Furthermore, having written my senior thesis on the present-day clash of Islam and the French Identity, and having a job that requires me to continually research current events involving the influx of Islam in Europe with immigration from North Africa, I know how an assumption that Islam as an evil religion can quite literally tear a society apart. Because of France's inability to coexist with these Islamic immigrants, they have passed a series of controversial laws (such as banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public) that made them the target for several terrorist threats this past fall - unfortunately, the minority extremist Islamist group making these threats simply reinforced the unfounded hatred of Muslims living in Europe. Even worse, the pump is now primed for Marine Le Pen (daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the xenophobic leader of the racist and bigoted Front National political party during the 1980s and 90s) to beat Nicolas Sarkozy out for the French presidency in the 2012 elections. Le Pen has no shortage of platforms to work from; the French Muslim population has collectively become the scapegoat for France's problems. Recently, Le Pen compared gatherings of Muslims in the streets for prayer to the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, a comment which has thrown the Le Pen name under controversy once again. In the world of scapegoating, Alfred Dreyfus will have nothing on France's Muslims if Marine Le Pen is elected president; hatred against Islam will, in effect, be made legal.
And so, when I heard a Christian pastor ignorantly supporting the idea that Islam is a hostile religion from a church pulpit, speaking to upwards of 400 people who likely don't have the background in religious study that I have (and, let's be real, I don't have all that much), naturally, I got upset.
Pastors, like anyone in a position of authority as a community leader, have a certain responsibility to the people they lead. But particularly for religious leaders, who often claim even more authority as mediators of divine ideas, it is imperative that you know what you're talking about. Making claims about an entire people group without doing significant, objective research to back up your claims is inexcusable.
And yet, I know (as a person on track for a ministry career myself) that religious leaders don't have it all together. Believe it or not, we ministry people are just like you. If I was perfect, I wouldn't have this blog about self-improvement. And so I can accept that the pastor made a mistake, even if it was a big one. It doesn't make me doubt the rest of the church's ministries, nor does it undermine the good things that the church has done in the community and overseas. God is perfect. People are not perfect, and therefore churches are not perfect. People make mistakes. Pastors make mistakes.
I just wish it hadn't been that particular mistake.
*For more information on the current problems in France, check out the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Marie_Le_Pen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Le_Pen
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8197895/Marine-Le-Pen-Muslims-in-France-like-Nazi-occupation.html
http://www.france24.com/en/20100914-french-parliament-approves-ban-full-veil-public-senate-law-fine-sarkozy-islam
**Special thanks to my friend Brandi, who listened to me rant about this on the phone this afternoon, and my sister Hannah, who endured my heated tirade on the subject at Steak and Shake tonight.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
God, Microwaves, and Turkeys
I didn't actually write this, my friend Laura did....but I found it hugely applicable to my life and very helpful, so I'm posting it on here anyway:
Last night, our preacher made the comment that God is not a microwave
- you can't just turn Him on and expect something to happen in 30
seconds. Sometimes you just have to wait.
That really caught my attention and I started thinking how true that
is. Yes, sometimes a microwave is a really convenient thing to have.
But there are also times when it's nice to be able to sit down to a
really great oven-cooked meal, like turkey on Thanksgiving. My family
doesn't do the whole turkey thing but from what I understand, it takes
hours to properly bake a turkey. And that's how it can be with God.
We are very prone to expect a 30-second quick fix to all our problems
- that is, when we finally decide to get around to praying. But don't
try to demand that kind of cheap meal when God is in the process of
preparing you a great feast that, though it can take much longer, will
taste so much better.
God has many occupations. We've heard Him called a shepherd, the
great physician, the author of our faith, and other titles. We'll I'd
like to add master chef to that list. And people, master chefs make
more spectacular meals with ovens than they do with microwaves.
So, step out of the kitchen for a little bit and give God some room to
work at the oven. He'll call you to the table when He's ready. In
the meantime, while that turkey is busy cooking, jsut take time to sit
back and enjoy the aromas of that impending meal and to enjoy the
blessings that you've already got.
Bon Appetit!
Last night, our preacher made the comment that God is not a microwave
- you can't just turn Him on and expect something to happen in 30
seconds. Sometimes you just have to wait.
That really caught my attention and I started thinking how true that
is. Yes, sometimes a microwave is a really convenient thing to have.
But there are also times when it's nice to be able to sit down to a
really great oven-cooked meal, like turkey on Thanksgiving. My family
doesn't do the whole turkey thing but from what I understand, it takes
hours to properly bake a turkey. And that's how it can be with God.
We are very prone to expect a 30-second quick fix to all our problems
- that is, when we finally decide to get around to praying. But don't
try to demand that kind of cheap meal when God is in the process of
preparing you a great feast that, though it can take much longer, will
taste so much better.
God has many occupations. We've heard Him called a shepherd, the
great physician, the author of our faith, and other titles. We'll I'd
like to add master chef to that list. And people, master chefs make
more spectacular meals with ovens than they do with microwaves.
So, step out of the kitchen for a little bit and give God some room to
work at the oven. He'll call you to the table when He's ready. In
the meantime, while that turkey is busy cooking, jsut take time to sit
back and enjoy the aromas of that impending meal and to enjoy the
blessings that you've already got.
Bon Appetit!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Alone
So my friend Jessica sent me a Halloween card.
She told me she was sending it, and to be looking for it. Furthermore, she told me that when I received it, I should make sure and open it in public, preferably in the vicinity of the most attractive guys available. Unfortunately, since no such men crossed my path in the very short distance between the mail room and my apartment, there was no one there to witness the glories of this card.
 |
| (Jessica, I found this pic online, I didn't take off your notes) |
Inside an envelope plastered with Disney Princess stickers was a Twilight-inspired Halloween card, with Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson staring up at me with what I presume are the most smoldering stares they could muster (although Taylor's picture seems to more to say "Yes, I'm sexy," while Robert looks more like he's in the middle of an intense staring contest). Then I open the card (which incidentally is wishing me to "Have a Happy Halloween, filled with treats of EVERY kind"). And when I open the card, I am accosted by an onslaught of emo violins, while the two guys tell me in dramatic voices that they will "promise to love me every moment forever" and "will fight for me until my heart stops beating." I imagine teenage girls opening this card over and over again, squealing a bit louder every time. (I feel it is appropriate to note here that my friend included a hefty amount of sarcastic comments on this card, putting both of us far outside the squealy girl realm).
I've seen the Twilight movies. Although, I go more to mock their oozing melodrama more than anything else. No offense to any Twilight fans out there...teen angst mixed with mythological creatures just isn't my cup of tea. In fact, it kind of bugs me how big of a phenomenon the whole Twilight thing has become. It especially bugs me when I hear teenagers say that it's the best book they've ever read. I want to strap them down and force them to read Alexandre Dumas.
It's obvious why the books (and movies) are so popular though; they cater to the desire to be loved. Particularly, they cater to the desire instilled in every girl from a very young age to be loved by some perfect guy who will sweep them up from their mundane existence and give them everything they've ever wanted.
Let's look at Bella for a second. Bella's possibly the most unremarkable person ever. But for some reason, she's the one that Edward latches on to (after he's done being nauseated at the smell of her hair, of course). And because of his (literally) shiny Edward Cullen-ness, Bella latches on to him as well...even as she knows it's bad for her, and is going to get her entangled in all sorts of vampirical struggles. Isn't it romantic?
I think it's stupid.
But I get it. Because if you have it hammered into you from a young age that it's bad to be alone, you'll grab hold of anything to keep from being alone.
I'm not a fan of being alone myself, to be quite honest. I recently moved from Kentucky (where I had an abundance of friends at my fingertips at all hours of the day or night) to Texas (where I have made several new friends, but who still lack in quantity compared to the plethora of people in Lexington). And, lacking a roommate and having my friends spread over a city rather than over a tiny campus, I find myself alone rather frequently. It gets rough occasionally. Combine this with a greater awareness of singledom brought on by increased viewing of chick flicks to fill up empty time, and it can be downright depressing.
And the truly stupid thing in all this is that I'm never actually alone.
God's always hanging out with me.
It's just that lately I haven't really been wanting to hang out with God.
It's not God, it's me. And it's not just me...it's kind of all of us.
When there's a thousand other things calling out to us, saying that they'll cure our need for fulfillment, it's insanely easy to make God into a last resort. Maybe shopping will make us feel better, or losing weight, or eating our weight in Krispy Kremes, or working out, or watching movies, or having a boyfriend, or getting all As, or being in love, or being super popular.
I'm tired of everybody talking about how their significant other "completes them." God is the only thing that actually completes anyone...no matter what else we try and stick in the way. But how are we supposed to hear God if there's a thousand other things in the way? If we're chasing after something else, we'll never be able to chase fully after God.
The thing is, God's always chasing after us, even if we're not looking for God.
Did you ever stop and think that maybe sitting around wallowing in aloneness is in itself a way of running away from God? A form of self-worship? That by constantly complaining about YOU being lonely, about YOU being left out, about YOU not being romantically entangled with someone, about YOU not having enough friends, you're keeping God from being able to truly fulfill you?
I think that's my problem. In the end, I'm no better than Bella; I latch onto things that I know will never fulfill me, hoping that God will just do all the work.
But I feel like living in harmony with God is a lot like singing a duet. If the two parts aren't in tune with one another, it's just a mess. And God has perfect pitch, so you know he's not going to mess up...if things sound all disastrous and out of tune, it's because you've decided to sing some other song. Sure, there may be some dissonant chords in there that sound wrong and strange and don't seem to make sense at the time...but if God's singing "Hallelujah" and you're singing "Hit Me Baby One More Time", it's probably not what God intended. But likewise, when our lives are going well because we've aligned them with God's will and focused our attention on God, it shouldn't come as a shock; such a lifestyle should be our natural response to God's love. Otherwise, it's like singing a duet and then being surprised when another voice comes in.
And anyway, I'm pretty sure that God never gets nauseated at the smell of my hair...
And anyway, I'm pretty sure that God never gets nauseated at the smell of my hair...
 |
| (Nothing like making a guy feel nauseous to make a girl feel beautiful) |
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Give
I happened upon this video tonight when doing research for my job ("Who do you work for, Celia?" Check out www.ccfof.org if you're curious). Anyway, it's kind of long, but worth your time. And you'd usually take about 8 minutes to read one of my written posts, right?
"41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,[a]worth only a fraction of a penny.[b]
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on." - Mark 12:41-44 (NIV)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Money Grows on Trees
Do you ever wonder where God is?
Do you ever just look around and see all the bad things happening in the world, and wonder how God could exist in the midst of everything?
Do you have an exceedingly difficult time believing that God is working in your life? That God cares?
Do you ever feel like God is just ignoring you?
Do you think it's possible that God is right in front of us, that we see God everyday, and that we just don't notice?
I do.
In my last blog post, I wrote about how it's possible that the reason we can't hear or see or feel God is because we're too focused on our own lives, our own schedules. I suggested that maybe God is there all around us, but we're just too busy to pay attention.
But just how much do we really miss?
I happened across this video on YouTube tonight. Take a look...
Whether or not it was the intent of the creator of this video or not, I think that this is a perfect example of how we sometimes respond to God.
There's basically four responses that people have to the tree...
1) They don't notice it at all.
2) They see the tree, but don't take any money from it.
3) They see the tree, and take money from it.
4) They see the tree, take money from it, and point it out to other passerby so that they can experience the tree too.
...I feel like where I'm going might be self-explanatory...but let's go there anyway.
I would like to think that if I walked under a tree filled with dollar bills, that I would notice. Especially if I had to DUCK under the tree. At that point, you're just going out of your way to avoid the tree...how in the world could you NOT see it? But SO MANY PEOPLE in the video did just that. They walked quickly past the tree, not even noticing how extraordinarily unusual, generous, and inviting it was. They were so invested in their own lives, that they didn't even notice that money was growing on trees right in front of them.
Other people saw the tree, saw the money in it, and just kept walking. I'm thinking, "What's WRONG with these people???" I get the whole idea that "maybe-it's-not-for-me-so-I-shouldn't-touch-it. But at least stop and LOOK at it a bit closer...and then maybe you'd see that the tree was meant for you to experience all along.
Then there's the predictable people who saw the tree, got excited, and took money from it. A few people even took several bills from the tree. They saw something awesome, and let themselves experience it.
The fourth group of people, though, is my favorite. These people saw the tree, got all excited, took a bill or two from the tree...but then they stopped and went out of their way to point out to other people what they were missing. They stopped their lives, and intervened in the lives of others...making sure that no one missed this miraculous thing that they were so willingly or blindly passing by.
Now stop and switch the tree out with God in your mind.
Think about that for a second...
Most of the time, people want to believe that they'll be in the group that sees the tree, that sees God. I definitely want to assume that I'd be in that group. Maybe, if you're feeling particularly selfless today, you'll want to believe that you'll be in the group that sees the tree (and sees God) and points the awesomeness out to other people. I'd also like to believe that I'd be a part of THAT group.
But really....how many times are we the people who ignore the tree (and ignore God), or just don't see it at all (or don't notice God)?
See where I'm going with this?
Maybe this video, charming as it is, is screaming at us with a problem with our culture today. Actually, forget our culture...it's a problem with us. With you and me. We can be so self-absorbed that we don't even notice the spectacular. Or we can be so proud that even when we DO see something amazing, we choose not to experience it. Or, even if we do take notice, we might be so excited in our own experience that we forget to use it to help other people. If it's all about us, it's never about other people...it's never about something beyond ourselves.
It goes for the good and the bad.
So maybe you're thinking now:
"How could you just ignore a tree like that? I'd never just pass by it without doing anything."
...but how many times do you walk past a homeless person without taking notice?
I've done it countless times.
"Of course I'd tell other people about the tree!!"
...but how many times do you keep back important information from people because you're afraid of an awkward situation by bringing up something that might be uncomfortable?
Done that one a lot too.
Personally, I found this video to be an exceedingly charming idea, but also really challenging.
How would you feel if you made the money tree for everyone to see and love and take joy from, but they just walked by your gift without noticing? That's probably how God feels every time we fail to notice the gloriousness of His creation, or of His work in our own lives. I would hate to make God feel like that.
So I better pay better attention.
The other thing I loved about the tree was that most people who took from the tree only took one bill. For them, it wasn't about the money; it was about the goodwill behind the money.
So maybe we shouldn't get caught up looking for blessings from God, but should just stop and appreciate God for God's sake.
So I probably should stop wondering what God can do for me, and look at everything He's already done.
Sometimes the extraordinary appears in the ordinary. But most of the time, we only see the ordinary. How lame is that? Maybe we should look a little deeper.
And maybe...
When we DO happen across a tree of money...
Maybe we shouldn't be afraid to let ourselves accept the gift which it offers...
...and maybe we should go out of our way to show other people the tree as well.
Don't you think?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Speed Limit
So I speed when I drive. It's time we get this out in the open.
I'm not one of those maniacs who goes blazing down a 30 mph street at 70+mph...but I'm probably going about 37 or so. And if there IS someone going 30 mph, I get all annoyed at their legal morality, and I sternly say "MOVE!" in a frustrated tone that no one can hear because I'm generally in the car by myself, and of course the driver in question can't hear me because there's my car and air and their car separating them from my frustrated voice.
When I would drive back to St. Louis from Kentucky in the not-so-distant undergraduate years, the speed limit would decline as you passed from state to state. And it DROVE
ME
CRAZY.
I'd start out in a 70mph zone driving through Kentucky (naturally driving 77 mph), slow down to 50mph in Louisville (fine, it's a city, no worries...in fact, the traffic generally freaked me out and I'd actually go LESS than the speed limit for fear of getting run over by a merging semi). And then in Indiana the speed limit hopped back up to 70, and I'd resume my happy 77mph, setting the cruise control to reflect this very efficient-feeling but not-TOO-illegal speed.
And then would come Illinois...where the interstate speed limit is only 65. And I would just keep speeding along at 77mph...after all, my cruise control's already set, and everything's been fine driving this speed so far. What's the big difference between Indiana and Illinois highways that causes 70mph to suddenly become more dangerous than it was before the invisible state line? If anything, Illinois is flatter (more flat?), implying that Indiana just doesn't care for its drivers' safety like Illinois does, I suppose.
And after Illinois would come the glorious moment when I not only entered Missouri, but St. Louis itself, the city where I grew up and the point in the trip that I always classified as being "home", even if I still had a good 40 minutes or so ahead of me before I actually reached my driveway.
And here is where things would get really frustrating.
Not only would the speed limit suddenly become 60mph (remember, I'm still cruising along at 77), but I would inevitably hit rush hour traffic that would FURTHER slow me down, until finally I maneuvered my way around standstill traffic and looping interchanges and came to where I-44 meets MO-109, the intersection where my high school happily and predictably stands, and where I'm less than 20 minutes from home.
But by this point I've been driving for over 6 hours. 20 more minutes isn't going to cut it.
If you've ever driven the stretch of Hwy 109 between I-44 and Hwy 100, you know that it's a rather twisty and turn-y road, going up over a mountain-ish hill and back down again, and having just enough random turn-offs for people to suddenly come out of nowhere, or stop to turn and catch every car behind them off guard causing a domino effect of brake lights. So it's no wonder that the speed limit is 45 mph. It's probably a very good idea to be going that slow, just in case Nelly is pulling out of his driveway (because Nelly totally lives off this very road). You don't want to try to explain to the performer of "Shake Your Tail Feather" why his tail light was unfortunately crushed by your front fender.
...But I drove this stretch of road twice a day, every day, for 4 years. I know the twists and turns. And 45 mph after a 6 hour drive isn't going to cut it.
So suddenly, I'm that crazy person trying to drive 60mph+ on a two-lane road, getting mad at all the people who dare drive 45 mph and obey the law. Silly good citizens. Just go recycle or something.
It seems like most people drive like this. The speed limit signs become more of a suggestion than an actual law, and it usually feels safer to drive over the speed limit and keep moving at the speed of traffic than obey the number on the sign and risk getting rear ended by some crazy driver who's been on the road for almost 7 hours and can't take it anymore.
But stop and consider for a second...
...maybe all those people driving the speed limit have got it right.
Do you ever feel like maybe the rest of your life needs a speed limit? Some sort of definitive, easily measured limit that tells you when you're reaching your breaking point and entering the danger zone? Some number on a scale that tells you that you're getting in over your head, that you're probably going to smack into someone else and negatively impact both their life and yours if you don't just slow down? I think that my life does...although, with my driving habits, I'm not sure I'd listen to it.
I'm one of those people who pride themselves on being busy. Senior year of college, my typical schedule would involve leaving my dorm room at 9:00 in the morning and returning to it somewhere around 10:30 or 11:00 at night, because even though my campus was all of 2 blocks, it just didn't seem time-efficient to go back to my room with everything else I had going on. I'd go from class to class to lunch to class to work to choir to the library to some club to dinner to some other club, and finally end up back in the room where I might start my homework around 11:00 or so and still manage to be in bed by 1:00am, sleep until 8:00, and start the whole thing over the next day. And I liked being busy, and I got to see basically all my friends in the course of a day, and things were going great.
And then one day I had a breakdown.
I don't really remember what triggered it...some indiscriminate amount of homework probably. I just remember sitting in Front Lobby with a Francophone African novel in my lap, staring at the floor, and various friends walking by and asking with alarm if I was okay, and subsequently bursting into tears and being hugged by my friend Amanda while my friend Erika ran off to buy me an ice cream smoothie and then worked my life down into a slightly more manageable (if still fairly overwhelming) to-do list. Later I remember my friends Matt and Brandon came by, and (being of the male persuasion) both just sort of looked at me with confusion mingled with concern, and offered to find other people to fulfill the various extra-curricular obligations I had to both of them - which, at that point, seemed as good as handing me a check for a million dollars and a plane ticket to Paris.
I'd crossed the speed limit.
And I thought everything was fine until I crashed.
The thing I always liked about being busy was the feeling of having things in control, having a purpose, and (as narcissistic as it is) feeling important. And individually, I liked every activity that I was involved in. These are all emotions that should make you feel good, right?
So what's with the breakdown?
Maybe it's because things aren't supposed to be in our control. Maybe things aren't supposed to be all about me.
I remember watching this video by Rob Bell a few years ago called "Noise." It's all about how people get all angry and complain about God being inactive, or not giving us any help or direction for our lives...when really, our lives are just too noisy to hear Him. We're not listening. We're too busy speeding.
Do you think it's possible that we get so caught up in our own plans for our lives, with our own destination, with our own timelines, that we forget that God has something else in mind? Do you think that we'll see the road signs pointing to where we need to go, pointing to the right direction, if we're driving at 100 miles per hour? Does it make more sense to drive through life as fast as you can and have to make a U-turn every block or so because you've passed your turn, or drive the speed limit, paying careful attention to the directions, and orienting our lives around the journey to our destination, not worrying how long it will take us to get there?
I've found that whenever I get really stressed, really upset, or really overwhelmed by life in general, it's because I've gotten too busy for God. I've started going too fast. And sometimes I can have the best intentions ("Oh, I don't have time to read the Bible today, I have to read these 50 pages on church history for my ____ class", etc)...they're still horrible excuses.
In church this morning, the pastor talked about how the Enlightenment has made us all into a whole bunch of individualist thinkers, who believe that everything's all about ME, to please ME, to make MY life easier. We shout "That's not FAIR!" and "You can't do that to ME!" But it's all pointless, because it's so not about us. Like the pastor also pointed out, the Bible compares humanity to the dew that is on the grass in the morning and is gone...in the morning. We don't even get a whole day in the relative span of eternity.
In one of the first sessions of my New Testament class, I remember my professor exclaimed halfway through the lecture, "Have you ever stopped and thought that the Bible wasn't written about your life?" And the class generally laughed...but really. The Bible isn't about us. It isn't some ancient self-help manual (even though it CAN be helpful and relevant to modern life). The whole world, all of creation isn't about us. It's about God. God existed, God decided for there to be a world, God decided to put people in the world, and God furthermore decided to save all those people when they went and messed up God's world. And one day God's kingdom will be established and all the people will worship God forever.
Seems like it's about God, doesn't it?
Kind like how roads are intended for all people to get to wherever they're going, not just for you to get where you're going.
When we speed through life, we run the perpetual risk of missing what God wants to say to us. No matter how loud someone is shouting on the side of the road, the passenger of a car going 70mph won't be able to understand what they're saying. Why should our lives be any different when it comes to hearing God's voice?
And even if God is in the car with you, you won't be able to hear his directions if you have the radio blasting out the speakers.
It's about listening. Listening to directions, listening to authority, listening to the speed limits that were placed there for a reason. Listening for God's voice in a world that is increasingly trying to push him out, turning up the music to drown out the sound of His voice.
It's about recognizing that life has a speed limit.
Then again, maybe the best thing to do is to just let God drive...
I'm not one of those maniacs who goes blazing down a 30 mph street at 70+mph...but I'm probably going about 37 or so. And if there IS someone going 30 mph, I get all annoyed at their legal morality, and I sternly say "MOVE!" in a frustrated tone that no one can hear because I'm generally in the car by myself, and of course the driver in question can't hear me because there's my car and air and their car separating them from my frustrated voice.
When I would drive back to St. Louis from Kentucky in the not-so-distant undergraduate years, the speed limit would decline as you passed from state to state. And it DROVE
ME
CRAZY.
I'd start out in a 70mph zone driving through Kentucky (naturally driving 77 mph), slow down to 50mph in Louisville (fine, it's a city, no worries...in fact, the traffic generally freaked me out and I'd actually go LESS than the speed limit for fear of getting run over by a merging semi). And then in Indiana the speed limit hopped back up to 70, and I'd resume my happy 77mph, setting the cruise control to reflect this very efficient-feeling but not-TOO-illegal speed.
And then would come Illinois...where the interstate speed limit is only 65. And I would just keep speeding along at 77mph...after all, my cruise control's already set, and everything's been fine driving this speed so far. What's the big difference between Indiana and Illinois highways that causes 70mph to suddenly become more dangerous than it was before the invisible state line? If anything, Illinois is flatter (more flat?), implying that Indiana just doesn't care for its drivers' safety like Illinois does, I suppose.
And after Illinois would come the glorious moment when I not only entered Missouri, but St. Louis itself, the city where I grew up and the point in the trip that I always classified as being "home", even if I still had a good 40 minutes or so ahead of me before I actually reached my driveway.
And here is where things would get really frustrating.
Not only would the speed limit suddenly become 60mph (remember, I'm still cruising along at 77), but I would inevitably hit rush hour traffic that would FURTHER slow me down, until finally I maneuvered my way around standstill traffic and looping interchanges and came to where I-44 meets MO-109, the intersection where my high school happily and predictably stands, and where I'm less than 20 minutes from home.
But by this point I've been driving for over 6 hours. 20 more minutes isn't going to cut it.
If you've ever driven the stretch of Hwy 109 between I-44 and Hwy 100, you know that it's a rather twisty and turn-y road, going up over a mountain-ish hill and back down again, and having just enough random turn-offs for people to suddenly come out of nowhere, or stop to turn and catch every car behind them off guard causing a domino effect of brake lights. So it's no wonder that the speed limit is 45 mph. It's probably a very good idea to be going that slow, just in case Nelly is pulling out of his driveway (because Nelly totally lives off this very road). You don't want to try to explain to the performer of "Shake Your Tail Feather" why his tail light was unfortunately crushed by your front fender.
...But I drove this stretch of road twice a day, every day, for 4 years. I know the twists and turns. And 45 mph after a 6 hour drive isn't going to cut it.
So suddenly, I'm that crazy person trying to drive 60mph+ on a two-lane road, getting mad at all the people who dare drive 45 mph and obey the law. Silly good citizens. Just go recycle or something.
It seems like most people drive like this. The speed limit signs become more of a suggestion than an actual law, and it usually feels safer to drive over the speed limit and keep moving at the speed of traffic than obey the number on the sign and risk getting rear ended by some crazy driver who's been on the road for almost 7 hours and can't take it anymore.
But stop and consider for a second...
...maybe all those people driving the speed limit have got it right.
Do you ever feel like maybe the rest of your life needs a speed limit? Some sort of definitive, easily measured limit that tells you when you're reaching your breaking point and entering the danger zone? Some number on a scale that tells you that you're getting in over your head, that you're probably going to smack into someone else and negatively impact both their life and yours if you don't just slow down? I think that my life does...although, with my driving habits, I'm not sure I'd listen to it.
I'm one of those people who pride themselves on being busy. Senior year of college, my typical schedule would involve leaving my dorm room at 9:00 in the morning and returning to it somewhere around 10:30 or 11:00 at night, because even though my campus was all of 2 blocks, it just didn't seem time-efficient to go back to my room with everything else I had going on. I'd go from class to class to lunch to class to work to choir to the library to some club to dinner to some other club, and finally end up back in the room where I might start my homework around 11:00 or so and still manage to be in bed by 1:00am, sleep until 8:00, and start the whole thing over the next day. And I liked being busy, and I got to see basically all my friends in the course of a day, and things were going great.
And then one day I had a breakdown.
I don't really remember what triggered it...some indiscriminate amount of homework probably. I just remember sitting in Front Lobby with a Francophone African novel in my lap, staring at the floor, and various friends walking by and asking with alarm if I was okay, and subsequently bursting into tears and being hugged by my friend Amanda while my friend Erika ran off to buy me an ice cream smoothie and then worked my life down into a slightly more manageable (if still fairly overwhelming) to-do list. Later I remember my friends Matt and Brandon came by, and (being of the male persuasion) both just sort of looked at me with confusion mingled with concern, and offered to find other people to fulfill the various extra-curricular obligations I had to both of them - which, at that point, seemed as good as handing me a check for a million dollars and a plane ticket to Paris.
I'd crossed the speed limit.
And I thought everything was fine until I crashed.
The thing I always liked about being busy was the feeling of having things in control, having a purpose, and (as narcissistic as it is) feeling important. And individually, I liked every activity that I was involved in. These are all emotions that should make you feel good, right?
So what's with the breakdown?
Maybe it's because things aren't supposed to be in our control. Maybe things aren't supposed to be all about me.
I remember watching this video by Rob Bell a few years ago called "Noise." It's all about how people get all angry and complain about God being inactive, or not giving us any help or direction for our lives...when really, our lives are just too noisy to hear Him. We're not listening. We're too busy speeding.
Do you think it's possible that we get so caught up in our own plans for our lives, with our own destination, with our own timelines, that we forget that God has something else in mind? Do you think that we'll see the road signs pointing to where we need to go, pointing to the right direction, if we're driving at 100 miles per hour? Does it make more sense to drive through life as fast as you can and have to make a U-turn every block or so because you've passed your turn, or drive the speed limit, paying careful attention to the directions, and orienting our lives around the journey to our destination, not worrying how long it will take us to get there?
I've found that whenever I get really stressed, really upset, or really overwhelmed by life in general, it's because I've gotten too busy for God. I've started going too fast. And sometimes I can have the best intentions ("Oh, I don't have time to read the Bible today, I have to read these 50 pages on church history for my ____ class", etc)...they're still horrible excuses.
In church this morning, the pastor talked about how the Enlightenment has made us all into a whole bunch of individualist thinkers, who believe that everything's all about ME, to please ME, to make MY life easier. We shout "That's not FAIR!" and "You can't do that to ME!" But it's all pointless, because it's so not about us. Like the pastor also pointed out, the Bible compares humanity to the dew that is on the grass in the morning and is gone...in the morning. We don't even get a whole day in the relative span of eternity.
In one of the first sessions of my New Testament class, I remember my professor exclaimed halfway through the lecture, "Have you ever stopped and thought that the Bible wasn't written about your life?" And the class generally laughed...but really. The Bible isn't about us. It isn't some ancient self-help manual (even though it CAN be helpful and relevant to modern life). The whole world, all of creation isn't about us. It's about God. God existed, God decided for there to be a world, God decided to put people in the world, and God furthermore decided to save all those people when they went and messed up God's world. And one day God's kingdom will be established and all the people will worship God forever.
Seems like it's about God, doesn't it?
Kind like how roads are intended for all people to get to wherever they're going, not just for you to get where you're going.
When we speed through life, we run the perpetual risk of missing what God wants to say to us. No matter how loud someone is shouting on the side of the road, the passenger of a car going 70mph won't be able to understand what they're saying. Why should our lives be any different when it comes to hearing God's voice?
And even if God is in the car with you, you won't be able to hear his directions if you have the radio blasting out the speakers.
It's about listening. Listening to directions, listening to authority, listening to the speed limits that were placed there for a reason. Listening for God's voice in a world that is increasingly trying to push him out, turning up the music to drown out the sound of His voice.
It's about recognizing that life has a speed limit.
Then again, maybe the best thing to do is to just let God drive...
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