Consider with me the meaning of the word “religious.” Like “ligament”
its root is the Latin, ligio, which
my dictionary defines as “any tie or bond.” Religion, then, can be defined as the creating of bonds again and again (that’s the re
part) between man and something.
One thing that made the teachings of Jesus so extraordinary was his invitation to the Jews to abandon the very lesson God seemed to be teaching them for two thousand years--i.e., the way to "bond" with God was through external words and actions such as animal sacrifices, participating in Feasts, keeping the Sabbath, etc. Furthermore, the way to please God was to practice those words and actions as perfectly as possible, using the yardstick of minute religious traditions and teachings! How could this so-called Messiah be brushing aside the importance of their sacred practices to focus instead at what was actually going on in their hearts?!
There were hints in the Old Testament pointing to this
revolutionary shift—verses like “man looks on the outward appearance, but God
looks on the heart” and “as [a man] thinks within his heart, so is he.” This inside-out reality wasn't fully realized until the Gospel, which unequivocally reveals that I can only bond with God by grace through faith---NO amount of actions and words will create the heart connection I long to have with the Divine. My life, my value, and my legitimacy are now “hidden with Christ in God,” and I get to operate on an
invisible planet (His Kingdom) as alien and stranger to the world of external measurements.
For us Christ followers, religion is now about those little choices in
our hearts that are noted—measured, if you will—by our Father who sees in
secret. What we choose in our heart is what binds us to our God, and each
little ligio becomes part of a
tapestry that glorifies Him and gives life to me. Will those
choices translate into something tangible? Yes, of course--faith without works is dead! Our bond with the
Father will show up in our love for others, and intimacy with the Spirit
will create fruit that others will see and experience...the radical freedom of the Gospel comes when I believe (really believe!) that how my actions and words measure up to well-intentioned religious yardsticks is no longer of concern to me.
Friday, February 26, 2016
Thursday, October 24, 2013
My Pathetic Obituary
I've noticed a common theme lately in conversations with friends who are either entering or are well into the second half of life--we all seem anxious to know that our lives will count for something. Here are some roughly accurate quotations:
“…I want to make a difference in people’s lives”
“…I want to write books that bring hope to women who share
my struggles”
“…I want people to get back to me later and tell me that what
I said changed their lives”
[and my personal
favorite...]
“…I don’t want to have a pathetic obituary, like most of the
ones I read in the paper”
It was during that last conversation that I started to consider how easy it is to be drawn into the mindset of the world---which is all
about measurements and comparisons, even after death (how will my 10-sentence life summary measure up to the one next door?!)---and lose sight of the mindset of God, which is all about the
orientation of our hearts toward Him.
This is the first and greatest commandment, Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Yes, yes, we religious folk respond--of course! We are to love the Lord in all those aspects as we serve Him and [here comes the shift in mindset] serving Him of course means doing and if we’re doing with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength then the results are bound to add up to something measurable and significant...In other words, there should be no pathetic obituaries for the lovers of God (or at least not for this lover of God)!!
This is the first and greatest commandment, Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Yes, yes, we religious folk respond--of course! We are to love the Lord in all those aspects as we serve Him and [here comes the shift in mindset] serving Him of course means doing and if we’re doing with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength then the results are bound to add up to something measurable and significant...In other words, there should be no pathetic obituaries for the lovers of God (or at least not for this lover of God)!!
But what if, in God’s reckoning, that which is truly significant happens in the hidden places of the heart, and may or may not
translate into something that the world--including the religious world--can measure? Think, for instance, of this
challenge from Jesus to the measurement approach of His religious world: “When
you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street
corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the
truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by
yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then
your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (Matt. 6:5-6).
And what do you suppose the reward might be for the private time I spend
turning my heart to my Abba--something visible and measurable? Something
that will be recorded in a newspaper obituary?
I’m thinking the reward is a lot less tangible--perhaps a sense of
confidence or freedom, or some other peaceful fruit of being in right relationship
with the Lord of Creation. Kind of hard to put that outcome into words for even our most intimate friends to understand (much less for the the
world to read about) but think of its immeasurable significance, both in this life
and the next!
Like my friends I'd really really like to make a measurable contribution to my community---I long to make a difference, to write books that bring hope, to know for certain that I changed people's lives for the better. Will those desires translate into a dazzling obituary? Probably not.
Good thing there's an alternative universe to live in, with a completely different reward system. Man looks on the outward appearance, and measures accordingly, but God looks on the heart, where "measurement" has no meaning.
Like my friends I'd really really like to make a measurable contribution to my community---I long to make a difference, to write books that bring hope, to know for certain that I changed people's lives for the better. Will those desires translate into a dazzling obituary? Probably not.
Good thing there's an alternative universe to live in, with a completely different reward system. Man looks on the outward appearance, and measures accordingly, but God looks on the heart, where "measurement" has no meaning.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Greeted with a Holy K.I.S.S.
Once again I'm in a swirl of anxiety about how best to use a rare block of alone-time at home. So many worthwhile things to do and so much pressure to get my priorities right!
In the past my prayer would be, "Lead me, Lord---what's your will today?!" (translation: "please help me not to get it wrong!"), but I've started to learn that at times like this the "best" prayer is to do nothing--literally nothing--except sit with the Spirit and feel what I'm feeling. So I do that, allowing the babble (Babel!) of anxious voices to flow:
"I'm afraid" (thinking of tasks I think I'm supposed to know how to do, but don't!)
"I'm ashamed" (thinking of reconnecting with friends I neglected during recent times of trouble)
"I'm overwhelmed" (thinking of ten time-sensitive projects and seeing room in my schedule for only five)
It doesn't take long for the babble to subside and for the Spirit to remind me of the devotional I dutifully skimmed this morning before my brain was even awake: "I'm grateful that [I am] a special picture frame in which You can portray Your grace and beauty, Your love, Your strength, Your faithfulness..."
What if the framing of His character is first and foremost about the orientation of my heart rather than accomplishing tasks in a certain correct order? What if it's all really really simple? I'm called to love the Lord my God and I'm called to love others. I show my heart love through actions, of course, but if performance anxiety about actions starts to cloud my heart then it's time to stop and reorient myself.
What if the work of God is simply to believe (John 6:29) and to trust that His grace-beauty-love-strength-faithfulness will somehow shine through my special, clumsy frame---not because I accomplish all my tasks with perfect prioritizing, but because in the midst of imperfection my heart is oriented to His heart? What if keeping it simple means I get to relax, over and over again into this good news: God loves and accepts me through the work of Christ on the cross, not through the work I accomplish this morning, and there's no condemnation for me even when I'm afraid or ashamed or overwhelmed.
And so, I realize, I've been given a kiss from God, not as the world gives (keep it simple, stupid) but as a loving Father gives:
Keep it simple, sweetheart
Yes.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
My New North Star
A few days ago I had an initial session with a new coaching client. As is often the case, I invited her to envision what would be the result of all the changes she wanted in her life--specifically, what words would characterize her experience of life if these things changed? The words that emerged as she talked were ENERGY, FREEDOM, ENJOYMENT, and they became the "way of being" she could anchor into as we talked about new commitments she would make going forward.
It's so clear to me how powerful such words can be when used as a North Star, a focal point and touchstone for navigating our internal conversations and our external actions. So why, I wondered as I muddled through yesterday in indecision and procrastination, do I not know exactly what my own North Star is in this season? I went to sleep last night considering the question and, as far as I can remember in my tossing and turning, spent the next four hours wrestling with it in my dreams. In the middle of the night a collection of words finally came to me with such startling clarity that I woke up, fully alert.
These were the words: "Go on--simple, humble, and unafraid to live the life."
The directive wasn't original to me--it comes verbatim from a little booklet of quotations by a minister of the Gospel. I read (and apparently memorized) the quote decades ago, and obviously it came back to me for some deeply resonating reason. I lay in my bed, pondering each word and feeling more and more energized till finally I had to get up and capture my thoughts.
...GO ON speaks to me of perseverance--the concept that kept nudging at me after recently watching Flash of Genius, a movie about an inventor who spent years building and arguing his own legal case around patent infringement. The passion and tenacity he demonstrated were both an invitation and a challenge to me to persevere in what's important to me.
...SIMPLE reminds me of people in my life--my husband is a shining example--who accomplish so much by "keeping it simple." I manage to delay and confuse myself on a regular basis by overthinking, overplanning, and overexplaining!
...HUMBLE deflates the grandiosity that is often my tilt and brings me back to earth and soil, to humus, which is the root not only of the word itself but of my very being...Gen. 3:19,"for you are dust and to dust you will return." The richest humus, full of the decaying remains of dead organisms, is also the birthplace for new life--what if an ongoing willingness to die to my ridiculous self-significance could produce ongoing shoots of newness in my life?
...UNAFRAID TO LIVE THE LIFE....I love this! It reminds me of a passage from a favorite devotional, 31 Days of Praise: "Thank You that I can move into the future nondefensively, with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead..." How gloriously free that sounds!
So here I am, short on sleep but newly oriented by a North Star that will help me navigate the coming days, weeks, and months. YES!!
It's so clear to me how powerful such words can be when used as a North Star, a focal point and touchstone for navigating our internal conversations and our external actions. So why, I wondered as I muddled through yesterday in indecision and procrastination, do I not know exactly what my own North Star is in this season? I went to sleep last night considering the question and, as far as I can remember in my tossing and turning, spent the next four hours wrestling with it in my dreams. In the middle of the night a collection of words finally came to me with such startling clarity that I woke up, fully alert.
These were the words: "Go on--simple, humble, and unafraid to live the life."
The directive wasn't original to me--it comes verbatim from a little booklet of quotations by a minister of the Gospel. I read (and apparently memorized) the quote decades ago, and obviously it came back to me for some deeply resonating reason. I lay in my bed, pondering each word and feeling more and more energized till finally I had to get up and capture my thoughts.
...GO ON speaks to me of perseverance--the concept that kept nudging at me after recently watching Flash of Genius, a movie about an inventor who spent years building and arguing his own legal case around patent infringement. The passion and tenacity he demonstrated were both an invitation and a challenge to me to persevere in what's important to me.
...SIMPLE reminds me of people in my life--my husband is a shining example--who accomplish so much by "keeping it simple." I manage to delay and confuse myself on a regular basis by overthinking, overplanning, and overexplaining!
...HUMBLE deflates the grandiosity that is often my tilt and brings me back to earth and soil, to humus, which is the root not only of the word itself but of my very being...Gen. 3:19,"for you are dust and to dust you will return." The richest humus, full of the decaying remains of dead organisms, is also the birthplace for new life--what if an ongoing willingness to die to my ridiculous self-significance could produce ongoing shoots of newness in my life?
...UNAFRAID TO LIVE THE LIFE....I love this! It reminds me of a passage from a favorite devotional, 31 Days of Praise: "Thank You that I can move into the future nondefensively, with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead..." How gloriously free that sounds!
So here I am, short on sleep but newly oriented by a North Star that will help me navigate the coming days, weeks, and months. YES!!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Gossamer
The gossamer days have begun--late summer, early fall--when our porch is laced with delicate threads of spider magic. Morning is the time to see them, and my heart sings as they shimmer with each little breeze. Glory (GLORY!) is all I can say...this is a "groaning," a weight of glory, too deep for words. I feel like the girl I once was, finding in nature the beginning of Sehnsucht and desperate to capture--no, to honor--this beauty by trying to describe it.
How can words begin to capture the wonder of this architecture, these impossible tight-wires and delicate, spiraling discs? Not just these but the glory of it all--cloudless sky and clapping trees, cool clean air and warming sun, chirps and caws and rustlings--this blooming buzzing outpouring of color, sound, and light!
And above, beneath, around it all the Pneuma that moves wherever it pleases. I hear its sound and feel its power but don't know where it's coming from or where it's going. I only know that in this Breath I live and move and have my being. Know, too, that I also am a gossamer wonder, here for a season and shining in the Light.
How can words begin to capture the wonder of this architecture, these impossible tight-wires and delicate, spiraling discs? Not just these but the glory of it all--cloudless sky and clapping trees, cool clean air and warming sun, chirps and caws and rustlings--this blooming buzzing outpouring of color, sound, and light!
And above, beneath, around it all the Pneuma that moves wherever it pleases. I hear its sound and feel its power but don't know where it's coming from or where it's going. I only know that in this Breath I live and move and have my being. Know, too, that I also am a gossamer wonder, here for a season and shining in the Light.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
customizing the Good News
I love the idea that came to me recently: If God knows and cares for me individually (to the point of numbering the hairs on my head!) maybe the Guide within me, the indwelling Spirit of Christ, wants to translate the Gospel into everyday words that speak to my heart in this particular moment, this mood, these circumstances....
I find it to be a great self-coaching question, especially when I start to feel the "tightness of soul" that precedes debilitating bouts of anxiety and depression. Another way to ask the question is...
We tend to think of "the Good News" strictly in the context of Bible-Words. That term just came to me, and I assure you that I don't use it flippantly! I love the Bible. I revere it as a unique communication from God's heart to His people. I have experienced countless times the "living and active" power of Scripture, and I absolutely believe it would be folly for me not to use the textual Manna God has provided for my journey.
I've also noticed that Bible verses sometimes seem to bounce off me, especially when I'm in the "fog of war" between flesh and Spirit. Maybe I'm just too feeble in my faith to receive the Word properly, or MAYBE the Guide has other words, everyday words, that would penetrate more effectively in that moment.
Here's an example: As I sat paralyzed one morning in the anxiety of how to bring meaning and structure to an unstructured day, I tried to imagine what God could say to dissolve the anxiety. Right away these words came to me: "You know what? Nothing you do or think or feel is of any particular significance in the light of Who I am. My Life and Love are so vast, so complete, so 'enough,' that if you did nothing of importance for the rest of your life everything would still be okay."
That may not sound like Good News to you, but to me it was an incredible spirit-opening relief! I was so hung up on doing the "right" things that day---the things that would make my life legitimate and pleasing to God---that I had forgotten my legitimacy rests in Christ, not in my daily performance. It's a basic principle of the Gospel, right? There are lots of Bible verses that communicate the same message, but I wonder if in that moment those customized Spirit-Words energized me more quickly and effectively than Bible-Words would have.
The Good News is with us always---always up-to-date and always relevant to our individual personalities and circumstances. We can hit the "refresh" button on the question every minute if we feel the need. So how about it? What would be Good News to you right now?
what would be "Good News" to me right now?
I find it to be a great self-coaching question, especially when I start to feel the "tightness of soul" that precedes debilitating bouts of anxiety and depression. Another way to ask the question is...
what could God say to me that--if I believed it--
would open up my heart and spirit to Life?
would open up my heart and spirit to Life?
We tend to think of "the Good News" strictly in the context of Bible-Words. That term just came to me, and I assure you that I don't use it flippantly! I love the Bible. I revere it as a unique communication from God's heart to His people. I have experienced countless times the "living and active" power of Scripture, and I absolutely believe it would be folly for me not to use the textual Manna God has provided for my journey.
I've also noticed that Bible verses sometimes seem to bounce off me, especially when I'm in the "fog of war" between flesh and Spirit. Maybe I'm just too feeble in my faith to receive the Word properly, or MAYBE the Guide has other words, everyday words, that would penetrate more effectively in that moment.
Here's an example: As I sat paralyzed one morning in the anxiety of how to bring meaning and structure to an unstructured day, I tried to imagine what God could say to dissolve the anxiety. Right away these words came to me: "You know what? Nothing you do or think or feel is of any particular significance in the light of Who I am. My Life and Love are so vast, so complete, so 'enough,' that if you did nothing of importance for the rest of your life everything would still be okay."
That may not sound like Good News to you, but to me it was an incredible spirit-opening relief! I was so hung up on doing the "right" things that day---the things that would make my life legitimate and pleasing to God---that I had forgotten my legitimacy rests in Christ, not in my daily performance. It's a basic principle of the Gospel, right? There are lots of Bible verses that communicate the same message, but I wonder if in that moment those customized Spirit-Words energized me more quickly and effectively than Bible-Words would have.
The Good News is with us always---always up-to-date and always relevant to our individual personalities and circumstances. We can hit the "refresh" button on the question every minute if we feel the need. So how about it? What would be Good News to you right now?
Saturday, May 15, 2010
pluck
Interesting to notice how I've been resisting this second post. My "familiar spirit"---what a friend helped me identify as an addiction to grandiosity---has been urging me to wait till I'm really ready. First you need to find all those quotations, says that spirit, the ones that have been echoing in your mind and giving you the itch to write. Once you have those in hand you'll have a grand essay to present---without them it's just uncredentialed you, sharing your thoughts outside the validating company of those real (published) writers.
But today I wrestled with that dark angel and threw her aside. I sat on my front porch on an impossibly beautiful morning and journaled through my resistance. It's spring-to-summer in New-England....with the blue of this sky and the crispness of this air you'd think it was autumn, but no, there's fresh green around us and a high sun above us. The deep cold lies behind. Life says "come on, let's go!"
And after the decision was made---forget the quotations, I'm just going to write---I reached for My Utmost for one last input before starting my output. The more I read of the May 15 entry, the bigger my smile. Guess I'll be sharing a quotation after all:
Peter says--"Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you." Rise to the occasion; do the thing. It does not matter how it hurts as long as it gives God the chance to manifest Himself in your mortal flesh. May God not find the whine in us any more, but may He find us full of spiritual pluck and athleticism, ready to face anything He brings.
Blessed Oswald Chambers, with his quaint, old-fashioned language and his piercing insights in what it means to follow the Way! I love the picture he conjures up: a spiritual Rudy, bouncing up after some giant linebacker has smashed him to the ground, full of pluck and asking for more! I can be like Rudy. I don't have to listen to the dark angel who tells me to lie there and save myself from the next hit because it's just too scary and too painful. I can rise the occasion and do the thing!
But perhaps you're not seeing the connection between fiery trials and blog posts. You see, if I were to follow what the Bible calls in Romans 8 "the mind set on the flesh" I wouldn't be writing a blog at all. What does Paul the apostle mean by this strange phrase? For me, "the flesh" is perfectly defined by a concept I learned in a transformational training called Breakthrough (offered by the Association for Christian Character Development, accd.org)---it is human nature to want to "look good, feel good, be right, and be in control." We all want those things, and left to ourselves we all spend our lives trying to have them! Sometimes I do get to feel good & look good even while I'm following the Spirit's call to live a life of Love. The mind of the flesh shows up when I put the natural impulse to serve my human nature above what Love says to do.
So it has been with the call to say yes to God through this blog. In my flesh I hate putting my words out for just anyone to read, because I'm terrified of feeling out of control, terrified of looking or feeling foolish. In the Spirit I've wanted to share lots of things--wonderful, inspiring truths that have been such a blessing to me--but the flesh has procrastinated for two weeks now. Finally, this morning on an impossibly beautiful day, I faced the flesh and named my fear before God. In my journaling prayers I was reminded that I don't glorify Him by what I consider successful outcomes--by looking good, feeling good, being right, or being in control--but by my willingness to "face anything He brings," even if it's uncomfortable. And if I waver, give in for a while to the flesh, I can still glorify Him by having the pluck to stand up and go again.
But today I wrestled with that dark angel and threw her aside. I sat on my front porch on an impossibly beautiful morning and journaled through my resistance. It's spring-to-summer in New-England....with the blue of this sky and the crispness of this air you'd think it was autumn, but no, there's fresh green around us and a high sun above us. The deep cold lies behind. Life says "come on, let's go!"
And after the decision was made---forget the quotations, I'm just going to write---I reached for My Utmost for one last input before starting my output. The more I read of the May 15 entry, the bigger my smile. Guess I'll be sharing a quotation after all:
Peter says--"Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you." Rise to the occasion; do the thing. It does not matter how it hurts as long as it gives God the chance to manifest Himself in your mortal flesh. May God not find the whine in us any more, but may He find us full of spiritual pluck and athleticism, ready to face anything He brings.
Blessed Oswald Chambers, with his quaint, old-fashioned language and his piercing insights in what it means to follow the Way! I love the picture he conjures up: a spiritual Rudy, bouncing up after some giant linebacker has smashed him to the ground, full of pluck and asking for more! I can be like Rudy. I don't have to listen to the dark angel who tells me to lie there and save myself from the next hit because it's just too scary and too painful. I can rise the occasion and do the thing!
But perhaps you're not seeing the connection between fiery trials and blog posts. You see, if I were to follow what the Bible calls in Romans 8 "the mind set on the flesh" I wouldn't be writing a blog at all. What does Paul the apostle mean by this strange phrase? For me, "the flesh" is perfectly defined by a concept I learned in a transformational training called Breakthrough (offered by the Association for Christian Character Development, accd.org)---it is human nature to want to "look good, feel good, be right, and be in control." We all want those things, and left to ourselves we all spend our lives trying to have them! Sometimes I do get to feel good & look good even while I'm following the Spirit's call to live a life of Love. The mind of the flesh shows up when I put the natural impulse to serve my human nature above what Love says to do.
So it has been with the call to say yes to God through this blog. In my flesh I hate putting my words out for just anyone to read, because I'm terrified of feeling out of control, terrified of looking or feeling foolish. In the Spirit I've wanted to share lots of things--wonderful, inspiring truths that have been such a blessing to me--but the flesh has procrastinated for two weeks now. Finally, this morning on an impossibly beautiful day, I faced the flesh and named my fear before God. In my journaling prayers I was reminded that I don't glorify Him by what I consider successful outcomes--by looking good, feeling good, being right, or being in control--but by my willingness to "face anything He brings," even if it's uncomfortable. And if I waver, give in for a while to the flesh, I can still glorify Him by having the pluck to stand up and go again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
