Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Fullness, Full, Overflowing

October 15, 2010 by Irmgarde Brown

The idea of fullness always brings up Thanksgiving dinner for me. I see us all, draped on various couches, sated and more, loosening belt buckles and trying to lie as flat as possible to give more room for all the plenty just consumed. Supposedly, this is what is available from Christ.

Ephesians 1:22-23
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

But we’re not full. At least I know I’m not.

Some years ago when everyone was on the Toronto Blessing bandwagon and everyone was “soaking” on the floor and asking God for more, more, more. Now, I can’t help but think God was shaking his head, “How much more do you want? I’ve given you everything!”

It’s not that God is stingy with the stuff, with the power, with the blessings, with the anointings, it is our cap. In order to fill up with all of goods, we gotta make room. Goes back to the hoarding issue: keeping things we don’t need: thoughts, blame, anger, old scripts, pain, shame, ambition, judgments, and so on.

A sponge full of dirty water can’t take on more water no matter how tasty and abundant the spring.

Empty first, then fullness…

Posted in Ordinary Time | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Eyes of my Heart

October 14, 2010 by Irmgarde Brown

I pray for my eyes to be opened! I pray for enlightenment (knowledge, understanding, awareness and clarity). And I pray that this awakening would not be an isolated event but a groundbreaking moment that prepares the way for a turn in my story.

Ephesians 1:18-19
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Power is promised and I consider power dangerous, particularly for humans untethered by the seal of God. In some ways, I want power and control. If I said otherwise, I would be lying. I struggle with “control issues” all the time. And successful control translates into power. But that is power abused and we see that every day in our culture. The power of influence or money or position.

But here, we are told that an enlightened heart, eyes wide open, understands power in a new way. It’s an inheritance from God in Christ. It’s a focus. And as I’ve written a million times before, I’m sure there’s a paradox involved. Power is probably in letting go of one’s own “power.” It’s submitting to divine power. And of course, that power will not be the way I would expect. Would I even recognize that kind of power?

Will I recognize what I see when those spiritual eyes are opened?

When the prophets of old described all the unbelievably fantastic things they saw in their visions, they could only use their limited understanding. Am I any different?

And yet, it is my heart’s cry today. Open the eyes of my heart Lord.

Posted in Ordinary Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Marked with a Seal

October 13, 2010 by Irmgarde Brown

Lots of different seals crop up in a life, from Easter seals that signify a contribution to a worthy cause to government seals that confirm the truth of a document. Where does this one fit in?

Ephesians 1:13b
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit . . .

When my husband and I adopted our children, one of the requirements was that every page of our dossier had to have a notary seal, a county seal to confirm the notary seal, and finally a state seal to confirm the notary seal. A bit of redundancy to say the least. (And, somewhat costly I might add. Why the local governments feel it necessary to charge up to $5 for a seal really irks me. Particularly when foreign governments are already gouging prospective adoptive parents.)

But this is a different kind of seal, this Holy Spirit seal. This one speaks to a completion as well as a promise. This seals says I am a believer, a follower of the Christ whose sacrifice I accept as mysteriously having the power to forgive my sins irrespective of time (yesterday, today and forever). The seal also represents the promise of my response to the transaction. I am marked to continue in the faith. I agree to work with the inner Spirit and to allow that Spirit to direct my life.

The Church (that includes me as individual) is referenced as the bride of Christ [Revelation 21:9-10] . This makes perfect sense to me. The seal is a representation of a contract, a marriage, if you will. This marriage is also referred to as “becoming ONE.” [Matthew 19:4-6] In marriages we have both the legal contract (the license or pre-nuptial agreement) and the symbolic seals like the rings, the kiss, the sharing of “bread’ (cake). All of these are visible signs of our promises.

What is the Holy Spirit’s visible sign? How do we recognize the seal . . . in ourselvces or in others?

Some people mistakenly think it’s the wearing of religious icons or jewelry. Some think it’s the show-up rate at a church while others think it’s that 10% tithe.

Personally, I think the mark is within. It’s engraved on the heart and is revealede through the eyes. The more transparent and authentic we are, the more visible the mark of the seal.

Posted in Ordinary Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Intentional Redemption

October 11, 2010 by Irmgarde Brown

Whatever God gives, it’s given on purpose: salvation, forgiveness, healing, anointing, power, revelation, and more. All of these gifts are given according to his understanding of what is needed, when and why. Our leap of faith is accepting the timing.

Ephesians 1:7-8
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

It’s a trust issue. Do I trust God to give me what I really need or am I always looking for God to give me what I want in the moment?

And why is it so hard for me to remember that what I already have was given in the same spirit? I was redeemed 32 years ago. I had an epiphany, a revelation of the Christ and the necessity for the veil to be taken down. I was offered a relationship with God that was unlike any other relationship I had or would ever have in this 3-D world. I was invited to partake of the universal “Body.”

I needed that moment back then. And now, along the way, oh God, help me to see the other moments. Help me to recognize the gifts you gave and to return thanks. Help me to appreciate this path instead of complaining about the conditions of the way. There are so many other ways things could have gone.

If I were totally surrendered to your wisdom and understanding, I would know true joy. I still can, right? The invitation has never been snatched away. Today is just another example of the story we are making of my life.

Posted in Ordinary Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Predestination Club

October 10, 2010 by Irmgarde Brown

Here we go. The predestination (Calvinist) argument comes up again. Is this an exclusive club? After all, the Jews were a chosen people? Why can’t we be too? Don’t think so.

Ephesians 1:4-5b
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted . . .

Truthfully, I think the Jews were chosen to carry the mantle of the One God and to prepare the way for the completion of those long ago promises. They were to be the roots from which the tree would grow and the Messiah would emerge. But once the Messiah completed the mission on earth, all humans had access in a way they never had before. All people could come in. Is this a type of predestination? I believe it is. But it is far more spacious than most Christians of today believe.

Christ is the way because the long-awaited Messiah was the promised way. It’s not so much about becoming a Christian as it is accepting the story, the redemption of humanity to God.

This also goes back to the sowing and reaping principle. [Galatians 6:7-8] This is part of the human condition and is a law not unlike gravity. It is the work of the Christ that can break that pattern. Without that messianic intervention, we bear the burden of our sowing alone.

I am not interested in arguing as to whether there are those who are not predestined to accept Christ. Instead, I give thanks for those who have accepted this way. And I give thanks for my own epiphany. Without it, I would be dead by now. This I know to be sure.

Posted in Ordinary Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Crucified to the World

October 8, 2010 by Irmgarde Brown

Now that would be true freedom: to partake so fully of the work of the cross and thereby be dead to the wiles of the world, as in the profane and avaricious, covetous and greedy. But I get sucked in all the time. Why else would I continue to live beyond my means?

Galatians 6:14
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

We have three dogs in our household and our oldest (and smallest) dog has suffered the most from the acquisition of the other two, both in the same year, both only a year old and full of energy. He knows he is supposed to be the alpha dog, but he hasn’t figured out how to make it so. Mostly, he tries to prevent the other dogs from eating at mealtimes. His other tactic is to hoard the chewies and toys. It’s not that he necessarily wants them to eat or for play, but he believes it’s his right to have them all.

Am I any different? So often, I simply want what others have. It looks so appealing on them: the nice car, the designer clothes, the perfect hair, the manicures and pedicures, the successful honor students, the cohorts of friends, the dinners, the barbecues, the season tickets, and so on.

I mean, I can appreciate the amazing things that people like Mother Teresa have accomplished, but come on, own nothing? Eat the same as the poor (which means not eating regularly)? Wear the same “drapey” thing every day? What about having my teeth cleaned twice a year? And my eye doctor visit or my gyno exam? What about learning how to cook a gourmet meal? And how would I get my skin tags and moles removed?

It’s an amazing thing, the cross. That work, the ultimate sacrifice, made it possible for me to have relationship with God, creator of the universe. It also avails me to be set free from the web of “gotta have it.” But I haven’t appropriated that aspect of the cross at all. I have accepted the primary benefit but shrug off the other half of the equation. It’s when I step into this realm that I’m pretty sure, I can serve others freely.

I don’t serve others because it’s still, despite everything, it’s all about me. God forgive me. Give me courage to let go of the threads that I am holding (and not that hold me) in this worldly web. Christ died for me so that I could die to the “world” as we have come to know it. There is another world outside this one, that kingdom world, that is calling me.

Posted in Ordinary Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Sowing Slowly

October 7, 2010 by Irmgarde Brown

I don’t like doing anything slowly. Part of that is my personality and part of it I inherited from our current culture. Fast food, fast cars, fast acting detergent, whatever! About the only ones who appreciate slow are the Slowskies from the Comcast commercials.

Galatians 6:7b, 9
A man reaps what he sows. . . . Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

But truthfully, sowing has it’s own rate of speed. I can’t make something grow any faster than it’s intended to grow. It’s total futility to sit in front of a small pot and try to talk a seed into germinating. That is all God-stuff. It’s that way in nature and it’s undoubtedly the same way in the soil of the human soul.

I have posted about the Tortoise before. This ongoing battle of speed. My mind starts that buzzing first. I wake up in the mornings, and my mind is racing far ahead of my body. It makes me tired. I want to go back to sleep just to shut it off. But it’s even worse if I put that clock on sowing good things.

Good things will always reap good, eventually. If the motive is good, the results will be comparable. But I cannot predict what this “good” will look like. Sometimes, things get worse before they get better. Sometimes, the good we sow seems absorbed and lost. But, that is just perception. Good has a power, like energy, and cannot be destroyed. Good is love.

God is good. “Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.” [Mark 10:18b]
God is love. [I John 4:16b]

I believe our focus should be on the planting, the sowing, part of the equation. Plant love in the lives of others and good will grow. I have been too “results” oriented. I’ve been looking for harvest.

My kids are all teens and I keep crying over the mistakes their making in their lives, the false starts, the collapsing dreams. I’ve been counting on those early seeds to be bearing fruit already. And sure, in some cases, that’s how it happens. But now I’m thinking, they are still germinating. And instead of sorrowing over the slow growth, I should be planting more and more. No one has ever said that we’re supposed to sow and then sit around and wait for the reaping. That will come, in its good time.

More sowing. Nice and steady. Every day. Every day.

Posted in Ordinary Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »