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Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’

Transformation

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

With each day that the veil of my heart is down, the more accessible and available I am for transformation and change. Isn’t that why I keep pulling the veil back up? Transformation is not easy. Old things must pass away and the new is unpredictable.

II Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

I have always considered myself as some kind of agent for change. It’s even part of my personal mission statement, “to inspire meaningful change . . . ” But when it’s my own change, my own transformation, I am a little more reluctant. Oh, I can change my hair, my weight, my clothes, and all the other external trappings. I can change my job and change my tasks. I can change the way I work. But in all of those things, I am in charge. I control the change.

The next step in my Journey requires a submission to the work of Holy Spirit. It’s moving into something more unfamiliar. It’s giving permission to the relationship I have with God to manifest differently.

What does it really mean to be a believer, to love God with my whole heart, soul and mind? What does it really mean to love others, to love my neighbor as myself, to love unconditionally, to the love the unlovely (an not just on a mission trip, but every day).

My theme song for many years has been, “Refiner’s Fire.” But the dross is so familiar, so comfortable, and yet so meaningless in the bigger picture.

I’m still afraid.

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Lifting the Veil

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

A veil can work two ways. It can protect what is within from outside eyes, but it can also hinder seeing clearly. Which veil do I still wear?

II Corinthians 3:15-16
Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

I can attest that I experienced a literal dropping of a mental veil when I read the New Testament through for the first time back in 1979 and as a result, acknowledged that Christ was real and had accomplished that mysterious feat of covering my sins with His blood sacrifice and reestablishing a way between me and God. One day the whole thing was gobbledy-gook and the next day, I saw truth in the words. The dropping of that veil was an enlightenment.

But I wonder now, if I haven’t raised a different kind of veil. Much like the Middle Eastern hijab or burqah, am I still hiding behind a veil of the heart? Am I concealing myself from people around me? When I consider the glory within and how I have shuttered it, isn’t that just another description of the veil?

For glory to pass through, the veil must be down. For love to pass back and forth, the veil must be down. This is about transparency and authenticity. This is about trust.

Over the years, I have struggled again and again with disappointment. It’s been a powerful clip-on for the veils in my life. To keep out disappointment, I push away dreams and hopes. To keep out fallible people, I raise standards. To shield myself from the judgment of others, I send out my own arrows of judgment (the best defense being a strong offense).

It is not the way.

Give me courage this day to drop the veil and to reveal myself and with me, the glory that is Christ Jesus. I believe Jesus was comfortable in every setting and with every kind of person because he was open, he was veil-less, he was accessible.

This is my passion for today.

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Yin, Yang, Paul and me

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Paul must not have been an very easy man to get along with. Probably stemming from his Pharisaic background, he appears to be quite the taskmaster. I imagine him as abrupt, determined, and overly confident. He lived by high standards and expected the same of others. Hmmm, that sounds uncomfortably familiar.

II Corinthians 2:1-2
BUT I definitely made up my mind not to grieve you with another painful and distressing visit. For if I cause you pain [with merited rebuke], who is there to provide me enjoyment but the [very] one whom I have grieved and made sad? [Amplified]

So much was expected of me as I was growing up in my family but I never seemed to make the mark. My brother was the successful one in school and my mother was always comparing me to him. I was the “last of the best” and somehow, that was worse than anything else. Smart, but never quite smart enough.

I lived such a roller coaster life: jumping in and out of people’s lives or making friends and losing friends or trying things and giving up on things or looking for fame and fortune but finding disappointment and loneliness.

When I finally accepted Christ at age 29 and stepped onto the “way,” for a long season, I actually became even more obnoxious. The very person I didn’t want to become, I became anyway: narrow, prideful, judgmental, assumptive. I used my faith like a club. What was I thinking? I thought I had all the answers. It took me thirty years to figure out I was just starting to understand the questions.

Am I saying that St. Paul smacks of that? Not necessarily, but I do think he stuck his foot in his mouth alot. He loved people but he wasn’t good with people. And I do that too.

He meant well too. And yet, his “chastisements” were a deep blow to those folks who were trying their best to understand it all, to “get” the new message, to accept the Messiah who had really come. . . and gone. I think they felt like they had actually missed the most important moment of their lives. All they had were their traditions and the stories of others like Paul. If we think our churches are crazy, I bet it was insane back then. Everything and I mean everything they had believed up until then was tossed out the window. It was a new day, a new kind of faith.

Paul was one of those “all or nothing” kind of guys. Stay or go. Believe or don’t believe, but “don’t waste my time or yours.” In some ways, that kind of dynamism is contagious and it’s easy to “follow” such a strong leader. But it can also be off putting.

I can be a bull in a china shop too. I tell you, when I’m right, I’m really right, but when I’m “wrong,” I’m really really wrong. Foot in mouth up to thigh. I say things I’m just thinking and others here me speaking with conviction and authority. Heck, I’m just thinking out loud.

Lord, forgive me for casting others aside with the sound of my voice. Forgive me for not remembering that lots of people are different from me, that they may need more time with information, that they may need to take a breath, that they may need space, that they may simply disagree with me.

Show me how to love unconditionally, to accept people right where they are. And to let you do the rest.

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Relying on God

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Why should I rely on God? Hmmm, that should be a no-brainer. You know, God, the who who raises people from the dead? God, the Spirit. God within. God of the kingdom: all there and available to me. And yet, I still try to to work it out alone, to go my own way.

II Corinthians 1:9b-11
But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.

The faith walk includes a submission to the Spirit within.

The story of Eve, whether viewed as an actual event or an allegory, is about the decision a person must make, either to broker all knowledge alone and to “be like God” [Genesis 3:5] or to trust God and not necessarily understand everything that happens but follow all the same.

I believe there is world space different than the 3-D world we can see, touch, and smell. That world is Spirit.

But how do I connect to this “other” world? That is the whole point, isn’t it? That is the reason believers have been meeting together over the millenniums. That is the reason for the “spiritual disciplines.” That is the reason for prayer (inner talking and dialogue with Spirit). That is the reason for a Christ, the way.

What’s also interesting in this brief passage is the allusion to the prayers of others has having direct impact on the process. When I pray for another person on his/her journey, circumstances, and perils, I am actually helping that person stay on the path and recognize the way.

Sometimes it’s easier to rely on God to work and do for someone else than for oneself. It’s a good enough place to start. In either case, I must acknowledge God to be God and I may not understand all of that. In fact, I know I don’t. But revelation does not come without commitment and trust.

One cannot believe without a willingness to believe.

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In the Face of Despair

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on July 10, 2010| 6 Comments »

No, I have not faced despair to the point of facing death. My life is blessed. What are my struggles compared to walking streets where a car bomb could go off at any moment or looking into the eyes of my starving children each day or living in a tent city or carrying water for miles in plastic water jugs?

II Corinthians 1:8b-9
We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

I understand the theory of trusting God in the face of despair. I understand that God is present for the poorest of the poor, for the loneliest of the lonely, the widows and orphans, the lost. But I have only witnessed these lives from afar. Even when I went to Africa, I was in a cocoon of safety.

In Namibia, I spent one afternoon at the Mafuta village where our church-sponsored children’s home was providing a lunch to the local school children. And I was touched by their need, their struggle. And yet, these were better off than many. They were being fed while many others elsewhere are not.

Would I have the courage to trust in God in the face of true despair? Would I be able to hold fast to my faith?

It is the reason I am still in awe of Mother Teresa when she served in Calcutta. She faced the despair of others every day. But she was able to sustain herself in Christ. Only her faith in God allowed her to rise each day and touch the dead and dying. To be the hands of love. She could not bring hope, even. Just tenderness and love in the face of despair.

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Stand Firm, Hold Fast

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on July 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

There is a piece of my journey that rests strictly with me: standing firm and holding fast. It’s the “free will” part of the plan. I must choose to stand as long as I am able, to stand with faith by holding fast to the One who promises there is good reason to do it.

I Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

If there is no world or realm outside of this three-dimensional one, if there is no changed body, if there is no kingdom where love is the norm and sin is untenable, then really, what is the point?

It’s all about the kingdom of heaven, really. Jesus is the door, the long-awaited door, by the way. He came and left with us the keys to the kingdom. He showed us “the way.”

The way is still there but continues to be an obstacle course. As a people, we allow the vines and briers to grow over and along the path just like the hedge of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Or, we are seduced to go the easier way at the crossroads. Or, we have lost the tools to cut down the vines, like the sword of truth.

This path should not be one of pride (as though my being on the path is something extraordinary). I’m just fortunate to have had a glimpse of it. But I am pretty sure it is most difficult to traverse the long journey alone. I keep trying to do this alone. I confess it; I know it. This is the primary reason for “church,” a team to travel together. But I don’t always feel like we’re on the same path.

Christianity is filled with paradox. And this is what I need to understand. Probably, the way that is least likely, is the way to go. The people who are least likely to help, are probably the guides.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. [Matthew 7:14]

This is the cause for the narrowness, the paradox and the sins of the nations.

Oh yes, I must stand firm this day, to stand in my faith that there is a way and I am on it. I must also hold fast to the hem of his garment [Matthew 9:21], and I will be able to stay on the path. There are indeed, “lions & tigers & bears, oh my” [Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz], but I believe in a Christ who will never leave me or forsake me [Hebrews 13:5].

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Body Splendor

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on July 1, 2010| 1 Comment »

I love the idea of splendor. The word speaks of expansiveness and beauty. And to think, all earthly bodies have splendor. It is unfortunate our culture has narrowed human body splendor to a few superficial ratings. And worse, we often abuse our own wonder-filled creation.

I Corinthians 15:40
There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.

The body is neither to be worshiped nor desecrated. It is a vessel, a sponge, a unique invention, a tool, and a living organism. It is a gift.

All bodies have great potential when born.

Our first abuse is our habit of limiting the body. In the same way we limit the body, we also limit the mind and the spirit. Why don’t we teach our children to recognize the body for all that it can be and do?

It’s a wonder for today. That’s all. A wonder.

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