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Posts Tagged ‘transformation’

Hour of Decision

Posted in Feast Days and Holy Days, Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 12:23
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified….”

There are several places in scripture where Jesus refers to “the hour.” Sometimes he speaks of it as a time that cannot be known or that the hour was approaching or that the hour had not yet come. But here in John 12, the tone changes and he identifies the time as “his hour.” From that “hour” forward, everything would be different.

I’m pretty sure most of us can’t predict when one of our “hours” is necessarily approaching, but when it does come, I think we know it for what it is. Now, I am not talking about the hour of a person’s death. I am talking about an hour of decision… an hour of transformation… an hour of self-discovery. These “hours” or times usually place a question before us: will you go or stay, will you accept or reject, will you agree or disagree, will you lie or tell the truth, (to name a few). These are those decisions that cannot be taken back.

Preparation for these “hours” is general, at best. As a Christian, the obvious things apply such as prayer, study, worship, and sensitivity to the voice of God. But perhaps it is more telling how we walk out our decisions after they are made.

I have a friend who is in a terrible marriage (who doesn’t know someone like this?) and continues to grieve and cry and rant over the circumstances. I understand in my heart and yet, I cannot help but think that the “hour” came and went. If a person decides “to stay,” then the rest of the time should be spent making “to stay” work. If not, then go, and make “leaving” work. One cannot both stay in body and leave in spirit or heart (or vice versa). It is living a lie.

When Jesus resurrected Lazarus, it was His last great miracle. He did not tell anyone “not to tell.” His time had come and everyone needed to know it. So He climbed on a donkey and entered Jerusalem publicly inviting His enemies to finish what they had started. He accepted every step, every curse, every attack, and every pain after His decision. We must do the same.

We have been fooled into believing that the decision itself is the hard part. Not at all, it’s the life after the decision that is the challenge. Thanks be to God who helps us walk out our decisions, both good and bad.

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I am still blind

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on July 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 9:25
He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

The man who had been born blind was healed by Jesus. Apparently, the man didn’t even know who Jesus was that day nor did he ask Jesus to heal him or give him sight. He was content. He had adapted to his circumstances.

It was Jesus who chose the man and the moment. And just like that, he stepped into a new world.

Afterward, he and his parents were all dragged into a trial of sorts before the Sanhedrin. The Pharisees tried to intimidate the man into admitting or accusing Jesus of sin. Instead, the man took a very pragmatic view. He had been born blind and now he could see. How could that miracle be classified as anything but good? (Of course, there was the additional controversy of Jesus having healed this man on the Sabbath.) In any event, the man was changed and he would not deny it. He knew he would never be the same.

Scientifically, anyone who gains any of the senses back goes through a very difficult time of integration. To suddenly see or hear is overwhelming to the brain. It must learn how to interpret all the new messages. This story implies that no such integration period was necessary. The miracle was complete. The man was not just healed physically but in totality. He was blind and then he could see (and understand).

The metaphor is simple. This verse is used often to describe a person’s transformation from unbelief to belief, from darkness to light.

For me, it is also about the “Aha” moment. The light bulb goes off and finally, I understand. I get it.

But I wonder in what areas I am still blind. Am I walking around, blind to the world around me? I live in a very insulated environment. I don’t see much suffering. I don’t see many who are hungry or dying. I don’t see bombs going off or guns pointed at me. I don’t see animals cruelly slaughtered for my food. I don’t see people who have lost their way.

Yes, I am still blind. It’s time for a miracle.

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Eating and Drinking Christ

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 6:53
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you…”

In chapter 6 of John, Jesus says, at least five times, “I tell you the truth…” Now, I have always been taught that anything repeated several times in scripture is important. And so, this morning, I have been meditating and dozing on this (I am trying to follow His lead here and tell the truth: meditating can be a sleepy business).

Why does Jesus keep saying this? Clearly, it’s because he suspects they don’t/won’t believe him. What he is saying is too fantastic or difficult to comprehend. He’s expecting their reaction to be, “You,re kidding, right?” No, He says, “I’m telling you the truth.”

By the end of this chapter, we are told that many of his disciples (the unnamed ones who followed him around for awhile and got a few free meals along the way), left him after this instruction. Apparently, He convinced them that he meant what he said. And, because He convinced them that He was telling the truth, they rejected his message… intentionally.

And what was the hullabaloo about? Eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Since there has never been a tradition of cannibalism in Judaism, He wasn’t talking about a barbecued ribs. But He was talking about consuming the life force of Christ. There is something to be said for cannibalism as a sacred practice. In primitive tribes, to eat someone was to become one with them. They ate the bodies to take in a person’s essence, strength, and soul.

Accepting Christ is serious business. It’s not just an idea. It’s a process. It’s breathing in. It’s consuming. It’s transforming. It’s energy. It’s eating. It’s nourishing. It’s life-sustaining.

And without Christ, we die.

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Taste the Best Wine

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , on June 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 2:9b-10
…Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

Jesus transformed the water into the “best wine” at the wedding in Cana. But, who noticed? The “master of the banquet” noticed and commented, but what about the rest of the guests? They were probably several “sheets to the wind” already. They probably missed the wonderful aroma, the nuance, the color, the details. They just got more of what they wanted. For them, wine was wine.

Do we do the same thing? Are we so caught up in our day-to-day that we miss the best wine, we miss the transformed moment, the transformed person? Do we allow our expectations and assumptions to lull us asleep?

As I continue writing these meditations, I am so often driven back to the same message about opening the self to the world. These messages are for me… for my heart, for my mind: Wake up! I hear Him say!

O, taste and see, the Lord is Good! [Ps 34:8]

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Nothing to Lose

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 21:2-3
He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.”

The hard part of giving is struggling with our desire to keep the stuff. At least, that’s one of my issues. I grew up fairly poor. My mother was a widow who somehow managed to raise two children on less than $10,000 a year. And yet, she always provided food on the table, invited people to our table who were less fortunate than we were, and always had cut flowers in our home and on her desk to give cheer and hope to others.

She gave out of what she had: her love for beauty, her time, her enthusiasm, her hope.

Although I have managed to attain a middle class lifestyle, I find myself holding too tightly to the things that come with it. I am afraid of being poor again. And I know that fear betrays my confidence in God to take care of me. I am ashamed to admit it and even more afraid to say it: will I be tested through an unexpected loss?

The poor widow in Jesus’s story understood that she had nothing to lose, things could only get better.

This past weekend, my brother’s apartment was robbed. They took everything that had street value: all of his electronics, movies, music, jewelry (including his wedding ring), and other miscellaneous valuables. He is being stripped of so many tanglibles and like Job, he wants to know why. I have no answers.

But it is a wake up call for me. I am being challenged to simplify my life. If I can let go myself, then it may not be needful to wrench the stuff away. Oh Lord, forgive my stubborn holding on to the ephemeral things of life. Give me courage relinquish “stuff” and cherish, instead, relationships, love, joy, hope, transformation, and Spirit.

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Being the Samaritan Woman

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 4:9
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I watched the movie, Being John Malkovich. Now, that’s a strange film, but intriguing. Today, I began wondering what it would be like to inside the head of the Samaritan woman.

I have known what it feels like to be an outcast. As a first generation Latvian, I never felt part of the American community as a child. My father didn’t speak English and my mother had a pronounced accent. We were different. I did everything I could to blend in. On the converse, I wasn’t particularly accepted into the Latvian community either. My father died when I was nine and my mother raised my brother and me as a single mom. I discovered (years later) that she wasn’t really embraced by the Latvians after my father died because she was half German. She was on her own until other women became widows and sought her out for advice. So, while she was ostracized (for both her heritage and her widowhood), so were we.

In the end, both my brother and I became over achievers in an effort to find place. But, much like the Samaritan woman, I was still desperate for relationships. Before I met the Christ, I wandered in and out one relationship after another. Thankfully I didn’t marry each of them, but there is one divorce in my history.

By the time I met Jesus, I needed what she needed: acceptance, renewal, hope, connection, promise, change, transformation.

Upon my conversion, I found no need for drugs or alcohol, that was amazing. I even quit smoking. And then, I tried the great experiment, I became celibate. (Big discovery: those guys weren’t dating me for my mind.) And so, it was just Jesus and me. What a honeymoon.

I wonder why we never learn the Samaritan woman’s name. Perhaps she is a metaphor for all women. Perhaps the details are different, but the feelings and thoughts are ours. I’m glad Jesus was direct with her, telling her specifically who He was. I needed that too. And I believed Him. Thanks be to God.

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Afraid of Healing

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , on May 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Mark 5:15
When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

I’ve been contemplating what it would mean to me to see someone transformed before my eyes. Why do we fear miracles?

In some ways, I think it’s similar to growing up in a dysfunctional family (who hasn’t?) and recreating those patterns in our adult life. It’s what we know. It’s our little norm. Healing, then, is not part of the norm.

I think about my daughter’s recent diagnosis of fibromyalgia. She has had pain in her body as long as she can remember. She never knew that people didn’t hurt to get out of bed or pick up clothes off the floor. Would she recognize her body without the pain and with full range of motion? She can’t even imagine it or vision it.

And, I think about the people who surround those who want to change. I remember some years ago when I joined Weight Watchers and the group leader warned us about our friends: the very ones who might sabotage our efforts. “Oh, you can have just one cookie, can’t you?” “Oh come on, it’s my birthday!” and so on. I understand that alcoholics run into similar sabotage if the loved ones are not on board with the program. Enablers don’t like change.

Lord, don’t let me sabotage anyone who is trying to change! Don’t let me fear transformation… in myself or in others. (Mark 9:24b “…I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”)

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