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Posts Tagged ‘understanding’

Nazarene Sect

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 26, 2009| 2 Comments »

If we just call it a “sect” or a “faction” or even a “cult,” we can marginalize everyone within that group. These labels already carry negative connotations without anyone needing to know any actual beliefs or doctrines. It’s a technique for categorizing the world and justifying our actions.

Acts 24:5-6
We [Sanhedrin] have found this man [Paul] to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. [Tertullus, the lawyer, speaking against Paul to Felix, the Governor, in Caesarea]

I have always been intrigued by labels. It’s something that humans do automatically. It’s how we “understand” what we are seeing or hearing. We look at an object and our brain identifies it as a chair or an animal or a tree. And then there are the sub-categories like particular designs of chairs or specific animals or breeds or types of trees. We do this with people too. They are categorized by how they look by skin color, body part shapes, hair color or texture, size, etc. People are also sorted by their sex, clothing, their neighborhood, their country, their language, and their incomes. And of course, they are classified by their associations, whether religious or secular.

But how do we understand or embrace something or someone new? How do we recognize it? If that thing or person does not fit into any of the normal designations, then what is it? Who is it?

I always thought the ancient prophets, whose writings and prophecies are peppered throughout the scriptures, were beleaguered with this categorization problem. They were seeing visions of a future they could not know. How would a primitive person describe an airplane, a rocket, or a space ship? How would they describe an atomic explosion? Are we any better at explaining or understanding miracles?

We use our limited understanding, our own frames of reference. We shove the unfamiliar into the closest or most familiar box. If there is no shape we recognize, we give it shape. We name it.

Jesus was outside the box. He was doing and saying things that made no sense to most of the people he encountered. Paul wasn’t much better.

Christianity of today evolved its own norms. It has taken the recorded words of Jesus and scrutinized, categorized, dissected and analyzed them to the extreme. And yet, when folks start pulling at the edges of Christianity, there is no less resistance than there was in Jesus’s day. We are still afraid of being deluded, of believing a lie, of breaking the law.

But God does not need us to “protect” the truth. God knows the heart.

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Duh! You Believe at Last!

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , on August 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 16:31
You believe at last!” Jesus answered.

I couldn’t help but see Jesus rolling his eyes up when he said this. If “Duh!” would have been a cliche at the time, he would have used it.

But the disciples are not the only ones who don’t get it. Why else would we have other idioms that say the same thing as “duh!” (the new generation’s shortened version) like “If it was a snake it would have bit me” or “the elephant in the room.” These are ways we talk about the obvious that we just don’t see or don’t get.

There are a number of reasons for not getting it. Sometimes, it just doesn’t occur to us. Sometimes, it’s the mental model issue. Sometimes, we have our head in the sand and don’t want to believe it. But eventually, the fog clears and we do really see… or really hear.

The thing that surprised me today is that immediately after that moment… that “revelation of the obvious” we are faced with next level of “non-understanding.” I mean, we get it … and then it’s the next thing we don’t get.

So, here the disciples finally understand and believe… Jesus came from God… but in the next instant, they have to understand he’s leaving and they will scatter and betray him.

It’s no different with us. We must be willing to press on. We can’t be content with a single inspiration. We must be ready to wrestle with the next truth. That’s how we grow: one building block upon another. That’s the journey. That’s the joy.

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Head in the Sand

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , on August 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 9:45
“But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.”

I often accuse my son of putting his head in the sand. He has responsibilities and chores and tasks that should be accomplished, but he procrastinates. Whatever is happening in the moment trumps these more mundane concerns. But, as the mother, these are important matters. They are small but they add up, everything from taking out the trash, feeding the animals, or washing his clothes to getting his driver’s license and paying his bills. He still doesn’t seem to “get it.”

The disciples, apparently, weren’t doing much better. Jesus told them he was going to be betrayed and they didn’t understand. I cannot help but wonder why. This was not the first time Jesus had mentioned it.

Granted, some things were purposefully hidden from the disciples as well as the crowds, but they could have pursued this train of thought. They chose not to and basically, I think they “didn’t want to know.” This is the essence of putting our heads in the sand. We don’t want to know or hear the truth.

Am I really that much different from them … or my kids? It’s just different sand.

As parents, we are often saying to our teens, “don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.” Somehow, we fear that the knowing will bring painful responsibility or will place huge demands upon us. If we “know,” then we may have to act, we may have to choose, we may have to confront ourselves and those around us. We may have to do something we don’t want to do.

Why do we assume that the truth of a situation will always be a bad thing? It’s equally possible that by procrastinating or ignoring a situation, we are missing the good stuff too.

I want to be present today. I’m taking my own head out of the sand and taking a good look around. It’s time. It’s time to start asking questions, to clarify, to understand. It’s time to see what’s really happening.

As Julian of Norwich said, “All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.”

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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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Open My Mind

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 24:45
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Today, I reached the final verses of Luke, in my tortoise-like study of the scriptures. I have intentionally read only 8-16 verses per day, reviewing their intent and seeking an application for me that day. From these daily readings, I have asked the Lord to build these meditations.

But I realized today that we can read and read, we can listen to sermons and teachings, we can write and write about we read and hear or see, but none of it will touch the heart or light a way without the Lord’s opening of our minds for understanding.

In the same way that Jesus opened the eyes of the two disciples He encountered on the road to Emmaus, He opens the mind. It is a healing!

Acknowledging that the mind or the heart or the eyes need to be opened is part of the process. In John 5:6, Jesus asked the invalid who had been lying on a mat for a long time, “Do you want to be well?” I believe Jesus is asking me (and all of us), “Do you want to understand?” Do I really want my mind opened? I do.

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Like a Little Child

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children….” Matthew 11:25

This is my first request, that God would draw me to Him like a little child, for it is only then, I believe, that I will be most open to seeing, believing, trusting, and knowing Him. I have two pictures of myself as a little girl, quite faded now, in black and white, sitting at my father’s desk. In one, I am diligently writing. But, in the second, I have lifted my pen and my face to the camera and I am so full of joy. It is an “aha” moment for the little girl. Discovery! Success! Connection!

Children are easy vessels. What is poured in is easily poured out. That is, until the world teaches them to dissemble. May this time “in Christ” be a time of transparency. Reveal yourself to me, O God, that I might reveal You within me to others.

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On Knowledge 3

Posted in Fifty days with Jesus, tagged , , , on October 21, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Pastor uses Colossians 2:1-3 as his companion scripture for today’s meditation and I have to say, it’s quite powerful. I have it underlined in my Bible, but I haven’t revisited this in awhile.

The first phrase that jumped out at me was, “the mystery of God” and then, how that mystery (which is Christ and what it meant to be Christ – i.e. the work of the Christ for humankind) is available to us. It’s God’s desire that we “get it!” … that we understand it. God wants us to understand the mystery. God wants us to “know.” And, as we understand the depth of that work for us and in us, then wisdom and knowledge are discovered.

I still maintain that wisdom is a discovery process. Sometimes, it takes time to understand how something works. Someone can give you a gift and you only understand some of its working parts. Think about something complex like a computer or software. There’s a process to learning how it works. The longer you work with it, the better you get… if you are persistent … if you are willing to learn… if you get help when you get stumped… if you read the manual! And then there’s the “aha!” moment.

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