Some people see religion as a crutch, something the weak need to help them deal with the difficulties life brings.
This may be true of many religions, but there are two ways (aside from its verity) in which Christianity differs from these.
First of all, Christianity readily acknowledges that it is a religion for the weak. St. Paul says "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12, 8-10) If you're strong enough to be able to stand between God and Satan in your own strength, then you don't need a Savior; you're already better than the rest of us, and Christianity isn't the religion for you.
And when asked why he ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, Jesus replied, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mk 2, 17)
But Christianity is not a crutch for those who just need a little help getting to heaven. It is a gurney to carry in those who have no hope of getting there themselves.
I am so weak. Lord, may I live by your strength.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
In the quiet
It is time to take stock of my decision-making when:
- I'm not willing to be quiet and listen, either in the morning or the evening
- My schedule fills up with activity
- I choose mindless entertainment or even utter wasting of time over anything thought-provoking or nurturing
- I begin seeking affirmation in the wrong areas
Friday, June 23, 2006
Opportunity knocks
Every day, opportunity knocks.
It isn't always the opportunity we're looking for.
But each day presents us the opportunity to come into God's presence, to spend time just being loved by the One who loves us perfectly.
Unless we receive it, what we have to offer others is paltry, and far less than they deserve.
Until we receive it, we mistake all kinds of other experiences for love. In fact, much of what we think of as love, what we mistake for love when we haven't experienced real love, is often just self-indulgence of one form or another.
It may be codependency, power struggle, co-existence.
But when we spend time in the presence of Love, our perspective shifts. It doesn't happen all at once, of course, but we gradually become more attuned to the love that awaits our full participation.
It isn't always the opportunity we're looking for.
But each day presents us the opportunity to come into God's presence, to spend time just being loved by the One who loves us perfectly.
Unless we receive it, what we have to offer others is paltry, and far less than they deserve.
Until we receive it, we mistake all kinds of other experiences for love. In fact, much of what we think of as love, what we mistake for love when we haven't experienced real love, is often just self-indulgence of one form or another.
It may be codependency, power struggle, co-existence.
But when we spend time in the presence of Love, our perspective shifts. It doesn't happen all at once, of course, but we gradually become more attuned to the love that awaits our full participation.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Good meeting tonight
I went to my wife's small group this evening. What a nice meeting. Every now and then I guess I need to be reminded that the Truth in whom I believe is bigger than my failings.
This weekend we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. While literally translated "The Body of Christ," this is celebrated in the Church in America as "The Body and Blood of Christ." The selected Scripture readings for this Sunday clearly indicate that the blood is an important element of the feast, as the first two readings have to do with the sprinkling of the Hebrews of the Old Testament with the sacrificial blood, and then the letter to the Hebrews comparing and contrasting the effect of Christ's blood.
While the feast is certainly about the Eucharist, as indicated by the Last Supper reading from St. Mark's gospel, it seems to me that it is impossible to discuss the Eucharistic presence of Christ without also considering his mystical presence in his Body, the Church. The reason that the bread and wine are transformed into Jesus' body and blood is so that the Church may be likewise transformed, which happens as individuals are increasingly transformed. And the reason for the institution of Old Testament sacrifice was to presage Jesus' sacrifice, so that we would recognize it and subsequently be transformed in him.
This weekend we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. While literally translated "The Body of Christ," this is celebrated in the Church in America as "The Body and Blood of Christ." The selected Scripture readings for this Sunday clearly indicate that the blood is an important element of the feast, as the first two readings have to do with the sprinkling of the Hebrews of the Old Testament with the sacrificial blood, and then the letter to the Hebrews comparing and contrasting the effect of Christ's blood.
While the feast is certainly about the Eucharist, as indicated by the Last Supper reading from St. Mark's gospel, it seems to me that it is impossible to discuss the Eucharistic presence of Christ without also considering his mystical presence in his Body, the Church. The reason that the bread and wine are transformed into Jesus' body and blood is so that the Church may be likewise transformed, which happens as individuals are increasingly transformed. And the reason for the institution of Old Testament sacrifice was to presage Jesus' sacrifice, so that we would recognize it and subsequently be transformed in him.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
A fresh post, finally!
Time to return. Have been quite busy. Cycling, church, Habitat, etc.
I have a regular Tuesday evening prayer group I co-lead, and I hate to miss it two weeks in a row. Meanwhile, I've been trying to meet with another Tuesday group as well, except I keep having other Tuesday stuff come up instead. Last week we had a really nice visit with our in-laws, who came in from out-of-town for a couple days, so it was important to me to spend as much of their visit with them as possible. Three weeks ago was Confirmation. Not long before that I was tending my wife who was recovering from surgery. The thing is, if this keeps up, I'm going to have to reevaluate my sense that I ought to be meeting with this other Tuesday group from time to time!
At any rate, I hope to spend some time on here reflecting after morning prayer time again. At least the prayer time has been there, even if the reflection time hasn't!
I have a regular Tuesday evening prayer group I co-lead, and I hate to miss it two weeks in a row. Meanwhile, I've been trying to meet with another Tuesday group as well, except I keep having other Tuesday stuff come up instead. Last week we had a really nice visit with our in-laws, who came in from out-of-town for a couple days, so it was important to me to spend as much of their visit with them as possible. Three weeks ago was Confirmation. Not long before that I was tending my wife who was recovering from surgery. The thing is, if this keeps up, I'm going to have to reevaluate my sense that I ought to be meeting with this other Tuesday group from time to time!
At any rate, I hope to spend some time on here reflecting after morning prayer time again. At least the prayer time has been there, even if the reflection time hasn't!
Thursday, May 18, 2006
TOSRV 2006
How wonderful to accomplish a challenging task. Even though it was my third year doing this two-day, 210-mile bike ride, there is still a great sense of having risen to the challenge once again. It's kinda' nice to be a veteran, and to see the newbies gain their own sense of accomplishment.
Each year presents its own challenges. This year we didn't get the forecast rain for Saturday, but Sunday made up for it. We encountered a fair number of flats, including one for me on Saturday and at least two or three to others on Sunday. The lengthy lunch break on Sunday while we waited for the late arrivals, who did admirably in the face of their own adversity, ended up putting us in the rain for an hour longer than we'd have encountered otherwise. But the rain wasn't nearly as torrential as at the Seagull century in October, nor the wind nearly as strong. And for once we all finished pretty close together.
Go Team Dog!
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Other "dirty" thoughts
More thoughts rooted in the dirt under my nails on Saturday:
Yes, the more we nurture a relationship, lavish healthy care on it, the more beautiful it becomes, just like a well-tended garden. But in our relationship with God, it is always he who is tending and nurturing us. Unlike the flowers in my garden, though, we have a choice to make concerning whether we will be tended.
Now, carrying that thought onward and linking it to the previous post, too often we choose to tend and nurture weeds in our lives. They respond fabulously, too, growing to the best of their ability, overrunning the garden. So again, we must choose what we feed carefully. We will fail to achieve the beauty which God wants to reflect off of us if we don't allow him to weed and prune us, to keep us in line.
We shouldn't expect God to contribute to the garden's growth when we're promoting the weeds. And we should be aware, just as the workers in the field in that parable about the wheat with the weeds, that we don't always recognize the weeds in our lives. We need to trust God's tending even (especially) when he seems to be nurturing something in us other than what we think needs to grow.
We sometimes tend to think of ourselves as weeds or as flowers, in a judgmental way. It is more helpful for me to think of my life as a garden (a vineyard?), made up of both types of plants. It is really important for me to allow the Diving Gardener to tend me!
Yes, the more we nurture a relationship, lavish healthy care on it, the more beautiful it becomes, just like a well-tended garden. But in our relationship with God, it is always he who is tending and nurturing us. Unlike the flowers in my garden, though, we have a choice to make concerning whether we will be tended.
Now, carrying that thought onward and linking it to the previous post, too often we choose to tend and nurture weeds in our lives. They respond fabulously, too, growing to the best of their ability, overrunning the garden. So again, we must choose what we feed carefully. We will fail to achieve the beauty which God wants to reflect off of us if we don't allow him to weed and prune us, to keep us in line.
We shouldn't expect God to contribute to the garden's growth when we're promoting the weeds. And we should be aware, just as the workers in the field in that parable about the wheat with the weeds, that we don't always recognize the weeds in our lives. We need to trust God's tending even (especially) when he seems to be nurturing something in us other than what we think needs to grow.
We sometimes tend to think of ourselves as weeds or as flowers, in a judgmental way. It is more helpful for me to think of my life as a garden (a vineyard?), made up of both types of plants. It is really important for me to allow the Diving Gardener to tend me!
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