New Eyes

I don't need new glasses.

I need new eyes.


There are two ways I can define LIFE:
1) in terms of the visual, material, physical world - the "seen," and
2) in terms of of the spiritual, non-physical world - the "unseen."

The view I take will determine what I consider to be my "needs" - the things for which a shepherd would provide. The view I take will make a world of difference (literally) in how I understand the promise in John 10:10 ("...I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." NRSV). Which viewpoint do I believe? Or maybe I should ask...Which viewpoint do I live?

"The Lord is my Shepherd..."
That means now. This moment. Each moment.
Yet so often "this moment" is spent feeling quite needy, worrying and trying to manage future moments.
When I am promised abundant life, I like to think I'm being assured abundance in the "seen" world. Of course, I wouldn't admit or perhaps even realize this initially.  But it's there, lurking under the surface.   I like to think he's promising material coverage. When life falls short of that lack-free standard, if I am honenst with myself and with God, I will question whether my "Shepherd" is really doing his job. If it even appears that my circumstances will not meet my expectations, my desires, I assume he must have overlooked something - and Supergirl (that would be, uh...me) steps in to "fix it"!

I need to see LIFE differently. I don't just need new glasses, though. I need new eyes. Restored vision.

See...there are real needs (these are what God sees, knows, and unfailingly provides for), and there are perceived needs (the ones I see and want fixed). The perceived needs never diminish in size or number--they are insatiable. I need new eyes. I need to see LIFE as God sees it.  Then I will find that "The Lord is my Shepherd" is not a promise yet to be fulfilled or occasionally fulfilled. Not "Sometimes he's my Shepherd," or "One day he'll be my Shepherd." The Lord is my Shepherd. It's fact. It's reality. Right now.

I need only the eyes to see it.
 

From "GrowDeep"...

A Manifesto Of Reading The Bible As Scripture

From: godwalker, 2 days ago

| View | Upload your own

Link: SlideShare Link

His Hands and Feet

Had lunch with a friend yesterday...we got to talking about how comfortable and safe our lives are compared to others in the world. I live a comfortable and safe life. I guard that. I like to think that it's "God's best," but recently I've started to wonder if that's really the case. I look at the lives of the saints--Francis, Bonhoeffer, Mother Teresa; contemporaries like Shane Claiborne and others in this new monasticism...and I see a quality of life that sparkles. It catches my attention and urges me to join in. But where to begin?

In an email I received from Christianity Today, Camerin Courtney wrote...
"It's one of the conundrums of living in our modern age: We want to make a difference in the world, but often we don't know how.
We're hyper-aware of the problems in our broken world; our televisions, newspapers, and internet connections bring us daily news about genocide on the other side of the planet and school shootings in our own country's heartland. In the face of so much brokenness and pain, we can feel too powerless, too busy, too overwhelmed by the magnitude of the need.
And yet, as Christians we're called to be Christ's hands and feet bringing help and hope to a broken world. We who have the only power to truly change lives living within us have this awesome responsibility and privilege. "

Shane Claiborne tells about a newspaper cartoon he read once...Two people are talking, and one remarks that he'd like to know why God allows so much suffering in the world. The other says,
"So why don't you ask him?"
"Well, I'm afraid."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid he'll ask me the same question."


God, why do you allow all of this suffering? Why don't you do something about it?

Why don't you do something about it?

Good question.

Oh, to will one thing...

Purity of heart is to will one thing.

To will one thing. At a social event last night, I was again reminded of the staggering potential I have for screwing up. Not so much in proper social interaction...as in being attentive to the present moment. Listening to the still small voice. I come away from social events so distracted. Torn. Willing many things. John Ortberg, in The Life You've Always Wanted, tells about a man who felt his life was without a lot of meaning. He said something like, "My life is about many things....thus is it about nothing." So many things I shoulda, woulda, coulda. One moment resting in the hand of His care, being present and attentive...the next moment giving myself over to whatever will get me something I haven't really thought about. Temporal. Ultimately useless.
The cure? To "be transformed by the renewing of your minds." A thought revolution. This comes about as I restrict what my mind is allowed to chew on. Rather, as I direct what my mind is given to think about. If I want to will one thing... I should be training my mind to stay on things that will lead to that "one thing." Scripture.

Irresistible Revolution (further thoughts)...

As I was reading further in Claiborne's book last night, I realized part of what is making me so uncomfortable with it. There are still things in it that I question...that need to be questioned, I think. But a large part of my discomfort is that I've settled into a different Gospel than the one Claiborne is living--and I'm starting to see that his is closer than mine to the Gospel Christ preashed and lived. He's presenting the Gospel in such a way...it's really, really different. Dangerious, I'd even say. It's not a comfortable message. It's not safe. It doesn't promise safety--physical or otherwise. And I'm beginning to think that it's more accurate to the Gospel Jesus preached and lived. But something in me doesn't want to look at it anymore. I like being comfortable. And safety is paramount. I can't even imagine knowingly making decisions that would really threaten my safety.
This Gospel is not comfortable and it's not safe, and I don't want to look at it. But something in me can't help but look at it. A tiny part of me wants it. A bigger part of me wants to be safe and comfy.
But the Gospel Jesus preached wasn't comfy or safe. It didn't lead Jesus to a safe place (naturally speaking). It lead Him to physical death, and He was ok with that. I see that trait in Claiborne's writings as well...and it irritates me! Because I'm not ok with it! I, like John Wesley earlier in his life, am afraid to die.
So...if I am to be perfectly honest, if the Gospel is a gospel that leads to death--I don't want it. That's my condition. It stinks. I know this. But I find myself unsure how to shake free of it.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds." (Romans 12:2)

It's a complete turn-around in my thinking. That is the only way that I can begin to step into the reality of the Gospel as Christ proclaimed and lived. And a thought revolution can only take place as my mind is bathed in the Word. As Dallas Willard has said, Scripture must become part of the "furniture of the mind." Scripture in all its truth, in its real meaning, no matter how much it offends my current thinking.

Irresistible Revolution

I'm a little over half-way through Shane Claiborne's book Irresistible Revolution, and am finding it very challenging. The language is simple and clear--in a way, it could be called an "easy read." But the ideas are so different from everything I've been used to thinking! I don't know what I think about this book! Claiborne is a founding member of The Simple Way, an intentional community in Philadelphia, PA. He's adcovating a way of life that is almost completely removed from mainstream Christianity--which is what challenges me. It is radical in so many ways--spiritually, economically, socially, politically. As I read it, there's a knot in my stomach as I wonder, Am I just getting off on some crazy thing here?

As I am exploring the book and the websites (including New Monasticism), several things are bubbling up in my mind. None of these should be taken as a hard effort to prove anything right or wrong; I am only honestly presenting the things that are fueling my confusion (hoping, of course, that doing so will help me gain some clarity):
1. There is a strong focus on inner-city ministry. That's all well and good, and I can see (even in my limited experience) the great needs in that setting, but I also see needs here--in a rural setting.
2. The author talks about the importance of leaving "possessions and biological families." I can understand obsessive attachments being harmful to full devotion, but biological family (again, in my experience) can be an excellent form of authentic community--where it is not is perhaps where there needs to be healing and restoration, not abandonment.
3. He notes that Jesus' "own biological family called him crazy for saying things that disrupted traditional family values." I'd like to look further into this--getting in on the author's meaning as well as finding those things in Scripture.
4. Is there a balance to be found between "peaceful resistance" or "jubilee celebration" and respect for authority (governmental, specifically)?
5. Pacifism. The author was in Iraq during the bombings. The stories he tells and the conclusions he comes to would almost seem pro-Iraq and anti-America. However, he does balance this somewhat by saying that it's not about being on one side or the other; God's Kingdom transcends biological, national, political boundaries, etc.

There are other things....my thinking is not yet very clear on it.
The author touches on how we sometimes have an attitude of "God bless America--and only America." Having been raised in a very conservative Christian family, very much on the political right, my first instinct is to puff up and set the book aside as "Anti- American." Just because something is American doesn't make it bad. But...there's a defensiveness that rises up in me that would indicate that maybe he's hitting a raw nerve. Knowing where the guy is coming from, I can't help but recognize there's truth. But I just don't know if the alarms going off in me are good warnings to avoid extremist thinking....or just an instrinct to protect what I am familiar with.

We're getting tax rebates! Check out this set of articles from the Simple Living Network. Interesting idea.

http://www.simpleliving.net/rebate

Looking deeper...

"Life's problems begin in the root system of the soul." ~Joshua Choonmin Kang

Kang tells about a root disease common in some African orange trees. To the casual observer, the disease is invisible; the tree appears to be healthy, producing what looks like healthy fruit. But something inside is sick-something deeper down brings on slow death.
My life appears in many ways to be healthy, producing seemingly healthy fruit. But something sick--deeper down, beyond my ability to reach or understand. It brings a slow, insideous death.
The cure?

For the African orange trees, the diseased parts of the root system must be removed and healthy root segments grafted in. For me...

"Life's problems are best solved at the root level;
that's where we care for our souls;
that's where the medicine is spiritual discipline."
~Joshua Choonmin Kang

Mother Teresa used to say, "Following Jesus is simple, but not easy" (Check out Irresistible Revolution). The key to bringing restoration to our "root systems" is to seek simplicity, but not ease. Our purpose and goal is simple: to love God and become like Christ. The pathway will not always be easy, though over time it will certainly be deeply good and gloriously full of joy.

"It is through many persecutions that we must enter the Kingdom of God..."
~Paul and Barnabus in Antioch.
(They went there to "strengthen the souls of the disciples and encourage them to continue in the faith. Some motivational speech. See Acts 14.)