Saturday, January 31, 2015

You Might Be An Introvert If...

This list comes from thomrainer.com.

  1. You might be an introvert if you enjoyed timeout as a child.
  2. You might be an introvert if you shop at 1:00 am in the 24-hour grocery store to avoid seeing people.
  3. You might be an introvert if you rearrange the name cards at a dinner table so you don’t have to sit next to people you don’t know.
  4. You might be an introvert if you like to have an extroverted friend with you so he can carry on the conversations you want to avoid.
  5. You might be an introvert if your favorite game is solitaire.
  6. You might be an introvert if your favorite number is one.
  7. You might be an introvert if you take plenty of reading material on airplanes to avoid talking to people.
  8. You might be an introvert if you smile when you see the “Do Not Talk” sign in the library.
  9. You might be an introvert if you try to convince family members that you are really okay staying at home for a week of vacation.
  10. You might be an introvert if you avoid buying new clothes so people won’t comment to you about them.
  11. You might be an introvert if you can’t understand what’s so bad about solitary confinement.
  12. You might be an introvert if you enjoy talking to yourself more than anyone else.
  13. You might be an introvert if the word “meeting” causes you to become mildly to violently nauseous.
  14. You might be an introvert if you work in your garden at night with a headlamp to avoid conversations with neighbors.
  15. You might be an introvert if you think social media is the greatest invention in 200 years because you can communicate without being around people.
  16. You might be an introvert if your favorite room in the house is the bathroom because you know you can be alone there.








That last one is near and dear to my heart. If I really have a home, that's what it's for. It's my hiding place - that and my truck. The truck is really better. It won't hold much more than one other person...hope they are quiet.


Friday, January 30, 2015

Community

"Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your solitude can only be hurtful to you."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life together

OUCH !!!!

That hurt. I'm a ground hog. I like to hibernate, particularly in the winter, but there is apparently no hibernation for the Christian groundhog.

We live in a culture that thrives on individuality - not that there's anything wrong with that :>)

But Christ calls us to live in community; to submerge ourselves in Him and each other as His body on earth. We must attain the full stature of Christ and we cannot do that as solitary individuals. Christian maturity is reached in the inter connectivity of the members of the Body with each other and with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our culture militates against this. The individual is heralded and celebrated for rebelling against the status quo and sometimes Christians will bring this philosophy into the church.

To be sure, we all have different gifts and we are individual souls, but when we are knit together as the Body, our strength can become unmeasurable.

We were created in the image of God. He wants His creations to be in relationship with Him and not in a one on one sense. He wants to be our God and for us to be His people - together.

None of this means that we have to be carbon copies of each other. We will not be. But we can work together, using our individual talents and gifts for the single minded purpose that Christ has set us to.

I think I'm finding my place in this body. I'm surely part of the brain!

My friend Gary likes to quote Solomon: "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." Maybe that's my purpose in the body. I could become the whetstone of the Church. There's a scary thought. I will work on that. See you Sunday.

As Gary would say, "go to Sunday school"
   

Thursday, January 29, 2015

I Am Not Of This World

Sometimes I really believe that. I am not like other human beings it seems. I feel some sense of alienation in just about every place I go, be it work or church or even home.

And what is home for someone like me? It's a place to sleep and eat and wash before going somewhere else to do something else. The word "home" has little relevance for me.

I thought home was here in Iowa. When I came back in 1994, I thought that the longing I have for rest and peace would be satiated by a place called home.

To some extent it was. I found places and people I liked and I have been dwelling in this land since that time.

But there is still a longing for something else. I can't put my finger on it. It is illusive and elusive; just beyond my reach. I am close. I can see it from here and I feel like I have been looking for it all of my life.

Jesus knows where this place is and He is there right now, and that's the other thing. Even though I talk to him every day and I read his words in some form or even if I repeat it in my mind, I find that I miss Him.

Odd no? How can I miss a place I have never been to and a man that I have only met in the spiritual sense? And yet I do miss Him and the place where He is.

I think that's where I belong. That is where my peace is. That is where my home is.

Don't get me wrong. I have a very nice burrow. I have a good job. There are people here that love me, that pray for me and that care about me.

But I am certain that I do not belong here. There is a place, but it ain't here. I long for it more every day.

I know I am not of this world. 

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Life Under the Law

I know I've posted this before, but it's just about the funniest of the Monty Python stuff.I'm still laughing...again.


The Greatest Commandments

While in conversation with the Pharisees in Palestine 2000 years ago or thereabouts, Jesus said the greatest commandments were: 1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself.

Strangely, neither of these commandments were from God's top 10 list and therein lies the mystery of Jesus' words.

Jesus chose from Deuteronomy 6:4-6 (the Shema) and Leviticus 19:18 (that last citation may be incorrect). He went on to say that these commands summed up the whole law. If you could keep these two commands, you would keep the law in its entirety.

The first response of the uninitiated would be to say, "that's easy", but really what do those commands mean at their heart. I think you will find it's a very tall order.

If you take a serious look at the 10 commandments, you will see an order to things. They outline in very basic language what is considered to be the responsibility of all God's people, first to God, then to family and finally to your neighbor. For example:

If you love the Lord, you will have no other gods before Him. You will not take His holy Name in vain.

If you love your family, you will honor your parents, and you will not commit adultery or any other sexual offense.

And if you love your neighbor, you will not covet his or her possessions.

Check out the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 (I think).  

All 10 commandments fall neatly into the two that Jesus issued to the rich young man. And while it does simplify things in terms of what you need to remember, I personally believe it greatly expands our responsibilities. If you really take Jesus' simplification of the law to heart, our duties to God become vast and all encompassing.

Merely learning to love can be hard. Loving God whom we have not seen or heard from except thru His word is quite a leap. And loving our neighbor...well why doesn't the government do something right?

This is where the world is and, in spite of Jesus' words, that's where many Christians are at in their journey with Christ. We have allowed our culture to pull us away from each other, from our God and from the very things that matter most to Him.

I think we need to start to build a consensus within the Church to rediscover what these two commandments mean for us and how to make them work in the 21st century.

It's hard for me to talk about these things because it will require me to change more than most folks. I am not what you'd call a people person, but you know what? The Lord is a people person. He loves them all and does so openly and without regard. He expects us to live in community with each other and to love each other. What's more, He does not want us living in a fortress separate from the world. Our walls, whatever they consist of, need to come down. We need to embrace those that do not know Jesus even as he once embraced us to save us.


I can see this beginning to happen in my own church. I see it both as wonderful and scary. I want to keep the Lord's two greatest commands with joy, but as someone who does not reach out easily to others, it makes me afraid at the same time. By nature, I'm an introvert. I am better in writing and when I control the conversation and can plan what I am going to say. Nevertheless, I am called to keep the same commandments. I just have to find a way to do it with the gifts the Lord has given me. I hope I am already on the way to that.

I'm with Francis of Assissi. "Preach the gospel. Say something if you have to".

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

In The Image of Christ OR In The Image of Christians

It sounds trite, contrived and maybe even controlling, but as Christians we are called to conform to the image of Christ. Our personal persona (if that's not redundant), is to be submerged in His and our less than perfect character is supposed to be remade or even replaced with His perfect image. We are to become Jesus in the world and to represent Him as if we were Him in our deeds and actions and behaviors.

And while there is general agreement about what that means, there is also 2000 years of church traditions that also attempt to define it and sometimes, that's all it is....tradition. Our traditions sometimes have little scriptural basis, but for whatever the reason, we never let that stop us from trying to enforce on each other our personal versions of what it means to be Christ-like.

My thought is that the intent of the heart determines the authenticity of the behavior. Many of us run around acting like self appointed morality police. We expect both Christians and non-Christians to conform to our idea of what it means to be Christ-like and we feel compelled to call them on it when they do not conform to what we perceive as the image of Christ.

Most of the time this happens in the Church between Christians. It can be an ugly discussion or it can be healthy, but it all depends on one thing.

Relationship.

If we are all seeking to be like Jesus and we are trying to adopt his examples in our lives and make them our own, we have to be able to come together to help each other. We cannot do that if we do not have the interconnectedness of relationship and a willingness to listen to each other. There is a tendency among those that think they have the moral high ground to try to control behavior through condemnation and shame.

Let me suggest that this is not necessarily the route you may want to take to "help" someone. Try instead to develop a relationship with this person...a friendship. Encourage trust. Learn to value their opinions so that they will value yours. Let them see how you choose to live. Let it become a topic of discussion. One thing leads to another. Change takes time. If someone trusts you, they are much more likely to listen to you.

That's my thought for the day. Do what you want.

I have to prepare Ground Hog Day. No one wants any surprises on 2/2.  

Monday, January 26, 2015

A Prayer...Lord, What Are You Going to Do with Me?

Lord, I love you. Yes, I am sucking up just a bit. That's beside the point. I know you get that all the time. Even so, I pray.

Lord, I thank you for another day of life. I will be forever grateful for everything you have given me. Thanks for the necessities...for food, water, shelter, clothing, transportation, a job, a pay check. All the stuff that gets me thru the day, the week, the life that you have given me. Basic survival is important.

Lord, I thank you also for the time I have had over the past two decades with the parents and the grandparents. Three of those four are gone now, but you brought me home so that I could enjoy them a little longer. I thank you and praise your name for that. I also thank you for the time I've had with Dad. The last 4 years have been tough for both of us, but we have been getting to know each other again and many issues are resolving themselves because of your grace and forethought in these matters.

I would also offer thanksgiving for church, work and my Sunday School class and for the relationships and friendships that have grown from these places. They all have helped to bring meaning to an otherwise meaningless life and it's because you insinuate yourself into all these places that I frequent that I find some peace and satisfaction in continuing to move through Your creation.

Lord, it was good to have Eric in my life when he was here. I fear that I have somehow ruined what was once a very valuable friendship and a gift from You. He should know me well enough by now to know that sometimes my mouth engages before my brain edits the noise. I miss him. Please send him back.

Thanks for Oliver. He's only a Wheaton Terrier, but he is company and a comfort to Dad and another faithful friend.

Thanks for the beauty of your creation and my continuing ability to enjoy it.

And thanks for time off...hope to have some soon...goin fishin don't you know!

Thanks Lord for your love, your grace your kindness to me; for the compassion and the forgiveness. I'm not sure why you put up with me, but you do and I LOVE YOU ALL THE MORE FOR IT.

Please forgive me when I sin against you by word or deed or even failure to act. Rehabilitate me as best you can and bring me home on the Day...it ain't far off now...not that I'm counting.

Please bring some spiritual healing; at least enough to get me through the rest of my life here Lord and do your best to keep me healthy at least long enough to see Dad home to you.

I appreciate those things you do for me, for hearing my prayers and for taking care of those I pray for. You are so kind to me.

Please watch over Dad for me today. Keep him safe. I can't be there all the time. Please keep watch on my church...your church...help us to get to know each other better...you know what I'm talking about.

Lord, even I have had a few friends in my life. I don't know where they all are exactly, but I would pray that you take care of them and watch over them. If they need faith, please help them to find it and please help them to forgive me if I ever mislead them...probably did at least a couple of times.

I need to think about going to work now, but first I have lunch with my former boss Dirk...I pray that will go well Lord. It will be good to renew and old friendship.

Thanks for being my Lord

In Your Name I Pray These Things

Amen