Our value cannot be changed; we can't get more of it or lose any of it. We can't get more of it from people or lose it at the whim of an angry insult.
It would make sense to isolate oneself in order to really be in union with God, away from all the mess that people create. It would be simpler, perhaps even to such an extent that personal development in certain areas could grow much more fully than otherwise. But, it turns out, our calling is to others, not just God.
Carrying out interactions with others is fulfilling a calling in obedience, including all the fears involved. How different the outlook when all the difficulties involved in this journey suddenly become a cost of privilege; the fear of people is no jail sentence in itself, but rather a variety of bumps in the road of freedom. We've confused the nature of traveling with prisoner's chains and have in that trade imprisoned ourselves between walls as strong as we allow them to be.
When the misconceptions of the mind are allowed to hold power over doing, self becomes the biggest obstacle to doing great things; even an open field can look like a prison to the one who seeks a dark closet.
The trail to intent
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
at
7:55 PM
This evening I caught myself almost declaring my love to a particularly delicious munkki/pastry as I laid my eyes on its sugar covered circleness. Then I realized hey, the good thing about this munkki is its taste; its value is determined by what it's designed to be and not by how it looks, despite its sight being the thing that brought about my pastry passion.
That got me thinking; isn't the same thing true for, say, beauty? A stunning landscape or work of art looks incredible, but its value is more than what the eye sees; there is a mind and intention behind it that, if ignored, becomes a hugely valuable piece lost. So many things I've experienced as valuable have been but a shadow of what they could have been had I realized the signature behind the sensory thing; how full an experience or realization when the nature of the thing met is understood through an appreciation of its true character and the wonderful intent of the mind at work.
6Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
-Luke 12:6-7
That got me thinking; isn't the same thing true for, say, beauty? A stunning landscape or work of art looks incredible, but its value is more than what the eye sees; there is a mind and intention behind it that, if ignored, becomes a hugely valuable piece lost. So many things I've experienced as valuable have been but a shadow of what they could have been had I realized the signature behind the sensory thing; how full an experience or realization when the nature of the thing met is understood through an appreciation of its true character and the wonderful intent of the mind at work.
6Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
-Luke 12:6-7
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Freedom, meaning, purpose, and truth all meet here
Monday, November 9, 2009
at
12:13 AM
So, what' s the thing that makes sense of life? I'd say it's the thing that seems the most out of place in the natural world, the thing that most brilliantly reveals what life is in its fullness; love. But what is love, exactly? Turns out we've been given instructions:
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails.
-I Corinthians 13:1-8
It can only be understood through action, which makes it something we seem to be designed to reflect, as a mirror becomes lit in its reflection of the sun. To understand the truth above along with the truth of the love we are continually receiving from a source beyond understanding is to live so free that the word's meaning becomes bigger than its definition can contain.
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Trading intersections for gas vs. brake
Sunday, November 8, 2009
at
11:53 PM
Kindness demands an enormous amount of self-control, especially when the circumstance is one that would more easily guide emotion and attitude toward bitterness or anger. When it comes easily, things are good; like finding your arms, hands and fingers after steering a car with your teeth.
So, is there ever a reason to be unkind? Sure there are, but are they good ones? All things considered? The principle of kindness is such a comfort to hold onto when a relational compass is sought. It makes a choice simple in its direction toward a certain attitude; even if kindness itself isn't reached, at least its opposites are left behind. Life is good when direction is chosen, when chaos in attitude is solved and replaced with whether or not to be courageous in the pursuit of what is good.
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
-Ephesians 4:31-32
So, is there ever a reason to be unkind? Sure there are, but are they good ones? All things considered? The principle of kindness is such a comfort to hold onto when a relational compass is sought. It makes a choice simple in its direction toward a certain attitude; even if kindness itself isn't reached, at least its opposites are left behind. Life is good when direction is chosen, when chaos in attitude is solved and replaced with whether or not to be courageous in the pursuit of what is good.
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
-Ephesians 4:31-32
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Not a bad place to be
Thursday, November 5, 2009
at
1:47 AM
"For if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's."
-Romans 14:8
Truth is incredible; it is always a welcome guest because it does not change depending on perspective. Every imaginable thing of life between birth and death fits neatly into the borders painted by the truth above. How can such a complex mess fit into such a simple box? God's ways are more than very high above ours, but His truths are simple, because we don't confuse him. Most of the mess is messy because I don't recognize its relation to truth; it becomes unknowable and chaotic when the point of reference is ignored.
Faithfulness is a strong rope that links the messes of life to truth; knowing it and living it brings the truth of life into focus, moving the doer from being into living. Doing those little things right clears away grime in surprising amounts.
-Romans 14:8
Truth is incredible; it is always a welcome guest because it does not change depending on perspective. Every imaginable thing of life between birth and death fits neatly into the borders painted by the truth above. How can such a complex mess fit into such a simple box? God's ways are more than very high above ours, but His truths are simple, because we don't confuse him. Most of the mess is messy because I don't recognize its relation to truth; it becomes unknowable and chaotic when the point of reference is ignored.
Faithfulness is a strong rope that links the messes of life to truth; knowing it and living it brings the truth of life into focus, moving the doer from being into living. Doing those little things right clears away grime in surprising amounts.
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Oi, the sneakiness
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
at
1:12 AM
"All virtues are especially helpful to evil when one becomes aware of them. This is especially true of humility."
-C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters
Me: Laadidaaa, blahblah...thought pops in for a visit: "Hey, I totally just avoided getting mad at that guy for responding to my American style greeting with a cold stare. I am one huuumble duuude." Fail.
Me later: mpa, mpa, chillin in the empty thought box in my head. Boom! Important thought alert! "Hey, I should pray for my friend who needs that important thing." +0.389 seconds..."I'm preetty good for feeling the need to pray for that. OH LOOK, a butterfly. That reminds me, I'm hungry." Ugh, FAIL.
Beware of the sneakiness, I urge you.
"Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man."
-Proverbs 3:3-4
-C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters
Me: Laadidaaa, blahblah...thought pops in for a visit: "Hey, I totally just avoided getting mad at that guy for responding to my American style greeting with a cold stare. I am one huuumble duuude." Fail.
Me later: mpa, mpa, chillin in the empty thought box in my head. Boom! Important thought alert! "Hey, I should pray for my friend who needs that important thing." +0.389 seconds..."I'm preetty good for feeling the need to pray for that. OH LOOK, a butterfly. That reminds me, I'm hungry." Ugh, FAIL.
Beware of the sneakiness, I urge you.
"Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man."
-Proverbs 3:3-4
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Flowers are....useful?
at
12:09 AM
Giving a girl flowers is funny. She can't eat them, and she won't use them to build anything. There is very little tangible benefit from receiving them, but there's value if she chooses that to be the case. The flowers will be almost meaningless if she doesn't at the time feel a positive intention behind the one giving them; they're something given whose value depends very much on how the receiver recognizes the giver.
Encouragement is like flowers, except you can give it to guys too without causing a panic. Plus it's way cheaper; win-win! It doesn't cost the giver anything, and it can mean as many good things as the receiver needs it to mean. It is a precious thing indeed to become someone fully alive whose encouragement always feels like a sweet gift when it is received; what a great aim, to strive to be that which gives the gift the intentioned meaning it deserves. Nothing but good can follow.
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house."
-Matthew 5:14-15
Encouragement is like flowers, except you can give it to guys too without causing a panic. Plus it's way cheaper; win-win! It doesn't cost the giver anything, and it can mean as many good things as the receiver needs it to mean. It is a precious thing indeed to become someone fully alive whose encouragement always feels like a sweet gift when it is received; what a great aim, to strive to be that which gives the gift the intentioned meaning it deserves. Nothing but good can follow.
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house."
-Matthew 5:14-15
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