Midweek: Sad and Beautiful Beginning

The first book I'd read by Frederick Buechner was Peculiar Treasures. It was so unique, so quirky, and at the same time, so insightful, I was sold. I developed a love-hate relationship with the author right then and there. Today's excerpt is from Peculiar Treasures, and it is Buechner's brief commentary on Eve. 

EVE:

Like Adam, she spent the rest of her days convincing herself that it had all worked out for the best. Their new life didn't turn out to be as bad as had been predicted, and somehow their marriage weathered the change. If they had moments of terrible bitterness over what had happened, they had other moments when it became more of a bridge than an abyss between them and when the question of which one of them was to blame got lost in the question of how both of them were to survive. One son died an ugly, senseless death, and another went through life as disfigured by remorse as by a cleft palate (see CAIN). But all in all things didn't go too badly. When the last child left home, it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to be alone again with a man who after his third martini might still lash out at her as a snake in the grass and a bad apple, but at least they still had their independence and their principles, which as nearly as she could remember were what they had given up everything for. They stood, however grimly at times, on their own two feet.

It was only once in a while at night, just as she was going off to sleep with all her usual defenses down, that her mind drifted back to the days when, because there was nothing especially important to do, everything was especially important; when too good not to be true hadn't yet turned into too good to be true; when being alone was never the same as being lonely. Then sad and beautiful dreams overtook her which she would wake up from homesick for a home she could no longer even name, to make something not quite love with a man whose face she could not quite see in the darkness at her side.

~ Frederick Buechner

Food for Thought

I'm currently reading Frank Morison's Who Moved the Stone, an oldie but a goodie. In short, it is an apologetic on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. At least, that's what the back cover of my edition states. But it's provided me with so much more: food for thought and a clearer picture of the events leading up to the murder of Jesus. Today's food for thought came as I was reading about the guard posted to secure the tomb at the priests' request. Morison writes:

It is usually contended that the excuse given to Pilate (viz., that the disciples might steal the body) is wildly improbable; ...the behavior of the disciples shows that they had not apprehended or believed Him;

Did you notice his statement regarding the disciples? The disciples, by their behavior, demonstrated their lack of belief. After the crucifixion, they went into hiding; they grieved the loss of their Leader. On the road to Emmaus, recorded in Luke 24, the two men associate themselves with the women who discovered the tomb of Jesus empty that morning: they refer to them as "certain women of our company." These were followers of Jesus, and what was their response to His death? We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. The morning after the Sabbath, why had the women gone to the tomb? To finish the burial process sunset stole from them on Friday. They were shocked His body was gone and demanded to be told where it had been taken. With Jesus' final breath, all hope left this group.

But the religious authorities, the priests and scribes, that "brood of vipers," what did they believe? By their actions, they demonstrated belief in the power of all Jesus of Nazareth had said! This prophet from a backwater town who vexed them and challenged them all throughout His ministry, they believed His words would --at the least --incite some sort of funny business! Now that's some food for thought right there! If the enemies of Jesus are more convinced of His authority or His charisma than His followers...

Why would anyone who doesn't believe in the power of prayer be upset if you prayed over your lunch at the local McDonald's? Listen to those who are crying out for Jesus to be erased from history or the Ten Commandments to be removed from public places. Are they more passionate about their cause than we are about our Savior? Do those who deny Jesus spend more time advocating for the poor, hosting strangers, fighting for justice, looking out for their neighbors, and caring for creation than we do? Are their more non-believers at the gym, fostering children, donating to the women's shelter, raising money for cancer, sending out Get Well wishes, coaching t-ball, or attending Overeaters Anonymous than there are believers? When my boss cuts my hours, is it my Muslim coworker who talks me out of panic mode? Is my Buddhist neighbor kinder and gentler toward her children than I am? Was it my Mormon friend who pointed out the beggar in the doorway, or did I have my coat off long before she mentioned it? What we believe --what we truly believe in our hearts determines our behavior. 

The Jewish leaders were more convinced of Jesus' impact than His own disciples. They took precautions to secure the tomb! To them, Jesus had given His followers something. A fire had been ignited, a fire they feared they were unable to extinguish. Were they right? Almost every one of the twelve were eventually martyred for their faith, and the truth of the gospel has spread far and wide. Hard to imagine anyone willing to give up their life for something they didn't believe whole-heartedly. 

So, I'm sharing some of my food with you today. Has the hope of victory, the hope of eternity died with you, or does the passion of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection burn so brightly in you, others can't help but be convinced?

Are You for Real?

Years ago, Scott and I were given the responsibility to care for two beautiful little children. We loved them with our whole hearts. We protected them fiercely. To us, they were ours. Until they weren't. Circumstances changed, and those two beautiful little children were removed from our home. We were devastated. But, even in that emptiness and the ache of loss, I determined to keep my eyes on my Deliverer, my Redeemer; I refused to say "it" was over. As a matter of fact, I told a coworker one day, "God slammed that door so hard and so loud, I know He is going to do something fabulous." The coworker, who had mocked my belief in an "imaginary" God time and time before, looked me directly in the eye, curled his lip and hissed, "He's not. He's not." Oh, how wrong he was! Praise God, those two beautiful little children, their sibling, and their parents are a beloved part of our lives today. Restoration. Mercy. Redemption. That, my friends, is reality!

I say all of this because, so often, we place our eggs in the wrong basket. We look at the calendar, we fixate on our circumstances, we live and die by the balance in our checking account, we invest our time and worry in things that are part and parcel of our physical world without even considering the spiritual realm. We take our first breaths in the physical world; our bones grow, and our muscles become stronger. We go to school to develop our minds in preparation for what is known as "adulthood." We experience seasons and failures, our first kiss, the flu, sunburn, the spray of a waterfall, the death of a parent, the birth of a child, corn on the cob. All the beauty and heartache of the natural world; but it is only a picture of the spiritual part of us. It is real (for now), but it is not all. Our bodies and our minds are not the end of us. Our spirit is that which is eternal --eternally living or eternally dying. 

Look waaay back to the Garden of Eden, and you will find an event that changed the course of human history, The Fall of Man. Romans 5:12 says that through Adam, sin infected us all; by this, as well as our own sin, we are responsible to pay the penalty demanded by moral law --death. There is no option, the moment we are conceived, we are obligated to pay. However, and this is the Good News, Jesus (God) came as a physical being, died in our place, was resurrected and now sits in Heaven, the Mediator for all who would believe. What does all of this have to do with spirituality? Read it again, starting with "Look waaay back..." The physical existence of the garden, of humanity, of the cross and the empty tomb cannot be separated from the spiritual consequences of sin, from the Eternal God who ransomed us or the eternal life (or death) that is a part of our personal stories. We may not pay it any mind, we may not think about hell or the spirit realm, but like it or no, we are spiritual beings --even more so than physical beings! We are physical beings for a short time in light of eternity; we are spiritual beings forever. How we live in this physical world for this brief cycle of life is not the end of us, and when we live as if it is, we miss the point entirely. To fail to hope because "too much time has passed," or to fall into depression because of our circumstances, to hold back our tithe because of the little numbers at the bottom of the page, to spend time ranting and raving, worrying and fretting, plotting and planning when we should be praying and fasting, to live our lives as though the physical world is paramount (or even, tantamount) to the spiritual realm is foolishness and an affront to God who is Spirit and is most certainly not imaginary. 

I pray, of course, that eternal life is a part of your story. I pray that it's a part of the way you live today, in light of eternity, in obedience to the Holy Spirit, and not by the demands of the physical world. I pray that your spiritual eyes might be opened to all God can do in your situation, and I pray that God will become more real to you each and every day as you trust and submit to Him.

Midweek: The Cockroach Theory

Welcome to Wednesday. This one crossed my path on Facebook --not my usual source of literature or wisdom, but this one is so true! We cannot control the situations in which we find ourselves, but we can control our response. The regular study of Scripture, worship, gratitude, and obedience retrains our brains to better behavior.

"The Cockroach Theory"

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady.

She started screaming out of fear.

With a panic-stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but ...it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.

In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt.

When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed? He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of those people to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach, that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the story:

I understood I should not react in life; I should respond.

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought out.

A beautiful way to understand LIFE: 

The HAPPY person is not happy because everything is RIGHT in his Life; he is HAPPY because his Attitude toward everything in his Life is Right!