Hi Everyone-
I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving. I know I feel like I have a lot to be thankful for, such as only 1.5 weeks of school left until I'm on Christmas break.
With that in mind, I recently finished my big paper for the C.S. Lewis class I'm taking. We had to write about how we see his conception of spiritual formation as it plays out in his characters. In short, spiritual formation is how we become our truest and fullest self, as well as how we draw closer to God and become more Christ-like. Lewis' fictional books contain a lot on this topic, so it's been pretty cool to step back and map out his views so to speak. There's several interesting themes I enjoyed looking at, but one really sticks out to me in this holiday season. Basically, he shows that our beliefs, attitudes, and views of the world become our own personal realities.
Big picture, this includes heaven and hell, but for Lewis these aren't realities that represent huge shifts that don't happen until after we die. We day-by-day choose and live either heaven or hell every day of our lives. When we choose heaven, our lives become more heavenly. When we choose hell, our lives become more hellish. In The Great Divorce, he puts the end results of this pretty brilliantly, "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell choose it."
In Till We Have Faces the main character is named Orual. She is described as being physically quite "ugly", because of which, she grows to in many ways hate her "self." She becomes Queen of her nation and purposefully chooses to become a different, more man-ish person. She begins wearing a veil, eventually leaving it on at all times so that no-one knows what her face even looks like anymore. More than once, she speaks of killing Orual as she becomes this other self. She succeeds and almost destroys her true self, Orual, in favor of the Queen. She believed Orual was too ugly to be let out in public, and this reality became true as she was locked away.
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Eustace, one of the main characters, spends the first part of the book thinking and acting in a very selfish and greedy manner. Then, while thinking these thoughts and sleeping on a dragon hoard, he turns into a dragon. Lewis writes that the selfish and greedy thoughts are dragonish, so his thoughts/beliefs become Eustace's reality.
In the last Chronicles of Narnia book, The Last Battle, Narnia is falling apart as the forces of evil are pretty much having their way. There's this very ominous looking stable door through which characters are being thrown, never to return. One of the heroes says he thinks for them it's the door to Aslan's Country (i.e. heaven). It turns out for them it is, but for others it's the way to darkness and despair.
What's this have to do with us and our spiritual formation, our becoming selves? Everything I think. As I think about people I've met over the years this idea is so true. We live self-fulfilling prophecies. The people I know who live with views of themselves, friends, and the world that are positive, become the people I know most filled with joy ... even when things suck. Conversely, people who are always griping and complaining are those I've found to be most unhappy, even when they have great jobs, friends, etc.
On the current season of "The Biggest Loser" there's this guy who drops a lot of weight every week, Bob Harper (the main trainer) thinks he's likely going to be the winner. But, he's never happy. In fact, he's always disappointed with his performance. He chooses a negative view of things. Bob has said he bets this guy will gain all his weight back. His view/beliefs that nothing he does is good enough will become his reality.
What do you think? Have you seen this in your life?
Grace and peace,
Lang
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Occupy Movement
Hi Everyone-
I pray that this week of Thanksgiving finds you well. I've been thinking a bit about the Occupy the Wall movement lately. What are your thoughts on it? Do you think it's good, bad, neutral? Where do you think God falls on this issue?
I think the Bible shows God is very much behind what I believe lies at the root of this issue. I think that when you combine a huge gap between the rich and the poor/everyone else, with the rich not caring for/helping the less fortunate, you get a very unhealthy society. A culture that's not as God intends. Look at some of the first words written about the early Christian church for instance:
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47 NLT)
I believe what happened some 2,000 years ago was the first Christians came to believe a new/old way of viewing possessions. They didn't think it was bad to be rich, but they held their possessions loosely because they knew they weren't "theirs". Everything is a gift from God, a blessing. Recognizing this, they felt compelled to share the goods, money, etc. God had given them with others. They understood the fundamental truth of Psalms 24:1, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him."
I'll bring this back to Paul's "grace and peace" I wrote the last the last three blogs on ... It's God's grace that gives us anything we "own" or "earn". Every breath I take is a free gift from the Lord of the universe. For me, this truth is incredibly freeing. It frees us to hold our possessions and money loosely, which in turn allows us to recognize those in need around us and give to them willingly and out of joy. The richer we are, the more God has blessed us and the freer we are to give.
I know the Occupy the Wall movement people don't speak in these terms per se, but I believe this is where their desire stems from. They are calling the rich to remember we're all God's children and it's all God's stuff, so lets play well together and share.
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
I pray that this week of Thanksgiving finds you well. I've been thinking a bit about the Occupy the Wall movement lately. What are your thoughts on it? Do you think it's good, bad, neutral? Where do you think God falls on this issue?
I think the Bible shows God is very much behind what I believe lies at the root of this issue. I think that when you combine a huge gap between the rich and the poor/everyone else, with the rich not caring for/helping the less fortunate, you get a very unhealthy society. A culture that's not as God intends. Look at some of the first words written about the early Christian church for instance:
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47 NLT)
I believe what happened some 2,000 years ago was the first Christians came to believe a new/old way of viewing possessions. They didn't think it was bad to be rich, but they held their possessions loosely because they knew they weren't "theirs". Everything is a gift from God, a blessing. Recognizing this, they felt compelled to share the goods, money, etc. God had given them with others. They understood the fundamental truth of Psalms 24:1, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him."
I'll bring this back to Paul's "grace and peace" I wrote the last the last three blogs on ... It's God's grace that gives us anything we "own" or "earn". Every breath I take is a free gift from the Lord of the universe. For me, this truth is incredibly freeing. It frees us to hold our possessions and money loosely, which in turn allows us to recognize those in need around us and give to them willingly and out of joy. The richer we are, the more God has blessed us and the freer we are to give.
I know the Occupy the Wall movement people don't speak in these terms per se, but I believe this is where their desire stems from. They are calling the rich to remember we're all God's children and it's all God's stuff, so lets play well together and share.
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Grace and Peace - The Gospel According to Paul
Hi Everyone-
I hope you're having a lovely fall day. Something I found amazing in my research is that with two words, "grace" and "peace", Paul effectively sums up his take on Christianity, his gospel or theology so to speak. According to Paul, grace and peace comes from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. With that in mind, Gordon Fee writes, " In a sense this sums up the whole of Paul's theological outlook. The sum total of all God's activity toward his human creatures is found in the word 'grace' ... Nothing is deserved; nothing can be achieved. 'Tis mercy all, immense and free.' And the sum total of those benefits as they are experienced by the recipients of God's grace are found in the word 'peace,' meaning 'well-being, wholeness, welfare.' The one flows out of the other, and both together flow from 'God our Father ... and we're made effective in human history through our 'Lord Jesus Christ.'" That's just the summary though ...
First, Paul is highly Christ-centric. In other words, for him, everything revolves around Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. We see God most fully and clearly through Jesus. It is the free, undeserved gift (i.e. grace) of Jesus on the Cross from which we get peace with God, ourselves, and each other.
Before Jesus, the Israelites were the chosen people, God's people, which excluded quite a few others. However, through Jesus Jew and Gentile come together and are both made God's children. He captures this within "grace" and "peace" in that charis ("grace") is his spin on the common Greek greeting of that day (chairein), while eirene ("peace") is the Jewish greeting (they said shalom in Hebrew, eirene was the Greek translation). Grace (Gentile) and peace (Jew) together through God.
They also show his eschatology (a fancy word for the end times), which says in short that heaven starts now. Paul's greeting of grace and peace is also a prayer and a wish. He is saying the readers have grace and peace now, but he is praying for more in the future; a future that will one day be completely fulfilled in the resurrection.
Foundational to all this is grace as a free, undeserved gift. We declared war on God through choosing to sin, but Jesus died for us, forgave our sins anyway. We didn't deserve it, but He loves us so much He did it regardless. But, this grace doesn't just end with "saving" us, it transforms us. God's grace gets into our bones, and by changing who we are makes us live out grace to everyone around us. Again, heaven starts now.
So, I say ...
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Lang
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Grace and Peace -- An anti-empire message?
Hi everyone-
So, my paper on grace and peace is done, 12 paged later ... yay! One way of understanding Paul's use of the terms is a relatively new, historic interpretation of it. Basically, the apostle is saying its God, through Christ, who brings the world to right, NOT the emperor of Rome. Not an obvious conclusion though, so where does it come from?
The first emperor was Augustus. He famously beat Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, following which Antony and Cleopatra fled and committed suicide. This battle was important for two reasons, it made Augustus the sole ruler of Rome, turning it into the empire, and it ended nearly a 100 years of Roman citizens being wracked by one civil war after another. So, Augustus, a brilliant publicist if there ever was one, begin proclaiming that he had brought peace to the world (i.e. Rome). Later emperors adopted this campaign, proclaiming (and even making people give pledges to the effect) that the emperor brings peace. Statues, buildings, coins, and more were used to make this statement. It was such a widespread and popular theme that they coined a phrase for it you may have heard, Pax Romana (or the peace of Rome). Important in this was the means by which peace came. Slogan after Roman slogan said, "peace through victory." In other words, the emperor used force to bring peace.
A smaller, but very applicable, propoganda theme spread by the emperors was that of grace. People who obeyed the emperor got new statues and buildings, which often bore inscriptions saying they had the grace of the emperor.
Key in this whole Imperial take on grace and peace is that they came only to "good", emperor-following Roman citizens. Slaves and immigrants, who formed the bulk of early Christian churches (and perhaps 50% of the empire's populace), we're NOT included in the Emperor's grace and peace. They didn't benefit from it.
For Paul, however, grace was the absolutely free expression of the love of God for everyone! Slave and free, Jewish and Gentile, Roman and foreigner, all are included. What's more, Paul's peace comes from love, not force. It is God, through Christ who shows true grace and peace, thus truly making the world as it should be, not the emperor, or the president, or our boss, or our spouse, or ...
As God's images on earth, I believe we are called to display His beautiful, free, and undeserved grace and peace for everyone. Whose shown this to you're? How do you show it to others?
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Grace and peace,
Lang
So, my paper on grace and peace is done, 12 paged later ... yay! One way of understanding Paul's use of the terms is a relatively new, historic interpretation of it. Basically, the apostle is saying its God, through Christ, who brings the world to right, NOT the emperor of Rome. Not an obvious conclusion though, so where does it come from?
The first emperor was Augustus. He famously beat Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, following which Antony and Cleopatra fled and committed suicide. This battle was important for two reasons, it made Augustus the sole ruler of Rome, turning it into the empire, and it ended nearly a 100 years of Roman citizens being wracked by one civil war after another. So, Augustus, a brilliant publicist if there ever was one, begin proclaiming that he had brought peace to the world (i.e. Rome). Later emperors adopted this campaign, proclaiming (and even making people give pledges to the effect) that the emperor brings peace. Statues, buildings, coins, and more were used to make this statement. It was such a widespread and popular theme that they coined a phrase for it you may have heard, Pax Romana (or the peace of Rome). Important in this was the means by which peace came. Slogan after Roman slogan said, "peace through victory." In other words, the emperor used force to bring peace.
A smaller, but very applicable, propoganda theme spread by the emperors was that of grace. People who obeyed the emperor got new statues and buildings, which often bore inscriptions saying they had the grace of the emperor.
Key in this whole Imperial take on grace and peace is that they came only to "good", emperor-following Roman citizens. Slaves and immigrants, who formed the bulk of early Christian churches (and perhaps 50% of the empire's populace), we're NOT included in the Emperor's grace and peace. They didn't benefit from it.
For Paul, however, grace was the absolutely free expression of the love of God for everyone! Slave and free, Jewish and Gentile, Roman and foreigner, all are included. What's more, Paul's peace comes from love, not force. It is God, through Christ who shows true grace and peace, thus truly making the world as it should be, not the emperor, or the president, or our boss, or our spouse, or ...
As God's images on earth, I believe we are called to display His beautiful, free, and undeserved grace and peace for everyone. Whose shown this to you're? How do you show it to others?
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Grace and peace,
Lang
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Grace and Peace
Hi everyone-
Sorry it's been a bit longer than usual since my last post. I'm in mid-term purgatory (I can't call it "hell" since I go to a Christian school and all :). So, with that in mind, this, and perhaps some future posts, will be about "grace and peace," as I'm writing a 10 page research paper about the terms. What is more, I sign virtually every email and blog post with these words and try to live a life of grace and peace, but why and what do they mean?
So, so much ... Any questions? :) The Apostle Paul greets his audience in every single one of his letters in the Bible by wishing them grace and peace ... Every single one, so I'm guessing they were important to him. Back in his day (Wednesday?) the standard Greek greeting was chairein (or "greetings"), Paul doesn't use this term though, instead he writes charis (or "grace") which is derived from the same root as the first word. The Jewish word for "greetings, conversely, was shalom (or "peace, wholeness, fullness, every good thing" ... basically the way things God means them to be). Paul uses the Greek word for "peace", eirene. Thus, by wishing the readers grace and peace Paul is brilliantly doing several things.
He's subverting the Greco-Roman culture by exchanging the usual "greetings" for "grace" in a play on words. PLUS he's subverting Jewish culture, by combining their greeting ("peace") with a variation of the Greek greeting. Thus, with two words Paul combined the Greeks, Romans, and Jews. He's breaking down barriers and saying we are all children of the God.
Grace and peace is also in many ways a very short summation of the gospel according to Paul. We all were/are at war with God in that we sin and rebel against Him. But through the grace of the life and work of Jesus, an absolutely free and undeserved gift, peace between God and us is restored. Our joyful response to this grace is to pass it on to those around us. In other words, God's graceful gift of peace allows us to freely relate peacefully, wholly, and healthily with others.
I have 10 pages to write on this, so I have more to say ... Are you interested? Wait for it ... :) Grace and peace to you in the meantime.
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Grace and peace,
Lang
Sorry it's been a bit longer than usual since my last post. I'm in mid-term purgatory (I can't call it "hell" since I go to a Christian school and all :). So, with that in mind, this, and perhaps some future posts, will be about "grace and peace," as I'm writing a 10 page research paper about the terms. What is more, I sign virtually every email and blog post with these words and try to live a life of grace and peace, but why and what do they mean?
So, so much ... Any questions? :) The Apostle Paul greets his audience in every single one of his letters in the Bible by wishing them grace and peace ... Every single one, so I'm guessing they were important to him. Back in his day (Wednesday?) the standard Greek greeting was chairein (or "greetings"), Paul doesn't use this term though, instead he writes charis (or "grace") which is derived from the same root as the first word. The Jewish word for "greetings, conversely, was shalom (or "peace, wholeness, fullness, every good thing" ... basically the way things God means them to be). Paul uses the Greek word for "peace", eirene. Thus, by wishing the readers grace and peace Paul is brilliantly doing several things.
He's subverting the Greco-Roman culture by exchanging the usual "greetings" for "grace" in a play on words. PLUS he's subverting Jewish culture, by combining their greeting ("peace") with a variation of the Greek greeting. Thus, with two words Paul combined the Greeks, Romans, and Jews. He's breaking down barriers and saying we are all children of the God.
Grace and peace is also in many ways a very short summation of the gospel according to Paul. We all were/are at war with God in that we sin and rebel against Him. But through the grace of the life and work of Jesus, an absolutely free and undeserved gift, peace between God and us is restored. Our joyful response to this grace is to pass it on to those around us. In other words, God's graceful gift of peace allows us to freely relate peacefully, wholly, and healthily with others.
I have 10 pages to write on this, so I have more to say ... Are you interested? Wait for it ... :) Grace and peace to you in the meantime.
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Grace and peace,
Lang
Friday, October 21, 2011
Image of God
Hi Everyone-
I hope you're doing great. I'm guessing you're familiar with the idea that all humans were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)? A reasonably straightforward concept at first glance, but when you think about it it's actually pretty deep and complicated isn't it? For example ... What does "image" mean? What part of us in in God's image? All of us? Just our bodies? Just our minds? Does God walk around on two legs? Does Jesus have a beard, blond hair, white skin, and blue eyes? :) ... You get the point, and the last image of Jesus is probably a good topic for a blog (or a book), but I'll wait for that one.
I found out a pretty cool historic truth with present implications the other day about the image of God. In antiquity (i.e. when the Bible was written), their where images of gods and goddesses all over (statues mainly). People believed that the way you treated said image was in fact the way you treated the god/goddess. So, if you spit on the statue, you spit on Aphrodite, or if you gave your best meat to the statue, you gave your best meat to Zeus. Now, interestingly early on God says not to make images of Him (Exodus 20:4). Why you ask? Well, perhaps it's because God already has images of Godself all over the place, us!
Now for the really cool (in my view) part. We are all God's images and like the people in antiquity thought, the way we treat the images of God is the way we treat God. And it doesn't just apply to how we treat our friends, lovers, family, etc. ... it's everyone. I heard a quote the other day that really nails this for me (this isn't verbatim, but it is the intent), "The love you show to the person you love the least, is the love you show God." Wow. That puts a whole new perspective on loving my neighbor and loving my enemy for me. It makes me want to treat others better. How about you?
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Grace and peace,
Lang
I hope you're doing great. I'm guessing you're familiar with the idea that all humans were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)? A reasonably straightforward concept at first glance, but when you think about it it's actually pretty deep and complicated isn't it? For example ... What does "image" mean? What part of us in in God's image? All of us? Just our bodies? Just our minds? Does God walk around on two legs? Does Jesus have a beard, blond hair, white skin, and blue eyes? :) ... You get the point, and the last image of Jesus is probably a good topic for a blog (or a book), but I'll wait for that one.
I found out a pretty cool historic truth with present implications the other day about the image of God. In antiquity (i.e. when the Bible was written), their where images of gods and goddesses all over (statues mainly). People believed that the way you treated said image was in fact the way you treated the god/goddess. So, if you spit on the statue, you spit on Aphrodite, or if you gave your best meat to the statue, you gave your best meat to Zeus. Now, interestingly early on God says not to make images of Him (Exodus 20:4). Why you ask? Well, perhaps it's because God already has images of Godself all over the place, us!
Now for the really cool (in my view) part. We are all God's images and like the people in antiquity thought, the way we treat the images of God is the way we treat God. And it doesn't just apply to how we treat our friends, lovers, family, etc. ... it's everyone. I heard a quote the other day that really nails this for me (this isn't verbatim, but it is the intent), "The love you show to the person you love the least, is the love you show God." Wow. That puts a whole new perspective on loving my neighbor and loving my enemy for me. It makes me want to treat others better. How about you?
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Grace and peace,
Lang
Sunday, October 16, 2011
So Focused on Doing, We Forget About Being
Hi everyone-
I hope you are all enjoying the fall. Yesterday was certainly a beautiful day here.
My last 3+ years in the Air Force (2005-8) I was also studying for my Masters in Ancient History. Working at the Weapons School meant 60'ish hours of work a week, usually 5-6 days a week (with the odd 7 day week thrown in). On top of that I had a fair bit of reading and writing for my Masters (10-20 hours depending on the week probably) ... so, as you can imagine even if I only worked at the Weapons School 5 days, I still spent significant chunks of Saturday and Sunday working on school. In other words, I didn't have days off.
This mentality became pretty engrained in me, so I took it with me to my studies at the school formally known as Mars Hill Graduate School. :) I was trying to do a 4-year program in 3 years, with the result that I worked on my reading and writing 7 days a week and only slept 6 hours or so a night so I could fit in time to workout and hang out with my family. This was the rhythm of my life was very focused on doing. Doing my reading, doing my writing, doing my workout, doing my chores, doing time with Carla, doing time with the kids, doing time at the jail ... just kidding. :)
A series of conversations with Carla and other students combined with some sermons I heard, teaching at school, and reading I did to change this. Carla and I developed a new rhythm. What is it you ask? ... Wait for it ...
Back in the day, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for over 400 years. You could truthfully say that in all probability for over 400 years they worked every day! Talk about poor benefits! This is the context in which the Exodus story (God through Moses leading them out of slavery) occurred. I'm guessing you're all familiar with an important part of this, the ten commandments, right? But, before the ten commandments came one far more important one (in my opinion). In Exodus 16 we find Moses talking to the people:
23 He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”
Some of the Israelites don't listen, so God reemphasizes the importance of the Sabbath a few verses later:
28 The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? 29 They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you.
After 400+ years without a day off, God realizes the most important thing for His people is to develop a new rhythm. This rhythm is one of work then rest, work then rest, work then rest. Or to put it differently, doing then being, doing then being, doing then being.
Carla and I began keeping the Sabbath. It's a day when all our chores and school work are done ... even though they're not technically done if you know what I mean. It's a day of rest and play and joy and football (go Seahawks!) :) We get to stop doing and just be Lang and Carla. It is life giving. I'd say it's the best spiritual practice I've ever began. And, because God knows what He's doing, amazingly enough I get more school work done (and of better quality) by taking a day completely off, then I did working 7 days a week.
What kind of rhythms do you have? What do you think of adding being to doing?
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Grace and peace,
Lang
I hope you are all enjoying the fall. Yesterday was certainly a beautiful day here.
My last 3+ years in the Air Force (2005-8) I was also studying for my Masters in Ancient History. Working at the Weapons School meant 60'ish hours of work a week, usually 5-6 days a week (with the odd 7 day week thrown in). On top of that I had a fair bit of reading and writing for my Masters (10-20 hours depending on the week probably) ... so, as you can imagine even if I only worked at the Weapons School 5 days, I still spent significant chunks of Saturday and Sunday working on school. In other words, I didn't have days off.
This mentality became pretty engrained in me, so I took it with me to my studies at the school formally known as Mars Hill Graduate School. :) I was trying to do a 4-year program in 3 years, with the result that I worked on my reading and writing 7 days a week and only slept 6 hours or so a night so I could fit in time to workout and hang out with my family. This was the rhythm of my life was very focused on doing. Doing my reading, doing my writing, doing my workout, doing my chores, doing time with Carla, doing time with the kids, doing time at the jail ... just kidding. :)
A series of conversations with Carla and other students combined with some sermons I heard, teaching at school, and reading I did to change this. Carla and I developed a new rhythm. What is it you ask? ... Wait for it ...
Back in the day, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for over 400 years. You could truthfully say that in all probability for over 400 years they worked every day! Talk about poor benefits! This is the context in which the Exodus story (God through Moses leading them out of slavery) occurred. I'm guessing you're all familiar with an important part of this, the ten commandments, right? But, before the ten commandments came one far more important one (in my opinion). In Exodus 16 we find Moses talking to the people:
23 He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”
Some of the Israelites don't listen, so God reemphasizes the importance of the Sabbath a few verses later:
28 The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? 29 They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you.
After 400+ years without a day off, God realizes the most important thing for His people is to develop a new rhythm. This rhythm is one of work then rest, work then rest, work then rest. Or to put it differently, doing then being, doing then being, doing then being.
Carla and I began keeping the Sabbath. It's a day when all our chores and school work are done ... even though they're not technically done if you know what I mean. It's a day of rest and play and joy and football (go Seahawks!) :) We get to stop doing and just be Lang and Carla. It is life giving. I'd say it's the best spiritual practice I've ever began. And, because God knows what He's doing, amazingly enough I get more school work done (and of better quality) by taking a day completely off, then I did working 7 days a week.
What kind of rhythms do you have? What do you think of adding being to doing?
If you want to receive email notifications when I post new blogs, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Grace and peace,
Lang
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