I began reading the book Small is Beautiful : Economics As If People Mattered by E.F.Schumacher yesterday, and it is as if thoughts and covictions which I could not previously explain were presented coherently before me...every other word out of my mouth was an exclamation of "yes", or "exactly". Every frustration I have ever felt about our modern economic system, every twinge of guilt I have felt for my own materialistic greed and envy, every horror I have had at the sacrifice of quality and reality for the sake of quantity and utility, every revulsion towards consumption without moral accountability is perfectly and thoughtfully addressed by this book. I have already dissected my poor copy with marks and circles and exclamations and brackets. I fear the book will be illegible to any later readers.
If you have ever felt nausea at the sight of a Walmart, or guilt for consuming animals which have been treated without righteous regard, or been saddened by the endless monotony of GAPS, and Staples, and Targets, and McDonald's, or wondered when the threshold of "enough" is reached, then please please read this book. It is convicting, practical, applicable, and inspiring.
The following passage is an excerpt:
"If human vices such as greed and envy are systematically cultivated, the inevitable result is nothing less than a collapse of intelligence. A man driven by greed or envy loses the power of seeing things as they really are, of seeing things in their roundness and wholeness, and his very successes become failures. If whole societies become infected by these vices, they may indeed achieve astonishing things but they become increasingly incapable of solving the most elementary problems of every day existence."
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
Sweaty Truth
"The perversion of democratic society into a sea of anonymous beings, social droplets, deprived of true family, true freedom, and true purpose, although terribly possible, is not yet inevitable. Against this, intelligent men should struggle like fanatics; the Benthamite (ie. materialist/utilitarian) dream of social organization, in which the lonely, friendless, selfish, and hopeless individual confronts the leviathan state, in which all ancient affections and groupings have been eradicated and materialism has been substituted for traditional duties- this may be averted by the force of ideas, or so we should hope." - Russell Kirk
What does it look like when men struggle like fanatics wielding the force of ideas in hopes of averting disaster? I think Flannery O'Connor depicted it aptly when she said," You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd." Truth is not abstract. Paul warned against those who are "always learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth." Coming to a knowledge of the truth is the nasty, painful, sweaty part. Abstract truth is easy, it gives a self important high, it is fascinating to contemplate. However, it is the daily, personal, concrete struggling, and wielding of Truth which alone gives hope and light in the midst of a seemingly futile, purposeless world.
Ideas only have consequences when they are embedded deep in the rich, brown, dirty soil of earth. God's word says, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.", and,"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. "
So today I pray for strength to keep plowing when I want to look back, grace to sow to the Spirit and not to my flesh, and the faith not to mind when the truth makes me odder than my pride wants to be. Help me Lord to struggle like a fanatic against the Lie.
What does it look like when men struggle like fanatics wielding the force of ideas in hopes of averting disaster? I think Flannery O'Connor depicted it aptly when she said," You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd." Truth is not abstract. Paul warned against those who are "always learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth." Coming to a knowledge of the truth is the nasty, painful, sweaty part. Abstract truth is easy, it gives a self important high, it is fascinating to contemplate. However, it is the daily, personal, concrete struggling, and wielding of Truth which alone gives hope and light in the midst of a seemingly futile, purposeless world.
Ideas only have consequences when they are embedded deep in the rich, brown, dirty soil of earth. God's word says, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.", and,"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. "
So today I pray for strength to keep plowing when I want to look back, grace to sow to the Spirit and not to my flesh, and the faith not to mind when the truth makes me odder than my pride wants to be. Help me Lord to struggle like a fanatic against the Lie.
Eyore weather
Outside my windows, the yard is smothered in "sticky wet leaves" as my family affectionately calls the effect of a drizzling autumn rain on the mounds of golden, orange, and sienna leaves lying thick across our grass.
The Eyorish weather dictated leftover apple pie and milk for breakfast, and on my desk a lukewarm cup of coffee tempts me to refill the mug, a comforting antidote to the slight chill in the air and the dark gray haze outside.
My typing is intermittent with the cuddles of a two year old who (between bouts of mischief) insists upon laying his tousled had in my lap. The other members of our crew curl up mesmerized on the couch, watching Anne Of Green Gables for the first time ever. It is that kind of day.
The Eyorish weather dictated leftover apple pie and milk for breakfast, and on my desk a lukewarm cup of coffee tempts me to refill the mug, a comforting antidote to the slight chill in the air and the dark gray haze outside.
My typing is intermittent with the cuddles of a two year old who (between bouts of mischief) insists upon laying his tousled had in my lap. The other members of our crew curl up mesmerized on the couch, watching Anne Of Green Gables for the first time ever. It is that kind of day.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Compulsory Mediocrity
While reading in The Conservative Mind over my coffee this morning, I was struck by the following passage from Southern Conservative leader John C. Calhoun's Disquisition On Government, as well as Kirk's initial commentary:
(Kirk)"Liberty and complete equality, far from being inseparable, are incompatible, if by pure equality is meant equality of condition. For progress, moral and material, is derived from inequality of condition; and without progress, liberty decays:
'Now, as individuals differ greatly from each other, in intelligence, sagacity, energy, perseverance, skill, habit of industry and economy, physical power, position and opportunity — the necessary effect of leaving all free to exert themselves to better their condition, must be a corresponding inequality between those who may possess these qualities and advantages in a high degree, and those who may be deficient in them. The only means by which this result can be prevented are, either to impose such restrictions on the exertions of those who may possess them in a high degree, as will place them on a level with those who do not; or to deprive them of the fruits of their exertions. But to impose such restrictions on them would be destructive of liberty — while, to deprive them of the fruits of their exertions, could be to destroy the desire of bettering their condition. It is, indeed, his inequality of condition between the front and rear ranks, in the march of progress, which gives so strong an impulse to the former to maintain their position, and to the latter to press forward into their files. This gives to progress its greatest impulse. To force the front rank back to the rear, or attempt to push forward the rear into line with the front, by the interposition of the government, would put an end to the impulse, and effectually arrest the march of progress.'"
This truth is so concretely illustrated in the compulsory "equality of condition" required by our society. As a child in the public school system, I was refused the opportunity to progress beyond standardized grade level in my reading skills, and sent to the computer to play games so as not to injure any other children's "self esteem". Culture insists upon the equal value of all religious belief, and in doing so declares them all void. Government taxes the rich and distributes it to the poor, resulting in an impetusless lowerclass, and a resentful upperclass less inclined to generosity and compassion. Small, diverse businesses are smothered by prohibitive, standardized regulations instituted in the name of "equality of condition". Ideas have consequences.
Contrast this picture with the biblical injunction " Do you see and man who excels in his work, he will stand before kings, he will not stand before unknown men." Tangible excellence and faithfulness in any circumstance will always yield sweeter fruit than compulsory mediocrity.
(Kirk)"Liberty and complete equality, far from being inseparable, are incompatible, if by pure equality is meant equality of condition. For progress, moral and material, is derived from inequality of condition; and without progress, liberty decays:
'Now, as individuals differ greatly from each other, in intelligence, sagacity, energy, perseverance, skill, habit of industry and economy, physical power, position and opportunity — the necessary effect of leaving all free to exert themselves to better their condition, must be a corresponding inequality between those who may possess these qualities and advantages in a high degree, and those who may be deficient in them. The only means by which this result can be prevented are, either to impose such restrictions on the exertions of those who may possess them in a high degree, as will place them on a level with those who do not; or to deprive them of the fruits of their exertions. But to impose such restrictions on them would be destructive of liberty — while, to deprive them of the fruits of their exertions, could be to destroy the desire of bettering their condition. It is, indeed, his inequality of condition between the front and rear ranks, in the march of progress, which gives so strong an impulse to the former to maintain their position, and to the latter to press forward into their files. This gives to progress its greatest impulse. To force the front rank back to the rear, or attempt to push forward the rear into line with the front, by the interposition of the government, would put an end to the impulse, and effectually arrest the march of progress.'"
This truth is so concretely illustrated in the compulsory "equality of condition" required by our society. As a child in the public school system, I was refused the opportunity to progress beyond standardized grade level in my reading skills, and sent to the computer to play games so as not to injure any other children's "self esteem". Culture insists upon the equal value of all religious belief, and in doing so declares them all void. Government taxes the rich and distributes it to the poor, resulting in an impetusless lowerclass, and a resentful upperclass less inclined to generosity and compassion. Small, diverse businesses are smothered by prohibitive, standardized regulations instituted in the name of "equality of condition". Ideas have consequences.
Contrast this picture with the biblical injunction " Do you see and man who excels in his work, he will stand before kings, he will not stand before unknown men." Tangible excellence and faithfulness in any circumstance will always yield sweeter fruit than compulsory mediocrity.
Friday, October 20, 2006
My path this autumn evening...
Over the past several months, two books have come to dominate my mental landscape, and have crystallized many of the vague ideas which remained undefined yet felt. Below are links which will, no doubt, figure greatly in the wanderings of my thoughts over the months ahead:
Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher
The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk
Life With Russell Kirk by Annette Kirk
I cannot recommend these thought provoking books enough, and the essay by Annette Kirk is beautiful. Anyway, this is the path which I am wandering down this autumn evening.
Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher
The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk
Life With Russell Kirk by Annette Kirk
I cannot recommend these thought provoking books enough, and the essay by Annette Kirk is beautiful. Anyway, this is the path which I am wandering down this autumn evening.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. " Ecclesiastes 3
These past months have been my time of silence. There is a time for speaking, but a time to close one's mouth as well... and this has been my season. There has been life to nurture in my womb, and the void of someone irreplaceable lost. There has been good but very real work to do, and war against my flesh to wage. There has been seed to sow in six little hearts, and tears to cry to cry at the feet of my Lord. And so I have placed my hand over my mouth.
However, the tiny little boy has arrived with the autumn, and something in me feels that the time to give form to thoughts has come again.
time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. " Ecclesiastes 3
These past months have been my time of silence. There is a time for speaking, but a time to close one's mouth as well... and this has been my season. There has been life to nurture in my womb, and the void of someone irreplaceable lost. There has been good but very real work to do, and war against my flesh to wage. There has been seed to sow in six little hearts, and tears to cry to cry at the feet of my Lord. And so I have placed my hand over my mouth.
However, the tiny little boy has arrived with the autumn, and something in me feels that the time to give form to thoughts has come again.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Battles of the mind
As I was struggling with some serious character deficiencies in my life yesterday, my husband reminded me to meditate on the following verse:
Meditating on this set me to thinking about a serious battle I had as a child/early teen with taking every thought captive and submitting it to the Lordship of Christ. For several years I had to wage a battle in my mind... minute by minute taking EVERY thought captive. It is uncanny the extent to which the thoughts/attitudes which we willingly or unknowingly allow in our minds shape our attitudes, abilities, and actions.
This truth is vividly illustrated in Genesis 4:2-7
Just like Cain, I do not do well, I indulge in a fallen face, and suddenly...sin is crouching at my door, desiring to devour me...to eat me alive...to destroy me. But...but says the Creator of my mind, my spirit, my will...you must rule over it.
I really do not have a choice. Like it or not, feel like it or not, want to or not, I must rule over it, dominate it, annihilate it, master it, or it will do so to me. My enemy the devil is like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour, and if he finds me without my armor on he will certainly eat me alive.
This is my only defence...to put on the whole armor of God and to take every thought captive in submission to the Lordship of Christ.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2)
Meditating on this set me to thinking about a serious battle I had as a child/early teen with taking every thought captive and submitting it to the Lordship of Christ. For several years I had to wage a battle in my mind... minute by minute taking EVERY thought captive. It is uncanny the extent to which the thoughts/attitudes which we willingly or unknowingly allow in our minds shape our attitudes, abilities, and actions.
This truth is vividly illustrated in Genesis 4:2-7
Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Just like Cain, I do not do well, I indulge in a fallen face, and suddenly...sin is crouching at my door, desiring to devour me...to eat me alive...to destroy me. But...but says the Creator of my mind, my spirit, my will...you must rule over it.
I really do not have a choice. Like it or not, feel like it or not, want to or not, I must rule over it, dominate it, annihilate it, master it, or it will do so to me. My enemy the devil is like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour, and if he finds me without my armor on he will certainly eat me alive.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
This is my only defence...to put on the whole armor of God and to take every thought captive in submission to the Lordship of Christ.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Over Analysis
I have a tendency to be overly introspective, analytical, and even...pessimistic.
I analyze, ponder, consider, read into, and worst case scenario everything.
For any given situation I can instantly tell you what is wrong, what might go wrong, and how you should proceed to rectify what already is wrong. The problem is...I analyze to death. I pessimize to death. I consider to death. I live my life in constant looming awareness of my weaknesses and failures, and believe everybody around me is feeling the same about my failures. ( If you have any doubts on this...merely consider the subject of this blog! )
The problem (grimace) is, that this analysis sucks all the joy out of life. I analyze, analyze, analyze. I hide away in my cerebral world, and neglect to live, enjoy, and breathe. I forget that I am justified by the blood of Jesus Christ, that I am only here for a brief time, and that life is about enjoying God here and now. I forget that though I must never aim for failure, that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". Not even condemnation from myself.
There is a time for thinking and a time for living, and often my thinking is an excuse to avoid the living. Thinking requires no work...living is saturated in it. Thinking conveniently neglects to include fallen human nature...living throws it in your face at every turn. Thinking puffs up...living humbles.
I analyze, ponder, consider, read into, and worst case scenario everything.
For any given situation I can instantly tell you what is wrong, what might go wrong, and how you should proceed to rectify what already is wrong. The problem is...I analyze to death. I pessimize to death. I consider to death. I live my life in constant looming awareness of my weaknesses and failures, and believe everybody around me is feeling the same about my failures. ( If you have any doubts on this...merely consider the subject of this blog! )
The problem (grimace) is, that this analysis sucks all the joy out of life. I analyze, analyze, analyze. I hide away in my cerebral world, and neglect to live, enjoy, and breathe. I forget that I am justified by the blood of Jesus Christ, that I am only here for a brief time, and that life is about enjoying God here and now. I forget that though I must never aim for failure, that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". Not even condemnation from myself.
There is a time for thinking and a time for living, and often my thinking is an excuse to avoid the living. Thinking requires no work...living is saturated in it. Thinking conveniently neglects to include fallen human nature...living throws it in your face at every turn. Thinking puffs up...living humbles.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Thank you for being Christ to me...
The Body of Christ on earth is so amazing. It is beautiful to behold, and awe inspiring in its love. Thank you...thank you...thank you...to EVERY one of you out there who cared enough to encourage my overwhelmed heart today. To grasp that that many sisters in Christ all over the country were offering up prayers on my behalf is too precious for words. Thank you for reminding me that God is so much bigger than my mind can wrap itself around. Thank you for reminding me that He is my strength when I am empty and weak. Thank you for your precious love! It is dearly appreciated.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Wondering why?
Last Tuesday, my precious, wonderful, dearly loved mother-in-law passed away from breast cancer. I keep telling myself she is happier now, but that does nothing to take away the horrible pain of knowing I can never have her again in this life. I can never talk with her...never see her rock the baby now in my womb.
I arrived home from the funeral to find my cat who we really loved lying dead in the road. He is gone.
Saturday morning I woke with a debilitating flu. Fever and body aches have kept me in bed, passing in and out of sleep. It seems as if physical discomfort magnifies the emotional pain a thousandfold. I feel helpless and empty. Surrounded with pain, and too weak to deal with it.
Why? I know beyond all doubt that God is loving, Sovereign, and good. But sometimes, I feel floundering, and all I know to say is "why" ? Not rebelliously, not disrespectfully, but just confusedly..."why" ?
Please Lord, give me sight in this darkness.
I arrived home from the funeral to find my cat who we really loved lying dead in the road. He is gone.
Saturday morning I woke with a debilitating flu. Fever and body aches have kept me in bed, passing in and out of sleep. It seems as if physical discomfort magnifies the emotional pain a thousandfold. I feel helpless and empty. Surrounded with pain, and too weak to deal with it.
Why? I know beyond all doubt that God is loving, Sovereign, and good. But sometimes, I feel floundering, and all I know to say is "why" ? Not rebelliously, not disrespectfully, but just confusedly..."why" ?
Please Lord, give me sight in this darkness.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Thoughts on Total Truth
I was just thinking about a point that impressed me after I finished reading Nancy Pearcy's book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity
Her book attempts to liberate Christianity from its bondage to dualism and its intrinsic hypocrisy, and to encourage Christians to embrace the integrated, whole, and consistent reality revealed in Scripture. In the book's last chapter, Pearcy emphasizes how crucial authenticity is to the Christian message. The world is full of inconsistencies and incongruities, full of lies and empty rhetoric. People are weary of it. They want to know that there is real truth...they want to see real people being authentic to the hilt. They are hungry to see people living as if there were an "author". Authenticity. It is not easy. It is painful. It is humbling. However, it is the message which this generation is aching for, and it can only be found in true biblical Christianity lived out to the extreme...lived out at any cost...lived out to the death. The world is not dumb. It is not deceived. They are not impressed by piety, by puffed up theology, by imitations of other people's facades. They are awed by love. Awed by implicit trust in a Sovereign Creator. Awed by a voice that says, " Though He slay me, I will trust in Him. "
Awed by radical obedience at the expense of our own personal wants, plans, and lives.
Love is NEVER easy. There is never a "good" time for love. There is only daily, unceasing, repetitive, self emptying, love. Love that sends you crying at the feet of Christ begging for the strength to keep on loving. Love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love that is impossible without abiding in He who is Love incarnate. Love which is a daily repeated death.
Obedience and trust are NEVER easy. If they are easy...something is seriously wrong. If we feel comfortable with our obedience...something is seriously wrong. God asks for wholehearted, undiluted obedience, and the more we obey, the more He asks of us. He is the omnipotent Sovereign...we are not our own, we were bought with the ultimate price. His will is to be done every day...not ours. His kingdom is to be advanced every day...not our own. It hurts, and it is hard, yet it is the source of the truest happiness and the most satisfying joy, for, "In His presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore."
So, Christ calls us to take up our cross daily, and to lay down our lives daily, for then
and only then will men see Truth incarnate.
Her book attempts to liberate Christianity from its bondage to dualism and its intrinsic hypocrisy, and to encourage Christians to embrace the integrated, whole, and consistent reality revealed in Scripture. In the book's last chapter, Pearcy emphasizes how crucial authenticity is to the Christian message. The world is full of inconsistencies and incongruities, full of lies and empty rhetoric. People are weary of it. They want to know that there is real truth...they want to see real people being authentic to the hilt. They are hungry to see people living as if there were an "author". Authenticity. It is not easy. It is painful. It is humbling. However, it is the message which this generation is aching for, and it can only be found in true biblical Christianity lived out to the extreme...lived out at any cost...lived out to the death. The world is not dumb. It is not deceived. They are not impressed by piety, by puffed up theology, by imitations of other people's facades. They are awed by love. Awed by implicit trust in a Sovereign Creator. Awed by a voice that says, " Though He slay me, I will trust in Him. "
Awed by radical obedience at the expense of our own personal wants, plans, and lives.
Love is NEVER easy. There is never a "good" time for love. There is only daily, unceasing, repetitive, self emptying, love. Love that sends you crying at the feet of Christ begging for the strength to keep on loving. Love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love that is impossible without abiding in He who is Love incarnate. Love which is a daily repeated death.
Obedience and trust are NEVER easy. If they are easy...something is seriously wrong. If we feel comfortable with our obedience...something is seriously wrong. God asks for wholehearted, undiluted obedience, and the more we obey, the more He asks of us. He is the omnipotent Sovereign...we are not our own, we were bought with the ultimate price. His will is to be done every day...not ours. His kingdom is to be advanced every day...not our own. It hurts, and it is hard, yet it is the source of the truest happiness and the most satisfying joy, for, "In His presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore."
So, Christ calls us to take up our cross daily, and to lay down our lives daily, for then
and only then will men see Truth incarnate.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Inconsistent Logic?
Just wondering:
1) If I truly believe God is completely sovereign.
2) If I truly believe he alone authors life.
3) If I truly believe His word is without error.
4) If I truly believe He is NEVER mistaken
5) If I truly believe He only does that which glorifies His name.
6) If I truly believe I am a living sacrifice to Him.
7) If I truly believe in His Kingdom on earth.
8) If I truly believe that I am part of a spiritual army.
9) If I truly believe I am a living sacrifice to Him.
10) If I truly believe I am not my own, but have been bought at the ultimate price.
11) If I truly believe abundant life and joy are found in keeping His commandments.
12) If I truly believe that his grace is sufficient.
13) If I truly believe children are a blessing from the Lord.
14) If I truly believe God was not making a mistake when he repeatedly says He
opens and closes wombs.
15) If I truly believe that children are arrows in the hands of a warrior...
How can I consistently defend attempting to control the number of children God sends me? Shouldn't my struggle be against the kingdom of this world...against my flesh...rather than against the will of the all loving, all compassionate, all knowing Sovereign Life-giver?
1) If I truly believe God is completely sovereign.
2) If I truly believe he alone authors life.
3) If I truly believe His word is without error.
4) If I truly believe He is NEVER mistaken
5) If I truly believe He only does that which glorifies His name.
6) If I truly believe I am a living sacrifice to Him.
7) If I truly believe in His Kingdom on earth.
8) If I truly believe that I am part of a spiritual army.
9) If I truly believe I am a living sacrifice to Him.
10) If I truly believe I am not my own, but have been bought at the ultimate price.
11) If I truly believe abundant life and joy are found in keeping His commandments.
12) If I truly believe that his grace is sufficient.
13) If I truly believe children are a blessing from the Lord.
14) If I truly believe God was not making a mistake when he repeatedly says He
opens and closes wombs.
15) If I truly believe that children are arrows in the hands of a warrior...
How can I consistently defend attempting to control the number of children God sends me? Shouldn't my struggle be against the kingdom of this world...against my flesh...rather than against the will of the all loving, all compassionate, all knowing Sovereign Life-giver?
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Rebellion At Any Cost
I was reading some excerpts from Thomas Hobbes' Levithan last night, and was reminded again of man's inescapable gnawing awareness of his need for God.
Hobbes' materialist and determinist beliefs required that he could not scientifically presuppose God. Therefore, knowing that which is self evident about unrestrained human sin, he found himself compelled to construct an totalitarian state upon which he endowed all the attributes of God. Rather than presuppose that there is a True Sovereign, whose laws are truly just, Hobbes presupposes that matter is the only truth and thereby forces himself to endow one man with the right to dominate, legislate, and oppress all other men in subjection to him (ie. play God).
Rather than humbly bowing the knee to the King of Heaven and Earth, and being completely subject to His compassionate law, Hobbes chooses to place himself in bondage to the will of one man (supposedly endowed with the "autonomous rights" of his subjects). He would prefer to be stripped of all freedom and creativity, for the sake of crying from his disgusting little cage, "Look at me, I am free! I made my own prison! I chose to join this social contract, but never forget, the source of the sovereignty was me. Once upon a time I was God, but I have chosen of my own to create this hell!"
I cannot be amazed enough at the extent to which man will deceive himself in order to rebel against the King. We will make hell on earth, just to say, "I am the Beginning and the End...not God!"
Hobbes' materialist and determinist beliefs required that he could not scientifically presuppose God. Therefore, knowing that which is self evident about unrestrained human sin, he found himself compelled to construct an totalitarian state upon which he endowed all the attributes of God. Rather than presuppose that there is a True Sovereign, whose laws are truly just, Hobbes presupposes that matter is the only truth and thereby forces himself to endow one man with the right to dominate, legislate, and oppress all other men in subjection to him (ie. play God).
Rather than humbly bowing the knee to the King of Heaven and Earth, and being completely subject to His compassionate law, Hobbes chooses to place himself in bondage to the will of one man (supposedly endowed with the "autonomous rights" of his subjects). He would prefer to be stripped of all freedom and creativity, for the sake of crying from his disgusting little cage, "Look at me, I am free! I made my own prison! I chose to join this social contract, but never forget, the source of the sovereignty was me. Once upon a time I was God, but I have chosen of my own to create this hell!"
I cannot be amazed enough at the extent to which man will deceive himself in order to rebel against the King. We will make hell on earth, just to say, "I am the Beginning and the End...not God!"
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Embracing Seasons
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
As faithfully as the seasons blend and merge, so the seasons of my life blend...no season lasts forever. Each must be embraced and enjoyed in its own unique way. I must find my joy exactly where God has me, knowing that each day bears its own unique gifts...never to be offered again.
I struggle to discern "seasons", to appreciate the appropriate time for things. I go, go, go, never stopping to think what God's will for this moment is. I order my day around the tyranny of the urgent, forgetting that my chief end is to, ( as Piper says) glorify God by enjoying Him forever. I find myself coveting the labor and fruit of other seasons, forgetting that this one will pass all too soon, along with its own particular joys.
What would my life look like if I actually embraced its seasons? If I reveled in the beauty of each phase, instead of despising or fearing its weaknesses? In Genesis, God ordained that humans should order their lives about the ebb and flow of seasons, and again, He reminds us in Ecclesiastes. Seasons are a gift. They are a God given way of pacing me, of reminding me to enjoy Him. They are my Shepherd's rod and staff comforting me. When I refuse to embrace them, I grow blind and dull of Spirit, insensible to the abundant variety, beauty, and growth around me. Jesus reiterated it again when He said, "I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly."
Lord, help me to slow down and delight in You, to enter wholeheartedly into the seasons you delight to place me in, and to revel in the works of Your hands.
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
As faithfully as the seasons blend and merge, so the seasons of my life blend...no season lasts forever. Each must be embraced and enjoyed in its own unique way. I must find my joy exactly where God has me, knowing that each day bears its own unique gifts...never to be offered again.
I struggle to discern "seasons", to appreciate the appropriate time for things. I go, go, go, never stopping to think what God's will for this moment is. I order my day around the tyranny of the urgent, forgetting that my chief end is to, ( as Piper says) glorify God by enjoying Him forever. I find myself coveting the labor and fruit of other seasons, forgetting that this one will pass all too soon, along with its own particular joys.
What would my life look like if I actually embraced its seasons? If I reveled in the beauty of each phase, instead of despising or fearing its weaknesses? In Genesis, God ordained that humans should order their lives about the ebb and flow of seasons, and again, He reminds us in Ecclesiastes. Seasons are a gift. They are a God given way of pacing me, of reminding me to enjoy Him. They are my Shepherd's rod and staff comforting me. When I refuse to embrace them, I grow blind and dull of Spirit, insensible to the abundant variety, beauty, and growth around me. Jesus reiterated it again when He said, "I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly."
Lord, help me to slow down and delight in You, to enter wholeheartedly into the seasons you delight to place me in, and to revel in the works of Your hands.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
My dilemma
I have a dilemma. I am disturbed by the the stigma and connotations frequently associated with the word "home maker" or "house wife". This is illustrated in an extreme manner by the popular TV series Desperate Housewives . What was once an accurate term for my calling, now conjures negative images in this post-modern culture. Images of discontent, Oprah watching, chocolate craving, intellect-less, Martha worshipping females rush to mind. The generation of God fearing women before me fought long and hard to earn respect for their decision to advance God's kingdom through their homes, and I am grateful for the battle they waged to re-confer dignity to the term "homemaker". Yet, somehow, a lingering whiff of disdain often clings to these terms.
Why do I still use a stigmatized term to define my calling when it no longer accurately depicts what I am to the culture in which I belong? English morphs and alters with the changes in culture, and I am obligated before God to communicate as accurately and relevantly as I can to the culture in which He has placed me. Therefore, it is time for to redefine my job title.
At first, I thought of "Home Economist", but that retains potent connotations as well. Besides, I am more than a home manager. So, I checked the etymological definition of "ecology" as well as reading up on "Social Ecology" in Wikipidia.
"Now," I thought, "we are on to something"!
Social Ecology : (as defined on Wikipidia)
"Social ecology is, in the words of its leading exponents, "a coherent radical critique of current social, political, and anti-ecological trends" as well as "a reconstructive, ecological, communitarian, and ethical approach to society". Social Ecology is a radical view of ecology and of social/political systems."
Yes, I am radical. Yes I am a re constructionist. Yes, I am concerned by materialistic consumerism. But alas, I am not a socialist or an anarchist! Hmmm...so, can I claim to be a "Biblical Social Ecologist". Ecology means literally "to study environments". That is my calling... to study the enviroments in which my family operates, to study the enviroment of my home, to study my cultural, spiritual, and physical enviroments. So, is that an accurate definition? This is my delimma.
I suppose before I can refer to myself as a "Biblical Social Ecologist", I must first determine my economic philosophy (as economic theory is bound up in the term). As I am painfully deficient in this field of study, I want to study economics this year. I want to know how to repent of materialism and consumerism in the personal arena as well as the practical. I want to know what God says about economics. I want to know why despite its immense blessings, I am concerned by some of capitalism's fruits. Is there a bibical economics? Or, am I just economically illiterate? Is my lack of understanding the problem? But then, why do these problems exist, and how are they biblically resolved? I want to know.
In the mean time, I will be mulling over how to accurately represent my calling in a post-modern world.
Why do I still use a stigmatized term to define my calling when it no longer accurately depicts what I am to the culture in which I belong? English morphs and alters with the changes in culture, and I am obligated before God to communicate as accurately and relevantly as I can to the culture in which He has placed me. Therefore, it is time for to redefine my job title.
At first, I thought of "Home Economist", but that retains potent connotations as well. Besides, I am more than a home manager. So, I checked the etymological definition of "ecology" as well as reading up on "Social Ecology" in Wikipidia.
"Now," I thought, "we are on to something"!
Social Ecology : (as defined on Wikipidia)
"Social ecology is, in the words of its leading exponents, "a coherent radical critique of current social, political, and anti-ecological trends" as well as "a reconstructive, ecological, communitarian, and ethical approach to society". Social Ecology is a radical view of ecology and of social/political systems."
Yes, I am radical. Yes I am a re constructionist. Yes, I am concerned by materialistic consumerism. But alas, I am not a socialist or an anarchist! Hmmm...so, can I claim to be a "Biblical Social Ecologist". Ecology means literally "to study environments". That is my calling... to study the enviroments in which my family operates, to study the enviroment of my home, to study my cultural, spiritual, and physical enviroments. So, is that an accurate definition? This is my delimma.
I suppose before I can refer to myself as a "Biblical Social Ecologist", I must first determine my economic philosophy (as economic theory is bound up in the term). As I am painfully deficient in this field of study, I want to study economics this year. I want to know how to repent of materialism and consumerism in the personal arena as well as the practical. I want to know what God says about economics. I want to know why despite its immense blessings, I am concerned by some of capitalism's fruits. Is there a bibical economics? Or, am I just economically illiterate? Is my lack of understanding the problem? But then, why do these problems exist, and how are they biblically resolved? I want to know.
In the mean time, I will be mulling over how to accurately represent my calling in a post-modern world.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Redeemer of my body
There is nothing like sickness to humble one. It displays the effects of the fall in tangible, inescapable ways... flaunting my helplessness before my face. It rivets my attention to the devastating physical consequences of rebellion against creation's Designer.
In health, I begin to feel capable, competent, and independent. But sickness leaves me helpless, incompetent, and dependent. Unexpectedly, and without preparation, I am stripped of my physical resources and made acutely aware of my finite mortality.
I have no recourse but to turn to the Redeemer of my body and soul, and cry out for compassion. Compassion, because he knows my weaknesses. Compassion, because He took on flesh and became fully Man. He entered in to my limitations, my physicality, my subjection to the reality of the curse. He knows. He is not an abstract idea. He is the Redeemer who has felt abject pain... The King of creation who cried out in bloody beaten despair," My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?".
So, I am thankful for sickness which keeps me abiding in Him who is my Life.
In health, I begin to feel capable, competent, and independent. But sickness leaves me helpless, incompetent, and dependent. Unexpectedly, and without preparation, I am stripped of my physical resources and made acutely aware of my finite mortality.
I have no recourse but to turn to the Redeemer of my body and soul, and cry out for compassion. Compassion, because he knows my weaknesses. Compassion, because He took on flesh and became fully Man. He entered in to my limitations, my physicality, my subjection to the reality of the curse. He knows. He is not an abstract idea. He is the Redeemer who has felt abject pain... The King of creation who cried out in bloody beaten despair," My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?".
So, I am thankful for sickness which keeps me abiding in Him who is my Life.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Mental Atrophy
Mental atrophy...my only excuse. Thoughts have tumbled through my head. I have read voraciously. Yet writing has seemed a lead weighted endeavor. It refuses to come. Or, (more to the truth) I have not wanted to apply myself. Capturing my thoughts, and caging them within the constraints of letters and syntax requires effort, and I have been tired.
Over Christmas, I devoured several books which reshaped my process of thinking about life, reality, and culture. My mind is still wrestling with the practical implication of these books in my daily life. But, if anyone is interested, I listed their Amazon links below:
1) Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcy
2) Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by H.R. Rookmaaker
3) Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in an Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
4) Discourse on Method by Rene Descartes
Seeing that this post has morphed into a kind of "state of my mind address", I will go ahead and include the books on my soon to be read list as well...just to give a sketch of my mental itinerary for the next while.
1) Various modern philosophers...passages from Hobbes, Pascal, Racine, and Locke
2) Economics: THE AMERICAN ECONOMY from a Christian Perspective by Tom Rose
3) Logic by Issac Watts
Thus, the state of my mind. Hopefully, with a little dilligence this year, I may craft some coherent thought from these presently rambled jumblings (or did I mean jumbled ramblings? )!
Over Christmas, I devoured several books which reshaped my process of thinking about life, reality, and culture. My mind is still wrestling with the practical implication of these books in my daily life. But, if anyone is interested, I listed their Amazon links below:
1) Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcy
2) Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by H.R. Rookmaaker
3) Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in an Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
4) Discourse on Method by Rene Descartes
Seeing that this post has morphed into a kind of "state of my mind address", I will go ahead and include the books on my soon to be read list as well...just to give a sketch of my mental itinerary for the next while.
1) Various modern philosophers...passages from Hobbes, Pascal, Racine, and Locke
2) Economics: THE AMERICAN ECONOMY from a Christian Perspective by Tom Rose
3) Logic by Issac Watts
Thus, the state of my mind. Hopefully, with a little dilligence this year, I may craft some coherent thought from these presently rambled jumblings (or did I mean jumbled ramblings? )!
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