All Dues Paid
Perhaps all our benedictions should end w/ this disclaimer:
“All fees paid for by the Blood of Christ & It's distributors. Into the Void where prohibited.”
Friday, June 29, 2007
Being Still
Being asked to “Be still.” always came across as an unfair request to me. As a kid, the concept was completely absurd. I was well into my 20’s before it ever became truly possible. Perhaps those asking (mostly telling) would’ve had better delivery if they had known it was a Biblical quote:
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
-Ps. 46:10
Of course I would’ve replied, “You’re not God!” Yet, I would’ve at least gave the idea some consideration as actually being possible. The very true fact was that when someone told me to be still, they might as well have been on their knees begging me to totally dismiss what they were saying. I would try for a little under a minute & give up. The concept was that crazy to me.
Buddhist meditation, contrary to popular belief, does not cure a child’s need to buzz around the room like a cell phone. The only time I was successful at being still when I was younger was when I was in stealth mode. This is what I used when ever I tried to meditate. It had few results, but they existed. Had I stayed a Buddhist, I’m sure I would’ve improved. Yet, this would be a lot more due to maturing than the attention of spiritual leaders.
As a 30-something that likes decaf & comfort food, I’m much more inclined to be still. The result is more affinity for being in the presence of God. As the psalm verse is multilayered, I can only refer to this 1 aspect of it as far as inspiration for Christian meditation (centering prayer) goes. However, I can’t shake the feeling that kids need this & that it would cure a lot of the things I overhear parents calling their pet peeves.
If there are entire Asian nations full of meditating kids, they can grow up able to find inner peace in the middle of a battlefield. Do you want your kids up against that? Buy bonds & get your kids doing centering prayer TODAY! :)
Being asked to “Be still.” always came across as an unfair request to me. As a kid, the concept was completely absurd. I was well into my 20’s before it ever became truly possible. Perhaps those asking (mostly telling) would’ve had better delivery if they had known it was a Biblical quote:
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
-Ps. 46:10
Of course I would’ve replied, “You’re not God!” Yet, I would’ve at least gave the idea some consideration as actually being possible. The very true fact was that when someone told me to be still, they might as well have been on their knees begging me to totally dismiss what they were saying. I would try for a little under a minute & give up. The concept was that crazy to me.
Buddhist meditation, contrary to popular belief, does not cure a child’s need to buzz around the room like a cell phone. The only time I was successful at being still when I was younger was when I was in stealth mode. This is what I used when ever I tried to meditate. It had few results, but they existed. Had I stayed a Buddhist, I’m sure I would’ve improved. Yet, this would be a lot more due to maturing than the attention of spiritual leaders.
As a 30-something that likes decaf & comfort food, I’m much more inclined to be still. The result is more affinity for being in the presence of God. As the psalm verse is multilayered, I can only refer to this 1 aspect of it as far as inspiration for Christian meditation (centering prayer) goes. However, I can’t shake the feeling that kids need this & that it would cure a lot of the things I overhear parents calling their pet peeves.
If there are entire Asian nations full of meditating kids, they can grow up able to find inner peace in the middle of a battlefield. Do you want your kids up against that? Buy bonds & get your kids doing centering prayer TODAY! :)
Enemies
To be more intimate w/ our loved ones, we do more than display our strengths, we expose our vulnerabilities. After the shallow relationship of mere animosity is replaced by something more serious, our relationships w/ our enemies also become intimate. We display our strengths, to be sure. Yet, deception is a strategy of vulnerabilities & it is a bonding process as much as any other.
To be more intimate w/ our loved ones, we do more than display our strengths, we expose our vulnerabilities. After the shallow relationship of mere animosity is replaced by something more serious, our relationships w/ our enemies also become intimate. We display our strengths, to be sure. Yet, deception is a strategy of vulnerabilities & it is a bonding process as much as any other.
“Capacity”
The heart’s capacity for love is a complicated thing. Greg’s right about there being no simple answers to complicated problems. Yet, love has something in common w/ good & evil besides the obvious. It’s only one word: momentum. As one good deed starts one on the road to being good & one sin, the opposite, such momentum is true of love. The heart’s capacity for love is larger the more love you stuff in it. It magically stretches to the size it needs to, to accommodate what it is being asked to hold. It will keep on stretching. For love is not what tears or breaks it, but just the opposite… a lack of love deflates it. Betrayal is a form of un-love that causes it to break or ache. Feelings of love to come are directly linked to the slower give & take of love in the past. As momentum exists, the result (once noticed) is so encouraging, it leads to joy.
There is another word for this: growth. See? Not simple. New words for it could very well go on & on (kind of complicated). May lots of love citizens live in Capa City.
The heart’s capacity for love is a complicated thing. Greg’s right about there being no simple answers to complicated problems. Yet, love has something in common w/ good & evil besides the obvious. It’s only one word: momentum. As one good deed starts one on the road to being good & one sin, the opposite, such momentum is true of love. The heart’s capacity for love is larger the more love you stuff in it. It magically stretches to the size it needs to, to accommodate what it is being asked to hold. It will keep on stretching. For love is not what tears or breaks it, but just the opposite… a lack of love deflates it. Betrayal is a form of un-love that causes it to break or ache. Feelings of love to come are directly linked to the slower give & take of love in the past. As momentum exists, the result (once noticed) is so encouraging, it leads to joy.
There is another word for this: growth. See? Not simple. New words for it could very well go on & on (kind of complicated). May lots of love citizens live in Capa City.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Doubt
In Greg’s class ongoing these Sundays, one thing we mused upon was presumably unnamed doubts of the disciples at the end of Matthew’s gospel. The situation of these folks having doubts while the Resurrected Jesus was right before them seemed to give many comfort about their own states of unbelief. Though encouraging, there was one thing about the situation that wasn’t addressed.
Reminiscing about what John Harris brought up some months ago about the dark side of “critical thinking”, there seems to be no bar to it from culture to culture (no, I don’t know enough cultures to prove that). Critical thinking is taught us in school so we can discern anything, from sports to literature. Our professor revealed that this can cause damage. Critical thinking has its value. Yet, the danger lies in taking a shortcut. Namely, instead of keeping critical thinking confined to its proper place, we just doubt everything until it’s proven.
If we are downright “trained” to doubt, perhaps this was true of that culture as well. Admittedly, there is a quote from “Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible” I’ve freshly come across, “The Middle Eastern world is non-, indeed anti-introspective…” That being said, there is irony in that the author uses that as a reason for westerners to not engage our mindset on them as we read. That’s just it, though. I’m implying a similarity, not a difference. Instead of introspective doubt… trained doubt.
Trained waters run deep, even w/ the shining life of Christ right before you. We are trained to doubt, do you doubt this?
In Greg’s class ongoing these Sundays, one thing we mused upon was presumably unnamed doubts of the disciples at the end of Matthew’s gospel. The situation of these folks having doubts while the Resurrected Jesus was right before them seemed to give many comfort about their own states of unbelief. Though encouraging, there was one thing about the situation that wasn’t addressed.
Reminiscing about what John Harris brought up some months ago about the dark side of “critical thinking”, there seems to be no bar to it from culture to culture (no, I don’t know enough cultures to prove that). Critical thinking is taught us in school so we can discern anything, from sports to literature. Our professor revealed that this can cause damage. Critical thinking has its value. Yet, the danger lies in taking a shortcut. Namely, instead of keeping critical thinking confined to its proper place, we just doubt everything until it’s proven.
If we are downright “trained” to doubt, perhaps this was true of that culture as well. Admittedly, there is a quote from “Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible” I’ve freshly come across, “The Middle Eastern world is non-, indeed anti-introspective…” That being said, there is irony in that the author uses that as a reason for westerners to not engage our mindset on them as we read. That’s just it, though. I’m implying a similarity, not a difference. Instead of introspective doubt… trained doubt.
Trained waters run deep, even w/ the shining life of Christ right before you. We are trained to doubt, do you doubt this?
Judgmentalism
Though suspicious for some time, I had no idea the extent of how judgmental I was. I knew I used to be rather critical years & years ago. I thought such a blatant & basic tenet was behind me. I’ve constantly reminded myself to judge not, that I be not judged from Mt. 7:1
It was not behind me. Still, regular attendance to church services for over 3 years now, has wrought its work. Over time, I’ve come to judge others less, & take comfort as I noticed that my own faults are being met by the congregation w/ understanding instead of disdain. This isn’t to say that there haven’t been instances where these things have taken place (even recently), both by others as well as me. Yet, they’ve come to feel like the exception to the rule instead of par for the course.
The good that has come out of this is manifold. I’ll leave the obvious unsaid… but there have been surprises. For one thing, one reason I was still hanging on to judging others, I realized was because judging was being used as a survival tool. The follow up realization that it was an unneeded tool surprised me, also. Third, I engaged in judging others as a complement. That this, too might be wrong confused me. Seeing someone as having a bad quality is to judge them, but seeing someone as having a good one, is this not also a form of judgment? It was good to realize the sneakiness of the devil. Admiring someone, & the desire to encourage, that comes from that admiration, must somehow be different from some perceived good form of judgmentalism. Beats me how that difference could be articulated, but at least, now I know there is one. I am reminded of Paul saying that we are not unaware of the devil’s methods (2 Cor 2:11). Oops.
Jesus goes further in Mt. 7 about judging, saying that there is something to be said about our methods. Namely, that those methods not can, but will be equally used against us (I guess in a court of daily life). There seems to be no finer example than a personal one. However, before Jesus goes on to another subject, He seems to say something unrelated. He warns us not to throw pearls before swine, not only because they could be trampled, but that we too, could be torn to pieces. Yet, that’s exactly how we feel when someone judges us, after all.
I ‘ve also been suspicious for some time that it’s unrealistic to ever be 100% free of judging others. We just have to do our best… & that’s just it, my best continues to get better due to fellowship. Thanks to all of you over the past three years!
Though suspicious for some time, I had no idea the extent of how judgmental I was. I knew I used to be rather critical years & years ago. I thought such a blatant & basic tenet was behind me. I’ve constantly reminded myself to judge not, that I be not judged from Mt. 7:1
It was not behind me. Still, regular attendance to church services for over 3 years now, has wrought its work. Over time, I’ve come to judge others less, & take comfort as I noticed that my own faults are being met by the congregation w/ understanding instead of disdain. This isn’t to say that there haven’t been instances where these things have taken place (even recently), both by others as well as me. Yet, they’ve come to feel like the exception to the rule instead of par for the course.
The good that has come out of this is manifold. I’ll leave the obvious unsaid… but there have been surprises. For one thing, one reason I was still hanging on to judging others, I realized was because judging was being used as a survival tool. The follow up realization that it was an unneeded tool surprised me, also. Third, I engaged in judging others as a complement. That this, too might be wrong confused me. Seeing someone as having a bad quality is to judge them, but seeing someone as having a good one, is this not also a form of judgment? It was good to realize the sneakiness of the devil. Admiring someone, & the desire to encourage, that comes from that admiration, must somehow be different from some perceived good form of judgmentalism. Beats me how that difference could be articulated, but at least, now I know there is one. I am reminded of Paul saying that we are not unaware of the devil’s methods (2 Cor 2:11). Oops.
Jesus goes further in Mt. 7 about judging, saying that there is something to be said about our methods. Namely, that those methods not can, but will be equally used against us (I guess in a court of daily life). There seems to be no finer example than a personal one. However, before Jesus goes on to another subject, He seems to say something unrelated. He warns us not to throw pearls before swine, not only because they could be trampled, but that we too, could be torn to pieces. Yet, that’s exactly how we feel when someone judges us, after all.
I ‘ve also been suspicious for some time that it’s unrealistic to ever be 100% free of judging others. We just have to do our best… & that’s just it, my best continues to get better due to fellowship. Thanks to all of you over the past three years!
Time Heals All Wounds/ Love Covers a Multitude of Sins
Questions on wed. services seem to be getting bolder than they used to be. I know it could just be me, after 3 yrs., finally noticing our questions as bold. I really don’t think so, however. The first thought that pops in my head (yes, I’ve been warned about those) is that time has made us bolder. Familiarity may breed contempt, but it can also breed contentment. Over time our trust has been earned enough to give us the confidence to speak not just less & less fearlessly, but more & more candidly. Perhaps so many of us have changed for the better that we trust ourselves more as well as trust others more.
A less intense version of this has already been going on before I ever came along. It is part of the appeal of this particular body of Christ. This has been mentioned to me more than once. I’ve obviously experienced & am experiencing it myself. Yet, I do believe we are starting to bare more & more to one another during actual worship time.
Maybe some of this can be attributed to the fact that there are less new faces on wed. services than sun. & thus such familiarity is stronger because we know the people in the room better, because we’ve been around each other more. Though some would see this as scary, it’s encouraging. Caution has its value & I’m not suggesting we throw it to the wind. I’m just happy that there is an example of trust from which to draw. I thought I’d let everyone know that it seems that in a loving enough environment, blocks that hold us back can be dissolved. Again, I am not suggesting we throw caution to the wind. I’m also in no way trying to discourage new faces on wed. nights (their seeing this would encourage them???). I’m just applauding what is happening.
Questions on wed. services seem to be getting bolder than they used to be. I know it could just be me, after 3 yrs., finally noticing our questions as bold. I really don’t think so, however. The first thought that pops in my head (yes, I’ve been warned about those) is that time has made us bolder. Familiarity may breed contempt, but it can also breed contentment. Over time our trust has been earned enough to give us the confidence to speak not just less & less fearlessly, but more & more candidly. Perhaps so many of us have changed for the better that we trust ourselves more as well as trust others more.
A less intense version of this has already been going on before I ever came along. It is part of the appeal of this particular body of Christ. This has been mentioned to me more than once. I’ve obviously experienced & am experiencing it myself. Yet, I do believe we are starting to bare more & more to one another during actual worship time.
Maybe some of this can be attributed to the fact that there are less new faces on wed. services than sun. & thus such familiarity is stronger because we know the people in the room better, because we’ve been around each other more. Though some would see this as scary, it’s encouraging. Caution has its value & I’m not suggesting we throw it to the wind. I’m just happy that there is an example of trust from which to draw. I thought I’d let everyone know that it seems that in a loving enough environment, blocks that hold us back can be dissolved. Again, I am not suggesting we throw caution to the wind. I’m also in no way trying to discourage new faces on wed. nights (their seeing this would encourage them???). I’m just applauding what is happening.
“Blogging & Proverbs 3”
I’ve been wary of blogging due to the fact that I had missed one of the whole points of a blog until now. After all, who do I think “I” am to blather on & on about things w/o bothering to edit heavily? Won’t folks call me on my faults & proclaim I don’t have a leg to stand on if I’m complaining? Won’t people realize how naïve I may come across if I praise in a gullible way?
The obvious answer is “yes”. The point I hadn’t realized was that one of the whole points of a blog is that so few people answer your blog, you can handle whatever criticism comes your way! The blog is a “Get Out of the Repercussions Free Card” for not just venting, but positive stuff as well. The blog’s power is in the fact that there is little need for caveats or disclaimers. This is due to the definition of the word “blog” having become synonymous with “caveat”. It basically screams, “This was not edited for your safety…much less my own.”
In a secular setting the above would be rather naïve, for “We the fallen” love to criticize even those that are doing the criticizing. Yet, (hopefully) in a not so secular setting such as D.F., where most of the subject matter is about Gods hand in our lives, a blogger will get the benefit of the guidance of the Holy Ghost. A blog is intended to be a vent machine & a praise machine. In other words, we can blog in faith.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding,
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.”
- Proverbs 3:5-6
Blog not on your own understanding? Hey, it gives Spell Check a run for its money when you do that. Of course my aim is to blog well, but if I don’t, well… there is always divine intervention. As this whole particular blog is a caveat for all my future blogs, please brothers & sisters in Christ… fire at will!
P.S. Or encourage at will, or read & don’t answer, or…
I’ve been wary of blogging due to the fact that I had missed one of the whole points of a blog until now. After all, who do I think “I” am to blather on & on about things w/o bothering to edit heavily? Won’t folks call me on my faults & proclaim I don’t have a leg to stand on if I’m complaining? Won’t people realize how naïve I may come across if I praise in a gullible way?
The obvious answer is “yes”. The point I hadn’t realized was that one of the whole points of a blog is that so few people answer your blog, you can handle whatever criticism comes your way! The blog is a “Get Out of the Repercussions Free Card” for not just venting, but positive stuff as well. The blog’s power is in the fact that there is little need for caveats or disclaimers. This is due to the definition of the word “blog” having become synonymous with “caveat”. It basically screams, “This was not edited for your safety…much less my own.”
In a secular setting the above would be rather naïve, for “We the fallen” love to criticize even those that are doing the criticizing. Yet, (hopefully) in a not so secular setting such as D.F., where most of the subject matter is about Gods hand in our lives, a blogger will get the benefit of the guidance of the Holy Ghost. A blog is intended to be a vent machine & a praise machine. In other words, we can blog in faith.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding,
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.”
- Proverbs 3:5-6
Blog not on your own understanding? Hey, it gives Spell Check a run for its money when you do that. Of course my aim is to blog well, but if I don’t, well… there is always divine intervention. As this whole particular blog is a caveat for all my future blogs, please brothers & sisters in Christ… fire at will!
P.S. Or encourage at will, or read & don’t answer, or…
Monday, June 4, 2007
Reflective Blogging
Dear Blog Readers,
Damien here, blogging offically for the 1st time. I hope to hear from ya'll. Enjoy or not at ya'lls convience. Reflect, contemplate, ponder, muse & mull with me...
Damien here, blogging offically for the 1st time. I hope to hear from ya'll. Enjoy or not at ya'lls convience. Reflect, contemplate, ponder, muse & mull with me...
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