Divine Geometry – The Trinity

April 10, 2013

Maria Joy, Trinity, Uncategorized , , , 1 Comment

Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God –  (John Wesley)

You were created by a community to exist in community made in the image of a God who has never known anything except community – (author unknown to me!)

**

I’m treading difficult waters, as you can see by the first quote.  Yet, since community is in my blood, so to speak, God wants me to grapple with this complex but real entity.

Ever since my friend shared with me an idea of how the trinity is more than just 3 dimensional, I’ve been secretly snacking on this never-ending concept.  Her point is that there’s a synergistic, multidimensional – MORE THAN THREE- nature to the trinity.  Somehow God’s math adds a mystical, multiplier affect.

Presuppositions:

1. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are 3 in one.  They are ONE God.  We are monotheistic people, yet…it’s complicated:

  • Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
  • “And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. (1 John 5:6b)
  • Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6)
  • “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Is 9:6)

2. To be born again, you first have to die with Christ.  Given spiritual life, you now have a new nature.  You are forever different.

Your spiritual DNA has changed:

  • “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)

3. Those who are born again, have the Holy Spirit in them permanently:

  • “And it is God who ……  has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” (2 Cor 1:21-22)
  • “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:13-14)
  • “…..Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27)

So by means of some simple logical deductions, we can conclude that –

If you are a Christ-follower (born again child of God), then you have the Holy Spirit IN you permanently.  And since the HS is part of a triune divine spiritual being, you actually have all 3 members of the Godhead in you.  And these 3 members are FAR MORE than 3-in-1.

**

When I wake up in the morning, I used to say, “Good morning God!”…then I got more personal and offered, “Good morning, Father!”….now I am addressing a community of 3 supernatural persons  – eager to join me for my day. “Good morning, Holy Community!”  They’ve been awake and active all night (no need to sleep!) keeping the universe going and bringing about the per-determined circumstances for the day.

Just think – this is no mere 3 dimensional divine figure.  We’re talking about a joy-filled, dancing, creative, celebratory, energetic, personal, compassionate, no-limit, über-everything , multi-dimensional God inside of us. And He wants/they want to be totally involved in all that we are doing this day.

Let’s enter the joy!

Why is sin such a big deal?

April 1, 2013

Maria Idols, Sin, Uncategorized 7 Comments

What is the big deal about sin? Why does my sin affect God?

This past week leading up to Easter had me pondering:

  • why Jesus had to die

  • what God’s wrath is all about

  • whether God is angry with me or my sin

  • how my sin diminishes/ tarnishes God’s holiness

Where I want to start is when Jesus confronts Saul.  Do you remember when Saul eagerly left Jerusalem with authorization to seize practicing Christians in Damascus?  Here was a man proudly travelling along Roman roads imbued with full authority and power from the Jewish High Priest, definitely ‘ in the right’  or so he thought.  And the living, resurrected Jesus interrupted his life in a tangible, unforgettable way with the question, “ Why are you persecuting me? “  Acts 9:4b

How had Saul even interacted with Jesus?   The only explanation is that what affects a Christian directly affects Jesus OR actually speaks against Jesus’ character.

And if Jesus is God –  John 10:30, then when our sin affects another believer, then we are hurting God or saying something that disparages His character.

Let’s take some examples –

  • I say something untrue about another person, or spew angrily at them….well that is the same as using hurtful words against God

  • I take something without permission from another person actually trumpets:  “ What God has given me is NOT enough, so I have to get it myself.”

  • I engage in premarital sex or outside-of-covenantal-marriage sex which hurts MY body and therefore hurts Jesus.  My impure actions also trample God’s rules and say in essence:

           “You, even though You are my creator, do not know what is best for me”

  • I am most happy and spend my thoughts in the area of my current ‘idol’, whether it is my technology, weighing a certain amount, decorating my house to a standard, having my peers think highly of me in my job, managing my kids to a certain standard….  Serving my chosen idol again is direct disobedience to God’s 1st and 2nd commandments and says, “ I have the right to choose what is most important in my life”

But why does God get SO mad about these ‘sins’? What if my ‘sin’ just hurts me?  Or at most what if my sin of choice involves the full consent of another person and doesn’t affect anyone else? What if I don’t believe that my body belongs 100 % to God?

Actually the above 3 ‘ what-ifs’ don’ t correspond to reality and therefore, are not TRUE.  I’m living a lie if I operate on the basis of autonomy.  I am NOT my own.  I did not create myself.  I belong to an ‘other’, the triune God.  So even were I to live all alone in a cabin in the woods, (think Thoreau), I could be generating one unspoken lie about God after another, besmirching His character.  And even if another human were not witness, the entire Spiritual realm would know.  The angels would be vehemently protesting, “  Father?  are you going to let her get away with saying You are not loving-enough, not trustworthy enough, not fast enough, not just enough and not enough of a provider?”   And the demons would be rubbing their hands gleefully and chortling, “ See!  You can’t satisfy her!  You go Girl, you know what is best for your life!”

All sin is, therefore, a lie against God.  And for God to be 100 % love and light and pure and holy, He has to protect the integrity of His name, that is His character.  His name represents all His attributes, abilities and qualities.

I don’t understand it fully, but I trust God when He says that my holiness and thereby my happiness (think:  ‘ blessed are you when…’ ) depend on my respecting, obeying and upholding His character.

One last point, and it is by no means a little detail.  Why did Jesus have to actually DIE when He took on our sins. Without going into massive detail about how and why ‘ the wages of sin is death’, it helps me to think of sin like this:  all sin murders God’s character.  We have no problem understanding that premeditated murder requires the killer’s life as just payment.  So it is for each ‘ truth-dissing’  sin.  And God IS truth.

Now aren’t you amazed and dancing for joy God the Father accepts Jesus’ death on the cross as just payment for all your past, present and future sins?  Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Conversation with a fellow slave

March 24, 2013

Maria Freedom, John, Service , , 2 Comments

I was reading Marvin Olasky’s column in the latest issue of World Magazine (23 March 2013).  He writes on the very last page, before the cover, and I always start magazines at the back.  In his essay, ‘Remember their chains’, Marvin explored past and current ways to start the God-conversation with someone you encounter.  His final thought energized me and made me excited to talk to my next seat partner on a flight.  Boiling it down in my own words and through my filter, my future conversation goes like this (after some initial get-to-know-you chit-chat) :

Maria:  So what drives you?

Joe Blow:  What do you mean?

Me: Well, everyone is working at something, trying to impress someone, motivated to achieve, earn, make peace with something or someone important in their life.  What is that for you?

(And then I might unabashedly share my past bulimic body-image issues and how I’ve been a slave to controlling my food intake/exercise output since those days.  And how horrid a slave-master THAT has been!!   And that the ONLY way out is to know the TRUTH.)

Joe Blow:  What do you mean by truth?  What truth?  Which truth?  Whose truth?

Me:  Good question.  The God I serve promises that if we find the truth and trust the truth and obey the truth, then we will be free indeed.  (John 8:32 -…  and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free)

Joe Blow: (a bit triumphantly)  Hmmph…the truth is, I’m not a slave to anything or anyone!

Me:  That’s what we all think, because we’re modern.  But the fact is, whether we like it or not, all humans are wired to be slaves, or at least to serve and worship something or someone.   Do you consider yourself an honest person?

Joe Blow:  What do you mean by honest?

Me:  I mean, that, if you recognize something as real and true, however you define it, can you courageously admit that you’ve encountered truth?  Or are you the kind of person who has too much pride and just pretends that it isn’t so, in order to maintain the upper hand in a conversation?

Joe Blow: (a bit haughtily and acting like I might be insulting him)   I’d like to think that I have that kind of integrity you’re describing.

Me: Well, here goes: The Old Testament in the Bible recounts episode after sad account of the Hebrews serving God at times and then not.  They would drop God and switch their allegiance to the false gods of neighboring peoples. And at other times, they would move beyond religion and actually invest their hopes in stronger strategic partners to rescue them.

The histories chronicled in the Bible document NOT a single time when the Hebrews were neutral, serving no one.   They either served or obeyed God, or were slaves to different powers, whether real or demonic.

And if we move from the strategic level to the personal level, we read in the Bible all sorts of tragedies of men and women driven by their greed for power, sex or money/material things.  These untamed forces either played themselves out in brutal, blatant conquests or in the more manipulative, sinister yet secretive moves.

And lest you think times have gotten any better, the New Testament and history SINCE then don’t show any improvement in men and women. More education and ‘better’ living conditions haven’t changed our hearts. We just pretend more, even to ourselves.

So do you see why I asked you ‘What drives you?’

Joe Blow:  Yeah, I see your point, but I don’t think those behaviors describe me.  I’m pretty happy with my life.  I like my job, I’ve got some money in the bank, I’m seeing a pretty sweet gal who has her life together, too.  Life seems good. And my friends would all say I’m a fairly chill guy.

Me:  (with a playful touch of light praise) Bravo! and well done you!  You may be the one exception to nature. (By the way, did I mention that God created nature? He-he…just teasing you!)   No, in all honesty, I would probably come to the same conclusion, IF, I didn’t know myself better.  I don’t think I’m a slave to what others think of me, or to money, or to my reputation for being perfect mom or wife…but I have had struggles with meeting MY standard for how I teach French. Numerous times in the past,  I’ve allowed a ‘bad French-class day’ to  cause me to feel down.

But what God is teaching me these days is this:  I have learned (pausing slowly for effect)  that when what I treasure or value the most is taken away from me, or even threatened, I get angry.

Joe Blow:  (who is beginning to listen attentively at this point) Hmm..what is that?  …….the thing you most value?

Me:  MY time…Time for Maria, time to get my work down…so I can have time to walk and listen to podcasts…and so I can have time to relax and read ‘enough’ each day.  I am learning that ‘MY TIME’ is what I most treasure and hoard and protect.

Joe Blow:  Huh…I never looked at ‘my time’ as a possession, but I have to admit, I can identify.  So how do you get out of that mindset?

Me:  Thanks for being honest.  I think a lot of people feel that way, at least about something.  It might not be time, but it might be money or recognition.  You know that truth I mentioned? – The verse about knowing the Truth and being set free?   Well, Truth is not just a concept or a fact to know.  Truth is actually a person – Jesus Christ.  Jesus is actually God who took on the body and life of a real human being in time and space, one of us.  And He lived and died for some pretty cosmic supernatural reasons.  You know how I mentioned that we are created and wired to serve someone or something?   God did in fact fashion us to serve Him since He knew that only by making Him both our Treasure and Lord, we would be happy.   And since we have preferred OTHER things, we have piled up a whole lot of guilt.  The penalty for rebellion is death.

But the amazing news is that God the Father of Jesus, and God the Son and God the ‘power-filled’ supernatural Holy Spirit together crafted a plan even before God created the universe and us. The Bible says that by living a perfect life and being executed in our place, Jesus made a way for us both to get the credit for HIS life well lived and to be declared “Not Guilty” in the capitol case, “Crimes against the Creator of the Universe”.  The ‘not guilty’ ruling is pretty amazing in that God the Father was able to maintain both the standard of justice AND show mercy to us by virtue of Jesus receiving our punishment.

So now those who receive those 2 benefits have secured a permanent spot in the family of God and an amazing inheritance, both of which far outweigh whatever earthly ‘treasure’ you or I could possibly imagine.  How I am helped is by recognizing that serving Jesus, being in whatever role you want to call it:  servant, steward, slave, ambassador, beloved child, worshipper actually liberates me.  I can’t lose that treasure.  It’s not dependent on me.

Joe Blow: (thoughtfully…) so you don’t hoard your time anymore?

Maria:  (chuckling a bit ruefully) I wish I could say yes!  But if I am T-R-U-T-H-F-U-L…I will tell you that I do forget where my true treasure is..and fall back into that hoarding frame of mind.  Fortunately, I’m getting better at spotting my anxiety and stress when they start to flair.  Then I can say, “Oh, yeah…that’s pretty stupid. It’s NOT my time”, or “Thankfully that mediocre lesson today doesn’t define me”.  I’m actually growing more relaxed to the degree that I remember and am thankful to serve such a God. I have a secure identify, purpose and destination and I belong to an amazing family.

**

That’s as far as I’ve gotten in imagining the conversation.  Where would you go from here?  It sure does seem a more natural approach.  Anxiety and stress and drivenness seem to be the norm.  After all, we have MORE people than ever on anti-depressants.  People are dying for lack of good news.  I don’t want to HOARD that!!!

 

 

Name change

March 18, 2013

Maria 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Disciplines, Sanctification, Uncategorized , , , 2 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the word DISCIPLINE. 

Let me make a distinction.  I have no problem initiating my own disciplines, which I see simply as habits to happiness.   But when DISCIPLINE arrives from outside of me, handed down and imposed, I squirm and feel guilty as though deserving of punishment.  Self-discipline sits differently. In fact, I remember a line from “Seventeen” magazine that went like this:

“(Self)-discipline is remembering what you want!”

The context spoke of how to stick to healthy eating habits and work-out routines.

But the term discipline, when spoken of in the Bible, jars me, reminding me of childhood spankings and the accompanying shame…. )

……hence my presumptuous proposal to substitute “training” for “discipline”.  Training feels more forward-looking since it often travels in company with a 3-letter pronoun, the word FOR.  As in, “I’m training for a marathon” or “I’m in training for 6 months to become a nail technician.”

Before you start criticizing my hermeneutics or saying that I’m changing the Bible to suit myself, listen to what I’m not doing…..

  • I’m neither using POOR logic as in the case of Representative Rob Portman who just this past week flip-flopped his OPINION of what the Bible says about homosexual unions.  Previously he had defended the traditional and Biblical definition of marriage.  Now he has chosen to broaden it because of his son’s circumstances.  He therefore has applied a Procrustean trick and made the Bible fit his desires:

Premise 1 – A loving God just wants us to be happy

Premise 2 – My son is happy with his gay partner

Conclusion – Therefore, a loving God must approve of my son’s pursuit of

happiness

  • Nor am I playing loosey-goosey in how I define the term ‘discipline’.  After all, the Latin root of the word discipline is discipulus which means student or follower. I’m just building on the original meaning – think the 12 disciples.

So, here is my thinking: IF God sovereignly sends/ allows…….  suffering….disappointments….frustrations, and IF God’s goal for ALL of His born-again covenant children is their sanctification or growth in holiness, and IF there is now no condemnation for those who are joined with Christ, and IF God is ‘totally for us’……then it sure makes the idea of discipline as training easier for me to swallow, accept and embrace with peace.  I can trust and flow with EVERYTHING that happens to me as part of God’s plan for my good.  Knowing that the painful stuff is not punishment, but TRAINING, meant to build my faith, increase my holiness, grow my readiness to flee to Jesus, lessen my grip on earthly pleasures and increase my satisfaction in God alone is a gift.

Remembering that scripture is the spoken (and written) WORD of God, let’s be assured by what God says through Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for    correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man/servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for all good works.

It could be God delivered you of that rebellious streak when you were united with Christ, but I must still have it, if I’m chafing at a word usage.  If so, then I will watch and see how God changes my heart.

But in the meantime, I will submit gladly to the ‘blessed and only Controller/Sovereign’ who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Tim 6:15) in whatever He plans for me.  

Pressure guaranteed, Peace optional

March 13, 2013

Maria Job, John, Matthew, Peace, Psalm 84, Uncategorized , , , 2 Comments

“In this life you WILL have trouble,” Jesus proclaimed (Matt 16:33b)

I didn’t grow up in a biblical home.  Sure I knew that people had problems.  The quiet neighbor across the street murdered his wife.  My parents were divorced for ten years of my life. My mom had suffered a mental breakdown when she was in her 20s.  But none of that really touched me.  So when I started encountering my own personal setbacks, I reacted with genuine but predictable “That’s not fair!”

What I’ve learned since is

  • we all have problems
  • some people have it worse
  • once you get through one problem, there is always another

Anne, my daughter-in-law puts it this way when describing their current suffering:  “That’s just OUR HARD!”

This remark popped up during a discussion about another family she and toddler Noah had recently visited.  Anne and her husband Wes’ our hard is the deployment with its separation and intermittent anxiety.

Anne and I were savoring God’s promise in Psalm 84:11 to withhold NO GOOD thing from those of us who trust in Jesus’ righteousness.   Although Anne quickly asserted that she very much wants to see Wes sooner than the scheduled August return, she also doesn’t want to miss out on any of the ‘good things’ that God has planned.

What an attitude!  I love how she has captured human problems as a series of ‘our hards’.   (I have her permission to quote her!)

Not only knowing that God has good gifts stockpiled among life’s pressures, problems and pains, but the fact that our ‘lot’ is actually appointed for us is a comfort:   Look at how Job describes God’s plans in chapter 23: 10-14

But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
13 But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.
14 For he will complete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.

Don’t think that this is just primitive man’s understanding of God.  In the New Testament, Paul affirms this very same truth – that God PLANS/PREMEDITATES/PURPOSES each individual life, packed with intentional circumstances and experiences.  We don’t and WON’T KNOW all the whys and wherefores, but we can trust Him.  Over and over in Scripture, we read of God’s mercy, loving kindness and compassion that go together with His sovereign control and sustaining of all.

Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.  (1 Cor 7:17)

**

You say, : “Okay, so it’s a fact that life is hard and that these situations are planned for us by God.   Du-uh!  All one has to do is open his eyes and see the suffering. Where’s the good news in that?”

It’s coming!  Bear with me a moment……

God HAS promised to give us peace, but it is conditional.  We’ve got to do something.  Let’s look at another gospel where Jesus talks about trials.  In John 16:33 He says:

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

What do we have to do to get that peace?   One action, based on knowledge:

We are called to take heart, to encourage ourselves. How?  By knowing who Jesus is and who we are if we are united to Him.   Jesus tells us that if HE has rescued, redeemed and brought us into His Kingdom as His subject/family member/ steward/ ambassador/ soldier, then we have EVERYTHING we need to live on Earth and grow more holy.

(2 Peter 1:2-3) Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Here’s another promise that can give us peace IF we soak it into our pores:

All things, all the our hards work TOGETHER (that’s divine coordination) for our GOOD, for us who belong to His forever family who are purposed by Him to love Him.

(my paraphrase of Romans 8:28)

So God equips His people and promises that the fact that Jesus has overcome the world makes the difference in our suffering.  The resurrection is how Jesus has overcome the world.  And if we are unified with Jesus, then we ultimate overcome our suffering instead of being overcome.  Being in Christ means we have access to supernatural power and wisdom.

Now all this valley-slogging, these our hards are definitely painful.  No denying that. But somehow knowing that……..

-they are planned

-for my good

-and are meant for me to face and walk through equipped with Jesus’ presence and tools

….makes the difference.  As John Piper says, “Let’s not waste our suffering!”

So what is your OUR HARD and how are you blessed?

 

A door is opening

March 7, 2013

Maria Prayer, Psalm 84, Uncategorized , , , 2 Comments

Thank you for your prayers!

A door is opening.  I have been blessed with an upcoming interview for a French-teaching job in a middle school in Asheville.  Mike and I will drive down on Tuesday, 19 March and I will spend the next day, the 20th, visiting, interviewing and teaching a French lesson.

How am I keeping my stomach from the nervous butterflies?  By focusing my mind on God’s promise in Psalm 84: 11

The Lord is a sun and a shield; He gives grace & glory.  No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is upright.

  • Sun –He gives me light, energy, direction, growth
  • Shield – Jesus, the anointed one is my shield.  Without His covering, my sin would not let me be in God’s holy presence
  • Grace – I get God’s undeserved favor in unlimited ways
  • Glory – as a new creation ever since I ‘died’ in Feb 1987, was rescued by Jesus and transferred into the Kingdom of Light, I possess an inheritance and am looking forward to reveling in God’s glory as one of Jesus’ sisters.
  • (Skip over ‘good things’ for a moment)
  • Upright – because my trust is in Jesus’ wedding garment, I am free to stand up straight and look into God’s face. Each time I look down at myself or at my circumstances, I lose life-energy-joy. ‘Keeping the faith’ each day is a moment-by-moment re-orientation to what is true and right thinking.  I am only upright (blameless as another translation puts it) since I am unified with Christ.

Back to ‘good things’:   If this teaching job turns out to be a ‘good thing’ for me, according to God, then I will get the job.  He alone knows and sees all events.  If I don’t get this job, then I can know for certain, it was not a ‘good thing’.

What I’m going to say next might surprise you.  I first read Psalm 84:11 in the autobiography of George Müller.  This 19th century English pastor and hero of faith prayed this verse as his first wife lay dying.  And she died.  He took comfort in God’s promise that NO GOOD THING does He withhold from His people.

And George Müller was able to carry on with his children, his ministry and life.  He eventually married a second godly woman and was able to look back and see God’s hand, providentially guiding all circumstances.

Please continue to pray that I may represent myself and my abilities accurately, so that Carolina Day School can make the right decision for them.  I trust ‘my blessed Controller’ to continue His process of guiding me in this adventure.

By the way – We still need a buyer for our house!  But God has that under His happy control, too!    

Therefore, let us keep the feast…

March 6, 2013

Maria Celebration, Forgiveness, Sin, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Heard a great explanation of what it means that God loves me.

First I have to descend the ladder of how I view myself:

…..go beneath my projection –  a cultivated ‘Maria as lovely Christian woman’

….to that place where only I know what I’m really like. (Please don’t project my thoughts in 3 D living color w/ high sound fidelity for all to see!)

….go deeper – supposedly Jack Miller was fond of saying, “Cheer up!  You’re a lot worse than you think.”

Now get ready to be lifted up out of despair:

In my ‘pittiest’ pit, my omniscient Father loved me knowing all that I had done –  am doing –  and will do that is despicable…and He rescued me, sprang me, freed me.

The well-deserved death sentence NO LONGER hangs over my head.  As a gift, Jesus became Condemned Maria.  Think Dickens –  Tale of Two Cities .  Sydney Carlton assumes young Charles identity and will die in his place.

(Besides being freed from the penalty of death, I ALSO get Jesus’ résumé of righteousness accredited to me! No need to work to earn God’s approval)

So….

  1. Since I didn’t earn anything, I can’t ever lose anything – i.e. my salvation and good record
  2. I get to walk.  (You mean she just ——–WALKS?   Totally free?  out of prison?  How is THAT fair?????? – you call that justice!!!!?????)

I am free to go…so now it’s time to celebrate.

That’s the doctrine behind the liturgical response in an Episcopal worship service, “Therefore, let us keep the feast.”

We should be dancing, with a delighted smile on our faces….it’s party time!

**Two Questions

  • Who can I invite join me in this cosmic celebration?  Joy is multiplied when shared.
  • A more difficult question – why don’t I really believe this?  After all, our actions communicate our true beliefs.  My face betrays my identity.  I may be truly free.  But I sure act like I’m in prison.  And if I stay in my prison…then, that’s MY fault.  The door is wide open and can’t be shut!  

 

Too much freedom

March 3, 2013

Maria Peace, Psalm 16, Uncategorized 2 Comments

I’m reading Crime and Punishment.  The sophomores slogged through it in January after Christmas and I thought I’d give it a go, so as to plug one of the many gaping holes in my literature background. (don’t tell anyone, but this UVa grad double-majored in Russian Studies & Foreign Affairs without EVER reading Dostoevsky in Russian, let alone English!)

Already by page 60, my mind is whirring with frightening thoughts.  The protagonist, a poor university student who has just pawned some family heirlooms for drink, is captured by the idea of killing the very pawn-broker.  He overhears that the rich, but cruel old woman treats her feeble-minded younger step-sister with manipulative severity. At a tavern, two men hypothesize that the ‘good’ achieved by distributing the dead woman’s hoarded rubles would outweigh the ‘bad’ of murder.

Setting aside the moral reasoning, the young man feels gripped with an idea that he can’t escape.  Having visualized himself carrying out the crime, he is helplessly compelled.

This fatalistic plot reminds me of my former upside-down reasoning when I was in the throes of bulimia. Here’s how I would rationally pre-meditate a binge: “If I can picture myself consuming an entire store-bought bag of chocolate chip cookies, one after the other, then I have to carry it out.”  And I ALWAYS followed through.  I never said, “Maria – that is CRAZY logic!”  (But thanks be to God – who rescued me from that perverse pit in my mid-20s.  How did He do that?  Not by will-power or effort, but by the ‘renewing of my mind’.)

I think the Nazis must have lived by the same dark logic.  If they could creatively invent a new way of ‘eliminating’ Jews, then they had to carry it out. When people point fingers at murderers and categorize them as ‘Other’, I often think, “That could be me, given the ‘right’ circumstances.” I am not surprised by evil, because I know me!!

But why shouldn’t you smother someone sleeping………. or eat all the cookies……..or pull the fire alarm to see what will happen……… or ‘key’ a car……… or destroy a pear tree’s fruit for the sake of the idea (pre-Christian Augustine’s childhood prank)?  Horrid ideas flutter through our minds more than occasionally, don’t they?  Or am I the only one?  There’s got to be a compelling reason not to act on them.

Last night, reading this fictional character’s thought process scared me. The familiar feelings evoked in me were like that of one of our indoor cats who somehow finds himself on the outside of his safe boundary.  Once, Luther slipped through a cracked back door to chase after a possum. The possum skedaddled and all of a sudden Luther realized his new identity and location as ‘a stranger in a    strange land.’   He didn’t know how to act outside the house!   Luther on the Scanner - Dec 08

Fortunately for him and to my great relief, Mike was able to capture lost Luther and set him back inside his usual habitat. The reassuring four walls proscribe the freedom he can safely enjoy.  That is how it is with us as Christians.  No boundaries – no limits to what we can do.  And what the mind can conceive, the body can carry out: no matter how perverse (to wit – our current culture).

I’m not proud to admit it but when I went off to college, my mother’s way of dealing with boundaries was simply to say, “Nice girls don’t”.  That was not compelling.

Even though Mike and I became Christians in our early 20s, it has taken us 3 decades to understand and internalize the FACT of Jesus’ love for us. As we absorb the logical ramifications of His history-changing act, our sense of identity is slowly changing. Who you are DOES affect what you DO.

I like my boundaries.  I NEED to know God’s kids don’t do XYZ because of who they are in Christ.  My life is much simpler with fewer choices.

In summary, the compelling reason to abstain from my innate deceptively wicked mind & heart is two-fold:

  1. For the 3 score & ten:  ‘Gospel-logic living’ is both easier AND peace-promoting. (peace with God & peace with self because of Christ’s work on the cross on my behalf)
  2. The promise of a future life as one of the heirs to an amazing, mind-boggling, better-than-we-can-ask-or imagine forever life with a happy holy trinity, myriads of to-be-discovered brothers & sisters, and awesome angels.

I like my sheepfold, as did David inspiring him to pen with poetry, ‘the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;  surely I have a delightful inheritance’. (Psalm 16:6)

Do I really want to invest more time with Crime & Punishment?  One of my students in French 4 says it is one of the best books she has ever read.  On that recommendation, I will read on.      

What do you have in your hand?

February 28, 2013

Maria Colossians, Mark, Uncategorized, Work, Worship , 5 Comments

“Ce qui était en son pouvoir, elle l’a fait » – Marc 14 :8 

What was in her power, she did it.

I love the French version of this little fact about Mary who anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive oil, giving him a foot massage!

In doing a bit of internet research, I found out that this Mary is likely Lazarus’ sister, the one who had a previous foot reputation.  She would gather with the men and listen to Jesus, sitting at his feet while her sister fumed in the kitchen.

What I extract from this verse is that we all have SOMETHING, some kind of ability, gift, talent or goods.  And when we use it in a worshipful and loving way, we receive recognition, but not from men…….

There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. (verses 4, 5)

My friend and I were discussing a Latin phrase yesterday – “Laborare est orare – Orare est laborare” that is “to work is to worship – to worship is to work.”

I find the 2nd part of the motto the more interesting.  When we ascribe worth to God, we are worshipping, doing what we were meant to do.  That IS our work.

“What am I going to do with my life????”  – is the cry of my seniors where I teach.  Tomorrow is the 1st day of March.  They have 3 more months of high school and then off to college they go.  They are angsting over the first significant (so they think) decision of their lives.

But truly, our life is but a collection of moments, one after another.  All we have is:

THIS moment – this SECOND.       

How should we work in this moment?  By doing what is in our hand to do.

–      What has God given you that you can use or do right now in a way that shows the world that –  you love the eternal, infinite, unchanging only true and wise God?

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Paul’s inspired advice to the Colossians, 3:17

What calms my anxious heart when I think….. I have to have….. my way…

February 23, 2013

Maria Anxiety, Control, Faith, Peace, Philippians, Uncategorized , Leave a comment

Do not be anxious about anything…Phil 4:6

 

Who, today, is NOT anxious?  We all have circumstances that we are hoping will work out a certain way.  And the fact that we are not in control, and therefore, have no guarantee that things will work out the way we “NEED” them to happen is our recipe for anxiety.

  • Travel arrangements in the midst of impending snowstorms
  • Medical treatments to bring a loved one back to health
  • Babies growing in the womb
  • The safe return of a son, daughter, mom or dad from deployment
  • Job cuts to be avoided; new jobs to had
  • A buyer to come along and offer the ‘right price’ at the ‘right time’
  • A special friend for a lonely child
  • A college acceptance; that certain scholarship
  • A viable pregnancy this time and not another miscarriage
  • A marriage proposal that is ‘just right’
  • A marriage to back away from the precipice and heal
  • A spouse or adult child to stay sober
  • Even….the pain that comes from not knowing but desperately praying for a loved one to come to Christ

I came across a line in a book that offers much more security and comfort than ‘hoping’ that the right circumstances will prevail.  I don’t know where I got it, so I can’t give credit.  But the author was obviously inspired by Biblical truth in Romans 8:28. Here is my paraphrase:

May we pin our hopes not on the ‘right’ circumstances to come about, but on God’s promise to work out ALL circumstances (‘panta’)  for our good and for His glory.  And since God’s desire and will for those who LOVE GOD (the only qualification) is to conform us to our elder Brother, Jesus, then we can relax in the FACT that His plan WILL be done.

As you know, Mike and I are waiting on 3 biggies in our transition to Phase 4 of our working life:

1) The ‘right buyer’ for our house in enough time so we can indeed purchase the ‘right house’

2) The ‘right job’ for me in Asheville at the ‘right income’

3) The ‘right number and kind ‘of paying clients for Mike’s consulting business

 

But we don’t have to be anxious because ALL the details, twists and turns of each day are being providentially controlled by Him.  I don’t have to hold my breath and hope that my particular version of ‘Maria & Mike’s best life’ works out.

Two problems with THAT life script – it might not be what is actually best for us.  And I have no ability to make/force it to happen.  Minor details, right?

But here is what I DO have – an absolute iron-clad/blood-bought promise that Jesus, my archegos: i.e. chief leader/controller/ director/ champion/prince/ author and teleiotes: i.e. finisher/completer/perfector of the faith He planted in me when I was

———–born again…… transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light….. crucified with Him and given new life………

IS IN CHARGE of all the details concerning us and is guiding them/ controlling them/ orchestrating them…for our best as He defines best.

Breathe in….breathe out….and join me in opening YOUR clenched fist.  What are  you pinning your hope on ? If it’s on anything but Christ our Rock, then your mental state will continue to drive you nuts.  Not exactly a good walking billboard for the benefits of belonging to ‘The Way, the Truth and the Life’.

 Your future includes manna. It will come. There is no sense devising future scenarios now because God will do more than you anticipate. When you understand God’s plan to give future grace, you have access to what is arguably God’s most potent salve against worry and fear. (Ed Welch, Running Scared)

 

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