Holy Ground

This writing from Frederick Buechner reminds me of my dad’s workshop….

"One holy place I know is a workshop attached to a barn. There is a wood-burning stove in it made out of an oil drum. There is a workbench, dark and dented, with shallow, crammed drawers behind one of which a cat lives. There is a girlie calendar on the wall, plus various lengths of chain and rope, shovels and rakes of different sizes and shapes, some worn-out jackets and caps on pegs, an electric clock that doesn't keep time. On the workbench are two small plug-in radios, both of which have serious things wrong with them. There are several metal boxes full of wrenches and a bench saw. There are a couple of chairs with rungs missing. There is an old yellow bulldozer with its tracks caked with mud parked against one wall. The place smells mainly of engine oil and smoke — both wood smoke and pipe smoke. The windows are small, and even on bright days what light there is comes through mainly in window-sized patches on the floor.

I have no idea why this place is holy, but you can tell it is the moment you set foot in it if you have an eye for that kind of thing. For reasons known only to God, it is one of the places God uses for sending God's love to the world through."

- Frederick Buechner - Originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words

The Art of the Parable

Over the past year or so, I have really began to appreciate the literary genre called the “parable”.  When you look at what is recorded about Jesus in the current canon of Gospels, almost everything he taught was done in parable form. Why? Because Jesus’ parables taught so much more than if he just spelled out point 1, then point 2, etc.
He told stories that put pictures into people’s minds, that caused them to search through their experiences and compare them to what he was saying.  It allowed them to see the new ideas in the light of their life.
Whenever Jesus told a parable, he always emphasized “whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”  In other words, he was saying, "Don’t just listen with your ears; listen with your heart. Don’t just hear my words; hear my deeper meaning. Don’t listen for the literal meaning accessible to your rational mind; seek deeper for a meaning that requires that you make a personal investment of your sincere effort and your imagination. Don’t think I’m just talking about literal, physical birth or water; realize I’m talking about something much deeper.”   from The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything by Brian McLaren.

When a parable confounds someone, it pushes them to ask further questions, to search farther. And many times a parable goes beyond just informing them. It begins to transform them into new people. And that’s why Jesus taught in parables - because his message wasn’t merely aimed at conveying information. It sought something more important: the spiritual transformation of the hearers.

McLaren continues, "if it’s the heart that counts, then hearts can’t be coerced; nobody can be forced. They can be invited, attracted, intrigued, enticed, and challenged— but not forced. And that, perhaps, is the greatest genius of a parable: it doesn’t grab you by the lapels and scream in your face, ‘Repent, you vile sinner! Turn or burn!’  Rather, it works gently, subtly, indirectly. It respects your dignity. It doesn’t batter you into submission but leaves you free to discover and choose for yourself."

Maybe we need to re-read the parables of Jesus.  Maybe we should start teaching the parables, instead of trying to interpret things (and in turn enforce things) to the letter of the law?

Truth, not proof...

It’s interesting to me how much misinformation is out there, and how blindly people follow it…

For example, people read the book of Genesis as a history book that chronicles the events of the beginning of the world.  People think that “Global Warming” has to do with the current air temperature. Many people think that God helps determine the outcome of the Super Bowl. Most people don’t seem to realize that current day Christianity is more about what Constantine told everyone that they are supposed to believe, than the actual teachings of Jesus. The list can go on and on, but you get the point.

I know that it goes back to a post I had earlier about how people don’t even think twice about changing facts in their minds in order to support what they think they believe (easier to change facts than to humble yourself to change), but it still is frustrating to me, as someone who is trying to search for truth in this world, to be surrounded by so many people whose minds are so tightly closed.
On the other hand, I have to remember that everyone believes that their beliefs are right.  Otherwise they would just go and change their beliefs, right?  I have to be sensitive to that because changing core beliefs is a painful thing to do.
Most people have come to their beliefs through a lifetime of experiences, so shaking up the whole paradigm of your life is difficult.   Even in my own life, I have to continue to ask questions, not really expecting them to be answered, but opening myself to new ideas.  It may anger me. It may confuse me. But then I remember the poetry of Rich Mullins:

It could be a celebration
Or it could be a hurt
That makes your soul awaken
In the echoes of what you heard
'Cause when your faith gets shaken
Sometimes your heart gets stirred

Over the past few years, my life has been renewed as I have searched for truth and come to new understandings of common ideas.  No, it isn’t making me more wealthy or more successful, but I find myself at peace so much more than I was…  I have almost no anxiety attacks anymore, I spend very little time worrying, and I am enjoying life so much more.

I’m beginning to think that maybe we need to start educating people better.  They won’t listen to any big lesson - they will see that as a challenge to argue and defend their long held ideas, and that won’t get us anywhere.  Plus, they get so much bad information from other people that it is probably asking too much for someone to take me seriously.

I honestly believe what John Robinson told the pilgrims when they were setting out to find the “new world”:  “…the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth from his Holy Word.” I believe that we need to start slipping in little comments of new knowledge into the conversation so that we can help people think about things a little more, and not resort to rote recitations of old and tired dogmas that they have heard others say.  They have to get out of their comfort zone so that they can find the truth.

And that’s what it’s all about.  We need to start looking for TRUTH, and not just PROOF of what we already say we believe.

‘Cause when your faith gets shaken, sometimes your heart gets stirred…

Yea, That's How He Feels...

I recently came across a blog by Carlos Whitaker called "The Ragamuffin Soul".  This post blew me away...

I have such jacked up view of the word love.
I told that girl I dated that I loved her only to use her.
I was told by that scary man when I was 5 that he loved me only to be scarred by him.
I told my wife that I loved her only to destroy her.
I was told by that pastor that he loved me only to have him stab me in the back.

It’s no wonder that when I tell my non Christian friends that God loves them, they look at me with glossy eyes and say…
“Oh. Cool.”

So you may call me a pagan.
You may call me a false teacher.
But let me tell you when I got it.

I finally got it when I stopped believing God loved me and started believing this.
When God sees me He literally gets weak in the knees.
He loses His breath for a second. His heart palpitates.
God has to sit down for a second because He is SO enamored and obsessed with me that He watches my every move with a reckless hope that I may, just for a moment, look Him back in the eyes.
And when I do, His entire week is made.

Yea.
That’s what God feels about me.
You may call that love.

I don’t.
I call that a hopeless longing.

So if God loving you isn’t working for ya.
It’s ok.
Cause our word for love doesn’t even touch what God feels for you.

It’s better that way.