Learning Along The Way

Why Lent?

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I have a confession: I am undisciplined.

I look at DIY blogs and Pinterest, and Facebook and tell myself not so nice things about how I take care of our home, or time, or…

I have no shortage of ideas of what to do or how to do them!

What I lack is discipline. Follow through. Commitment. Perseverance.

Truth be told, some of those words make me cringe, like a bright light being shone into dark places, revealing what was hidden.

Why Lent?

For this very purpose: confessing what is out of whack and doing something about it.

For nearly two millennia Christ followers have been emulating what Christ must have gone through in the 40 days in the wilderness during the period of time prior to the celebration of the Resurrection.

The remembrance of that time period begins today.

You may not have grown up in a faith practice where the season of Lent was even considered.  You can learn more about the history and faith practices around Lent here.

But I will tell you this, slowing down, considering honestly who you are and where you are compared to who and where you’d like to be in your personal growth and spiritual formation is always valuable.

Doing something about what you see is even more valuable.

So for the season of Lent this year, I am going to be journeying publicly, here, daily writing.  Yep. Daily. Writing. Here.

Working on the discipline I lack and sharing the process.  Being in the work not just in my head.  Sharing my process as I learn along the Way.  My hope is that you benefit from my journey; that you are encouraged in your own spiritual formation practices and that you’d share some of what you’re growing through with me.

The Life of Joseph and The Rhythm of Life

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Here’s a word association: The Life of Joseph, the Rhythm of Life, and Bingo.

What do all these things have in common?  At first blush, common threads aren’t obvious but there are a few actually.

When I was a child there was a game show on TV (black & white back then before God invented color, according to my sons!), whose name I don’t remember (age issues showing up again) and there was a clear drum turning with ping pong balls bouncing around.  Each ball had a letter and number on it, somewhat like a Bingo game.  Every once in awhile one ball would roll out of the drum and down a ramp to where it could be picked up and identified.  In recent years in California, a similar system was used for one of the many lottery games.  The anticipation of waiting to see what the ball said was exciting.

My mind has been a lot like that drum lately.  The ideas in my head have been a lot like the ping pong balls bouncing around waiting to roll down the ramp into the foreground of my thoughts to be identified.  The anticipation of what the thoughts mean is almost as exciting as the game show was.

So here’s where The Life of Joseph comes in.  Our pastors have been teaching about the Life of Joseph all through the Fall.  I love how much depth and application these men show us each week.  You will definitely learn a lot if you click the link and listen.  But there has been this random ping pong ball idea bouncing around in my head that has formulated itself into a question.

Here it is: If Joseph could trust God so thoroughly, why can’t we?

He didn’t have the Bible in print or on his computer, smart phone or tablet.  He didn’t have Bible studies or small groups or the fellowship of other believers.  He didn’t have commentaries to study or a plethora of books to read about Who God Is and How to Know God.

He simply trusted.

Perhaps God was more obvious to Joseph because he had less-distractions?  He was in a pit and in prison for quite awhile.

How can we have less-distractions in this day and age? This is where the idea ball named Rhythm of Life comes down the ramp in my mind.

If we make time alone with God a priority and we plan for this time in each day as an appointment on our calendar, then we are actively choosing to make God a priority and push back against the tide of distractions that threaten to overwhelm us daily.

My google calendar says Coffee with Jesus from 6 am to 7 am daily.  It is a starting point.  Pick a time that you like.  Make it a date.  Write it on your calendar.  Show up.

Guaranteed He will too.

Love, Loved, & Lovable

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Quia amasti me, fecisti me amabilem Augustine

Augustine wrote these words about the One who loved him best. God.
The same God who spoke to Abraham, who talked with Moses, who inspired Rahab to hide the spies, who led Ruth to follow Naomi home, who called David A Man after His own Heart, who gave Solomon wisdom, the prophets something to talk about, and Who Came in the Flesh so that we could comprehend Him.

Jesus. He came first as a babe and will come again as a conqueror. The in between is where we live. It’s where Augustine lived. And Thomas a Kempis. And Brother Lawrence. And Galileo. And the millions who have gone before and who are walking here today. God was. God is. And God will forever be.

How do we relate to this very other being? We learn to love.

“Because you loved me, you made me able to be loved.” These are Augustine’s words translated to english.

Because God has loved me I am able to be loved. God has not gotten a great deal in me being part of His family. I am wayward, unfocused and generally a problem child. But He chose me. He calls me Friend. I am His beloved. If you claim His saving grace, these things are true of you too.

Because God has loved me I am able to be loved. He offers us gifts throughout the day. Love gifts. A stranger’s smile. The sight of a beautiful bird. The laughter of children at play. To simply say Thank You for each gift is a beginning. An acknowledgement of His Presence, His care, His love. He offers out of love. It’s His very nature.

The acknowledging of God’s gifts can be part of our day, part of our rhythm. Pausing the music or talk radio in the car and saying Thank You for your ability to hear, to understand, to appreciate the sounds coming out of the radio. Saying Thank You for the good scent of food cooking, or the warmth of a sweater on a cold day. All these are simple ways to be in the process of learning to love, learning to love the One who gives you life.

How will you adjust your rhythm to acknowledge God and His good gifts today?

Quia amasti me, fecisti me amabilem

Do or Be? That is the Quest

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Do. Be.  An apparent contrast in terms; but is it?

 

I have spent a majority of life in the doing arena.  Get good grades.  Do your best.

Striving for approval, recognition, acceptance.  Our culture places value on achievement.  We are trained up to fit in, act right, look a certain way, have an acceptable spouse with an acceptable career; live in a particular place, drive acceptable cars.  The list goes on.

 

None of these things or goals are necessarily bad unless the motive behind the goal is bad.  Bad motives?  What would those be?  The interpretation of motives depends on your worldview.  By what measuring stick do you compare yourself?

 

With the measuring stick of the world, the list above will be evaluated by what is the biggest and best.  Who determines what is best?  Your peers?  The advertising agencies?  The opinions of your family and friends?  The measuring stick fluctuates with the popular influence of culture.  When have you arrived?  When can you simply relax and enjoy life?  How much is enough?

 

What if you wanted to change the stick, which measures you?

 

Unfortunately many who choose to walk along the Way as a Christ follower bring with them the measuring stick of the world and apply it to how they’re doing as a Christian.  Suddenly without recognizing it, the life of faith takes on the life of the works focused world and relationship with God is sacrificed on the altar of performance: serving on committees, teaching Sunday school, leading a small group, helping with AWANA.  Again, none of these activities is bad unless the motive for doing them is.

 

What if there is a different way?  A way of living simply; a way of enjoying just being without striving for…whatever?  Do or Be. Now that is the Quest.

 

There is a different Way.

 

Slow down.  Get off the merry go round.  Spend time alone with the Lord, in silence.  Write in a journal.  Sit still outdoors.

Listen to the birds.  Focus on one sight or sound.

 

Be still and know…

 

Who are Weary and Heavy Laden

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It’s been too long since my last post. But it is time to break the silence.

I feel a little like a story told of Mahatma Gandhi. A young mother came to him seeking help with her son. She asked him simply if he could tell the boy to stop eating sugar, that it was bad for him. Gandhi pondered her request for a moment and asked her to come back in three weeks with her son. The mother thought this an odd request but did as the wise teacher had told her to do. When the time had passed she returned with her son to hear what the wise teacher would say to her son. Gandhi simply said to the boy, “do not eat sugar it is bad for your health.” The mother was confused and asked him, “Why did we wait three weeks to hear you say such a simple statement?” Gandhi replied, “ I could not speak a truth that I was not practicing myself. I had to learn to live without sugar before I could tell your son to live without sugar.”

 

The next part of my post comes out of what I had to learn; I needed to practice before I had wisdom to share. We know we live very busy, full lives. Some of you are working in and outside your homes, caring for children, caring for aging parents, dealing with unemployment or the potential for unemployment. How can we continue on the paths of the incredibly busy lives we have without crashing and burning out? Stated simply: We can’t keep going at the pace we are without disaster.

 

That’s a pretty bleak assessment I realize but hear me out. There are things that can be done to avoid disaster, but you have to be intentional about your choices and actions. If you have already looked at life and seen there are no changes that can be made to lighten the current load then the next step is to look back at the road map and see where your rest stops are.

 

That may be a strange analogy but if you can imagine your life as a journey and you are traveling on a superhighway, going at a fast pace with little or no stops, you know you are going to get road weary and need a break. That’s what the rest stops are for. Don’t just keep going, stop and take a much-needed break.

highway traffic

Jesus is calling to us while we are rushing along with all the burdens of the family calendar and needs on our shoulders. He is standing quietly as the road sign we speed past saying, “Stop in here. I will take your burdens and give you a much needed break.” Problem is, we keep driving and say to ourselves, “I don’t have time to stop! There is so much to do! Time is short! These things need to get done!” With this mindset we are headed for disaster.

 

Our rest stops need to happen. They need to be regular and frequent. We are fools to think we can go long periods of time without refreshment and relief. We suffer unnecessarily because we think we can travel a little bit farther without a break.

 

Enough for now. Think about your current circumstances. When was the last time you really took a break?


Faith Walking

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Do you ever stop to think about what it really means for you to “walk by faith”? I know that in different seasons of our lives we have more or less time to stop and ponder big ideas; I wasn’t spending a lot of time in contemplation when I had babies to care for or when I worked more than full time like so many women whose work is outside and inside the home. Let’s take a few minutes to think about faith walking together.

Our days are filled with “to do lists” of tasks that must be done and our focus is on them, not on things with eternal consequence. Yet if anything is important then everything can have importance in the realm of faith walking. The Message tells us that “the fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.”

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. So faith walking is daily. We go through the ups, the joys, the successes of our lives confident in our trust in the promises of God. We go through the downs, the sorrows, the loss of our lives confident in our trust in the promises of God. Wait a minute! Didn’t I just say the same thing? Good for you for noticing.

Yes. Whether we are experiencing ups or downs, joys or sorrows, successes or loss, we can have confidence in the promises of God. I know this is true. Not only have I read about lives in Scripture but I have watched the lives of dear friends and have experienced first hand how faith walking looks.

Walking is active. You move. You used to be in one place, or circumstance, and you change and grow to another place. C.S. Lewis wrote of this movement in the Last Battle: as Aslan moves through the Doorway he turns and calls over his shoulder to those following him, “Come further up! Come further in!” This is the invitation Jesus offers us as we walk along the Way. Get to know Me more, walk with Me, talk with Me.

This is not an item on a to do list, it is the essence of our very life! Further up, further in! This is what faith walking is!

Come along the Way….

Follow Me…

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