Where Do You Start?

What is your basic truth about the nature of God? Is God good? Happy? Angry? Close or far away? Does God like you? Dislike you?

These may seem like silly questions, but the answers we give determine how we do, or don't, relate to God. It also determines how we read the Bible and the answers we find, or don't find, about life, God, salvation, heaven and hell and a host of other things.

A wise theologian once said, "Where you enter the Bible is also the place where you will exit." I heard that phrase at a lecture years ago as the speaker encouraged us to engage in theological wresting over a contentious point of order: whether or not women had a place in church leadership, especially as ordained clergy or in the senior pastor role.

For example, do we assume that from the beginning women are supposed to be subordinate to men? Do we assume that hierarchy and "chain of command" reside within the very nature of God and therefore that human society must be also also be arranged in such a way? If so, we will read that assumption into the the Bible to support that idea.

Alternatively, do we assume that such subordination emerged as an aberration from the ideal of the experience described in the Garden of Eden? Do we think that male and female were both created fully in the image of God and are meant to partner with each other and with God in the unfolding of creation? Then our reading and interpretation would lead to very different conclusions. Both beginning points can claim biblical support--we have to choose which one we stand upon. Then we must see if that stance is consistent with what else we knew about God from our years of Bible study and the practice of living as faithful Christians.

In the last few days, I was thinking about those questions and others because of an email conversation with a dear friend. She is quite certain I've gone off the heretical edge. Her words express significant concern that I may lose my salvation and end up in hell. As she and I write about our respective positions, I find another set of assumptions that must be surfaced, examined and tested to see if they hold together.

Those assumptions go back to the questions I wrote at the beginning of this article: what DO we think is true about the very nature of God? What is our starting point when we think about God?

For example: Is God's main purpose to save only the few who manage to figure out exactly the right words and right beliefs to allay God's looming wrath? Does God then send everyone else to eternal damnation and punishment? Or does God genuinely like the created world and the beings inhabiting it and so is interested in offering to all opportunity of healing, salvation, wholeness and eternal life, which is defined by Jesus as knowing God? In other words, is God in love with us or is God in anger with us? The starting point determines the end. If we start by believing that God is angry and only willing to let a few in, we end by condemning anyone who doesn't believe like us, since pretty well any person with any belief in God or an afterlife is sure he or she is going to make it to heaven.

Recently, a young man sat in my office explaining why he avoids attending worship services. He related the story when as a teen he brought a modern translation of the Bible to church one day. His pastor took it and held it up as though he were holding a snake or some other despised object. He then soundly berated the young man for having such a horror in his possession.

Now, that's a great picture of a God who starts with anger. Basic assumption: There is only one tightly defined way to God. That one way has to be understood and communicated only in archaic language using a Bible which was translated from less reliable manuscripts than more modern and scholarly translations now use. In other words, don't use your brain, don't think very hard, and learn the moves to the dance that please this angry God before it is too late.

That really loves 'em into the kingdom of heaven, doesn't it?

I grew up certain that God was angry with me. Many people I know have that same experience. That kind of thinking leads to a life of fear and apprehension, little joy or confidence and almost no courage to make bold decisions. What if I'm wrong? What if I make a choice that displeases God? What horrors will await me then? Best to play it safe and make no mistakes.

What a shut down life that is! The Bible narratives tell us of people making bold stands for God, of challenging fights against injustice, of arguments and disagreements that eventually led to greater understanding. How can one be bold for God while living in terror than one wrong step or one's questioning of the "approved" belief structure will lead to the uttermost darkness and everlasting torment? It is the power of love that encourages boldness and the redemption of the world, not fear-producing anger.

Examine your own starting place. If your starting place indicates that God is angry with you, consider the possibility of re-thinking that. Awareness that God really does like us is a big step to loving God in return, and that really is eternal life.

Recalculating . . . recalculating . ....

Recalculating . . . recalculating . . . recalculating


Thanks to my frequently over-generous husband, I have a GPS device (global positioning system) to guide me when I'm heading someplace unfamiliar. I rarely use it, as I enjoy a good sense of direction and read maps well. However, on a couple of recent trips to out of town locations, I decided to see how it worked.


A soothing voice supplied succinct instructions (that female voice coming out of it means I must refer to this device as a "her" rather than an "it") and I docilely complied. Of course, at some point, I deviated just a bit--to stop and get something to eat, or fill up with fuel. Immediately, I would hear the "recalculating . . . recalculating . . . recalculating . . ." message and then she would spit out a set of instructions to get me back to the original route. When, on occasion, I refused to comply with her recalculated instructions, she would eventually give in and offer a new route--but always with the same destination in mind.


I discovered that she gives instructions to turn or merge on a highway only about a mile before reaching the turning or merge point. Otherwise, she stays silent. Nothing, no words, no feedback. I found when I was driving a long distance on a highway that I wanted her to say something like, "You are doing great--heading in the right direction. Good job!"


I was little spooked to discover just how much she knew about me. A friend who was riding with me on one trip could look at her and tell me exactly how fast I was driving--and therefore know my compliance level with the posted speed limit. She (the device, that is) seemed to have a very good handle on exactly when I would arrive at my destination, clearly taking into account how well I was observing the speed limits.


I kind of liked her (the device, that is) but there was something about the periodic announcements that she was "recalculating" when I made an unanticipated turn that made me consider just how much the GPS device is like God. After all, isn't God always working in our lives to redeem our various mistakes and misdirections--as though there is a constant celestial "recalculating" going on? I've never particularly held with the theology that there is one perfect path that we are ideally intended to follow. Nonetheless, I do sense that there is a consistent goal--that of becoming fully in the image of God, and therefore living as more developed human beings, able to love openly and give thoroughly and grow into socially, emotionally, volitionally, and spiritually mature people. We take so many bypaths on the way--and just like my GPS, God consistently and patiently recalculates and seeks to get us heading again toward the goal.


Then there was the lack of feedback while I drove on the same highway for an extended distance. Where was the pat on the back? Yet those who have gone deep into the heart of God and have intentionally chosen lives of transformational holiness have in common this experience: the dark night of the soul where it seems impossible to hear the voice of God or sense that Holy Presence. I seem to have this insatiable need for someone to say to me, "Good job!" I want to hear those words of affirmation from someone else. But the call to maturity says, "Learn to trust yourself as one who has practiced the holy habits for years" during those times of silence. Much soul shaping takes place in the quiet.


Finally, there was what seemed like to me only last minute instructions to turn. I wanted to know miles ahead of time that a turn was imminent, but she disregarded my desires. I only found out a short time before the change of direction. How like life that is! We really don't know the future, however much we might like to think we can control it. Instead, the turns come and our job is to go with them, finding our bearings again in the new direction before us.


Recalculating . . . recalculating . . . recalculating . . . we all do it all the time as we engage in life and death matters. I find comfort in knowing that the Creator takes my twists and turns into account and continually offers me direction to the goal, even when I choose the ways that may not be the best or straightest of paths.

Rhythms of Life

Every year as the days shorten and the weather cools, I find that I tend to sleep longer and more soundly than I do during the warmer months that coincide with longer days.  I used to think there was something wrong with me when this happened--that I suffered from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), and that this was a problem that needed to be fixed.

Sometimes, however, with age comes wisdom.  Last week, I was teaching a Bible lesson to our middle school youth and was seeking to help them enter the world around the time of Jesus.  We gathered around a makeshift campfire (actually, two candles since it was pouring down rain outside), sat in the darkened room, ate middle eastern flatbread and olives, and talked about what it would mean to have only one set of clothes, and to sleep on the ground with just a cloak to cover them.  I also reminded them that they would go to sleep when it got dark and get up when the sun got up.  With no artificial light, their wake/sleep patterns would be in sync with the light/dark/day/night patterns of nature.

Most people today in the modern, electrified world live almost completely out of harmony with those patterns.  The scourge of Daylight Savings Time means that hardly anyone gets to awaken with the dawn, but must get up in deep darkness in order to be on time for work or school.  The process of gradual awakening with the coming of day has been almost completely eliminated.  With 24 hour TV programming, combined with the ever available Internet and with many businesses open 24 hours a day, events and tasks normally done during daytime hours can now be performed any time of day.  Plus, employees must now work those overnight hours, their bodies endlessly out of harmony with nature's pattern.

Scholarly research now coming out indicates a link between the disruption of those normal wake/sleep patterns (called the circadian rhythm) and ill health.  In addition, many researchers are seeing a connection between inadequate sleep and weight gain.  It seems contradictory, for one would think that less sleep would mean more calories burned.  Yet the correlation is strong:  more and better quality sleep does apparently lead to weight loss.

This came to a head with me recently as I realized that my growing fatigue was making me vulnerable to infectious agents that my normally healthy body should have been able to fight off.  In the midst of battling what I assume was the flu, I was reminded that God spoke from the beginning to the human need for rest and refreshment. 

One of the most ignored of the Ten Commandments is the one that calls for honoring the Sabbath.  I would suggest that hardly anyone today ever considers taking a day of real rest.  Ideally, such a day starts with joyous worship, so that we acknowledge from the beginning that God is our provider. We may find our rest more fully when we intentionally enter into the heart of God.  Worship is then followed by meals freely shared with others, games and laughter, naps and conversations, left-overs and serenity, all followed by restful long hours of simple sleep.  Almost all normal tasks are set aside--it will all be there the next day anyway. 

What would it be like for us to set aside the clock and have no demanding "I've got to be there by then" schedules for the day?  What would happen if businesses were to actually shut down on Sundays, such as Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A do now? What would happen if the organizers of youth sports teams would say to the children and families: "If we can't get it all in on the other six days, we are demanding too much.  It's time to start honoring you as families and the Sabbath rest again."  What would happen if all of us started recognizing that we are made in the image of God and that living out of that image means we honor our physical bodies with rhythmic and regular rest, worship and play needed for our well-being?

What would happen?  We might just take a big step to solving the national health crisis.  Not a bad idea at all.

Fear, the Worst of Them All

"If I had known this was a even a remote risk that we could be walking down that midway and the dart would end up in my daughter's eye, my eye, I would never go there," she said.

This was a quote in a Dallas Morning News article made by a woman who was attending the Texas State Fair and who was injured when a stray dart from a Midway arcade game hit her eye. It's a nasty injury, and her full recovery is uncertain. But it's the response that gives me pause. If she had known there was even a remote risk . . .then she would not have gone there. Even the tiniest risk would have meant no possibility of enjoying the pleasure of a day at the Texas State Fair. That fear response that shuts us down.

Fear: Of all the emotions we humans are capable of feeling, I believe fear holds the prize for the worst of them all. We can grieve with anguish and weep with loneliness and sadness and shake with anger and somehow work our way through all of this. But when fear taunts us and paralyzes us, keeping us from action and risk and the possibility of love and light, then we come closer than any other time to experiencing hell on earth.

Hell, very simply, is the absence of God. The forces of the God-empty place suck all of life into a black hole. Where God is absent, there cannot be love. Fear chases away the possibility of love because it tells us, "circle the wagons, keep yourself safe, and don't think about anyone else but you and that which is your own." Love by its very nature brings risk, for love opens us up to being touched by a much wider world and getting hurt as we venture out. If God is perfect love, and perfect love does indeed cast out all fear, then the victory of fear is the loss of the power of love.

What are some of your fears right now? I bet I can guess a few of them, because the majority of fears have one cause: the fear that there will not be enough. Not enough money, not enough love, not enough health, not enough energy, not enough comfort, not enough courage, not enough time, not enough success, not enough power, not enough strength. Frankly, things do look pretty grim when we look at the world around us--and it is easy to leap to fear in response.

I also know how easy it is to give into my fears and to let them shut me down. When fear rules my heart, I become the active invitation into hell as I ask others to share my fears with me and come into my God-empty places.

How do we get free from fear? How do we leave that God-empty hell behind and find again the God-filled place? If getting to fullness depends upon external circumstances of things going our way, we have few, if any, hopes at all. Only a tiny number of people can so manage their lives that they can eliminate anything that makes their lives uncomfortable or fearful. The proper term for such people: "tyrants." They are most unpleasant to be around since they reach that point by killing everyone around them, either literally or metaphorically.

If then, fear can only be relieved by destroying others, then fear ultimately wins anyway, because someone will always come along who can then destroy us.

Surely there is a better way that does not depend upon the external circumstances of our lives, for they will always challenge us. Instead, I look for a way that is based upon the internal presence of real love, with a light so powerful that all darkness, and the fear that goes with darkness, is banished and we are set free. Jesus kept telling his followers that such a place was all about them, already here, not waiting for some point in the future, but they had to have eyes that could see it and ears that could hear it.

I think we find that place through the act of relinquishment, of releasing the benefits of being fearful. I speak of benefits because being afraid does have some. It gives excuses for not going forward, for staying stuck, for refusing growth and maturity, for demanding safety above all things. for addictions that numb the awfulness of our fears. By laying those things down, ungrasping our hands, leaving behind gilded cages of safety or festering chains of harmfully addictive behaviors, by looking death in the face and saying, "You have no power over me because I know there is a resurrection around the corner," we take the steps to fullness again.

We are made to be free people. When we are not, when we let fear win and we enter the dungeon of God-emptiness, we lose what it really means to be human.

I know this, and I still struggle with it. It's just easier to be afraid. But thanks be to God, we can get free if we want to.

Windshield Wipers and the Kingdom of Heaven

Last week, while running errands one day during the rain, I noticed that my windshield wipers were badly worn and needed replacing. I knew I needed to get them replaced before I left this past Monday for a seminar in Little Rock, Arkansas. But, as often happens, life intervenes, and I just forgot about this necessary task until late Sunday afternoon. Then I panicked--weather reports indicated I had a long drive in the rain in front of me and it was very likely that those worn wipers presented a real hazard.

I headed out to a local auto parts store, praying that I could get what I needed and that I could figure out how to change them out (I really am mechanically impaired--this is not a joke). Now, auto parts stores are really foreign territory to me--I just don't know the language or the layout. With great trepidation, I opened the door and hoped for the best.

Within seconds, a nice young man offered to help. He quickly checked to see what kind I needed, and then asked to look at the car itself just to make sure that the current wipers weren't some sort of propriety device that a standard replacement wouldn't fit. He then explained the various options and made suggestions as to price and quality. When I mentioned I was concerned about actually replacing them, he said, "I'll be happy to do this for you."

A few minutes later, I had paid for the wipers and we headed outside. This kind young man explained the process of replacing them, showing me what he did and how he did it. I took a bill out of my purse to offer him a tip and he said, "you don't have to do that." Of course I didn't, but I had just experienced a moment of real grace and wanted to return that grace to him. I told him how much I appreciated it, and that it was my privilege to offer him a small recompense. He then agreed to take it and laughingly said that I had bought his dinner that evening.

The next morning, I headed out to Arkansas, driving in a light mist almost all the way. As the wipers kept my windshield clear, I kept thinking about how simple this kingdom of heaven stuff is sometimes: be kind, gain expertise in your workplace and offer that expertise freely to others, and be graceful in giving and receiving.

Life is not always that simple, of course. Most of us face big challenges, sometimes on a daily basis. But practicing these kingdom principles of kindness and expertise and grace in giving and receiving will affect everyone around you. Small ripples can become big waves, a breath of wind can gather speed and blow fresh air into stale crevices, enough tiny streams coming together can turn into a mighty river that changes the countours of the earth. Just a place to start learning a new habit. . . and we all need a starting point.

Who Do You Want to Influence Your Chi...

Quickly: you've got a choice. Who would you like to have the most influence on your children? 

First option: Whoopi Goldberg and Roman Polanski and the famous people in the film industry who think this pedophile did no wrong.

Second option: quiet, hardworking people of your local church who donate their time to nurture and care for them, teaching them about the Bible and about their specialness before a holy God.

You've got five seconds. What will it be?

Still undecided? Let me refresh your memory: in 1976, Roman Polanski, famed and admired film director, drugged and sexually violated a 13 year old girl and then fled the country when it appeared he might have to do significant jail time (note: this is not an “alleged” crime—he admitted what he did.). Now that the US has finally caught up with him, the film industry is shocked, simply shocked, that such a major talent should have to be brought to justice. Here is Whoopi Goldberg's take on what he did:

“I know it wasn’t rape-rape… All I’m trying to get you to understand, is when we’re talking about what someone did, and what they were charged with, we have to say what it actually was not what we think it was…

We’re a different kind of society. We see things differently. The world sees 13-year olds and 14-year olds in the rest of Europe… not everybody agrees with the way we see things…”

Would I want my 14-year-old having sex with somebody? Not necessarily.”

So, have you had enough time? Again, here is the question: Who do you want having the major influence on the children growing up in the world today? The Polanski/Goldberg/Film Industry crowd who work diligently to see to it that innocence is lost while your young teens are encouraged to become sexualized as soon as possible and who find it acceptable to violate young girls? Or the unnoticed but faithful people who will actually give themselves away to offer to your children the possibility of seeing that the kingdom of heaven really is all about us.

I'm just disgusted. It's time to wake up, folks. Stop feeding to your children the lie masquerading as TV and film entertainment that glamorizes promiscuity. At least show to them that there are other ways to live and to appreciate the bodies we have that give life to the Spirit of God living in us. For six months, give equal time to media and to moral/spiritual instruction of your children and see which is more valuable. So one hour of prime time TV equal one hour in church or Sunday School. Even it out—and watch the difference. It really is time to stop this madness. This has gone too far.

"I Think it is Tacky."

I had just shown to a friend of mine a page in a catalogue that was selling "communion wafer and juice sets." According to the ad copy, churches purchasing these sets gain "the convenience of offering the elements of communion in one easy to use container." These sets are a combination of "communion juice and wafer in an airtight double sealed package to extend shelf life and ensure freshness." Her response: "I think it is tacky."

What a sanitized world we live in! Between "the sky is falling" swine flu epidemic to new instructions on how sneeze (into one's elbow, please, NOT one's hand), to the nastiness of MRSA and the realization that thousands and thousand of people die in hospitals, NOT because of their original complaints but because they pick up infections there, it is a wonder that any of us even shake hands with anyone else without immediately cleansing ourselves again afterward.

I recently read an article on how disgusting church microphones are because the users actually breathe on them when speaking or singing. Of course, the writers of that article were suggesting that, as a regular user of a church sound system, I might want to purchase my very own microphone, at significant cost, of course, rather than letting some other highly germinated person use mine or me use someone else's.

But to go back to the communion sets . . . when we observe the Lord's Supper at church, we tear pieces off a common loaf of bread and then people dip those pieces into a common cup before consuming them. It is the commonality that is so important. We often sing, "We are One Body" when engaging in this special act. We are connected to one another, we share a meal, we come together to receive it. This service of communion must be celebrated in a group setting--it can't be done alone. There are intentional responses back and forth as we all affirm together the greatness of God and the mystery of our faith.

Are the communion juice and wafer sets "tacky." Yes, when fear and commerce (they are also expensive) push their production; no, when they may on occasion be a common sense response to an emergency situation.

Keep in mind that fear will quickly drive us all apart, just as fear of infection drives the common act of holy communion into the neatly packaged juice and wafer sets. Fear so isolates us that we learn to live not trusting others, putting up barriers, refusing entrance into our homes and lives and interiors those who might change us or threaten us.

Is it possible to live a sanitized life in isolation from other human beings? People are messy--so if we can keep them at a distance, perhaps our own lives will be less vulnerable to infection from others. However, ultimately, all of us have to recognize that our own lives are messy, too. Every one of us wanders from darkness to light and back again. We can move in a single moment from glorious generosity to tight meanness of soul and pocketbook. We can, and we do, both love and hate those with whom we are in closest contact.

Certainly, modern sanitation saves millions of lives. I don't want to go back to drinking dirty water or having open sewage flowing in the streets. But I often wonder if this same fear that keeps people we don't know or who are significantly different from us at a distance also keeps the Spirit of God at a distance. It is impossible to enter into contact with true holiness and not feel threatened. Always remember that the first things angels say when encountering mere mortals is, "Do not be afraid."

I believe the choice to leave fear behind is a choice that opens to us the possibility of heaven. And that's where I want to live.

Manners and the Hope of the Future

In the last few weeks, the national news has picked up multiple stories that illustrate a general loss of civility in public discourse and action. Three items in particular struck a nerve: Congressman Joe Wilson's poor conduct toward the President of the United States during a presidential speech; esteemed athlete Serena Williams' inexcusable language and aggressive actions toward a line judge in the middle of a tennis match; and musical star Kayne West's utterly boorish behavior at the Video Music Awards. Three privileged people who simply should know better than that. But they clearly don't.

Manners and common courtesy are not options for anyone if we are going to live in any kind of harmonious community together. We simply must put limits on our behaviors in the name of the common good or chaos and anarchy will reign. Even animals know that--dogs will take their place in the pack order, bees and ants work in cooperation with each other, chimps will defer to one another as necessary to preserve the order of their family groupings. But some human beings seem to think that those rules don't apply to them--and we are all the poorer for it.

I don't want to live in some sort of restrictive world where we are chained by archaic rules of acceptable behavior imposed upon us by a privileged few who think they have that power. That would be the world Edith Wharton wrote about in "The Age of Innocence." Interesting to read about or observe on a movie screen, but a little overly binding for most of us. However, there is an underlying premise that still rings true: our externally expressed manners are reflective of our interior lives and of our upbringing. Those who do not know how to behave in public will pay a price. School administrators and teachers are noting an increasing lack of understanding of appropriate classroom behavior that enables everyone to learn. Jobs are lost over poor table manners; reputations marred by unacceptable public actions. Too many people are learning to their regret that by letting it all hang out on Facebook or some other social networking site, they have jeopardized their employment and romantic futures.

Here at our church in Krum, we're working to do our part to help our young people learn what is necessary for success in this life as well as hope in eternity. Starting Wednesday, Sept. 30, we being what we call our "Midweek Miracle." It's like Vacation Bible School in that we combine play, music, education, and meal into a program that develops the whole child or youth. We teach them table manners and how to eat family style and converse with peers and adults at a meal. They learn the elements of Bible that are absolutely essential for educated people to master. They engage in play and music that doesn't demand that they be experts as children, but instead encourage all to participate and to learn to support one another.

It's a great program. The cost is only $10/month, and that includes a weekly meal and all other materials. The value can't be measured. Bring your children, grandchildren, neighbor children, all children and youth from first grade through middle school, to the church at 1001 E. McCart on Wednesday, Sept. 30, right after school. Come and learn about this adventure, and let us help you bring up these children in ways that will serve them well the rest of their lives. Help ensure their future by building into them now the joy of civility and learning at our Midweek Miracle. For more information, check out website at thekrumchurch.com or call the church: 482-3482.