I am reading a book right now written by Paul F. Knitter that is moving me in many ways. Usually I can finish a book in a day or two, but this one is in it's 3rd day and I am on page 75 of 227! The book: "Without Buddha I could not be a Christian". It is the story of a priest who was having struggles with his faith and how the basic concepts of Buddhism actually restored and strengthened his faith. Fascinating book.
He speaks of a concept called Groundedness that has stuck with me (since way back on page 42!) His definition: "I'm trying to express the sense of being part of, or belonging to, something bigger than myself; I feel that this something bigger includes me or even embraces me. In other words, it is trustworthy.....In the Goundedness, there is something that holds us or carries us. Paradoxically and mysteriously, there's a ground in the Groundedness."
He then speaks about the pain that we experience in this life. I thought back to when I was the editor of my high school yearbook when we chose to dedicate the book that year to a seven year old who had died from leukemia. I thought of a friend who had committed suicide back in 1985 and then the far too many friends since then who have done the same. I thought of a friend who was engaged to be married when he died in a tragic car accident. I thought of some of the betrayals in my life that caused so much pain and agony. I thought of the incredible pain of divorce. I thought about some of my darkest hours when I simply wanted to check out and not return.
You know what I am talking about. You've been there too. Incredible pain and anguish. Times when you didn't know if you could make it for another day, or hour, or even minute.
And yet somehow I, we, got through that pain. Maybe we had another child or found a new spouse. Maybe we made new friends or found a new job. We had something new somewhere along the line.
And then we look back. We ask the question "How did I get through that painful experience?"
The answer is Groundedness.
Last year was the most painful year of my life. I don't remember much of it to be honest with you. I look back and wonder how I got through it. Others, who know in great detail of the year's events, wonder how I got through it. Looking back now, I know it was because of Groundedness. I couldn't see it then because of the pain, but looking back now, I now can see.
My son, sister, and a few others, were encouraging me along the way, but it would not have been enough without the Groundedness. Groundedness is the personal presence of Spirit that was there for me. I could not see the Spirit and Presence of God in most of my experience. I could not even feel that Spirit most of the time. But Spirit was there. Spirit guided me, brought people to encourage me, arranged circumstances to keep me going, and was quite simply there for me without me even being able to acknowledge it.
I am a man of faith. I believe in Jesus. I try my best to follow His teachings. I could claim that I made it through difficult times in my life because I am strong or that I always land on my own two feet, or even that like a cat, I have nine lives. But the truth is: that the Spirit was there to hold me up. The Spirit was there to say the word of prayer that I could not even find. The Sprit was the one that knew what I was going through even more than I could possibly understand.
Tragic things will happen in this life to all of us. The death of loved ones, divorces, betrayals, natural disasters, freak accidents.....plug in your own tragedy. We will not know how we can continue on. We will not possibly know in the midst of the tragedy how we are simply putting one foot in front of the other. That's ok. The Spirit, His presence, will be there. Groundedness will be there even when we cannot see or necessarily feel it. We will make it. We will be okay. We will find peace and rest.
Romans 8:26-27 English Standard Version (ESV)
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Blessings,
David
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Josh Duggar, Gov Huckabee, and Cheap Grace?
I have had a wide range of feelings since hearing about Josh Duggar's past. Most of all I have felt sorrow for the victims, including his sisters, and I have felt sorrow that once again there is the appearance of hypocrisy on the parts of high profile believers of Jesus.
It disturbs me that there is the appearance of a cover up by his parents first and then by a police officer, who has since gone to prison for child pornography. Actually, it is more than an appearance. The father readily admits that 12 years ago he walked in on a situation with a young girl - he doesn't say if it was his daughter or a guest. He and his wife then did what I think most parents would do - they tried to find help for their son while also protecting him. Unfortunately they did not seek out a professional counselor. Hearing that they have possibly used some Bill Gothard materials in the homeschooling of their children, I wonder if the daughters ever received professional counseling or if they were simple asked what they did to make their brother act that way (yes, Gothard taught that before being disgraced for his own sexual sins).
But this post is not meant to be a gossip column. The story got me thinking about grace and mercy.
Mike Huckabee may have torpedoed his chances to win the Presidency of the United States when he very vocally supported Josh and his family saying that young people simply make mistakes. What Josh did was more than a simple mistake. Even after he was caught, 9 months later he acted on his feelings again. The Governor is absolutely correct that if indeed Josh has truly changed, he is forgiven by God and has received grace and mercy both spiritually and in a physical sense. But the torpedo has launched because of the Governors past history in Arkansas with his son who allegedly hung a dog and also with serial rapist and murderer Wayne Dumond whom he pressured a parole board to release. Dumond received grace and mercy and was released from a life sentence in prison after which he went and raped and murdered two other ladies.
Which brings me back to grace and mercy.
I believe in both, but there is a fine line between the two and the line of punishment and discipline. Growing up, we were always taught that one can put a nail in the door for every sin that you commit. You can confess your sin and then take the nails out (grace and mercy), but if you are like me, there is now a door full of holes - the consequence of putting the nails in the door in the first place.
Grace and mercy are great, but there also has to be honesty. There has to be accountability. All around the internet I keep seeing the word "hypocrisy." To be honest, it does smell of hypocrisy. It does smell of a cheap grace. It comes across as though the Governor and the Duggars are making a very serious situation look like it's not what it really is. A child who is molesting another child is not simply making a mistake (or in this case at least 5 mistakes). And a child is not simply cured of those desires by renovating a home with another man. Five little girls don't simply move on as though nothing ever happened. And for all of these folks to be preaching "family values" while covering up the sins of the past, this is far from family values - yes, I can see why that smacks of hypocrisy and cheap grace in the eye of so many.
This is why we as believers need to learn to be more of a seasoning salt here in our country. We need to flow with honest grace and mercy. We need to stop trying to legislate morality and we simply need to live it in a genuine humbleness. We need to be open and honest about our own lives and show grace and mercy to others who do the same (or even if they don't!)
I feel that Christianity just got another black eye, they we gave another opportunity for folks to ridicule our faith. It's not enough to say that we are only human just like everyone else. Could we please stop doing that?
Parents, if you find that your child is molesting another, please get them professional, qualified help right away. There is an underlying problem that need to be addressed before they reach the age of "adulthood."
My heart is saddened for all involved. I hope that it will continue to motivate me to do my best at keeping sin on a very short leash and that I will be careful not to be hypocritical in any way. May I show grace and mercy towards all without discounting the gravity of what others may do wrong. And yes, may I stand by my friends when they are going through or have gone through deep waters. Except for the grace of God, I could or possibly would do the same as any other sojourner.
Blessings
David
It disturbs me that there is the appearance of a cover up by his parents first and then by a police officer, who has since gone to prison for child pornography. Actually, it is more than an appearance. The father readily admits that 12 years ago he walked in on a situation with a young girl - he doesn't say if it was his daughter or a guest. He and his wife then did what I think most parents would do - they tried to find help for their son while also protecting him. Unfortunately they did not seek out a professional counselor. Hearing that they have possibly used some Bill Gothard materials in the homeschooling of their children, I wonder if the daughters ever received professional counseling or if they were simple asked what they did to make their brother act that way (yes, Gothard taught that before being disgraced for his own sexual sins).
But this post is not meant to be a gossip column. The story got me thinking about grace and mercy.
Mike Huckabee may have torpedoed his chances to win the Presidency of the United States when he very vocally supported Josh and his family saying that young people simply make mistakes. What Josh did was more than a simple mistake. Even after he was caught, 9 months later he acted on his feelings again. The Governor is absolutely correct that if indeed Josh has truly changed, he is forgiven by God and has received grace and mercy both spiritually and in a physical sense. But the torpedo has launched because of the Governors past history in Arkansas with his son who allegedly hung a dog and also with serial rapist and murderer Wayne Dumond whom he pressured a parole board to release. Dumond received grace and mercy and was released from a life sentence in prison after which he went and raped and murdered two other ladies.
Which brings me back to grace and mercy.
I believe in both, but there is a fine line between the two and the line of punishment and discipline. Growing up, we were always taught that one can put a nail in the door for every sin that you commit. You can confess your sin and then take the nails out (grace and mercy), but if you are like me, there is now a door full of holes - the consequence of putting the nails in the door in the first place.
Grace and mercy are great, but there also has to be honesty. There has to be accountability. All around the internet I keep seeing the word "hypocrisy." To be honest, it does smell of hypocrisy. It does smell of a cheap grace. It comes across as though the Governor and the Duggars are making a very serious situation look like it's not what it really is. A child who is molesting another child is not simply making a mistake (or in this case at least 5 mistakes). And a child is not simply cured of those desires by renovating a home with another man. Five little girls don't simply move on as though nothing ever happened. And for all of these folks to be preaching "family values" while covering up the sins of the past, this is far from family values - yes, I can see why that smacks of hypocrisy and cheap grace in the eye of so many.
This is why we as believers need to learn to be more of a seasoning salt here in our country. We need to flow with honest grace and mercy. We need to stop trying to legislate morality and we simply need to live it in a genuine humbleness. We need to be open and honest about our own lives and show grace and mercy to others who do the same (or even if they don't!)
I feel that Christianity just got another black eye, they we gave another opportunity for folks to ridicule our faith. It's not enough to say that we are only human just like everyone else. Could we please stop doing that?
Parents, if you find that your child is molesting another, please get them professional, qualified help right away. There is an underlying problem that need to be addressed before they reach the age of "adulthood."
My heart is saddened for all involved. I hope that it will continue to motivate me to do my best at keeping sin on a very short leash and that I will be careful not to be hypocritical in any way. May I show grace and mercy towards all without discounting the gravity of what others may do wrong. And yes, may I stand by my friends when they are going through or have gone through deep waters. Except for the grace of God, I could or possibly would do the same as any other sojourner.
Blessings
David
Saturday, May 16, 2015
41,000 Christian Denominations
41,000 Christian denominations in the world today. Wow - let that sink in! Jesus prayed that His Church would be one, not 41,000.
Do you think that God may be somewhat bigger than 41,000 views? Perhaps even that there is some truth in most if not all of the different denominations? That perhaps we should be less dogmatic and more open to the views of others? For surely there is not only one single denomination that has it all correct.
Personally: I love the focus of the Baptists on sharing Jesus, the focus of the Methodists on holiness, the focus of the Pentecostals on experiencing God, the focus of Presbyterians on solid knowledge, the focus of the Catholics on tradition, the focus of the Mennonites on peaceful and simple living, and most recently I have fallen in love with the teachings and lifestyles of some of the mystics.
With 41,000 denominations (and growing) we see 2 things: #1, we really stink at getting along! #2, God is so much bigger than what any one of us can imagine and so we need to open our hearts and minds for exploration. Blessings! David
Do you think that God may be somewhat bigger than 41,000 views? Perhaps even that there is some truth in most if not all of the different denominations? That perhaps we should be less dogmatic and more open to the views of others? For surely there is not only one single denomination that has it all correct.
Personally: I love the focus of the Baptists on sharing Jesus, the focus of the Methodists on holiness, the focus of the Pentecostals on experiencing God, the focus of Presbyterians on solid knowledge, the focus of the Catholics on tradition, the focus of the Mennonites on peaceful and simple living, and most recently I have fallen in love with the teachings and lifestyles of some of the mystics.
With 41,000 denominations (and growing) we see 2 things: #1, we really stink at getting along! #2, God is so much bigger than what any one of us can imagine and so we need to open our hearts and minds for exploration. Blessings! David
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