An e-mail from God

We were talking in Bible Study how it would be nice if discerning God's will was simple. I even suggested how cool it would be if God sent us an e-mail every morning telling us exactly what we should do. Then I thought how scary that would be. I imagine mine would look something like this:

Good morning Terry, I love you so much.
Today I would like you to visit that lady who rubs you the wrong way and in that visit I would like you to be loving, kind and compassionate to her. 
I would like you to stop being judgmental towards that person you view as judgmental.
Stop getting so angry at people because they don't use their turn signals or because they're driving slower than you would like.
You know that friend you complained about losing, work hard at reconciling that relationship. I know you have every right to be hurt, but reconcile it anyway.
Get your nose out of the books and find someone and brighten their day.
And remember everyone you encounter is hurting in some way, be kind to all you encounter.
Live your life abundantly today with love as your driving force.
Have a great day my child.
God

Noah Movie

I finally got to see Noah after reading at least one hundred reviews and posts about it. I didn't want to form an opinion before seeing it myself. What I read was all over the place from "best movie" to "absolutely hated it". 

I thought it was really good. There was some amazing imagery, symbolism and paradox. Some things that really stood out for me:
* The struggle for Noah to interpret and discern God's will. Those who thought he was a lunatic, did you also think Abraham was a lunatic? In my opinion as someone who daily struggles with what God wants me to do I can relate to Noah who was doing it on an unimaginable scale.
* Tubal-cain sharing the animal flesh with Ham was eeirly similar to Eve sharing the forbidden fruit with Adam. Choosing selfish pride over God.
* Noah hovering over the twins with a knife screamed Abraham and Isaac
* Ila's conversation with Noah after they made land was redemptive. He chose you to make the right choice and you chose "mercy and love". Breath taking!
* I had read over and over how it doesn't mention God. Well that was not true. They call God: "Creator" over and over again and if you don't think "Creator" is a title for God, well… They also use the masculine pronoun for God time and time again. In case you're still angry they didn't use the name God, I advice you to give the Old Testament a more thorough read.

My interpretation of Aronofsky's interpretation of the contemporary Biblical text (which is generations of translators and scribes interpretation of a story told around ancient Israelite's campfires) is this: Mankind, through selfishness and greed, destroyed the world. The Creator's flood wasn't meant to destroy, but redeem and give the created order another chance.

Anyways I'd like to see it again with a notepad and pen in hand because I think there was a lot of really cool things that I missed or have already forgotten.

One final thought, I know a lot of people got angry and said Noah was heartless for leaving Ham's woman in the trap and not saving her…hello! If Noah was heartless for that what was God in all of it!?

Walking Dead

Siddhārtha Gautama, Laozi, Jesus, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and almost every other wisdom teacher in-between said the same thing: human beings suffer from a dis-ease. Our lives are marked by suffering and grasping, anxiety and self-preoccupation, bondage and exile, blindness and convention, and feelings of unworthiness and insignificance. We are as Robert Kirkman defined: The Walking Dead. But all the great wisdom teachers also knew there was a cure. {Working on my Easter Sunday sermon}

Sadness

I think I am going to have to make blogging a spiritual discipline and then maybe, maybe I would blog as much as I would like to. Instead I have an idea, I think about it, I form a blog post in my head and then I go to sleep and forget everything!

Anyways…

I've been sad a lot lately. I've even cried a lot lately. And I don't think it is a bad thing—as matter of fact I think it is an indicator of my growth in grace and Christlikeness. You see it isn't things like the Lions losing or my motorcycle not running like I want it to that has been making me sad. It is the way people treat each other and creation that has been making me sad. When I see people being abused or oppressed I want to cry. When I see creation being abused and pillaged I want to cry. I'm developing a tender heart (as my friend Joe Skillen would call it). I think Jesus is sad when he sees how we treat others and the world around us. I think God grieves when we use the things we should be enjoying as pawns to manipulate others. I think the Holy Spirit groans when we use our talents to pursue power. 

But then I see something like the little video (see below) on Facebook this morning and I weep—not tears of sadness, but tears of joy! I'm reminded that we are created Imago Dei and no matter how much darkness is heaped on that, the image of God can still shine through—and brightly at times!

Weep with Joy