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

I don't want to do the work

For the last 2 months my Logos Software has been crashing every time I tried to use it. I contacted customer support via e-mail and we tried some different things. Finally they suggested I call the customer tech support line. I hate talking on the phone so I put it off, but after a few weeks I realized how much I was missing this valuable resource tool so I called.

The tech walked me through hooking up my computer via remote to his computer which took only a few minutes. Then he did the rest. I watched as he moved files on my computer, changed names and rebuilt databases--it was like he was sitting in my chair! After about 20 minutes he fixed the problem and we were through. It was amazing how painless and easy the process was!

There are times when I wish God would fix me like that--where I didn't have to do any of the work. If only I could just sit back and watch God fix all my flaws and then walk away completely loving. But we are relational beings. We are in a relationship with God and with people. And relationships take work and often the work is messy and uncomfortable. I read this quote from Young's book Crossroads yesterday:
Much of what you must forgive others for, and especially yourself, is the ignorance that damages. People don’t only hurt willfully. More often because they simply don’t know anything else; they don’t know how to be anything else, anything better.
I thought about how many times I have hurt others based on my ignorance and I want that fixed. I want the tech to come in and fix the corrupted files so I no longer do this. However, I am called to do that work alongside the Trinity. I have my part to play and I know I am better off for working alongside God.

But I still wish I could just sit back...

Relational Theology

A few years ago I aspired to read 100 books in a year. I fell just short of the mark and if I remember correctly I read 92 books. This year I want to do more writing, but at the same time I want to be widely read. Therefore, I’m setting as my goal to read 50 books this year. To assist in both my writing and reading I’ve decided to dedicate my Monday blogs to reviews of a recently read books.

Last week I dug into Relational Theology: A Contemporary Introduction. I was already somewhat familiar with relational theology and wondered if this introductory book on the topic would simply be a refresher. It didn’t take me long to realize that although introductory in nature this book was a fresh mine of golden nuggets.

It is made up of 32 short (2-4 pages) essays by a variety of authors. I stormed through the book in a week, in retrospect that was way too fast. I have determined that the best way to read this book is to treat it as a devotional and read one chapter a day and then contemplate on what was read. I intend to reread it as such.

The greatest achievement of this book is the wide lens through which this topic is looked at. The authors range from members of the Church of the Nazarene to those with Catholic roots and Quaker backgrounds. The book has both men and women authors. Relational Theology is written by seminary deans, professors and pastors. This book is for everyone—the layman to the doctoral student—everyone will get something out of it.

I highly recommend it if you have the slightest interest in the way that God and humans are intricately involved in a relationship.

For further reading about this book from one of the editors follow this link Relational Theology