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

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

The wall

Lately I have not felt like doing any reading--heck, I haven't even felt like doing any writing. Perhaps I am suffering from post-education blues. I'll look at my Kindle or a book I know I want to read and I just shake my head like a toddler being force-fed spinach. I'll open up Word and stare at the blank screen while my thoughts drift from the Tigers to the Lions to any number of situations that are like a thorn in my flesh. Even my workouts have been somewhat lacking.

Part of me wants to kick myself in the seat and say "giddy-up...lower the shoulder and drive on...when the going gets tough the tough get going...pull yourself up by the boot-straps, and so it goes". And that would be normal for me. However, as I have gotten older I have become more contemplative. Instead of running through the wall I have started to give thought to why the wall is there. What can I learn from the wall and what is God teaching me about myself with such a wall. I have to resist the urge (the temptation) to just smash the wall and be done with it--after all that would be much easier. It would be easier still to ignore it and walk around it. But no, I have to, I need to do the hard work of soul searching contemplation.

Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich write that the wall represents our will meeting God's will face to face (The Critical Journey). They add: "We sit in awe of the process of surrendering and going through the wall [eventually]. But, as we emerge, we are able to move along on our journeys with much less clarity about the direction and much more assurance of not having to be in charge of our lives. We are being transformed, turned inside out."

Giving up power, giving up being in charge is difficult--even when we turn over control to God. The popular bumper sticker reads "God is my co-pilot". God needs to be more than the co-pilot, he needs to be the pilot while we tend to others on the trip.