Anyone else hate this 'you only live once' crap? Not that the idea isn't a sound one, in the sense that we only get one shot at life IN THIS WORLD, but the way it is used is revolting. Living without regrets SHOULD mean that one thinks about life from the perspective of the last moment. I often meditate upon death not in a morbid death, but in the sense of that moment going with me wherever I travel, reminding me to respond to this moment in light of a life that is, ultimately, limited.
Now I believe in eternal life. But I think that you cannot get more out of eternity than you put into it. In other words, I believe this world to be what some philosophers call 'a veil of soul-making'. We become more or less substantial in Heaven based on what we do here in this world. Thus this world is of supreme importance, even while it's ultimately meaning is grounded in the eternity of God. This life is a supreme gift: it is the only opportunity we have to actually give TO God. Heaven is God's endless opportunity to give TO us. When this attitude is attained, death no longer becomes some final devourer of all we are and all our life means. Rather, it is a companion on the journey that helps us remember to make this moment one of those that will last forever.
I do not always live this way, and maybe I don't even usually live this way, but I live this way some of the time and SEEK to live it all the time. So I meditate on that last moment. What will I think, or what would I think if I had the ability to think in such a moment (given that the actual moment may be surrounded by circumstances that make reflective thought impossible)? I can't help but think that the only regret I can possibly have bother me is that I did not love more. My regrets will be filled with the moments that were self-serving, and defined by lust, pride or anger. I doubt many people wish that they'd partied more, or done more drugs, or had more sex. But a great many people probably regret not getting involved, not saying 'I love you' to that one person or to that one person one more time. Connecting with people on a deeper level is something people probably wish for as life ebbs away.
So I seek to get involved, as much as possible. I don't deny or avoid fun, on the contrary I seek new experiences that enrich life. But the center of my life is God first and people second. I want to love more, I want to hate less, I want to find peace and avoid worry as much as I can, and I want to say "I love you" as much and as often as possible. There are some regrets I cannot, and indeed do not want to, discard. I have done evil in my life, and I will always regret the degree to which I hurt God and other people. I have crucified Christ. But I have died with Him, too. And I've risen with Him. I want my satisfactions to outshine my regrets in my last moments. I want to die with the word 'love' on my lips. Hey, you only live once.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Quotables
"I will not let anyone walk through my mind with dirty feet."- Mahatma Gandhi
"Q: If someone from the 1950's appeared today, what would be the hardest thing to explain to them about the present? A: I have a device in my pocket that gives me access to the sum total of all human knowledge, and I use it to look at pictures of cats and to get into pointless arguments with strangers."-Unknown
"My home is in Heaven, I'm just traveling through this world."- Billy Graham
"Wisdom is not gained by knowing what is right. Wisdom is gained by practicing what is right, and noticing what happens when that practice succeeds and when it fails."- Barbara Brown Taylor
“You are the books you read, the films you watch,
the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the
conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are
the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and
the darkest corner.
"Q: If someone from the 1950's appeared today, what would be the hardest thing to explain to them about the present? A: I have a device in my pocket that gives me access to the sum total of all human knowledge, and I use it to look at pictures of cats and to get into pointless arguments with strangers."-Unknown
"My home is in Heaven, I'm just traveling through this world."- Billy Graham
"Wisdom is not gained by knowing what is right. Wisdom is gained by practicing what is right, and noticing what happens when that practice succeeds and when it fails."- Barbara Brown Taylor
“You are the books you read, the films you watch,
the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the
conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are
the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and
the darkest corner.
You are a collective of every experience you
have had in your life. You are every single second of every single day.
So drown yourself in a sea of knowledge and existence. Let the words
run through your veins and let the colors fill your mind until there is
nothing left to do but explode. There are no wrong answers. Inspiration
is everything. Sit back, relax, and take it all in.
Now, go out and create something.”- Jack Vanek
"As a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting."- Batman
"People have to see there's a better way. They have to know that there is someone out there that believes in humanity so much, that he's willing to die for them."- Superman
"It occurred to me on the drive to work that 20 years teaching basic critical thinking skills and the simplest abstract concepts in a community college setting has probably made me a better writer than 20 years in a research university could have ever done."- Andrew Jeffery [Note: I think youth ministry has taught me more about theology than all the education I have received or books I have read.]
"Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught falsehoods in school. And the person that dares to tell the truth is called at once a lunatic and fool."- Plato
"It is not possible to eat me without insisting that I sing praises of my devourer?"- Fyodor Dostoevsky
"Seeing Jesus' resurrected body, Luke 24:41ESV says the disciples "disbelieved for joy." Prayer: LORD, may I be amazed by you." - Steve Corn
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..."- Unknown
“Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.- "Mr." Fred Rogers
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
God, satan, & selfhood
This was inspired by this very good article: http://spectator.org/articles/59147/satan-and-man-harvard
Modern 'satanism' is not worship of some supernatural external entity embodying evil, but is actually worship of the atomized, individuated self that I have argued many times is an illusion. In many ways, genuine satanism is more evil than ancient devil worship. At least those who worshiped the devil recognized some force upon which they had to rely to gain the power they wanted. That they worshiped in order to receive power, and that power was the real object of worship, is a terrible evil indeed. Yet at least there was some recognition of some external source of the power they sought.
Genuine satanism is worse because it exalts idolatry AS idolatry. There is nothing hidden here. The devil does not hide within the ego and then within some external object. The devil's true form is worshiped as inherently good. I once said that satan is nothingness pretending to be everything, whereas God is Everything hidden as nothing. Here that pretense is totally laid bare.
There is no individual atomized self. That construct is mere illusion. The worship of it is the worship of nothingness, bare nothingness, it is the celebration of a lie as the truth. Yet understanding satanism helps us clarify what we, as Christians, truly do worship. The center of our world is not coercive power but persuasive power. It is not the power to control and self-assure, but the power to inspire and invite into vulnerability. A consistent satanist cannot truly exalt vulnerability and so knows nothing of love. They seek to expand the ego and end up merely walking into pure negation. The Christian makes of himself nothing before God, and so God expands what they are to the infinite. Not by propping up an illusion, but by giving them a doorway to their true self: as a part of God, as a servant of God. These satanists climb the ladder to the highest, and there is nothing there but they themselves. We seek the bottom, we crawl on our hands and knees and find God waiting for us.
Is coercive power god or is Persuasive Power God? To we empty ourselves to find what is truly Ultimate, or is it only by puffing myself up that I find I myself am ultimate? Is the daily struggle to make myself the center what I truly am or do I only find my life by losing it? These are the basic questions we ask every day, whether we know it or not. In that sense, at least satanism is honest. Most of us engage in some kind of self-worship some of the time. That this should be called satanism is a good thing, in that it makes us aware of the depth of our own sin. Yet I am disgusted that some people would exalt this process as good, and right, and true.
Modern 'satanism' is not worship of some supernatural external entity embodying evil, but is actually worship of the atomized, individuated self that I have argued many times is an illusion. In many ways, genuine satanism is more evil than ancient devil worship. At least those who worshiped the devil recognized some force upon which they had to rely to gain the power they wanted. That they worshiped in order to receive power, and that power was the real object of worship, is a terrible evil indeed. Yet at least there was some recognition of some external source of the power they sought.
Genuine satanism is worse because it exalts idolatry AS idolatry. There is nothing hidden here. The devil does not hide within the ego and then within some external object. The devil's true form is worshiped as inherently good. I once said that satan is nothingness pretending to be everything, whereas God is Everything hidden as nothing. Here that pretense is totally laid bare.
There is no individual atomized self. That construct is mere illusion. The worship of it is the worship of nothingness, bare nothingness, it is the celebration of a lie as the truth. Yet understanding satanism helps us clarify what we, as Christians, truly do worship. The center of our world is not coercive power but persuasive power. It is not the power to control and self-assure, but the power to inspire and invite into vulnerability. A consistent satanist cannot truly exalt vulnerability and so knows nothing of love. They seek to expand the ego and end up merely walking into pure negation. The Christian makes of himself nothing before God, and so God expands what they are to the infinite. Not by propping up an illusion, but by giving them a doorway to their true self: as a part of God, as a servant of God. These satanists climb the ladder to the highest, and there is nothing there but they themselves. We seek the bottom, we crawl on our hands and knees and find God waiting for us.
Is coercive power god or is Persuasive Power God? To we empty ourselves to find what is truly Ultimate, or is it only by puffing myself up that I find I myself am ultimate? Is the daily struggle to make myself the center what I truly am or do I only find my life by losing it? These are the basic questions we ask every day, whether we know it or not. In that sense, at least satanism is honest. Most of us engage in some kind of self-worship some of the time. That this should be called satanism is a good thing, in that it makes us aware of the depth of our own sin. Yet I am disgusted that some people would exalt this process as good, and right, and true.
Quotable
"Unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason and not by Popes
and councils who have so often contradicted themselves, my conscience is
captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right
nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no
other. God help me."- Martin Luther
I
cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is
neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God.
Amen.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth403720.html#fLbyeBcLtKtxr0WB.99
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth403720.html#fLbyeBcLtKtxr0WB.99
I
cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is
neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God.
Amen.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth403720.html#fLbyeBcLtKtxr0WB.99
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth403720.html#fLbyeBcLtKtxr0WB.99
Life and Truth
God identifies Himself strongly with Life in the Old Testament. Life and God are all but interchangeable concepts. This is why the food laws are written the way they are: they seek to keep symbols of life and death away from each other. To choose God is to choose life. Yet the New Testament's highest ideals are Love and Truth. Yet love can move me to give up my life for the other, and speaking the truth can cost many lives. Perhaps the afterlife is a necessary posit to reconcile these three values, which all seem to need an equal place for the truly ethical life. Might not this hold some clue to the Trinity? Perhaps Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the incarnations of Life, Truth, and Love, respectively. That they all must yet be one is the conviction that they are all, at the same time THE highest value. Interesting thoughts, these.
LUTHER
We are watching and discussing the film LUTHER in one of my study groups. It is a good film that confronts you with both the heroic side of Martin Luther and his ambiguous legacy. Martin Luther was doing what he thought was right, and making his commitment to Truth and to God his highest priority. Yet he did this without too much concern for the actual consequences of what he said and did. Millions upon millions died because of the Protestant/Catholic wars. He himself wrote words that helped inspire the slaughter of the Peasant Rebels and even laid the foundation for the holocaust. Which is the highest value: life? Or truth?
Balancing Act
Every minister stands on a tightrope. Life in ministry is an endless balancing act, with the need to speak the truth at all times on one side and the need to bring comfort to the afflicted on the other. No one can get it right all the time. But I do my best.
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