Faith Venture

Toward the end of Matthew’s story of Jesus (chapters 24-25), he tells of Jesus having a battle of wits with the various factions of Jewish religious and secular leaders in the Temple courtyard. He gathers his followers to leave for the evening and remarks about how the Temple will be totally destroyed.

The thought shocked his followers (although it came true in 70 AD) and they asked about the Day of the Lord (or End of the Age, or Coming of the Son of Man).

I quit being a student of eschatology many years ago. You can take whatever view of the various obscure writing you’ve wish with tribulations and raptures and stuff.

However, Jesus did leave us with instructions.

He first talked about watchfulness. I would call that awareness today. Like Anthony deMello’s book, it’s about being awake.

Then Matthew gives us three stories about the topic. Sort of like when Luke put three stories together about being lost and then found. These are stories of what we do while the Master is away in anticipation of his return.

The story of the faithful and unfaithful servants; the story of the 5 wise and 5 foolish bridesmaids; the story of the talents (or huge amounts of money).

In the age between when Jesus ascended and physically left Earth and the time when the Son of Man comes (end of times) we are to live in a certain way. This is, of course, applicable to us.

The wise servant does his job with energy and humility. He treats others well.

The wise bridesmaids were prepared and watchful. They thought ahead and planned for the wait.

The wise servants were industrious going out to do their jobs growing the wealth of the master.

In our spiritual formation, therefore, we should be doing our work in God’s Dominion (Kingdom) with energy, humility, industriousness, and thoughtfulness. Doing what is good and wise. We must avoid being lazy, self-centered, self-indulgent.

The sound of car door locks activating.

A black man crosses the street at a city intersection.

There are experiences I’ve never had and find hard to understand.

Like being stopped and searched on your way home in your own middle class neighborhood.

Like having a neighbor woman call the police because she saw a black man in the neighborhood. Oh, he lives here?

Like being in fear for your life during a traffic stop. (Another white policeman acquitted last week for killing a black man running away from him with the excuse that he felt threatened.)

Many live in a state of fear and judgement that infuse their experience of a situation.

Like the woman in Justice Sotomayor’s story from yesterday, false assumptions corrupt our mind.

Yes, it pays to be observant in public. But constant fear is debilitating for both people.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor shared a story on a recent podcast interview.

She had become diabetic at an early age. She learned to inject herself with insulin by age 7. Because of that and because of the effect sugar levels had on her, she always had a feeling of shame of being different.

She was at dinner and needed an injection. Going into the restroom, she noticed the room was small and someone could see her. But she proceeded with the injection. Just then a woman walked in and saw her. She finished the injection, put away the equipment, and returned to dinner.

On her way out, she passed the table of the woman who had seen her in the restroom. In a whisper audible from a distance, the woman whispered to her companion, “That woman is a drug addict.”

Sotomayor stopped with that old feeling of shame causing her to blush. Then anger replacing the shame she looked at the woman and told her, “I am not a drug addict. I am a diabetic and that shot of insulin saves my life every day. If you would just ask rather than let your dirty mind jump to conclusions, maybe you would understand.”

Just ask.

How often we all reach conclusions about other people with only a brief observation. We probably know nothing of the history or pain or even momentary preoccupation of the person.

It works with people around you and also with people of other cultures, races, genders.

Gretchen Rubin has written several New York Times bestsellers, which have sold millions of copies, including The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. She also hosts the podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin. She is out with a new book Outer Order, Inner Calm — a playbook that helps readers discover ways to make more room for happiness in their lives.

Marie Kondo also talks about organizing your outer surroundings. She asks, “Does this bring you joy?”

I agree with simplicity and order. It is calming. But are we bordering on a national obsession?

Ancient literature amazes me that 3,000 years ago, or even further back in time, humans were already thinking of these things. But often with deeper meeting.

I searched the proverbs. Wisdom says that happiness and joy follow from living the right life. “Those who seek justice will find joy”. Often you read, happiness comes to those who practice the words of Wisdom.

While in mediation I was given a vision of the oneness of all humans. We are all in this together.

People who have either read Wealth of Nations rapidly or just for parts (like many do with the Bible) miss the point Adam Smith makes early on–that the goal of everyone pursuing economic interest is for the benefit of all people.

“What’s bad for the hive is bad for the bee,” said Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. He wrote like this constantly. “The universe made rational creatures for the sake of each other, with an eye toward mutual benefit based on true value and never for harm.”

The apostle Paul writing to both the Corinthians and the Romans compared us as parts of one body. We each do our part, not trying to be what we are not, and all benefit.

Do we have a single leader anywhere in the world who understands this? Seemingly we would have to search like Diogenes with his lamp for someone who understands.

“Every man for himself” fails; we’re all in this together.

We exist in an age of great disconnect between word and deed.

Some people say they are compassionate, for example, yet their actions belie their words. Recently I heard earnest people say they were compassionate of homosexual people, yet in their actions they proclaimed the opposite. Same with racial or ethnic differences, or proclamations of peace and justice.

Some people spout off all manner of unkind words, but friends or supporters tell people to watch their actions rather than listen to words.

But words matter.

Responsibility. Either stance reveals irresponsibility.

We cannot preach to others about responsibility and responsible behavior.

Responsibility must be a decision and habit made within yourself.

Drawing is a form of thinking.

I wrote that in my notebook a few weeks ago. I had been reading something or listening to someone.

Recently a young person texted me using complete sentences (3), noun/verb agreement, punctuation, every word spelled correctly. And it made sense.

I don’t see that in 50% of the correspondence sent from people with college degrees and responsible jobs.

We become sloppy and careless in thinking things through. We forget we are trying to communicate. Clear thinking helps communicate.

When I am interviewing someone who has thought out what they are explaining to me, I make notes in a mind map. By drawing the relationship of thoughts, I can see the meaning more clearly. Then when I write an essay drawn from the conversation, I can explain better.

Even when studying spiritual texts, it is helpful to draw a mind map or even an outline. A couple of years ago I was preparing to teach on the letter to the Romans. I drew a mind map. The logic of Paul’s thinking stood out clearly.

Maybe if we thought more and posted less…

The couple walks to the coffee house daily. They enter and go to the counter to order their lattes. They go to a table, sit, and pull out their smart phones. Soon each is in their own world poking at the device with their forefingers staring in concentration.

Last year, 21 million Americans decided to leave Facebook. The company has weathered many crises of bad publicity by making empty promises never kept. But losing users? That hits the bottom line. More and more people are finally realizing how greatly they have been manipulated by the engineers who build these social media apps to entice additional minutes/hours on the app.

If Cal Newport were to wave a magic wand, he’d make it disappear entirely. The author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World has released Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World.

How often do you pick up your phone? The latest iOS update will tell you. And how many minutes you spend on the various types of apps.

Tip: everyone underestimates how much time they spend on the phone. Not talking–looking.

Perhaps a hiatus from social media would be a great boost to your mental health. Perhaps some of that time in the morning could be spent in other spiritual practices. Or talking to those around you.

I feel conflicted about this. In my marketing roles, I’ve set up two organizations on Facebook for their marketing purposes. And, it seems to work as far as engagement and bringing in some sales.

But I’d rather we spent time reading, walking, engaging and not checking out the latest memes going around or who is dating whom or whatever it is that you do. Check out the book. It’s good.

“My son is coming down to your area to attend college. He’s an excellent soccer referee. He once was an assistant on a pro game. I’m a director in the referee program in my state. Assign him to some good games.”

I wind up communicating with parents more than kids at times as I work with the soccer referee program in my area. I expect to work directly with the person I’m trusting to go out and officiate a game. But mommy and daddy still want to make sure the path is paved for their kid.

The above communication, slightly embellished, happened with the parent of a college student. He communicated with me. Game assignments went through his emails, not his son’s. His 18-year-old college student son could not be trusted on his own to find and contact the assignor and request games. And I’m supposed to trust him to work a game?

The son? He could have been OK, but he lacked maturity. Fizzled out after a couple of years.

Wonder why.

So, I am not shocked by this major university admissions scandal where prominent parents are supposedly buying university admission for their underachieving (but precious, I’m sure) children.

If true, they stole opportunity from deserving students.

What do these kids learn?

Go help someone grow up.