Faith Venture

Henri J.M. Nouwen opens his marvelous little book on prayer, With Open Hands, telling a story of an elderly woman who had collapsed in her apartment. When the EMTs arrived to treat her, and eventually transport her to the hospital, they noticed she was clutching something in her hand so tightly they couldn’t pry it open. At the hospital the staff was able to open her hand. She was clutching a coin, as if it were the last and most important of her possessions that would save her.

It was an appropriate story to discuss prayer as opening our hands (and hearts) to God.

Is it a metaphor for the way we live? For our orientation to life?

Many (most? all?) Gen X and Millennial generation look at our Boomer generation and that would be what they think. How would I know? In my professional work those are the generations I interact with often. I listen. I observe. (After all, I’m true to my Enneagram 5 part.) My generation is seen as a generation all about themselves.

Of course, that is not 100% true.

But it is worth pausing to consider—just what is my stance toward generosity?

The next time I come into some “extra” money, what is my first impulse? More important, what is my reflection on my first impulse?

Will I help someone with some or all of that money? Will I satisfy a desire of my own with that money? Build up someone, or build up my own ego?

The existentialists of the 20th century and old-fashioned Baptists had one thing in common that is true for all of us, in all times, in all situations—we decide what we will do, we decide how we will react, we decide in life-changing situations.

What is your decision (and mine) toward opening our hands and hearts with generosity?

Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.

Richard J. Foster wrote this 42 years ago in Celebration of Discipline. Unfortunately, it is still true. And amplified by social media.

We can so easily spout off an opinion on some topic without so much as a thought. We see something that appeals to our emotions and hit “share” or “like” without ever stopping to check on the “facts” or statistics. Without even a thought of how we’re being manipulated—by Russian or Chinese trolls, or cynical politicians, or people just intent on spreading hate and discontent.

A woman posted a catchy little video on Twitter last week about what it means to be a woman on the internet. I scanned the thread for a bit out of curiosity. I could not believe what so many men called her (the irony being they were all called out on the video). The least offensive was “whiny”.

I hope these morons didn’t call their daughters these things and bring up a generation of emotionally disturbed women.

Taking a moment to pause, reflect, absorb the message, perhaps they could eventually develop that character trait known as empathy.

Therefore, the reason Foster wrote his book (which I read perhaps 20 years ago when I discovered it, and from which I have taught, and I am still influenced by his thinking). The spiritual disciplines, otherwise known as intentional spiritual practices, lead one deeper.

And we need more, many more, of those deep people.

Meister Eckhart said, We deafen God day and night with our words, “Lord, thy will be done.” But then when God’s will does happen, we are furious and don’t like it a bit. When our will becomes God’s will, that is certainly good; but how much better it would be if God’s will were to become our will.

Sometimes we use that phrase “thy will be done” as a way out just in case the things we ask for in prayer don’t happen. Jesus taught us to pray with intention. Don’t be weak in prayer. Be strong. Of course, sometimes the things we hope for don’t happen. That’s life.

Sometimes we aren’t sure what our next step is. Should we change jobs? Attend another church? Join a study group? Marry that person?

We ask God for guidance. What is your will, God?

Then we fail to listen for the answer. And our choice doesn’t work out. And we know whom to blame…and it’s not ourselves.

Or, perhaps we get an answer. But it isn’t the answer we were hoping for. It’s the hard path, not the easy one.

But when our spirit aligns with God’s and we are living the with-God life, as Eckhart taught, that would be much better.

Ryan Holiday, author of The Daily Stoic and several books on Stoicism referred to the recent commencement address by Arnold Schwarzenegger, “If you want to endure and overcome obstacles, it’s not about what you are in life, but who.” What he’s talking about is the primacy of character and virtue over recognition and position. Are you going to identify with your stuff or with your abilities? Holiday also referred to Marcus Aurelius’ “epithets for self”: Upright. Modest. Straightforward. Sane. Cooperative.

I read this not long after I had been thinking and writing yesterday about the mess John Ortberg and his board have made of things following a very poor decision on sexual ethics.

But that can happen to us all. We make a bad decision. We don’t seek counsel. When someone inevitably finds out and points to our failure or shortcoming, we rush to cover up as much as possible. We don’t acknowledge, repent, seek forgiveness, make things right, change our ways.

No, we try to make light of our failures and then hide for a while hoping the situation will melt away and we’ll be left with our reputation intact.

I have liked the teaching of some of the mega-church pastors. But events proved that there was little congruence between their words and actions. I’ve learned more about character from “good ol’ boys” working on their cars under a shade tree than from many rich and powerful people.

It’s better to learn from the good examples. Sometimes we need the shock of a bad example to wake us to reality that could be ours. We all have the seeds of sin within. But we can choose to be — Upright; Modest; Straightforward; Sane; Cooperative.

She holds a PhD in Physics and knows as much about black holes in the universe as anyone. Janna Levin described her transition from a philosophy major at university to physics in a recent podcast.

“People would say, ‘this is what Kant meant when he said…’, and then there would be debates. No one says, ‘this is what Einstein meant in the Special Theory of Relativity,’ and the math is there to back it up.”

She has a point. Ambiguity is a pain.

Some people read Paul’s writing contained in the New Testament as if it’s a list to separate the good people (us) from the bad people (them). Others read the same letters and sense the overwhelming feeling of God’s grace and how Paul was deeply affected by God’s faithfulness to his creation.

Check out the debates on what John “meant” in his Revelation. If someone tells you they’ve figured it all out and can tell you exactly what John meant, run the other way.

Wisdom literature, both in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian New Testament, as well as in multitudes of other ancient sources are pretty clear. (Few follow the advice, but it’s there for the reading.)

When one starts to talk about spiritual union with God and “details” of the kingdom of God and describing “heaven” and eternity, well, we have no precise language.

What we have is experience. If we follow the same spiritual practices humans have practiced for millennia, we will experience the presence of God. It is often indescribable. On the other hand, others can see it in the person who has.

I have studied the Bible for most of my life. I’ve read many scholars. I think I’ve attained a decent understanding for someone who refused to be indoctrinated in a graduate program. And this is not in vain.

However, it also isn’t what’s important. What is important is the daily practice of the presence of God. It’s simple, it’s not arguable, it’s the spark of life.

I am sitting on the patio in the early morning sun looking at one of the more futile acts of discipline.

The new brood of Canada geese is now old enough to fly. A great noise of honking geese interrupted the morning calm. I looked toward the pond. The parents in the flock have begun teaching the young how to fly in formation—the famous V shape designed for migration over long distances.

The futility is that theses are “suburban” geese. They will never leave the area. They probably will not fly more than 10 miles in their lives.

Futility is learning something never to be used to empower your own life or benefit others. Pointless and useless as the dictionary tells us.

Unless your spiritual disciplines are bringing you deeper into the spirit and outward into service of what good are they.

• You don’t read the Bible just to say you’ve read the daily quota
• You don’t pray just to say you’ve prayed
• You don’t meditate just to tick off a point on your to-do list

You practice these things and more because they will change your life. People won’t notice that you’ve completed the day’s list. They will notice over time that you have changed into a new you.

Success is how well are you doing when no one is watching.

John Paul deJoria, co-founder of John Paul Mitchell systems, had the most fascinating conversation on the Tim Ferriss podcast.

He literally went from being homeless (twice) to starting a hair products company—perhaps you’ve heard of the Paul Mitchell brand. When you hear the story of the ethics behind the brand, perhaps you wouldn’t want to use anything else.

One of his early jobs helping support the family of a single mom (the husband just up and left her) and two boys was as a janitor. He only knew to work the right way. He moved things, swept the corners, and so forth. No one was around. He could have taken shortcuts. But the boss noticed what he did when no one was watching and rewarded him.

Some people try to live as if God is watching their every move, sort of like described by the author of the letter to the Hebrews in the Christian Bible.

A better attitude is to realize that we are surrounded by and infused in the kingdom of God and that it’s just a part of our being to do the right thing, say the right thing, think on the right things. It’s just us. The way we are.

When you are part of a conversation, do you add energy or suck energy?

Some conversations, whether face-to-face (not so much of that lately) or on a website, add energy to you and you are ready to tackle your work or other challenges.

On the other hand, some suck such energy seemingly from your very bones. You are left angry, hurt, lost, despondent.

Looking at the situation from other’s viewpoint toward you, how are they left feeling when you leave?

Most of the time, I bring peace and calm. But I am prone to the occasional stinging comment that is meant to provoke thinking. But I imagine sometimes it just raises blood pressure numbers without getting my point through.

Sometimes on Facebook I see a comment so insensitive and wrong that I can’t help myself. The latest have involved people posting pictures of a white guy with a comment superimposed on the picture, “If you don’t break the law, you don’t have anything to fear from police.”

“Only if you’re white,” I’ll comment. And since I don’t hang out in Facebook, I don’t see any reactions. And…I probably didn’t make the point.

People can point to scriptures. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 13 that same sentiment about obeying the law and you won’t get in trouble. What if he had been writing that letter 10 years later under a different emperor who instigated violence against Jesus-followers simply for being Jesus-followers? I bet his worldview might have shifted slightly.

The same could be said for Jesus-followers in many places around the world at this very moment. Just for following, they could be arrested, jailed, killed.

Little quips can be cute to some people and cutting to others. And they often deny the reality of fellow human beings who are also created in the image of God.

Next time you (I) get the urge for the cutting comment, try pausing and asking what we are adding to the conversation—positive energy or sucking the energy out of someone.

Sometimes we get so confused. We think we are the center of everything. We become hardened in some ways and easily gullible in others.

Sometimes we think everything depends upon us. We need to fix everything and everyone. If only everyone would listen to and obey us, the world would be perfect.

Except…

Coming in toward the summary of their New Testament survey, The New Testament In Its Time, NT Wright and Michael Bird drop this little thought. Notice the silly little preposition.

We are not building the kingdom of God on earth, we are building for the kingdom on earth.

It is not all dependent upon us, the kingdom. It is already here.

Take a deep breath. Relax for a moment. Re-focus. Exhale. Trust God to be in charge. Now just do the work for the kingdom.