Faith Venture

The mind is its own place,

and in itself can make a heaven of hell,

a hell of heaven. — John Milton, Paradise Lost

In the course of my life, I come into contact with a wide range of people. They come from (and many still live in) any one of the continents of the world except Antarctica. Men and women. Wealthy or not-so-much.

Many ask how certain people groups can say what they say. “Do they really believe that in the face of all the evidence to the contrary?”

“Yes,” I reply. “The mind is a marvelous thing. It will believe whatever you tell it. They will not change their minds because of logical argument or the display of irrefutable evidence.”

It takes self-awareness to be able to look at your beliefs in the mirror and admit to yourself that you have been wrong and vow to change.

Self-awareness and courage.

We used to have cinema with that theme. Now everything we see reinforces whatever belief set we have.

In the late 1960s PBS produced a limited series TV show called The Prisoner. It is so old that I will give away the plot. Patrick McGoohan, who played secret agents in other series, plays a secret agent trapped in an idyllic little city. For 12 weeks he tries either to escape or to meet No. 1. The best he can get to is No. 2. And every time he almost escapes, he is captured and returned.

Finally, episode 13. They promise to take him to No. 1–the person behind the captivity. There is a big celebration. A throne. A crown. They place him on the throne and place the crown on his head.

He was his own captor. He placed himself in captivity.

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”

Time for reflection?

Sometimes it seems that if 20 nutritionists were gathered in a room there would be 40 opinions about what to eat or not to eat.

I have a couple of fitness certifications and read and listen to nutrition and fitness podcasts. There’s a lot of advice out there. And, like they say, talk is cheap.

Or, like the quote I found to finish last night’s Yoga class, “What you believe doesn’t make you a good person, how you behave does.”

And how you take care of your body matters more than what advice you believe. Check out the opening chapters of the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament, for example.

Therefore, as a spiritual discipline, let us take care of ourselves. Here are some generally agreed upon bits of advice

• Drink water. Other fluids are good and necessary, too, but make water the go-to drink. It replenishes the body, gives you energy, flushes out toxins, helps the kidneys. And probably a lot more.
• Cut out carbs that are high on the Glycemic Index. Cakes, pies, candy bars, donuts–gone. There’s conflicting advice on grains. Some believe we shouldn’t eat them at all. However, civilization didn’t begin until humans could cultivate and store grain. And, they are a source of energy. Eat fermented or slow-cooked whole grains for a small part of your diet.
• Eat lots of vegetables–especially green, leafy vegetables. Those are especially good for your brain. Fruit is good, but remember fruit is sugar. So eat some. The fiber helps slow down the sugar intake and reduce insulin spikes. Fruit juice is sugar rich, so limit those. Nuts are a fantastic food. Make nuts one of your go-to snacks in mid-afternoon.
• Get plenty of good, sound sleep. 7-8 hours for most of us. More for some. Water and sleep are perhaps the top two requirements.
• Manage stress. Find ways to eliminate outside stressors. Quit that job if necessary. End toxic relationships. Practice meditation (prolonged meditation helps you look younger!). Try Yoga or Tai Chi.
• Move. Walking is great. If you’re fit, or want to be, running is good, too. Many chemicals in your body need movement for effectiveness. Obsess over your FitBit steps, if you must.
• Dark chocolate and a glass of red wine are a healthful end to a nice meal.

Time to head to the gym. 😉

Have you ever tried to explain Christianity to a person of another faith? Especially also of a different color? Or–for us Midwesterners–explaining “Trump Country” to urban people?

I’m always torn between amusement and sadness when I read things from the urban coastal areas (not to mention Washington) trying to figure out people from the rural middle of the country. Neither side has a clue about the other.

The New York Times recently explored the effects of the 2016 election with the visible racial references upon “evangelical” churches who had been trying to bring black people and other “people of color” into their communities yet supported a candidate who was openly disdainful of those people. It was an interesting article, albeit limited. They sent a reporter to Dallas to interview a half-dozen African-American women about their experience in a church turned political organization.

They all “lost that lovin’ feeling” and left.

That is all anecdotal. Not all churches are like a Baptist church in Texas.

But…look around at your worship time. Does everyone look the same? Is everyone from the same economic strata? Is anyone free to voice a differing opinion?

On the other hand, I once tried to explain why there are so many varieties of Christian churches and why they don’t seem to like each other to a person of the Sikh faith. That religion teaches tolerance of all religions. So it is confusing to them that people of one religion fight so much within the faith.

I can explain how it happened, perhaps. Why is another matter. What happened to our focus on Jesus over hundreds of years that we are so split, and argumentative, and focused on matters other than salvation and living a life with God? Why have we become the Pharisees that Jesus battled against?

Like I say–stop, look around, see what’s happening. Are we doing things to drive people away? Or, are we living the love Jesus taught such that we attract people of all nationalities and conditions? The first evangelist we read of who went outside the Jewish community with the gospel first went to the people group Jews hated the most. After converting many, he proceeded to explain the scriptures and convert a black man who was ceremonially unclean since he could not procreate (the Ethiopian eunuch).

What are we doing?

Stories, I said.

Stories? He replied.

I was explaining about beginning the study of the Book of Acts of the Apostles. I told the man who was somewhat new to study that it is a book of cool stories.

Like the married couple who decided to lie to their friends in the church, to the leaders, and to God. They wanted to look good to the people, but they were greedy and wanted to keep some of the money back for themselves.

They lied to God. He struck them dead on the spot.

There is drama for you.

Or three quick stories about Philip–an important guy we otherwise never hear about. In one, he has a conversation with a Samaritan town. In another he discusses Scripture and Jesus with a black man who is sexually incomplete. Not your typical Jewish stories. Many were healed, converted, baptized.

Lots of stories about Paul. Intrigue, danger, escape. Friends, hope, lives changed.

How does our story fit?

My friend from India upon hearing about my growing up in an all-white community within an almost all-white area asked about when I first met an African-American person in college, “How did you react? Was it curiosity? Was it with a feeling of repulsion? Or fear?”

I replied, “No, pretty much just like any human. I notice things about people, but I didn’t notice anything in particular about black people.”

But, I had to admit, that when I meet a very tattooed and pierced person today that I need to quickly step back in my mind and have an attitude adjustment. Then, when I talk with them, I almost always find a very nice person within.

I was listening to John Ortberg recently. He was talking about judging. He challenged us to find one place in the New Testament were Jesus judged people. As Ortberg put it, “Jesus connected with people, not corrected them.”

The challenge for us is–can we change our judging attitude into an attitude of acceptance?

Accept people; don’t judge people. Perhaps my new motto.