Faith Venture

Clear Your Mind For Better Meditation

May 30, 2013

Ancient traditions have taught the value of emptying your mind. Before you can sit down to meditate, pray or study, your mind must be clear and receptive to new thoughts. It must be clear for you to focus.

Jesus seemed always to have a clear mind and ultimate focus. Peter, on the other hand, did not seem to reach that level of maturity until later in life. He seemed always to be in a jumble of thoughts and questions.

So, how do you clear your mind so that you can turn your attention to the task at hand? Here are some thoughts.

Write. Yes, always have paper or note cards and a pen. If “mom” is on your mind, there must be a reason. Write down the action you must take (buy present, call her, send a note, etc.). There. It’s out of your mind. When your mind is full of “stuff” that you must do, write them down, then make a to-do list. It’s out of your mind, and you can concentrate on what matters at the moment.
Breathe. OK, we breathe naturally all the time (or you wouldn’t be reading this!). How are you breathing? Short, shallow breaths? Focus on your breath (in ancient Greek, same word as spirit, the ancients knew this). Take slow, deep breaths.
Word. Sometimes repeating a word helps focus. It can be just a sound, such as , “ahhh” or “ohhh.” I used to repeat the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me). Then I just shortened it to “God.” I like one syllable. Some people like spirit or Jesus. Some of you may have heard of the Sanskrit word from the Hindu tradition, “Om” (pronounced sort of “ahoooommmm” with the m sound more like a vibration). The idea is not magic. It’s to focus the mind and clear out all the rambling thoughts.
Relax. You can meditate lying on your back, sitting in a chair or on the floor or walking. But the three practices above should help you relax so that you’re receptive to murmurings of the Spirit.

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Live With Intention

May 29, 2013

“Mommy, I didn’t intend to do that.”

“Ref, I didn’t intend to wipe out the other player, I was just going for the ball.”

We learn about intention at an early age. But we seem to use it more for an excuse rather than a way of life.

My reading last week must have emphasized intention a half-dozen times. Live with intention, they all said.

When you get up, begin the day be praying with intention. I meant to pray. I meant to pray for God to bring people into my life. I prayed with intention for the Holy Spirit to enter someone’s life. My life.

I look at my calendar and to-do lists early in the morning so that I can fix in my mind what I need to do. Then I decide if I intend to do all of them.

I choose books and magazines to read intentionally.

Some days we just seem to go through the motions with no intent. That’s when it’s time to focus on what sort of person we are becoming. Then, upon finding our focus, we can begin to live with intention again.

Right now? I intend to go out to the park and run for a while. Then I’ll participate in a conference call/press conference with the president of Honeywell Process Solutions. Then, I’ll think and write some more.

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Go And Make Disciples

May 28, 2013

Repent!

What picture does that word bring to your mind?

I think visually. When I hear that word, especially with the exclamation point punctuation denoting shouting, I have a definite picture in my mind.

In the Lerner and Loewe musical “Paint Your Wagon” a guy discovers gold near a creek during the “Gold Rush” and eventually a city grows up there. In the space of only a few years, gambling houses, bars and prostitutes fill the city.

Then the preacher comes. He’s dressed all in black. Black hat. Black beard. Scowl on his face. He shouts at the people, “Repent!”

That guy comes to mind when I hear the word.

Too many Americans, and I’d bet in many other cultures, conjure a similar image. It has become a standard image of the sour person who loves pointing out the failures of others picture of a Christian.

That’s too bad. Repent simply means changing the direction of life. We were once going one way. Hurting others. Hurting ourselves. Then, we changed life direction. We got in tune with God. We started to live differently. We help others. We are focused on living with God rather than against Him.

Our Commission

I’m thinking a lot about a couple of passages.

After Jesus was resurrected, he visited the remaining eleven apostles (leading disciples) and gave them an instruction about what to do now: “Go and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Later, when Peter began to preach during the Pentecost coming of the Holy Spirit, he began with, “Repent.”

The reason I’m contemplating these passages (and further through Acts 2) is that I’ve recently taken on a leadership role for missions. To me, that is the crucial role in a church. As one of my mentors says, “Jesus started a mission; the church came later.”

Why do we do missions? Because Jesus told us to go to all nations (that would be all peoples, all cultures, all geographies) and make disciples (not scream at, but help them change directions and begin to follow him).

We help them change (repent); help them become disciples (follow and emulate the Teacher); teach them. Three action verbs. My study and meditation are merely to prepare me to do those things.

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Reading The Bible In Context

May 24, 2013

A friend told me something the other day over lunch that struck home. “I hate it when people don’t quote from the Bible accurately.” They pull quotes out that suits their purposes. They quote words out of context.

Another time recently a very smart person referred to a parable of Jesus. He used it to interpret his interpretation of a topic we were discussing. Thing is, that parable really didn’t have anything to do with the topic. It was a story told in response to a question posed by the Pharisees. If you don’t read the parable in the context of the question, then you are swimming into dangerous water.

In the Christian church, we went through a period of time called the Reformation. That was when Luther was moved by a reading of the book of Romans, among other things, and began teaching that the church needed to reduce reliance on tradition and return to reading the source material–the Bible.

Of course, like humans often do, others took that idea and carried it into dangerous areas theologically speaking. The ideas went so far from the interpretations handed down from the earliest sources, that there was a Counter Reformation among thinkers trying to bring the discussion back.

I just read where there is a similar movement in Islam. There has been a sort of “Reformation” where some scholars have taken the movement of interpreting the Koran and have wound up with the “radical fundamentalist” Islam that many are following today–to the detriment of civil society in many places in the world. According to my sources, a group of scholars in Turkey are trying to reclaim the ancient scriptures and interpretations. A “Counter Reformation”, if you will.

When you study the Bible, or anything non-fiction for that matter, watch for context. Don’t be swayed by the latest fad. Go back to the source and see what it actually says. Think and pray over the passage. Let God talk to you. Read the earliest thinkers up through Augustine (my personal favorite). They are a help because they were closer to the events.

Don’t swim into dangerous theological waters. Keep your wits about you. And you’ll be safe.

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When You Listen, Listen Completely

May 22, 2013

The subject came up again in a recent discussion. It is amazing how we so often hear, but we don’t listen.

I know at least one person, but I think the number is actually many, who simply just hear noise unless the subject is about them. It’s not intentional. It’s not that they hate other people. Or don’t care about other people. It’s just not interesting to them, and all they hear is noise with an occasional word that sticks out.

Good salespeople listen to their customer or prospect. I can’t believe the number of times I’ve left a meeting where I was the support person for a salesperson and the salesperson had no clue what the prospect was actually saying. They were so filled with the good things they were going to say that they didn’t stop to listen.

Now sometimes, especially with your teenaged children, you will get the pushback, “You’re not listening to me” when what they really mean is “You don’t agree with me.” Listening doesn’t mean agreeing. It simply means “I’m listening.” It is a form of validating (I hate that word) the other person’s existence. It means you care enough to stop your own thoughts about yourself and care about the other person.

Here are some ideas I may have used:

Take a deep breath to help you focus on the other
Look at their mouth–I know, you need to look at their eyes to show you’re there, but watching their mouth helps reinforce the words you hear
Give a response frequently–I don’t speak Japanese, but when I was importing from Japan and dealing with Japanese people daily, I was taught that the word “Hai” that you hear all the time in a conversation that is translated “yes” means “yes I hear you” not “yes I agree with you”–so respond to keep you in focus
Lean a little toward the person without violating personal space–although sometimes a hand on the shoulder is appropriate
Try to remember the mantra “it’s not always only about me”

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What Does Love Require of Me

May 21, 2013

Jesus called people to follow him. He attracted people to follow him. He called them disciples. He said there would be a way that people outside the mission would know the people inside the mission. They would be known because of the way they loved one another.

They wouldn’t be known because they had more status than others. Or because they had more political or organizational power. But because of the way they treated others.

The way they treated others was revolutionary. When they met together, they left titles, social status, wealth status at the door. They greeted one another as brothers and sisters. This was so powerful that they attracted thousands into the mission. In fewer than 300 years, they toppled the empire thought to be invincible. The empire that was thought to last forever.

Stop and ask

To translate that to today, it’s a powerful question to ask of yourself in any situation that you face.

What does love require of me?

Many years ago I was taught that a great question for a leader to ask his followers (business, non-profit, church, whatever) is, “How can I help you?” That is one of the manifestations of the “what does love require of me” question.

Some philosophers have studied that pause before action. The ability to stop before speaking. To pause before acting. And to ask, what does love require of me. How can I help? How can I meet the need of the person I’m interacting with? What should I say? Should I just listen?

What does love require of you just now?

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Being a Disciple

May 20, 2013

The other day during a conversation about time management and to-do lists and the like, I mentioned that I was a disciple of David Allen, who wrote “Getting Things Done.” Followers of Allen’s method are known as “GTDers.”

As soon as I said the word “disciple” I felt challenged. That is a strong word.

To be a disciple means I found a teacher who has something important to teach. The teacher shows a better way to live and provides guidance toward living it. I follow the teachings and the teacher. I do what the teacher says. I try to model the teacher.

That’s a challenge. I am a GTDer, but I don’t always follow the method. Then I compare back to the original thoughts and re-orient myself.

Jesus taught an entirely new way of living. A new way of relating to God. A way that subverted both the ruling Jewish leaders and the ruling Roman leaders. He gathered people around him. He called them disciples. They called themselves disciples. They tried to do what he taught. They tried to model themselves after the teacher.

It took them a while. They say new habits can be formed in about 21 days of doing a new practice. With the first disciples, it was more like 21 months. Or more.

But they did it. And passed it on. And now almost 2,100 years later, there are still disciples.

Disciples became known as “Christians.” But, as Andy Stanley has been emphasizing in his current series, that was a term used by those outside the group to describe the movement. It was not used by those inside–at least to start with. “Christian” is not defined in the Bible. But we know what a disciple is–and it entails hard work and commitment.

When someone asks if I’m a Christian, I prefer to say I’m a disciple of Jesus.

[Note for the curious–or those who would like to “get things done”: In brief, the GTD methodology entails writing everything down, emptying your mind, and putting the notes in a trusted place. Could be file folders or electronic. I use a program called Nozbe (affiliate link). Then you review all your notes every week and compile to-do lists. There’s more than that. If you’re challenged about getting things done, get the book and the Web app.]

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It Takes Both Grace and Truth

May 17, 2013

The father welcomed his son back into the family and threw a big party to celebrate the occasion in the story of the man with two sons. That’s grace. God welcoming us into the family. Loving us. Watching for us to appear over the rise on our way back home.

But that doesn’t mean that actions don’t have consequences. Paul asked if we have grace and forgiveness of our sins, does that mean that we should sin more so that we can get more grace? He answered himself, No.

Life doesn’t work that way. Sin–being away from the Father–has consequences. In this story, the son lost all his inheritance. He has nothing more coming. He will have to go back to work and start to earn a living. His life got so bad that he was living with pigs.

We see this in people today–maybe not living with pigs, but maybe living like pigs. When I grew up, that was the expression. Pigs lived in muck and ate almost anything. It was not the way we were meant to live.

That our actions have consequences is Truth. As much as the adolescent in us wishes we are entirely free to live in any way we wish, life doesn’t work out that way. The totally self-absorbed lifestyle that knows no boundaries is not a life of freedom. You actually become a slave to emotional fulfillment. It’s a life that hurts others and then eventually yourself.

But…

If you come to your senses and return to God, then God is there. Still loving you. Ready to take us back.

We who are living with-God are there as guides to help people find their way back. Those who were lost, are now found. Then we all rejoice.

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Loving Does Not Equal Condoning

May 16, 2013

If you reach out to help someone, you’re condoning their actions. They must first show true sorrow about their actions (implied, come begging to me for mercy) and only then can we love them.

I have heard that from my more righteous friends and relatives.

Jesus heard that, too.

In fact, the dinner party I talked about yesterday had attendance divided amongst the righteous and the not-righteous. And Jesus seemed to be having more fun with the not-righteous. Made the righteous indignant–and left out. When they thought they should have been the rock stars.

Jesus told the parable of the two sons about God’s love and acceptance of both the sons–that is, both of the groups at the party.

Jesus didn’t condone sinful actions. He knew that those actions led to death. But he loved the people. The woman at the well. The woman about to be stoned. He loved them, but he told them to go and sin no more.

Matthew, the “not-righteous” host of the dinner party, went on to a great career as a disciple of Jesus. Seems the love part worked out pretty well in his case. As in Mary Magdalene’s. As in many others–even today.

Only when you show love to someone can you earn enough respect to be able to show them the way to a life with-God.

Jesus knew and showed example after example. Reach out in love, but ask for total commitment in return.

As Andy Stanley is saying in his current series of messages. Jesus didn’t create “Christians.” He created something far more difficult. He created disciples. And he did it often from the ranks of the “not-righteous.”

Tell someone today that God loves them. And mean it. That will help both of you.

Posted in Ethics, Relationship | Leave a Comment »

Lost and Found

May 15, 2013

Do you ever think deeply about “lost” people? The church of which I’m a member has as one mission to “find the lost”.

Jesus was at a dinner party one evening. He had just invited Levi (Matthew) to leave his job as a tax collector for the Roman government and join his group of disciples. In fact, Matthew went on to become one of the inner circle of 12 and then to write about his experiences.

At the party were a bunch of Pharisees. These were the people who thought they had already earned God’s grace through their good works (meaning obeying laws and rituals, not meaning helping people).

Also at the party were a number of “tax collectors and sinners.” Notice in the Gospels that these are always two groups. Matthew was not just a sinner, but a special kind of sinner–a tax collector.

Now these two groups of people did not like each other. In fact, they probably rarely ever socialized together. Read the Gospel of John and see how much John didn’t like the Pharisees! Anyway, imagine the grumbling of the “righteous” about Jesus’ associating with the not-so-righteous.

So Jesus, recognizing the tension, tells three stories. They are all about the celebration when something that is lost is found.

The third story is the story of the man and two sons. The man (God) loves his two sons. But they are very different. The elder son (Pharisees) always does the right thing. He’s always there. The younger son (Sinners and Tax Collectors–or, in reality, us) doesn’t do what’s right. In fact, he expresses the wish that his father were dead so that he could collect his inheritance and quit working.

You know the story. He gets his wish, goes away, spends everything, lives with the pigs (really revolting to a Jew), and finally comes home intending to just be a servant.

At this point, probably both groups at the dinner party were with Jesus. They recognized the elder/younger distinction. And that the elder inherits first. And that the younger son who was so offensive is going to get his just retribution (we’d say today thrown into Hell).

But…

The man throws a big party, restores the son to his place in the family and consoles the elder son who feels the lack of “justice.”

But the man said, your brother, who was lost, is now found.

Lost means not with the family. The kid wasn’t just wandering around in the wilderness with no sense of direction–physically. Only metaphorically. He was lost not being in the family. Found is returning to the family.

Just so with us and our fellow humans. God loves each and every one of us. He wants us to be in the family. He’ll celebrate every individual who returns to the family. So should we.

On of our tasks in life is to be, not like the elder brother pointing our finger in condemnation of others, but like a guide helping people return to the family.

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