endings and new beginnings

Well, it's Labor Day weekend. The accepted, if not astronomical, end of summer. And, in many ways, I'm glad. This summer has been a difficult one for me. There have been a lot of changes in my life. Not all of them pleasant.
I started in a new position at work. After 36 years as a prepress specialist I am now part of the company's E-Commerce team. This is a challenge in that I am dealing with a particular customer's needs in real time. (Actually, a really short amount of time ;o) It requires immediate action. Sometimes, as old and feeble as I am, that's difficult. I am also charged with integrating the online needs of the customer with our prepress and production departments. The plus is, I'm out of prepress and am getting a tad more money. The downside, it's still printing. While I've been in printing a long time, (41 years), it's not my passion. I've been trained for Christian ministry. I earned a Master of Divinity from Ashland; graduating with high honors, (thanks be to Yahweh). Not that I want to toot my own horn, but it was a pretty significant accomplishment. And, I believe a fulfillment of a calling God made to me 40 years ago. Ok, I'm a slow learner. BTW...if anyone is hiring out there, I'm open to talk about it.
Another thing about this summer has been the difficulty I have had really connecting with God. From about the time I had a heart attack last November until some time in June, I had experienced a dynamic relationship with God in prayer and in daily life. It was good and growing. However, sometime in late June/early July, things became a bit more tenuous. I found that passions and desires I thought long dead were resurrected. Prayer became difficult. Although I slogged through it, the time could be what St. John of the Cross described as the "Dark night of the soul." The ensuing period of time was not just dry, it became a trial of faithfulness. But, Yahweh is faithfulness. I am now, thankfully, finding my way back. Paul's writings in Romans has been of great help and comfort. Maybe I'll write more about that later.
In late June my wife and I received a notice from the I.R.S. They were disallowing a deduction I had taken on my 2010 return for college tuition. Now, no one EVER wants to hear from the all-powerful I.R.S. They said we owed a fairly substantial sum in taxes and penalties. I got out the documentation that I had received from the university and sent a copy back with a form stating that I did not agree with them and was not sending payment. I was, at best, apprehensive about our chances of prevailing. I spent the next couple months trying to figure out how we were going to pay after they decided against us. Such is the fear that this department of the government instills in its citizenry. Anyway, yesterday I received a letter from them. I put it on my desk, unopened, until this A.M. When I opened it, it stated that they thanked me for the additional documentation and the inquiry was now closed. We owed $0. Yes, Yahweh is good! But, it would be easy for me to take the position that it was my answer to the I.R.S. that made the issue go away. After all, what I did was no different that what any other person in the U.S. would have done. There was nothing 'miraculous' or magical about it. I simply did the responsible thing. This is the area that, I think, many people find gray. Was it the grace of Yahweh, or simply the act of a human? Too many Christ-followers would look at this in some magical, super-spiritual sense and totally miss the fact that God inspires people to act like people should. Justice; faithfulness; righteousness. They are all attributes of humans that God desires us to use. I was simply being faithful to God in finances and seeking justice from the government. Welcome to the Yeshua-do...the "Way of Yeshua." If I've learned anything this summer, it's that Yahweh works through the ordinary. We humans are to live in the ordinary and to "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting" (Ps. 118:1).Or, something like that.
I'm looking forward to the Fall. It's my favorite season. I think that the righteousness of God as it has been displayed through the faithfulness of Jesus will continue to reveal itself in my, and my family's lives. In spite of a half-empty Summer, the Fall is beginning to look half-full.

Away for a bit

It's been a couple weeks since I've been here. There's simply been too much on my plate to spend time with this blog. My dad was back in hospital again. It really sux getting old. He's a tough old codger, though. And, I started at a new position at work last week. New stuff to learn and not a lot of time to learn it. Ah, yes! I love it when they move the cheese.
Anyway, I've spent the better share of the last month ruminating on how the Euro-American worldview is simply NOT the best way to live a full and abundant life. I've read a couple books from a Zen point of view. One of them by a Jesuit priest who uses Zen practices to deepen his spiritual life with Yahweh. Interesting stuff that I will comment on later. I've also been studying material written from a First Inhabitant point of view. I have been encouraged to look at this by Randy Woodley. He is an American Cherokee with a Ph.D from Asbury Seminary. Having been following his online works and blogs, as well as working through his newest tome, Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, has given me much to meditate on. This, too, I'll comment on later. All of this to say, I am in the process of trying to reconcile the Euro-American culture with the Very Good Creation that Yahweh has provided for all living things to dwell in. It's difficult. Actually, it's impossible. We who are of European descent have much to bring to the discussion, but we are not the answer or telos of that discussion.

Reconciled life

Today I was reading in Romans 5. Paul wrote that because of Yahweh's great love we have been reconciled to God. Whereas we were enemies, (by our own doing), we are now friends who are saved from wrath. I began to wonder what a reconciled life might look like. If we are no longer subjected to wrath, how should we live? Honestly, I can't give a good or comprehensive answer to this. What might be evidenced in my life would be wholly inappropriate for someone else. But, I think there are some things that warrant mention.
If we live our lives with an eye to what others may think, even if it is to be a so-called "witness"; that is wrong. Jesus made it clear that any good that we do should be done for the Father alone. Yet, I've heard many good intentioned people state that we must watch ourselves and maintain some kind of piety so that others will see and desire to live in a similar fashion. So far, I've not seen the masses storming the gates to get in.
I think that a reconciled life may allow people to maintain a kind of aloofness, or detachment, from the concerns of the world system and culture. I'm amused at some people who take the markets and politics and other things so seriously. It is the end of the world as we know it now that the Supreme Court has upheld the health care act. Yet, these same people will make profit hand over fist at the expense of this act. We are not affected by this. Ours is not the way of culture and politics.  Ours is the way of reconciliation. Ours is the way of the cross.
I think that reconciled people are reattached to the very good creation. Where we were once cut off, especially in the West, we are put into a right relation with the earth and all that it contains. We experience God's shalom, or as one writer put it, the Harmony Way. According to Genesis, humans were put in here to serve and protect the earth as God's eikons. We are stewards who must answer to the Lord of the Manor. Unreconciled people view the earth as humanity's servant. Something to be used and abused to fulfill our own appetites and greed. Not so, says the scripture. We, being reconciled to God, are also reconciled to the very good creation.
I think that this is a good topic for reflection. What do reconciled people look like?  How does this affect our relationships with Yahweh; others; the cosmos? I don't know for sure, but God does. I trust that we will be led to greater clarity and understanding because of Yahweh's great love.

36 and counting

Today my wife and I are celebrating 36 years of marriage.
Honestly, I didn't think we'd make it this far.
As much as I tried to mess it up, God's grace and my wife's
committed stubbornness kept it going.
Now, we are doing pretty well and today is a real celebration.
Maybe Carrabba's for dinner...

Advent Ministries

I don't usually plug organizations. Books, yes.
Anyway, Advent Ministries is one of those organizations that works to bring the reign of God into the lives of real people. Please visit their web site and consider either helping through donations or by purchasing one of their products.
http://www.adventtoday.com/index.html

Kairos Palestine

I debated whether or not to advocate this. However, with all of the poor exegesis running around regarding Israel and its neighbors, I thought it would be good to offer a counter to some of that. Please take the time to read the post from Brian McLaren and take a look at the Kairos link.
http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/something-i-care-deeply-about.html#more

Grasping

For any who have read some of my ramblings, I just want to say that these are mostly intended to be food for thought. Little observations and feelings that I put out here to help me think through things and find out what I really think.
With that in mind, this A.M. I found myself reflecting on failure. This lead me to the story of the garden. Now, there's a lot in the story recorded in Genesis 2 & 3. More than I care to get into now. But, one thing that did jump out at me was the idea of 'grasping.' Let's recap. Adam and Eve were placed in the garden to care for it, to cultivate it, and to serve and protect it. It would be ok to think that they, in their own way, farmed the land. We are lead to understand that the land willingly gave up its strength so that whatever crop was planted grew up healthy and full of fruit. During the times when they were acting in their role as stewards, they probably had lots of time to think and discuss their lives and relationships with the very good creation, with each other, and with God. It appears that somewhere in the course of their lives they began to speculate about how God related to the very good creation and to them, in particular. The reason I say that is because when they were confronted with the choice of following the known will of Elohim or not, they seemed to have already formed a positive opinion of God's role against a more negative view of their own. When the serpent offered his opinion that they would certainly not die if they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they accepted his opinion. The text reads, "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it" (Gen. 3:6a&b, NIV2011). She saw that eating the fruit would allow one to grasp at the things, the attributes, of God. Not content to fulfill the role intended for humankind, she coveted that which was intrinsically divine.
Now, let's contrast that with another person. Yeshua ben Yosef, of questionable birth, (i.e., Yosef was not his dad), came on the scene. Throughout his life he learned a trade and he learned about Yahweh from his family and friends. He grew strong in the Spirit and was especially close to his heavenly Father. He did not need to speculate about God's role in the very good creation. He was intimately aware of it. He was also intimate with the barriers that humanity placed on one in relation to Yahweh. Of anyone in history, he was the one who could properly 'grasp' at the things that were in the purview of God. Yet, one of the earliest hymns of the fledgling ecclesia reads, "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage" (Phil. 2:6). Jesus did not grasp at that which was not his to have. In this Kenotic hymn we have a glimpse into the proper position for humankind. He emptied himself and took on the form of a servant; a slave. Like the story of the garden, Jesus confronted the same temptation: to become 'like God.' In his case, he was God! But, he willingly and humbly chose not to grasp at that. He laid it down. And, in so doing has provided the example by which we, as his followers, should emulate. Yes, we are by adoption daughters and sons of God. Yes, we have rights as children and heirs. But, our place in this life is to take the form of a servant. A servant to God, to humanity, to the very good creation.