Keep me from living according to untruths...

             In keeping with The Day with Jesus (I can tell you what this means specifically if you're interested) I have been using an evening and a morning Psalm to focus my thoughts a bit.  I haven’t been switching them up, but using the same one’s daily; Psalm 127 in the evening, and Psalm 5 in the morning.

            Reflecting on Psalm 5 has been good and it has struck me the ideas that we hold to shape us.  If the ideas that we hold on to are true, then we will be shaped in a way that is good and blessed.  If, on the other hand, the ideas that we hold to are lies, or untruths, we will become misshapen.  Living according to ideas that are untrue will usually be destructive.  David, I think, reminds us of his own struggle and desire to live according to truth in Psalm 5.

Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

-Psalm 5:8-12 (ESV)

            So as I have been reflecting on this text I notice a few things.  First the enemies are characterized by lies.  They have no truth in their mouth.  David says, make your way straight before me and let those who want to live in the lies fall by their adherence to their lies.  So Lord, let me take refuge in you and live a life of rejoicing.  Refuge in God is living in the truth.  I don’t just mean religious truths, but in all truth wherever you find it… about anything.  The truth always sets us free.  Jesus says in John 8:31-32 that if “we abide in his word we’ll know the truth… and the truth will set us free.”  I think that’s what David is saying also in Psalm 5. 

            The bottom line is found pretty much on the bottom line of the Psalm.  God blesses the righteous.  Think about the word “blessing” as “the good life.”  When we live in God’s way, and his way is truth, we’ll be righteous… living according to right thinking; and that will bring us to the abundance he intends for us as his children.

            So I’ve been praying this prayer:  Lord, protect me today from the lies that are told to me by…

            …the culture around me that is driven by darkness.

            …the yearning of my own body that wants its own way.

            …the untruths lodged in my mind that I tell myself every day 

                    that are destructive to my experiencing the good life.

Identity is Key

            I spent last week with a very weird group of people in the first of four Institute of Spiritual Formation week long retreat/conferences.  When I say weird I only mean that it was an interesting gathering of people.  Among them from Scotland a production engineer, and a Pastor; from Britain an author, an few Salvation Army folks, a couple of medical professionals, a pastor, and a housewife; from Germany a computer systems analyst; from the US a retired Seminary President, an attorney, a Nurse Practitioner, a couple pastors, a few church leaders, a certified sex therapist.  The speaker for the week was a South African Pastor.

            I learned a ton, from Trevor Hudson, the speaker, from the reading that I’ve been doing, and from the cohort of 40 individuals walking this journey. I was reminded of a truth that is so significant I thought I would toss it out to you from my experience.  “Ministry always follows Identity.”  This was an awesome reminder for more than just ministry, but for life.  Where do you find your identity? 

            Let me apply this to myself for the sake of unpacking it for a moment.   Is my identity wrapped up in being “a pastor?”  If that’s true then I grind away at ministry in order to maintain my identity so that I can be called pastor.  The danger here is that I live in tension for the simple reason that if at some point I lose my role as “pastor” I also lose my “identity.” Losing one’s identity is kind of a big deal for life.  I have actually thought about this much over the years and I think I’m settled on this particular one.  Maybe there are other places that I’m finding my identity, so I’m working that out.  But what about you?  How do you identify yourself?  The problem in identifying ourselves by what we DO or by what we HAVE is that those things can be taken away and then we’re in an identity crisis.  Our role in business or at home, our wealth, or our social status… they are all too some degree or another shifting sand.  In order to live and move with confidence and joy we must know that our identity is wrapped up in something unchangeable.  Any ideas?

The Divine Life in the Interruptions

Reflecting on the past few weeks of my life and thinking this morning about the interference's and complications of life with my “study and reflection” time. 

Quick timeline:

4^th Week Past:  Spent the week walking with a wife and family through the death of a husband, son, son-in-law, brother, grandson, etc.  Culminating in a funeral service two weeks ago.

3^rd Week Past:  Week of vacation on the Washington Coast.

2^nd Week Past: Spending with a family member who is recovering from surgery due to breast cancer.  (Prognosis is VERY good)

Current Week:  Hanging with my dad at the hospital after his total knee replacement a couple days ago.

I find myself at times, whether intentionally or unintentionally (usually) separating my pursuit of the “divine” life and following Christ with my “real” life which is honestly filled with interruptions.  The interruptions can be tragedy or comedy; mourning or celebration.  I was very distracted the week after the death; trying to walk with a family, trying to find answers when all the answers seem trite and unhelpful. 

The third week past I thought it was going to be myself, my wife, and our youngest son at the beach… lots of time to read and reflect.  We usually have her birthday at the beach.  This year it was going to be a bit empty as our oldest son lives in  Phoenix and said he couldn't make it, and our middle son is about to go off to college and couldn't make it because  he’s working as much as possible to pay for school.  Our oldest drove into the driveway at the beach on Tuesday of the week surprising us.  Our middle son showed up on Friday (my wife’s birthday) to spend the weekend with us, surprising us.  It was maybe the best week ever at the beach… but our oldest son is VERY busy… and all three of the wildboyz have kept us on the run for now 22 years.  But my study of the “divine” life was somewhat hindered by “real” life as I sometimes think about it.

Second week past… just trying to present with my sister.  She’s doing well but the moments when fear sinks in or reality creeps up a little too close are tense for her.  I’m just trying to cook, do dishes… that sort of thing, and talk.  Trying to be attentive, but not smothering.  Yesterday we got the craving for a blackberry cobbler because we noticed a few wild blackberries outside the window.  So we made one and ate it with Vanilla Ice Cream.  Not trying to brag… but it was pretty darn good.

This week I’m just at the hospital with my dad, because it’s hard to just leave someone at the hospital these days without an advocate… or at least so it seems to me. 

In the midst of all this I’m getting some things done, and starting to find a rhythm with some class work I think.  But a few things have occurred to me in the midst of all this.  First, in the project of following Jesus, it must be the case that the divine life and real life are the same life.  They cannot truly be separated as “secular” and “sacred” perhaps cannot be separated.  Everything is sacred… is that true?  It seems true to me.  Is baking a cobbler as sacred as preparing a sermon?  I think it may be… maybe even more sacred!  I’m sure more people would rather eat my blackberry cobbler than listen to my sermons. 

Second I just watched JP Moreland’s tribute to Dallas Willard at Willard’s memorial service in which he said in tribute to Dallas Willard, “I asked Dallas one time what his life aim was?  He said, ‘Just to be a light at USC.’”  It seems to me that one of the significantly transformative things we can do is to intentionally be a light wherever we are… at this moment.  In tragedy, on the go-carts at the beach, in caring in tense situations, at work, at the grocery, at the gas pumps, or wherever. I know that shining the light is a passive thing… that is to say, as we are shaped in the image of Christ the light of Christ WILL shine even without our willing it intentionally.  But it’s also intentional.  I just finished “Knowing Christ Today: Why we can Trust Spiritual Knowledge” by Dallas Willard in which he describes Frank Laubach’s finding God’s presence in all the moments of the day (p.149), “With much effort and practice he trained himself to bring God, and what is of God, back before his mind every minute or so, and from this he constantly drank in power to guide and strengthen himself.”  I’m going to try and work on this… my mind is a wandering thing.

Third, and I can’t remember which interview this comes from, but John Ortberg is asking Dallas Willard how to begin the project of following Jesus.  The answer, “Just do the next right thing you know to do.”  I thought that was profound.  It doesn’t sound very religious… which I also liked.  Perhaps this coincides with “The sacrament of the present moment as it is sometimes called, is from the human side nothing but the invocation, expectation, and receptivity of God’s presence and activity where we are ad in what we are doing at any given time.” (KCT p.153)

All this to say that the pursuit of Jesus’ divine life in the interruptions of real life is the only option, because life is filled with interruptions.

Teaching (using this term very loosely) a group of preschoolers yesterday afternoon on the finer points of existential philosopher theologian Soren Kierkegaard's parable, "The King and the Maiden," along with drawing out the nuance of the Greek verb for "follow" when one of the cherubs raised her hand, and when I called on her said, "I know a boy named Hotdog!" and then another quickly intoned, "I want the monkey story!" I do not think there is a boy named "Hotdog" and I'm not sure to which monkey story the reference goes! I learned, yet again, that one (me) should stick to their gifting. :) But it was fun!

As I was leaving the church to go see Star Trek with the wildboyz six of the little guys came up and gave me a group hug and said, "Thanks for PLAYING with us!" Ok... but WHAT ABOUT THE KING AND THE MAIDEN! :)

Yet again, another lesson... In the end perhaps it's not the lessons we teach t hat matter nearly as much as our presence in the lesson.

The value and dignity of the human person.

Do you ever struggle with self-image, identity, and a sense of dignity about who you are as a person?  We live in a culture in which we are always “sizing each other up.”  Here’s another quote for you from The Pastor as Minor Poet.

            Pastor’s never trust the self-image of anyone.  That’s because most people construct their identities from an assortment of borrowed images.  The typical American today strives to be as attractive as the models on the fashion magazine covers, as successful in work as Bill Gates, as sensitive a spouse and parent as Ward and June Cleaver, and as death-defyingly healthy as Lance Armstrong – all while maintaining the inner peace of the Dalai Lama.  The fact that these images are often in conflict with each other creates tension within the heart of the individual, who tries desperately to meet all of their demands. 

            Typically the pastor is the only influence holding to the belief that life is a holy creation that can be rightly known only in light of the image of God.  As the old confession of faith states, “our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”  We were marked by God, for God, and the holiness of this image goes to the heart of our identity and mission in life.

Do you think of yourself often as a unique person, created by God, marked by God, made for God, and that you have value for who He has made you to be, without regard to how you “size up” to others?  In listening to a lecture by Dallas Willard today I was struck by his definition of the word “dignity”.  He defines it as “worth that has no substitute.”  He goes on to say that most things have been given a value.  If I want a cheese burger and you have one that you are willing to trade me for $3.00 then we know the value of the cheese burger.  The reason that slavery is so heinous is that it places a monetary value on human persons.  However, the human person is beyond any monetary value.  There is nothing for which we can trade the human person that does not ultimately devalue, and remove the dignity, of the human person.  We often sell our very selves for something of much less value than our self!  Slavery is selling yourself for something of less value than yourself.  We lose our dignity when we become slaves.  When you sell yourself for the image of what you think others want you to be you lose the dignity of knowing who you are truly created to be… you lose yourself and, ultimately, gain nothing real in return.

I wonder if warehouse stores are a significant part of the dehumanization of America. Over that last 24 hours I have been saddened by the reality that we are becoming less human and more animal. I was in Costco this afternoon to buy coffee and a four pack of socks (I know... how weird is that combination... I opted not to get the 1000 pack of AA batteries next to the toilet seat), and I decided to use the self check out. We have gotten to the place where you can even visit a store with 2000 people in it and not have to interact with any one of them... not sure this is healthy.  In any case, there was one person ahead of me; I was hanging back so as not to crowd the lady ahead of me. Two people rushed in, cutting ahead of me in line. Really... and by the way for those of you who think, "Kids just aren't courteous these days," they were older people. Then the lady behind me in line stood so close to me while I was "finishing and paying" that it felt funny entering the "pin" from my debit card... but I understand why she was doing it... she was trying to keep her spot in line!  When I went back to my car in the parking lot it took me about 10 minutes to get out of my parking space because no one would pause to let me back out. 

These experiences are juxtaposed to Sunday evening. My son Jonny and I went into an At&t store in Issaquah. We were in a bit of rush trying to get Jonny to the airport, the place was packed, and now you can "check-in" with an associate at the door. A new and improved version of "take a number." In any case, when we walked in it was crowded with people trying to get service. I noticed an older lady standing in the midst of the horde looking slightly perplexed in all the chaos. We had been there about five minutes before an "associate" came to sign us in, but I had been watching the lady watching the chaos. When they said to us, "have you checked in yet?" I said no, but, looking at this lady who was a few feet away from me, I said, "But she is ahead of us." She looked at me as though I'd just given her a $1,000 and said, "I have already checked in, but thank you so much, that was very thoughtful." Really... it was basic, not exceptional, courtesy, but it seemed exceptional to her. 

You know... we don't have to be Mother Teresa to change the world, though she certainly did. Just let someone go ahead of you in line. Here is one of the most remarkable things about Jesus in my view, "Though he was God he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a servant." He considered others ahead of himself. This week if we all committed ourselves to let someone in, in traffic, let someone ahead of us in the checkout line, hold the door for another person, consider the possibility that you're not the CENTER of the universe for a second, just speak a kind word to another person, we really could change the world, and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration.  We're not going to cure cancer with this tactic... but perhaps we can make this place a more human place.

If I’m too busy to let someone in ahead of me, then I’m too busy and need to slow down. If I’m too self-important to consider others ahead of myself, then I've forgotten one of the central truths in life which is, that I’m not central! 

Keeping Abortion Legal Lowers the Number of Abortions?

A friend recently posted the article, “How I Lost Faith in the Pro-life Movement” on Facebook.  It’s an interesting post on a topic that has a tendency to generate more heat than light.  I have tried to carefully look over this article and thought that I would make a few comments in response to the blog post. 

Regarding the premise that “The Pro-Life Movement is anti-contraception.”  Maybe there is something here that I haven’t seen, it’s certainly possible.  This is the position of the Catholic Church I know, however, I have been involved at some level with “pro-life” people for 25 years in my pastoral work.  If a key piece of the pro-life movement is that it is anti-contraception I have completely missed it both in the literature, and anecdotally within the people I have rubbed shoulders with.  Additionally, I think it’s interesting to note two things: First, regarding the pro-life movement being “anti-contraceptive” the article that Libby cited is actually making the point that Marvin Olasky, editor of World Magazine was chastising the NAE (National Association of Evangelicals) for supporting the use of contraception.  Second, as far as I can research, the National Right to Life organization has no stance at all on contraception.  Beyond that however, of the 62% of people in the USA (according to a recent CNN Poll) who want abortion to be illegal in all cases, or available only in certain cases, I am guessing that the vast majority are in favor of contraception, though I have no facts to back that point up.  Please define “pro-life movement.”  I can’t tell from the article who “they” are to whom Libby is referring.

Obama care has not “reduced abortion by 75%.”  The blog says that Obama care “stands to reduce abortion by 75 %.  There is no basis for this number that I can see.  It is completely predicated upon the idea of providing contraceptives to all women.  Whether or not that should be done is one matter… but would it actually work to reduce abortions by 75%.   I do not believe it would.  The issue of Obama care is vastly complex.  I want to say first, we have a healthcare crisis in our country to be sure.  Second I do not believe President Obama’s plan will work, however, we need something.  According to a Guttmacher Institute report in 2011, 54% of women who had abortions had used contraception in the month they conceived.  To suggest that making contraception available to every woman (whether one supports it or not) would drop abortion by 75% is a made up number.  It is clearly the case that non-use of contraceptives is highest in those in poverty, so perhaps it would make a significant difference, particularly in that group, but again, there is no real way to know whether it would or wouldn’t.  I couldn’t find any research for 2012 that suggests there has been a significant reduction in abortions.  Also interestingly, the number of abortions has already been steadily decreasing since 1991 (thankfully) other than a short uptick in 2006.  It seems to have held steady during the Obama Presidency or seen a slight uptick based on articles I read, but I can’t find exact numbers.  In any case it has not decreased. 

I think the somewhat overlooked piece for me is Libby’s statement:  “I no longer believe that abortion is murder because I no longer hold that a zygote, embryo, or fetus is a ‘person.’  I also came to realize that the focus on person-hood ignores the fact that a zygote, embryo, or fetus is growing inside of another person’s body.”  For Libby person-hood relates to birth.  This is where the abortion argument has to hinge in my view because the “moral status of persons” and how we value them impacts both the souls of people and the souls of nations.  Also, if we think that securing the status of a zygote, embryo, or fetus has implications only for pre-birth issues we are being too short sighted.  If a fetus (baby) isn’t a person before birth why not?  And at what point does the fetus (baby) become a person?  A recent medical ethics conversation is suggesting that “after-birth abortion” is fine also on any grounds under which “pre-birth abortion” would be acceptable.  I think the essence of the argument philosophically is that if a baby (fetus) isn’t a person or holding moral status just prior to birth (and even when partially born), what changes the moral status just after, or sometime after, the baby has been born?  The reason this part of the argument is so important, beyond simply valuing and protecting persons, is that it has implications much beyond the abortion debate.  If we do not ascribe moral status to a baby slightly before birth, or sometime after birth, then we are deciding moral status of persons based on functionality.  At what point is a person high enough functioning to be given moral status as a “person?”  This has vast implications to end of life scenarios in my view.  The pragmatist view that “keeping abortion legal lowers the numbers of abortions” doesn’t begin to ask the question of the moral status of person, and who is considered a person.  Even if keeping abortion legal lowers the number of abortions (I don’t really think it’s been shown that it could do it by 75% in any case) it ignores the much larger question, again, at least in my opinion. 

The “Pro-life movement ‘cooking up facts’ such as the harmful side effects.”  I can’t really say what the side effects of abortion are for all women.  I can only tell you of a few instances in which I have had the privilege of sitting with women who have had an abortion.  One in particular, who twenty years after the abortion could not forgive herself or live with herself for having done that.  This wasn’t a particularly religious person, not a person who had been raised in the church or who was part of a church at the time she talked to me.  (I do not make this qualifier of her religious background to claim any moral superiority whatsoever, only to say that I don’t think her feelings 20 years later were predicated upon her having been given some pseudo morality by the church).  I can only say, for that one person the convenience of abortion when she was 18 years old, wasn’t worth it when she was 42 years old.  It was devastating.  I can say it wasn’t a “cooked up fact” that this person’s life was devastated in significant ways, and had been so for years.

I know that this is a highly charged emotional topic on a number of levels.  I mean this reply to be thoughtful and careful.