Category: Reason

Letting God lead

I was listening to a Scottish preacher that I enjoy, and he started his sermon with what he called an “old Anglican prayer.” I had never heard it before. I am staggered by its profound simplicity.

It went, “Father, what we know not, teach us. What we have not, give us. What we are not, make us. For your Son’s sake. Amen.”

What I like most about these poignant thoughts is that they have the correct order. Much of the praying I do is God, if it’s your will, help me do this, or that. I am specifying what I think needs to be done. In fairness, I am open to His guidance, but I am the one doing the thinking.

This little prayer puts the ball in God’s court. It recognizes that he understands the bigger picture and will have a view that I don’t have. By petitioning him in this manner I allow him to guide my life. He is in charge of what I need to learn, or have or be. Not me. My vision for the future is subservient to His.

This is one of life’s hardest lessons. For me this is a daily struggle. I see what others around me are doing, I see the successes they have, the direction, the sureness and then I look at my own life (which is a complete mess). I have no idea what to do next, but I feel the weight of action. I have no idea how to fix my problems, but I feel the guilt of inactivity. I have no idea how to relate to the world but I feel the judgment of all around me.

This prayer helps me, in a very practical way, hand it all to God.

Divided attention

Sometimes our attentions are divided. We call it multitasking. We try to accomplish one thing while attending to another. If you have ever tried to write an email while listening to a child, you know how hard this can be.

But sometimes, it is unavoidable. Driving in busy traffic for example. We need to be keenly aware of the surroundings, while still doing the functional job of driving.

I like the story of Nehemiah. The Israelites return from Babylon to rebuild the city walls. At this time a city without a wall was a sitting duck. Raiders, invaders and other threats had no obstacle between their intentions and the city of Jerusalem.

The surrounding people mocked Nehemiah, they didn’t respect the Israelites or their God. These men had to split their focus. They needed to be alert to danger, while they put in the hard work of repairing the wall. A brick in one hand and a sword in the other.

Maybe we as a people have let go of our swords. We have been so busy building and being productive that we have forgotten to protect ourselves and our families. We have let down our guard.

Nehemiah 4: 16-18 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

A season of change

If you are paying attention to world events, it is easy to get discouraged. We have unparalleled division. We seem to have an inability to meet in the centre. We don’t even use the same tools and language to formulate our ideas. It can be overwhelming and even depressing.

But…

If you are also paying attention to the theological and philosophical discussions, it is incredibly encouraging. We are in a major shift. I may be wrong, but I don’t see it as similar to the shift of the prewar era of the 1930; as I’ve heard others surmise. I believe we are in a change like the Reformation. How people think is changing. How we process information is changing.

I have long thought that the internet is the impetus for this change. A new technology that is revolutionizing how we process information. But something else happened in the mid 20th century. Something easy to ignore. A discovery that seems of interest only to a few academics. The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls.

These texts are revolutionizing the way scholars are reading the Bible. There is a correction coming. It is slowly seeping out of the halls of academia and moving into the world at large. This is where the internet will play a part. This information will spread further and faster thanks to our current technologies.

It is an exciting time to be alive. If you aren’t already paying attention, start!

Isaiah 14: 27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Pause and reflect

When I was in University, I heard about a Jewish tradition. I ashamed to say I can’t remember the details (I’ll have to ask the Rabbi who lives across the street about it). But the concept, as my sketchy memory conceives it, is that when you see something beautiful you should stop and thank God for the blessing.

I remember this because at the time I was driving in the back country for work. I was using mostly logging roads and secondary roads that wound through areas most people don’t even know exist, let alone visit.

Driving along beside a marshy-pond, surrounded by trees and just the right angle of the sun and it takes your breath away. I remember pulling over to the shoulder (that’s a generous way to describe it) and wishing I had my camera. Instead, I sat in my car and thanked God for his beautiful world.

There was something so comforting about seeing God’s hand in His world. Life may be awful and cruel, but there is also great beauty and nobility. The presence of this was reassuring to my young mind. If God saw fit to put beautiful fireweed, purple and blazing in the sun, here in the middle of nowhere, then how much must he love me too.

Matthew 6: 28-30 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”

My better nature

I have, what some people call, a contentious disposition. I rarely ever take anything at face value. I’m always skeptical of everything, and I actively search for the other side in almost every issue. Except of course, the proper way to put the toilet paper on the holder. There can be no discussion on this point. It is the most black and white issue in all humanity. In all other cases there are two sides to every issue.

This can make me a bit argumentative. Just ask my husband. I love a good discussion/argument. As long as it doesn’t get nasty. I don’t like to engage in angry disputes. I like rigorous discussion but not nasty confrontation.

But there is always a risk when you have a disposition like mine that you can be quick to defend your point, not because it matters but because you like to win. I have learned, through experience to temper this desire. The biggest teacher is learning just how many ways you can be wrong, even when you are sure you are right. If you haven’t been in this position then, well… maybe you aren’t looking hard enough.

Learning to humble myself and listen and be slow to react, has been the work of a lifetime. Maybe by the time I get to my eighties I’ll have figured it out.

James 1: 19-20 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this:
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Thinking about Jesus

There are three topics of discussion I have bumped into over the last few weeks.
First, concerns about freedom; what it means, what it looks like. Second, the idea of truth. Is truth just subjective or is it something more? Third, who can we believe, who and what can we trust?

These are all huge discussions encompassing many of the contrasting views rampant in our society. My thoughts led me to develop a little Venn diagram.

Faith and reason

I was listening to a chapter of CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity about Faith (Chapter 11). An interesting chapter full of reflections on human behaviour, sin and how God interacts with us. A short listen. If you are like me, listening is easier than taking the time to sit and hold a book and read. Many of CS Lewis’ writings are on YouTube – so you don’t even need to download an audio book. He is among the authors I enjoy most.

In this chapter Lewis asserts that the tension in believing Christianity is between faith and reason on one side and our imaginations and emotions on the other. This was striking to me.

We live in an age where faith and reason are presented as polar opposites. Religion = faith. Science = reason. Faith is for those who can’t think ideas through and choose to believe. Science is for those that like proof and won’t believe fairy tales.

The past is full of great thinkers who leaned heavily on their faith and their reason. Scientist, artist, theologians all wrote inspired by both.

Hearing this made me realize how far our society has fallen down the slope of anti-Christian rhetoric. The dialogue is no longer, ‘your reason leads you to one conclusion about God and mine leads me to different conclusion.’ Instead, ‘if your reason leads you to believe in God then you are not thinking it through you are not rational, you are motivated by faith.’

This attitude puts the Christian on the back foot, having to not only prove their position but their process as well

I don’t have any answers to this. The best we can do is stay the course and hope that the dialogue improves with time.