Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Living Levitically, part 1
I was recently challenged to live Levitically for one month. Basically, that meant to take the law of the Old Testament, and make it relevant for today. This also meant looking at what the law meant then, and translate it to now. Here are some thoughts on my journey...
Living Levitically seemed like a challenge as well as a transformational exercise. I found this to be true on both accounts. Having experienced transformation through the use of various spiritual disciplines, I had an idea of what might transpire. Looking back, I expected some sort of change in me, some healing of sorts. After all, you do the work, God gives the blessing, right? To no longer hear the siren call beckon me into behavior that is less than valiant: those annoying, potential dangerous actions that I have used as defense mechanisms to keep myself safe over the years.
I further expected a change in how I viewed God. I thought if I did this, I would be blessed. Looking back, it seems a bit formula-matic. “Do something cool, God blesses.” Nice mantra, but I do not know how accurate it really is. Otherwise, it would be a sure fire way of controlling God. What I found was that even in my inability to “do something cool,” God still blessed. I feel like Jacob.
Jacob had an amazing blessing come to him through Abraham and Isaac. And yet, he continually made choices (even deceptive ones) that sought to get him a “different” blessing, one that was in the example of Esau, not his. In doing this, he never appears to experience the blessing Yahweh has for him, until he wrestles all night long, with God.
“The law is not a job description but is a doctor’s prescription.” D.P. Fuller, The Unity of the Bible, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1992). The law helps us understand what it looks like to live in the world as the people of Yahweh. When we do certain actions, we can be reminded of their representation or we can just do the act void of meaning. It is not only the intention of choosing how I experience the action, but also being mindful of what it means to the person looking on, in Israel’s case: the nations. On one side I use the object lesson as somewhat of a memory trigger, to help me remember God and his faithfulness. For many years, I thought doing the “discipline,” as ritual, accomplished nothing. As I have studied in other disciplines this year, I have realized we are wired in a way where those actions are formative, even when we do not fully understand them. A discipline, whether we fully understand it or not, forms us. The law, the way of being with the world as the people of God, forms us as well.
To be continued....
Living Levitically seemed like a challenge as well as a transformational exercise. I found this to be true on both accounts. Having experienced transformation through the use of various spiritual disciplines, I had an idea of what might transpire. Looking back, I expected some sort of change in me, some healing of sorts. After all, you do the work, God gives the blessing, right? To no longer hear the siren call beckon me into behavior that is less than valiant: those annoying, potential dangerous actions that I have used as defense mechanisms to keep myself safe over the years.
I further expected a change in how I viewed God. I thought if I did this, I would be blessed. Looking back, it seems a bit formula-matic. “Do something cool, God blesses.” Nice mantra, but I do not know how accurate it really is. Otherwise, it would be a sure fire way of controlling God. What I found was that even in my inability to “do something cool,” God still blessed. I feel like Jacob.
Jacob had an amazing blessing come to him through Abraham and Isaac. And yet, he continually made choices (even deceptive ones) that sought to get him a “different” blessing, one that was in the example of Esau, not his. In doing this, he never appears to experience the blessing Yahweh has for him, until he wrestles all night long, with God.
“The law is not a job description but is a doctor’s prescription.” D.P. Fuller, The Unity of the Bible, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1992). The law helps us understand what it looks like to live in the world as the people of Yahweh. When we do certain actions, we can be reminded of their representation or we can just do the act void of meaning. It is not only the intention of choosing how I experience the action, but also being mindful of what it means to the person looking on, in Israel’s case: the nations. On one side I use the object lesson as somewhat of a memory trigger, to help me remember God and his faithfulness. For many years, I thought doing the “discipline,” as ritual, accomplished nothing. As I have studied in other disciplines this year, I have realized we are wired in a way where those actions are formative, even when we do not fully understand them. A discipline, whether we fully understand it or not, forms us. The law, the way of being with the world as the people of God, forms us as well.
To be continued....
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
a line in the sand.
To say I need to learn to practice differentiation even more than I do, is an understatement. Differentiation is the ability to know where I end and another starts. It is the line in the sand: one side of the line is my "stuff" and on the other side is your "stuff." Now this "stuff" can be the things we want to hang onto, and other "stuff" may consist of things of which we may want to let go. I am referring to the second kind: the "stuff" I do not want to keep. I frankly have enough of that sort of "stuff" on my side of the line, I am not sure why I'd voluntarily move on the other side of the line and get involved in the "stuff" of others, but dang if I don't do it. The "differentiation project" is to know my own stuff, and not let the line in the sand blur too much or get taken out by high tide. Back to my opening statement...
I need to learn to more effectively how to draw a nice, healthy line in the sand. Sometimes I can do it pretty well, and other times, I realize the tide has washed my line away and I am in the midst of not knowing where to stand, feeling my feet sink deeper and deeper into what resembles the quick sand of relationships.
When does this happen?
~ When a family member comes home, tired and grumpy and I think, "what did I do?"
~When my friend tells me that anyone who believes _X_, is an idiot. Unbeknownst to them, I fall into that category, and so, I am by default, one of those "idiots."
~When my boss tells me in no uncertain terms how inadequate I am.
All of these scenarios are invitations. They invite me to believe I am at fault, an idiot and/or inadequate. Or, they invite me to wonder if there is any credence to the statements. Or, finally, perhaps they invite me to dig a deeper line in the sand and remember that there are grumpy, tired people in the world who are looking for the "inadequate" and "idiots" because identifying those folks help them deal with their own anxiety. And, sometimes I do that too.
Like I said, I need to practice differentiation.
I need to learn to more effectively how to draw a nice, healthy line in the sand. Sometimes I can do it pretty well, and other times, I realize the tide has washed my line away and I am in the midst of not knowing where to stand, feeling my feet sink deeper and deeper into what resembles the quick sand of relationships.
When does this happen?
~ When a family member comes home, tired and grumpy and I think, "what did I do?"
~When my friend tells me that anyone who believes _X_, is an idiot. Unbeknownst to them, I fall into that category, and so, I am by default, one of those "idiots."
~When my boss tells me in no uncertain terms how inadequate I am.
All of these scenarios are invitations. They invite me to believe I am at fault, an idiot and/or inadequate. Or, they invite me to wonder if there is any credence to the statements. Or, finally, perhaps they invite me to dig a deeper line in the sand and remember that there are grumpy, tired people in the world who are looking for the "inadequate" and "idiots" because identifying those folks help them deal with their own anxiety. And, sometimes I do that too.
Like I said, I need to practice differentiation.
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