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Category Archives: Musings and Stories

Life Philosophy

21 Sep

Dear God, I woke up this morning and I thought, I need to put something Godly in me before I get going. So I decided to listen to the most recent homily from Fr. Mike Schmitz from 9/16/24. Of course, I made a huge mistake and happened upon a couple of news stories designed to make me fearful and, yes, I read them. By as I was reading them, I was able to acknowledge them for what they were and deny the idols that the articles were telling me would make everything better if I would just believe in them and do what they say. So maybe I’m getting a little better after all.

Getting back to Fr. Mike, he asked a question of all of us. He started by telling a story about a man he met who collects “life philosophies” from people he knows and meets, and he asked Fr. Mike what his life philosophy was. He didn’t have a great answer in the moment, but it’s a question I decided to try to answer for myself. If someone were to ask me for my life philosophy, what would I answer? More important, if it is a noble philosophy, do I live up to it?

The first thing that came to mind is my “life verse.” I’ve talked to you about it before. I discovered it when I was 17, and I knew then that it was special. Acts 20:24: However, I consider my life worth nothing to me. If only I may finish the race and complete the talk the Lord Jesus has given me. The task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. I think that’s the key. It’s what Job ultimately learned through his trials. It’s what Paul came to pretty quickly after his conversion. The apostles who witnessed Jesus’s death almost all met their own deaths “testifying to [Jesus’s resurrection and] the gospel of God’s grace.” Honestly, I think it is the perfect life philosophy.

Ah, but do I live up to it? Do I protect myself from ridicule or rejection for your gospel? Do I risk my financial security for it? Am I doing it at all? If I am doing it at all, am I doing it enough? The answer, of course, is no. I’m doing it somewhat, but I am sure I could do more. I am sure I could be more and risk more for your kingdom. For your gospel. That doesn’t mean I need to be reckless, but I do need to intentional in sharing your gospel.

Father, I want to pray right now for the people around the world who do offer their lives for your gospel. Whether it is comfort and stability, or it is all of the way to death, there are people right now who are giving everything, literally everything, out of worship to you. Be with them. Strengthen them. Comfort them. If you are willing, free them. And don’t let the pain they are experiencing be wasted. Make it count. And make my life count. Don’t let the portions of my life that are painful be wasted either. Use it to form me and form others. Mold me into the man you want me to be. A man who would be able to ask himself if he is holding back sharing the gospel out of self preservation and answer it with a resounding, “No!” I love you, Father. I love you Jesus. I love you Holy Spirt. My Triune God, three in one.

I pray this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 21, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Toxic or Not? Forrest and Jenny from Forrest Gump

12 Sep

Dear God, I finished watching this video as I got ready for work this morning, and it kind of fit in with the theme of the week for me: How do we understand we are loved regardless of what we bring to the table?

Of course, I talked already this week about Fr. Mike Schmitz’s homily on “Nothing to Offer” and how we make a mistake when we avoid you when we have nothing to offer and when we come to you trying to justify our presence before you by all of the good things we’ve tried to do. No, the way to come before you is just by humbly accepting your grace.

This made me think of Jenny and Forrest as they discussed them in the Cinema Therapy video above because it really didn’t matter what Jenny brought to Forrest. She could bring her best. She could bring her worst. She could bring her physically abusive boyfriend. She could reject him. She could abandon him or ignore him. She could try to seduce him in her college dorm room. It didn’t matter. The good. The bad. He just loved her with a very simple love. He wanted to be there to protect her as much as she would let him protect her. He wanted to provide for her as much as she would let him provide for her.

I can’t help but wonder, as I sit here this morning, if this isn’t at least a glimpse of you with us. We keep orbiting you in an oblong path. Sometimes we get a little closer and enter into your gravitational pull. Sometimes we move away from you and spin out on our own. Kind of like Jenny did with Forrest. But there is a need in us that, once we’ve been introduced to you, draws us back to you time and again. And so, like Jenny, we try to bring you things. Maybe a nice pair of Nikes (in Jenny’s case). Maybe giving money to a nonprofit (in my case). And you are pleased with that like Forrest was pleased with the Nikes, but it’s not why you’re there. It’s not why you love us. You just love us because we are here.

I had a difficult, scary man in my office this week who has been arrested many, many times. He has really been on my heart this week. How do I introduce him to your love for him in a way that keeps my coworkers safe? Show me what to do in that relationship.

Last night, coworker sent me a Casting Crowns song that goes with all of this. It’s called “All Because of Mercy.”

I’ll close by praying some of the lyrics of this song: 

I could stand here and try to tell you
I found my way here on my own
Brought to life this heart of stone
Made up my own mind to change my own life
Workin' my own way to good, 
As if anybody could

But the truth is, I've been broken
Since my very first breath
And the truth is, I've been wanderin' 
Since my very first step

I know the only reason 
I can stand here unashamed
It's not because I'm worthy
It's all because of mercy
There's no way I could earn it
Praise God, my dept is paid

It's not because I'm worthy
It's all because of mercy
I still remember the day He found me
Six feet under all my cshame
I heard Him call me out by name
Hallelujah, the cross has spoken
Jesus, my Savior, bled and died
To bring this dead man back to life

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 12, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Reactions to Losing

08 Sep

Dear God, I have a weird little habit. I love college football (that’s not the weird part), but one of my favorite things to do the day after the games is go to the postgame press conferences for the coaches who lost to see what they have to say. So for yesterday’s games, I have checked out Deion Sanders (Colorado) and Joey McGuire (Texas Tech), and then I watched some reactions from a couple of people who are Notre Dame fans. Why do I do that? Why am I interested in seeing someone 1.) in pain and 2.) trying to explain that pain or their perspective on why the loss happened verbally?

I wonder if it is a “misery loves company” situation. Do I consider myself a miserable person? No. And I’m not relishing Joey McGuire’s or Deion’s pain. I like both of them. But there seems to be this communal reaction to pain that helps if it is shared by others. For the sorrows in my life, when I talk about them with others, I find that it helps them and it helps me. It makes me more human and flawed in their eyes which is usually a good thing so that people won’t think more of me than they should and feel like they have to live up to a “perfect” life they perceive me to have.

There is a line from the first season of Ted Lasso after they entire team has been through a tough loss. He says, “I promise you there is something worse out there than being sad. And that is being alone and being sad.” [Note to anyone reading: If you click that link it will be a spoiler if you haven’t seen the show]. While this scene is playing, they are running a song under it called, “You’ll never walk alone.”

“You’ll Never Walk Alone”

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark

At the end of a storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
For your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone

You’ll never walk alone

Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone

You’ll never walk alone

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Oscar Hammerstein II / Richard Rodgers

Father, I go through setbacks, but I don’t walk alone. First, I have a God who has literally experienced any pain I can experience through his own existence and through the human life he lived 2,000 years ago. Then you’ve given me a wife, parents, siblings, and friends to walk with. Yes, I have pain. Yes, sometimes it hurts. But I am not walking alone, and for that, I am grateful.

I offer this thankful, worshipful prayer to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 8, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Answered Prayer

30 Aug

Dear God, I just want to come to you this morning and thank you. I thought about going to look for a verse that could express what I’m feeling. Probably the closest would be a worshipful psalm of reorientation. One where David or someone else was really worried about something and then you answered the prayer in a completely unusual way. That’s how I feel this morning. I’m so grateful.

For the last few days…heck, if I really think about it, the last few months, I have had a stressor at work that has weighed on me. It started to come to a head this week. I prayed to you. My wife prayed about it. It was very heavy on my heart. And then, yesterday, you took a pin to the balloon of pressure that was building up in me and just pricked it. PFFFFFFFFFFFFF! The air went out. I was so relieved. It felt like 1,000 lbs. had been lifted off my shoulders. I found new energy for my work. In fact, I’m even up early this morning to go to work and get the day started. That’s how I’m feeling. I don’t think I even realized the extent to which this situation was weighing me down.

The neat thing is that you answered the prayer in one of those weird, unexpected ways. It kind of came out of the blue through a situation I didn’t expect. I even, to some extent, violated a personal code I have in how I talk about others or represent others in the workplace in a spur of the moment conversation because it felt like the thing to do at the time, and I think it was your Holy Spirit directing me because it seems to have made all the difference in the world. And then yesterday, you sent the sweetest couple to encourage me. They did it separately. The husband first and then a few hours later the wife. But it was so refreshing. After the husband talked to me, I called my wife and told her about the highlight of my week from that conversation with the husband. Then I was talking to his wife a few hours later and she gave me the same affirmations, but even more so because she told me how things had changed as a result of what you had done the day before. She revealed what you’re doing to me.

Finally, as my wife and I prayed together last night, thanking you for not only answering the prayer but for you doing it in a completely unique way, I started to pray about another seemingly immovable obstacle in our lives. A mountain that is bigger than I can ever imagine being moved. One that we have prayed about for going on 15 years now. And I started to cry because I know, I know that one day you will answer that prayer in a way that is going to blow my mind. I might not be alive on this side of heaven to see it. I’m not basing my faith on my own gratification in this life. I am simply trusting your timing, praying that your will is being done, and believing that you will, indeed, move this mountain. Yeah, as we prayed about the first thing, I just started to cry about the day I will be praying a similar prayer of worship and thanksgiving about this other thing.

Father, I suppose I should not only thank you again for what you did this week, but also go ahead and thank you for what you are doing in this other issue, even today. Thank you for even caring about my little life and these things that are so small to you but so big to me. I think about a small child whose toy breaks and they are devastated. To the adult it’s not big deal, but to the child it is everything. I still remember a time when I was eight years old and my parents were separated. My dad was living in a different town about 20 miles away, and he was going to run a 10K. My brother and sister and I were going to try to run it with him during one of our visitation weekends and he got us registered. I remember the packet with my t-shirt, number, and the safety pins to attach the number to my shirt. Somehow I lost the safety pins, and I was panicked. I still remember that fear of absolute panic. Now, as an adult, I know that safety pins are literally a dime a dozen and that was no big deal, but as a child I was devastated. I remember begging you in prayer that I would find them, and we didn’t even go to church at that point. But even though I never found them, I know if an adult had been there that day or I had admitted to the adult they safety pins were lost, they would have either helped me look or comforted me and explained that they will have a whole bowl full of safety pins at the event so there is nothing to fear. The problem would have been small to that adult. So small. Just like my human life here in my small town is not a significant part of the things you are contending with (war, crimes against humanity such as human trafficking, etc.), but you love me and you are interested in me. You are amazing, God. Thank you!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

The Gospel According to Derwin Gray

11 Jul

Dear God, I was listening to the Holy Post Podcast yesterday when one of the hosts, Dr. Derwin Gray, made a remarkable, clear, concise presentation of the Gospel message. Here is an excerpt from it:

Most American pulpits are not communicating the greatest story there is. And the greatest story there is is not simply, “Jesus died so we can go to heaven when we die.” The story is, “There is a good and loving Father who wants his children to be his copartners in turning earth into a mini version of Israel called heaven. That story was disrupted, but God, who is the ultimate, decides to enter the story himself like a painter enters his own painting. So Jesus himself comes to do what? To live a sinless, beautiful life that we could never live–all of our hopes, all of our dreams, all of our sin, all of our failures are eclipsed by the sinless life he lives–he dies a substitutionary, sacrificial death on the cross to forever forgive us. To reconcile us to his father, and then he raises from the dead so the tyranny of death is forever destroyed. And when he comes out of that tomb, we come out of that tomb with him now to walk and embody his grace, his mission, his mind, his heart, his love for the world.

There is more, but that’s the gist. To see it someone could go to this YouTube video at about the 28-minute mark. It made me think of growing up. So much of my upbringing was about getting my “fire insurance.” If I didn’t want to go to hell then I needed to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I was rarely pitched the beauty of relationship with you. I was rarely pitched reconciliation with you and how that would impact the life I live here. Yes, I would get a little of that. But mostly I was purchasing a service. My life now for rescuing me from hell and getting to go to heaven. As if I could bargain with you. As if I could use you like that. As if I could manipulate you into letting me get into heaven with you.

No, I am here because of this amazing opportunity to know you. You make me better. You make my life better. It’s like my relationship with my wife. I’m here because I want to be here. Joy is here. You are here.

I like P!nk’s music. I was listening to a song of hers this morning called “All I Know So Far.” It reminded me of the kind of song I would have leaned into 10 or 11 years ago. And it’s the kind of song I might need to lean into again one day. It’s a song about shaking off what is challenging you and facing it head on. That’s great. It’s missing something, though. It’s missing you. It’s missing the power Dr. Gray mentions in his soliloquy. Yes, I have been in tragic times in the past. You know that I have mentioned the constant source of sorrow that follows me around every moment. And I know things will be tragic again one day. I know that. But I will have you not only in relatively peaceful times like now, but in those moments too. But I don’t just use you for those moments. You are just my crutch. You are my joy and strength, even now.

Father, I guess all of this is just to say thank you. Thank you for making all of this possible. Thank you for showing Peter and the apostles they were wrong about Gentiles in Acts 10 and 11. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for wanting me. Thank you for making your life available in me. Help me to make great room for your Holy Spirit. Oh, Holy Spirit, guide me today. Protect me from Satan’s plans for me. Jesus, thank you for who you are and that you loved me, love me, and showed me how to love. Help me to live into that opportunity.

I offer all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Anger vs. Disdain

22 Jun

disdain (noun) : a feeling of contempt for someone or something regarded as unworthy or inferior

anger (noun) : a strong feeling of displeasure and usually of antagonism

Dear God, I think I have some repenting to do this morning. My wife and I were talking about our attitudes towards different people, and my confession to you is that there are some instances in which I have taken disdain and justified it by calling it anger. Where I really got convicted is when I realized that there are certainly people in multiple areas of my life who I think are unworthy of my time.

As I sat and thought about it, the common theme that seems to run through most of them is that I perceive them to be bullies. My closest friend said to me a few years ago, “You don’t like bullies.” And I don’t. I really don’t. I don’t care if I perceive it to be a politician, people within a local church, people I know or know of in our community, or even family, if I think they bully others then I will immediately be against them and have no use for them. In fact, as I sit here and think about it, one of the most difficult managerial situations I had was a past employee who bullied others. I ultimately had to fire him, but I probably put up with his bullying for too long. I see bullies as emotionally, if not physically, abusive. I see them as potential tyrants. I see them as harmful. I see them as dangerous. I can sit and list a whole bunch of adjectives, but the problem I am seeing in myself is that I take that and allow it to become disdain instead of simple anger. I elevate myself above (in my own mind) and approach them self-righteously instead of as an equally loved child of you who, while they might be deserving of productive anger, are not beneath me.

Father, I am sorry for this. I’m sorry for not loving others the way you love them. I’m sorry for judging and simply writing some people off instead of looking for productive, loving, Godly ways of expressing my anger with them for their behaviors (which includes forgiveness, by the way). Jesus had to put up with bullies in his time on earth, and he did it with love and, yes, sometimes with anger. But he also kept to the four tools that he also gave us to use: prayer, service, persuasion and suffering. When he saw the bully, he inserted himself into their path to take their blows. Even now, as I sit here I am thinking about a woman in town who has been the victim of being bullied to some extent. She is in a emotional struggle of her own, trying to find her way, and there are many in your church who are rejecting her. Help me to know how to be her friend and how to approach those who are rejecting her. Help me to know how to be exactly who you need me to be for the sake of my own soul and peace, and also so that your presence, will, and kingdom can come into this earth through my life. And if I didn’t say it enough already, I am sorry, Father.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 22, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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“Out of Place” by Fred Smith

21 Jun

Dear God, yesterday, I read this blog post called “Out of Place” by Fred Smith. One of the things Smith mentioned was how frustratingly inconsistent you can be. Why are you so undependable? Why are you so inconsistent?!?

Now, for anyone who hasn’t read Smith’s piece, he is referring to your anger followed by our mercy as your inconsistency. And it’s true. You prove over and over again in the Bible that you are ready to be turned and change your mind. Even Jesus in Matthew 15:21-28 changes course when talking with the Gentile woman about healing her daughter. Yes, this might have been his plan all along–to test her–but it still shows this thing in your nature that you are just ready to love on us when we are ready for it. You are ready to forgive us. You are ready to be in complete relationship with us. You went to great extremes to do that for us, even sending a piece of you to live, suffer, and die. Amazing!

But that’s good for me. Do you have to do it for the people who make me angry? I joke with my staff that they get frustrated when I am soft with other people, but they don’t mind it so much when I’m soft with them. Yes, I too can be inconsistent with others.

Father, I guess one of my prayers this morning is that you will help me to be more inconsistent. Help me to be quicker to love and forgive. Help me to turn from my anger on a dime. You have modeled forgiveness for me. You have modeled it for my own spiritual and emotional health. You know it is part of your perfect nature and it needs to be part of my nature as well. So help me to get that just one step closer to being that man today. Do it all for your glory to come into this world through me and through your church. Help the whole world to see your church as gloriously inconsistent.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 21, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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How to know if you’re a Christian trapped in Culture Wars – Rich Villodas

19 Jun

Dear God, I came across this Instagram post yesterday by Rich Villodas. So the temptation when I read this list is to first think about others and judge them. Kind of like being at a marriage conference and thinking, “Man, I hope my wife is listening to this!” instead of wondering which of the words are for me. So I was able to take a beat and this morning I want to think about myself. Pastor Villodas has the word “you” in his title, talking about me in this case, so I want to focus on myself and work through the sin in my heart.

  • God, you are with me but not with them – Well, that is just not true and so arrogant of me to think. Like I’ve cornered the market on truth. Like I’m sinless. Like the known and unknown sins in their lives are worse than the known and unknown sins in my life. Like you love my sister or brother less than you love me. Like I couldn’t be wrong about what I believe. Father, I am sorry for even entertaining the thought that you care about me or are rooting for me more than you care for or root for those who disagree with me. Help me to embrace those who disagree with me and engage with them in a loving way.
  • I don’t see Christians who bear your image as people with whom I should engage, but instead they are threats that I need to eliminate – Yeah, I’ve been there. I’m still there to some extent. The truth is, a lot of the people who disagree with me on some of our cultural issues are truly good people who wake up in the morning wanting to make the world better. They are concerned. They are scared (we’ll get to that later). Just like I am. Father, I am sorry for not wanting to appropriately and compassionately engage with those who concern me. I am sorry for gossiping about others. Help me to know how to engage with others, Christian and non-Christian alike, at any given moment.
  • My hatred is justified because I am fighting for you/truth – Honestly, I don’t know that this one is a problem for me. I’m not really hating people, and if it does start to happen and I realize it I let it go. Basically, have I hated? Yes. But I’ve never felt it was justified and I’ve tried to repent of it when it happens. Father, I am sorry for my hate and even simple judgment of others. Please help me to see everyone–EVERYONE–with your eyes. Help me to love everyone–EVERYONE–with your love.
  • I believe I need political power to make the most of your Gospel – I’m understanding the danger of political power more and more. The Voxology podcast spends a lot of time talking about the difference between “power over” and “power with.” Humans want to exert power over while you want us to tap into you and use your power to live with our neighbors. The Good Samaritan in Jesus’s parable got down into the muck and used your power with his neighbor. When the Samaritans denied Jesus staying with them and John and James wanted to call down fire to destroy them, Jesus rejected their power over approach, respected their decision, and went around. It goes back to the four tools, and four tools only, I heard someone say Jesus used and you gave us to influence our world: Prayer, Service, Persuasion, and Suffering. All power with tools, not power over. Father, I am sorry for the years I spent seeking power and influence. I am sorry for making an idol out of who wins the next local, state, or federal election. I am sorry for wanting to exert power over my neighbors, as if I am the one who can be trusted with power over my neighbor. Help me to not only get down into the muck with my neighbor, but to take your Gospel with me and introduce them to you.
  • I primarily see the world and respond to it through a lens of fear – This made me think of Psalm 27. I just read it again and it might be one of my favorites. It’s one of those rare psalms from David when he is talking about his enemies, but he’s not calling for their destruction. He’s just reminding himself that you are his fortress and he has nothing to fear. One of the most interesting things he did as king was willingly leave Jerusalem during Absalom’s rebellion and leave whether or not he would continue to be king up to you. You had made him king. You could remove him as king. So as I look at the world around me–and there is so much ugly and horror in the world right now, both domestically and in other countries–whom do I really have to fear? I am concerned about a lot of things. I’m concerned about the environment in which our children are growing up. My heart is moved to help people every day. I am moved to pray for people. So concern, yes. But fear? No. Father, I am sorry for allowing fear to motivate my actions. I’m sorry for letting it drive me to hate, seek power, want to eliminate my enemies, and think for a moment that you love me more than you love them. Please help me to see the world how you see it. As I once heard someone say, “God doesn’t chew his nails.” You are not afraid. You are sad. You are concerned. You are even angry about some things. But you are not afraid. Help me to live out my sadness, concern and even anger in a power with way.

I offer this prayer to you this morning in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 19, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, Psalms

 

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“What gives you hope?”

29 May

Dear God, I was just listening to this week’s Holy Post podcast, and they were talking about Pope Francis’s recent 60 Minutes interview in which he was asked, “What gives you hope?” I’ve got nothing but love for Pope Francis, and I would probably do very poorly in a 60 Minutes interview, so I’m not going to throw any shade at his answer, but it did stir up some controversy. I think it’s a fair summary to say he said the basis goodness in people gives him hope. Taking his answer off of the table, and knowing that I have a chance to thoughtfully consider, think about, and edit my typed-out answer, what would be my response to that question? “What gives [me] hope?”

I’ve thought about this a little, and I think it comes down to the innate hunger for you that is in all of us. There is a conscience that gives us guilt. There is a dissatisfaction that comes from self-indulgence. There is an emptiness that accompanies selfishness. It is this existence of the innate hunger we have for you that gives me hope. And it might not happen in this generation. The pendulum might take a while to swing back. This isn’t measured in days, weeks, or months, but years, decades and centuries. From Abraham until now, one can read history and watch the pendulum swing. At some point, we all get disillusioned with all of the idols we chase that we think will give us the peace that only you can give.

It makes me think about the part of the movie Jesus Revolution in which the hippie evangelist tells the established pastor about the hippies and all of the drugs, sex, and self-indulgence they are pursuing. He says (paraphrasing): “They are looking for God. The don’t know they are looking for God, but they are looking for God. And when they find him they are amazed.”

Thinking about the Pope mentioning the innate goodness in people as giving him hope made me wonder what I think sin nature is. What is it in me, and what will make it different on the other side of death and in your new earth? What will be different about me then that is sinful now? I think at least part of it is the fight for survival that exists now that, I think, won’t exist then. The need for resources like food and structure to survive. The need for things of pleasure to give me pleasure. But if my spiritual self does not know a struggle to survive, but just a timeless existence with you in this other realm of earth then will that be the difference?

Father, I heard someone in the Holy Post Podcast say, “Before Genesis 3 there was Genesis 1.” We were created good. But sin entered in. And I have it. Boy, do I have it. But I lay it before you continually–even now, and ask that you please be with me as I learn to consider my life worth nothing to me. If only I may finish the race and complete the task you have given me. The task of testifying to the gospel of your grace. (Acts 20:24)

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 29, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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“The Gentle Slope” By Fred Smith

23 May

Dear God, I woke up this morning and read Fred Smith’s blog post for today. He titled it “The Gentle Slope” which referred to the slope we are all tempted by. The most succinct description is the quote he used by C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters: ““It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

My favorite part of his piece, which mainly focused around the Israelites’ experience in going back to the Promised Land after Egypt and not completely purging the Canaanites and their customs, was when he said:

There was no law in their hearts. They could not master themselves. They did what was right in their own eyes and, predictably, having no common standard for what was lawful, society disintegrated into small factions often at war with each other. What is right for you may not be right for me. Who is to say? What is right is set by whoever has the most votes. What is right is up to who can make people believe it is right. I read a good description of the Higgs Boson particle this week. It is the egg in a bowl of flour that makes it all stick together. A society with no common values is a bowl of flour with no egg.

A society that has no accepted standard of Law and a use for idols will always find itself in the same condition as Israel. Instead of being bound together we will inevitably be in bondage to the delusions of seductive idols. Israel could not resist the corrosive power of the idols around them and so disintegrated from within long before being conquered by others.

So this is what I want to pray about this morning: the egg that holds the flour together. I’d like to say that, as Americans, your church could be what holds us together. But Satan even seems to have successfully divided that. The church has lost its saltiness and so now there are parts of it that are trying to force itself on the unchurched which only drives the unchurched farther from you. A church built on worship of you, love for each other, and service to the world would be influential in making people want you. Put another way, I heard Andy Stanley say a few years ago (my paraphrase), “I understand people not being able to believe the story of Jesus from the Bible, but I don’t understand anyone who wouldn’t want it to be true.” Jesus on earth, even before the crucifixion and resurrection, was amazing. The only people he disappointed were the people who expected him to be in their image and not yours. If we were all like Jesus–if I were like Jesus–the world would be an amazing place.

Father, you are the egg in our batter. You are what ties all of the little pieces of flour together and make us one. Help me to be an instrument that brings peace, unites people to you, and then to each other. And let it start with me being united with you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 23, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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