experience

Convection is good for the soul

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 22; 148, Jeremiah 11:1-8, 14-17, Romans 6:1-11, John 8:33-47

It’s good to keep your freezer full, but not overly so. Solid items are easier than empty space (or mostly empty space) to keep cool, so it shouldn’t be empty. However, too many (or improperly placed) items can restrict the air flow necessary for proper operation. This can result in frost build-up, uneven cooling, and wasted energy. Ovens, especially convection ovens, also work best when there’s enough space for airflow.

We human beings also operate better when we leave room for the Spirit (or as it’s called in Greek, pneuma which also means breath or air). Take the Pharisees for example: Jesus told them, “you cannot accept my word.” Why not? Because their hearts were so crammed full of religion there wasn’t room for revelation. Ever seen a freezer whose contents have frosted into one giant immobile block? That’s what happens to a heart so overloaded with dogma, doctrine, and doing that nothing else – even the divine breath – can enter it. We can’t be so concerned with preserving the past that we ignore the present and oppose the future.

While the freezer preserves, the oven prepares. But we have to be sure we’re not putting too much in there at once either. Faith is not a body of knowledge to be contained and mastered, but an experience to be lived. We can cram countless theological concepts into that oven, but without time and space to expose them to the breath of the Spirit they may turn out to be half-baked. Sure your theology of suffering may have browned up nicely, but if it’s just one of many recipes you’ve rushed to complete, instead of testing thoroughly, it may still be a gooey, useless mess inside. Our ideas about God shouldn’t crowd out our experience of God, or those ideas won’t sustain us in times of need.

As with physical possessions, we may be surprised by how few mental possessions we really need to get by. At some point they become idols clogging our spiritual airways. Let’s preserve the essentials, prepare what’s been entrusted to us, and periodically check for an expiration date on the rest.

Comfort: You don’t have to fill up every space and second.

Challenge: Every day, take time to breathe deeply.

Prayer: God of mercy and love, I seek to sink deeply into your Spirit. Amen.

Discussion: When’s the last time you really cleaned out things you didn’t need?

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Curveballs

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 5; 147:1-11, Genesis 50:15-26, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Mark 8:11-26

Imagine you are Jesus. You’ve just miraculously fed four thousand people with no more than a few loaves and fishes. Not long before that you fed a greater crowd with fewer resources. Now you are in a boat with your disciples trying to use a parable about yeast to warn them about the pharisees and Herod. After a few minutes of pondering what you mean, they decide you are upset because … there is only one loaf of bread in the boat. If you were Jesus, would you have been a little frustrated that no one could seem to get past the lack of bread?

Are we wiser than the disciples? Do we treat every challenge like it’s the first one, or do we learn from our faith journey? No matter how many difficulties we’ve experienced, when new ones arise it can be hard to remember what we’ve survived. If God has seen us through illness, addiction, or betrayal are we able to trust He will see us through the newest crisis on the horizon? It’s not always easy, especially when we face the unfamiliar. Our first reaction is usually fear. But as the disciples eventually learned, trust in God can displace the fear. Trust may not completely eliminate the fear – we are only human! – but it changes our understanding of it. The trick is to remember that to God, this struggle is no worse than the ones that have come before.

Even the “best” lives are not free of challenges. As our faith matures, we begin to recognize huge challenges that didn’t register as important before. Issues of injustice, for example, become more obvious and less acceptable to us. If we can accept that life will never stop throwing us curveballs, that we have not failed because our lives aren’t perfected, maybe we can stop being surprised and devastated by them. If we are more in control of our reactions, we can surrender our troubles to God that much sooner. Some days we may ask how the bread could possibly be enough, but God is leading us to the bigger questions.

Comfort: You are not going through anything that God can’t see you through.

Challenge: When you are frightened by challenges, say prayers of thanks for all the situations God has already brought you through.

Prayer: Loving God, thank you for being with me in all situations. Forgive me when my fear interrupts my faith. Teach me to trust in you always. Amen.

Discussion: What things upset or frighten you because you can’t control them? Are you able to turn them over to God?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Let No One Despise Our Youth

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 108; 150, 1 Kings 8:22-30 (31-40), 1 Timothy 4:7b-16, John 8:47-59

Did you know millennials are responsible for social ills from the closing of chain restaurants to the end of free speech on college campuses? At least that’s what some pundits, questionable social critics, and click-baiting media sources would have us believe. Older generations have always lamented the lack of values, morals, and responsibilities of younger ones. They look back to the times in which they were at the height of their vigor and become nostalgic for them less for their reality and more for the feelings they revive.

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul advised his young protégé to “let no one despise your youth.” Paul understood people, so he understood we’ll use any flaw we find in a messenger to dismiss a message that causes us discomfort. In fairness young people often lack experience that they can’t understand they lack, but they can also have experiences their elders have not. In Timothy’s case, this was the experience of living the Gospel. If Timothy wanted to be successful, Paul suggested he would have to be nearly flawless in his example and teachings for people to take him seriously.

When we harp on the flaws of younger generations, what are we really commenting on? Each generation is a product of the ones which preceded it. Perhaps we don’t like being reminded we are in part responsible for what we perceive as deficiencies. And maybe some of our complaints – for instance, how kids today have it too easy (and what generation hasn’t said that about the next?) – come from a place of jealousy or resentment.

Does every generation have its quirks and flaws? Yes. But it also does some things better and smarter. Human rights, for instance, have a steady record of improvement with each generation. And though it may not feel so because of the seemingly inescapable 24-hour news cycle, the world is becoming a less violent place.

If we let them, young people have much to teach us about the world and ourselves. It won’t always be something we want to hear. But why miss something we need to?

Comfort: We don’t need to be young to learn. 

Challenge: Make a habit of getting to know and listen to younger people.

Prayer: Eternal God, help me to always teach and be willing to learn the eternal values taught to us by Christ. Amen. 

Discussion: What have you learned from people younger than yourself?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!