Wednesday Wisdom

 

Monday Morning and Princess Theology

 I'm just easing into Monday with a cup of Ethiopian coffee, a little B. Knox on Spotify, and some thoughts from this mornings meditation with our Pastor of Stoke.

Earlier this week I shared this pic on Facebook

This morning's meditation was from Luke's gospel and was a familiar story -- The Good Samaritan.
As I thought about this story, conscious of our tendency to use this Princess Theology, I wondered why we (yeah, me too) never see ourselves as the priest or Levite even though that's who we are every time we drive past a person in need on the highway or as we walk down a sidewalk in our city or town. 

Sure we can say that we were in a hurry, that it seemed unsafe, that we didn't see them -- or we can just come to terms with the simple truth that we aren't that great at loving our neighbor and maybe it's something that we should work on.

Perhaps the best place to begin is to just open our eyes and begin to see people that are in distress. The truth is that some of our close friends and family are hurting and we haven't been paying attention. If we don't see the pain of the people we are close to, chances are good that we won't see the hurt in the strangers we encounter. 
How about for this week's Monday Motivation we just work on paying attention to the moment; being aware of the people and the energy around us. It's a place to begin -- seeing people, listening to them, feeling what they feel, and then (and this is the difficult part) deciding if we will be a good neighbor.

Have a grand week,
John <><

More Thoughts on Writing

 Way back in the day, when I wrote my very first post at Out of My Hat, I mentioned writing a book on Joy Management. I'm probably in a much better place to write about joy management now than I was fourteen years ago. And that's a good thing since I've never done anything with that simple idea -- not a single sentence on joy management.

Actually, I was thinking along the lines of sharing my philosophical journey from being raised in a Roman Catholic home, to becoming a Southern Baptist evangelist, to becoming a more contemplative and less judgmental heretic and someone that is just working on being more like Jesus. 

Being more like Jesus is tough. First you have decide which Jesus you want to be like. I really don't want to be like the evangelical idea of Jesus. I get the Savior of the world thing, but I can't really do that. Being Savior seems to be the only thing they are concerned with and that following Jesus and his commands has seemingly fallen by the wayside. It appears that many Christian denominations are still focusing on the Jewish perception of a judgmental God (Old Testament) rather than the loving and merciful God that Jesus came to show us (New Testament).

I was wondering -- how would I go about such a book and do I need a title or at least a theme to follow. 
Originally I thought something like -- When I found myself, I found God. In my head that sounded better than it looks in print.
I don't think of myself as God, but I do recognize that God is in me and finding God in me has been at the heart of my spiritual and philosophical journey. Working through all of the filters and masks to find ourselves is difficult enough, much less trying to find God in all of that. 

I came up with this:  After you throw out all of the filters, masks, and fake personalities that we use to look like someone we are not, we can finally identify our true self.  This has taken some thought and a lot of time, but I'm getting close -- I think. Once you've discovered who you really are (your true self), if you can dismiss that person, what's left is God living in you and through you.

I really don't know if that even makes any sense. I have to think it about some more.

But...
When I got to barchurch last week, Pastor Ben was teaching in the Book of Job and he talked about the idea of emptying ourselves before God. I don't know if that was an affirmation of what I've been thinking or if God is telling me that I still need to figure it out.

What I have discovered over the years of searching is that the contemplation, the figuring it out isn't a part of the journey; it is the journey.

Think about it.
John

Teaching Old Dogs

I watched the Vice Presidential debate last night -- okay, I didn't manage to endure the whole thing. We were out when it started but recorded it with the new fangled DVR technology. I intentionally mock the technology that has been out for a decade or more because we have never had it until a month or so ago and this was the first time we used it. When we got home, we watched the remaining part of the debate live and then went back to the beginning.

I admit that I am a bit of a technological dinosaur. While I greatly appreciate the technology I use and realize that there would be benefits to using other technological advances that I don't use, I am slowly adapting to the world of internet technology and advances. I'm not sure that the same can be said of many of the old politicians that are running our country or aspire to run it.

Does VP Pence not know that there are audio and video files to prove that he lied or made misleading statements repeatedly last night. Is the President unaware that everything he says is recorded. Do they really believe that they can lie and we won't know it.

They campaign like a couple of old white guys that can browbeat constituents into voting for them by outshouting their opponents -- okay, Pence is more of a soft talking, condescending liar, but you get the point. That campaign style may cater to their base, but don't they need to expand their influence if they hope to win this election? I imagine that there are many of their more technology savvy supporters that must be embarrassed by the disregard for truth.

When outright lies are made from any political candidate, I am surprised that the opponent doesn't just respond by telling listeners to fact check it for themselves. I dare say that these old dogs are going to be the cause of their own demise -- and this is one old dog that will welcome the change.   

John

New Bluetooth Keyboard

 It has been quite sometime since the keyboard attachment to my 2 in 1 laptop/tablet quit functioning. I'm pretty sure I've been using the onscreen virtual keyboard for over a year. While I haven't felt so inconvenienced as to buy a new one, it probably has kept me from writing as often this past year. The virtual tablet keyboard isn't as bad as texting from my phone, but neither is it as fast nor as comfortable as an actual keyboard.

A new Bluetooth keyboard should be arriving today. I'm looking forward to using it and writing more often. And it's just in time for NaNoWriMo!

November is National Novel Writing Month and is an encouragement to writers to write daily and finish a novel. While I don't plan on writing a novel next month (or any month for that matter), I may be more likely to work on the NaBloPoMo (blog posting) thing and actually post daily. If there is a topic you'd like to hear my thoughts on, feel free to offer the suggestion.

I admit that I have a couple of non-fiction book beginnings floating around in "the cloud," but I'm not sure I have the discipline nor desire to bring them to a successful conclusion. I'm really no longer the same guy that started those books.

For better or for worse, you may be hearing from me more often in the coming days. Take appropriate action!

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Wednesday Wisdom -- well, maybe not

 Sorry, no clever meme for today's Wednesday Wisdom post. In fact, I can't even guarantee you'll find any wisdom here today ... but it is Wednesday!

I'm up fairly early today. It's still full on dark at 5:30 in these last summer days. I'm enjoying my morning coffee from the front porch today and the neighborhood still appears to be sleeping. Only the bugs, frogs and other night sounds are still stirring. Even the birds are still asleep in their nests.

It's an ideal time for contemplation.

We continue to stay pretty isolated as the corona virus pandemic continues. Southwest MO seems to be full of non-believers, anti-maskers, and people that just don't care about potentially spreading the virus to their at risk neighbors. I saw a recent Facebook plea from the daughter of a man that died from COVID-19. He was one that didn't believe in the seriousness of the pandemic and finally hoped to spread the message that people should take it seriously.

In my head I said, "Dumb ass! Nearly 200,000 Americans have died and you thought it was a hoax. Now that you're dying you want everyone else to take it seriously!"

I doubt that one more death will convince any science denying adherents to wear their masks and practice social distancing.

While most of the world is following the advice of medical experts, reopening businesses with certain restrictions in place, and successfully managing the spread of COVID-19, the USA death count continues to climb and more and more people find themselves knowing or having loved somebody that has died from this disease. If you still think that managing the disease is political or that your Facebook education gives you more credibility than the medical experts you are an ass and a part of the reason that the pandemic is still spreading.

Managing a deadly disease isn't about attacking your rights. It's about -- well, it's about managing a deadly disease. Following the advice of good science isn't difficult. I am constantly amazed at the bullshit that people will believe, follow, and spread. It seems that we have become so fearful of being controlled, that we will believe the stupidest of conspiracy theories as our act of rebellion. We are a nation of toddlers throwing temper tantrums and it's time to grow up.

Educate yourself by reading from experts. And while experts may not always agree, follow the science.

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." --Mark Twain

John

Thursday Night Thoughts

 It's late on Thursday evening (after 10pm) and I'm contemplating this evening's barchurch message and my own evolving theology. It's humbling (and a little frightening) to realize that much of my adult life has been spent believing and teaching things about God and the bible that may have been wrong.

It's strange that we can read The Sermon on the Mount and hear Jesus repeatedly say, "You've heard it said ... , but I'm telling you ... ," and then continue to use the history of the Jews and the stories from the Old Testament from the same perspective of the people that had it wrong. As I go through the Old Testament stories with the lens of Jesus, I'm seeing both God and the characters of the stories in a much different light. Both retirement and the current health crisis have allowed me the time to be more contemplative about God, man, and my place in it all. 

I am no longer feeling the calling nor compulsion to preach. Social media is teaching me that few people really want to hear from someone that challenges the way they think or what they see from a limited perspective. (I was blocked today by a "Jesus follower" that called my thoughts on more training for law enforcement bullshit. I wasn't even responding to her post or comment.)

I digress.

Anyway, I think that simple conversations with reasonable people is more my style. Given today's environment, maybe simple posts sharing my thoughts are better for me. Reinterpreting old stories through the lens of The Christ is pretty interesting and somewhat challenging. Unlearning what we once believed to be truth is quite difficult.

Here's a set of questions to challenge you (or to challenge me):

What are your favorite stories from the Old Testament? What did you learn from them? And are you willing to take another look at the stories and the lessons through the eyes of God?

Feel free to answer the first two questions here. We can look for answers to the last one together.

John <><

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Monday Motivation