Don't want to let this go without saying something about it. Like you, sometimes I come thru a time of scripture reading or sermon listening or lesson hearing, and just get absolutely NOTHing out of it. Sometimes it's the preacher or teacher's fault, for being dull or unorganized or lightweight or any number of things. (Of course, it's never Scripture's fault!)
But most of the time, it's my fault. Too tired, or distracted, or just unable or unwilling to make myself focus and think. That's what it was today. Too tired to think hard about it. Worked at busy stuff all day, just to keep going. Stuff that had to be done, but that didn't take much thought. Some days are like that.
I'm sorry if that seems "un-preacherly". But that's how some days are. I think that God understands that. I hope so, anyway. You're welcome to disagree.
03 July 2009
Happy 3rd of July
Apparently my brain is already taking the holiday. I've done my reading, but I've got nothin'. Lots of note-taking material in today's passages, some good teaching material for a larger context, but as for the purposes of this blog-in-progress, I've got nothin'.
How 'bout you? Did you read the passages? What struck you or stood out from the rest? They were: Ecclesiastes 2:18-23; Joshua 1; Zephaniah 1:1 - 2:3; Matthew 12.
Tomorrow's readings: Ecclesiastes 2:24-26; Joshua 2; Zephaniah 2:4-15; Matthew 13.
How 'bout you? Did you read the passages? What struck you or stood out from the rest? They were: Ecclesiastes 2:18-23; Joshua 1; Zephaniah 1:1 - 2:3; Matthew 12.
Tomorrow's readings: Ecclesiastes 2:24-26; Joshua 2; Zephaniah 2:4-15; Matthew 13.
02 July 2009
A Time to Leave Mourning Behind
So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. (Deuteronomy 34:5-8, ESV)
You have to move on. You have to let things go.
I don't mean to be insensitive to feelings and loss, but, you know, people die. They've been doing it since the beginning, and they'll keep doing it until the end of this realm of existence. One reason we allow our children to keep pets -- dogs and cats and hamsters and lizards and turtles and birds and such -- is, or ought to be, because it gives them a chance to learn about death. They learn that, in the words of Pogo Possum, "Life ain't NOhow permanent;" that loss hurts, but isn't fatal; that we continue to live when someone we love dies.
Anyway, that's how it's supposed to be. Ever been in a home where they keep "the untouched bedroom", the one where nothing has been changed since the day its occupant died? Or watched as a friend or acquaintance lived their days in the shadow of loss? Some folks just won't leave it behind. I feel a strong sympathy for the parent who loses a child or spouse far too early in life; I don't mean to diminish the sense of loss when a loved one goes home. But there also comes a sense of irritation with that person who won't let go. Do we somehow think that the one who is gone from us is honored by a refusal to move through life without him or her . . . that they would WANT us to get stuck in a certain time and not live our lives? It's especially frustrating when it's a Christian who won't stop the mourning, as though Jesus were wrong when he talked about eternity and renewal and life and hope.
There comes a time when you have to move on, to stop clinging. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. It's not just true of losing loved ones. It's true of losing leaders, teachers, jobs, situations, and so much more. The job you loved that you're not in anymore. The preacher who meant so much who's moved on, for whatever reason. The girlfriend/boyfriend that promised to never leave you, just before he/she broke your heart.
Let it go. Life moves ahead. Move with it. Pogo was wrong -- in God, life IS permanent. It doesn't stop, just because we come to an end here.
Tomorrow's readings -- Ecclesiastes 2:18-23; Joshua 1; Zephaniah 1:1 - 2:3; Matthew 12
You have to move on. You have to let things go.
I don't mean to be insensitive to feelings and loss, but, you know, people die. They've been doing it since the beginning, and they'll keep doing it until the end of this realm of existence. One reason we allow our children to keep pets -- dogs and cats and hamsters and lizards and turtles and birds and such -- is, or ought to be, because it gives them a chance to learn about death. They learn that, in the words of Pogo Possum, "Life ain't NOhow permanent;" that loss hurts, but isn't fatal; that we continue to live when someone we love dies.
Anyway, that's how it's supposed to be. Ever been in a home where they keep "the untouched bedroom", the one where nothing has been changed since the day its occupant died? Or watched as a friend or acquaintance lived their days in the shadow of loss? Some folks just won't leave it behind. I feel a strong sympathy for the parent who loses a child or spouse far too early in life; I don't mean to diminish the sense of loss when a loved one goes home. But there also comes a sense of irritation with that person who won't let go. Do we somehow think that the one who is gone from us is honored by a refusal to move through life without him or her . . . that they would WANT us to get stuck in a certain time and not live our lives? It's especially frustrating when it's a Christian who won't stop the mourning, as though Jesus were wrong when he talked about eternity and renewal and life and hope.
There comes a time when you have to move on, to stop clinging. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. It's not just true of losing loved ones. It's true of losing leaders, teachers, jobs, situations, and so much more. The job you loved that you're not in anymore. The preacher who meant so much who's moved on, for whatever reason. The girlfriend/boyfriend that promised to never leave you, just before he/she broke your heart.
Let it go. Life moves ahead. Move with it. Pogo was wrong -- in God, life IS permanent. It doesn't stop, just because we come to an end here.
Tomorrow's readings -- Ecclesiastes 2:18-23; Joshua 1; Zephaniah 1:1 - 2:3; Matthew 12
01 July 2009
A Sad Way to End a Life
That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” (Deuteronomy 32:48-52, ESV)
You're Moses, and you've been leading God's people, guiding them through the deserts and open spaces and floods and heat and sand and rocks and sun for 40 years now, waiting for that day when God tells you, "It's time to take them home." Now that day has come, except that God isn't saying exactly that. He's saying, "It's time for them to go home . . . but you aren't going with them. I'll give you a good look at it from here, but that's all, because . . .""
Crushing disappointment; bewilderment; inner devastation; "What? . . . I'm not. . . Why? . . ." That would be MY response. Fall on my knees, on my face, and cry and beg and plead. Start reminding God of all the ways I've stood for him in the face of a rebellious crowd. So I got a little mad that one time, lost my temper . . . how does that outweigh everything else?
". . . you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel." Oh, God PLEEEEase . . . I didn't know. I couldn't know.
But I could, and I did. All those moments I stood before the congregation and soaked up the glory and attention. Every Sunday that I shook people out the door, hungry to hear how moving or inspirational or challenging the sermon had been. Every time I said, "Thank you, I'm glad it was helpful," while I was thinking, "Wellll,Thaynk YEEEWWW for thinking so much of me. Man, I'm doing all right!"
For all those times, for all those feelings, for all that self-congratulation, for all that arrogance and condescension . . . O God, please forgive me.
The leader's highest calling is surely to treat God as holy in the midst of the people. To do everything I do with an eye toward bringing Him glory and honor, showing his holiness and greatness and awesome other-ness to anyone looking and listening. O Great God, push me to set aside all thought of me, burn away any wrong reaction to what people say to me. I would have them see your glory in everything I do, every word I say from behind the podium or the microphone.
I do not want them to go home without me.
And that's just how hard it is . . .
. . . to be a blogger when you don't want to just throw any old thing up there. It's been a month and more since I thought I might start a little blog, if I had something that seemed worth saying, which this particular entry absolutely does not.
I read a lot of blogs. Some of them are a total waste of time, but I like the people who write them, so I read them to see what's going on with them. A few of them bring deeply insightful writing to the table. They make a rich meal -- sometimes satisfying, sometimes unsettling, because some of them challenge my thinking, my behavior, my worldview, my faith. I appreciate them. I learn from them.
The thing with this one is that I don't write like that. I don't think like that, at least not on my own. Pretty much every good or challenging or enlightening idea I talk about or use in my sermons, I find somewhere else. I'm much more an editor or compiler than an author. I can take a thought that I find, that strikes me as being worth thinking about and worth spreading to other people - - and I find a way to say it or explain it or expand on it some, and connect it to some other thoughts, so that they illuminate or expand on each other, and show deeper connections and behavior- or thought-changing importance.
But if I do that here, then this will be little more than, "Here's something I read today" again and again. I should rather just post links and say, "Go look at this."
So . . . I dunno. People tell me I'm pretty smart and pretty wise and communicate well and such. If so, then why can't I do this writing thing?
Really, what I do best is answer questions. Ask me something, and I can often start helping you make connections. Say, "I think this . . . what do YOU think?", and I can usually go for a good while. But that won't work here.
Maybe I'll figure it out by the time you next look in here.
I read a lot of blogs. Some of them are a total waste of time, but I like the people who write them, so I read them to see what's going on with them. A few of them bring deeply insightful writing to the table. They make a rich meal -- sometimes satisfying, sometimes unsettling, because some of them challenge my thinking, my behavior, my worldview, my faith. I appreciate them. I learn from them.
The thing with this one is that I don't write like that. I don't think like that, at least not on my own. Pretty much every good or challenging or enlightening idea I talk about or use in my sermons, I find somewhere else. I'm much more an editor or compiler than an author. I can take a thought that I find, that strikes me as being worth thinking about and worth spreading to other people - - and I find a way to say it or explain it or expand on it some, and connect it to some other thoughts, so that they illuminate or expand on each other, and show deeper connections and behavior- or thought-changing importance.
But if I do that here, then this will be little more than, "Here's something I read today" again and again. I should rather just post links and say, "Go look at this."
So . . . I dunno. People tell me I'm pretty smart and pretty wise and communicate well and such. If so, then why can't I do this writing thing?
Really, what I do best is answer questions. Ask me something, and I can often start helping you make connections. Say, "I think this . . . what do YOU think?", and I can usually go for a good while. But that won't work here.
Maybe I'll figure it out by the time you next look in here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)