Consider This…
The Choice…
Life can be hard, but the way of the Kingdom is joyful. It is imperative not to confuse the two.
Brad Elliott
Yes!
“Christianity is a lifestyle- a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. However, we made it into an established “religion” (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish, and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is one’s “personal Lord and Savior”…The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great”
-Richard Rohr
When it’s Gone…
I made this statement on the blog a few months ago;
Oddly enough it is the peace of my being that has given me my strength…. not the other way around.
I must admit I felt really good about that statement when I first penned it. In that moment I was experiencing peace, and it did indeed provide a feeling of strength. I would further clarify that my use of the word “strength” should not be associated with our traditional view of the word as defined by words like power or conquer. My use of the word would more readily be associated with courage, undaunted, assurance, the resolve to do what is good and right while having no thought to do otherwise. This is where I was in my “being” at the time, and it was wonderful.
But…. What happens when you lose that peace? What happens when that “peace of my being” is like the Polar Express come off the rails, sliding across the frozen lake at break neck speed? Well, I do have that answer, I lose my strength. The formula holds true for me. When I have peace I have strength, when that peace exits the scene it takes its good friend strength with it. So here I sit this morning on the other side of the coin, my peace has been scattered about, and my strength is in question, and I don’t like it one bit! I found these two quotes from Martin Luther King Jr:
“Only in the darkness can you see the stars”
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
I know that there are stars to be seen, and I know that I must keep moving forward. I firmly believe that in every challenge there is an opportunity. As a very analytical person I can see that the question at hand is how do I regain my strength? When we simply plug that question into the formula it provides the answer. You must regain your peace. Well just how do you propose I regain my peace?
I must return to that which brought me the peace to begin with. In other words, go with the one who brought you to the dance. So, I must go with God, our Source and loving Creator who also sent these words to me a while back
“The peace of God, with that small still voice, calmly says to me…
It will be all right”
Today I will sit with those words and see how bright the stars become. I will trust in those words this morning and let the details fall where they may.
Very Quick Thoughts…
Having been a United Methodist all of my life I’ve been paying close attention to the issues currently facing us. I spent some time this morning reading comments on the Wesleyan Covenant Associations page, something I really shouldn’t do, and I found myself asking how, after 2000 some odd years of “Christianity” have we still not gotten it? How did we become the Pharisees picking over the “laws” and details, sitting in judgement of others, forming our exclusive club? We have mistakenly embraced the following of the “laws” and totally missed union with God! It should be painfully obvious by the comments I’ve read that the “Traditionalist” way of thinking in the Methodist church has not worked, and thankfully in the end will never be adequate. This inadequacy, while troubling in the present is most certainly the catalyst for great change.
When we interpret the scriptures only in a literal sense we are simply surfers upon the “words”. To find transformation we must become deep sea divers of the truths just beneath the “words”. We should read, and respect other God inspired writings to help us along our way in remembering that we are all children of God, and he loves us all unconditionally as any loving parent would. Yes, other God inspired writings do exist beyond the Bible. If one is to truly believe that the Bible was written by humans through the inspiration of God, then why would we think the door closed following the last book to be canonized? It didn’t. While I respect the need for form within religion, we simply can’t allow it to obscure the truths. What does this religion that embraces form and formlessness look like? That I don’t know…but we have no choice but to push whole heartedly toward that end.
Brad Elliott