Self Reflection
Holidays are often a time when I do some self reflection, however the season, and the emotions around the season often distort my perspective, and thus don’t provide me with the clearest picture of myself. This year, as I reflect on the blessings that have come, as well as the challenges, I must reflect on the man that I am, as well as ponder the man into which I want to grow.
“Lord, I ask your blessings in my reflection, help me grow into being a better husband, a better father, a better friend, and through the power of your Spirit may I be a better follower of you.” Amen
God Came, Therefore I Know Christ Is Coming
Eagerly we anticipate this season. Thanksgiving has past, and now the decorations go up, houses get lit up, parties get planned, cookies are baked, and we begin to get ready for the Christmas holiday. Commercially, this is the season of spending, this is the season where we see how well our economy is doing. We purchase gifts for loved ones, and others to whom we feel obligated. Debt is accumulated. Weight is gained. Consumerism is filing the air. This is the backdrop of contrast that we find Advent.
Spiritually, this is the season where we celebrate and commemorate the coming of Christ as an infant, and prepare our hearts for the second-coming of Christ. So much of the skepticism regarding the second coming focus on the empty manger.
However, God’s promise about the coming salvation came in the form of an infant. Unexpected in form, but a promise fulfilled. This serves as a warning for us about our preconceived notions about the form of God’s fulfilled promises. What we need to focus upon is the fact that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, therefore I know God is coming back, because the character of God is the same as it was 2000 years ago when Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem.
When we look at this in reference to the commercial hope surrounding the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there is plenty of contrasts. Commercial hope depends on what we do, how much we spend, how much we decorate, and how much we do. This is empty hope, because it is uncertain, and hope that is uncertain is not hope at all.
In this season of Advent, I will focus upon the consistency of God. My hope is assured in the fact that the Advent of the Almighty God is happening because it happened. Stay on your toes, and don’t lose hope. May God be celebrated and worshipped, for God’s hope (elpis) is eager anticipation of what is certain.
Stuck
This week I returned from a long break, and I have spent the last two days playing catch up. Yesterday, I beat down a pile of paperwork that had been accumulating, and today was spent dealing with my computer that had to be “refreshed”. Ironically, this is what a vacation is supposed to do for us, but my computer had to wait for me to get back for the same refreshment. All that being said, I still find myself in the same predicament that I was in when I walked through the door this morning, a lot of catching up to do, because today I was stuck giving the device that is supposed to boost my productivity its much needed “refresh”. I felt like I was stuck, like the people in the ride shown in the picture above. This is what the endless cycle of technology does to us sometimes, it makes us dependent upon it and then makes us work twice as hard trying to fix the problems it causes.
Funny thing that happened though in the midst of the maddening frustration with my computer was that I actually was allowed to move away from the screen, and I was able to put pen to paper and work on solving problems with all that education with which I have been blessed. Computers can be amazing, and I am thankful when they save me and abundant amount of time, but sometimes I need to remember that I should not rely upon them as much as I do. That is what made me feel as if I was stuck. Whether or not our computers, or iPads, or smart phones are working, things still need to get done. I am thankful for the perspective that today has given me regarding my technology reliance.
I am also reminded that I should rely upon God more. God did create the people that designed and built the computers, but God cares about me more than the computer, and God has given me a mind to problem solve. Today, I am loved by God, and with God I am not STUCK. Don’t get stuck in front of your screen, look up and notice that God has created a beautiful world around you, and that the Almighty would have still created it even if it was only you to enjoy it all.
Black Friday?
Today there were sales. Today we were all supposed to go out and buy in order to help make sure that people stay employed. Today a lot of money, energy, and other resources were wasted.
Life has conditioned us that we instinctively look in the newspaper on Thursday to find out what big screen television we have to get. Look, even my nine month old daughter thinks that she has to get in on Black Friday.
The whole concept that we must go out and support the consumer culture is terribly flawed. I wish I were immune from the draw toward the mall and to the stores in search for a couple deals. Unfortunately, I was out there with many of you, and I engaged in our consumer culture and spent resources.
I will not spend time reciting the numerous statistics I saw throughout social media today about the amount of money that is spent this weekend, and the amount of money that is needed to end any number of ailments in the world. It is appalling that so much money is spent on things that are of little to no worth. Last year I hit that point with my kids, we spent and spent and spent, and filled up two car loads of toys for them last year. How many hours were spent by them playing with these toys? Not enough. How much joy did they get out of these gifts? Not enough. How much money did we spend so that they could have a “good” Christmas experience and get lots of toys? Too much.
I don’t think that you are a terrible sinner because you went shopping today. We are all terrible sinners because we give our allegiance to things instead of God. I cannot change your heart, I cannot even change my own heart, but I pray that we allow the Holy Spirit to come in and make our hearts a little less “black” this holiday season, and may we remember that God calls us to give all of our hearts, minds, and souls to the Almighty.
“Thank you Lord for giving us the will to hand over our power to spend to You, so that You may make a difference beyond what we could expect or even imagine.” Amen
Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! Today we celebrate and give thanks for the blessings we have received this past year. I indeed have been blessed this past year. I am thankful for my extended family that have showed me love in my lows and have celebrated my highs and have also been beside me in the in-between times. I wish all of you love and blessings today, and may you be blessed this day wherever you are celebrating.
I am especially thankful for my kids, as they have been the source of some of the greatest joys in my life, and I thank God for each and every one of them.
Today serves as a great example that Thanksgiving is an important part of our life and relationship with God. As we raise our kids we remind them to say “please” and “thank you” to make sure they have a spirit of thankfulness when people give you something. Our relationship with God is just as important to say “please” when we want something, and “thank you” when God blesses us.
I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. (Psalms 69:30, 31 ESV)
In Psalm 69, we are reminded that today we have much to be thankful, and that Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be an elaborate expression, but rather we simply need to raise our voice and sing. So the dinner table may not be the place to sing, but in a Spirit of Thanksgiving, raise your voice and sing to the Lord, with your whole heart, mind, and soul.
Old Familiar Friends and Places
Today and tomorrow are going to be filled with reunions and gatherings throughout the US as the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us. For many of us it is a chance to connect with family and friends, and connect back to old places where we have memories both good and bad. Holidays themselves all a call to remember what has happened and to commemorate and/or celebrate something, some one, or some event. For this reason, we see people either looking forward to or dreading this time of year because we cannot escape the signs of the season, and they seem to begin their invasion of our offices, cafes, stores, and neighborhoods earlier each year.
This is also a time of year that we are confronted by the fact that our lives are not static as people are continuously coming into our lives, and leaving our lives. While we may not have to deal with the ebb and flow of people on an everyday basis, it unavoidably confronts us during these gatherings. In some ways this is exciting, like if a new member of the family has been added, such as the birth of a child, (this is my sweet Sophia’s first thanksgiving) or a new marriage. However, some people dread these times, maybe there has been a death, or a divorce, but there is clearly an absence that cannot be ignored.
During this time, we need to remember that no matter the people that come into our lives or leave our lives, God is constant. Take time out of your day today or tomorrow and look at the things that surround us and allow them to be our altars where we remember that God has been with us. The picture above is of the Campanile on the UC Berkeley campus, which reminds me that God is always beside me, even when it gets very dark and I have trouble finding hope. The people of Israel, as they crossed the Jordan, grabbed stones from the dry river bed and placed them on the banks of the Jordan to remind themselves and future generations that God had been there to allow them to enter into the promised land. The history of Israel had many ups and downs, but God never left them, and no matter what, the stones were there to remind them that it was God who led them into the promised land.
I have so many friends that each time we connect I am reminded that God loves me, and that it has been by His grace and mercy that our relationships have grown and flourished even though time, distance, and life have created space between us. So for those of you who I have not seen in a while, I thank God because of you, I thank God that our lives have crossed paths, and I thank God that because of our relationship I have become better than I was before we met.
So to my old familiar friends and places, I am thankful for you!
Struggle and Structure
Looking through the Psalms we see that Israel and David are often ensnared in struggles against their enemies and against themselves. Sometimes we become our own worst enemy. I know I took the picture below before a game I attended during warmups, but when a team’s season begins to unravel the team often fights against itself. This causes the team to lose more games than they should. We also tend to underperform when we start unraveling. One bad decision leads to another, and this builds upon itself.
We are creatures that desire structure and consistency. We don’t trust ourselves to operate according to God’s purpose without structure. We have organized ourselves into organizations and churches that we hope will provide us the structure/ theology/ preaching/ group dynamic that we need to keep us within God’s desire for our lives.
The structures we put in place to define our situation, and to make sense of the world we live in often betray us, and take away the freedom that we have been given. Sometimes these structures do not allow us to worship God in a variety of forms, they do not give us the freedom to seek God, to question the things that will help us grow in our faith. In some of these circumstances, we abandon and strike out against what we see as oppression, only to exchange it for another form of oppression. In these cases we either vilify or deify the structure.
All this being said, structure is not bad, but we must be free to challenge the structure at times, when we have come across a situation where structure becomes oppressive, but we also need to be willing to be wrong, and allow the structure to show us where we may be wrong. Understandably, this takes maturity that not all of us may have, but should develop in our relationship with God. This is part of the struggle that we cannot escape or hide from within our structures.
Our God needs to be God, for only God can pull us out from our struggles, and the closer we grow to God the more mature we become in our faith, and the better we are within the structures within which we are organized. Struggle happens, and when it does, let God be our God.
Elpis and Shalom 