My son and daughter went swimming with their school the other day, but their swim was cut short by the lifeguards' whistle after one of the lifeguards found a 5-year old floating facedown in the pool. By the time the child was pulled out, this child was unconscious and turned blue. Although I wasn't at the pool, all who were there relayed that it was about the most horrifying experience they had been through in memory.
Miraculously, the child was resuscitated on the deck and taken to the hospital for observation and, at the time of writing this, it seems as though the child will be fine.
This experience has revealed to me a couple things about life. The first, and most basic, is just how quickly life can be turned around. In the grand scheme of life, what matters? People can make big issues out of little things but then it can take an experience like this to jolt us back to the stuff that really matters.
The other thing that I have thought about since this swimming experience is the translation from head knowledge to life-change. See, the lifeguards have gone through years of training just in case this very event should occur. However, due to the fact that none of them have ever experienced an emergency like this one, the movement from "What I should do" to "What I will do" is a big jump. I was not there so I cannot judge how the lifeguards responded, but I can only assume that every one of them is reflecting on that experience and thinking of what they should have done differently.
It's in those crucible moments where we see what difference, if any, there is in our lives. How many moments have we reflected upon and thought of things we could have (should have?) done differently? If I could only go back and do it all over again...
But there are no do-overs in life. We get one chance. And that realization can cripple us with regret or it can propel us toward change. Although there are no do-overs, there will be other crucible moments (different ones) and we work toward those ones.
Spiritually, if Jesus has made any difference at all in my life, it will show when the chips are down. Life in Jesus is supposed to be joyful, peaceful, and all sorts of good stuff like that. When I'm in one of those moments, the question is: is it all just theory and ideas; or has it really, truly made a difference in my life? Because the difference between theory and truth becomes apparent when we're in the crucible.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Variables
It's a two-fer kind of day! Not one post, but two (I'll make up for slacking last week!).
Earlier I posted on how we can allow experiences to create roadblocks to our growth and, as I was writing, I came to realize that this is something that we all do. We all have allowed those experiences to instill insecurities within us, and we have given great worth to certain areas because of that.
But the problem is that, when our self-worth is based on certain issues (be it family, work, success, finances, etc) then, when those areas start to tank, so does our self-worth.
In my dealing with people, I have come to believe in a theory: We all have issues and the only difference between my issues and your issues is in the details. Because I'm a logical, mathematic thinker, I think of it like this: p+e=i. Where p is who we naturally are. Our natural person, if you will. Psychologists would use the term nature for this. Who we are naturally dictates how we respond to our experiences (e). And, when I combine who I am with what I've experienced, I get my issue, i.
I know that counselling is not about formulas and variables but that's why I didn't become a counsellor. But this helps me because what it boils down to is that I can relate to your issue simply because it's only a matter of plugging in different variables into the equation. You can relate to my issue, even though you've never experienced what I've experienced, because you can plug my variables into the equation and come out with the issue.
The overarching issues aren't much different: most stem from insecurities, wounded ego or pride and issues of self-worth. But the way it plays out in our lives looks different because the variables are different.
Earlier I posted on how we can allow experiences to create roadblocks to our growth and, as I was writing, I came to realize that this is something that we all do. We all have allowed those experiences to instill insecurities within us, and we have given great worth to certain areas because of that.
But the problem is that, when our self-worth is based on certain issues (be it family, work, success, finances, etc) then, when those areas start to tank, so does our self-worth.
In my dealing with people, I have come to believe in a theory: We all have issues and the only difference between my issues and your issues is in the details. Because I'm a logical, mathematic thinker, I think of it like this: p+e=i. Where p is who we naturally are. Our natural person, if you will. Psychologists would use the term nature for this. Who we are naturally dictates how we respond to our experiences (e). And, when I combine who I am with what I've experienced, I get my issue, i.
I know that counselling is not about formulas and variables but that's why I didn't become a counsellor. But this helps me because what it boils down to is that I can relate to your issue simply because it's only a matter of plugging in different variables into the equation. You can relate to my issue, even though you've never experienced what I've experienced, because you can plug my variables into the equation and come out with the issue.
The overarching issues aren't much different: most stem from insecurities, wounded ego or pride and issues of self-worth. But the way it plays out in our lives looks different because the variables are different.
Speechless
From time to time, my mom reminds me that, as a child, I talked incessantly. It could be because I have broken that habit (maybe even to a fault!) and my thoughts often remain just that: thoughts; not words. Or it might be due to the fact that I have chosen a wife who, on average, speaks more words each day than I do. So, when we discuss which gene pool my daughter swims in as the words continue to pour out of her mouth, my mother reminds me that she might just come by it honestly!
It's odd, when you think of it. People who know me would not define me as a talker, except of course, mom. Curiously, the first time people hear me preach, I often hear from them that it seems so out of character for me. But then, it's down there somewhere obviously.
It raises the whole Nature-Nurture question. How much of who I am is due to genetics; and how much of who I am is as a result of my context or experiences? And, if God created me a certain way, and I am not living that way, how much do I work to unlock whom he has created me to be?
I think that second question is where I'm struggling. Because I believe that God didn't create me in a vaccuum. He created me the way he wanted me to be and placed me in experiences that he wanted for me and all that has shaped who I am. And I have been happy with that. Happy, at least, until the last week or so.
See, I guess what I'm slowly coming to realize is, while God placed me in a context and gave me certain experiences, his purpose for those experiences wasn't for me to become someone different than he created me to become. If I have let things stand in the way of being whom I was made to be, I need to change what I'm doing to become who I am.
And that's what we all need to do. We all have areas in our lives that have prevented us from being the people God has designed. The Bible uses the word 'repent', which simply means to have a change of heart. We need to have a change of heart with regard to the stuff that we have allowed to stand in our way.
Of course, all this talk of talking has been heightened by the fact that I got laryngitis this week!
...but I won't allow that experience to shape my future!
It's odd, when you think of it. People who know me would not define me as a talker, except of course, mom. Curiously, the first time people hear me preach, I often hear from them that it seems so out of character for me. But then, it's down there somewhere obviously.
It raises the whole Nature-Nurture question. How much of who I am is due to genetics; and how much of who I am is as a result of my context or experiences? And, if God created me a certain way, and I am not living that way, how much do I work to unlock whom he has created me to be?
I think that second question is where I'm struggling. Because I believe that God didn't create me in a vaccuum. He created me the way he wanted me to be and placed me in experiences that he wanted for me and all that has shaped who I am. And I have been happy with that. Happy, at least, until the last week or so.
See, I guess what I'm slowly coming to realize is, while God placed me in a context and gave me certain experiences, his purpose for those experiences wasn't for me to become someone different than he created me to become. If I have let things stand in the way of being whom I was made to be, I need to change what I'm doing to become who I am.
And that's what we all need to do. We all have areas in our lives that have prevented us from being the people God has designed. The Bible uses the word 'repent', which simply means to have a change of heart. We need to have a change of heart with regard to the stuff that we have allowed to stand in our way.
Of course, all this talk of talking has been heightened by the fact that I got laryngitis this week!
...but I won't allow that experience to shape my future!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
I Think Therefore I Doubt
Last week, we began a stretch of four Sundays where we are looking at the last thing Jesus said to his friends. Matthew 28:18-20 tells us that he gathered his friends around him and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
To be sure, Jesus was asking a lot of his friends. Basically, if our faith in Jesus has made any difference in our lives, then it would follow that we would want others to experience that as well. And yet, what might just be my favorite verse in the entire Bible immediately precedes this: "And when [Jesus' friends] saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted." (emphasis added)
I find such freedom in knowing that these friends, who have spent three years of their lives with Jesus - who have watched him walk on water and heal many sick people and die and return to life - doubted him. It's not that I have a fascination with failure; nor am I trying to compensate for my own weakness. But it's encouraging to me because I often have doubts and these guys who had less reason to doubt than me also doubted.
It is easy to fall into the thinking that the life of faith is the life that rejects doubt. But it isn't. Rather, I've come to learn that, if I don't doubt, I have no faith. Faith believes in the face of doubt.
And what I find amazing about these verses that we're studying this month is that, while Jesus' friends doubted him, Jesus sent them out on their mission. He didn't try to convince them of anything, he knew they doubted and he sent them out anyway. He knew they loved him and worshiped him and that was more important to him than going out with a head full of knowledge.
Of course, we don't check our brains on the way in. We honestly seek the truth but there will be times when the truth makes us scratch our heads and wonder if it's truth. And we doubt; and we worship; and we go out and fill the purpose God has for us. And then, suddenly, as we're doing what Jesus sends us to do, the doubt gets flipped into faith.
To be sure, Jesus was asking a lot of his friends. Basically, if our faith in Jesus has made any difference in our lives, then it would follow that we would want others to experience that as well. And yet, what might just be my favorite verse in the entire Bible immediately precedes this: "And when [Jesus' friends] saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted." (emphasis added)
I find such freedom in knowing that these friends, who have spent three years of their lives with Jesus - who have watched him walk on water and heal many sick people and die and return to life - doubted him. It's not that I have a fascination with failure; nor am I trying to compensate for my own weakness. But it's encouraging to me because I often have doubts and these guys who had less reason to doubt than me also doubted.
It is easy to fall into the thinking that the life of faith is the life that rejects doubt. But it isn't. Rather, I've come to learn that, if I don't doubt, I have no faith. Faith believes in the face of doubt.
And what I find amazing about these verses that we're studying this month is that, while Jesus' friends doubted him, Jesus sent them out on their mission. He didn't try to convince them of anything, he knew they doubted and he sent them out anyway. He knew they loved him and worshiped him and that was more important to him than going out with a head full of knowledge.
Of course, we don't check our brains on the way in. We honestly seek the truth but there will be times when the truth makes us scratch our heads and wonder if it's truth. And we doubt; and we worship; and we go out and fill the purpose God has for us. And then, suddenly, as we're doing what Jesus sends us to do, the doubt gets flipped into faith.
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