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.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Avoiding the Fate of the Dollar and Oil
So the latest casualties in the economic disaster currently facing North America are the Canadian dollar and oil. Both have been utterly devalued in recent weeks after breaking records only a few short months ago.
It's amazing how quickly things can lose their value, isn't it? It's not unlike when you were a kid and you really, really wanted that new toy and it was the most prized possession you had for, like, a week. And then it sat there with the rest of your devalued toys.
But we often do this, don't we? We often place inordinate amounts of attention on stuff that really doesn't last. We invest all sorts of time, effort, even money into activities, accomplishments and things. Only to find, after a while, that we didn't get out of it what we were hoping for.
Maybe we've had expectations for someone that they didn't live up to. Maybe we had high hopes for our new job and then ended up being a victim of corporate cutbacks. Or maybe we invested money in the commodity markets and now have less than half of what we had six months ago.
This sort of stuff becomes devastating when it's all we've got. And, when the value drops out of these things we esteem, we're left to wonder what we have left.
As I was preaching on Sunday, the thought occurred to me that I have been placed on this earth for a reason. And the reason is not to blend in with the world around me (if my purpose in life was to blend in, God would have made me into a chameleon instead). Rather, the reason is to make a difference and do what is good. As I live with this as my focus, I will see great return on my investment and there's no devaluation.
It's amazing how quickly things can lose their value, isn't it? It's not unlike when you were a kid and you really, really wanted that new toy and it was the most prized possession you had for, like, a week. And then it sat there with the rest of your devalued toys.
But we often do this, don't we? We often place inordinate amounts of attention on stuff that really doesn't last. We invest all sorts of time, effort, even money into activities, accomplishments and things. Only to find, after a while, that we didn't get out of it what we were hoping for.
Maybe we've had expectations for someone that they didn't live up to. Maybe we had high hopes for our new job and then ended up being a victim of corporate cutbacks. Or maybe we invested money in the commodity markets and now have less than half of what we had six months ago.
This sort of stuff becomes devastating when it's all we've got. And, when the value drops out of these things we esteem, we're left to wonder what we have left.
As I was preaching on Sunday, the thought occurred to me that I have been placed on this earth for a reason. And the reason is not to blend in with the world around me (if my purpose in life was to blend in, God would have made me into a chameleon instead). Rather, the reason is to make a difference and do what is good. As I live with this as my focus, I will see great return on my investment and there's no devaluation.
Friday, October 17, 2008
A Bipolar Afternoon
On Wednesday, of this week, my mother had tears welling in her eyes in excitement as she watched my nine-year old daughter win the silver medal in the district school board cross-country finals. Literally as her grand-daughter is running her race, my mother's father is being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance and, less than an hour later, she again has tears welling in her eyes as she watched him pass away.
Grandpa was a good man and we will pay our respects to him during his funeral, so it is not my purpose here to eulogize him. Rather, I remark on the curiosity of timing.
I joked with my mother later in the day about the bipolarity of her afternoon. Rushing from the race course to the hospital. Barely an hour between watching her grand-daughter pass a hundred competitors and watching her father pass into eternity. Tears of joy immediately preceding tears of sorrow.
If we could plan the timing of events, we would never plan it that way. But we can't plan them. We don't know when we will experience great excitement nor do we know when we will experience great disappointment. And we may never understand the timing. I can't give a great theological explanation why my mother went through such an up-and-down roller-coaster on Wednesday. One might think it's just happenstance and that's enough of an explanation. But I believe in a sovereign God who is intimately involved in the details of my life and so 'happenstance' doesn't cut it for me.
I can't explain why things happened the way they did. And I find freedom in the fact that I don't need to figure out why things happen the way they do. Rather, believing in that sovereign God brings us to the place where we can trust that He has a plan for all these experiences. And His plan is a great one.
David, while hiding in a cave from a paranoid king who wanted to kill him, penned these words, "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praise to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!" (Psalm 57:9-11) It's not so much a question of figuring out why these things happen; it's more a question of figuring out what impact these things will have on me. Can we, like David, in the midst of elation and exhaustion, still worship the One who gives and takes away?
Grandpa was a good man and we will pay our respects to him during his funeral, so it is not my purpose here to eulogize him. Rather, I remark on the curiosity of timing.
I joked with my mother later in the day about the bipolarity of her afternoon. Rushing from the race course to the hospital. Barely an hour between watching her grand-daughter pass a hundred competitors and watching her father pass into eternity. Tears of joy immediately preceding tears of sorrow.
If we could plan the timing of events, we would never plan it that way. But we can't plan them. We don't know when we will experience great excitement nor do we know when we will experience great disappointment. And we may never understand the timing. I can't give a great theological explanation why my mother went through such an up-and-down roller-coaster on Wednesday. One might think it's just happenstance and that's enough of an explanation. But I believe in a sovereign God who is intimately involved in the details of my life and so 'happenstance' doesn't cut it for me.
I can't explain why things happened the way they did. And I find freedom in the fact that I don't need to figure out why things happen the way they do. Rather, believing in that sovereign God brings us to the place where we can trust that He has a plan for all these experiences. And His plan is a great one.
David, while hiding in a cave from a paranoid king who wanted to kill him, penned these words, "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praise to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!" (Psalm 57:9-11) It's not so much a question of figuring out why these things happen; it's more a question of figuring out what impact these things will have on me. Can we, like David, in the midst of elation and exhaustion, still worship the One who gives and takes away?
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Absolutely Religulous
Well, it was kind of like a bug's attraction to the light. Or, maybe more like the "Don't look...don't look...ahh, you looked" reaction when we see a car wreck beside the freeway. You know you don't want to and yet you do it anyway. That's kind of what it was like.
I went to see Bill Maher's documentary Religulous on the weekend. It was one of those films where I know I didn't want to see it but I had to see it. To be fair, I laughed. Out loud. Fairly often. But often, when I laughed, I felt like I was cheering for the visiting team.
If you haven't seen the film, basically he makes fun of anything with even a hint of fundamentalism (and, let's be honest, there's much to make fun of here!) and then moves on to outline the conspiracy theorist's view of Jesus: he never really existed and his story was simply lifted from other ancient religions. There are books published on this topic that outline how his story has many parallels with gods worshiped in various religions and these are put forth as evidence that Jesus never really existed but was just a made up myth.
These theories made me think more than anything in the film because I'm not religious; I'm a follower of Jesus. So, while I can laugh at the trappings of religion, I have a much more difficult time laughing at the non-existence of Jesus. But there are a lot of holes that can quickly be shot through these theories. For example, it's pretty hard to retrofit a philosopher into a philosophic school of thinking. Either there was a Plato, or there was not. I can't just make up stories about Plato now and try to fit them into history. It doesn't work. Likewise, there was a school of thought and belief surrounding this person of Jesus years (decades) before the first book about him was written. If the books were of sketchy origin, who would have read them?
But here's what I have come to realize: books that are written and films that are produced that say Jesus never existed don't actually mean anything. See, somewhere down in history, someone could say Brent never existed because there was someone in some other culture or in some other era whose life had many parallels to mine. So, because of that, Brent must be a figment of someone's imagination. Even if that happened, I'm still here. And so is Jesus.
At the end of the film, Maher stands on a pile of rocks and begins preaching about the fact that his whole purpose in making the film is to create doubt in people's minds. ...and we're back on the same ground. Truth is, I can't have faith without doubt. Unless I have reason to doubt, faith simply isn't required.
And to that end, I have faith that Jesus lived. I have faith that Jesus lives. And I have faith that one day I will live with Jesus. Do I have absolute, 100% certainty? Nope. I doubt regularly.
I went to see Bill Maher's documentary Religulous on the weekend. It was one of those films where I know I didn't want to see it but I had to see it. To be fair, I laughed. Out loud. Fairly often. But often, when I laughed, I felt like I was cheering for the visiting team.
If you haven't seen the film, basically he makes fun of anything with even a hint of fundamentalism (and, let's be honest, there's much to make fun of here!) and then moves on to outline the conspiracy theorist's view of Jesus: he never really existed and his story was simply lifted from other ancient religions. There are books published on this topic that outline how his story has many parallels with gods worshiped in various religions and these are put forth as evidence that Jesus never really existed but was just a made up myth.
These theories made me think more than anything in the film because I'm not religious; I'm a follower of Jesus. So, while I can laugh at the trappings of religion, I have a much more difficult time laughing at the non-existence of Jesus. But there are a lot of holes that can quickly be shot through these theories. For example, it's pretty hard to retrofit a philosopher into a philosophic school of thinking. Either there was a Plato, or there was not. I can't just make up stories about Plato now and try to fit them into history. It doesn't work. Likewise, there was a school of thought and belief surrounding this person of Jesus years (decades) before the first book about him was written. If the books were of sketchy origin, who would have read them?
But here's what I have come to realize: books that are written and films that are produced that say Jesus never existed don't actually mean anything. See, somewhere down in history, someone could say Brent never existed because there was someone in some other culture or in some other era whose life had many parallels to mine. So, because of that, Brent must be a figment of someone's imagination. Even if that happened, I'm still here. And so is Jesus.
At the end of the film, Maher stands on a pile of rocks and begins preaching about the fact that his whole purpose in making the film is to create doubt in people's minds. ...and we're back on the same ground. Truth is, I can't have faith without doubt. Unless I have reason to doubt, faith simply isn't required.
And to that end, I have faith that Jesus lived. I have faith that Jesus lives. And I have faith that one day I will live with Jesus. Do I have absolute, 100% certainty? Nope. I doubt regularly.
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