Category: Notes Anthology

Law
It is a Reformational principle that the law cannot change the heart…but imposing the law makes us feel powerful, while living the Gospel is dying to self…
Phoenix Preacher

Where is joy?
The questions have assailed the mind and troubled the spirit; the answer is not in the earthquake of argument, or the wind of aggressive enquiry, or in the fire of logic energised by reason – but in the still small voice that can only be heard during a night walk in snowlight. Assailing questions remain with not a single answer found – but
walking out now
into the silence and the light
under the trees,
and through the fields,
feels like one.       
Jim Gordon 
https://livingwittily.typepad.com/my_weblog/2021/02/a-poem-in-which-we-overhear-the-gentle-interrogation-of-the-heart-by-heart-stopping-beauty-.html

Once you are a follower of Jesus, being a sinner is not a very good excuse for bad behavior.
Matt Redmond

Conservatives
…conservatives are supposed to be the ones marshaling arguments against the idea that everything is permitted and that feelings trump facts. Instead, they’re growing content with casting themselves in a cautionary tale about the perils of phlebotinum poisoning.
Jonah Goldberg
(In science fiction writing, phlebotinum is shorthand for any “impossible or imaginary device which is used to move forward the plot of a TV show, book or film, especially in science fiction and fantasy.”)

Arguments
Arguments now are about the marshaling of passions to will into existence what we want to be true, not to reveal what is true.
Jonah Goldberg

Trust in the Lord
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” [Proverbs 3:5]. For the first time, it dawned on me: there’s a difference between doubting God and doubting my understanding of God, just as there’s a difference between trusting God and trusting my understanding of God. Would I be able to doubt my understanding of God while simultaneously trusting God beyond my understanding? In a strange way, that question for the first time in my life allowed me to see God as a mystery distinct from my concepts of God. 
Brian McLearn

Leading as Christians
Until professed Christians decide they’re going to lead with gentleness and not contempt, until they choose to actually read the Gospels and allow them to soften their hearts, and until they can find a faith that doesn’t require military-grade backup—they will continue to weaponize religion into something that doesn’t resemble Jesus and use it to wound other people.
John   Pavlovitz

We need kind people
It seems like kind people are an endangered species.
I don’t know whether they’ve gone or they’ve just gone silent, but the net result is that we have too many wounds and not enough healers. Our demand is far exceeding our supply right now.
Or maybe they’re still here and just being drowned out by the clanging bombast of a cruelty that demands and so easily gets our attention, and we just need to help people notice them again.  
All I know is that we need kind people—now.
John Pavlovitz

Epiphany 
An epiphany is a revelation. Often, it is not exactly new, but finally “seeing” what you have been looking at for so long. Epiphanies come when by some mysterious shift we cease to look “at” something and begin to see “into” it. The “eyes of our hearts are enlightened.” Epiphanies happen when observation gives way to flashes of insight. The edges of our faith so easily become flattened by the warp and woof of life, by traumatic disappointments on the one hand, and on the other by thousand mile stretches of endless monotonous flat highways across the great “plains” of life (sorry Kansas!). 
J D Walt

View from the Lanai
Sometimes I wonder… when in conversation, I consistently reference beautiful weather, beach time; repeatedly expressing sorrow that they aren’t here to enjoy it with me …are relationships being strengthened?

It gives me pause for thought about how I handle blessings I enjoy. Do I share them in a way that portrays them as gracious gifts or as rewards for my diligence and righteousness ?
Every good and perfect gift is from above….James 1:17

LISTEN OF THE WEEK

As much as possible, refrain from judging others. Assume that they are struggling secretly as well. Remember that our battle is with the passions.
Fr Stephen Freeman

Today is there is much to think about but unlike my usual ramblings, the focus is on the yesterday’s events. There is no shortage of opinions, observations, commentaries on one of the most disturbing experiences in my memory.

As I watched the scene, as expected, video captured the most vocal and extreme rioters, insurrectionists. But I also noticed footage of the margins of the crowd. Unlike those those leading the violent breech of the capital, people on margin, casually walking about, looked familiar. They looked like …friends, family, acquaintances … encountered over the past few years, and with whom in the course of conversations discovered our differences, resulting mostly in silence or avoidance of the subject.
I am struggling with the temptation to paint everyone in the crowd with same brush, or worse, all 70,000,000 sympathizers. No question there are some that should and, hopefully, will be prosecuted.
But people on the margin were familiar for another reason… they look like me. They, like myself, are struggling with their passions. My immediate challenge is to refrain from judging them. I believe the best restraint from judging others is a look in the mirror. I am not optimistic about my ability or willingness to see myself truthfully but, I was encouraged by a few members of congress yesterday.

The Message paraphrase of the “Do not judge..” passage in the Sermon on the Mount is helpful:
““Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.”
Matthew 7:1-5 MSG

A nagging question in all of this has been “how”. How could they …???
When that question arises I remind myself of my own experience which I have written about and shared a lot.

Some time around 1970, Ford Motor Company in Louisville, Ky initiated a program to hire hard core unemployable people to work as assembly operators. At that time I was a General Foreman in production assembly. Because of the dramatic challenges of integrating the hard core unemployable into the existing culture, a series of training sessions were conducted to better equip management employees. It was in one of those sessions that I encountered a life altering experience.

There were approximately 40-50 salaried employees participating in the training session. We were subjected to a variety of lectures and exercises designed to help us understand and deal with the cultural differences we would face as we managed what seemed to be unmanageable people.

The instructor told us we would be doing a problem solving exercise. We could not take notes but were to listen carefully to the problem and determine individually the correct answer. The problem was simple enough. It involved the sale of a mule between two farmers. There were three or four purchases and repurchases for different prices. The problem to be solved was who finally owned the mule and how much did the seller profit?

Given a few moments to think about our answers, the instructor asked us to share our answers. I thought that was unnecessary since it was such simple problem and I had determined the correct answer almost immediately. Expecting that everyone else would have the same answer, I was surprised that there were four or five different answers. At that point I was feeling some satisfaction in having the correct answer.

Next we were instructed to form groups based on our answers. Four or five groups emerged. The number of people in the groups varied from 10-12, 7-8, etc and my group with 4. Again, I was a bit surprised how few had gotten the answer correct. Once we were grouped, the instructor told us to discuss our answer within our group. Following that discussion, we were told that we could change groups if we so desired. The largest group gained some members, one of whom was
from my group.

The next step involved each group sending a representative to the other groups to convince them that their answer was correct. Following some passionate argument and pleas, once again we were given the opportunity to change our answer and join the agreeing group. I was pleased that none of my group departed but mystified that none joined us.

The final step involved each group sending a representative to work out their answer in writing on the white board. I represented our group and was pleased at how clearly I was able to illustrate the correct answer. Confident that people would finally realize how mistaken they were, I welcomed the final opportunity for people to change their minds and join my group. I watched with disappointment as another of my group departed for the largest group. No one
joined my group. There were now three groups. My group with myself and one other, a second group with 4-5 people and the large group with everyone else.

At this point, it is important to understand how invested I had become in the exercise. My mind was racing and my emotions were deepening. I was truly flabbergasted at the results of the exercise. It had become personal.

To conclude the exercise, the instructor chose two people to represent the farmers and provided money for the transaction. I should not have been surprised that he chose me to be one of the farmers. To assure that there would be no question about the outcome, we methodically acted out the transactions. Carefully we passed the money with each exchange. At the conclusion, I possessed the money and was asked to count it for everyone to see. Convinced I had calculated
the answer correctly, I gladly complied.

WRONG! I was wrong. There was no doubt.

The impact of that moment for me cannot be overstated. I was embarrassed and shamed. My arrogance and self-righteousness were exposed. How could I have been so deaf and blind? Any thought of humble acceptance escaped me. Thankfully the obvious outcome spared me the unfamiliar words: “I was wrong”. Almost immediately, the thought crossed my mind,

“If I was wrong about this, what else am I wrong about?

http://www.georgeezell.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Echo-Chambers.pdf

View from the lanai
Yes the sun did come up this morning and it was beautiful.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90:14 NIV

Front Porch View

This is the last Front Porch View until our front porch is restored when we return from Florida in March. In the interim, I will be sharing Views from the Lanai.

Recently, neighbors, a young couple, two doors down from us moved. They departed quickly, without farewell. We greeted them when they moved in two years ago, they were cordial, but that was the last conversation we had. I observed their daily routines and occasionally spoke to them as they passed by over the years. I often wondered about them and was disappointed that we were not able to connect. I feel sure they are a nice couple but I wonder if they are not some what typical of our society, other neighbors are similar.( I must not discount the possibly that I am the problem) In any case, I am thinking more about loving my neighbor and what that looks like in my neighborhood.

Peter Kuzmich once said, “Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future. Faith is having the courage to dance to that song today.”

Cynicism 
The cynic cloaks himself in the wise disguise of a realist. Truth be told, realism is just another name for a defeated idealism. Cynicism is the bitter fruit of a desecrated imagination. Cynicism treats the sickness of our hopelessness with the topical ointment of our thinly veiled anger.
J D Walt

Purity
Purity means embracing your unity with Christ and, in that unity, becoming free to open yourself fearlessly to others in ways that are safe and healthy and truly loving—in ways that draw others into fellowship with Christ too. Blessed are the pure in heart, Jesus said, for they shall see God. But such purity is not something to achieve through careful rule following. It is something to receive as the gift of God to you in Christ, and it is something that can never be lost.
Peterson, Amy. Where Goodness Still Grows (pp. 85-86). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. 

Hope
The existence of hope does not depend on us. It does not rely on our virtue or wisdom. It is a delivery from elsewhere.
Michael Gerson

More than Raw Matter
…it is possible to live honorably in revolt against a meaningless universe. But it is also possible to live dishonorably with the same justification. If raw matter is all that is, ideals such as justice are ultimately rootless. Consciousness would be a brief gap between oblivions. And death would always win in the end.
Michael Gerson

Fruits of Repentance
…the greatest prophet who ever lived said to “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” Fruits worthy of ­repentance—it is a fascinating concept. Fruit comes at the end of a process, not the beginning. Maybe checking the box of a donated coat isn’t the ticket. Fruit begins with breaking up fallow ground, and sowing, and cultivating, and watering, and more cultivating, and waiting, and finally by God’s grace, fruit. Maybe repentance can’t be reduced to a transaction at Goodwill. Maybe repentance takes sustained attention and effort. By the power of his Word and Spirit, Jesus wants to reach deeper than mere behavior and into our dispositions, desires, and affections. 
D Walt

Reflecting the image of God
…reflecting the image of God is more than passive reflection, like that of a mirror….Because of the plasticity of human nature, reflecting the image of God is active, developmental, and formational. Unlike a mirror reflecting back light, human nature is changed in the process of reflection, becoming a clearer and brighter reflection, a better and better mirror if you will. Alone in creation, only humans have this ability to reflect back the image of God to greater and greater degrees.
Richard Beck

Absolute Faith
Everyone talks about the importance of having faith. Well, these guys had faith, absolute faith. And there’s one really desperately upsetting…ideologically, there’s one desperately particularly upsetting moment where – in the book – where I talk about how Himmler and Hoss most admired, as prisoners, Jehovah’s Witnesses. They pointed to them and said, see that faith? That’s the kind of faith we need in our führer – absolute, unshakable faith. (from an interview with Laurence Rees, Auschwitz: A New History) Richard Rohr

The Circle of Life

Listen of the Week

Still on the Journey