The other day I was in my office seeing a patient of mind named Joan. She is a pleasant older lady – retired – who was in to check on her medical problems. We have an understanding, me and Joan, that I will discuss with her things that are important to her health and I understand that each thing I mention will make her more and more nervous. She will try to endure the nervousness about all the tests that are now expected as screening tests to prevent illness from happening, because she realizes that she needs to know all of it and that is part of the reason she comes to the doctor in the first place. We had been talking about her getting a dreaded colonoscopy for a long time, years actually, and she had decided to wait, over and over, because it was just too much to consider – what happens in a colonoscopy (which if you do not know, I am not going to tell you).
One of the last times I had seen her, we talked about how things were in her life, enjoyed a moment together and then I began my reminders of good health care and she began to cringe, but when I got to the colonoscopy and reminded her that it needed to be done, to help her not die from colon cancer, much to my astonishment, she reluctantly agreed! Well, after I got my jaw off the floor, I applauded her bravery and went on with the visit and after hers, the next one and on and on until the end of the day. Frankly, I forgot all about the fact that she had finally agreed to the colonoscopy until she came back to the office for her follow up visit 3months later.
So, the other day when she was in, in the process of our talking together and recapping that last 3months, she excitedly began to tell me about her colonoscopy (not the details, read on!). She announced, in her retired lady, somewhat shaky and nervous voice, “It wasn’t that bad! I slept through the whole thing!” grinning the whole time. Then she added, “You can do any test on me you want to if I can sleep through it! That was the best! I don’t even remember a thing about it!” By this time, she was nearly off her seat, as if released from the anxieties of my office and my explanations of all the healthcare she should be getting, to new vigor and life in the idea that we could probably do all her subsequent tests asleep!
Now, Joan is sweet and in some ways I agree with her. I do not like going to doctors (I know that is weird, but it is true) or having tests and certainly do not like having anyone see parts of me that no one else does. I do not like pain or discomfort. I do not like my space invaded – just try cutting me off in traffic sometime and you will see. But this whole, “You can do any testing you want as long as I am asleep,” idea really prompted some thought in me.
You see, I am convinced that so many of us live like this. We would rather just go through our lives asleep than awake. We immerse ourselves in our work until it is so frantic a pace that there is no longer any time to think or perceive or notice anything anymore. We simply do one thing and then the next and then the next and when we look up, the day is gone and we go to sleep and start over the next day – like we are under an anesthetic of our emotions and existence. We do this unconsciously most of the time, our society prompts us with so many things that can be used as anesthetics (fill our lives with things to do). But sometimes, we do it intentionally too – we do it to escape the pain that lingers in the moments of quiet. It is in those moments that we hear the call to something more; something that we have not yet been able to find. We have spent our lifetimes trying to find satisfaction, fun, joy, excitement and everything we try fails at some point or another. We feel lost and strangely misplaced in our own existences. But, if we can sleep through it, we can go through anything – so we mentally immerse ourselves in things – sometimes it is even good things like family outings and activities or religious activities. The problem is that if we are doing them because we feel this need to be immersed in something or because we feel we a need to be busy doing something and this seems like the best option…then we are simply following Joan’s advice and sleeping through. Yet, we all hear the voice inside us that calls us to something amazing and powerful and extraordinary. If we wake from our sleep, what do we do with this voice?
Well, that voice is the wonder and amazingness of you. God has marked you. He loves you tons and wants you to have a fabulous life – unleashed from the sleep of American life. He is the One who can help you through the pain of your past, through the uncertainty of your today and into the hope of your tomorrows. They do not have to be drowned away in the anesthetic of our society, they can be awake and alive and full of anticipation!
Now, I fully understand that to wake up from sleep can be painful. There are things that must be faced – some of them worse than the colonoscopy – but it is better, so much better to face them awake and walking with the One who can bring healing to them than it is to run away from them. You see, as you begin to face them, they no longer hold you caged in the fear of them and, like Joan, free to be excited at the doctor’s office, you can begin to see a whole new life!
How do you go about it? How do you begin to wake up? It’s simple. Begin to talk to God about it. He, by the way, does not expect any big fancy, Thee and Thou and Thy language from you – He only wants You. Just explain to Him your struggle – if you don’t understand, tell Him that and how much you do understand – ask Him to help – He will. I know because I used to sleep through life, and I never want to go back there.
Also, if you are interested in hanging out with some people who are trying to “wake up” from the American sleep – please join us every other Thursday at McAllister Recreation Center – 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette, 6:45-8:00 PM. Our next time together will be 10/1/09. We hope you can make it!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Who we are - What the Heck Does "Soulful" Mean?
We spent some time at the end of last week’s time talking about who we are. I had suggested at the end of last time together that there was a word I wanted us to think about over the 2wks that described us very well: Soulful. So, as we began talking about it, we simply had different people say what they thought that word might mean. We came up with quite a list:
Meaningful
Deep
Loving
Spiritual
Spirit led
Among others…
Then we explored the words a bit more. We came back to our previous time of celebrating the coolness of God story (or in this case, the last blog post) and were reminded that we are marked deep inside by God. We sense it in our lives it seems, no matter what our life’s circumstances seem to be. This part of us would be described by many as the soul. Now, I realize that this word has been abused and beaten down from its amazingness by the church over millennia, but if you will try to release the word from its man-made cage and allow it to represent the deepness inside us that cries in the despair of life and wonders at the joys of life, always moving us forward to something more, it will help a lot in this discussion. We cringe a bit at the word “spiritual” again because of all the things in the world that are “spiritual” and we are not talking about them. But, the portion of that word – “spirit” means something that is not routine, not normal anatomy and physiology, not something I can’t operate on in an operating room. And that is kind of what we are talking about – something outside the lines of the usual. Definitely deep – anything superficial would never match our “soulful” idea. Loving, yes, particularly in regard to this group and Outreach week. Spirit-led – seems to be something a least close to spiritual.
So, what does it mean that we are living “Soulfully?” What does it mean that we took time off from work, put on fluorescent orange shirts, and, like people who are not quite right in the head, took our vacation time to feed people, clothe people, give shoes and medicine to people without asking for any financial information – no proof of their need- allowing them to abuse this, manipulate, cheat, etc to get more from us than they were supposed to without judging them, hurting them back, etc? What does it mean that we cherished the help we were giving, even when we were overwhelmed, burdened and beat down?
What does it mean and where does this kind of living come from?
When we were there, at the Howarth Center, giving of ourselves, we certainly all had the sense that it was wonderful, a good thing. We probably have all heard at one time or another from someone serving on a mission trip or giving of themselves that “I got more out of it than the people I was serving.” Why? We are doing the giving. Why do we do it and why is it so wonderful? All would agree, it is not typical. Inspiring? Yes. Exciting? Yes. But ask other people to go ahead past thinking it is cool to actually do it and they will oftentimes cower and turn their faces away. Why? How are we different? What wonderful thing can describe something as desirable and wonderful as this? I would love to tell you – living soulfully is the way. But what does that mean and how do you do it? Please, in typical American fashion, give me ten steps to achieve soulfulness…
If we agree that the “soul” is that deep part in us that cries for something more, the “marked” portion of us (see the previous post). If, in fact, it is the part of us that dares to “notice” (to notice God and to celebrate how awesome and amazing He is and to notice other people and to see how amazing and yet hurting, they are); if it is the part of us that intentionally shoves out of the routine American, get more, be more, cubicalism (living your life confined to your cubical); out of the mundane, “keep up with the Joneses” kind of life, is it not living with this part of us (this “soul”, this deepness, this noticing part) in the forefront of our thoughts and actions, rather than the background (where it has been banished by us and our society), that produces such things as “Community Outreach 2009?” In fact, as we look to things in us that are “deep” and “meaningful” don’t we begin to let go of our attachment to the trinkets and insignificant things in life, and begin to live more in the “soul?” Don’t you think differently now than you used to? Don’t you feel a little differently than you used to? That is the awakening of the “deeps” of you; the “soul” of you; the God-marked meaning of you. That’s why “it is better to give than to receive” and why “I got more out of it than those I served” are not necessarily shocking phrases to us. The problem is that we live them out such a small amount of the time.
The thing is, I have someone at least once per day give me all these praises for the Outreach week. I always feel a little weird about their praise for what a good thing it was for us to do. I agree that it was a good thing. But I tend to be thinking more and more that it doesn’t deserve some praise in and of itself for several reasons: 1) As I tell them, this week was not an isolated event. It was simply the continuation and expression of what this group of people, this More than more, are trying to learn to live like. We are trying to find a better way of life than the usual American way and the Outreach was simply an overflow of that to the people of our community. 2) There is a very heavy sense in me (not bad heavy, just heavy) that this kind of living absolutely should not be a 1 week per year, or season, or month, kind of thing. It should be how we live, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. There is a call on the inside of me to continue to expand my “noticing” and our “noticing” until it becomes my/our way of life, rather than something we dabble in every other Thursday night and 1 week each summer. This may make some of you cringe a bit – it certainly does me – and this is probably why it feels “heavy.” But, listen closely, make sure you don’t miss this: I see this happening in me and you already. You all notice more than you ever have. You are aware of the wonderfulness of God around you and of people around you more than you used to be. You live more in the deepness and less in the mundaneness than you used to. The problem is, it still seems so far away to be able to live this way all the time. No question that most of the 24hrs of the days of my life are spent not noticing anything but either routine or what my selfish little head is wanting to a significant degree – and I am the one who is leading you! (But don’t forget, even though we all may still suck at it compared to what we feel drawn to, we are moving closer and closer to noticing over time.) And so this brings us to 3) We do not have the ability to push ourselves to do this on our own. We cannot psychologize or rationalize or motivate or plan enough to make ourselves do this. We will fail. We will end up back in our selfish little worlds, noticing nothing other than our cravings and desires and trying to quench the “more” call in us with whatever happens to pop into our heads! The only way to do this, to move to a place of noticing as a way of life, to live soulfully, is for God to do it in us.
How do we do this? Such a strange way to live, such a difficult thing to do, to try to begin to live life more fully sounds so good, but the God doing it in us sounds so odd and difficult, seems impossible. Should we give up? Should we shove away the screaming of our hearts? Should we bury it under a lifetime of busyness and immersion in everything we can think of? Should we live as islands, never really touching life? No, No, No, No! The answer to the seemingly difficult problem is found in the simplest of places; first, in the life of an infant. Ask a newborn to read a newspaper. I know, it sounds silly…impossible. If asked, they would be so far away from being able to read the newspaper in terms of abilities that it boggles the mind. Should we give up on them then? Should we just say, “All he can do is drool and sleep and cry and poop. What a worthless person?” No, of course not. Furthermore, do we expect them to be able to do it? Are we disappointed that they can’t read when they are born? No, we understand the process, it is slow but worth it. They are not a failure because of their inability, they are simply not there yet. With years of growth, they will learn to talk, and then to sing the ABC song and then sound out basic words and eventually read some board books and then chapter books and then the newspaper – no surprises.
Now building on that, consider you and me – we are not all the way able to notice as much as we seem to feel drawn to, not able to live soulfully as much of the time as we think we ought to be. Yet, we condemn ourselves for not being able to and throw our hands up – ready to quit at the seeming impossibility of it all. Still, look back on the time you have been interacting with More than more. We are all noticing more than we ever have before. We are living more soulfully than ever. We are the ones God used to do Community Outreach 2009 and that was seriously soulful! We are no longer infants – we are becoming more soulful! I see it in you and me. It is good. We are all moving from infancy to being able to read, but it is not a fast journey.
So, back to the question, how does this happen? How is God doing this in us? Clearly it is happening – we are soulful. But, we still seem to have so far to go. We touched on this briefly this last time, but this is where we will focus out time this next time, This Thursday night, 9/17, 6:45-8:00PM, McAllister Recreation Center – 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette. We hope to see you there!
Meaningful
Deep
Loving
Spiritual
Spirit led
Among others…
Then we explored the words a bit more. We came back to our previous time of celebrating the coolness of God story (or in this case, the last blog post) and were reminded that we are marked deep inside by God. We sense it in our lives it seems, no matter what our life’s circumstances seem to be. This part of us would be described by many as the soul. Now, I realize that this word has been abused and beaten down from its amazingness by the church over millennia, but if you will try to release the word from its man-made cage and allow it to represent the deepness inside us that cries in the despair of life and wonders at the joys of life, always moving us forward to something more, it will help a lot in this discussion. We cringe a bit at the word “spiritual” again because of all the things in the world that are “spiritual” and we are not talking about them. But, the portion of that word – “spirit” means something that is not routine, not normal anatomy and physiology, not something I can’t operate on in an operating room. And that is kind of what we are talking about – something outside the lines of the usual. Definitely deep – anything superficial would never match our “soulful” idea. Loving, yes, particularly in regard to this group and Outreach week. Spirit-led – seems to be something a least close to spiritual.
So, what does it mean that we are living “Soulfully?” What does it mean that we took time off from work, put on fluorescent orange shirts, and, like people who are not quite right in the head, took our vacation time to feed people, clothe people, give shoes and medicine to people without asking for any financial information – no proof of their need- allowing them to abuse this, manipulate, cheat, etc to get more from us than they were supposed to without judging them, hurting them back, etc? What does it mean that we cherished the help we were giving, even when we were overwhelmed, burdened and beat down?
What does it mean and where does this kind of living come from?
When we were there, at the Howarth Center, giving of ourselves, we certainly all had the sense that it was wonderful, a good thing. We probably have all heard at one time or another from someone serving on a mission trip or giving of themselves that “I got more out of it than the people I was serving.” Why? We are doing the giving. Why do we do it and why is it so wonderful? All would agree, it is not typical. Inspiring? Yes. Exciting? Yes. But ask other people to go ahead past thinking it is cool to actually do it and they will oftentimes cower and turn their faces away. Why? How are we different? What wonderful thing can describe something as desirable and wonderful as this? I would love to tell you – living soulfully is the way. But what does that mean and how do you do it? Please, in typical American fashion, give me ten steps to achieve soulfulness…
If we agree that the “soul” is that deep part in us that cries for something more, the “marked” portion of us (see the previous post). If, in fact, it is the part of us that dares to “notice” (to notice God and to celebrate how awesome and amazing He is and to notice other people and to see how amazing and yet hurting, they are); if it is the part of us that intentionally shoves out of the routine American, get more, be more, cubicalism (living your life confined to your cubical); out of the mundane, “keep up with the Joneses” kind of life, is it not living with this part of us (this “soul”, this deepness, this noticing part) in the forefront of our thoughts and actions, rather than the background (where it has been banished by us and our society), that produces such things as “Community Outreach 2009?” In fact, as we look to things in us that are “deep” and “meaningful” don’t we begin to let go of our attachment to the trinkets and insignificant things in life, and begin to live more in the “soul?” Don’t you think differently now than you used to? Don’t you feel a little differently than you used to? That is the awakening of the “deeps” of you; the “soul” of you; the God-marked meaning of you. That’s why “it is better to give than to receive” and why “I got more out of it than those I served” are not necessarily shocking phrases to us. The problem is that we live them out such a small amount of the time.
The thing is, I have someone at least once per day give me all these praises for the Outreach week. I always feel a little weird about their praise for what a good thing it was for us to do. I agree that it was a good thing. But I tend to be thinking more and more that it doesn’t deserve some praise in and of itself for several reasons: 1) As I tell them, this week was not an isolated event. It was simply the continuation and expression of what this group of people, this More than more, are trying to learn to live like. We are trying to find a better way of life than the usual American way and the Outreach was simply an overflow of that to the people of our community. 2) There is a very heavy sense in me (not bad heavy, just heavy) that this kind of living absolutely should not be a 1 week per year, or season, or month, kind of thing. It should be how we live, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. There is a call on the inside of me to continue to expand my “noticing” and our “noticing” until it becomes my/our way of life, rather than something we dabble in every other Thursday night and 1 week each summer. This may make some of you cringe a bit – it certainly does me – and this is probably why it feels “heavy.” But, listen closely, make sure you don’t miss this: I see this happening in me and you already. You all notice more than you ever have. You are aware of the wonderfulness of God around you and of people around you more than you used to be. You live more in the deepness and less in the mundaneness than you used to. The problem is, it still seems so far away to be able to live this way all the time. No question that most of the 24hrs of the days of my life are spent not noticing anything but either routine or what my selfish little head is wanting to a significant degree – and I am the one who is leading you! (But don’t forget, even though we all may still suck at it compared to what we feel drawn to, we are moving closer and closer to noticing over time.) And so this brings us to 3) We do not have the ability to push ourselves to do this on our own. We cannot psychologize or rationalize or motivate or plan enough to make ourselves do this. We will fail. We will end up back in our selfish little worlds, noticing nothing other than our cravings and desires and trying to quench the “more” call in us with whatever happens to pop into our heads! The only way to do this, to move to a place of noticing as a way of life, to live soulfully, is for God to do it in us.
How do we do this? Such a strange way to live, such a difficult thing to do, to try to begin to live life more fully sounds so good, but the God doing it in us sounds so odd and difficult, seems impossible. Should we give up? Should we shove away the screaming of our hearts? Should we bury it under a lifetime of busyness and immersion in everything we can think of? Should we live as islands, never really touching life? No, No, No, No! The answer to the seemingly difficult problem is found in the simplest of places; first, in the life of an infant. Ask a newborn to read a newspaper. I know, it sounds silly…impossible. If asked, they would be so far away from being able to read the newspaper in terms of abilities that it boggles the mind. Should we give up on them then? Should we just say, “All he can do is drool and sleep and cry and poop. What a worthless person?” No, of course not. Furthermore, do we expect them to be able to do it? Are we disappointed that they can’t read when they are born? No, we understand the process, it is slow but worth it. They are not a failure because of their inability, they are simply not there yet. With years of growth, they will learn to talk, and then to sing the ABC song and then sound out basic words and eventually read some board books and then chapter books and then the newspaper – no surprises.
Now building on that, consider you and me – we are not all the way able to notice as much as we seem to feel drawn to, not able to live soulfully as much of the time as we think we ought to be. Yet, we condemn ourselves for not being able to and throw our hands up – ready to quit at the seeming impossibility of it all. Still, look back on the time you have been interacting with More than more. We are all noticing more than we ever have before. We are living more soulfully than ever. We are the ones God used to do Community Outreach 2009 and that was seriously soulful! We are no longer infants – we are becoming more soulful! I see it in you and me. It is good. We are all moving from infancy to being able to read, but it is not a fast journey.
So, back to the question, how does this happen? How is God doing this in us? Clearly it is happening – we are soulful. But, we still seem to have so far to go. We touched on this briefly this last time, but this is where we will focus out time this next time, This Thursday night, 9/17, 6:45-8:00PM, McAllister Recreation Center – 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette. We hope to see you there!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Who we are…soulful?
We are More than more. We believe in finding More to life than the American way of getting more and more and more. We want to savor life and live with meaning and fullness and joy.
If you missed our time together Thursday night, you missed a great time. It was fun to relax and learn some new ways to think and go about life. We hope you can make it next time!
We started with some time celebrating how big God is. This time was different than some we have shared. We followed the story of several creatures born at the same time.
A bird was born in a tree in Indiana. It hatched, as all birds do. It was fed well with bugs and worms from its mother bird. It grew and grew and eventually ventured out of the nest to fly, then to find a mate of its own and have baby birds of its own.
Another bird was born in Arizona, right on the edge of the desert, not in the city where everyone waters their plants and lawns are green. It was born in barrenness and there was hardly enough food. Its mom was not around much because the search for food was so difficult and when she did find food, there was not enough to fill all the little birds’ tummies. The bird did grow up though, learning how to fly a little later in life than its Indiana counterpart, but flying nevertheless. It also found a mate, had some baby birds and they went about their lives. The lives of the 2 birds are quite different because of their circumstances, but neither gave any thought to it. They lived their lives and found food and grew and tried to fly and on and on and on their story goes – hardly a surprise to any of us!
A Lion was born on the great Serengeti plains. It nurtured and raised by its mother in the usual way; It and its siblings in the den, mother bringing in the plentiful gazelles for them to eat, growing and developing. This lion had all the comforts, plenty of food, siblings to spar with, plenty of attention from its mother because she did not need to hunt all day to find food, it was so plentiful. The lion grew and grew and grew and eventually its roar could be heard all around the area. It found a mate and filled a den with cubs.
Another lion was born right on the edge of the Sahara. Worse yet, it was dry season and there was very little green anywhere. The gazelles, antelopes and water buffalos were scarce as many had died in the dry conditions, or had migrated elsewhere in the region. The mother searched for food, but several of the little lions’ siblings died because there just was not enough to eat. It, however, was strong, and got more than its share from the mother when she did bring back food. She was gone a lot on hunts and one the siblings was eaten by hyenas as, unsupervised, it wandered out of the den too far. The little lion got enough food to grow and eventually was able to leave its mother’s care and the den and find a mate and have some cubs of its own.
A human was born to parents that desired a child it. They had loved each other deeply and felt prepared to have a child and so they had conceived this little wonder, or so they called it. They cherished it from the moment of its birth, doting on it, feeding it, bathing it, caring for its every need. They loved the child and the child never knew what it was like to not be loved, never new what it meant to not have enough. The child grew up happy, went to school, enjoyed its days, playing with friends and family, and eventually grew up, and went on to live a great life. The child felt this sense on its life that there must be something more. There was a sense of anticipation to life that they were there on earth for some great purpose and that they needed to find that and do it. They had this idea deep inside them that just ordinary, day to day stuff was not enough; that there must be more.
Another human child was born to parents that did not want the child. It was an “accident” and caused much pain and loss to the parents. There was so much fear and concern to the birth that the father left promptly and never returned – and the child never knew its father. There was even talk of aborting the baby, but the mom never made it to the clinic and so was forced to carry the child. The baby was born, and was placed in the cradle in the hospital and rarely held. It was then taken home and it always felt itself to be somewhat of a burden to its mother. The child worked hard from the time it was little, trying to help the family survive. The mother had many men and there was abuse of all kinds enacted upon the child, who grew up in fear and desperation. The child would walk home from school in the dark and each car that came on, would imagine that that was the family they had always dreamed of. They would walk by each driveway and look at the warm lights inside each house and dream that that was their house, where people would love them. They had a sense, as long as they could remember, that there must be more to life than this. There must be more than pain and loss and fear. The heartache and despair and hopelessness was met by a sense that there must be something other than this to life…a sense of anticipation or at least longing for something more.
The amazing thing about the 6 characters in our story is that the first 4 are so different from each other. Some growing up in plenty and having all they need and some growing up in nothing, with barely enough to survive. Yet, they think nothing of it. They simply go about their lives, living on their instincts and their training from their parents and doing the best they can to survive and thrive in the their given setting. Contrary to Disney talking animals like Pooh and Simba, Poomba and even the non-talking Dalmations Pongo and Purdy in 101 Dalmations, these creatures feel no human-like disappointment at the plight of their lives nor sense of expectation in their good circumstances. They simply carry on. The humans, however, no matter how different their circumstances, sense some sense of anticipation and wonder – something bigger and more than they are experiencing – from the time they are little. Whether it be the despair of how bad they have it, or the wonder of how good life is and how there is much they should be doing with their life, they have the similar sense that “this is not all there its.”
Now, I realize that up to this point this is purely a story and as interesting or not that it may be, it is not necessarily personal, but each of you can personalize this particular story. Consider the life you have lived, have there not been moments of despair, loss, pain, frustration? Maybe even right now, you are experiencing something like this – some of us who have been attending More than more are in the middle of these times right now. In these moments, did you not feel some of the abandoned and lost child’s sense of “something more?” Did you not at least appreciate how bad and yucky your circumstances were? Or perhaps you can identify with the other child. Have you never been cruising along and in reflective moments considered that fact that there is a sense of anticipation, something larger to your life; that you were meant to be something so much more, to become? Doesn’t this amazing awareness infect itself into every human’s life, from the worst to the best?
Now, that being said, isn’t it remarkable that we all identify this? Isn’t it amazing that we all have this same kind of sense about the deepness of our lives? So, what’s up with this feeling, this depth of sensation which surpasses what we would expect out of our ordinariness? This is the mark of God on your life. You are human – and we are each one-of-a-kind masterpieces made by a God who desires us and has something in this life for us that is so far beyond what we have seen it is amazing. We all sense it – either in the contrast to the pain we have lived in or in expectation of our future. Animals do not sense this. They simply are born and live in the moments of their lives, instinctually, until they die. How can we account for the difference in any other way? Certainly we cannot account for this with evolution as an isolated means of our being here, without some creator involved. It is ludicrous to imagine that not only did we develop accidentally over billions of years from a soup of chemicals, but that we somewhere along the line made this amazing leap into wonder and awe and a sense of something more to life – the very sense that makes us capable of so much (good and bad). It just is not plausible.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, it was time in our time together to be thankful for these amazing things. It is God who has marked us. It is Him who has made us unique and amazing and full of this sense in us of something more. This part of us, this obvious, but hard to isolate part – we call the soul. It is the center of everything that you are – and a surgical exploration of you will not find it – a dissection will not point to the place it exists. You are marked and special and amazing and full of wonder and expectation. Even more, you were made that way. It is not an accident. It is something to savor and relish and cherish about your life. It is something to explore and thank God for. It is this sense that keeps the despairing person going – allows them to come out of the most heinous circumstances to something meaningful. It is this that moves the well cared for person moving forward to discover amazing things and create all kinds of newness in the world.
So, the next time you notice your uniqueness, notice the deep sense inside you that there is something huge about life and it may be sliding by you or calling to you, notice the God who stamped that on you, who made you special…stop and savor and thank Him. He loves you dearly – and this is why you are marked by Him – and this is something to celebrate!
I am going to make this one blog entry and then continue to the next part of our time together with a separate entry – since it is so long – please feel free to comment – or join us next time – 9/17 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister Center in Lafayette – 20th and Schuyler.
If you missed our time together Thursday night, you missed a great time. It was fun to relax and learn some new ways to think and go about life. We hope you can make it next time!
We started with some time celebrating how big God is. This time was different than some we have shared. We followed the story of several creatures born at the same time.
A bird was born in a tree in Indiana. It hatched, as all birds do. It was fed well with bugs and worms from its mother bird. It grew and grew and eventually ventured out of the nest to fly, then to find a mate of its own and have baby birds of its own.
Another bird was born in Arizona, right on the edge of the desert, not in the city where everyone waters their plants and lawns are green. It was born in barrenness and there was hardly enough food. Its mom was not around much because the search for food was so difficult and when she did find food, there was not enough to fill all the little birds’ tummies. The bird did grow up though, learning how to fly a little later in life than its Indiana counterpart, but flying nevertheless. It also found a mate, had some baby birds and they went about their lives. The lives of the 2 birds are quite different because of their circumstances, but neither gave any thought to it. They lived their lives and found food and grew and tried to fly and on and on and on their story goes – hardly a surprise to any of us!
A Lion was born on the great Serengeti plains. It nurtured and raised by its mother in the usual way; It and its siblings in the den, mother bringing in the plentiful gazelles for them to eat, growing and developing. This lion had all the comforts, plenty of food, siblings to spar with, plenty of attention from its mother because she did not need to hunt all day to find food, it was so plentiful. The lion grew and grew and grew and eventually its roar could be heard all around the area. It found a mate and filled a den with cubs.
Another lion was born right on the edge of the Sahara. Worse yet, it was dry season and there was very little green anywhere. The gazelles, antelopes and water buffalos were scarce as many had died in the dry conditions, or had migrated elsewhere in the region. The mother searched for food, but several of the little lions’ siblings died because there just was not enough to eat. It, however, was strong, and got more than its share from the mother when she did bring back food. She was gone a lot on hunts and one the siblings was eaten by hyenas as, unsupervised, it wandered out of the den too far. The little lion got enough food to grow and eventually was able to leave its mother’s care and the den and find a mate and have some cubs of its own.
A human was born to parents that desired a child it. They had loved each other deeply and felt prepared to have a child and so they had conceived this little wonder, or so they called it. They cherished it from the moment of its birth, doting on it, feeding it, bathing it, caring for its every need. They loved the child and the child never knew what it was like to not be loved, never new what it meant to not have enough. The child grew up happy, went to school, enjoyed its days, playing with friends and family, and eventually grew up, and went on to live a great life. The child felt this sense on its life that there must be something more. There was a sense of anticipation to life that they were there on earth for some great purpose and that they needed to find that and do it. They had this idea deep inside them that just ordinary, day to day stuff was not enough; that there must be more.
Another human child was born to parents that did not want the child. It was an “accident” and caused much pain and loss to the parents. There was so much fear and concern to the birth that the father left promptly and never returned – and the child never knew its father. There was even talk of aborting the baby, but the mom never made it to the clinic and so was forced to carry the child. The baby was born, and was placed in the cradle in the hospital and rarely held. It was then taken home and it always felt itself to be somewhat of a burden to its mother. The child worked hard from the time it was little, trying to help the family survive. The mother had many men and there was abuse of all kinds enacted upon the child, who grew up in fear and desperation. The child would walk home from school in the dark and each car that came on, would imagine that that was the family they had always dreamed of. They would walk by each driveway and look at the warm lights inside each house and dream that that was their house, where people would love them. They had a sense, as long as they could remember, that there must be more to life than this. There must be more than pain and loss and fear. The heartache and despair and hopelessness was met by a sense that there must be something other than this to life…a sense of anticipation or at least longing for something more.
The amazing thing about the 6 characters in our story is that the first 4 are so different from each other. Some growing up in plenty and having all they need and some growing up in nothing, with barely enough to survive. Yet, they think nothing of it. They simply go about their lives, living on their instincts and their training from their parents and doing the best they can to survive and thrive in the their given setting. Contrary to Disney talking animals like Pooh and Simba, Poomba and even the non-talking Dalmations Pongo and Purdy in 101 Dalmations, these creatures feel no human-like disappointment at the plight of their lives nor sense of expectation in their good circumstances. They simply carry on. The humans, however, no matter how different their circumstances, sense some sense of anticipation and wonder – something bigger and more than they are experiencing – from the time they are little. Whether it be the despair of how bad they have it, or the wonder of how good life is and how there is much they should be doing with their life, they have the similar sense that “this is not all there its.”
Now, I realize that up to this point this is purely a story and as interesting or not that it may be, it is not necessarily personal, but each of you can personalize this particular story. Consider the life you have lived, have there not been moments of despair, loss, pain, frustration? Maybe even right now, you are experiencing something like this – some of us who have been attending More than more are in the middle of these times right now. In these moments, did you not feel some of the abandoned and lost child’s sense of “something more?” Did you not at least appreciate how bad and yucky your circumstances were? Or perhaps you can identify with the other child. Have you never been cruising along and in reflective moments considered that fact that there is a sense of anticipation, something larger to your life; that you were meant to be something so much more, to become? Doesn’t this amazing awareness infect itself into every human’s life, from the worst to the best?
Now, that being said, isn’t it remarkable that we all identify this? Isn’t it amazing that we all have this same kind of sense about the deepness of our lives? So, what’s up with this feeling, this depth of sensation which surpasses what we would expect out of our ordinariness? This is the mark of God on your life. You are human – and we are each one-of-a-kind masterpieces made by a God who desires us and has something in this life for us that is so far beyond what we have seen it is amazing. We all sense it – either in the contrast to the pain we have lived in or in expectation of our future. Animals do not sense this. They simply are born and live in the moments of their lives, instinctually, until they die. How can we account for the difference in any other way? Certainly we cannot account for this with evolution as an isolated means of our being here, without some creator involved. It is ludicrous to imagine that not only did we develop accidentally over billions of years from a soup of chemicals, but that we somewhere along the line made this amazing leap into wonder and awe and a sense of something more to life – the very sense that makes us capable of so much (good and bad). It just is not plausible.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, it was time in our time together to be thankful for these amazing things. It is God who has marked us. It is Him who has made us unique and amazing and full of this sense in us of something more. This part of us, this obvious, but hard to isolate part – we call the soul. It is the center of everything that you are – and a surgical exploration of you will not find it – a dissection will not point to the place it exists. You are marked and special and amazing and full of wonder and expectation. Even more, you were made that way. It is not an accident. It is something to savor and relish and cherish about your life. It is something to explore and thank God for. It is this sense that keeps the despairing person going – allows them to come out of the most heinous circumstances to something meaningful. It is this that moves the well cared for person moving forward to discover amazing things and create all kinds of newness in the world.
So, the next time you notice your uniqueness, notice the deep sense inside you that there is something huge about life and it may be sliding by you or calling to you, notice the God who stamped that on you, who made you special…stop and savor and thank Him. He loves you dearly – and this is why you are marked by Him – and this is something to celebrate!
I am going to make this one blog entry and then continue to the next part of our time together with a separate entry – since it is so long – please feel free to comment – or join us next time – 9/17 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister Center in Lafayette – 20th and Schuyler.
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