Fair enough, Randy. Please simply consider my "challenge" to be a "nudge," not an "insistence." I'm glad to hear that this thought was already in your mind. I need to take my own advice. I have sketched-out a coming-of-age young adult novel about a boy on our family Three Circle (OOO) ranch in Arlington, Wyoming. I also have an idea for a commentary on "work as worship," based on the Hebrew word, avodah, which is essentially rooted in both concepts; I definitely see our vocational service unto the LORD as an act of worship. My daughter, a talented writing, and I want to write a parenting book together. And I need to write my "memoirs" (too early but as a tribute to the influence of my 89-year-old mother before she died. So many books. So little time.
Absolutely nothing unsophisticated about this response, Randy. I loved it. I so appreciate the transparency of pastors who will admit when they struggle in their faith. Our pastors are "open books." They are "real." And no one in our congregation judges them for their sin or doubt. And you presented such a compelling case for Christianity in this relatively short, but weighty testimony. The Resurrection of Jesus is THE most miraculous event and THE most important event in all of human history --
past, present, and future! And you are so right that the person and example of Jesus Christ draws us to faith! I have a challenge for you. You craft sentences so well. Your opening in this piece makes me believe ("have faith") that you could create a piece of fiction which presents your treatise in the form of a novel. Before you dismiss my challenge, please know that I was an English major and English teacher. And I love to write. I am also a voracious reader. I have read good writing and bad writing. YOUR writing is EXCELLENT writing. Thanks for encouraging us, and I encourage YOU to write a novel!
This is very high praise, Bob, and I appreciate it. And, yes, I've thought about your suggestion before. Your encouragement will go onto the scale where that idea resides. But I have this day job and sundry other commitments, so, don't hold your breath! Let's just say it's in the slow cooker. Thanks!
I thought your comment "Am I certain? No more than anyone can be certain about anything. And yet most of the time I’m at rest" expressed well where I eventually found myself after my 16-year-ish "dark night of the soul" (2000 to 2016 . . . and, no, it was not a dark night as it seems St. John of the Cross experienced . . . or as others seem to imply; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Night_of_the_Soul. --Those authors seem to view it with hope and, it seems, almost, a full expectation that you, they, the subject, will come out the other side into an expurgated light When I was going through it, I held out no such hope. I was "merely," thoroughly hopeless).
My watchwords have been, mostly--for better or worse: "Lord, I believe! Help me in my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24) . . . and "Like a weaned child upon its mother's breast, so is my soul within me" (Psalm 131:2) . . . and Micah 6:8 (which seems to be my "life verse"): "He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does YHWH require of you but to do justice . . . and to love kindness . . . and to walk humbly with your God."
Yet, recently (2020ish and following), I find myself drawn to participate with those who are urging us, as Jesus-followers, to participate in the kind of life He led as described by ____ in Acts 10:37-38: "You yourselves know . . . how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him."
Are we who pursue Him like that--like the one-armed handball champion who claimed he became a champion because, as he said, unlike those with two arms, he had "no options" (https://youtu.be/MvR7JJhWVPE?si=vvVjFn7OvjW0iCWo&t=685)? Will I pursue Him like that, seeking to do as He did, healing the sick, raising the dead, proclaiming the year of YHWH's favor (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2; Matthew 11:4-6; Isaiah 35:5-6; John 7:38)? Will I be like a John Wimber and pray for healing of 200 or more people before I see the first one jump out of his or her death- (or near-death-)bed (see--or, rather, listen to [at ~2.5x regular speed!]--John Wimber: His Life and Ministry [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D2N7WYFF/])? Will I do as the "crazies" at a Bethel Church in Redding, California (and many others) have done and--how does Bill Johnson express it? Something like--"refuse to conform my theology to my experience, but, rather, seek to conform my experience to what God says" [something like that] . . . about healing and rivers of living water?
I have decided to answer those latter questions in the affirmative. And so, as a result, while I really like the weaned child metaphor (I mean, I *really* like it!), I also want to--and am seeking to--pursue behaviors (mental, physical, and spiritual) that match those other, more . . . mmmmm . . . I don't want to call them "manly" (because women can pursue them as well), but . . . is "virile" a good word? (I just looked it up . . . and though its meaning ("energetic, forceful," relating to strength and fecundity) is EXACTLY correct, its gendered sense is exactly NOT what I want to communicate; and its supposed antonym, also a gendered word, muliebral, is TOTALLY not what I want even to imply!) . . . So . . . I lack the correct adjective or adverb. But. From the perspective of effective imagery, let me start over:
I want to pursue the behaviors that match the more . . . .mmmmm . . . ATHLETIC and MARTIAL analogies God uses: the image of runners straining to win the prize . . . or soldiers in battle who fight to conquer, or apostellos who go where the gospel is not yet known (or where it has been trampled under foot). . . . Let me be the soldier recovering from his or her wounds on the front lines rather than the over-indulged person being attended to because he or she is suffering the ravages of atherosclerosis or diabetes as a result of overindulgence and a sedentary lifestyle.
The question I have: Is this, my desire, an example of "the best defense [being] an offense" . . . or, perhaps, of an Icarus seeking to fly too close to the sun? . . . Or could it be, actually, that I get to run the race of a Jim Ryun . . . or a Jim Elliott . . . or a Brother Andrew . . . or David Wilkerson . . . or (Dare to be a) Daniel . . . or Joseph . . . or maybe a . . . John Holzmann?
********
Thanks for this, your (semi-kinda-chatbot-style) PROMPT for a meditation!
It seems it does not take MUCH to prompt you into a worthy essay, so I'm glad I did so. That line, though, about certainty, is one I expect people to struggle with. We'll see. I'm glad it resonated with at least one!
Fair enough, Randy. Please simply consider my "challenge" to be a "nudge," not an "insistence." I'm glad to hear that this thought was already in your mind. I need to take my own advice. I have sketched-out a coming-of-age young adult novel about a boy on our family Three Circle (OOO) ranch in Arlington, Wyoming. I also have an idea for a commentary on "work as worship," based on the Hebrew word, avodah, which is essentially rooted in both concepts; I definitely see our vocational service unto the LORD as an act of worship. My daughter, a talented writing, and I want to write a parenting book together. And I need to write my "memoirs" (too early but as a tribute to the influence of my 89-year-old mother before she died. So many books. So little time.
Absolutely nothing unsophisticated about this response, Randy. I loved it. I so appreciate the transparency of pastors who will admit when they struggle in their faith. Our pastors are "open books." They are "real." And no one in our congregation judges them for their sin or doubt. And you presented such a compelling case for Christianity in this relatively short, but weighty testimony. The Resurrection of Jesus is THE most miraculous event and THE most important event in all of human history --
past, present, and future! And you are so right that the person and example of Jesus Christ draws us to faith! I have a challenge for you. You craft sentences so well. Your opening in this piece makes me believe ("have faith") that you could create a piece of fiction which presents your treatise in the form of a novel. Before you dismiss my challenge, please know that I was an English major and English teacher. And I love to write. I am also a voracious reader. I have read good writing and bad writing. YOUR writing is EXCELLENT writing. Thanks for encouraging us, and I encourage YOU to write a novel!
This is very high praise, Bob, and I appreciate it. And, yes, I've thought about your suggestion before. Your encouragement will go onto the scale where that idea resides. But I have this day job and sundry other commitments, so, don't hold your breath! Let's just say it's in the slow cooker. Thanks!
A worthy and necessary subject.
I thought your comment "Am I certain? No more than anyone can be certain about anything. And yet most of the time I’m at rest" expressed well where I eventually found myself after my 16-year-ish "dark night of the soul" (2000 to 2016 . . . and, no, it was not a dark night as it seems St. John of the Cross experienced . . . or as others seem to imply; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Night_of_the_Soul. --Those authors seem to view it with hope and, it seems, almost, a full expectation that you, they, the subject, will come out the other side into an expurgated light When I was going through it, I held out no such hope. I was "merely," thoroughly hopeless).
My watchwords have been, mostly--for better or worse: "Lord, I believe! Help me in my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24) . . . and "Like a weaned child upon its mother's breast, so is my soul within me" (Psalm 131:2) . . . and Micah 6:8 (which seems to be my "life verse"): "He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does YHWH require of you but to do justice . . . and to love kindness . . . and to walk humbly with your God."
Yet, recently (2020ish and following), I find myself drawn to participate with those who are urging us, as Jesus-followers, to participate in the kind of life He led as described by ____ in Acts 10:37-38: "You yourselves know . . . how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him."
Are we who pursue Him like that--like the one-armed handball champion who claimed he became a champion because, as he said, unlike those with two arms, he had "no options" (https://youtu.be/MvR7JJhWVPE?si=vvVjFn7OvjW0iCWo&t=685)? Will I pursue Him like that, seeking to do as He did, healing the sick, raising the dead, proclaiming the year of YHWH's favor (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2; Matthew 11:4-6; Isaiah 35:5-6; John 7:38)? Will I be like a John Wimber and pray for healing of 200 or more people before I see the first one jump out of his or her death- (or near-death-)bed (see--or, rather, listen to [at ~2.5x regular speed!]--John Wimber: His Life and Ministry [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D2N7WYFF/])? Will I do as the "crazies" at a Bethel Church in Redding, California (and many others) have done and--how does Bill Johnson express it? Something like--"refuse to conform my theology to my experience, but, rather, seek to conform my experience to what God says" [something like that] . . . about healing and rivers of living water?
I have decided to answer those latter questions in the affirmative. And so, as a result, while I really like the weaned child metaphor (I mean, I *really* like it!), I also want to--and am seeking to--pursue behaviors (mental, physical, and spiritual) that match those other, more . . . mmmmm . . . I don't want to call them "manly" (because women can pursue them as well), but . . . is "virile" a good word? (I just looked it up . . . and though its meaning ("energetic, forceful," relating to strength and fecundity) is EXACTLY correct, its gendered sense is exactly NOT what I want to communicate; and its supposed antonym, also a gendered word, muliebral, is TOTALLY not what I want even to imply!) . . . So . . . I lack the correct adjective or adverb. But. From the perspective of effective imagery, let me start over:
I want to pursue the behaviors that match the more . . . .mmmmm . . . ATHLETIC and MARTIAL analogies God uses: the image of runners straining to win the prize . . . or soldiers in battle who fight to conquer, or apostellos who go where the gospel is not yet known (or where it has been trampled under foot). . . . Let me be the soldier recovering from his or her wounds on the front lines rather than the over-indulged person being attended to because he or she is suffering the ravages of atherosclerosis or diabetes as a result of overindulgence and a sedentary lifestyle.
The question I have: Is this, my desire, an example of "the best defense [being] an offense" . . . or, perhaps, of an Icarus seeking to fly too close to the sun? . . . Or could it be, actually, that I get to run the race of a Jim Ryun . . . or a Jim Elliott . . . or a Brother Andrew . . . or David Wilkerson . . . or (Dare to be a) Daniel . . . or Joseph . . . or maybe a . . . John Holzmann?
********
Thanks for this, your (semi-kinda-chatbot-style) PROMPT for a meditation!
It seems it does not take MUCH to prompt you into a worthy essay, so I'm glad I did so. That line, though, about certainty, is one I expect people to struggle with. We'll see. I'm glad it resonated with at least one!