Monday, September 26, 2016

What are you afraid of?



What are you afraid of?

Is it a scary movie? Or walking to your car in a dark corner of a parking lot late at night? Or hearing heavy foot steps from behind you, getting closer?

Wikipedia defines fear as a "feeling caused by perceived danger or threat. Ultimately it causes a change in behavior, such as fleeing or hiding."

(Remember being taught the "flight or fight" response in your Introduction to Psychology class?)

Lou Dzierak, writing in Scientific American noted that "the behavior of people around us may influence our response to threatening situations."

In the same article, Michael Lewis, Director of the Institute for Child Development at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School said that "fear has a certain contagious feature to it."

In 1933, in the middle of the Great Depression, during his first inaugural address President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously said "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." He reminded the American people that despite outwardly dire circumstances, they had a choice in terms of how to respond.

So, if we don't want to spread fear, what is the opposite of it?

Christianity Today says faith, peace and confidence are fear's opposites. Which jibes with Merriam-Webster's listing of assurance, confidence, courage and fortitude as fear's antonyms.

King David, who knew a thing or two about fear, wrote "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe." (Ps. 4.8).

From personal experience, he also wrote "Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident." (Ps. 27.3)

Jeremiah wrote down what God had to say about fear: "Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." (Jer. 17.7-8)

There have always been terrible events, both at home and worldwide, that cause fear. It isn't a question of fear being justified, But it is a question of how we choose to respond when fear knocks on our door.

We can become anxious, frightful, agitated, and, in general, let fear bring out the worst in us.

Or, we can choose to look outside of the circumstances, outside of ourselves. To trust God.

When we do this, we are actively choosing faith.

With this option comes peace, hope and confidence. Not in ourselves. Not in being able to figure it all out. Not in denying the circumstances. But in choosing to look beyond them.

This perspective can make all the difference.

Photo Credit: www.theregister.co.uk



















Monday, September 19, 2016

Who is in your cloud?



Recently I attended an awards ceremony where all three recipients made reference to the importance of having other people in their lives who set examples and kept them focused on the common good.

After the ceremony I got to thinking how these examples equated to the 'vast cloud (or crowd) of witnesses' that Paul writes about in Hebrews (11th chapter).

Spiritually speaking, Paul writes about how important it is to remember that "we are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses." (Hebrews 12.1) For Paul, this 'huge crowd' included Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Issac, Jacob, and Rahab among others.

The importance of having such witnesses, says Paul, is that it keeps us strongly connected to "the life of faith" (Hebrews 12.1)

This connection serves a multitude of purposes. Among them are staying connected to sources of encouragement, wisdom and grace.

Thousands of years past the time of Paul, our culture may have changed significantly. But the social fabric that keeps our culture together hasn't.

We still need examples of those who have gone before us. We still need a family that feeds our soul. We still need a connection to a 'cloud of witnesses.'

And I'm wondering, who is in your cloud? Who is watching over you?

Who has guided you in your journey thus far? Who sets the example that you follow?

You might think that these are questions that only children or youth need to consider.

But I would suggest that its importance never ceases, because if we aren't following someone's example, we are probably setting one for someone else. And we can only lead to the extent that we have been led.

This is indeed powerful stuff.

For example, there have been hundreds of studies that point to the fact that those who are abused are very likely to become abusers themselves.

In part, the rate of recidivism among those who have been incarcerated is high because, while incarcerated, prisoners are surrounded by other prisoners with very few positive examples of how to re-direct their life.

So it isn't only the young who need to choose their friends carefully.

But even if our friends should come up lacking, it's encouraging to know that we can draw inspiration from those who have gone before us.

Your 'cloud of witnesses' can be any of your spiritual sisters and brothers.

In taking this view, I would offer that among my witness cloud are Dorothy Day, Mother Teresa, Dan Berrigan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, Jane Addams, Steve Biko, Nelson & Winnie Mandela, Marian Wright Edelman, Bryan Stevenson, Jeremy Courtney and Malala Yousafzai.

While most of these folks have passed on, some have not. Most of these individuals achieved their status as adults, but some, like Malala Yousafzai, who received the Nobel Peace Prize when 17 years of age, were quite young.

What does this 'cloud of witnesses' have in common?

. They were firmly focused on the common good, often at the risk of their own lives
. They helped initiate major social change
. They gave sacrificially, often with little material reward
. They were spiritually grounded
. They were not influenced by their culture's definition of 'success'

I encourage all of us to spend some time asking, who is in your 'cloud of witnesses'? What do they have in common?

And let's regularly ask: Who is watching over you?

Photo credit: www.saintjohnwellesley.org











Monday, September 12, 2016

5 Things to Think About



Here's a few things to consider today.

1. Sometimes it's the little things in life that count the most.

It isn't always the big, more obvious, in-your-face sort of events that move us.

More often than not, it's the everyday, subtle things. If you choose to focus on them they can recharge you.

Dew on ornamental grass. The cool, clean, freshness of the morning air at the start of the day. A monarch butterfly lighting on a flower. Rose-hued clouds reflecting the sunset.

A baby smiling at you while you're waiting in the grocery line check-out can stop you in your tracks.

Little moments like these happening throughout the day can refresh us if we let them.


2. You don't have to have it all figured out.

Nobody has it all figured out.

If someone tells you that they do, it's a sure sign that they don't.

Life is complicated. It's intricate. It's delicate.

The Bible says that the things of the Spirit can't be discerned with the natural mind.  (1 Corinthians 2.14).

Do yourself a favor and give yourself permission to realize the limits of logical thinking.


3. Relationship is more important than dogma.

As far as spiritual development goes, relationship is more important than dogma.

One of the few groups that Jesus openly admonished were the religious leaders of his day. He got angry with them because they thought they had God all figured out.

We can learn a lesson from them if we value relationship with God over dogma.


4. You don't know what you don't know. 

This point is related to point No. 3.

It flows from it.

If we refuse to consider anything outside of our own experience or understanding, then we are limiting ourselves.

Simply admitting that we don't know something brings the freedom to learn and grow.



5. God loves you.

Life being what it is, there will be suffering, pain and challenges.

That doesn't mean that God somehow stopped loving you. That doesn't mean that God became angry and decided to punish us. (There's a scripture that reads, "For God loved the world - meaning us - so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3.15-17)

Most followers of God's Son are good at reminding us of the first two verses of this scripture, without mentioning the final one - the part about Jesus not coming into the world to judge but save.

It is during times of trial that faith can grow if we decide to trust God.

What do YOU think?!!

Photo Credit: www.buckets.cc
diagram from Art & Psychology: https:goo.go/OoNwYB








Monday, September 5, 2016

What's holding you back?



"What's holding you back? What's got you tied down? God wants to burn it off."

That was one of the major points that Pastor Rick Warren mentioned in a recent sermon highlighting Daniel in the fiery furnace.

His point was that when we go through "the fire" of various trials, God is with us. And God is protecting us.

Warren pointed out that Daniel and his two friends' bodies were not singed or otherwise affected by the fire. The only thing that burned up during their time in the flames were the ropes that had been used to tie them up. (Daniel 3.25).

Warren went on to talk about the symbolism of that act.

Yes, the three men were subjected to the fire. But they trusted God. And God totally protected them. Even to the extent of sending an angelic presence to them (Daniel 3.25).

The only thing that was burned were the ropes that had bound Daniel and his friends. And in the end, they were free. In fact, "Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn't even smell of smoke!" (Daniel 3.27).

They were free of what had bound them.

So Warren then asked the question at the top of this post.

And I've been thinking about it ever since.

What's holding you back?

Is it habit? Is it low self-esteem? Is it fear of what others think? Is it insecurity?

What's got you tied down?

Is it the past? Is it disappointment? Is it an inability to see beyond your current situation?

The fiery furnace can be seen as symbolic for any crisis, said Warren. "And sometimes God saves us FROM the crisis; sometimes God saves us THROUGH the crisis, and sometimes God saves us BY the crisis."

Naturally we want to be spared from any crisis or difficult situation, because we look at life primarily through the eyes of our own experience. We automatically think of pain or difficulty as being bad. So anything that "burns" us is a problem.

But Warren pointed out: "Sometimes the problem in your life isn't the problem."

What if we looked at our life and the crisis (or fire) through God's eyes?

Through His love. His mercy. His grace. His wisdom. His understanding.

We have a God who has tremendous resources freely willing to share them with us. God's the One who says if we can't figure it all out, to come to God for wisdom. And God will give it to us freely, without reproach. (James 1.5).

God's Son also encourages us to ask, seek and knock. (Matt. 7.7, Luke 11.9-10)

Towards the end of his sermon Warren summed up by saying "You're the architect of your life."

He emphasized the importance of building on a strong foundation.

With a solid foundation under us, there is a confidence and trust that promotes true freedom. The freedom to go to God and let God take care of whatever is holding us back.

Here's a link to Warren's sermon.

Photo Credit: www.cnsnews.com












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