I have two examples of sin in my life during the last week. One I personally don’t think is sin, but many people do. The other many people might not think is sin, but to me it is very much sin.
The other day Marc (my best friend for like forever) and I went to lunch and afterwards bought some cigars and bourbon for my upcoming guy’s night poker playing birthday party. As this was a bourbon I had not had before I decided to try it before the party. I poured myself a glass and sat on the back porch and lit a cigar. It was a wonderful combination, and the bourbon was so smooth I could drink it on the rocks. Nice. Is this sin?
Chris, a friend of mine from work, failed one of his Architecture license exams recently. Not that uncommon actually. It’s a nine-part test. Most people fail a section or two at least once. Some twice. Was my thought, “Oh my poor friend I feel bad for him?” No. My thought was hey cool maybe if I get off my butt I can still beat him to licensure. Is this sin?
In my last blog I wrote, “Sin isn’t just a matter of what actions you take, but a matter of the heart.” I think the above two examples illustrate this perfectly.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Book Report: The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
I’ve enjoyed every book by C.S. Lewis I’ve read so far. Not a humongous total at three plus, but they have all be powerful reads. I say three plus because I’ve read most of the Narnia series, but don’t remember how many. The best was Mere Christianity. Not counting the work of God Himself, reading Lewis’ Mere Christianity is probably the single biggest thing that convinced me that Christ was real and that I should deal with that very real situation. If you haven’t read that book, Christian or not, I highly recommend it.
The Great Divorce was a little book I picked up from my boss Stu via my other boss Brian. It is a completely fictional account of purgatory and heaven. Lewis even states in the forward that he’s not trying to depict actual reality. Mostly he is using allegory to illustrate the types of sin that keep us away from God. One very cool aspect of the book was his depiction of heaven’s reality being more solid than ours. For instance it actually hurt the feet of the narrative character to walk on the grass.
The most interesting thing for me was that the book as a whole felt familiar. It seems to have been written from the worldview that I have been immersing myself in for the past four years. Christ is love and salvation. Sin isn’t just a matter of what actions you take, but a matter of the heart. It was comforting to me to find a source other than my church and Dallas Willard that talked like this. I sometimes worry that I’ve branched off from Christianity and what they call consumer Christianity is the true teaching. For instance I stumbled on several websites the other day that said that Willard and the other folks that are teaching spiritual formation are very off base and integrating modern and Eastern thought into Christianity.
Quite the contrary. I think spiritual formation is the heart of the matter. It seems to me that modern Christianity has branched off and focused on a few very important key points, but is missing the meat. The transformation of our inner selves into the image of Christ. Becoming Disciples of Christ. Reading something from over fifty years ago that was teaching this was further confirmation for me.
The Great Divorce was a little book I picked up from my boss Stu via my other boss Brian. It is a completely fictional account of purgatory and heaven. Lewis even states in the forward that he’s not trying to depict actual reality. Mostly he is using allegory to illustrate the types of sin that keep us away from God. One very cool aspect of the book was his depiction of heaven’s reality being more solid than ours. For instance it actually hurt the feet of the narrative character to walk on the grass.
The most interesting thing for me was that the book as a whole felt familiar. It seems to have been written from the worldview that I have been immersing myself in for the past four years. Christ is love and salvation. Sin isn’t just a matter of what actions you take, but a matter of the heart. It was comforting to me to find a source other than my church and Dallas Willard that talked like this. I sometimes worry that I’ve branched off from Christianity and what they call consumer Christianity is the true teaching. For instance I stumbled on several websites the other day that said that Willard and the other folks that are teaching spiritual formation are very off base and integrating modern and Eastern thought into Christianity.
Quite the contrary. I think spiritual formation is the heart of the matter. It seems to me that modern Christianity has branched off and focused on a few very important key points, but is missing the meat. The transformation of our inner selves into the image of Christ. Becoming Disciples of Christ. Reading something from over fifty years ago that was teaching this was further confirmation for me.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Back in the Blogosphere
Four months without an entry. I was going to write a blog a week! As time slipped by it became every two weeks. Now it’s been months. How does this happen? Why am I like this? There is something fundamental about my nature in this. There is something to be learned about being Bill here. I see two things that contribute to this. How I operate in time and my lack of intention.
In America we think of time in one way. Marching forward at a predictable beat. Sixty seconds become one minute. Sixty minutes becomes an hour and so on. This leads to a bureaucratic or as my counselor said plodding concept of time. To complete a task you do a little each day until it is done. Ever moving forward. For years I have tried to make myself into a plodder. One thing I am sure of in life is I am not a plodder. I do not operate in linear time.
The other two types of time are cyclical and pulse time. People that are cyclical by nature have pronounced patterns of high and low energy/productivity. Pulse people on the other hand have completely random bursts of productivity. For a while I thought I was pulse, but as I watch myself I think I am cyclical. On a daily basis I work much better in the morning. So now I try to leave labor-intensive tasks until evening, and thinking tasks to morning. I just think better first thing. Lately though I’ve found I am just bursting with energy. I think I may also be on a broader cycle tied to the seasons. I love spring. I particularly like my birthday month March. I’m going to watch myself this year and see if I hit a low spot productivity speaking towards fall and winter. I bet I do.
When I say lack of intention I’m referring to something I’m studying in Willard’s Renovation of the Heart. He explains that the pattern for change in human beings, either spiritual or not, follows the same pattern. Vision, intention, and means. Vision being a goal you have clearly in mind, intention being that you actually truly decide to move toward that goal, and means being ways you use to move toward that goal.
I’ve got more vision than I know what to do with. I have grand ideas for all kinds of things. Ideas for stories, ideas for houses, ideas for cool coffee shops, ideas for a cycling tour company. What have on done with these ideas? Nothing. I mean come on I’m not even a licensed Architect. I am adrift on a sea of everyday needs and emotional whims. Lost in the tide of the great ocean of dreams. I would row for shore but I don’t know which way it is.
This is the part where I say I’m going to change. I’m going to intend to do this or that! The truth is I’m probably not going to change. I hope I do. I pray to God that I fulfill the purpose He put me here for. It takes more than hope and my little will to make this kind of change though. I don’t think I can do it without God. That’s probably the point though. My pastor/friend Keith told me once that people are always asking him what God wants them to do with their lives. Keith’s answer was get wrapped up in the Lord. Have a relationship with the Father through His Son. That’s what God wants from us. He wants an Abba relationship (that’s not the band Steve if you’re reading this). Maybe that’s what I should intend to do.
In America we think of time in one way. Marching forward at a predictable beat. Sixty seconds become one minute. Sixty minutes becomes an hour and so on. This leads to a bureaucratic or as my counselor said plodding concept of time. To complete a task you do a little each day until it is done. Ever moving forward. For years I have tried to make myself into a plodder. One thing I am sure of in life is I am not a plodder. I do not operate in linear time.
The other two types of time are cyclical and pulse time. People that are cyclical by nature have pronounced patterns of high and low energy/productivity. Pulse people on the other hand have completely random bursts of productivity. For a while I thought I was pulse, but as I watch myself I think I am cyclical. On a daily basis I work much better in the morning. So now I try to leave labor-intensive tasks until evening, and thinking tasks to morning. I just think better first thing. Lately though I’ve found I am just bursting with energy. I think I may also be on a broader cycle tied to the seasons. I love spring. I particularly like my birthday month March. I’m going to watch myself this year and see if I hit a low spot productivity speaking towards fall and winter. I bet I do.
When I say lack of intention I’m referring to something I’m studying in Willard’s Renovation of the Heart. He explains that the pattern for change in human beings, either spiritual or not, follows the same pattern. Vision, intention, and means. Vision being a goal you have clearly in mind, intention being that you actually truly decide to move toward that goal, and means being ways you use to move toward that goal.
I’ve got more vision than I know what to do with. I have grand ideas for all kinds of things. Ideas for stories, ideas for houses, ideas for cool coffee shops, ideas for a cycling tour company. What have on done with these ideas? Nothing. I mean come on I’m not even a licensed Architect. I am adrift on a sea of everyday needs and emotional whims. Lost in the tide of the great ocean of dreams. I would row for shore but I don’t know which way it is.
This is the part where I say I’m going to change. I’m going to intend to do this or that! The truth is I’m probably not going to change. I hope I do. I pray to God that I fulfill the purpose He put me here for. It takes more than hope and my little will to make this kind of change though. I don’t think I can do it without God. That’s probably the point though. My pastor/friend Keith told me once that people are always asking him what God wants them to do with their lives. Keith’s answer was get wrapped up in the Lord. Have a relationship with the Father through His Son. That’s what God wants from us. He wants an Abba relationship (that’s not the band Steve if you’re reading this). Maybe that’s what I should intend to do.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)