Your soul may feel like it’s feeding table scraps. Your heart may be subsisting on leftovers from past experiences of love. But you won’t need to subsist on manna forever.
After decades of wandering in the wilderness, at the command of the Lord, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. A renewal of the meal that marked their liberation. And the next day…
…the manna stopped appearing. instead, they began to eat the fruit of the land.
(more…)Breaking rules does not lead to real happiness. It may be thrilling in the moment. You may get a strong hit of dopamine and adrenaline. But eventually, one way or another, to one degree or another, all those “devices and desires of your own heart” will leave it broken.
Yet keeping the rules is also no guarantee of happiness. I’ve met many a grumpy rule-keeeper. It seems quite righteous and holy, but there is nothing very satisfying to a human being about a list of do’s and don’ts. Your ego may be bolstered for a moment, but eventurally your heart will feel empty and alone.
The missing element in both approaches to life and happiness is this: Awe. What the Bible often refers to as “the fear of the Lord.”
(more…)I love a good algorithm. I’ve stumbled upon many a great band because the autoplay feature made a suggestion based on my listening history. I’ve been exposed to countless new perspectives and ideas because an AI model answered a question in a concise manner that piqued further curiosity.
I love a good lectionary. (Our church utilizes the Revised Common Lectionary, in case you’re wondering). As a Bible reading plan, I’ve not found a better approach. Following a lectionary throughout the various seasons of the Christian year is like following a guide on an adventure through the wild and expansive landscape of God’s story. The discipline of yielding control of my Bible reading has been a vital grace.
The downside is that in using such tools, we abdicate a certain degree of our autonomy. In allowing someone or something else to make decisions for us, we give them power to take choice from us. If the Judeo-Christian anthropology is true, we are created to be thinking and willing beings. Let’s not be too quick to give up those freedoms.
(more…)Sometimes God parts a sea.
Sometimes a river.
Sometimes maybe just a creek.
Sometimes it may simply be the gutter in front of your house.
No matter. The first point is to notice, and to keep on moving. The second point is to then not forget.
When God makes a way, keep on moving and remembering.
(See Joshua 4:1-24.)
If you feel left out of the story, just wait.
The initial report that the spies gave Joshua apparently made no mention of Rahab. Nothing about the risk she took to show them kindness. Their report was all about military intimidation, not about a woman’s kindness.
I get it. The bros back at base camp are gonna be way more impressed by “All the people are melting in fear of us!” than, “A woman hid us under stalks of flax and let us slip out her window!” But still: What a typically male, biased report.
Nevertheless, we know that eventually Rahab’s part of the story was told.
(more…)Unkindness
Rahab was treated unkindly. Feel free to use your imagination to wonder why prostitution ended up becoming her best professional option. And perhaps at what age she began working. Consider the men who used and abused her. Don’t forget the systems and silent neighbors that supported the unkindness.
We should not be surprised, then, that Rahab responded with unkindness—in the form of lying, obstruction of justice, and treason.
(more…)God’s presence conducts courage. When he is near—when I am aware of his nearness—I am plugged into a different power source. God-sized grit and guts.
This courage emboldens obedience. I dare to swim upstream. To live a reforming life in the midst of a deforming world. Ready to say “yes” to God, not only with my lips, but with my life.
(more…)The edges of the canvas constrain the artist.
The chosen medium narrows the sculptor’s options.
The key of the song reduces the notes the musician can play.
The genre provides parameters for the author.
The time limit forces the comedian to carefully chose his jokes.
The available ingredients restrict the flavors the chef can incorporate.
The laws of God liberate me to live a creative and beautiful life.
(See Psalm 119:41-48.)
Find someone who has been with God. Someone who is radiant because they have spoken with the Lord. Someone with that glory-kissed glow. That aura that comes from face time with the divine, like someone who has spent the afternoon in the summer sun.
They will be mostly unaware of it themselves. In fact, if they’re overly aware of it, if they talk a bit too much about their special intimacy with God, they may not be who you’re looking for. Smile and keep moving.
(more…)Life is a long series of campsites.
Move here. Stop there. Pass through this place. Put down roots somewhere else.
Then there’s death.
While there is a lot of mystery whenever we talk about life after death, the Christian hope is rooted in two truths:
First, death is not the end. It’s not the final campsite, even if it is a significant turning point in one’s journey.
Second, resurrection is the end. Not merely life after death—in some disembodied state, as we often imagine it to be—but what N.T. Wright calls “life after life after death.” New bodies. New heavens. New earth.
Keeping this End in view bolsters hope—not only at death, but at every campsite along the way.
(See Numbers 33:38-39).
Exploring the mystery of faith in ordinary life.