Being Bound

At first I was bound.
Like a hound to the sound
of his breakfast hitting the bowl.
Invisible chains restrained,
a harness to foil my refrain.
I made the locks,
clamped the stocks,
threw the rocks,
for from me and through me and to me I made up God.
God who was not there,
who was nowhere anywhere.
I formed him from my own,
clay from experience and what I’d been shown.
I made him strong and full of might,
so I dare not transgress what he called right.
I made him know all there was inside,
so he could find the inklings of my shallowest pride.
I made him deep and very wide,
so I could stretch and grow my mind.
I made him crasy and made him wild,
so I’d not be too close and trust his smile.
I made him fire, too good for me,
so in my failure I could feel his heat.
I made him to figure my fixes,
to riddle my tricks and
make me better.
I made him for me;
to achieve;
to believe
in something.
I finally felt the chains,
the scars from whips which I had made,
the hopeless burrow I had caved.
This God, this other than I
was a dying hole which
I dug deeper to try.
The sting of my pain
realized my gain:
I was nothing.
I had failed.
I was bound and knew it now,
for what we call good is what I sought.
The goodness of lessons and sayings,
of contorting so others will clap.
It deepened the distance between truth and fact.

At last I was bound.
Bound to God.
The one of existence, not of mind or mud.
The God who lives,
and willingly loves.
Under no obligation,
promise or fee;
through tribulation
tears and . . .
Me.

I am bound to forgiveness and bound to his grace.
I am bound for eternity, face to face

Others: the difference between religion and love

Have you ever noticed the glaring difference in the life and message of the Bible? Sure there are MANY similarities and ideas in other writings. I, and no Christian, should have any reserves about this–truth is truth no matter whose lips in falls out of. But the most important things, the ‘game changers,’ the ‘deal breakers,’ (please insert your little catch-phrase to convey the ‘big ideas’), the things that are going to cause people to fight, these things are wildly different in the Bible than any other religious views. Paramount among these views is others.

Others, the idea that I am supposed to exist and live for God AND OTHER PEOPLE, people other than myself is silly crazy! Islam, you say, has as one of their ‘Five Pillars’ the giving of alms, and that helps people. It does. But the giving of alms or any of the acts of kindness or charity are not about the other person, it is about the person GIVING not the one RECEIVING. If you do not give alms eternity will be an unpleasant place for you (in a Muslim view).

This is religion–not love–at its finest: I do for others as a means for myself. (Lsiten to yourself say that!) But Islam is not by any means alone in this; almost all serious religions–those that really are concerned for the soul–are set-up this way and there are even false sects of people calling themselves ‘christians’ who believe such things. I do this or that and there is some sort of obligation by some greater power to let me into the greater existence. Be good; try real hard; write a lot of books; set yourself on fire; go on a pilgrimage; never say no (because you may be right); never say yes to desires (because you’re bad); don’t look at women; don’t eat certain items; be single your whole life; have a thousand kids if you can; memorize certain texts; empty your mind; be ascetic; go a hedonist; get all you can; sell all you have; pray all the time; pray 5 times a day; pray when you feel like it; be an optimist; be skeptical; retain your naivete; be chipper; be mournful; make light of life; or you better take it seriously; wisdom is found in nothingness; nothing is unwise; live for the now; think for the future. Whew! I feel like throwing up!

There is a song that says, ‘What’s the point of trading a law you could never keep [which will give you everything if you did keep it]/ for one you can that cannot get you anything?’

We try so hard to do something and our reward will be nothing, as the guy from Men’s Warehouse says, ‘I guarantee it.’

If you try your hardest or follow all the rules you’ll get nothing, because you cannot do right and good at all times. Everyone is in this state, we are all screwed for eternity unless God himself intervenes. God owes nothing. Humans–us–have created the idea that somehow God does owe us if we try to make him happy every now and then. Yet every religion in the world tries to blackmail God in their own clever ways. And sadly billions enter eternity having no clue as to what it is God requires of them to go to Heaven and be with him. Our ‘good enough’ is not only miserably (and laughably in comparison) short, but it is offensive to God that we would try and lower his standard.

What is a massive thing that humans cannot do on their own without something of God residing in them? Love others genuinely without the hope or expectation of anything in return. That IS love: doing for the sake of someone else, not you.

You see, the Apostle Paul, in the book of Galatians says that the whole law is fulfilled in one word, love your neighbor [others] as yourself. The point of the ‘others’ mentality is not to win a reward so God will be pleased with us, the point is . . . others. (WHAT?!?!) I know. Crazy. A cat meows; eyes see; water is wet; Christians love (if you haven’t taken the SAT, you’re welcome for that little practice test).

God gets a kick out of this for sure because he has designed it that he gets the props, the accolades when Christians love people BECAUSE the Christian’s love for someone else is a reverberation of God himself; we can’t genuinely love other unless we are loved in that way by God himself (we do only because he has done).

If you’re still skeptical just listen to Jesus as he spoke with his posse: ‘No greater love has anyone than this, that he would lay his life down for his friends.’ Well that’s easy for you to say, Jesus. No, it really wasn’t. He did it. He became a screaming, needy little baby, lived in our hurtful and deadly world as a human. Then he died for not only his friends but his enemies–and not his school-yard enemies; the enemies who physically killed him. He died for others: he loved. He did something benefitting others in the greatest magnitude: he loved.

God is love and TO love is to love God (and others).

Monday is for Morons: 12-12-2001

I woke up to the insistent dribbles of rain forcing their way to ground. Not only was it raining, but it is almost cold enough to make snow. What a lousy combo. I don't know about you but on a day like this I'd rather sit around a fire and drink something hot as I engulf myself into a great read... NOT go outside and do something.

Remember John in the New Testament? Not Jesus' brother who probably wrote 5 books of the Bible; the other one, the one who dressed like Tarzan mixed with an Eskimo and baptized people. Well he was put into prison and knew things would probably not end terribly well for him. I imagine him in some feces infested cell, darkened by some Mid-Eastern night, wondering about that guy everyone was calling Jesus: 'I wonder if he really is it; I wonder if he really is the one we have all been waiting for.'

Maybe you are wondering the same thing. Maybe you you're just feeling . . . bleh. On a cold, raining day it is easy to feel blasé. Well John, instead of wondering until his head fell off, sent some of his dudes to go ask Jesus if he was 'it,' the Messiah Israel was waiting for. Jesus answered them by telling the messengers, 'Report back to John what you yourself are seeing. I heal the corrupted and I preach good news to the poor.'

Jesus is the Messiah not only Israel, but the whole world, YOU, have been waiting for. It is okay to have blasé Mondays because Jesus is come. And for those who would come to HIM with their broken-down lives full of disgusting and many sins he will forgive. He has footed the bill already. And he will continue to do so for all time.

Don't let the day moderate your heart, go to Jesus who is full of mercy.

Is Orthodoxy Your Christ?

Is orthodoxy your Christ?

Sometimes we can forget why it is we do what we have done for so long.

There is a story of a man who, like many, fell in love with a gal he met his Sophomore year of college. They dated, got married, had children, even adopted one. But over time the man slowly stopped surprising his wife with a flower or note or wink, that 'something' in him for her began to fade. He was the same man who provided for his family, played with his children and tenderly cared for them, who made his wife, in some ways, still feel special... but something had faded which once was there. He would never consider divorce or separation, for he saw nothing in the relationship that was off. He would always be the husband at his wife's side, the father there with wisdom and grace for his children. But the thing which he lacked was this: he worried so much about being a good father and husband that he stopped loving his wife and children. He would not say it, his family would not say it, but it was the reality. His desire was not to set-out to emotionally schism from his family, it just sort of happened. He had the mechanics of one who outwardly displayed love, but he was more of a robot than a man; he DID more than he was compelled.

In the book of Revelation, second chapter, Jesus charges the church at Ephesus with 'abandoning the love you had at first.'

This was probably shocking to many in the churches at that time. You mean us? We have protected the truth, orthodoxy, right thinking about you? We have undergone persecution for our views which are correct. We fought against the heresy of the Nicolaitans! How can you say we are lacking love?

Just like the man, Ephesus, full of good and truth, was without love.

Facts do not give life. Love gives life. We always need true truth, but truth which forsakes its source, God, is a deadly poison for it has all the workings of love, yet without the life.

Monday is for Morons: 12-05-2011

The weekend has conceded. The week greets you. Hopefully this realization isn't surprising--cause you're probably late to wherever you need to be--and hopefully this remembrance isn't too depressing.

Sure, it may have been a lousy weekend. Maybe a lousy week. Maybe a lousy month or so . . . . /year. That's okay. You're allowed to feel glum, I promise. But let's remember today what the opening of Psalm 118 says, 'Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.'

Why give thanks to God? Because if you are a follower of Jesus, his son, you are loved by him. The love that God has for his people, his children is one that doesn't go out, one that never shrinks, his love is always as intense as when you first realized it, as hot as when it first came out of the oven. You have sinned a lot, me too. But we can still follow God, we can still turn back to him . . . only because his love is more durable than that.

As the song goes, his love 'will not let me go.' Do you believe that? You may fail, but God's love is there for the taking. Always. You cannot sin so big that God will forsake you, no! We hate sin so much BECAUSE he loves us so much. Our sin does not have the final say, God's mercy does.