Love

A poem by Emily Dickinson

Love is anterior to life,
Posterior to death,
Initial of creation, and
The exponent of breath.

Merry Christmas from the Arnolds. May this truly be a season of Love.

Surveying in Awesome Wonder

This post is a bit of a backtrack. After I graduated from college, I went to New Zealand as a live-in babysitter for a family who had just recently moved there to be missionaries. They were looking for someone who might help them with their kids as they organized their affairs and I was excited for the opportunity to travel! This ended up being an incredible time for me to desperately desire and depend on the Lord as well as learn to reflect. Below is a journal entry I wrote one morning completely energized by the greatness of creation. I have included a few pictures but of course they do not come close to justice!

June 2007

This morning I stepped out the front door of the temporary house where we are staying and crossed the street to the mixture of sand and shells at low tide, ready to enjoy an early run. Running quickly turned into exploring because there was just too much to take in at a quick pace. Exploring turned into Appreciation followed by a deeper Love for my Father who created every bit of this that I would call Spectacular. Yesterday at church there was a guest speaker who suggested the deadliest thing to the human heart is pride. As with everything, there are two sides to every story and I am feeling prideful today. Proud of God and His imagination, proud to be called His daughter. Honored to be included in this incident of Beauty.

I pressed on in my expedition, not sure of what I was looking for but certain it was not yet time to turn back and immensely enjoying the time alone to think and listen. And then I found it. To a runner, this would simply be another large rock. To an explorer, this was a jewel. I started toward the formation and noticed a descent size hole. Hoping I might fit through it, I ducked and crawled. Caught off-guard by the slippery algae-covered other side, I almost went swimming, which reminds me- never leave home without your chacos! As I attempted to regain my composure, I felt a little bit like the Little Mermaid experiencing her first few awkward steps on human legs.

I began to breathe deeper and truly take in where I was. Inches away from the sound and spray of rolling and crashing waves, there was a sense of awe combined with this fragility of life. And still this place I call Peace.

holy satire batman...

thanksgiving benediction

In light of tomorrow's sermon and the season in general, I wanted to share with you the closing benediction for Adamsville Presbyterian Church in the morning. Maybe on Monday I'll write about the sermon. I must also confess I "borrowed" the meat of the benediction from Joe Shere pastor of Mount Joy Mennonite Church (it's amazing what google can do).

May the Lord bless you and keep you, May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

May the eyes of your heart be open to all the blessings which surround you; may this awareness produce a harvest of generosity in your spirit.

May thankfulness rise up within you, not just during this short season, but day after day, from the early morning watch until you retire for the night.

May your prayers reflect gratitude, while also acknowledging the needs of others whose situations are so drastically different.

May thoughts of Jesus fill your mind, and thanksgiving be your response.

Strength

One of the benefits of being married to a preacher man is not only hearing the sermon once on Sunday morning. Instead, I get to be present for the process, development, and sometimes practice as well as he gets to be present for my questions, thoughts, and ponderings inspired by his message. Here are some things I will be carrying with me this week:

This morning's message was packed full of reminders that the Lord intends for us to handle one day at a time. "Give us this day our daily bread" is not only a surface prayer for food, but a weighty souvenir for God's chosen people of a time when their most desperate needs were met.

19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. (Exodus 16:19-20)

Isn't this so like us? To say we believe in God, that we trust he will provide for our needs, and then say with our actions, "Thank you Lord for providing this one time but since you might not tomorrow, I will take what you have given me and look out for myself." No wonder we as a society struggle with anxiety and selfishness! We have been so trained to plan ahead that we panic before the effort is ever required from us.
What about strength? We are drained and tired because we are trying to handle today and tomorrow at the same time and when tomorrow finally arrives, sometimes yesterday's plans have maggots and they smell. How did Jesus respond to this age old issue?

Matthew 6
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

A friend of mine has adopted this mantra, "As is your day, so shall your strength be." Deut. 33:25

May we walk into this next week knowing we will be tested yet trusting that when we need necessary strength and provisions, God has already provided for that day. Our act of faith is to show up each day where we are expected, living as if we believe he has already done so. Go to sleep, wake up, and repeat.

School

People have been supportively asking how school is going so I thought I might give a little update.

School is wondering why many students are apathetic about their education and how to inspire them to take ownership of their habits. School is trying to come up with new and creative ways to interest students without giving in to their demand "to be entertained or else". School is frankly a little worn out but refusing to give up because by showing up, school is proving to every student that it is not a waste of time to teach or to learn.

Please ignore the choice word at the end for affect, but I think I am going to start watching this video once a week.

The Shack

late last night i finished reading The Shack, by William P. Young. i found it to be a great fiction story divulging into tough questions of God's involvement in tragedy. although, i am not willing to put a blank slate of approval to all the theology depicted, i found it an amazing read that changed my perception of the relationship God wishes to have with his created. Young's depiction of God's relationship with nature made my heart sing.

seeing how i just finished, it is hard to tell how, or if it will, influence my idea of the theodicy problem. it's important to note that this work is becoming quite controversial book.

at any rate, i recommend it!!!




here are a few reviews (both pro and con):
The Ooze
Christianity Today
Greg Boyd
USA Today

religion and politics

recently Kristyn and I have received the occasional forward asking us as "Christians" to act a certain way because of the current political activities making our news.

without giving my support to either candidate all i can do is quote my professor of Preaching and Scripture, Dr. Gloer; when we spent a moment in class last week looking at Mark 12:12-15 he nonchalantly commentated, "Religion and politics always make strange bed fellows."

John the Baptizer ...not a Baptist? ...a Pentecostal?

i've been reading up on John the Baptizer this week getting ready for Sundays message, and in Barclay's commentary i read something that changes some ideals. in Matthew's gospel he quotes John the Baptizer saying, "I baptize you with/in water... he [speaking of the coming Messiah] will baptize with the holy spirit and fire." its interesting to note that whenever he said "holy spirit" he was not thinking about the third person in the trinity. rather as a Jew he was thinking of ruach (Hebrew word for spirit, breath, and wind). ruach is the Breath of life. ruach is the power of God. ruach was present at the work of creation.

Or as Barclay puts it,

"It was the Spirit of God who moved upon the face of the waters and made the chaos into cosmos, turned disorder into order, and made a world out of the uncreated mists… When the Spirit of God enters into a man the disorder of human nature becomes the order of God; our dishevelled, disorderly, uncontrolled lives are moulded by the Spirit into the harmony of God."

great post by jeff

blue like elvis

- the social gospel is the gospel of Jesus.

Learning from Teaching

I have been a newly-wed teacher with a degree in social work for five weeks now. In this transitional time of life, which technically started a couple years ago and has continued to require adjustment, I have found myself moving from a Myers-Briggs declared extrovert to a self affirmed introvert with all the observations that come with the conversion. Having explained that, it is these observations that have occupied a great deal of my thoughts and therefore time, especially over these last five weeks.

I teach 7th grade English Language Arts in a 98% poverty district of Waco, TX. As a teacher, I am strongly advised not to get emotionally attached. That’s impossible. My job is to try my hardest to grab a hold of tunnel-vision adolescents and convince them that they actually have a role to play in their own life and that their decisions now affect their life and opportunities later. How can I possibly attempt this without caring deeply for them and wanting the absolute best for them?

As I think about each of my students… There are ones that have already made me proud and I want to continue to challenge them because I know their potential; I want to give them more knowledge and practice because I know they can handle it. I also have students that don’t even try. They say things like, “What’s the point?” and “Why are you picking on me?”. The former students make honest, recognizable efforts to try their hardest and accept correction in order to grow, while the latter seem to wallow. They break my heart. True as this may be, I am required by my school and the state of Texas to give a grade based on my students' efforts. If they do nothing, even if I want them to succeed, I must give them a zero. They want to know why they are failing. I tell them if they come after school and make up their missed assignments, they can bring their grade up. So far two have come. Where are the rest?

In my disappointment of their outward disregard, occasional anger (usually during class) and great desire for their redemtion, I must reflect and thank them for what they have taught me about some of the things God must feel.

benediction

May God bless you with discomfort At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships. So that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done; to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen

closed street

Kristyn and I live on a corner lot in semi-downtown Waco. Tuesday morning we awoke to a large crater in the street to the right of our house. As you might suspect the water main burst. The city accordingly closed the block that was affected.

It just so happens that the street that needed to be closed is subject to a lot of through traffic day and night. After the water main was fixed the city has left the road closed and has elected to make a throughway for people who live directly on the affected street, a total of three homes. With the opening for these citizens the city has created a s-turn with cones blocking off the two entrances and guarding the unfinished street repair.

This morning as I sat on our front porch watching the black birds enjoy the due filled grass, I noticed the how different cars approached the closed street. Some saw the sign and cones and elected to take a detour. Others slowed down enough to observe the sign, look around to see who's watching, then proceed to enter the closed block to emerge free on the other side of the s-turn. Lastly, there is a group of drives that observed the sign and cones enough to swing their vehicle around the apparent obstacle course. All three types of people saw the warning signs; some changed direction, some drove slowly though hoping not to get caught, while others drove though with no regard to the closer or danger.

What does this say about life? Do we observe warning signs? Can we even see the warning signs? Are we so focused on getting to where we wish to be that the signs are but a blur as we curve around the obstacle?

subversion

I've been reading through Phillip Yancey's book called Prayer, and it has been a wonderful driving force for some new habits. This morning I read that prayer is subversive. I think Yancey is an Open-Theist, and on some levels i can dig that, but the great thing is how he actually believes prayer changes things. What a great concept of God....as if it were new....that God wishes to have a loving, human-like relationship with his created. Back to "prayer is subversive". In Brueggemann's book Prophetic Imagination, he talks about how our current reality is nothing like the reality of Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus preached; that the Kingdom reality is set out and against the current reality, which is plagued by oppression. If prayer is subversive, then it would be an prophetic act crying out from the current reality, urging God to intervene and further the Kingdom of Heaven (like the Lord's Prayer / your kingdom come. your will be done. on earth like it is in heaven).

practicing communion

In The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence corresponds with a friend. In one of the letters he tells of a simple prayer that a third friend continually implores:

My God, here I am all devoted to thee.
Lord, make me according to Thy heart.

Thus, it would seem that our communion with God grows exponentially with our commitment to devotion.

Control seems to be one of the greatest things we humans attempt to hold onto. However, the more we try to control a situation the more we manipulate it to our desire. The problem comes when we realize that our intentions were selfish and fleeting, but this realization usually comes too late, and the situation becomes spoiled long before our self-enlightenment.

So what are we to do?

I don't know, but maybe when we pursue communion with God we learn to trust in God and subsequently are better lead by the Spirit into proper living and thus releasing the control facade.

a new blog

This is the new attempt to blog by the Arnold's; a reemergence for Ryan and baptism for Kristyn. We'll see how it works out...