Thursday Thoughts (10/27/2016)

 It seems that are things in life that defy explanation. There are things, that no matter how hard we try to wrap our heads around them, we just cannot understand. Perhaps, such complex issues are what push humanity to dig deeper, and strive harder to explain what we believe to be unsolvable. It may be, that you too have experienced this in your own life. At the end of a long sleepless thought filled night you may come to the conclusion there just is no answer.

One of the most mind numbing conundrums, that leaves me lying awake at night is the question, “How can Peppermint Patty not know that Snoopy is a Dog?” Ok, stop your laughing. Doesn’t this bother anyone else that this poor adolescent has no clue that Snoopy is a dog. I find this a bit disturbing. I began wondering, at what point does a child learn to recognize what a dog is. I would think most speaking toddlers would point and say, “doggie”. At the least a toddler would recognize that there is something not human about an animal. Even if you dressed your dog up in a baseball outfit, I am fairly certain that any child over kindergarten age would know that it was a dog.

Even more mind boggling is that none of her friends tell her it is a dog. The conversation could be simple, “That’s the weirdest kid I have ever seen.” Charlie replies, “Well he’s a dog so…” Really, not one of the Peanuts gang tries to correct her? I think Charles Schultz has hit a home run with this whole narrative. How many of us simply let our friends and family go on thinking something that is not true? Of course, trying to analyze a comic strip character is impossible. I am sure that somewhere Charles Schultz probably explained his thoughts on Peppermint Patty. The whole idea got me thinking.

When, and how, do we encourage concept changes in others. The bible tells us that in the last day’s people will call evil good and good evil. Maybe it is like calling a dog a person or a person a dog. Some Christians may assume that the bible is talking about non-believers, but what if it is all people? Christians today often throw out bible quotes to defend their stance without doing the hard work of discovering the context. Is it possible that we have become like Peppermint Patty? We just call things the way we see them, not the way they really are. Is it possible that we would embrace an evil, thinking that evil could actually bring about good?

I wonder if humanity is Peppermint Patty and God is trying to reorient our understanding of what we say about things. Unfortunately, the Church sometimes ignores the reorienting and simply buys into the idea that Snoopy is just a weird looking kid in the neighborhood. Perhaps, we need to spend some time at the feet of Jesus, so we can begin to see things in God’s reality and not our own.

Just a thought.

Thursday Thoughts (10/6/2016)

Well, I wrote out my thoughts this morning and they were filled with lament so I decided to start again. There is nothing wrong with lament. In fact, the Bible is really good at teaching us how to lament. One only needs to read the Psalms and you will find ways to lament. One thing that I appreciate about the Psalms is that we get to hear a human voice speak directly to God, even when what is said is not wholly accurate. For instance, telling God that he is the one who didn’t fulfill his promise, after the people did everything they committed to do.

Nevertheless, it is nice that we can tell God how we are feeling and know that he is willing to listen. However, we must also remember that he is going to speak. Job said a lot of things in his lamenting. But when God shows up Job realizes that what he said was, well, not quite right. So, for a little while today I will lament. I will tell God how I am feeling. More importantly though, I will ask him what he thinks about everything.

In the end what I think about things is not all that important. I want to know what he thinks, what he wants done, and what he thinks about what I think about his thoughts. (Ok, that lost you). The point is, I have people give me their thoughts all the time. If we did everything the way others wanted it, we would never do anything. Somebody is not going to like it and then you’re going to hear about it. Oh, people don’t want to be mean, they will give you their thoughts in not so clever backhanded ways.

At the end of the day their thoughts are like the common cold, they will never go away and you never want to be the one to receive them. But when we do end up on the receiving end of other people’s opinions and desires, it is important to ask God, “What do you think about that?” I am crazy enough to believe that he has a thought. I am sure I have been the plague of opinion on someone else. I am no different than any other person who likes things their way. Yet, I find that I really don’t want things my way. I want them his way.

When things are done my way, I am only worshiping myself. They reflect my tastes, desires, dreams, and personality. I sometimes wonder if there will ever be a time when our life and worship will reflect God’s image instead of our own image of God. I sometimes wonder if we have set up idols, and the image we worship is just a reflection of ourselves.

I fear we might want a god that always fits in our arena of comfort. A god that wants me to be happy and content, who condones or tolerates my bad behavior, a god who doesn’t put any burden on me to be fully and completely devoted to him, but is willing to let me live in two realms. O’ God of all creation, I don’t want that god. I want a God that not only commands me to be holy as you are holy, but actually empowers me to be so. In fact, I don’t want whatever concept of God I can image, I want whatever you have revealed yourself to be.

Father, save me from my thoughts about you, deliver me from the images I have created. Only that I would worship you for the reflection you have presented from your own hand. You are God, may your desires burn in my heart and mind so that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. I cannot know you but that you reveal what is to be known. Give me eyes that I might see, ears that I might hear, and a heart that would be full of your glory and grace to share with all creation. For in your presence my lament is turned to peace and your name becomes my strong tower. Amen.

Thursday Thoughts (9/29/16)

There is always that one day each summers end that signals the changing of the season. On that day the air changes, temperatures start to drop, the blue of the sky seems to deepen, the clouds increase, and soon the grey of Michigan autumn falls across the sky. The leaves will hurriedly change color and drop as abruptly. Soon the earth will turn grey and brown, a sepia landscape, that reminds us that life is but a fleeting vapor.

The October rains move in, and folks will rush to put away the ornaments of summer that don their yards. They will rush to complete those summer end tasks that they pushed off in hopes of more time. Always hoping to thread out a little more summers warmth. Summer has passed. Autumn has come. Winter with its cold biting air offers only hope of soft white blankets of reminiscence.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. It is a melancholy time, where my thoughts drift to the memories of summer and the anticipation of donuts and cider, and thanksgiving gatherings. The air is cool and damp, leaves litter the landscape, and I am reminded of the things that have gone undone. Autumn is not just a season on the calendar but it is a season of aging.

Autumn does not seem to last very long. Winter reaches with it’s cold snowy fingers in hopes of shortening its days. In the autumn of our lives we may pine the summer days gone by, and sense the chill of winters grip pulling us forward. Yet, autumn does not mean we are yet done. In autumn there are those days where the cold damp winds blow and force us to stay inside. Then, there are those sunny crisp days that invite us out into the world to enjoy its beauty and fill us with fresh life again.

Perhaps our autumn does not last so long either. In my life I have sensed those changes in the air. Winter is no longer so far off, it is not close, but I am closer. The days are growing shorter and as I look back I see there are many things that have gone undone. Dreams, wishes, desires, and much more. Time has passed and autumn has come. Yet, all is not finished. There are days to be lived, and times to be fulfilled.

Autumn, is a time to reminisce about the days gone by; however, it is also a time to remember that which we have set out to do. It is not a time to retire, but a time to live. To push ahead with urgency to complete the task before winter comes. Oh, some will mourn the passing of the long summer warmth and settle in to their easy chair and retire from life altogether. This need not be the case.

For in the last days God tells us that he will pour out his Spirit on all flesh, men, women, and children, to dream dreams, and see visions, as to fulfill the work of the Lord. Yes, it is autumn, but it not yet winter. Perhaps, today is a day to look back and to ask of the Lord, “What must I accomplish before my winter comes?”

Just a thought.