Running on Empty

Last week I read Running on Empty: Contemplative Spirituality for Overachievers by Fil Anderson (WaterBrook Press 2004). When I started reading it, I rushed through the first several chapters as I am prone to do. (Sometimes I enjoy finishing a book more than actually reading it.) Anyhow, somewhere towards the end of the book the subject matter started to sink into my brain and I slowed down. Now I'm rereading it and trying to savor the thoughts. The basic premise of the book is that too often we think that we have to be busy to be good Christians, and that God loves us for what we do. So we have to be reprogrammed to slow down, accept God's unconditional love, and simply enjoy His presence.

Anderson writes, "Our relationship with God is not the result of our efforts. Rather, a loving and gracious God acted on our behalf, granting us a most benevolent gift. Coming to see that God has searched me out and found me--and not the other way around--was breathtaking... The truth that God could love me just as I was, without my doing a thing for him, seemed too good to be true" (p. 43). He tells early on in the book how his misconceptions of God and self were physically draining him and led to physical and mental breakdown. I can relate to that. The stress of trying to work for God, yet not knowing how to depend on Him, has taken its toll on me at times. I'm reminded frequently that God only promised our daily bread, not our yearly rations.

One of Anderson's recommendations is planning regular times to be still before God, getting away from all the distractions of life and listening more than listing our requests. The past couple weeks I've been doing a bit of that. I have a path in the woods behind my house, and when I'm not busy riding my bike around it, I have a log where I like to sit or lay back and simply enjoy the creation. Sometimes I read this book or some Scripture, sometimes I think and pray, and sometimes I just sit and listen. I've learned a couple things in the process:

1) My trail illustrates to me our freedom in Christ... Before I cleared the path I had occasionally wandered in the woods, but I was always nervous about either getting lost or going off my property and possibly running into hunters. Now that I have the path I know where the boundaries are and I feel free to wander, knowing that I can't get too far lost. That's a bit like the role of the Law. It provides the boundaries so we know where we are safe. Yeah, we occasionally go outside the lines, but we rarely stay there for long when our heart is at home with God.

2) One day I was pondering how someone like Ray Boltz can openly proclaim his homosexuality and say that "I feel God's love more now than I did when I was living a lie." I'm not going to judge whether he has a real relationship with the Savior or the theological basis for his beliefs. But what I did realize is that we all have some particular sin that we hold onto and perhaps even celebrate. Whether it is sexual sin, or gossip, lying, pride, coveting, etc., it is all sin in God's eyes. We're pretty good at grading sin from 1-10 as far as being forgiveable or unforgiveable. Thankfully God's grace far exceeds our own!

Another quote from Anderson, "Nothing I am capable of doing will ever cause God to love me more, simply because God can't love me any more. And nothing I ever do will cause God to love me less; God can't do that either... God hasn't chosen to love me because of things about me that he finds lovable. God's love has everything to do with what's true about God. It is God's nature to love, and so God loves me naturally" (44-46). That's good news for those of us who are tired of trying to earn God's love and man's respect. Sometimes the best thing we can do is relax!

I'll probably share some other quotes and thoughts later. I'd definitely recommend this book to my fellow Type-A overachievers out there.

Last of Harry Potter

**spoiler alert**

If you haven't yet seen or read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but plan to, you may not want to read further...

The final movie came out today, so I decided to see it in the theatre (something I rarely do for numerous reasons). First off, I have to say that all of the books are better than the movies, but I was pleased at how the movies stayed true to the story.

Besides the fact that I enjoy reading a bit of fantasy now and then, one thing that pulled me into the books was the Christian allegory. From the very beginning you can see that it is a classic good vs. evil narrative. C.S. Lewis wrote somewhere that the best stories are those that reflect the Christian truth. J.K. Rowling also stated that her faith is key in writing (and reading) the Harry Potter books.

The final book and movie complete the Christology with the death and resurrection of Harry. He had to die at the hand of Voldemort in order to save humanity from the ongoing threat of an evil lord. But because Harry had been marked by Voldemort, and indeed was the horcrux Voldemort never intended to make, when Harry was attacked and killed he was able to return to life with his soul intact and unblemished. Then when he finally killed Voldemort, there was no way for V. to return to power as he had in the past.

Obviously no allegory is perfect, and neither was Harry. He made mistakes, lied at times, and didn't always treat people the way he should. But in the end he made the choice to sacrifice himself, and that made all the difference in the wizarding world.

Christians who object to Harry Potter probably also reject the Chronicles of Narnia and all sorts of fiction. In my opinion they are being shortsighted and they are trying to live in a safe, Christian bubble, totally divorced from the world. There are far worse books, movies, and videogames that young people are getting into. Rather than fear that Harry Potter may introduce a child to witchcraft, how about judging the books based on their moral character? Growing up I read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, and some of it could and should have been thrown in the trash. So to me the Harry Potter books were a breath of fresh air-- one series that I like to reread about once a year. Now if I could just find out where to buy a wand... (kidding!!)

Music music music...

I got to thinking the other day about the church and music. Where else can you go and join people in singing songs every week? Unless you're in a community choir or sing opera, there aren't many places where you are regularly asked to sing along... maybe the occasional concert. That got me to wondering about other religions. I did a quick search and found only a limited number of websites for Islamic or Buddhist hymns. Granted, there may be a lot more in Asian/Middle Eastern countries. But I doubt that they have the wide range of religious music radio stations that are found in the US-- Christian Rock, Southern Gospel, Bluegrass, etc etc etc. We can even take our pick of CDs or MP3s in stores and online.

That spurs a few thoughts:
1) We sing because we have something worth singing about-- the Almighty God who loves us and has redeemed us.
2) From Bible times onward, God has inspired people to write songs of praise that are then shared in the congregation.
3) We should be thankful that we live in a nation that gives us the freedom to sing about our God almost anywhere we want to.

"I will sing of my Redeemer and His wondrous love for me!"

Resolved Not to Resolve

A few thoughts on resolutions... The only one I've made this year that is measurable and attainable is to switch to 1% milk from 2%. Other than that, I find that most resolutions based on human efforts are doomed before they start. I could plan to exercise more, eat better, etc., but it's unlikely to happen. Ah, I thought of one other resolution I could probably attain-- using all my allotted vacation days this year! I managed it last year for the first time in my employment history.

I was talking with a church member today about the "through the Bible in a year" reading schedules. I'm not sure how these have come into vogue in recent years. I've never made it through in one year, and probably have taken 3-4 years the few times I have made it all the way through the Bible. While I agree that it is good to be familiar with all parts of Scripture since it is God's Word, I'm not sure what value there is in cramming in several chapters per day just to get through it. It very quickly (usually) becomes a matter of the flesh without much spiritual benefit. I once took a college class on the book of Romans where we were required to read through the book once a week for the duration of the class. Even that became a matter of endurance, though it did help that we could change translations from one week to the next.

The resolution I would like to make, but can't, is that I would bear more of the Fruit of the Spirit. But as the name says, that's gotta be God's work, not mine. I'm not even sure there is anything I could do to facilitate that process. Perhaps that bears further consideration.

Anyway, happy new year to all (and to all a good night)!