That sure made for a somewhat uncomfortable conversation. She was pleasant and gracious; I made small talk. She countered with small talk. Even though I wasn’t prompted, I readily confessed that we had missed last Sunday because of a family reunion, which was true. Then I thought, “What do I say next — see you tomorrow?” What came out of my mouth, however, was the fact that I had to be perfectly honest with her.

I told her that we were unsure as to where we were going with respect to church attendance, regardless of which church it might be. I explained that for at least 40 years I had filled each and every position of the church, with the exception of full time pastor and church secretary. I wasn’t retired from church, nor was I tired of church. I honestly couldn’t say what I expected to get from church, or what I felt that the Lord would have me give to the church.

I don’t know why she called. Was she really concerned about us, or was she just checking us off her to-do list? For some church is a career. For others it is a business. I told her that what drew us to that church was her. For a number of Sundays we observed someone leading the congregation who had a genuinely sweet spirit. Someone who preached and lived love. Someone who could be caught with a lump in her throat or a tear on her cheek when she encountered sadness or inexpressible joy.

Beyond that we had no church experience that kept us there. Sunday after Sunday we encountered friendly but distant folks who didn’t want to know anything about us. We sang hymns and spiritual songs with messages that we no longer fully concurred with. With my reasonably tolerable voice, the only comment other than “Good to see you today!” was (pointing to the choir) “You need to be up there!.”

Perhaps we didn’t give it a fair shake. Maybe we should have attended a few functions, gotten to know people better. But that would lead to the next challenge. If you have read other articles in this blog, you would readily see that our thinking is spiritually outside the box. Serious conversations of a heavenly nature would likely make traditional believers feel, at best, uncomfortable, at worst, offended.

So here we are. Alone again. But not really. I told the pastor that our walk with the Lord was solid, whether in church or out. I honestly reported that not a day goes by that my wife and I don’t discuss some spiritual point. We were doing just that at the moment she called. Earlier that day we had discussed with a friend how sad it is that so many denominations can’t put aside their differences and join together in love. Why they can’t persist in searching for the true truth and insist on relentlessly seeking a common bond, whose inner core is the incredible love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It’s something to hope for.

There is a growing fear with some in our country that many who have conservative values are fanning the flames of fanaticism.  Neal Gabler with the Los Angeles Times thinks that there is something terrifying happening in the nation (see Politics As Religion In America).  He writes:

Perhaps the single most profound change in our political culture over the last 30 years has been the transformation of conservatism from a political movement, with all the limitations, hedges and forbearances of politics, into a kind of fundamentalist religious movement, with the absolute certainty of religious belief.

Now, I really don’t care to write about politics, but, as a Christian, I have to ask myself, “What is my role as a citizen within the context of being a believer?” I’ve been known to spin the radio dial a few times, and I can’t help but notice how the right-wing talk show hosts begin to sound like the radio preacher a couple stations over.  These radio pitchmen are also quick to invoke God’s name or quote dramatic Biblical statements to power up their points.

Unfortunately, doublespeak isn’t just prevalent on both sides of the aisle.  It’s throughout the media, making it less than “fair and balanced.”  Jesus was all about truth and bringing the truth to light.  I am concerned that too many Christians are pouring their souls (and dollars) into making this a “Christian” nation (with, hopefully, their brand of doctrine in place) rather than following the two greatest commandments:  Love God — and love your neighbor (even if he’s the liberal guy beat up on the road from Samaria).

We don’t listen enough.  We don’t ask enough questions and then patiently wait for the answer before jumping in with our opinion.  We seemed to have forgotten how to encourage one another and to let our differences fade in the glorious light of Christ’s love.  We can’t even go to church without choosing a denomination.  How are we to unite a country?

I don’t think that voting or not voting determines what type of Christian you are.  How you treat the person next to you in the voting line does.  How you respond to the person who berates you for not voting does.  Love and compassion are not relegated to Sundays.  Each day we are called to not only seek the truth, but speak the truth IN LOVE.  Ugliness, backbiting and mudslinging are not acceptable. 

I don’t know if Jesus would vote.  He got a fish to cough up the temple tax.  But he would most certainly frown on any professed Christian who pushes wholesome government values with a fervor, yet abuses his neighbor, ignores his family or treats those around him as inferiors.

The term grassroots (now called main street) in the political arena means those of us who eat, sleep, work and play on a daily basis and don’t concern ourselves with making an impact on a national level.  How different our nation would be if people could see Jesus on Main Street.  

See Jesus in us.

As we grow, more authority figures are added:  teachers, bus drivers, policemen, etc..  Then the workplace brings forth supervisors, task leaders, bosses, their bosses, division bosses, corporate bosses and the CEO.  Even in small businesses and partnerships someone has to assume the management role.

I used to write that God was at the top of the food chain.  Even a hermit in a secluded location in the dense forest, who planted his own garden and burned candles, would still have to answer to God in the final analysis.  I credit my upbringing and somewhat skewed Bible teaching as forming my view of “God’s justice,” he being the BIG BOSS.

The Old Testament paints a picture of a people who trembled at the thought that God might be near.  They begged their current prophet to speak on their behalf, for fear that the Almighty would smite them dead.  In the New Testament, however, Jesus shows us a very different God, one who is loving and caring, yet was not pleased with those that troubled or hurt their family and neighbors around them.

The church continued to develop this theme, but was determined to add burdens and rules to the backs of new believers, requiring obedience to doctrine and church leaders rather than obedience to God’s Holy Spirit.  Why be dragged back into Old Testament austerity?  It’s as if Christ came to say, “You’ve got it all wrong!  You don’t even know my Father!  Let me show you a better way.”

Everything that Christ said and did was to demonstrate God’s will, because Christ was the perfect, obedient Son.  If Christ said it, it’s because God told him to say it.  If Christ healed, God is the Healer.  When Christ died on the cross, God was saying, “I give you my all — everything — to bring you into my inner circle as perfect sons and daughters.  I spare nothing.”

God is not my boss.

HE IS MY FATHER.  He always has and always will care for me.  He will give me the necessary discipline to keep me firmly focused on the path of truth and love.  He will continuously protect me, even when it surely seems as if he has forgotten me.

HE IS MY MAKER.  I am genetically bound to him.  With my free will I can become incredibly ugly to the point where no one could see any resemblance between me and my God.  Conversely, I can become so like him that my brothers and sisters will give him praise because they see him in me.

HE IS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF MY FAITH.  I began as an innocent baby — not as a “little sinner”, as some might claim.  I will get dirty along the way.  But I will, ever so gradually, become clean and will be reconciled to my Father, as well as to all I have offended in God’s creation, be it man or beast.

This is genuine hope and promise.

BUT - if you believe in God, then you may have a lot of work to do.  Because he certainly had a reason for causing you to exist, and it would behoove you to determine how you fit in with this amazing creation.

The poet W. H. Auden said,

We are here on earth to do good to others.  What the others are here for, I don’t know.

He’s got a point.  If your focus is on your role in this world, the others will take care of themselves. How many of us are more concerned with what others think of us, what others are enjoying, how others have offended us or what they have that we don’t?

It really is quite possible to do good to others.  It takes work.  It requires fighting frustration, or even anger.  It demands the abandonment of apathy.  Instead of feeling that we are being used, wouldn’t it be better to recognize that we are needed — even if THEY don’t recognize it?

Caring for others is what gives our life purpose.  It can be in the form of outreach, like visiting a nursing home or bringing comfort to shut-ins.  Those who do such are a blessing and are themselves blessed. But opportunities for caring abound; the only prerequisite is that you’re breathing.  Unless you’re the only person on the space station (and your radio is broken), you’re bound to be in touch with someone daily, be it family, friends, co-workers or neighbors.  You communicate with them by voice, touch, listening, as well as by phone, e-mail or old-fashioned letter-writing.

What you say or do determines your level of caring.  They don’t have to notice it.  You don’t even have to notice it.  Just do it.  And do it some more.  Then it becomes natural — as natural as breathing.  As God’s children we are called to obedience.  Not jumping through hoops, or checking off a to-do list.  It’s not even keeping the commandments.  It only requires doing that which is spoken within you — directions from God.

You can deny that God is teaching you, directing you.  But that would only confirm that your focus is not on him.  Because by truly focusing on him, you see the countless others that he also loves, those he is expecting you to care for.  You matter.  Be here.  For them.

I think everyone does, but not everyone realizes it.  A lot of people don’t even understand what true love is. Love makes the world go ’round, but hate makes the world go ’round wobbily. Love is the fodder for countless songs of passion, vainly pledging fidelity to the current object of affection.

The Greeks had five different words for love, three of which are normally found in Christian teaching:

Eros (sensual love - root word for erotic)

Philia (friendship — like Philidelphia)

Agape (self-sacrificing love)

Truth be known, Agape is not exclusive to Christianity.  In the Greek it could mean being content with a good meal.

The two lesser-known words are

Storge (affection - “I love my children”)

Thelema (desire to achieve - “I’d love to get promoted”)

While the word “love” is used to address each of these concepts, in fact, we need all of them to make the world go ’round.  Daily doses of love leave no room for hate.  Our prudish position on sexual intimacy refuses to allow that same passion to be the driving force for our exciting, sometimes grueling, journey, yet we freely use the word passionate to describe our various loves for things.

Some folks can only return love when love is offered.  Others find it difficult to love when it is not reciprocated.  But true love runs so much deeper.  It was placed at the center of each of us by our Creator, but is often buried by layers of selfishness and pride.

To be sure, showing love where hate abounds (i.e., to our enemy (?)) is the most difficult thing.  We’re commanded in the Bible to love those who hate us, but do we ever get past just showing love, where we really feel love?  That, too, is part of the journey.  Showing love without feeling it seems phony, but it’s where we must begin.  Those who have practiced this presence will overwhelming attest to the fact that it makes them feel better, and they feel ecouraged to press on toward the goal of actually feeling the love.

The real enemy is apathy.  Only caring for ourselves, getting our needs met.  For this we were certainly not created.  Jesus, however, taught that caring for ourselves is a natural and healthy observance. The problem is that we are called to project that same level of caring for those around us.  That too is difficult.  But I think that what makes it difficult is that we try to see the big picture, and it seems impossible to achieve.  That’s why God gives us 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour.  Each minute, each hour is given us to try, and retry, to give love.

Our workplace for this activity is as close as spouse, child, parent, sibling or neighbor.  Talk about working from home! Receiving love is equally important, but it should never be our focus.  We will find that giving love, without expecting a return of same, will often be rewarded in ways that we could not anticipate.  I Corthians 13 is my favorite passage on this subject.  In it we find that love:

– is patient — is kind — is not envious — is not boastful — is not proud — is not rude — is not self-seeking — is not easily angered — keeps no record of wrongs — does not delight in evil — rejoices with the truth — always protects — always trusts — always hopes — always perseveres.

This, if you haven’t noticed yet, is a picture of the perfect believer.  You can look around you at varying degrees of this formula being worked out in others.  God is working it out in you.  But he won’t make you do it; and he won’t do it for you.  Through his discipline he is peeling away the ugliness, resentment and apathy that keeps us from experiencing love.  That’s his best love.  He cares for you.

I believe that he has a right to my absolute obedience whenever I know or shall come to know his will; that to obey him is to ascend to the highest point of my being; that not to obey him would be to deny him.

I believe that he died that I might die like him — die to any ruling power in me but the will of God — live ready to be nailed to the cross as he was, if God wills it.

I believe that he is my Savior from myself, and from all that comes of loving myself, from all that God does not love, and would not have me love — from all that is not worth loving; that he died that the justice, the mercy of God, might have its way with me, making me just as God is just, merciful as he is merciful, perfect as my father in heaven is perfect.

I believe and pray that he will give whatever punishment needed to set me right, or to keep me from going wrong.

I believe that he died to deliver me from all meanness, all pretending, all falseness, all unfairness, all self-pity, all cowardice, all fear, all anxiety, all forms of self-love, all trust or hope in possessions; making me joyful as a child, the child of our father in heaven, loving nothing but what is lovely, desiring nothing that I should be ashamed to let the universe of God see me desire.

I believe that God is just like Jesus, only greater yet, because Jesus said so.

I believe that God is absolutely, grandly beautiful, even as the highest soul of man counts beauty, but infinitely more beautiful than that soul’s highest idea — with the beauty that creates beauty, not merely shows it, or itself exists as beautiful.

I believe that God has always done, is always doing his best for everyone; that no one is miserable because God is forgetting them; that he is not a God to crouch before, but our father, to whom the child-heart cries with joy, “Do with me as you will.”

I believe that there is nothing good for me or for anyone but God, and more and more of God, and that only through knowing Christ can we come near to him.

I believe that no one is ever condemned for any sin except one — that he or she will not leave their sins and come out of them, and be the child of him who is their father.

I believe that justice and mercy are simply one and the same thing; without justice to the full there can be no mercy, and without mercy to the full there can be no justice; that the mercy of God is such that he will hold his children in the consuming fire of his distance until they pay the last penny, until they drop the purse of selfishness with all the trash in it, and rush home to the Father and the Son, and with the many brothers and sisters rush inside the center of his life-giving fire whose outer circles burn.

I believe that no hell will be lacking which would help the just mercy of God to redeem his children.

I believe that to those who obey, and thus open the doors of their hearts to receive the eternal gift, God gives the spirit of his son, the spirit of himself, to be in them, and lead them to the understanding of all truth; that the true disciple may thus always know what he or she ought to do, though not necessarily what another ought to do; and that same spirit of the Father and the Son will enlighten by teaching righteousness.

I believe that no teacher should strive to make others think as he thinks, but to lead them to the living Truth, to the Master himself, from whom alone they can learn anything, who will make them in themselves know what is true by the very seeing of it.

I believe that the inspiration of the Almighty alone gives understanding.

I believe that to be a disciple of Christ is the ultimate goal of being; that to persuade others to be his disciples is the ultimate goal of teaching.

Amen. I believe also.

Microwave ovens can put out tasty, home-cooked meals in minutes.  Remote controls save time and energy from having to waddle over to the TV or other device in order to activate it.  Why go to the doctor’s office when your online medical advisor is just a click away?  The internet is the world’s largest shopping mall and flea market.  Screen possible mates on the web before you actually have to interact with them.  Instead of having to deal with our own problems, we can escape to an abbreviated version of someone else’s woes in a huge lineup of reality shows.  Drive-thru’s are everywhere and provide quick access to food, dry cleaning, tag renewals and your money.

I’ll be the first to confess to enjoying the conveniences, but have we begun to worship them?  George MacDonald said,

To have what we want is riches, but to be able to do without is power.

Jesus spoke of denying ourselves, and I think a good many Christians see it simply as giving up things, like sticking to your diet, don’t bite your nails, save your money, stay home more and surpass your tithes with offerings.  While these attributes are admirable, and may be part of the end result, I believe that our focus is in the wrong place.  Centering on, and then completing such challenges gives us a form of satisfaction, to be sure, but may also feed our pride and set us above our neighbor.

The key to denying ourselves is not so much giving up, but giving over.  Our greatest form of worship is the daily care of others.  And in any given 24-hour day there are likely plenty of “others” to care for. Family, friends, neighbors, church family and work associates, not to mention folks you meet as you go throughout your day.  Unless you’re a hermit, you will always have someone to care for.

So how do you care for them?  By redirecting your thoughts and energy from yourself to someone else. Should you give up any time for yourself?  Of course not.  But when another human enters your “space,” the dynamic changes.  You then have a blessed opportunity to serve them.  By listening, helping, advising (if they ask for it!) and sharing.  And you might be surprised to see how good you feel when doing so.

We find ourselves too much lately claiming our space and not allowing others to “take advantage of us.” Is that what it’s all about?  We have an incredibly short period of time this side of death to complete the task given us.  Some of us, most of us have wasted many years without a clue.  Have we learned nothing from our servant Savior?  His was a short life of obedience, and his joy was to serve those that his Father had created.

How great it would be when two or more gathered sought to serve each other!  It would leave no room for hurt, anger or jealousy.  Sounds Eutopian, doesn’t it?  That’s what heaven is all about.  And we don’t have to wait.

Viruses of all sorts can be annoying. When what seems like a short-term bacterial infection doesn’t go away, it can turn out to be a virus. It’s a nasty bug that hangs on forever and must finish its course until the body’s natural immune system gets rid of it.

A computer virus is equally annoying. I write from recent experience. What was particularly frustrating was that I was paying for a service that provided firewalls and security devices to protect from just such an invasion. In the process of getting my computer functional again, I had to wipe my hard drive — that is, erase all of my files and reinstall the basic operating system. If you don’t have a backup of your files, then you have lost everything. I did recently back up my files, but, thankfully, most of my thoughts and scribblings are safe on the worldwide web (?).

I’ve read that our minds are like super-powerful computers. That we record and catalog virtually everything over the course of our lives. Every thought, printed word, spoken word, sound, image and smell. I believe it because some of the oddest rememberings from my distant past can pop into my active thinking at any time.

The good memories are a blessing to relive. The bad ones? Well, you just wish they would go away. They can consist of hurt or ugliness that you have received or witnessed, or they can be reminders of ugly things that you have said or done. I believe that our mind is the seat of our soul and is the area in which God and his enemies do battle.

Sometimes we wish that he would just wipe the hard drive of our mind and reinstall his own operating system. Many faiths teach just that. When you “accept Christ,” you are changed forever. But it would be difficult to find anyone who has miraculously shed all bad memories or temptations to behave badly.

Sanctification, however, is a process in which our minds are renewed over a period of time, in order to achieve a common goal — that we emerge as pure, lovely children of the Father. The Bible confirms that God is abounding in forgiveness, but yet lets no sin go unpunished. He’s not so much concerned with what we did, but rather what we are doing, and what we are going to do. A real problem that we Christians wrestle with is that we dwell in the shame of past sins/failures that have already been forgiven!

cGod wants us to accept his forgiveness and move on, looking ahead to the goodness that his son, Jesus, has taught us and is willing to help us to achieve. We have also been taught that good deeds are bad because they are “works.” Rubbish! The Apostle Paul told King Agrippa that his message to the people was that they were to “repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”

Paul also gave a wonderful formula for renewing our minds, in that we should, over time, replace the bad thoughts with good ones. In Philippians 4:8 he writes, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.”

I’m thinking, Lord.

As a metaphor heart is used to designate the center of things, the seat of emotions or the measure of integrity.  In ancient times feelings were often assigned to the gut or bowels, perhaps because of the movement we feel going on inside of us.  Combined with the pace or intensity of the heartbeat, the feeling in the “pit of your stomach” was a way in which to describe the emotional state that you were in.

Intellect is the function of the brain that processes facts and sensory messages, weighs opinions and references life experiences (memories) in order to assign emotion or generate apathy.  This is also an amazing process when you consider the fact that images, sounds or stories can trigger tear ducts, cause fists to clench, make chests to feel warm, bring lumps in your throat, turn your legs to rubber or simply urge your mouth to turn up at each end.

What role does the spirit have in all of this? We have spirits.  They are what make us unique.  We can follow the trend or challenge the tide.  We can submit to control by others, or we can be the ones who control.  In reality, we are all of those things, in varying measures.  How we dig a potato is mechanical. How we get along with other potato diggers is spiritual.

God is spirit.  His interface with us is his Spirit, also known as The Holy Spirit or The Holy Ghost.  He has given us everything with which to live.  He created our spirits.  How we develop them is up to us.  We are bound in this life by good decisions, bad decisions or even indecision.  Even though we are uniquely different from our fellow spirt-siblings, deep within each of us is God’s pure spirit.

I don’t know why evil has been allowed to be a part of our world.  I certainly don’t know where it comes from.  But it plays a major role in the degradation of our spirits.  The purpose of our journey, it seems, is to get back to the pure spirit of God.  We have had the privilege of witnessing a pure spirit in the man Jesus Christ, God’s son.  Perfection is attainable, but it will likely take more than this life to achieve it. The Apostle Peter wrote

Love one another deeply, from the heart. (I Peter 1:22)

I believe it, but do I ever struggle with it!  I often feel as if I will NEVER get there.  But when we get overwhelmed with the big picture, it may help to stop and take a look back.  Can I see measured progression in my life?  Do I lose my temper less?  Do I consciously make an effort to relate to others more?  Do I see myself understanding, and working toward, the ministry of reconciliation, the making of all things right, as far as it depends on me?

If you’ve looked back and see measured progression, then turn back around and keep going forward.  If, on the other hand, you see no improvement — or even regression — then it’s time to take baby steps.  Do the thing that is before you, this day, this moment.  Obey in the small things.  God is always telling you to “do” and “don’t do.”  Listen to him.  Like your beating heart, He never wears out.  He is the LOVE in I Corinthians 13:4-7.  He merges the heart and brain to sustain the soul.  He is our Savior.  Take heart.

Yet, the words are profound and still stand. Because it’s what God wants. It’s what we were created for. The concept goes beyond mere tolerance of one another.

So, why can’t we get along? The reasons are wide and varied. Racial and religious tensions are probably at the top, with political disagreements close behind. The root cause is simply bad behavior, which itself is based on pride, selfishness, frustration and anger. Overcoming those negatives takes work, and many simply don’t have the determination to do it. So we can add apathy and laziness to the equation.

This post is too small to address the overall unrest in the world, so let’s focus on religion. History has proven that some religions are tolerant, while others amass followers and resources with the purpose of eliminating or suppressing all who oppose them. Even within modern day Christianity there are countless denominations that are founded simply on tradition or various interpretations of the Bible — even versions or translations of it. Individual groups will split over church policy or a division in leadership.

Why can’t pure, accepting love be set as the cornerstone of every doctrine? The kind of love that says separation is not an option. The kind of system that says if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who was love incarnate, then we would be amazed to see over time how close we are to coming together over individual beliefs. That we are trusting the Father of lights to secure that unity that bonds us as true brothers and sisters. It has to happen some day; why not start now?

While this may seem Utopian and unachievable on the whole, it can most surely begin with one individual. Nine years before his tragic death in 1980 John Lennon wrote and recorded a song called Imagine. Many of the lyrics prompted outrage from the Christian community (Imagine there’s no heaven … no hell beneath … no religion too), but they reflected an honest response to many “faiths” that were failing to bind a wounded world.

Peace, reconciliation and “living as one” are most assuredly the goals of the Father of all. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Too lofty a goal? I don’t think so. Give peace a chance.