Covered lots of ground - primarily New Testament: taghba (loves and fishes), mount of beatitudes, capernaum, sea of galilee, Dan, Caesare Philippi, and the Syrian Border. Beginning the day at the place where Jesus delivered his sermon on the mount and said things like "blessed are the meek, the peacemakers, the poor in spirit" and then ending up at the Syrian border where two nations remain enemies, it makes me think about wether we will ever accept the fact that what Jesus teaches is really how the world is supposed to work. So many times I've heard people say to me about Jesus' teaching that "that isn't how the world works", as if the way we choose I.e (Syria/Israel) is how the world does work. Jesus turns it all around and says the world works through meekness, peacemaking, poverty of spirit, etc. It's so different from what we're used to it's hard to believe we will ever give it a chance.
How does your world work?
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Israel Day 3
Full day. First to Masada - the palace of King Herod the Great, and then later the hideaway for Jewish zealots fleeing the invasion of Rome. The Romans built a ramp to the top and the Zealots chose a self-imposed death over slavery. On to En Gedi where David took refuge from Saul. It's a beautiful oasis with a lush waterfall deep in it's valley. Some wonder if David wrote the 23rd Psalm there. After that it was to the Quamran caves and then to Jericho - where Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus' house. Finally, before driving to Tiberias for the night, we stopped at Beth-shan where Saul met his demise.
A theme that jumped out at me today was "loyalty". When Saul pursues David to En Gedi, David sneaks into Saul's camp and instead of killing him he cuts off a corner of his cloak. He shows mercy out of loyalty to his King. Later when Saul is killed and his body is desecrated by the Philistines, it is the "valiant men" of Jabesh-gilled who sneak into the Philistine city and retrieve their bodies and bring them back to their home for a proper burial. They do this because earlier Saul showed them mercy and defended their town from attack by a much greater force.
Never forget a friend. Never forget your loyalties and who's been loyal to you.
Any friend of yours you're in danger of forgetting?
Shalom
A theme that jumped out at me today was "loyalty". When Saul pursues David to En Gedi, David sneaks into Saul's camp and instead of killing him he cuts off a corner of his cloak. He shows mercy out of loyalty to his King. Later when Saul is killed and his body is desecrated by the Philistines, it is the "valiant men" of Jabesh-gilled who sneak into the Philistine city and retrieve their bodies and bring them back to their home for a proper burial. They do this because earlier Saul showed them mercy and defended their town from attack by a much greater force.
Never forget a friend. Never forget your loyalties and who's been loyal to you.
Any friend of yours you're in danger of forgetting?
Shalom
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Israel Day 2
If you're looking for Day 1 there isn't one. Too tired to write yesterday. After getting off the plane yesterday we drove up to Caesarea on the Medterranean. Saw the remnants of the city that Herod built. Drove back to Tel Aviv, had dinner and crashed.
Today it was on to Joppa, then to the valley Elah, where David and Goliath squared off, and then on to the Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park (amazing underground dwellings, cisterns and wine presses). We finished with a drive to the Dead Sea where we swam/floated, sat by the pool, ate dinner and then retired for the night.
Caesarea and Joppa factor greatly in the life of Peter and, in turn, our own. Joppa is where Peter had his vision of eating both the clean and unclean animals and Caesarea is where Cornelius is the one Peter was called to and, as a result, became the first Gentile convert. Joppa is also the place that Jonah left by ship to flee the call of God.
Consider Joppa: where two men who received visions - Jonah and Peter - and the two different paths taken. One fled and the other pursued the call. Life is filled with those choices. What to do with the sense that God wants us to do something - especially if it means reaching out to persons unknown, unfamiliar and unlikely to welcome us?
What's God asked you to do lately?
Today it was on to Joppa, then to the valley Elah, where David and Goliath squared off, and then on to the Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park (amazing underground dwellings, cisterns and wine presses). We finished with a drive to the Dead Sea where we swam/floated, sat by the pool, ate dinner and then retired for the night.
Caesarea and Joppa factor greatly in the life of Peter and, in turn, our own. Joppa is where Peter had his vision of eating both the clean and unclean animals and Caesarea is where Cornelius is the one Peter was called to and, as a result, became the first Gentile convert. Joppa is also the place that Jonah left by ship to flee the call of God.
Consider Joppa: where two men who received visions - Jonah and Peter - and the two different paths taken. One fled and the other pursued the call. Life is filled with those choices. What to do with the sense that God wants us to do something - especially if it means reaching out to persons unknown, unfamiliar and unlikely to welcome us?
What's God asked you to do lately?
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The primacy of now
George Macleod, the 20th century Celtic/Scottish saint said that, "the primacy of God as Now is what we must recover in Christians mysticism." Later quoting George MacDonald he says, "'Whatever wakes my heart and mind, thy presence is, my Lord.' Our innumerable 'nows' are our points of contact with God." Too often, I think, we relegate the perceived presence of God to the prayer closet. Bidden or not not bidden, God is here. All life is sacred as we see it enfolded in the presence of God.
Lewis, in Surprised by Joy, talks of how Arthur Greeves introduced him to the experience of the "homely": "Often he recalled my eyes from the horizon just to look through a hole in a hedge, to see nothing more than a farmyard in its mid-morning solitude, and perhaps a gray cat squeezing its way under a barn door, or a bent old woman with a wrinkled, motherly face coming back with an empty bucket from the pigsty. But best of all we liked it when the Homely and the unhomely met in sharp juxtaposition; if a little kitchen garden ran steeply up a narrowing enclave of fertile ground surrounded by outcroppings and furze, or some shivering quarry pool under a moonrise could be seen on our left, and on our right the smoking chimney and lamp-lit window of a cottage that was just settling down for the night."
I'm not sure I understand all of what Lewis and Greeves meant by "homely", but part of what I take from it is that nothing escapes the redeeming presence of God.
Lewis, in Surprised by Joy, talks of how Arthur Greeves introduced him to the experience of the "homely": "Often he recalled my eyes from the horizon just to look through a hole in a hedge, to see nothing more than a farmyard in its mid-morning solitude, and perhaps a gray cat squeezing its way under a barn door, or a bent old woman with a wrinkled, motherly face coming back with an empty bucket from the pigsty. But best of all we liked it when the Homely and the unhomely met in sharp juxtaposition; if a little kitchen garden ran steeply up a narrowing enclave of fertile ground surrounded by outcroppings and furze, or some shivering quarry pool under a moonrise could be seen on our left, and on our right the smoking chimney and lamp-lit window of a cottage that was just settling down for the night."
I'm not sure I understand all of what Lewis and Greeves meant by "homely", but part of what I take from it is that nothing escapes the redeeming presence of God.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Practiced Presence
Reading Brother Lawrence's "The Practice of the Presence of God" I was struck by his invitation to experience the continued presence of God. God is in our midst whether we want to pay attention or not. He seeks to be known. But do we really want to know him? Do we really wish to acknowledge his presence in every little corner of our lives?
Says Brother Lawrence: "We must know before we can love. In order to know God, we must often think of Him. And when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure."
This cycle of invoked presence leading to knowledge leading to love of God can turn quickly into a healthy and vibrant pattern for life. But it begins, I suppose, with practicing the presence. Hard to do when you think life is supposed to be all about you!
Says Brother Lawrence: "We must know before we can love. In order to know God, we must often think of Him. And when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure."
This cycle of invoked presence leading to knowledge leading to love of God can turn quickly into a healthy and vibrant pattern for life. But it begins, I suppose, with practicing the presence. Hard to do when you think life is supposed to be all about you!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
What I could be doing if I wasn't watching the Super Bowl
To study the life of C.S. Lewis is to be astounded by the amount of words he read, wrote, prayed, spoke and thought: 49 books written, 3 volumes of letters that stretch across half a book shelf, hours a week in prayer and worship, two meetings a week with the Inklings. The man was intelligent to be sure, but there has to be more to it than that. Or maybe the most intelligent thing about the man is how he chose to spend his time. It's hard to imagine Jack Lewis spending four hours on a Sunday night watching ANYTHING on TV, the least of which a sporting event. It makes me think of my use of discretionary time. I do a lot of mindless things with it. Not that every waking waking moment is supposed to be filled with thinking, reading and writing. The mind and spirit are called to rest - that is what Sabbath is about. Yet I suppose I could come up with more to offer the world if I wasn't always planting myself in front of some screen - movie, TV or computer. Maybe life would be more purposeful if we did more purposeful things with our time. Back to the Super Bowl.
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