Conscious

Life from the Center is a life of unhurried peace and power. It is simple. It is serene. It is amazing. It is triumphant. It is radiant. It takes no time, but it occupies all our time. And makes our life programs new and overcoming.

- Thomas Kelly

I'm not really on vacation, but life has felt much more like a vacation recently. We'll see how long it keeps up. It's not all a lack of work, because (for instance) I worked about 12 hours yesterday. But life just isn't so stressful or rushed like it was. I do what I need to, but I can "stop and smell the roses" along the way.

I'm reading a really great book right now called "Freedom of Simplicity" by Richard Foster. I am being challenged in the way I live, think, and understand simplicity. One of the parts of the book I read recently spoke of Frank Laubach's "Game with Minutes." In this "game" Frank would see how many minutes out of an hour he could be conscious of God's presence. Every day in his journal he'd put "Conscious 25%" or "Conscious 70%" etc. He would figure out what percentage of his day he was actually actively being conscious of God. It's an amazing and convicting challenge, one that even the mention of would send many of us downcast, due to the fact that we realize how seemingly unavoidably distracted we are to God throughout the majority of our day, and therefore life. I know for me, it's a blessing if I randomly remember to thank God for being good, while I drive mindlessly to my next appointment from time to time.

I want to challenge myself to this task. I want to take such a task seriously if I should attempt it. Coming into mental preparation, I realize to be conscious would mean to severely lessen or eliminate the mind-dulling substances of our modern age. It means an effort to turn the TV from sketch comedy, sitcoms, and pointless fictional dramas. Or better yet, to turn the TV off. It means putting a bridle on my mind, and training it to focus. It means dominating my laziness and turning it into purposed action, that feeds simplicity.

Is it pathetic that all of these seem like too much and make me want to scratch the idea?

Now I'm not saying I can never watch TV, even pointless TV. I'm not saying I can't zone out and think of nothing (since that's definitely a good thing from time to time). But what I am saying is this, we are more overboard than we realize in our distractions. Our minds are shutting down to the extent that we (me included) are oblivious to it. Just ask those who have trained their minds, they'll give you evidences of how far we've drifted into LaLa Land.

If God occupies all of heaven and earth, shouldn't he occupy my thoughts as well? Would I not benefit from a closer relationship with the Guy who has it all under His control? Would I not be a more effective minister to the Gospel if I allowed His Word to permeate all my actions, in a living and conscious manner?

As it is, there is division. There is time for what God wants, and time for what Steve wants. I know this is wrong, but I am very content with it... until I wake myself up. Until I reminisce the sweet taste of eternity, I am content in my blissful ignorance. Try the challenge. See how conscious of God you can be throughout the day. Be diligent in your attempts and see how things improve.

Pragmatic Post

Hey there is a new post on my other blog that is probably more fitting for this one.

Check it out.

Logotherapy

I'm bored.

What a horrendous utterance! But it's true. I'm completely bored. I have lots I can and should be doing, yet I'm not. I have no will to meaning right now; well, I'm not realizing that meaning currently at least.

I read a book recently called Man's Search for Meaning. I highly recommend it!

Meaning should be the driving force in our lives. Without meaning, why do we continue to live? Why do we not take our own lives? Perhaps the apathy and lethargy that has seeped into our pores is often the very thing keeping us from suicide; our lack of decisiveness to even kill ourselves. Or perhaps it's the artificial, superficial highs of life that keep us distracted from the severe lows that unavoidably follow... at. least sometimes

By comparison, most would probably say that I live a life of meaning and purpose. And I often do. But it's hard to live in a blazing house without getting burned. Naturopaths say that the acidic nature of our bodies is the underlying cause of much of the disease we encounter. That if we would just eat to properly alkalize the pH of our body, many of the health issues that ale us, would disappear.

I run into many people who know their diet is awful. They are convicted to change it, but they don't. Knowledge is of no benefit to these people. I see the same thing in life issues. I have many friends who know the lifestyle they are living is killing them physically, mentally, morally, spiritually, or all of the above, yet they continue to live this way. And I'm not excluded.

My point is, understanding meaning does nothing if you are continually surrounded by lifestyle pollution. Excessive entertainment, lack of rewarding labor, rampant sexuality, a dearth of moral absolutes, disbelief in an ultimate being (God), disregard for our physical health, consumerism, superficiality, short attention spans, great faith in politics/government, idolatry of celebrities are all examples of pollutants that make it nearly impossible to have a truly worthwhile existence.

We accomplish very little, and the things we do accomplish are often lacking significance in the big scheme of things. We are left asking the question, "Why did I work so hard on that? Was it only for pride?" Or even asking if our accomplishments are helping the world or tearing it apart. Society encourages to not ask these questions, but rather buy into the idea of having fun today! Carpe Diem!!! We do this so much that our later years our destroyed by the effects of our "fun," thus we are ill-equipped to fulfill some basics of man's purpose by the time we're middle-aged. Then we are sorry and bored, rather than vital and progressive.

Living fully requires, I believe, a mixture of interaction and separation. A person must keep oneself free from the toxic effect of society. But man also desires to be courageous, which may require diving into the vat of suffering to save one being eaten alive by despair. Suffering is sometimes not avoidable, and can teach a lot; but suffering sacrificially solidifies a reason of being and inspires the world to find that same reason.

Why so bored? Because I'm closing my eyes. I'm being apathetic today. My work is not giving me meaning because it isn't always making the world better. Because I'm busy playing with expensive toys I've bought, rather than connecting with the least of these. The truth is, the least of these don't even exist when I'm the only one who matters in my world. Today the focus is on me, so unless I'm reason enough (in and by myself) to have meaning, it just will not exist. I need an outside source.

A Little Too Dangerous

So apparently the U.S. Military has destroyed many Bibles that an American soldier was desiring to distribute to the Afghani people.

The government does not want to be tied to the promotion of any particular religion, which I can understand. It's not their place. And the Bible is probably more dangerous than the U.S. Military is prepared for, so their fear is appropriate.

On the other hand, I guess those who are truly brave should reconsider joining the military, and instead go to Afghanistan without guns, to hand out Bibles. If people actually start doing this, you can expect certain death, but also, certain life.

Just imagine.

The Bible In A Beaker

I attended a lecture at Pitt yesterday, where Bob Enick (who wrote the book Evolving in Eden) spoke about the compatibility of science's claim of The Theory of Evolution and a creationism viewpoint.

It's a claim I've thought about since my very intelligent friend Seth showed certainty of evolution (despite that he's a strong Christian) and said it could be the most beautiful means of creating. Ever since I have not had a strong foundation on whether I believe in both or with the more traditional creationist version.

It's largely a question of intention within the Bible; especially in the Genesis 1 accounts. Is the purpose to give a factual representation of the happenings and their order, or merely to show truths about how things are and that they ultimately were formed by God?

Enick explained how most evidence shows that the Earth is right around 4.5 million years old and there are signs the univers is somewhere around 16 billion years old. I have very little issue with this, believing the seven days to be most likely figuretive, rather than literal. However, when Enick began to talk about the evolution of man, I felt like something was wrong. His interpretation is that the creation of "Man in God's image" means the point of receiving a spiritual side. Before which humankind was merely another animal brought forth from evolution. I must confront myself in asking do I disagree with this just because I don't like it, or because it matters.

A few months ago I had a conversation with a parent of some of my campus life kids, who said he sees God's "breathing into the dust" as a very straightforward indication of evolution from primal elements. To believe in the evolution of man, and God graciously bestowing a spirit on him may not be too different, but at the same time I do feel like it reduces the specialness of man in relation to God's heart.

Overall it was a decent lecture. I learned a bit, but had heard a lot of the material before. I may skim through the free copy of Evolving in Eden that I received.

Then, this morning while browsing through Facebook, I saw a comment my buddy Jonathan had about a little kid with super-strength that was mentioned on the Early Show. It sounded interesting so I looked up some info on it.

Once I heard this story I immediately thought of Samson from the Bible. His agility and strength seem to resemble what could possibly come of this disorder. Was that the case? God placed a genetic disorder on Samson so he could be super-strong. It then raises the question of why would Samson's strength leave him when his hair is cut?

Interestingly enough, Samson seems a little slow, in the fact that he doesn't realize this chick, Delilah, has already tried to subdue him several times based on what he tells her his weakness is. Scientists have concerns about mental development in people with this disorder, due to the lack of fat from a high metabolism, which the brain needs for development. So maybe Samson wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed for that reason.

Even if Samson had this defect, would it give him the strength to collapse an entire temple with a push of his arms? Maybe, we don't know much aboutt his temple, but it must have been big. So is this a genetic thing or a supernatural thing? Is it a mix of both? My guess is a mix.

I have no problem with science, and I certainly have no problem with God using science. Heck, He created science. Why shouldn't he have created it to meet his purposes? There is no direct attack on the legitimacy of God in relation to science. The potential risk, is the trustworthiness of the Bible. It's a fact of Christianity to believe the Bible to be a spiritually inspired book. It's common for said Christians to believe it to be very or entirely historically accurate. There are some, but not as many who consider it to be a book of both faith and science.

I remember hearing about Newton's belief that God had written two great books, the Bible and science. He believed that the Bible wasn't a book of science (even if it contained some) and that science didn't, on its own, give a spiritual look at existence.

I'm not a scholar who has dedicated his life to deciphering between allegoric poetry and literal intent. In fact, I don't believe anyone has mastered this art/science. I think it's healthy for Christians to accept their way of reading the Bible may have been a little off, as knowledge increases, but at the same time we cannot explain away the validity of the Bible in containing Truth, especially in the areas of most important Truth.

I think with time the truth will become more evident in some ways, and completely lost in others. The bottom line is that we cannot fully know what happened before we have records for, we can merely look at evidence and come to conclusions or take by faith a book written by the Author of Life... or both.

Just A Gun Lovin' Gal

I don't quite get the current fascination with guns, or for that matter, the predominantly Republican obsession with them.

Should owning a gun be legal? Sure, I think so. But why would you really want one, other than for hunting?

Buying a gun for protection is something understandable (although I might take a different position personally), but can't the line quickly get blurred between what is protection and what is aggressive (called necessity)? I like to believe that the U.S. citizens will not become a panicked nation of anarchy, but if it did... let's look at a scenario.

A weapon begins with protecting your loved ones. It also includes protecting your assets. Then it's all about survival. If things were really this bad, where theft and violence is at an incredible level, what makes you think survival won't dictate what you feel you "deserve?" Or what will stop you from taking from the weaker in the name of provision for you own family. It's sort of a microcosm of international situations (even with our own country recently).

And of all things, it is becoming popular to teach young women how to shoot guns. If Glenn's daughter is crying after using a gun at target practice, don't you think she might cry a little more after shooting/maiming/killing somebody with said gun. I know my three female cousins recently started learning to shoot, and their extreme delight and love of their new loaded friend seriously perplexes and scares me.

Are we going to solve our problems by killing our problems? Or just by scaring them enough through our power (gun)? It's a funny belief for a "Christian Nation" to uphold, when Jesus seemed to uphold us being different people, in a world that is gun happy.

I'm sure there are lots of varying opinions out there on this subject on how important and prevalent guns should be. Leave some comments and share, please.

Lost

Last weekend was YFC's Student Leader Retreat. It was a weekend that was on course to be the usual great time of bonding and learning... and indeed the retreat was all of those things, but it certainly was not typical.

Saturday afternoon three of the girls went out for a hike through the woods. Several other students and staff had taken the same excursion, following the paths down to the creek. But due to some confusion, the girls took a wrong path.

At around 5:30 we started dinner, and some noticed that we were short a few people. We figured out the girls had left around 3pm, and figured there was a chance they just lost track of time. So we waited a little longer. When they still hadn't showed, we sent out a team of three staff members to search for them. By the time our make-shift search team left, it was already getting pretty dark.

Half an hour later, around 7pm, there was still no sign of them, but our three leaders believed they were following the girls' tracks on an unofficial path. The snow was deep, the woods were dark, and one of the three staff following the tracks told me he felt some strong emotions during that time. Walking with his light, warm clothes, and cell phone, he thought of these girls who had been out lost in the cold for 4 hours now. Being lost, alone, and completely ill-equipped, how scared and desperate must they feel? He told me he found himself crying as they walked, with this overwhelming sensation of what they must be feeling. He could see better what they were experiencing because he was walking their path.

I think of the path of man. In this life we are by ourselves, lost, and ill-equipped for the things of life. I believe we all come to grasps with how we have no real control over our lives, and how we really don't know what we're doing... as well as me may put up a front like we have it all figured out.

It was Christ who came to Earth. Christ, who walked the same path as us, and connected with the harshness of humanity. But as much as he walked our path, he was not in he same position as us. He was not ill-equipped. He had the necessities that we did not have... he had the Truth!

Our search team was equipped with blankets, water, communication, medical supplies, and light; all the things these girls needed, but were without. It was a rescue mission. That's why Jesus came, to rescue us. He came with allt he things we needed to save us from our situation.

I don't think that God was unable to relate to humanity without Jesus coming, but it certainly does show us a commonality, an understanding, and an intentionality; joining us in marriage of closeness, love, and rescue.

The girls were found and taken to the hospital. They turned out to be fine, which was great. It was a hard time for everyone, but I do think there is some good understanding that came out of it.

Living Like Jesus? Really?

Hmm, he drops a couple bombshells in there.

I would gain so much persecution from my fellow Christian family members if I ever did this.  Sadly mostly because of the beard.