INTENTION & ATTENTION

When I was orienting and training the counselors who would be working at camp, I gave them my vision of camp, goals to under gird the accomplishment and maintenance of that vision, and told them to look for the overall life lessons that could be learned in all of the activities they and the campers participated in throughout the day.  Of course, the life lesson in that was to be intentional in all they did and to pay attention to all that was around them.

Foe me personally these principles also work for me as I orient and train myself in my life and how I am to be n this world.  So many beautiful and meaningful things can pass me by if I am not living with intention and attention; I don’t want to miss any of it.

As I have been studying church history and watching what is unfolding now, that will someday become history, I have come to the conclusion that I miss a lot by getting hung up in the insignificant details and miss the vision and goals of God; the misinterpretations, the man made doctrines that divide, the quarreling, the swords being drawn and wielded; I don’t believe that these were the intentions of God nor the vision of Jesus of the kingdom of God that he gave to those who would follow in his footsteps.

On the night Jesus was arrested and headed to his death, Jesus prayed; he prayed for those who were in his immediate time, he prayed for those who would follow him in the time to come, which means he prayed for me.  His prayer was, “That they may all be one, just as you Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20,21).

Jesus words are not complicated; he was a man of plain speech.  I am to be one in unity with those who follow God; not conformed to them, not conformed to the world; but transformed and conformed to Jesus and God in their Oneness.  It is that unity that makes me one with God, and makes others one with God, and therefore makes all who follow God one with one another.

That oneness is the vision Jesus has put forth from his birth, when he came, and God dwelt among us.  During His time with human beings here on earth He put forth the vision of the kingdom of God and the goals to achieve and maintain that vision of the kingdom of God; the Place where He came from, where He was returning, and where someday I am going to be with Him, where all who receive, believe, and follow Him will someday go and be with Him.  But until then I am to be a witness of that vision and teacher of those goals, along with all others who follow Him; not divided, but as one image of the One God all were created to manifest.

This means putting down my sword of self, not looking to human doctrines that divide, and fixing my intention and attention on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of my faith. Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets.  Therefore, any law or prophetic voice that comes forth now has to be in the image and character of Jesus or it is not of God.  Swords are not to be used to defend Jesus.  Swords of self defense and swords of righting all wrongs are to be beaten into plowshares and used for planting seeds and producing crops of Peace.  It’s what Jesus prayed for as he was about to die.

It’s what Jesus prayed for; it’s what God desires; it will be fulfilled.

THE FRUIT COMES FROM THE TREE FED BY THE ROOT

How can one delight in feeding from and living off the fruit of a tree and then turn and despise, deny, and reject the tree?  This form of spirituality that loves the saints and hates the Catholic Church is not centered and grounded.  And worse than hating the Catholic Church it denies Jesus and God who are the taproot of the Church.  A spirituality that denies Jesus and denies God is not the True Holy Spirit of God.  It is artificial and will not stand steadfast in the waves of a storm.  It is an illusion, an empty lifeless form that like chaff will disintegrate and fade away.

The tree is the container of all that is needed to produce the fruit, fed from the roots, contained and distributed to the growth of the fruit. Should this not be what the Church does?  Is this not what the Catholic Church has done throughout the centuries?  It has kept and passed down the history of Christianity.  The tree may not be perfect.  Trees need to be pruned from time to time.  Dead braches and excess branches that misdirect the essential nutrients to the area of growth need to be removed.  God does that in trees growing in nature by wind, lightening, and storms.  He has pruned the Church through trials, tribulations, and persecutions.

The history of Christianity involves a lot of pruning; the Catholic Church has certainly suffered through a lot of pruning as have the Protestant Churches. But it is necessary so that what remains can be a healthy container, a grower and producer of good fruit.

The Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches have produced some truly amazing people who have done much good in this world.  The fruit of their lives is to be honored and admired.  But to honor the fruit we must honor the tree where the fruit came from, and especially the taproot where the life of the tree, and the life of the Church begins and ends.

THEORY vs TRUTH

As I study the philosophers, theologians, and great thinkers of the past and present; lofty notions about life, the universe, space and beyond, the cosmos, and of course God, are certainly intriguing but can leave me feeling lost and confused.  While I appreciate the science and research, I am a very simple person and often fail to see how it all affects me and my life.  I acknowledge that I don’t have a clue about how things really work in this universe and often wonder if those who claim to understand it all really do.  Most of that knowledge is theory, assumptions, and speculation; it is not Truth, reality, correct, and genuine.  How can they be?

          “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my

           ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the

           earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than

           your thoughts.” Isaiah 55: 8, 9.

All that said and acknowledged God created human beings to be with Him and to enjoy His Presence, so He revealed his thoughts and ways to us by sending Jesus, the Word become flesh, to dwell among us.  God doesn’t just give us a theory about Himself, life, and the cosmos; He gives us Truth itself.  All that Jesus taught reveals God to us in a Way that we can see, touch, understand, and know with certainty; not theory that changes in every age, but Truth that is eternal.  Those with eyes to see and ears to hear will receive and believe this Truth and will live in that Truth forever.

This Truth is not too hard or too lofty to understand; nor is it beyond our doing.  “The word is very near to you.  It is in your mouth and in your heart, so you can do it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).  Mary, a young girl chosen to bring Jesus into this world understood it; shepherds watching over their flocks understood it; wise men from the east following a star understood it; a righteous and devout man, Simeon understood it; a worshipping widow understood it; fishermen understood it; those lost in the sins of the world understood it; and I understand it.

Jesus came to earth to reveal the holiness and almightiness of God, not as a theory but as the Truth.  That Truth is that God loves us and wants communion with us.  It’s that simple; it’s that profound; it’s absolute Truth.  We will come to know and understand that Truth when we come to the quiet and simply receive and believe Him.

          “O Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not raised too high;

             I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous

             for me.  But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned

             child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.”

Psalm 131

HUMANS HAVE THEIR DOCTRINES, GOD HAS HIS WAY

“God Made man simple; man’s complex problems

are of his own devising.”

Ecclesiastes 7: 29

The institutional churches all have their doctrines and dogmas.  They were formed by human beings trying to understand God and what He expects from His creation.  History has shown that some of these doctrines are helpful and some are not, maybe even dangerously unhelpful.  Humans are not infallible or inerrant and neither are doctrines made by them.  At best they are merely commentaries to God’s Word. 

God’s voice is only recorded twice in the gospels.  The first time at Jesus’ baptism; “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).  The second time on the mountain when he was transfigured and was joined by Moses and Elijah; “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17: 5).  While churches have their doctrines, God has His Way.  Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  I have chosen to take God at His word.  I find my identity in Him as His child and His is the voice I will listen to. 

Jesus tells us that God sent him because God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  Jesus love me this I know…

Jesus tells us that “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).

No one condemns you, go and sin no more…

Jesus tells us that “Whoever does what is true comes to the light” (John 3:21).  I once was blind but now I see…

Jesus tells us that Mary, who chose to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to his teaching, “Chose the one thing necessary, the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10: 42)

Jesus said and did many more things but though many in number, they are still simple in content.  When asked to sum up the Law and the Prophets, all of what God has spoken he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-40).  These fundamental principals are God’s doctrine and dogma; they are simple.

“God made man simple; man’s complex problems are of his own devising.”

The institutional churches all have their doctrines and dogmas.  God has His Way.  And in the end, God always has His Way.