The power of prayer is a mystery and yet a powerful spiritual tool. Let me share a story from my past. Can I explain what happened? No. Do I understand why the prayer “worked” this time and then didn’t “work” a thousand other times? No. Just because we cannot explain the mystery of prayer or do not see the results that we expect to see shouldn’t mean that we reject it as a spiritual discipline.
Here’s the story: “Bill,” not his real name, was very sick when I became his pastor. He had been on kidney dialysis for years. By the time I came into the picture he was receiving the dialysis every other day. Bill hadn’t been able to get out of his singlewide trailer, except to go to the doctors and/or dialysis, for the last five years. He was a very sick man. I was told by his family and friends that I should be planning his funeral because they just didn’t know how much longer he would be alive.
Over that first year I visited Bill in the hospital numerous times and so this particular visit was really no different than the past. I sat, we talked, he shared the various medical procedures he was enduring this time around and then I stood to have a prayer. As is my custom I took Bill’s hand and laid my free hand on his forehead, as I have done in the past, and offered up my prayer on behalf of Bill. Nothing special, nothing different, nothing unique … just a simple bedside prayer that a thousand pastors have offered on other occasions. And I left the room expecting to receive a call at anytime that Bill had passed away. This was on Thursday.
Sunday I entered the sanctuary to prepare for worship and whom should I find sitting in a pew but Bill. I was surprised … no actually I was shocked and exclaimed, “What are you doing here?” Bill hadn’t been in worship in over 5 years. He smiled and said, “You mean you don’t know what happened? When you prayed for me you didn’t feel anything?” “Well, no,” I said. “Well,” he continued, “as you prayed a strong electrical current went through my body. I’m not sure just what happened and I’m not totally cured, but I was able to come off dialysis, at least for a while. One of my kidneys has decided to start to work again … ever since you prayed!” Bill lived another 3 years. He lived a much healthier during those years. He didn’t have to go back into the hospital except on rare occasions.
Why did the intercessory prayer help on this one occasion and not at other times such as when my son was dying of leukemia when literally thousands of people all over the world were praying for Tim’s healing? I don’t know. I cannot explain it. I wish I could. I simply accepted it at face value. Tim’s passing didn’t cause me to stop believing in intercessory prayer nor the power of prayer itself and Bill’s healing did not get me to believe any stronger in intercessory prayer nor my abilities to bring healing to someone else. Has Bill’s experience been duplicated in other people’s lives under my ministry? I don’t know … nobody has ever shared anything.
Prayer continues to be a mystery to me … just beyond explanation … just beyond any rational understanding on my part. I agree with the person who stated, “More things are wrought by prayer than by anything else.” Besides the Bible does give us the instruction that we are to “prayer for each other.” There must be a reason for that instruction … even if we do not see or realize the results that we expect.
More on this subject tomorrow.
Quote for today: The only way to pray is to pray, and the way to pray well is to pray much.- Anonymous
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Agent of Transformation
To be an affective Agent of Transformation means to “no longer view the world from an earthly perspective.” It means that we see people and things through the eyes of God and act according to what you see. It means that we do not see the color of a persons skin … we don’t hear the accent of their speech patterns … we don’t consider them as different … we don’t look upon them as a person of a different religion. To be an Agent of Transformation means that we don’t see others as conservative or liberal, as a Republican or Democrat … not even as friend or enemy.
We just see them as people of God regardless of their belief system or political point of view. And, from that point of view, we work for the betterment of the entire human race … seeking the “welfare of the city” … nation … world. It also means that while we try to be good citizens of our country we embrace fully and complete what it means to be citizens of the Kingdom of God – with all of its privileges and responsibilities.
We are a part of the solution instead of part of the problem. We look for ways to open channels of communications … entering into a dialogue that is both positive and uplifting. Our critical spirit and voice are no longer permitted to be expressed for we are God’s voice at every turn and in every situation ... God’s feet, God’s hands, God’s heart, God’s presence … the embodiment of the spirit of God for everyone else.
As an Agent of Transformation is it easy to stay on task? No … for the evil one knows our weaknesses and where we are easily tempted. Therefore, we have to resist evil and do what those who are of this world would not do, say what others would not say, act as others would not act … we have to be different because we are different. Viva la difference!
Quote for today: Former pro basketball star Bill Bradley tells that at the age of 15 he attended a summer basketball camp that was run by Easy Ed Macauley, a former college and pro star. "Just remember that if you're not working at your game to the utmost of your ability," Macauley told his assembled campers, "there will be someone out there somewhere with equal ability who will be working to the utmost of his ability. And one day you'll play each other, and he'll have the advantage." Daily Bread
We just see them as people of God regardless of their belief system or political point of view. And, from that point of view, we work for the betterment of the entire human race … seeking the “welfare of the city” … nation … world. It also means that while we try to be good citizens of our country we embrace fully and complete what it means to be citizens of the Kingdom of God – with all of its privileges and responsibilities.
We are a part of the solution instead of part of the problem. We look for ways to open channels of communications … entering into a dialogue that is both positive and uplifting. Our critical spirit and voice are no longer permitted to be expressed for we are God’s voice at every turn and in every situation ... God’s feet, God’s hands, God’s heart, God’s presence … the embodiment of the spirit of God for everyone else.
As an Agent of Transformation is it easy to stay on task? No … for the evil one knows our weaknesses and where we are easily tempted. Therefore, we have to resist evil and do what those who are of this world would not do, say what others would not say, act as others would not act … we have to be different because we are different. Viva la difference!
Quote for today: Former pro basketball star Bill Bradley tells that at the age of 15 he attended a summer basketball camp that was run by Easy Ed Macauley, a former college and pro star. "Just remember that if you're not working at your game to the utmost of your ability," Macauley told his assembled campers, "there will be someone out there somewhere with equal ability who will be working to the utmost of his ability. And one day you'll play each other, and he'll have the advantage." Daily Bread
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Change or transformation - part two
When you come under attack there are several options available to you. If it is an attack on your computer – as I experienced yesterday thus the failure to post a blog – you can shut down your computer, unplug it from the internet and wait for the computer wise son-in-law to come by and fix it. Or, you can pay the expensive bill to have a member of the Geek Squad to do their magic. I’ve decided to wait for the former … as you can imagine.
This particular Trojan has attacked me before. Actually, this is the third time. It is just plan nasty. My son-in-law has put it “in jail” several times only for it to reinvent itself and find a way out. The conclusion that we are probably looking at this time is to pull all the data and programs off the computer, wipe the mother board totally clean and start all over. What a mess.
When the attack comes from another person your choices are more wide spread. Ones response is going to depend on if you choose to be an Agent of Transformation or not. Here are several options: You can hope that the attacker simply goes away, i.e. changes churches, etc.; You can pray that someone shows him/her the error of his/her ways … good luck on that one; You can attack back as in “I don’t get mad I get even”; etc. You probably could add your favorite.
But as Christians we are actually asked to be Agents of Transformation as Jesus asks us to “turn the other cheek” “go the second mile” “to forgive seventy times seven” and “to forgive our enemies and those who spitefully use us”. Agents of Transformation, if I understand the Gospel teachings is to seek reconciliation at whatever the personal cost to ourselves … even to the point of making a personal apology if by chance there was something in our words and/or deeds that might have offend the other person.
It is never easy being an Agent of Transformation, but as often experienced the rewards are fantastic … like the healing of emotions, memories, situations … even the coming together of an entire church. Another way of looking at this is “growing up” spiritually and starting to actually embody the essence of Jesus Christ as shown upon the cross of crucifixion as he turned to ask for forgiveness for those who had put him there. He didn’t do anything wrong, he had ever right to be angry, upset, hurt and yet Jesus became the Agent of Transformation within that horrible situation and look what happened … resurrection happened … new life … new possibilities.
We can either hold grudges and allow it to eat away at our soul and spirit … or we can reach out in love and seek reconciliation with our enemies. The choice is ours … not an easy choice at best, but nevertheless a choice of transformation for it transforms both individuals in the process and bears testimony to the power of God.
Quote for today: Forgiveness is a funny thing; it warms the heart and cools the sting. William A. Ward
This particular Trojan has attacked me before. Actually, this is the third time. It is just plan nasty. My son-in-law has put it “in jail” several times only for it to reinvent itself and find a way out. The conclusion that we are probably looking at this time is to pull all the data and programs off the computer, wipe the mother board totally clean and start all over. What a mess.
When the attack comes from another person your choices are more wide spread. Ones response is going to depend on if you choose to be an Agent of Transformation or not. Here are several options: You can hope that the attacker simply goes away, i.e. changes churches, etc.; You can pray that someone shows him/her the error of his/her ways … good luck on that one; You can attack back as in “I don’t get mad I get even”; etc. You probably could add your favorite.
But as Christians we are actually asked to be Agents of Transformation as Jesus asks us to “turn the other cheek” “go the second mile” “to forgive seventy times seven” and “to forgive our enemies and those who spitefully use us”. Agents of Transformation, if I understand the Gospel teachings is to seek reconciliation at whatever the personal cost to ourselves … even to the point of making a personal apology if by chance there was something in our words and/or deeds that might have offend the other person.
It is never easy being an Agent of Transformation, but as often experienced the rewards are fantastic … like the healing of emotions, memories, situations … even the coming together of an entire church. Another way of looking at this is “growing up” spiritually and starting to actually embody the essence of Jesus Christ as shown upon the cross of crucifixion as he turned to ask for forgiveness for those who had put him there. He didn’t do anything wrong, he had ever right to be angry, upset, hurt and yet Jesus became the Agent of Transformation within that horrible situation and look what happened … resurrection happened … new life … new possibilities.
We can either hold grudges and allow it to eat away at our soul and spirit … or we can reach out in love and seek reconciliation with our enemies. The choice is ours … not an easy choice at best, but nevertheless a choice of transformation for it transforms both individuals in the process and bears testimony to the power of God.
Quote for today: Forgiveness is a funny thing; it warms the heart and cools the sting. William A. Ward
Thursday, July 29, 2010
To change or to be transformed?
We live in an interesting world … peculiar at times, perplexing most of the time, continuously challenging and sometimes just plan weird … and yet, none of us ever want it to change. Maybe we are weird and the world is simply peculiar. The question persists: Do we like the world in which we live … even with all of its “weirdness”?
That was kind of the question I proposed to one of the physically challenged individuals that I visited today. “Suzie” (not her real name) kept “plowing” the same field … how people, who she had given access to her home, came in and “changed” everything. Actually, they simply began the long and thankless job of going through tons of mail that my person had allowed to pile up since her parents died in 2006. Her home had become a haven for dust with stacks of “stuff” in piles all over and yet, she was upset because they had “changed” every … even moving the stuff on her mother’s dresser (in order to dust it) and didn’t place it all back in its proper order. “Don’t you want to move on beyond your parents death? Don’t you think it is about time that some of this “stuff” … their “stuff” … be sorted out and given away or sold, like their car which is sitting right where they left it?” I asked. “Well, since you put it that way probably yeah, but it is so hard – too hard,” she shared.
Nothing worth doing is ever easy. We are asked of God to be changed agents in his world. Actually I prefer the title, transformer … the idea of taking what is and transforming, by God’s grace, into the Kingdom of God. The word and concept “change” just doesn’t do it for me any longer. While “transforming” denotes making something useful out of something un-useful. Or even a better analogy would be dieting – to change means that for a particular period of time a person follows a particular eating regiment and they lose weight, but once off the diet the weight will usually come back, but to transform ones approach to food, understanding of food, and ones lifestyle concerning food is another entire matter. One approach is immediate, but short lived while the other is gradual yet for a lifetime.
My real question to “Suzie” was a transformational one … are you ready to become the person we both know God wants you to be? If you are comforted by the stuff which surrounds you then your answer will be “No,” but if something has to, needs to, must be changed why not make it transformational … moving you into a completely new direction, turning your world totally upside down and creating a “Suzie” world instead of a “mom and dad” world.
It is a hard question and thus the reason most of us would rather simply stay where we are in our thinking … behavior patterns … because we have become comfortable – as comfortable as we can – in the world that we have created in our image. To transform our world is a real challenge, but the benefits are truly out of this world. The decision is ours and ours alone … no one can make the decision for us as no one can take the actions that are necessary to get rid of the clutter made by our “stuff” or move in a different direction with our relationship to food. By transforming our world we are making a strong statement about the role that God is going to have in our decision making process … the role within our daily life.
It is about time to move on … isn’t it?
Quote for today: The adventure of new life in Christ begins when the comfortable patterns of the old life are left behind. David Roher
That was kind of the question I proposed to one of the physically challenged individuals that I visited today. “Suzie” (not her real name) kept “plowing” the same field … how people, who she had given access to her home, came in and “changed” everything. Actually, they simply began the long and thankless job of going through tons of mail that my person had allowed to pile up since her parents died in 2006. Her home had become a haven for dust with stacks of “stuff” in piles all over and yet, she was upset because they had “changed” every … even moving the stuff on her mother’s dresser (in order to dust it) and didn’t place it all back in its proper order. “Don’t you want to move on beyond your parents death? Don’t you think it is about time that some of this “stuff” … their “stuff” … be sorted out and given away or sold, like their car which is sitting right where they left it?” I asked. “Well, since you put it that way probably yeah, but it is so hard – too hard,” she shared.
Nothing worth doing is ever easy. We are asked of God to be changed agents in his world. Actually I prefer the title, transformer … the idea of taking what is and transforming, by God’s grace, into the Kingdom of God. The word and concept “change” just doesn’t do it for me any longer. While “transforming” denotes making something useful out of something un-useful. Or even a better analogy would be dieting – to change means that for a particular period of time a person follows a particular eating regiment and they lose weight, but once off the diet the weight will usually come back, but to transform ones approach to food, understanding of food, and ones lifestyle concerning food is another entire matter. One approach is immediate, but short lived while the other is gradual yet for a lifetime.
My real question to “Suzie” was a transformational one … are you ready to become the person we both know God wants you to be? If you are comforted by the stuff which surrounds you then your answer will be “No,” but if something has to, needs to, must be changed why not make it transformational … moving you into a completely new direction, turning your world totally upside down and creating a “Suzie” world instead of a “mom and dad” world.
It is a hard question and thus the reason most of us would rather simply stay where we are in our thinking … behavior patterns … because we have become comfortable – as comfortable as we can – in the world that we have created in our image. To transform our world is a real challenge, but the benefits are truly out of this world. The decision is ours and ours alone … no one can make the decision for us as no one can take the actions that are necessary to get rid of the clutter made by our “stuff” or move in a different direction with our relationship to food. By transforming our world we are making a strong statement about the role that God is going to have in our decision making process … the role within our daily life.
It is about time to move on … isn’t it?
Quote for today: The adventure of new life in Christ begins when the comfortable patterns of the old life are left behind. David Roher
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
A place called home
Is it so bad to be in love with some of your “stuff”? After all it is only “stuff” … right? And, yet yesterday, as I walked through our now very empty house in DeLand, soon to be occupied by another couple, I couldn’t help but to express my inner feelings as to just how much I really loved that home.
I was laying on the carpet in the living room, as I waited for the handyman to complete his work on one of our doors, and I remembered some special events … Margaret’s family reunion, various Christmas Open Houses, the many dinners we hosted, and just quiet times in which we just did the everyday “normal” activities that comes with being married and having a family.
I remembered the day we moved in – actually, it was a late afternoon and evening. I remembered shopping for furniture to fit into the home. I remembered the long search for a dinning room set to go along with a china hutch that we owned – never really found what we wanted so we “settled” on something that we “could” live with. I remembered working out the placement of all of our Christmas decorations. I remembered the happy times when our daughters and son-in-law came to visit. I remembered the laughter and the tears.
And, I remembered what people said about the home … how warm and inviting it was. Even now, with all the future removed, all the pictures taken down, all the personal items packed up and residing in another house, the walls painted a more generic color so that it would “present” itself better to a potential buyer … it was still a warm house. Boy, how I loved that house and probably will never have the same feelings about any other place we would own. There just was something special about that house on Canary Drive!
Oh, don’t get me wrong I would not miss being around our daughters, son-in-law and grandbaby (soon to be grandbabies) nor will I miss trying to care for the large piece of property that the Canary Drive home sat on … 1.13 acres is a lot of property requiring a lot of hands on maintenance especially in trying to fight the ever present potato vine … but still, I really, really loved that home.
I would feel bad about these feelings … because it is only “stuff,” but our daughters, my spouse, as well as friends and family have all expressed the same feelings. There just was something special about that home and it will be dearly missed. I hope the new couple can appreciate what they are moving into because that home truly has a personality all of its own!
Quote for today: Home is the place where it feels right to walk around without shoes Source unknown
I was laying on the carpet in the living room, as I waited for the handyman to complete his work on one of our doors, and I remembered some special events … Margaret’s family reunion, various Christmas Open Houses, the many dinners we hosted, and just quiet times in which we just did the everyday “normal” activities that comes with being married and having a family.
I remembered the day we moved in – actually, it was a late afternoon and evening. I remembered shopping for furniture to fit into the home. I remembered the long search for a dinning room set to go along with a china hutch that we owned – never really found what we wanted so we “settled” on something that we “could” live with. I remembered working out the placement of all of our Christmas decorations. I remembered the happy times when our daughters and son-in-law came to visit. I remembered the laughter and the tears.
And, I remembered what people said about the home … how warm and inviting it was. Even now, with all the future removed, all the pictures taken down, all the personal items packed up and residing in another house, the walls painted a more generic color so that it would “present” itself better to a potential buyer … it was still a warm house. Boy, how I loved that house and probably will never have the same feelings about any other place we would own. There just was something special about that house on Canary Drive!
Oh, don’t get me wrong I would not miss being around our daughters, son-in-law and grandbaby (soon to be grandbabies) nor will I miss trying to care for the large piece of property that the Canary Drive home sat on … 1.13 acres is a lot of property requiring a lot of hands on maintenance especially in trying to fight the ever present potato vine … but still, I really, really loved that home.
I would feel bad about these feelings … because it is only “stuff,” but our daughters, my spouse, as well as friends and family have all expressed the same feelings. There just was something special about that home and it will be dearly missed. I hope the new couple can appreciate what they are moving into because that home truly has a personality all of its own!
Quote for today: Home is the place where it feels right to walk around without shoes Source unknown
Monday, July 26, 2010
More on the Trinity
It seems that the subject matter of the Trinity keeps coming to my attention. There has been a book by Carlo Carretto, The God Who Comes, that sits by my chair in the study that I pick up occasionally to read. In chapter 10 (pages 88-89) he writes:
“When God reveals Himself in His nature as one and in His actions as three, Pentecost penetrates the depths of man’s heart.
“His soul is enflamed and He becomes inebriated with the light and with life.
“It is as though he were going beyond his own limits, leaving his old earthly city, to enter the new land of God.
“For the first time he touches the frontier of Christianity, he is aware of the nature of the Kingdom.
…
“At the same moment in which you discover – or rather, live – the experience of the Unity and Trinity of God within you, you discover and live the unity of your human existence.
“You need no longer ask yourself, ‘Who am I?’
“You know it, see, you live it.”
A couple of things jumped off the page as I read these words – like “inebriated with the light and with life.” I’ve never been drunk because that is kind of hard to do when you only have a glass of wine occasionally, but I’ve witnessed many individuals that have succumbed to the power that alcohol can have on the body and mind. Can you imagine being so intoxicated with life? My assumption is that for all of us … or at least, most of us … life is lived as simply a day-to-day existence … far from the “intoxicated” level. I wonder what it would feel like to be so filled with life?
The very thought of “inebriated with the light” really intrigues me. I can remember an old Scottish Presbyterian evangelists sharing that we should so “radiate the joy and light of Christ” that we “blind the people” we meet. For some reason that has always stuck with me. To be so filled with Christ that it is never night wherever we stand. Must be something like the face of Moses as he descended from Holy Mountain after coming face-to-face with God. His countenance simply radiated because of the experience.
And then Dr. Carretto speaks of living “the unity of ‘our’ human existence” instead of the disunity that could be the testimony of most of us. Our life is more fragmented then we would be willing to admit … a part here and a part there and never the two shall meet! A simple injury or an unkind word or a nagging feeling keeps us all tied up and confused. At best we run on only a couple of cylinders, but seldom at full capacity. Every now and again we come across a person who is unbelievable in what they are able to accomplish in the course of just one day. Could they be living “the unity of their human existence”? Could that be what he is referring to?
The “radiation” and the “unity” come directly out of living an ongoing relationship with God through Jesus Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit. The closer we get to the light the more radiation we will show. The closer we get to the One who holds the entire universe together the more we will experience the unity of it all. We all want life – abundantly – a life filled with joy and fulfillment. Maybe, just maybe, Carlo Carretto has discovered a little bit of the insight to make it happen … just maybe.
Quote for today: There are two ways of being united -- one is by being frozen together, and the other is by being melted together. What Christians need is to be united in brotherly love, and then they may expect to have power. Dwight L. Moody
NOTE: There will not be a posting tomorrow.
“When God reveals Himself in His nature as one and in His actions as three, Pentecost penetrates the depths of man’s heart.
“His soul is enflamed and He becomes inebriated with the light and with life.
“It is as though he were going beyond his own limits, leaving his old earthly city, to enter the new land of God.
“For the first time he touches the frontier of Christianity, he is aware of the nature of the Kingdom.
…
“At the same moment in which you discover – or rather, live – the experience of the Unity and Trinity of God within you, you discover and live the unity of your human existence.
“You need no longer ask yourself, ‘Who am I?’
“You know it, see, you live it.”
A couple of things jumped off the page as I read these words – like “inebriated with the light and with life.” I’ve never been drunk because that is kind of hard to do when you only have a glass of wine occasionally, but I’ve witnessed many individuals that have succumbed to the power that alcohol can have on the body and mind. Can you imagine being so intoxicated with life? My assumption is that for all of us … or at least, most of us … life is lived as simply a day-to-day existence … far from the “intoxicated” level. I wonder what it would feel like to be so filled with life?
The very thought of “inebriated with the light” really intrigues me. I can remember an old Scottish Presbyterian evangelists sharing that we should so “radiate the joy and light of Christ” that we “blind the people” we meet. For some reason that has always stuck with me. To be so filled with Christ that it is never night wherever we stand. Must be something like the face of Moses as he descended from Holy Mountain after coming face-to-face with God. His countenance simply radiated because of the experience.
And then Dr. Carretto speaks of living “the unity of ‘our’ human existence” instead of the disunity that could be the testimony of most of us. Our life is more fragmented then we would be willing to admit … a part here and a part there and never the two shall meet! A simple injury or an unkind word or a nagging feeling keeps us all tied up and confused. At best we run on only a couple of cylinders, but seldom at full capacity. Every now and again we come across a person who is unbelievable in what they are able to accomplish in the course of just one day. Could they be living “the unity of their human existence”? Could that be what he is referring to?
The “radiation” and the “unity” come directly out of living an ongoing relationship with God through Jesus Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit. The closer we get to the light the more radiation we will show. The closer we get to the One who holds the entire universe together the more we will experience the unity of it all. We all want life – abundantly – a life filled with joy and fulfillment. Maybe, just maybe, Carlo Carretto has discovered a little bit of the insight to make it happen … just maybe.
Quote for today: There are two ways of being united -- one is by being frozen together, and the other is by being melted together. What Christians need is to be united in brotherly love, and then they may expect to have power. Dwight L. Moody
NOTE: There will not be a posting tomorrow.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Embodiment of the Trinity
It was quite by accident, since I do not normally listen to that particular radio station, that I stumbled across a particular radio interview last week as I stepped onto the treadmill. Unfortunately, I only caught the tail end of the interview. Now I wish that I had heard the entire thing. The individual was addressing how we, individually, embody the Holy Trinity in body, mind and spirit.
This is probably too complicated for my simple mind, but I’m going to give it a shot – even by extending beyond the authors discussion. Your input is solicited and would be greatly appreciated since I am only now scratching the surface with these simple words. Please add to the discussion and I will blog further if you do. Thanks for helping this old theologian out in this entirely new area of thought.
I had never thought of the parallels that he drew, but it did cause me to pause and say, “Wow.” If I understood the author correctly it went something like this:
Body, in the sense that the Holy Trinity, became flesh in Jesus Christ.
Mind, in the sense that it was the mind of God from which all life was created.
Spirit in the sense that it is via the Holy Spirit that the Holy Trinity, i.e. the power of God, is transmitted into our reality.
And so, as we fully embrace the three biblical aspects of our existences – body, mind and spirit – we embrace the full reality of the Divine as found and expressed in the Holy Trinity.
Taking it a step further, since the Trinity is the creative force in the universe and since God, in creating us in the image of the Divine created us male and female – it takes both male and female to image the Divine in God’s fullness, therefore, it is only when these two aspects of that humanly expression come together in the fullest expression of love making thus creating another human life form (bringing together body, mind and spirit in another human being) that we fulfill and embody the richness of the Trinity ... two halves come together to make a whole. The body, mind and spirit of the two halves of the created image come together as one and the miracle of life … created life … loving, caring, life giving life … sacrificing, sustaining life goes on.
Anything outside of this reality is less than what God desires for all of human life … outside of what God had in mind when creating us male and female … the expression of the Godhead itself – the Holy Trinity. It doesn’t mean that love is impossible outside of this human union (the whole) nor does it mean that the fuller sense of human fulfillment is beyond those who choose to live outside of this Divine and Holy reality, but it does mean that the complete joy of the Kingdom escapes our grasp ... we are, in some sense of the word, lesser than the whole.
It is like the positives and negative ends of a magnet … it is impossible to bring two positives together or two negatives together to make a whole magnet. It simply just doesn’t work. While it takes a positive and negative to make a whole, so it takes a male and female to make a whole – the whole meaning of the fullness of the Trinity (and no fair trying to read between the lines concerning positive/negative and male/female connection – the analogy is for illustrative purposes only).
I am very interested in your thoughts on this matter. It is a new trend in thinking for me. It has not been now or ever a part of my thinking concerning the Trinity and I believe that I need to sort it out even further. Your assistance would be appreciated. ‘
Quote for today: Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This is probably too complicated for my simple mind, but I’m going to give it a shot – even by extending beyond the authors discussion. Your input is solicited and would be greatly appreciated since I am only now scratching the surface with these simple words. Please add to the discussion and I will blog further if you do. Thanks for helping this old theologian out in this entirely new area of thought.
I had never thought of the parallels that he drew, but it did cause me to pause and say, “Wow.” If I understood the author correctly it went something like this:
Body, in the sense that the Holy Trinity, became flesh in Jesus Christ.
Mind, in the sense that it was the mind of God from which all life was created.
Spirit in the sense that it is via the Holy Spirit that the Holy Trinity, i.e. the power of God, is transmitted into our reality.
And so, as we fully embrace the three biblical aspects of our existences – body, mind and spirit – we embrace the full reality of the Divine as found and expressed in the Holy Trinity.
Taking it a step further, since the Trinity is the creative force in the universe and since God, in creating us in the image of the Divine created us male and female – it takes both male and female to image the Divine in God’s fullness, therefore, it is only when these two aspects of that humanly expression come together in the fullest expression of love making thus creating another human life form (bringing together body, mind and spirit in another human being) that we fulfill and embody the richness of the Trinity ... two halves come together to make a whole. The body, mind and spirit of the two halves of the created image come together as one and the miracle of life … created life … loving, caring, life giving life … sacrificing, sustaining life goes on.
Anything outside of this reality is less than what God desires for all of human life … outside of what God had in mind when creating us male and female … the expression of the Godhead itself – the Holy Trinity. It doesn’t mean that love is impossible outside of this human union (the whole) nor does it mean that the fuller sense of human fulfillment is beyond those who choose to live outside of this Divine and Holy reality, but it does mean that the complete joy of the Kingdom escapes our grasp ... we are, in some sense of the word, lesser than the whole.
It is like the positives and negative ends of a magnet … it is impossible to bring two positives together or two negatives together to make a whole magnet. It simply just doesn’t work. While it takes a positive and negative to make a whole, so it takes a male and female to make a whole – the whole meaning of the fullness of the Trinity (and no fair trying to read between the lines concerning positive/negative and male/female connection – the analogy is for illustrative purposes only).
I am very interested in your thoughts on this matter. It is a new trend in thinking for me. It has not been now or ever a part of my thinking concerning the Trinity and I believe that I need to sort it out even further. Your assistance would be appreciated. ‘
Quote for today: Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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