In our times, we have no more time to guard our spiritual wells. If God has given us a deposit, it needs to be shared with the whole of The Body for mutual edification!

 When times are intense, we have no choice but to unify in Him, and share what we have downloaded thus far from and in Him. How far we have come in Him, and what we know thus far, of who He is in us. We are called to share, at least that much with one another.

We must take down our religious cultural walls, and share in His Love with one another, for the maturation of the whole Body of Christ.

 For instance, the walls of denominationalism, must start to be more porous. We must start to offer what we have received of Him to one another within the Body of Christ. We no longer have the luxury of privacy in our personal and denominational spiritualities.

  What we have been graced to know of Him, we must share and make known for the good of the whole.

  With God, there are still distinctions (the baptist are still not presbyterians, yet..), times He emphasized new truths or parts of Himself in a fresh light in each,  but what we have touched and known of Jesus, must be shared for the full revelation of His Kingdom to come.

 This is not just ecumenism, but a desire for a fuller incarnation of the Whole Lord into His more whole and unified People. For His Kingdom to come into and through us all, we must share what we have incarnated of Him, thus far!

  Linguistic ecumenism is already happening, but we must go deeper, into His Heart of sharing Himself with the whole true Body of Jesus, Our Lord. He wants to incarnate more fully and intensely in and between His People. Let’s let Him.

 This requires the discomfort of dialogue between catholic, protestant, and all the denominations there within. It requires His people to let down religious cultural guards, and allow Him to be our Filter of truth about Himself.

 He may still use their distinctions, but they must open up the hearts of their walls, and the spiritual water of their wells, for the whole to become more One Loving expression of Himself.

It’s time for spiritual and metaphysical ecumenism to happen. We must dialogue deeper to deep, spirit to Spirit in order to make a way for His Kingdom to come. We must un-damn our wells, or hop over the walls, and actually encounter and love one another in these stormy days, in order to be One and represent His Oneness!

Reading the book of Ruth again:

 The story of Ruth has lots to teach us now about treating the “foreigner”, women, one another, or any “other”!  As well it teaches of the Kingdom economy-ie how to use the surplus of our lives, the extra which runs over, to bless and love others with wisdom and kindness, in a way which actually produces spiritual growth in ourselves and one another!

 Plus it is so well written, as a piece of art, worth a careful consideration, among the many great narratives of scripture. Great study today in the midst of trying to learn to live well.

I like looking at each character of the stories, and thinking about how I relate to them, and what they each have to teach my heart about God. That’s how I read devotionally.

 Sometimes i just read for history or for cultural understanding, but reading devotionally—i.e. to meet God through the story opens other things up, and allows for other types of transformation in encountering the stories.

 And then to try to get the tone of the story, and the basic plot. Encounter it as art, about something bigger than myself.

 This story has so many core metaphors about how to treat one another, and the passion and loyalty to one another and the true God. Rich story. Worth re-reading again. Glad I did today.

 Here’s a woman, who was not Jewish, but who ends up becoming the grandmother of King David and so in the birth line of Jesus, and came to follow the God or “Utmost” of the Jews, and move in the ways of the God of the Jews. She was an anomaly in the story. Someone, unexpected to show up in the drama.

Great story. Worth a re-read. A woman of God, not of “His People” but who found Him, through love of Naomi, and walked out her life in His Ways. Powerful example. Especially for gentiles—or, those grafted in.

Reading the book honestly, always reveals new levels of truths to me. Nice to consider her story today.

Reading the book of Ruth again:

 The story of Ruth has lots to teach us now about treating the “foreigner”, women and one another, as well as the Kingdom economy-ie how to use the surplus of our lives to bless and love others with wisdom and kindness, in a way which actually produces spiritual growth in ourselves and one another!

 Plus it is so well written, as a piece of art, worth a careful consideration, among the many great narratives of scripture. Great study today in the midst of trying to learn to live well.

I like looking at each character and thinking about how I relate to them, and what they each have to teach my heart about God. That’s how I read devotionally. Sometimes i just read for history or understanding, but reading devotionally—i.e. to meet God through the story opens other things up, and allows for other types of transformation in encountering the stories.

 And then to try to get the tone of the story, and the basic plot. Encounter it as art, about something bigger than myself. This story has so many core metaphors about how to treat one another, and the passion and loyalty to one another and the true God. Rich story. Worth re-reading again. Glad I did today.

 Here’s a woman, who was not Jewish, but who ends up becoming the grandmother of King David and so in the birth line of Jesus, and came to follow the God, and move the ways of the God of the Jews. Great story. Worth a re-read.

From an article i was asked to write about why identity still matters from a Christian perspective, and how it relates to racism now: viewing one another as God’s poetry…:

  Equally, each people group reflects a unique aspect of who God is. Each family of people, a uniquely contoured statement from God about Himself. For we are part of His autobiography. This is why we cannot dismiss one another.

 If we truly see others as creations and reflections of parts of who God is, racism becomes impossible, unpronounceable. Identity necessitates a love of God. For if we truly behold one another in love, we will know there is a God.

  No one can be dismissed from love. To reject Love is like rejecting air. To reject one another, is to reject His Way of expressing Himself. For it is like rejecting a part of who God is. Or, refusing to read and love His poetry! For scripture teaches us, that we are the poems of God (Ephesians 2:10).

 Who are we to reject His poetry, which He died to pronounce. So, we celebrate ourselves as we celebrate others, in thankfulness and as a reflection of who God is.

  Then, we actively dignify and affirm one another, as poems of God. Our identities are made intact or more whole by Love. Since we all become socially, through loving relationship, we will to proactively love one another, as He first proactively loved us, as the Good Book puts it.

  We love one another in wonder and awe of who God actually is. And as a meditation on His Being. Being stunned by the sheer beauty of His poetry of one another.

  To see the poetry of one another, each, person, people group, family, ethnicity, city and nation, as  an aspect of a nuanced, cadenced, verse in an endless song about who God is… and to meet God there, with and through one another, in His Singing, of His Own social diversity and unity, His Song of Himself (The Three in One, the Social God with unity and diversity in Himself—to sing the Shema, in other words) must become our collective spirituality, especially if we are to thwart the ways of racism, the ways of “it-ing” one another in fear and pride, our two great human sins, which choke the poetry we are meant to be.

This is to meet God for His Own sake, and in His Own style of expression, to meet Him in His Identity, rather than our own. In doing so, we discover our own identity.

 For we know His words, His speech, His poetry, which we are, is eternal, and grounds our worth in His Heart. So, if we really treat our neighbor as a poem of God, everything will change, and racism will begin to be eradicated, starting in our hearts, which is where all true movements begin.

Why identity still matters:

We are social creatures, and become in relationship, and yet these relationships are not meant to be comparative or competitive—they are meant to be  mutual blessings of becoming.

 God-formed relationships always have this fruit of mutual edification. This requires us to actually be comfortable enough with the pleasant lines of ourselves enough to enjoy the wonderful contours of others. And as we are His inheritance, we are able to allow Him to possess, occupy and cultivate us, just as He set this model out in the times of Joshua. We cross the Jordan (our necessary deaths); we celebrate in advance the “lands” He has given us; and we tactically pursue His formation in each inner city of our lives. This is the process of identity sanctification. We are becoming gradually more and more in Him, and therefore ourselves!

Our identity itself is held secure in Christ, as one monk put it. He alone knows our names. He has searched and known us, even when we had no idea who we were.  And so is our pathway, or calling. Both are revealed gently and over time by Him. Our white stone names get whispered to our hearts. So we need not fear that another can take away our identity—it is, in this sense, inviolable as it is hidden in Christ. And one day we will know, even as we are known—face to Face. But we are already in the process of becoming who we are—the sons and daughters of God with unique names and nuances of His Life within us to reflect to others. We are living poems and testimonies as we are ourselves in Him. This is the mystery of identity.

“I knew you, Jeremiah, therefore I called you to do this and that….” In the prophet’s case, to be a prophet to the nations. King David put it, “You knit me together in the womb, you saw my as yet unformed parts…” Therefore, God was in a position to give David and unique and wonderful path or calling. Both our identity and our paths are “in Him.” So we can be secure in this. We no longer must compare ourselves to others in order to know who we are. Nor fear we are invisible unless we assault the world outside of us.

Most of us either assault or withdraw in order to protect our imagined selves. But Christ offers another way into self discovery.

We do not need to compete or compare ourselves to be ourselves. Identity is a gift given, hidden in and revealed from Our Author. So we are free to just become who we are in Him. That is part of our security in Christ. He knows our inner or real names, and is capable of revealing them, pronouncing them even to us.

This concept of not being in competition for identity is liberating, being secure in our own perameters of being, so we can enjoy other’s. For both our identities and paths are hidden protected and contained in Christ. So we don’t need to compare ourselves to others, or be in competition—rather we can move to mutually blessing one another with the cultivated fruits of our own lands.

Talking to a man yesterday who works with people who have hugely successful their whole lives but never allowed themselves to just be. To celebrate their identities as david did. In Psalm 139, we are assured that God celebrates our unique identities as poems of God. In Ephesians 2:10 we are actually called His masterpieces, his workmanship, his poems. Who are we to diminish His poetry!

Instead, we are called to celebrate His craftsmanship in ourselves and in one another. As CS Lewis said, if we really saw who one another was in God, we would be tempted to bow down and worship one another.

 A higher step would be to be amazed at Our Great Creator Artist for the wonder of His Creatures. God has made us as living poetry—the crown of His creation. This is why identity matters. We are not blobs of energy without distinction! We are uniquely contoured poetry of God becoming worthy of Our Creator.

People have a hard time celebrating their own identity without being narcissistic or selfish. But when we see what identity actually is—a reflection of God’s amazing nature-we rejoice and celebrate the songs of ourselves, as poems of God.

Equally, each people group reflects a unique aspect of who God is. Each family of people, a uniquely contoured statement from God about Himself. For we are part of His autobiography. This is why we cannot dismiss one another. If we truly see others as creations and reflections of parts of who God is, racism becomes impossible. No one can be dismissed from love. For it is like rejecting a part of who God is. Or, refusing to read and love His poetry! For scripture teaches us, that we are the poems of God (Ephesians 2:10). Who are we to reject His poetry, which He died to pronounce. So, we celebrate ourselves as we celebrate others, in thankfulness and as a reflection of who God is. And we actively dignify and affirm one another, as poems of God. Our identities are made in intact by Love. So, we love one another, as He first loved us, as the Good Book puts it. We love one another in wonder and awe of who God actually is.

To see the poetry of one another, and to meet God there, must become our collective spirituality, especially if we are to thwart the ways of racism.

Ministry is basically being able to be aware of your own self, but also what God’s orientation is to this person. What He is ministering to them, and why and how He might use your personality to bless them. But it does require us to not just give our gifts, but to seek Him how He is ministering to this other person or situation. And to align our gifts with that.

 Often, when i am seeking in prayer and journaling before counseling someone, i will realize why He would use me in this situation, and how clever God is in doing so. It leaves me with a sense, of not just confirmation of my own gifting, but also of a better picture of why God would be blessing this person in this way–ie how He father’s people. So I leave with a greater appreciation of who He is.

But there is always this need to seek His orientation to the other firstly–whether you are ministering to a city or person or into a particular situation. This is also about getting to know Him through ministry. That’s the point. Not just helping others, but also being mutually formed in Christ as you do.

It is also about keeping your own gifts on His Cross and in His service. Having His orientation towards another, takes prayer and preparation. This is the work of ministry. Even if you are planting verbal seeds to others. You need to seek God’s Tone and overall orientation towards each situation, if you want to actually Minister His True Life.

So ministry is really about getting to know and love God in the end. In other words, it becomes part of our spirituality or relationship with Him! Effective ministry then is growth in God for you and the other person.

Anyone can give their gifts, but to do so as a way of getting to know God, allows the Father’s true authority to come in, and we get to grow in wisdom–the application of our gifts in Love. Isn’t the point of ministry formation of the Life of Christ in us?!

Conversely, narcissistic ministry ends up leading people to the life of ourselves, or our own pet ideas, not Christ. It is soul rather than spirit led ministry.

 It is either about our own needs to feel useful to others, or a need for personal validation of our own gifts. Neither is really ministering the actual Life of Jesus into another’s life or situation! This is why we pray for His Presence and guidance before counseling or ministering to others. We want it to be Spirit led.

Often, for me, God will show me tools beforehand which may be useful for the other person, but while together these arise led by His Spirit, not me. We are collaborating with Christ in counseling. If we want our counseling to be more than a projection onto the other, we have to seek The Third beforehand.

So the key to ministry is meeting and getting to know Father more through ministering the Life of His Son to others. The fruit is mutual edification, not burnout. If we are burning out, we are soul driven in ministry. But if we getting to know Father through it, we will be mutually edified.

Favorite quotes this week:

“What I need is gentleness by which the prince of this world is overthrown.” (Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, and he was a fervent or “rambunctious church father”).

Also, by him, “We attempt to live in union with Him now, since we shall rise in union with Him. Down here, is union practice.”

The idea of gentleness as a weapon of the heart! To overthrow hatred and violence. Nice. It’s an important fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians 4.  Maybe gentleness has been underrated in our individualistic constantly in competition world. A soft answer of our being, when we turn and listen in love, turns away the ways of wrath.

Another,

“The choice before us today is just what it always was—whether to be worldly or otherworldly; whether to live for the unloving self or to live for the love of God.” (Joy Davidman)

And one from CS Lewis’ mentor who he said “baptized his imagination” into God:

“Love has ever in view the absolute loveliness of that which it beholds…..Therefore, all that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that comes between and is not of love’s kind, must be destroyed. And our God is a consuming fire.” (George MacDonald, scottish mystic theologian and poet)

John’s main point: “Love as such, regardless of the object to which it is directed, is participation in the life of God. Agape is born of God.” That’s basically his whole argument in I John.

Another I liked:

“Is it shocking to think of God as a pursuing Lover? Then Christianity is shocking.”

It’s beyond a slight interest in us, it a Lover actively pursuing us passionately. That’s a different image of God, we have to deal with, if we wish to encounter that type of God.

I love collecting great quotes which trigger deeper thoughts and tumblings into what is Real. Most great questions and quotes, provoke us to continue further into being and becoming… They trigger us into the reality of their answer, and towards our real questions. Jesus always taught this way. He discerned the real question, and then asked questions which lead into the reality of the answers.

My last, i promise! Something He mentioned to me this month; “I really am well pleased with you.” Can we live in the embarrassment of the reality of having God tell us He is pleased with us. Or as another monk put it, to deal with the words: “You are my love, you are my love. You yourself are actually included in the Belovedness I have towards My Son; can you  be caught up in that level of Love!”

I love overhearing other’s spirituality, to get inspired to stay within my own. The pleasant lines of my own inheritance. Let us each celebrate our own.

 God is actually shocking, when we really encounter Him. Shocking, that is,  to our ideas about Him, and our experiences thus far of Him. To align with Reality involves lots of saying to our pet ideas about what is Real. This never stops. Our imaginations have to come into visual alignment, and living alignment with what is actually Real. That’s a journey of becoming beyond our cultural constructs and life experiences of what life is really like. Turns out people have been growing spiritually for a long time, and learned a few things, along The Way.

Today’s little meditation on spiritual growth: I love thinking about the stages of spiritual growth, and having a map of spiritual development to interpret where we each are at. Thinking of the most basic today: shifting from needs based to beholding other for their intrinsic value. Other for other’s sake, not ours. The ability to appreciate another, not just in terms of my own needs, but for who they really are.

The progression of loving God, others and ourselves….and hence, spiritual growth takes us from a needs based relationship into an appreciation of other for their own sake.

 Just as children are firstly entirely needs based, and then progress gradually to see that their parents are actually people outside of them, and have been caring for them, and begin to consider their parent’s stories before they were born, so it is in the spiritual life.

We tend to first like others because of what they give to us; then we progress to see them and value them for who they are in themselves. This happens in spiritual growth as well.

 Love this quote from Saint Bernard: “At first, man loves himself for his own sake. That is the flesh, which can appreciate nothing beyond itself. Next, he perceived that he cannot exist by himself, and so begins by faith to seek after God, and to love Him as something necessary to his own welfare (the AA step—we need help!). That is the second degree to love God, not for God’s sake, but selfishly. But when he has learned to worship God and to seek Him aright (for His Own Sake not ours), meditating on God, reading God’s Word, praying and obeying…he comes gradually to know who God is, and find Him altogether lovely….we come to know God not just as a meeter of our needs, but as God! Worship necessarily pours forth then.”

  As we start to see God, for God’s sake, we begin to see us for ours. Our names begin to be whispered to us. As Jesus told Peter, blessed are you, because you have now seen who I am, so let me tell you who you are! Our false selves get shaved off, as our true selves encounter the true God. We move from relating to God through only our own needs, and start to see Him for who He is, and thus we start to get a clearer vision of who we are. That’s the path towards true identity.

In short, just as children do–we move from a needs based relationship to appreciating the other for their own intrinsic values. This happens in human relations as well as our one with God. It is like the child who only takes in infancy, then realizes someone is giving to them, and starts to move towards being able to see appreciate and eventually even bless the parent back.

Not based on the parent’s needs (parental inversion, which many suffer from—having to parent their parents) but because we see them for their own value. We appreciate who they are, outside of ourselves. That’s the trajectory of spiritual maturation.

We begin by recognizing our need—all have fallen short of glory etc; but move on to wonder at who God is apart from us. God for God’s sake.

Just as in viewing art—We start to see art no longer as a reflection of ourselves, but for what it is, in itself—as one aesthetician put it. The movement from self-referentiality to true encounter of other, in their unique otherness! Outside of our projections or transferences onto them.

Of course, we have to have our lives, to lay them down; to know ourselves before we can truly sacrifice for others. Jesus knew who He was on the cross. He was not a victim. He actually knew He was a King as He was being killed. If we are not secure in our identities, how can we recognize other’s, or lay down our lives for one another?

We are to love our neighbor, AS OURSELVES—that assumes we know ourselves as loved firstly.

Yet, there is something about moving towards being able to appreciate other outside our own needs for affirmation and approval. That is part of what spiritual growth really is—we are able to see and love other, beyond what they can do for us.

Enjoying looking at what spiritual growth models, and what maturity really looks like practically this season. Fun considering the stages of spiritual development.

 Lots of people get stuck by not having spiritual maps of growth. There are many in scriptures, but I like this simple one by this old saint. That movement from relating to God only in terms of ourselves, to shifting more to considering Him for His Own sake is the movement towards true worship.

 Nice thinking about what spiritual growth looks like today. If friendship is the model, then to value your friend for his or her own sake is the core to good friendship. That mutual beholding and respecting of one another, is the essence of great friendship. And God calls us His Friends.

 And isn’t this what we talk about when we talk about love. Being able to see others for their own amazingness, and even have the privilege of serving their identities.

 There is no comparison or competition in loving others in this way. We are no longer threatened by the domains of their being. But clearly standing in the pleasant identity lines of our heritage, and comfortable in sharing the fruits from our lands, and appreciating the fruits which are growing freely on other’s. This is a mark of maturity.

Our paths are enhanced not threatened by encountering other’s in love. We don’t have to assault or withdraw in order to grow spiritually, we are safe to become.

 Our actual identities are inviolable in Christ, so we can enjoy His creativity in making other’s paths. Both our true identity and our pathways or callings are hidden in Christ. So never under threat. This movement from self referential to Other referential is key. Glad some of the early saints, nailed that down for us in words.

In the Christian story, today begins Advent. In Christianity this is….about the

Advent of Christ. His adventure to earth, into our hearts and His coming back into history later. The advent, the intervention onto earth; the One who will advent again. The hope and faith called forth by Advent. One of my favorite christian holidays, Advent ushers in once and future hope.

 Where I grew up the Moravians had a tradition of an advent wreath with candles lit each week in hope heading up to the birth of Christ celebration. We practiced this in our home for the four weeks leading up to the overt celebration of the birth of The baby King-his first intervention through blood, womb and water, into real time. It recalls this birth while looking forward to His returning back into human history.

 It is the wake before. It is John jostling in expectation in the womb, when near Jesus while still in Mary’s womb. It is that expectancy of the Advent of something which would change everything. And it is looking again for His coming into history and real life. It is also John the Baptist looking for the Dove to land on The One who was the Lamb of God. It is that expectant watching for!

Jesus advent-ure to earth, into incarnation, into coming into space and time. That Advent-ture which changed the world, and will again, as we lean into the hope and expectancy, the true faith contained in Advent.

Adventus, in latin, paraousia in Greek.

“Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. For Christians, the season of Advent anticipates the coming of Christ from three different perspectives. “Since the time of Bernard of Clairvaux (d.1153) Christians have spoken of the three comings of Christ: in the flesh in Bethlehem, in our hearts daily, and in glory at the end of time.”[1] The season offers the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming.” One of my favorite holidays, for it covers the whole adventure, and places us in the right orientation to receive The King in real life. It leans us towards Glory! I love the advent orientation to life, we should have it year round, but nice to consecrate a time frame just for that way of leaning our hearts towards….in hope and expectation. It also has Sabbath running through it—to rest in His Being, as we look for His Coming. Great holiday.

No consumerism here, just sheer hope, free hope. And even wonder!

the bearable lightness of being: just some lighter thoughts today…

It’s said, that His burden is light. What does that mean practically for us? We know that His is actually heavy, but He only gives us the amount we can each handle. Some thoughts on that:

 We can only bear the amount of light given to each of us. That is our range of constellation or what St Paul calls our radiance. We are responsible for developing that radiance however. We are collaborators in spiritual growth.

 When I burden bear outside of His radiance for me each day, i soul it, and get depressed or overwhelmed. But His promise is to not give us more than we can handle “in Him.” Now, the key is to be “in Him”, then we only gain on our heart’s shoulders the part for us in Him each day. We do our part, but He carries the actual load.

  Spirituality is not passive in that way. And He will not give us more than we can bear—that amount meant to form us properly, if we let those trials become His Victories and formation of His Life, in us.

 Thinking about the bearable light. That amount of light we are meant to collaborate with God in. That level of understanding, insight and ability to live well, to walk well-ie, in Him. That’s our part of the garden to tend.

 We are not in competition with other’s domains, but responsible to make our own fruitful-in every area, while helping others make their fruitful. Our paths are held safe and progressively revealed by Him (Ephesians 2:10—the paths prepared beforehand to be our way). They are meant to co-bless. Our paths in Him cannot be taken away or lessened in Him, for they are help in His Heart—the Author and Finisher! So we need not defend our true selves or our paths. Let Him. Once you move out of this defending self mode, you have much more energy to become and be who you really are, and reflect the amount and type of light you are meant to carry.

In the world, you have constant defense and competition, not so in Christ. You have resting and knowing, and walking on into Him. Your callings then get revealed!

  The pleasant lines of our inheritance. As we get older we start to sense the parameters of our particular labor. The circumference of our domains of blessing.

 We stop trying to move into or be in competition with one another’s fields, but tend our own in order to bear fruit which blesses others.

  It is part of knowing the pleasant lines of our particular domains in life. What part of the situation we are meant to bless, and when to defer to others. So we don’s “soul” effort it into place. When young, we are searching for our fields. We are learning to possess them, to become them; then, we move on into seasons of cultivation so the fruits of our lives can bless others. Each of us have unique paths in this sense, which are somehow mysteriously networked in God. Life is beautiful in that way, and His burden is Light!