It's fascinating to me how often I unexpectedly overhear conversations about kombuca and essential oils and EVOO and all things old. Yes, all things old.
There seems to be a shift. Or maybe I'm just young. Or maybe not.
A shift of culture, back to tradition. Sustainable moderns unite!
How beautiful. How beautiful to live in tradition, yet to maintain a value for good things of old. To not throw the baby out with the bath water, as they say. It seems to be a season of re-discovery... At least in America where we have desperately screwed things up by taking such controle of our lives from agro-business all of the way to medically unnecessary cesareans (oh how I could drone on with those topics).
I will admit that there is greatness in the scientific, medical, technological and agricultural advancements that we have made as a culture over the past 300 years. Even just over the past 50 years. Phenomenal! We were created to be creators... In the image of our Papa; so we are living out our identity in these discoveries. Yet, there is a great brokenness in the way that we apply our creativity to the world around us. And, conversely, there is a great beauty in the natural rhythms of the created order. I ponder over the beautiful balance between living in the created rhythms and advancing what we have been given. What does actual stewardship really look like... As it was made to look.
That's why I love running into people and casually talking about how they co-sleep with their baby rather than putting them to sleep with a bottle. Yet, in the same conversation we talk about pursuing post-graduate education. It's as though we are reclaiming the truth written over by the limited Greco-Roman philosophy of dichotomy. That we are, again, embracing that life is both supernaturally beautiful and naturally broken at the same time.
Sustainable and yet modern. Bread and yet body. Enchanted and mystical yet ordinary and natural, as the dessert Fathers and Mother of old write. As the God fearing Catholics proclaim. A circular perspective of life, as the Hebrews embrace. A kind of pre-Western way of thinking. Could this be the heart behind the broken truths of post-modernism? The desperate extension of the heart back to a Truth that's is not black and white but is not fully grey. A Truth that is not determined in the eyes of the beholder, but that is determined in the eyes of the group, yet is so personal to the individual that it is closer than their skin. A Truth that is so True and beyond us that we cannot comprehend it. Maybe that's the real value in post-modern ideals... That Truth cannot be held in your hand, as the moderns tried to say. Yet the brokenness in post-modern though is that Truth is neither just a whimsical and emotional projection of ones own experiences. Truth cannot be limited and Truth is not just an abstraction of personal value.
As this type of Truth and this world view applies to the daily (that is to assume that Truth is more than just a philosophy or theology, but that it has physical and daily and personal implications), it makes me ponder if Godly stewardship looks like co-sleeping and nursing your baby while also pursing career and education (or whatever else you have been created to do). What if health looks like using organic essential oils while enjoying some In In Out every once in a while. What if sustainability looks like riding your bike to work while also having the newest Apple products. Maybe that just sounds like progressive hipster, or maybe it's part of what Colossians talks about when it states that creation groans for restoration. Maybe it's part of this generation listening to the rhythms of creation. Broken but desiring good. Maybe this generation is like the modern Josiah of the Bible. Maybe shalom can be Heaven on Earth. Maybe restoration looks like all of these little choices.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
This is my Father's World
Psalm 50:12
Hymnal lyrics by Maltbie Davenport Babcock
This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.
This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done:
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.
This is my Father’s world, dreaming, I see His face.
I ope my eyes, and in glad surprise cry, “The Lord is in this place.”
This is my Father’s world, from the shining courts above,
The Beloved One, His Only Son,
Came—a pledge of deathless love.
This is my Father’s world, should my heart be ever sad?
The lord is King—let the heavens ring. God reigns—let the earth be glad.
This is my Father’s world. Now closer to Heaven bound,
For dear to God is the earth Christ trod.
No place but is holy ground.
This is my Father’s world. I walk a desert lone.
In a bush ablaze to my wondering gaze God makes His glory known.
This is my Father’s world, a wanderer I may roam
Whate’er my lot, it matters not,
My heart is still at home.
Hymnal lyrics by Maltbie Davenport Babcock
This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.
This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done:
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.
This is my Father’s world, dreaming, I see His face.
I ope my eyes, and in glad surprise cry, “The Lord is in this place.”
This is my Father’s world, from the shining courts above,
The Beloved One, His Only Son,
Came—a pledge of deathless love.
This is my Father’s world, should my heart be ever sad?
The lord is King—let the heavens ring. God reigns—let the earth be glad.
This is my Father’s world. Now closer to Heaven bound,
For dear to God is the earth Christ trod.
No place but is holy ground.
This is my Father’s world. I walk a desert lone.
In a bush ablaze to my wondering gaze God makes His glory known.
This is my Father’s world, a wanderer I may roam
Whate’er my lot, it matters not,
My heart is still at home.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
The Ordinary
Lately I'm finding the ordinary mystical. Beautiful. Wonderful. Enchanting.
My heart has always come alive to the mysteries of Creation. But life got busy and over the years I've lost my first love. But I'm being called back. Called back to my first love. Called back to the original purpose of Creation. Mystery.
How beautiful. My heart just comes alive!
There is a mystery that is beyond me. And I love it! I'm not sure what to do about this perplexing enchantment. It overwhelms me.
It's the beauty of the normal. This beauty is too often lost in the pursuit of what we believe is good and what we believe is important and priority. That's because this beauty is far smaller than anything we can controle. This beauty is in the simple. It's in the Eucharist of the daily. It's in the very fact that the mystery is itself in the ordinary. It's not the ordinary itself that calls me in, but the beauty of the lack of duality between my spirit and the ordinary.
The beauty that we are ok. The beauty that simple herbs harbor healing power. Actual healing power. The beauty that we don't know and that that's ok. The mystery of the way our body's interact with medical technology. The mystery of the way our body's don't interact with medical technology. The enchantment of the air I breath. Beyond the science. It actually brings me life. The physical mingling with the spiritual. Something lost in the postmodern world. But something more abstract than any contemporary philosopher could conger. Something more certainly uncertain than anything else.
I'm perplexed. I'm in love. I'm in search of the beauty everywhere. Of the mystery. I will spend my life seeking it out.
My heart has always come alive to the mysteries of Creation. But life got busy and over the years I've lost my first love. But I'm being called back. Called back to my first love. Called back to the original purpose of Creation. Mystery.
How beautiful. My heart just comes alive!
There is a mystery that is beyond me. And I love it! I'm not sure what to do about this perplexing enchantment. It overwhelms me.
It's the beauty of the normal. This beauty is too often lost in the pursuit of what we believe is good and what we believe is important and priority. That's because this beauty is far smaller than anything we can controle. This beauty is in the simple. It's in the Eucharist of the daily. It's in the very fact that the mystery is itself in the ordinary. It's not the ordinary itself that calls me in, but the beauty of the lack of duality between my spirit and the ordinary.
The beauty that we are ok. The beauty that simple herbs harbor healing power. Actual healing power. The beauty that we don't know and that that's ok. The mystery of the way our body's interact with medical technology. The mystery of the way our body's don't interact with medical technology. The enchantment of the air I breath. Beyond the science. It actually brings me life. The physical mingling with the spiritual. Something lost in the postmodern world. But something more abstract than any contemporary philosopher could conger. Something more certainly uncertain than anything else.
I'm perplexed. I'm in love. I'm in search of the beauty everywhere. Of the mystery. I will spend my life seeking it out.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Motherhood in Community
This is my first post as a mother. Mother of a 5mo. Full time Office Manager. Wife to an amazing husband who is pursing Gods calling to communicate truths by writing stories through the form of screenplays. Life is full. Yet we have never been in a season of life filled with more peace. It's strange, but beautiful. We are walking more and more in our identities and callings. We are more comfortable being consistent with our priorities. We are being stretched to deeper places than ever before.
And it's amazing how, in this season more than ever, I'm learning so much about myself. Learning my identity. Learning my value.
It's crazy how, in life altering experience, one is given such a gift of perspective. Perspective of purpose and perspective of priorities.
And it's amazing how, in this season more than ever, I'm learning so much about myself. Learning my identity. Learning my value.
It's crazy how, in life altering experience, one is given such a gift of perspective. Perspective of purpose and perspective of priorities.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Work
Working is an interesting part of Kingdom resource management. One's theology of work goes deep into who they are and how they view life in general. I believe that work is a gift. That, in part, being created in our Creator's image means that we were created to turn chaos into order. Working is an opportunity to exercise that practice. So to work as though there is no deeper intrinsic value than to make money is to deny ourselves the opportunity to live in our identity and to take joy in our Creator.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
All Creatures
One if the most beautiful aspects to the worship of our Creator is the integration of His creation into worship. Our early Christian fathers and mothers seem to recognize this beauty so much better than we do at present. Yet, the murmurs of their devotion is apparent even today. In so many Bible stories and so many worship songs and hymns, we hear distant whispers of the goodness and of the beauty of creation. And how beautiful and pure is that recognition. That we humans are not the only creations created with the purpose of worship... That we share the Father's affection and that we share the opportunity to live lives that are reflective of the goodness of the creator... That worship is not about who we are and what we bring but about who He is.
And He has created creation, all of creation, to worship Him.
VERSE 1
All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Thou, burning sun with golden beam
Thou, silver moon with softer gleam
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
VERSE 2
Let all things their Creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, Three-in-One
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
VERSE 3
All the redeemed washed by His blood
Come and rejoice in His great love
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Christ has defeated every sin
Cast all your burdens now on Him
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
BRIDGE
To Him who loves us
And is returning be honor
For we shall see Him in His glory
VERSE 4
He shall return in pow'r to reign
Heaven and earth will join to say
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Then who shall fall on bended knee?
All creatures of our God and King
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
Written by Francis of Assisi, circa 1225
And He has created creation, all of creation, to worship Him.
VERSE 1
All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Thou, burning sun with golden beam
Thou, silver moon with softer gleam
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
VERSE 2
Let all things their Creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, Three-in-One
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
VERSE 3
All the redeemed washed by His blood
Come and rejoice in His great love
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Christ has defeated every sin
Cast all your burdens now on Him
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
BRIDGE
To Him who loves us
And is returning be honor
For we shall see Him in His glory
VERSE 4
He shall return in pow'r to reign
Heaven and earth will join to say
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Then who shall fall on bended knee?
All creatures of our God and King
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
Written by Francis of Assisi, circa 1225
Sunday, May 12, 2013
"He Wants it Back"
I love this phrase! "He wants it back!"
Referring to the Creator and the created order, the created rhythm. He wants it back. But what and why?
All creatures of our God and King. It all belongs to Him!
"For everything, absolutely everything above and below, visible and in visible, rank after rank of angles - everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him." - MSG, Colossians 1:16
He wants our resources back, yes, that is obvious to me. But he also wants our life rhythms back. The heart behind what and why we act. The motivation. The secret place. He wants the secret place back! He wants sex back, He wants our jobs back, He wants or free time back, He wants our thoughts back. He wants to hold all these things captive, but He wants us to choose to give them back.
To some, this may sound controlling and possessive... To others this is beautiful. I think it depends on who you know the Creator to be. The truth is that He is Father and He is Love. Like no other father and no other love than you have ever experienced in full. That is our Creator. Part of Knowing Him is trusting who He is; that He is Father and that He is good. If He is Father and He is Love, then calling back His creations and His created order is the most beautiful thing imaginable!
There is a maturing process in which we are first loved because He is Love, and we are given free will because we were created in His image. Second, we can choose to grow to believe and personalize that truth. And third, we can then respond by seeking the Creator's heart for all things, especially the deep things. Not just for giving us free will and loving us freely, but for letting our free will thrive in the created order and grow beautiful in the environments and communities where we find ourselves.
He wants it back.
He wants us to partake in the awesomeness that He created sex to be. Not just the organism or the fun or the procreation, but also the beauty of choosing to be selfless in how one loves another. The beauty of choosing to respect another individual by being intentional with such an extreme and natural drive. The beauty of waiting until trust and communication are strong to then mutually give and receive in such a physical way, and, conversely, to mutually give and receive sex because trust and communication are strong.... Both regardless of how ones feels in the heat of the moment (or not). To experience the beauty of self controle not because we "should" or because of social contracts, but because self controle is rooted much deeper. It's rooted in the way we shop for clothes and make our clothes. It's rooted in the way we shop for food and grow our food. Its rooted in the traditions that our cultures have held onto, for whatever reasons. It's rooted in the elevated value of the whole rather than the elevated value of the self. It's linked in the way we are connected to the earth, because from the earth God provides. It's related not just to if we eat McDonalds or food from the farmers market. But rather, it's related to our relationship with McDonalds and McDonalds relationship to the earth and to the Creator and Sustainer of the earth. As well as our relationship to the vender at the farmers market and the venders relationship to the earth and to the Creator and Sustainer of the earth.
Imagine how much more beautiful sex would be if our children learned the early and simple lesson of valuing the dirt they play in because God created it, and because they come to trust that it brings life to flora as well as communicates its needs of water or sun depending. Imagine how much more beautiful sex would be if sex was a physical response between two humans that mirrored the other rhythms of life - of the mutual give and receive of the ecosystems, of the give and receive of jobs, of the give and receive of our physical need.
He wants us to partake in the awesomeness of working as He created it to be. To give of oneself for the purpose of getting a return. To create. Whether it be the creation of a cabinet, of a house, of a lesson plan, of a medical remedy, of a homework assignment, or of a delivery rout. He wants us to take joy in what we do and to "do all things as into Him."
What if we really worked like that? What if we really set out to do all things as unto Him? To view work and labor as a gift rather than a curse. In Genesis, Adam was called to tend to the garden before he and Eve were ever cursed. In Genesis 1:26-27, the Creator said: "Let us make human beings in our nature so that they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of the earth."
I believe that with the New Covenant that Jesus has offered, we are living in the "already but net yet." The old curse has been over come, and for that reason, I choose to live in the knowledge that work is a blessing and that when it doesn't feel like it, that I'm not living in the created rhythm.
He wants us to partake in the awesomeness of free time as He created it to be. To use our time wisely. To use our time to flourish in our gifts. Not to get board nor to be unnecessarily busy.
He wants us to partake in the awesomeness of our thoughts as He created them to be. To explore His universe with imagination and awe. To set our mind on a course of intentionality. With purpose and with accountability.
He wants it back. He calls us back to His created rhythm. But we get to choose how much we join in.
Referring to the Creator and the created order, the created rhythm. He wants it back. But what and why?
All creatures of our God and King. It all belongs to Him!
"For everything, absolutely everything above and below, visible and in visible, rank after rank of angles - everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him." - MSG, Colossians 1:16
He wants our resources back, yes, that is obvious to me. But he also wants our life rhythms back. The heart behind what and why we act. The motivation. The secret place. He wants the secret place back! He wants sex back, He wants our jobs back, He wants or free time back, He wants our thoughts back. He wants to hold all these things captive, but He wants us to choose to give them back.
To some, this may sound controlling and possessive... To others this is beautiful. I think it depends on who you know the Creator to be. The truth is that He is Father and He is Love. Like no other father and no other love than you have ever experienced in full. That is our Creator. Part of Knowing Him is trusting who He is; that He is Father and that He is good. If He is Father and He is Love, then calling back His creations and His created order is the most beautiful thing imaginable!
There is a maturing process in which we are first loved because He is Love, and we are given free will because we were created in His image. Second, we can choose to grow to believe and personalize that truth. And third, we can then respond by seeking the Creator's heart for all things, especially the deep things. Not just for giving us free will and loving us freely, but for letting our free will thrive in the created order and grow beautiful in the environments and communities where we find ourselves.
He wants it back.
He wants us to partake in the awesomeness that He created sex to be. Not just the organism or the fun or the procreation, but also the beauty of choosing to be selfless in how one loves another. The beauty of choosing to respect another individual by being intentional with such an extreme and natural drive. The beauty of waiting until trust and communication are strong to then mutually give and receive in such a physical way, and, conversely, to mutually give and receive sex because trust and communication are strong.... Both regardless of how ones feels in the heat of the moment (or not). To experience the beauty of self controle not because we "should" or because of social contracts, but because self controle is rooted much deeper. It's rooted in the way we shop for clothes and make our clothes. It's rooted in the way we shop for food and grow our food. Its rooted in the traditions that our cultures have held onto, for whatever reasons. It's rooted in the elevated value of the whole rather than the elevated value of the self. It's linked in the way we are connected to the earth, because from the earth God provides. It's related not just to if we eat McDonalds or food from the farmers market. But rather, it's related to our relationship with McDonalds and McDonalds relationship to the earth and to the Creator and Sustainer of the earth. As well as our relationship to the vender at the farmers market and the venders relationship to the earth and to the Creator and Sustainer of the earth.
Imagine how much more beautiful sex would be if our children learned the early and simple lesson of valuing the dirt they play in because God created it, and because they come to trust that it brings life to flora as well as communicates its needs of water or sun depending. Imagine how much more beautiful sex would be if sex was a physical response between two humans that mirrored the other rhythms of life - of the mutual give and receive of the ecosystems, of the give and receive of jobs, of the give and receive of our physical need.
He wants us to partake in the awesomeness of working as He created it to be. To give of oneself for the purpose of getting a return. To create. Whether it be the creation of a cabinet, of a house, of a lesson plan, of a medical remedy, of a homework assignment, or of a delivery rout. He wants us to take joy in what we do and to "do all things as into Him."
What if we really worked like that? What if we really set out to do all things as unto Him? To view work and labor as a gift rather than a curse. In Genesis, Adam was called to tend to the garden before he and Eve were ever cursed. In Genesis 1:26-27, the Creator said: "Let us make human beings in our nature so that they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of the earth."
I believe that with the New Covenant that Jesus has offered, we are living in the "already but net yet." The old curse has been over come, and for that reason, I choose to live in the knowledge that work is a blessing and that when it doesn't feel like it, that I'm not living in the created rhythm.
He wants us to partake in the awesomeness of free time as He created it to be. To use our time wisely. To use our time to flourish in our gifts. Not to get board nor to be unnecessarily busy.
He wants us to partake in the awesomeness of our thoughts as He created them to be. To explore His universe with imagination and awe. To set our mind on a course of intentionality. With purpose and with accountability.
He wants it back. He calls us back to His created rhythm. But we get to choose how much we join in.
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