From Now On...

October 31st

I woke up early this morning wondering how long I could hold my breath. It was a very strange dream. I was watching a boy holding onto a rope underwater, with weights on his feet in a deep pool, like one of those fear factor reality shows that I detest. He was running out of air and needed to come up badly but the weights on his feet were dragging him down.

I always change the channel if something like that comes on, but my only option in the dream was to wake up and try to shake it off. So I layed there for awhile and started praying.

Came down here to the office at 6 and had emails from some dear old friends. One, in Canada, used to work in a neighboring tribe, ten minutes by small aircraft or about six hours by land from us. Now he's dealing with knee surgeries and is unable to walk.

Another dear friend in Australia sent an update. Doug is the original Crocodile Dundee who used to work in another tribe in Papua, wrote about his current struggle with cancer that's invading his eye and surrounding brain cavity. After weeks and weeks of MRIs and cat scans and delays, he's still waiting for the surgery that will remove his left eye. He sent this grand conclusion to all his troubles...

Tolstoy talks of peoples differing attitudes, 1. Life is bad so get drunk to evade and forget. 2. Life is bad but struggle against it – the stoical attitude. 3. Life is bad so do the logical thing – commit suicide. 4. Life is bad but go on living, accepting life as it comes.

None of these being the Christian approach to life, American writer, Edward Borroughs puts it correctly, when he says. ‘Christianity combines the most absolute pessimism about man’s unaided powers with an unquenchable optimism as to what in God’s hands it may become.’

Jesus expressed that optimism when he stood before the Sanhedrin and said, “from NOW on,” Luke 22:69, the Son of Man will be seated - ‘FROM NOW ON’. We too can stand in that confidence.

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I want to live in the "from now on"!

My life on earth here has been radically divided into the before and after. I look at pictures and think, oh yes, that was before. Then the missing face of my dear Frank in all the big events since that line was drawn depicts an after diagnosis, or an after seizure, or finally, after he died.

Then I quickly rally that optimism and say, BUT after all this has run its course there will be a glorious ever-after! There will come a time that these lines will blur and time will be no more. We will live in the great from now on that Jesus talked about. I can't wait!

So what's running through my head this morning is that we CAN live in the from now on right here and now. I'm thinking about the timing of Jesus' words. When he said that, he hadn't stood before Pilate yet. He still had the scourging and the humiliation and the cross before him. Yet he said, "from NOW on", and I realize that he was already living in that positional truth.

And when you read through this section of Luke, five times the issue of his identity is questioned. Twice from the soldiers and the crowd when they sneered, "Let him save himself IF HE IS the Christ." The council asked, "Are you the Son of God?" He answered plainly, "I am." Then Pilate asked, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He said again, "Yes, it is as you say." Then the criminal on the cross asked, "Aren't you the Christ?" And Jesus' answer started with the beautiful words, "I tell you the truth, TODAY..."

Now. Today! Jesus lived in the from now on. So can we. We need to set our minds on his word and believe in the One who lifts all our burdens. He aligns the planets, rules over every evil power, and conquers all our enemies. Even death, when he neared that door, could not obliterate his view of what lays beyond it. Today, paradise!

Imagine what went through that ruffian's mind and heart to think that he could be so close to something so wonderful. He was hanging there in agony. Blood and sweat and blinding pain coursed through his veins. A lifetime of regrets and bad choices led him to that awful punishment and the cruel justice of the Roman guards. He knew he deserved it. Now his hands were tied and his feet were bound. Helpless. Humiliated. Pinned to his past, he hung there in utter abandonment.

Somehow, his mind kept going. He heard the soldiers mocking. He heard them challenge this lamb of God. "He saved others; let him save himself IF HE IS THE CHRIST OF GOD, the CHOSEN ONE." Then with all the strength and focus he could muster, he turned and looked at Jesus. Something different about this man. Something pure and separate. Though nearing death, there was a knowing, an inner strength that seemed to sustain him.

"Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing," he heard him pray as they divided up his clothes. Could he be? Then he spoke the words that changed it all. "Jesus, remember me..." A very simple plea but a very real and forward faith... "WHEN you come into your kingdom."

Of all the things that he couldn't do, he did the ONLY thing, the smartest thing that he could do. He looked at Jesus.

Of course we weren't there and maybe none of the gospel writers noticed it, but I believe that right there on the cross, a smile crossed his lips. I believe the Lord's eyes glowed with pride and happiness. Right there in his final hour, another soul was saved, even as the blood that paid for his soul was still fresh on his tearing skin.

Lord, remember me too! I want to cry. Remember me with my breaking heart. Remember me in the pain and loneliness. Remember me in a frightening future. And then I look with the eyes of faith and I feel his assuring smile. I imagine his eyes glowing with love and joy, and all else fades. He invites me to live in the from now on. He meets me in the promise of paradise today.

This is my Lord who I love. His Name is Jesus.


No matter what you are facing, no matter what your fears for tomorrow, you can live in the from now on too. Turn to him and ask him for the grace that you need. He will surprise you.

"Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For your life is now hidden with [him]... When Christ appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
Colossians 3:1-4

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Ode to the inconvenient

Waiting for my car along a busy stretch of highway in Norwood, a flock of sociable geese just made me laugh.

Such living beauty on a patch of green sandwiched between the racing speedway known as Route One and the mundane flats of black pavement for commercial parking at this mall. They seemed oblivious to the noise and commotion, content to enjoy their little patch of greenery.

I watched their striking black necks and admired the natural order of everything they did. They even seemed to be standing in vee formation, their eyes fixed on their leader, who stood erect with his eye alert to my approaching. A couple times a few of them on the outskirts would chase each other with outspread wings and nasty beaking, but then they would settle down and resume their grazing. How like people they seemed, this little flock.

There’s so little natural wildlife in these parts, it’s a shame that people don’t like them. At Choate Park even the elderly complain about how dirty they are. At Chilson they’ve polluted the pond and their droppings make the beaches unclean for children to play in the sand. I’m told that they are a constant irritant to golfers and landscapers. No one seems to know a solution because just as soon as you chase them away they return to another spot. One older gentleman at Honeydew was telling me that they’re going to have to start shooting them off. What a shame. We should at least have a roast goose Thanksgiving dinner for the poor in the town, I suggested.

Another natural problem was on the news this morning from the state of Vermont. Though coyotes have been plentiful in the area, it’s now been reported that someone shot a ninety-pound WOLF on the border! The reporter said that there haven’t been wolf sightings in the area for a hundred years, but that seems unbelievable. I wonder how often they are mistaken for coyotes.

It’s a little easier to understand the fear of wolves, than the hatred for the geese that are here for such a brief time and then fly south.

We are a generation who hates to be inconvenienced. We are a people who don’t want to be bothered to clean up messes. We like our yards perfectly manicured, our golf ranges uncluttered, and now, even some of the last remaining wilderness regions to be free of the free and wild.

We Americans, of all people, are accustomed to the most unrealistic expectations on the planet.


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Awakening the inner spirit

October 7th

On my way out the door this morning, I grabbed my laptop and camera and headed out not knowing where I’d end up today. It was only in the high 40s this morning but it’s heading up to the 60’s with sunny and beautiful skies. With the foliage turning it’s tempting to head up to New Hampshire or maybe to Gloucester for pictures.

I stopped along the way to shoot some beautiful open places near Medfield and was even taken with a sociable flock of geese outside. I love stopping to take pictures, just trying to capture the beauty around me so I can take it home with me.

This is the most powerful witness I experienced at the age of eighteen. It is the thing that brought me to my knees while living in Alaska, and it remains one of the things that continues to move me to worship.

Natural beauty in God’s creation, when you really stop to admire and soak it in, speaks of who God is in all his might and perfection. Like the quiet majesty of snow-peaked mountains or the whisperings of the great tundra. The secret mysticism one feels overlooking the rainbow-painted desert or the depths of the sea.

Whether in stillness or storm, whether in the brilliance of sunset or sunrise, even in the cool blue light of moon glow God’s earth is rich with inspiration. It always points us back to wonder. We’re the ones who spoil it with all our pollutions and dissolutions, our high wires and commercial signs. Strip away all our neon nonsense and material madness.

Look at the sheer intelligence of design and purpose and be amazed. From chrysalis cocoons to eagles moulting, from swarming bees to the marching of army ants, from salmon migrations to the parade of penguins it is all too wonderful to contain. Too complex to explain away.

In Miller’s book, he speaks of what I call the awakening of the inner spirit. Miller writes,

“For a while, I felt as though the world were a watch and God had lifted the lid so I could see the gears. The intricate rules of the sociospiritual landscape were something like a play to me, and I was delighted at every turn in the plot.

The truths of the Bible were magic, like messages from heaven, like codes, enchanting codes that offered power over life, a sort of power that turned sorrow to joy, hardship to challenge, and trial to opportunity… After I became a Christian, every aspect of human interaction had a fascinating appeal, and the intricate complexity of the natural landscape was remarkable in its perfection: the colors in the sky melding with the horizon, those south Texas sunsets burning distant clouds like flares, like fireworks, like angel wings starting flight.

God was no longer a slot machine but something of a Spirit that had the power to move men’s souls…” Blue Like Jazz, p.59-60

Illusions

October 6th

Something that’s been rattling around in my brain this week is illusions.

The first contributing factor is a movie I saw with Brianne on the weekend called the Illusionist with Ed Norton, an actor I really enjoy, in the leading role. He’s usually in films with great suspenseful and twisting plots and he is a powerful and convincing dramatic actor. In this script, he played a magician in love with a princess in European 19th century society. Though there was some conjuring of spirits, or the appearance of magic, the plot itself was romantic in nature.

At one point, and at great risk to his own personal well-being and that of the princess he loved, he proclaimed from a balcony to the townsfolk, “Everything you’ve seen is an illusion!” He claimed to have no spiritual powers and certainly never used his abilities to deceive for his own benefit.

Second influence came unexpectedly from a book I’ve been loving called Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. After Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis, this book shares the same dynamic of stripping away a lot of the stale and traditional Christianity and making it more alive and authentic.

One of Miller’s chapters is called Magic, a title you wouldn’t even expect in a book addressing authentic Christian faith. Basically, he says he always thought God was like David Copperfield, an illusionist of sorts. And the older you get the less you are apt to believe in the Wizard of Oz, “just a schmuck behind a curtain.” Miller’s writings are wonderfully honest and refreshingly candid. I want to read all of his books and already have them on my most wanted list, including Searching for God Knows What and more.

He always thought Christianity was a religion for the intellectually weak-minded and naïve. Pastors and Christians sound more like salesmen trying to convince themselves of what they were saying, he says. “I felt as if Christianity, as a religious system, was a product that kept falling apart, and whoever was selling it would hold the broken parts behind his back trying to divert everybody’s attention... You either had to reduce enormous theological absurdities into children’s stories or ignore them,” he writes (p.30-31).

So in the film, a hopeless romantic albeit helpless man is known as the illusionist. Granted, in the end, he wins out through the sheer application of his God-given abilities. But then in Miller’s experience, God is seen as the illusionist. In other words, intelligent people in this day and age feel that they can’t trust who God is. He holds the cards behind his back and deceives us.

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I wonder how many truly feel that they know more than God. Obviously, there is an age-old distrust of the resurrection. Many feel that Jesus Christ was part of a well-conceived hoax and that his body was simply stolen away in the dark of night. If this is true of course, the entire Christian world has been duped and our faith is based on nothing but wishful thinking.

I can understand this reasoning, but I still reject it. Of course, anyone who prays to Jesus and knows the Lord and has tasted spiritual reality of His living Word, have no trouble accepting that the empty tomb is a pivotal concept in which God proved fulfillment of everything that the prophets said. And that miracle is not such a far cry from the centuries of miracles that preceded it from the Red Sea to the plains of Sinai, to the top of Mount Carmel, to David’s slinging of a small stone into the forehead of a giant named Goliath. God has been in the miracle business for a very long time!

Either you believe in God or you don’t. Either you get honest about his supernatural strength, or you go through life clinging to the visible and insisting that this realm of the hard and fast, the physical body, is all there is.

Still, how can you prove that there is NO GOD? You can’t. Unless someone has been to heaven and hell and survived, unless cosmonauts could travel to every corner of the universe, none could claim to KNOW what’s beyond this life.

Psalm 14:1 says, the fool says in his heart, there is NO GOD.

No, let me tell you what I think. Neither man nor God is the real illusionist. Satan is the culprit. He is as Jesus said, "the father of all lies". He is the perverter of every principle. The twister of every truth. The subverter of every standard. He is the mastermind behind every grand illusion and he is fiercely opposed to God.

Beware of his tactics. Know that he will fight and resist every good thing and every truth with relentless devotion. If he can’t get you to ignore it, he will attempt to defuse all spiritual reality.

Because of his many active strategies at work within our culture, our schooling systems, even our subconscious minds, we have to counter the contemporary messages that surround us. On the radio, the TV, the ads, the billboards, the world’s mind-numbing messages scream for our attention and drown out the whisperings of the living God, if we let it.

In order to take a step away from all this noise we have to seek a little quiet. A little ocean side repose or a mountain view might do the trick. A quiet yard or a wooded path where only the birds are rustling. Get alone with God and talk to him. Get down to the nitty gritty of who you are and ask the real honest questions on your mind. You may be surprised at what you hear.

God is no deceiver. He wants to open your eyes. The only "trick" is this. You have to ask.

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