The theological concept of Redemption has always been a bit difficult for me to grasp. We use the same word to describe redeeming our checks, glass bottles and used soda cans. We turn something in and get something back. I understand the definition of the word but the theological aspect is what I struggle with.
According to Dallas Willard, “Redemption in Christ is a retrieving of the entire person from alienation from God and opposition to God.”
If it were not for Christ, I would be alienated from God. Following my natural instincts of self-preservation would lead me in the opposite direction from God. Redemption rescues someone who is going in the wrong direction and puts them in the right direction.
When I say that someone has certain “redeeming qualities”, I am using the word redeeming to mean worthwhile. Redemption can thus be a way of redirection, from worthless pursuits to worthwhile ones.
In the Old Testament, Redemption meant to pay off a ransom from slavery. A similar scenario to that in current times would be to bail someone out of jail. When we are alienated from God, we are in bondage to dark forces. Redemption leads to freedom from subjugation. It changes our course and directs us towards enlightenment.
streams
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Intelligent Persistence
Most of us have heard the saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
Well, I like Dallas Willard’s version much better, “If at first you don’t succeed- find out what went wrong, fix it, and then try again.”
This reminds me of when my son was first learning to ride his two wheel bike. He was about 5 years old and his bike still had training wheels. He would be riding along slowly and he would come to a bump in the road. The bike would stop. He would try to get over the hump in the same way, over and over again, getting more and more frustrated after each failed attempt. I remember his father’s wise words to him, “Stop, think, try something different.”
Persistence is good, but intelligent persistence is even better. It’s the difference between kicking on a door till it breaks vs. going and finding the key to open it. It’s the difference between repeatedly telling your teenager to do the right thing vs. finding out what his barriers are and showing him how to remove them. Persistence may pay off in the end, however, intelligent persistence pays off sooner.
Well, I like Dallas Willard’s version much better, “If at first you don’t succeed- find out what went wrong, fix it, and then try again.”
This reminds me of when my son was first learning to ride his two wheel bike. He was about 5 years old and his bike still had training wheels. He would be riding along slowly and he would come to a bump in the road. The bike would stop. He would try to get over the hump in the same way, over and over again, getting more and more frustrated after each failed attempt. I remember his father’s wise words to him, “Stop, think, try something different.”
Persistence is good, but intelligent persistence is even better. It’s the difference between kicking on a door till it breaks vs. going and finding the key to open it. It’s the difference between repeatedly telling your teenager to do the right thing vs. finding out what his barriers are and showing him how to remove them. Persistence may pay off in the end, however, intelligent persistence pays off sooner.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Grace vs. Discipline
I use the word ‘Grace’ freely. It’s such a pretty, all encompassing, ethereal word. For example:
“I need God’s Grace to forgive my enemies and turn the other cheek.”
“Lord, give me the Grace to fight my weaknesses.”
I was reading and listening to Dallas Willard and jotted down his definitions for these words:
Grace - God doing in my life what I cannot do for myself.
Discipline- training or practice that enables me to do what is in my power.
Yikes! I might need to reevaluate my ideas on Grace. Forgiveness, selflessness, and getting rid of weaknesses might be in my power if I train and practice adequately.
I couldn’t run a marathon right now. Do I need Grace or Discipline to make it happen? If I train and practice, it is probably within my power. The truth is, I don’t want to put forth all that much effort and go through the pain of running a 26 mile race.
Similarly, there are many daily situations which require discipline. Yet, I’m a bit lazy to put forth the effort, so I ask God to do the work for me. I attempt to substitute Grace for my lack of discipline.
_____
“I need God’s Grace to forgive my enemies and turn the other cheek.”
“Lord, give me the Grace to fight my weaknesses.”
I was reading and listening to Dallas Willard and jotted down his definitions for these words:
Grace - God doing in my life what I cannot do for myself.
Discipline- training or practice that enables me to do what is in my power.
Yikes! I might need to reevaluate my ideas on Grace. Forgiveness, selflessness, and getting rid of weaknesses might be in my power if I train and practice adequately.
I couldn’t run a marathon right now. Do I need Grace or Discipline to make it happen? If I train and practice, it is probably within my power. The truth is, I don’t want to put forth all that much effort and go through the pain of running a 26 mile race.
Similarly, there are many daily situations which require discipline. Yet, I’m a bit lazy to put forth the effort, so I ask God to do the work for me. I attempt to substitute Grace for my lack of discipline.
_____
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Ode to The Paper Book
I was hoping this day would never come. The day when I’m spending more time reading digital material than printed material. I used to go to the library every week with a bag that resembled a suitcase on wheels. The librarians all knew me by name. I would check out 20-30 books at a time. I didn’t really read more than 2-3 books completely. I just liked to have options when I got home. I spent my leisure time in book stores, office supply stores and libraries.
I loved the smell of a new book, the tactile pleasure of good quality paper at my fingertips. I enjoyed writing in notebooks too. Friends gave me palm size journals as gifts. I wrote in them with .9mm mechanical pencils. I drew sketches in the margins, beside my writing. I underlined whatever I thought important with colored gel pens.
I miss the good old days. Now I download e-books from the library on to my tablet. I read articles by my favorite authors online. I look up words on dictionary.com. I type my daily thoughts and save them on my hard drive. I use an online Bible concordance. I look up recipes online rather than using cookbooks.
I still try to hang on to the old ways. I make a point to read paper versions of the Bible and my devotional, first thing in the morning before I get online. I try to write in my journal first and then type it up on the computer. I buy myself office supplies for my birthday. Once a week, I have what I call an “Economist Lunch”, where I read the print version of the Economist magazine while I eat lunch by myself. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to do these things before it feels old-fashioned.
Oh Paper, my friend, I shall miss thee….
I loved the smell of a new book, the tactile pleasure of good quality paper at my fingertips. I enjoyed writing in notebooks too. Friends gave me palm size journals as gifts. I wrote in them with .9mm mechanical pencils. I drew sketches in the margins, beside my writing. I underlined whatever I thought important with colored gel pens.
I miss the good old days. Now I download e-books from the library on to my tablet. I read articles by my favorite authors online. I look up words on dictionary.com. I type my daily thoughts and save them on my hard drive. I use an online Bible concordance. I look up recipes online rather than using cookbooks.
I still try to hang on to the old ways. I make a point to read paper versions of the Bible and my devotional, first thing in the morning before I get online. I try to write in my journal first and then type it up on the computer. I buy myself office supplies for my birthday. Once a week, I have what I call an “Economist Lunch”, where I read the print version of the Economist magazine while I eat lunch by myself. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to do these things before it feels old-fashioned.
Oh Paper, my friend, I shall miss thee….
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Induction vs. Deduction
Now that it is summer, I have a bit of extra time to indulge the nerd in me. So I’ve been reading about the difference between empiricism and rationalism, and here are some excerpts from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on this subject:
“Rationalists claim that there are significant ways in which our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience. Empiricists claim that sense experience is the ultimate source of all our concepts and knowledge.
The Intuition/Deduction thesis claims that we can know some propositions by intuition and still more by deduction. (Empiricists) agree, (that we can) know by intuition that our concept of God includes our concept of eternal existence. Rationalists, such as Descartes, have claimed that we can know by intuition and deduction that God exists and created the world, that our mind and body are distinct substances, and that the angles of a triangle equal two right angles, where all of these claims are truths about an external reality independent of our thought.
Descartes claims that knowledge requires certainty and that certainty about the external world is beyond what empirical evidence can provide. We can never be sure our sensory impressions are not part of a dream or a massive, demon orchestrated, deception. Only intuition and deduction can provide the certainty needed for knowledge, and, given that we have some substantive knowledge of the external world, the Intuition/Deduction thesis is true.”
I’ve been chewing on this all morning. My teenage son frequently asks me, “How can we KNOW anything with certainty? How do we KNOW that everything we believe is not a dream or a figment of our imagination?”
Can we know anything without experiencing it or sensing it? Is there intuitive knowledge, a priori knowledge, built into us by God that we just need to be reminded of? Like birds that know where to fly for the winter, or salmon that swim upstream without any experience, do we humans have instinctual knowledge? Can we build on these intuitive truths by deduction?
I think so…
(you know you’re a nerd, if you get the irony in that statement ;-)
“Cogito ergo sum” -- Descartes
“Rationalists claim that there are significant ways in which our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience. Empiricists claim that sense experience is the ultimate source of all our concepts and knowledge.
The Intuition/Deduction thesis claims that we can know some propositions by intuition and still more by deduction. (Empiricists) agree, (that we can) know by intuition that our concept of God includes our concept of eternal existence. Rationalists, such as Descartes, have claimed that we can know by intuition and deduction that God exists and created the world, that our mind and body are distinct substances, and that the angles of a triangle equal two right angles, where all of these claims are truths about an external reality independent of our thought.
Descartes claims that knowledge requires certainty and that certainty about the external world is beyond what empirical evidence can provide. We can never be sure our sensory impressions are not part of a dream or a massive, demon orchestrated, deception. Only intuition and deduction can provide the certainty needed for knowledge, and, given that we have some substantive knowledge of the external world, the Intuition/Deduction thesis is true.”
I’ve been chewing on this all morning. My teenage son frequently asks me, “How can we KNOW anything with certainty? How do we KNOW that everything we believe is not a dream or a figment of our imagination?”
Can we know anything without experiencing it or sensing it? Is there intuitive knowledge, a priori knowledge, built into us by God that we just need to be reminded of? Like birds that know where to fly for the winter, or salmon that swim upstream without any experience, do we humans have instinctual knowledge? Can we build on these intuitive truths by deduction?
I think so…
(you know you’re a nerd, if you get the irony in that statement ;-)
“Cogito ergo sum” -- Descartes
Monday, June 11, 2012
The Incredible Nerd
Of all the Marvel comic book heroes, I identify the most with the Incredible Hulk. For those of you who are not familiar with this character, here is a brief description. A mild mannered physicist named Dr. Bruce Banner involuntarily changes into ‘the Hulk’, a huge green monster, at random times. Unlike the other superheroes, the Hulk tends to scare people away.
Sometimes I feel like the Hulk. There are parts of me that scare people away. I would rather keep these parts under wraps. Most of the time, I try to project an image of a fun, worldly, fashionable, non-threatening, feminine woman. However, at random times the disguise disintegrates and out comes my alter ego, ‘The Incredible Nerd’!
Most of my close friends have seen this side of me. My nerd power is at its strongest early in the morning. I try to stay away from other humans during this time of day. By the evening, I’m pretty much brain dead. I can’t even write properly after 7pm. I usually fall asleep by 10pm.
As I get older, I’m learning to embrace the weirdness within me and to find friends who accept me for who I am. I’m also learning to regulate the Incredible Nerd… well, sort of…
Sometimes I feel like the Hulk. There are parts of me that scare people away. I would rather keep these parts under wraps. Most of the time, I try to project an image of a fun, worldly, fashionable, non-threatening, feminine woman. However, at random times the disguise disintegrates and out comes my alter ego, ‘The Incredible Nerd’!
Most of my close friends have seen this side of me. My nerd power is at its strongest early in the morning. I try to stay away from other humans during this time of day. By the evening, I’m pretty much brain dead. I can’t even write properly after 7pm. I usually fall asleep by 10pm.
As I get older, I’m learning to embrace the weirdness within me and to find friends who accept me for who I am. I’m also learning to regulate the Incredible Nerd… well, sort of…
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Facebook and Marriage
Recently, I read an article online titled, “Does Facebook Wreck Marriages?”
"More than 80% of U.S. divorce attorneys say they've seen a rise in the number of cases involving social networking." (http://money.msn.com/family-money/article.aspx?post=40f71256-a9fc-42b5-b117-84997cde08b1 )
Of course, I had to post this on my Facebook page! I started my FB account a few years ago when my husband started one. We’ve always had profile pictures of us, as a couple, on both of our pages. We also have each other’s log-ins and passwords. Despite all of this, I have always felt uneasy about social networking. There are some advantages to Facebook. You can keep in touch with far- away cousins and see pictures of their children as they grow. It’s a great way to find out things about people you just met, too.
The disadvantages of social networking far outweigh the positives. None of us would type up a daily flyer and put it up on a bulletin board at the grocery store for everyone to see. Facebook is the equivalent of a bulletin board that is open to the whole world! It allows virtual strangers to share in our private lives, creates a false sense of intimacy, and cracks the door open for intruders.
One of my Facebook friends has been posting quotes that suggest she is discontent with her life and marriage. She probably thinks she is being subtle, just re-posting quotes she sees on other people’s walls. Yet, it sends out signals that her defenses are weak.
I guess blogging is not much better. I’m publishing my daily thoughts for all to see. How can I benefit from advances in technology and at the same time protect the sanctity of my marriage, my family, my real relationships?
______
"More than 80% of U.S. divorce attorneys say they've seen a rise in the number of cases involving social networking." (http://money.msn.com/family-money/article.aspx?post=40f71256-a9fc-42b5-b117-84997cde08b1 )
Of course, I had to post this on my Facebook page! I started my FB account a few years ago when my husband started one. We’ve always had profile pictures of us, as a couple, on both of our pages. We also have each other’s log-ins and passwords. Despite all of this, I have always felt uneasy about social networking. There are some advantages to Facebook. You can keep in touch with far- away cousins and see pictures of their children as they grow. It’s a great way to find out things about people you just met, too.
The disadvantages of social networking far outweigh the positives. None of us would type up a daily flyer and put it up on a bulletin board at the grocery store for everyone to see. Facebook is the equivalent of a bulletin board that is open to the whole world! It allows virtual strangers to share in our private lives, creates a false sense of intimacy, and cracks the door open for intruders.
One of my Facebook friends has been posting quotes that suggest she is discontent with her life and marriage. She probably thinks she is being subtle, just re-posting quotes she sees on other people’s walls. Yet, it sends out signals that her defenses are weak.
I guess blogging is not much better. I’m publishing my daily thoughts for all to see. How can I benefit from advances in technology and at the same time protect the sanctity of my marriage, my family, my real relationships?
______
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