Competence

Growth involves undulating between feelings of competence and incompetence. An eighth-grader might feel competent in middle school. Yet, once he moves on to high school, he is back to feeling incompetent in unfamiliar surroundings. The same thing happens between high school and college, adolescence and adulthood, and every shift from one phase of life to another.

Even though height is admired in most cultures, I often notice young people slouching soon after they hit a growth spurt. Some of us, who are resistant to change, are actually trying to avoid feeling inadequate. We would rather stay at the stage where we feel proficient than move on to the next stage.

Young people these days use the phrase ‘lame-out’ to describe one member of their group moving on to a new stage. For example—‘He’s lamed-out since he got a girlfriend. He never wants to just hang out with us guys anymore.’ It is funny how they use the word lame to describe this movement from being adept in the prior phase, to inept in the new stage. It used to be that lame meant an inability to be mobile. Now it seems to connote a weakness that results from change.

Discomfort is natural during transition. The person going through the change feels inadequate. Family members, friends, and coworkers become disconcerted. The temptation to regress is hard to resist.  

How do we push past this discomfort to progress?

Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.” (Mark 10:27 MSG)

Understanding The Elephant

Most of us have heard the story of 10 blind men trying to explain an elephant. Each of the men feels a different part of the elephant and comes up with a partial version of the truth. This story has been used to illustrate that none of us can claim to fully understand God, that no one religion has a monopoly on the truth.  

Only the narrator can see the elephant. The rest of us are all blind. Our experiences may lead us to different perspectives of faith. What if people of varying degrees of faith heard this story from the blind men. Those that take a literal view of everything might interpret the story as claiming that the elephant is God. Those with an agnostic view may be unsure if there is really an elephant. Perhaps the blind men just wandered around touching a variety of inanimate things and came up with a story. How can anyone be sure? Those that have an atheistic view might dismiss the existence of the elephant as a legend. Why would anyone trust the perspectives of blind men anyway? Those with a metaphorical view might acknowledge that there is truth behind the legend, and the story points to something beyond comprehension.

I’d like to end with an amusing inverted version of this story that I found online:

Six blind elephants were discussing what men were like. After arguing they decided to find one and determine what it was like by direct experience. The first blind elephant felt the man and declared, 'Men are flat.' After the other blind elephants felt the man, they agreed. ;-)

Birthday

I’m 43-years old today. I have a sense of urgency these days. My time, energy and health are being depleted quickly. I feel as if I’m ‘over-the-hill’ and gaining momentum. Every morning, I get up to a full day with so many good intentions. I dawdle a bit, indulge myself with a few pleasurable pursuits, and suddenly realize it’s already afternoon. And in this afternoon stage of life, I frequently think: So much left to accomplish…yet so little time.

Each day in my past has been a learning experience. It has shaped who I am. No regrets. Yet, there is this push from deep within me, a pressure to learn more, a tension of things not yet expressed.

“Mental health is based on a certain degree of tension, the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what one is and what one should become. Such a tension is inherent in the human being and therefore is indispensable to mental well-being. We should not, then, be hesitant about challenging man with a potential meaning for him to fulfill. It is only thus that we evoke his will to meaning from its state of latency. I consider it a dangerous misconception of mental hygiene to assume that what man needs in the first place is equilibrium or…a tensionless state. What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.” (Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl)

I stand in this gap between who I am and who I am to become. I shall press on.

“By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.” (Phil. 3:12-15 MSG)

 

What I Want

What are we looking for? What do we really want?

Some might say: I want financial success, a nice house, an important job, beauty, health, a good marriage, and good relationships. I want my children to be successful; I want to travel; I want to have fun and enjoy life.

Others might distill the above desires down further: a desire for validation, admiration, happiness, excitement, comfort, love, freedom from pain and suffering, peace.

Yet, is this the purest form of what we are really seeking?  I don’t think so. I suspect that we will not find satisfaction until we become one with God.

The following analogy by Dallas Willard hints at this truth:

“I was raised in southern Missouri where the land is mineral poor. Cows and sheep there will find piles of junk or refuse out in the fields or woods and eat old dry-cell batteries and rusty wire and nails to get the minerals that they need, and they die of it. The hunger for spiritual depth that we see manifested across our culture becomes a threat to a meaningful and practically effective understanding of spiritual formation as it should be presented by followers of Christ. And this threat has several forms.” (Dallas Willard)

Just like those poor cows who try to meet their needs by eating batteries, we find deadly substitutes to fill our deepest spiritual longings. We rummage through junk, not realizing the harm we are causing to ourselves. We spend our entire lives seeking validation, happiness, love, comfort, relief, and peace. Yet, we remain discontent.

I still haven’t found what I’m looking for…(song by U2)

Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnD6ojjA0OA

Mennonite Influence

I’m pretty sure I had never met a Mennonite before I moved to Iowa. At first, I thought of them as a bit eccentric and standoffish. I think I might have scared them off with my flashy appearance and personality. However, over the ensuing years, I have developed close friendships with several Mennonites who have influenced me greatly. Here are some lessons that I’ve learned from them:

Living your Faith—My Mennonite friends have taught me not to compartmentalize real life from my spiritual life. It’s one and the same.

Simplicity— There is joy in simple living. Excess is just an invitation for stress.

Honesty— Lying to others is bad. Lying to yourself is even worse.

Service—serving others brings fulfillment. Self-absorption leads to dissatisfaction.

Sharing—There is enough for all of us. Do not waste; gather up the remnants and you will find there is enough for your family as well as your neighbors.  

“The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light.” (Felix Adler)

My favorite part about these friends is how unassuming they are. Most of them don’t realize how much they influence the community around them. They just live, and those of us who come in contact with them inadvertently catch their goodness.

Touched in the Head

Most of you who know me have probably wondered if I’ve been touched by an angel or merely touched in the head! ;-) Yes, I’ve wondered that myself.

Recently I read a joke that made me laugh, because I recognized the truth in it:

“Why is it when we talk to God we're said to be praying — but when God talks to us, we're said to be schizophrenic?” (Lily Tomlin)

I won’t claim that God talks to me. He probably does, but I pretend it’s just my imagination, so as to appear normal. Occasionally, I do sense God’s presence. Yet, every time I admit that out loud, I cringe inwardly.

 

My reluctance reminds me of the Apostle Peter who denied knowing Jesus. Unlike Peter, I’m not in any danger of persecution. I’m just worried about dying from embarrassment.

Statistics

“I have sinned badly in what I have just done, substituting statistics for trust; forgive my sin—I have been really stupid.” (1 Chronicles. 21:8 MSG)

I routinely substitute statistics and logistics for trust, but I rarely recognize that I’m being stupid!

Think about all the times you have encountered a problem and get worked up about the logistics. I don’t know how I’m going to manage issue #1, and then there is this other detail about issue #2, and who’s going to take care of issue #3?I’m just so overwhelmed! Or, we start despairing because we’ve heard the statistics: I read that more than 60% of _________ (fill in the blank with any illness, accident, addiction, unemployment, divorce, childrearing statistic you want)

In my experience, God is not fazed by either statistics or logistics. He has come through mightily in so many ways for me—obliterating perceived obstacles like a tank running over rough terrain. Then why do I still revert to this stupid, sinful behavior?