You do not resolve the God question in your head
St. Bonaventure and others said that a poor uneducated person might well know and love God more than a great theologian or ecclesastic.
You do not resolve the God question in your head - or even in the perfection of moral response. It is resolved in you when you agree to bear the mystery of God: God’s suffering for the world and God’s ecstasy in the world.
Agreeing to this task is much harder, I’m afraid, than just trying to be ‘good’.
- Fr. Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs
You write in your letter something which I sometimes feel also: “Sometimes I do not know how I shall pull through.”
Look here, I often feel the same in more than one respect, not only in financial things, but in art itself, and in life in general. But do you think that something exceptional? Don’t you think every man with a little pluck and energy has those moments? Moments of melancholy, of distress, of anguish, I think we all have them, more or less, and it is a condition of every conscious human life.
It seems that some people have no self-consciousness. But those who have it, they may sometimes be in distress, but for all that they are not unhappy, nor is it something exceptional that happens to them. And sometimes there comes relief, sometimes there comes new inner energy, and one rises up from it, till at last, some day, one perhaps doesn’t rise up any more, que soit, but that is nothing extraordinary, and I repeat, such is the common human fate, in my opinion.
To change, or be changed?
Do you wish you could change some things about yourself? Negative addictions? Selfish behaviour that hurts those closest to you? Complete inability to manage money properly? Add your own needs here ____________.
Pastor Jon commented on Sunday, as we were about to take communion, that a common mistake we all make in approaching our relationship with God is that we assume the need to change ourselves BEFORE we try to draw closer to Him.
There is a subtle but profound flaw in this approach: it’s the wrong way round.
Self-change (or self-help), from a Christian point-of-view is fundamentally flawed - and should never be our goal. The message of the Bible does not climax with a perfect list of 10 ‘golden rules’ that, if perfectly (or nearly perfectly) kept, grants us access through the pearly gates. No, the Bible’s climax is in Jesus’ life, and what he has done for us. His death and resurrection was a once-and-for-all payment for the inevitable, destructive and unjust burdens of sin (i.e. the shit in our lives and the world around us).
It’s a bit of a mystery, and quite hard to believe. But at least the concluding message is relatively clear: Jesus has done all the hard work. The resulting instruction that follows is therefore simple (but not necessarily easy):
First draw close to God, and then the change will happen.
Formspring.me
Why are you the ‘international man of mystery’?
I was born in Birmingham, UK, and then spent my teenage years in Pakistan where I graduated from High School. This was followed by 3 years at University in London, and then 5 years working in China (Shanghai & Beijing). For the past 2 years I have lived in Norwich, UK.
My parents now work in Thailand, and my parents-in-law work in China.
I’m Caucasian British - which probably means I’m part Viking.
RIP Granddad Ted 17.02.2010
Granddad Ted passed away this morning.
An upstanding character who loved to share his sweets, and stories of the war. He slipped away peacefully, after a few years of slow and sad deterioration. Feelings of his passing guiltily brush against relief.
I did not know him well. My own response takes me to a place that contemplates the disturbing reality of how life can end by just slowly fading away… It doesn’t seem right. What is the point in those final, empty years? What was worth hanging on for?
As if to suggest an answer, today in the UK, Ray Gosling has been arrested for ‘murdering’ his partner as he suffered on his death bed, desperate to be killed, but unable to help himself. They had a pact with each-other, and Ray kept his word. Cue the the inevitable media debates, and thrashings of conflicting opinions.
Who knows?
Life is God’s gift to me now, and my response should be what I do with it before the day ends. He’s told us not to worry about tomorrow.
I thank God for hope.
Draw near to God
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
Theme of the last 2 Friday evenings at Bible study with Pastor Jon.
Did you know it’s a command of God?
There’s no static position. If you’re not drawing closer, you’re distancing yourself. And although I’m not where I should be, I thank God I’m not where I used to be.
About me
International man of mystery living in Norwich, UK. Married to Rachel. Theist.
