Everything I learned on a USB...?

 

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes (Prov. 26:4-5).

 

Did you notice how the two parts of this proverb directly contradict each other? What is more appropriate, to speak or to remain silent in the presence of a fool? Deeply rooted trees respond appropriately to the season and setting that they are subjected to.

 

The proverb reminds me of a professor I had in seminary. Professor Collins had a playful but dry, matter of fact, way about him. One day he said to the class, “Suppose I am teaching my child not to scream indoors. How nice it would be (I once thought) to hang a decibel meter around my daughter’s neck, which would then give her a shock if she screamed too loudly.”

 

He went on, “But what about the situations in which a good loud scream is appropriate (outside; being under attack; daddy jumps out from behind a hiding place)?”

 

Professor Collins loved to remind us that wisdom “looks for a hearer with his wits about him.” In learning and in life there must be space carved out for discerning one’s context.

 

Sometimes I wish I could download onto a little USB everything I learned in university and seminary, give it to those whom I love so they could quickly just download the data into their heads and have all of their problems solved. It would be quick, painless and easy.

 

But growing in wisdom does not happen this way. Wisdom invites us to pause. Wisdom requires struggling through various possible outcomes and patiently discerning one’s context before taking appropriate action. Wisdom is a skill to be practiced and refined.

 

What we learn from RAs, staff, professors and peers is being entrusted to us by Christ in love that we might appropriate it. You are not the end of your education. Christ has planned and purposed that you be called to Redeemer in this season (and he has a place in mind for where he is taking you). It is here at Redeemer that you must practice the skill of intentional appropriation of knowledge. Where might God be calling you to turn theory into practice? Where might God be inviting you to take a risk and just do something?

 

A question that I was asked repeatedly by a professor was, “Now that you know, given who you are, what are you going to do?” What I like about this question is that it assumes responsibility to be linked with true knowledge and yet leaves much room for situational applicability.

 

So, now that you know, what are you going to do, given who you are?

 

“Good Shepherd, may we as a campus be a people with our wits about us. Teach us the skill of wisdom, that we may live life to the full in the Kingdom.”

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCE LETTERS

  
 

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (II Cor. 3: 2-3)

In my lifetime I’ve probably written several hundred reference letters, in addition to giving oral references by telephone. I love providing them, because I love bragging about students or colleagues that I have come to know and respect.

I have discovered that when the references are being used for employment, volunteer work or apartment rentals, I need to focus especially on the character of the person I am describing. Here’s an excerpt from a letter I wrote recently (with the name changed):

Seymour is a man of sturdy, godly character. He embodies the fruit of Spirit, conducting himself with integrity, peace, gentleness through a light and joyful spirit. He exemplifies the qualities of speaking the truth in love, building up any team that he is part of, and knowing when to speak and when to be silent. He is wise and perceptive, and when he has an idea, I know that I need to pay careful attention. He brings a transformative presence to any group that he is part of. He has this unusual ability to take his responsibilities very seriously without taking himself seriously. He is also humbly teachable, eager to receive wise direction for his own life.

This paragraph is just a detailed way of saying that God has been transforming “Seymour’s” life.

In the verses above, Paul tells the believers in Corinth that they are his reference letters, because God is transforming their lives too.

Imagine writing your own reference letter that summarizes how God has shaped you. Jesus declares that you know a tree by its fruit (Matt. 7: 16-19); what specific types of fruit can you identify as growing from “your tree” because the Holy Spirit lives in you?

Now fast-forward five years: if someone were to write a reference letter for you in the year 2018, name one fact about your godly character that you would like to be sturdily true even though that aspect of your character is a little wobbly right now.

Do you have one in mind? Next question: what is one step you can take today that will water a seed for growing that future fruit?

Here’s my goal: I’d like to be blessed with more godly courage by the year 2018. And I do have a step in mind to take later today to water that seed.

Let’s make a deal: if you pray for my step, I’ll pray for yours. (Well, on second thought, I’ll pray for yours regardless….) J

And maybe I’ll have the privilege of writing a reference letter for you some day.  

About Gratitude

                                                                                   

"For although they knew God, They neither glorified him as God           nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

^{Romans 1:21}

  From beginning to end, and for a variety of reasons, the scriptures exhort us to develop a sense of gratitude.  It is worth stating that gratitude is much more than an emotion. It is a foundational disposition or orientation towards reality. And without it, the above text reveals, we cannot perceive reality properly. We are hardwired for gratitude and we simply cannot  reason or function properly without it.  Personally, I am grateful for the season of Thanksgiving in which I have had the opportunity to express thanksgiving and I know the One to Whom I am to express it. 

I would like you to consider an excerpt from an article from the Harvard Mental Health Letter, entitled “In Praise of Gratitude” ( November, 2011) which emphatically, although perhaps unintentionally, drives home the resonance between the biblical worldview and empirical research in the area of “ Human Wellness”.

The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness (depending on the context). In some ways gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.

In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. They can apply it to the past (retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings), the present (not taking good fortune for granted as it comes), and the future (maintaining a hopeful and optimistic attitude). Regardless of the inherent or current level of someone's gratitude, it's a quality that individuals can successfully cultivate further.

The results of gratitude studies reinforce what is intuitively obvious.  The middle paragraph carefully summarizes studies done by scholars such as Dr. Robert Emmons at the University of California at Davis.  And the final sentence of the quote is telling.  We are able to successfully cultivate gratitude further. We have choices that affect our sense of gratitude which in turn affect our happiness.

Why not consider making a list or starting a gratitude journal. Look for things for which to be grateful.  Express gratitude. Mull the list over in your minds. In fact, we all know what it is like to fixate on perceived wrongs or hurts, complete with endless rehearsals.  Why not employ the same mental apparatus for the good. Indeed, Dr. Emmons states as a conclusion of his research that gratitude is able to displace negative thought and feeling. And I know from experience that if we are not passive about it and actively look for “reasons for gratitude”, it certainly does. 

OAKS

 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me…to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations (Isaiah 61: 1-5).

 

She looked quite discouraged. “When you and I talked half a year ago, you gave me some suggestions for what I might do to encourage maturing in Christ. And I followed them! But I feel like the progress has been so slow. It hardly feels worth it.”

 

He looked even more discouraged. “I’ve been writing regularly in my Psalm 139 journal, reflecting on my daily life through the David’s prayer “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vss. 23-24). The more I invite the Spirit to search my heart, the more aware I become of how self-centered and fear-driven I am. It’s awful!”

 

Have you ever experienced similar discouragement?

 

If you have, take heart. What you have actually experienced is our Lord’s manner of growing oak trees. Oak trees are one of the slowest growing trees, but they are also one of the sturdiest. God seems to enjoy doing his best work very, very gradually, often using the difficulties of life to build our inner character and refine our spirit.

 

CS Lewis describes this painful refinement with this analogy:

 

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself” (from Mere Christianity).

 

When I experience the kind of discouragement described above, I look in the mirror and recite this profound (?) poem to myself:

 

When you are discouraged and feeling rather blue Remember that the mighty oak was once a nut like you.

 

“For I am confident of this: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1. 6). That’s enough for this little oak tree to keep on keeping on.