The Snowflake

Tonight I was sitting in the living room examining the Christmas tree. We have a lot of lights and ornaments. As many a variety of ornaments, I think, as a tree can hold. Our tree has hand made ornaments, fine glass ornaments, cheesy toy ornaments and even a spaceship or two (okay ten).

But, the ornament that caught my eye was a cheap plastic snowflake covered in glitter. There are many just like it on the tree. I am sure that many years ago my mom bought them in a pack of 10 or 20 for less than a buck.

As I sat looking at this ornament I was taken back to a simpler time, at least for me it was simpler. It was back when I was in grade school and I took one of those ornaments to school and taped it to my desk. I wanted to decorate my desk for Christmas and that ornament was one I could take without mom getting worried about it getting lost or broken.

For me it was a time before holiday performances and concerts to attend. Before the family was so busy that planning the Christmas gathering was an act of congress. And maybe I was shielded from it, but before saying “Merry Christmas” was something that you had to be concerned about offending someone.

I have been greatly bothered this year by how the “magic” of Christmas seems to have disappeared. I know that I have changed and my life has gotten more complicated. I have things in my life now that I have never had before. There are things I thank God for everyday and things that I ask God to help change everyday.

I wonder if I have changed so much that I no longer see the “magic” of Christmas as I saw as a child. I wonder if in all my studies, growing up and growing more cynical with life has changed me to the point that I am no longer able to experience Christmas as I did as a child.

As I was writing this I was reminded again of one of the most amazing newspaper columns ever written. Veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church wrote it for the September 21, 1897 edition of New York’s Sun publication. It has become known around the world as “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” I would encourage you to read the whole column, but I want to quote the part that means the most to me:

“Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.”

Christmas is all about the unseeable. Science tells us that each individual snowflake is different, but we cannot see that with the naked eye. God created each of us as individuals different from each other, just as He created each individual snowflake different from another.

I know that sometimes I have gotten so busy that I forget to notice the beauty of God’s creation. There is a great diversity that exists in all created things. But sometimes because of life it becomes unseeable. I forget why we do all the things we do at this time of year.

I wonder if maybe the “magic” of Christmas is lost on me because I have forgotten it. Maybe the “magic” of Christmas is nothing external but it is an internal unseeable thing. That maybe the most important thing about Christmas is not all the gifts, parties, concerts, church services and whatever else we find to cram into a few short weeks in December.

The most important thing about Christmas is remembering why we do all the crazy stuff. That in some far away land, a long time ago a baby was born. He was born in the most humble of circumstances and yet angels and a bright shining star announced His birth.

The heart of Christmas is that the most lowly and unlikely of places can become a holy space, that the most unlikely birth can change the world. That God who takes so much care to make no two snowflakes the same took time to save the world.

Play

Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis may notice a constant theme of balance in life. I spend quite a bit of time thinking about how to live a balanced and healthy life, asking myself questions like: What things in life are important? Is this a good activity? Am I getting enough rest, nutrition and exercise? This list could go on, but these few examples should give you the gist of what my thoughts often are and why I often blog on the subject.

Last month night I attended my first “Port and Pipe” night with some friends from college. They smoke pipes, drink port and attempt to play poker (for fun, not for money). The point is to have fun, socialize and play.

I have another group of friends that typically gets together once a week to play board and card games. Sometimes we do dinner, while other times we get together to celebrate holidays, birthdays and other life events. However, the main purpose of our gatherings is to relax, have fun and play.

I’ve been wondering the past few weeks if we play enough. We fill our lives with so many different things: church, work, school, weddings, funerals, and volunteering, to name a few. But do we include play in our list of things to do? In living a balanced life we try to include down time, alone time, resting time, but do we include playtime?

According to Dictionary.com, the verb “play” means “to exercise or employ oneself in diversion, amusement, or recreation.”

I’ll often joke that kindergarten was the best grade in school. When I went, it was for a half day. We would get to class, work on a project, have recess, listen to a story, do a craft, take a nap, do another project and go home. What could not have been great about that? We would play, relax, socialize and have a bit of learning all going on in the space of a few hours. I wonder if society needs to take another look at how kindergarten is structured and rethink some things.
As a society we seem to fill our lives with so many concerns, activities and responsibilities. Is it any wonder that we live stress-filled lives? The news constantly bombards us with reports on “Cheney: Obama Setting A 'Terrible Precedent',” “Severe H1N1 Warning” “Fired for Refusing Sex?” “Florida Man's Body Found Tangled in Bulldozer” and a plethora of other headlines. The human mind body and spirit can only take so much.

We desperately need time to play. We need to distract ourselves with amusement or recreation. As we all strive to live healthier lives I would encourage you to find time in your busy schedules to play.

Expect the Unexpected

This picture has become a reminder to me that sometimes the best things in life are unexpected.

This picture, I took September 2008 at the Portland Street of Dreams. I almost deleted it. I didn't like the lighting, it was out of focus, not really my best work. However, I kinda liked the shadows and kept it around as something I might reference later as an idea for another picture.

So as I usually do I posted this picture to my Flickr account to share with my friends. Something strange happened. This picture (as of today 6/15/09) has more comments on it from non-friends than any other picture I have. It is the only one of my pictures that has been invited to join a special group. 5 people call it one of their favorite shots and it has been viewed 110 times (more than any other picture on that account).

I was (and still am) highly baffled by this. I still do not think it is a great shot. I still criticize the same issues that I did after I took it. But, other people see beauty in it.

I think the same is true with life. We tend to get down on ourselves when things do not go as planned. My life certainly has not gone as planned.

I am currently unemployed, dating a wonderful girl - who lives three hours away and staying with my parents until I can find a new job.

On the one hand it is very easy for me to get depressed about this whole situation. I am not working and I wonder if I am ever going to find a job. My girlfriend lives three hours away. I love her very much but want to see her more often than I do - and being unemployed it makes it hard to move forward in the relationship or make a lot trips to see her. I am living with my parents - need I say more?

However, on the other hand I have an amazing life. Yes, I am unemployed but I have family and friends doing everything they can to help me find a job. Yes, my girlfriend lives three hours away, but she understand my situation. She helps me out where and when she can and is willing to do for me as much as I am for her. Sure, I am living with my parents, but at least I have a roof over my head and food to eat.

So like this picture, my life is not what I wanted or expected it to be. But it still has beauty in it. It is still blessed by God. I would not trade my life right now for anything. And as I look at this picture I remember that not everything is as I perceive it to be.

Suffering

One of the most poignant questions that a person of faith can ask is, “How can a good, all-powerful God allow his creation to suffer?” Whether or not a person realizes it, there are three questions embedded within the original question of suffering. What is suffering? What is its purpose? What should be a Christian’s response to suffering? Without exploring these three questions it is difficult to gain a complete picture of suffering and why God allows it.^[i]

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, to suffer is “to feel pain or distress; sustain loss, injury, harm, or punishment.”^[ii] That is probably the most concise definition of suffering that can be written. However, as anyone who has experienced suffering will testify, true suffering cannot be described in words.

When looking at suffering it is important to look at its three main causes: nature (or natural forces), humanity, and supernatural forces^[iii].

Natural forces that cause suffering include anything from a tornado destroying a home to cancer destroying a life. One feels completely helpless at the mercy of forces that cannot be controlled. This can be the most torturous form of suffering because there appears to be no purpose or even a rational (or irrational) cause.

Some would say that one person’s inhumanity towards another causes the greatest suffering in the world. One person inflicts harm upon another, motivated by desperation or uncontrollable urges to selfishness or vengeance. This form of suffering taints human history going back to the time when Cain committed the first murder.^[iv]

The third cause of suffering--supernatural forces--includes God, Satan, angels and demons. The plagues that God brought down on Egypt^[v] caused suffering for a great number of Egyptians.^[vi] Satan, by deceiving Eve and causing her to lead Adam to sin, is the instigator of all suffering in human existence. The angels and demons merely carry out the commands of God or Satan respectively.

When looking at what suffering is, it is also necessary to understand where it originated. As previously mentioned, suffering exists as a result of sin entering into the world, which is seen in God’s judgment of Adam and Eve.

To the woman He said:
"I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”^[vii]

It is clear that life was very different for Adam and Eve before sin entered into the world. Childbearing was not painful, but after they sinned, the woman was told that childbearing would be painful. The garden provided food for Adam and Eve, and they did not have to work for it, but after they sinned, God pronounced that they would have to work for their food.

If all suffering could be attributed to punishment for sin, we would never ask the “why” question. But, since suffering is so widespread and renders harm to innocents, it is hard to believe that it is only a punishment for sin.

The only way to respond to the “why” of suffering is to assume that God allows it because it serves a legitimate purpose in God’s eternal plan.^[viii] One can also infer that if suffering is allowed it serves a purpose beyond the pain it causes.

Some suffering can only be explained as a result of, or punishment for, sin. However, there are some positive explanations for the rest.

A certain amount of suffering can serve as a warning. Physical pain can be a sign of great warning. For example, if someone hits his or her thumb with a hammer, that person may keep hammering and cause horrific damage, if it were not for the physical pain caused by the first hit. Pain, while unpleasant, can serve as a warning of even more pain and suffering.

Suffering also serves as a warning against spiritual harm. In the Book of Joel we read of a locust plague that covered Judah and caused great devastation. God gave a message to Judah through the prophet Joel, saying that the coming Day of the Lord would cause the locust plague to seem as nothing, but if the people turned from their ways and returned to the Lord, he would bless them and not destroy them.^[ix]

James and Paul write that suffering also produces personal growth. James tells us to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”^[x] Later he writes, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”^[xi] In the same manner Paul tells us, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”^[xii] According to both of these great men of the Bible, suffering is a positive thing, producing positive character attributes worthy of the Christian lifestyle. Enduring suffering is a way to draw closer to God.

Finally, some suffering serves to accomplish a divine purpose. John tells the story of a blind man whom Jesus healed. When Jesus is asked why this man was born blind, he replies, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”^[xiii] Suffering, in this instance, was used to bring glory to God.

In the Book of Job we see a vision of the heavens when Satan comes before God to accuse Job. He questions God, saying, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”^[xiv]> God then allows Satan to cause a great deal of suffering in Job’s life to prove that Job serves God for more than just the blessings that God has given him. In the end, Job’s continued obedience to God defeats Satan and vindicates God’s righteousness.

Having explored what suffering is, where it came from and what the causes are, it is necessary to explore the final question: What should be a Christian’s response to suffering? A Christian’s response to suffering should always be to turn to God. As the author of Hebrews tells us, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”^[xv]

and later,

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.^[xvi]

We are told to go to God--not a distant uncaring God, but one who has suffered as we do, one who understands what it means to suffer, one who will give us mercy and grace to help in our time of need.

In conclusion, the answer to the original question, “How can a good, all powerful God allow his creation to suffer?” may be best stated, “God allows suffering in order to change people (groups or individuals) in their relationship with Him.” We may not ever understand why we had to endure what we had to endure. We may never see the benefit. But, we can take comfort in the fact that God allowed it for a reason: either to change ourselves or to change those around us.

______________________

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[i] I am not saying the topic of suffering is easy even with these questions. I am merely stating that these questions may help the individual to explore the topic.

[ii] suffering. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved November 04, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/suffering

[iii] I concede that there may be some forms of suffering that may not fit into any category listed here. However, I feel that these three categories provide a “blanket” under which everything can at least tenuously be placed under one of the headings for the sake of this paper, especially when we do not fully understand the causes of certain forms of suffering.

[iv] Genesis 4

[v] Exodus 9 - 11

[vi] I am only commenting here that God was the instigator of the suffering. I am not commenting on God’s motives to inflict such suffering on the Egyptians.

[vii] Genesis 3:16-19 (NKJV)

[viii] The following is developed primarily from a course outline provided for Theology 507 at Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Fall 2005 by Dr. Daniel R. Lockwood.

[ix] Joel 2

[x] James 1:2-3

[xi] James 1:12

[xii] Romans 5:3-4

[xiii] John 9:3

[xiv] Job 1:9-10

[xv] Hebrews 2:18

[xvi] Hebrews 4:14-16

Rest

In a previous blog post I gave several tips on how to "Live a Balanced Life."

As I have pondered this, I think the hardest for me is number 7 - giving myself permission to relax. I have a very hard time with this. Like most of society I am programmed that if I am not doing 'something' I am wasting time. Take now for instance, I have nothing that I have to do tonight. Yet here I am posting in my blog...I have an incessant need to feel productive.

Even if I am doing something that I am not sure many people will find useful. Something that is only useful to myself, I have to do it. I can only sit and do nothing for so long without feeling like I am being lazy. Which is something I need to work on.

I know the pitfalls of always being active and never having any down time. I understand why rest is important. But it is a hard to do.

The Jewish people have a concept of a Sabbath rest. This is basically taking one day in seven away from work, away from the chores of life and just resting. This is based upon the fact that God created all of creation in six days and on the seventh He "rested" from His labor (See Genesis 2:1-3).

I am beginning to believe that there is something in this. For the Jewish people there are many spiritual and physical benefits related to the Sabbath, but I am seriously beginning to see a benefit to this. Taking one day of the week, to basically hit the 'reset' button on life.

Farmers will even let their fields "rest" by not planting them for a season and letting them return to seed. This, depending on the crop, greatly improves the quality of the future crops.

So I will encourage you as I encourage myself. To find time to rest and relax. To allow yourself time to be unproductive. To not feel the need to fill every moment of everyday with a project, goal or work.

Community

As most of you know I sing in a semi-professional choir. I have been singing in choirs since I was in high school. One of the most interesting things about a choir, is that it is one of the only groups I am a part of where every member has to give 100%.

If just one person is slacking it can (and most often does) affect the whole choir. If one person if off by a quarter of a beat, they will come in early or hold the note too long and dramatically alter the performance. Every member has to be giving their best and not holding back.

Contrary to popular opinion it takes hard work, skill, dedication and a lot of time to produce a good choral performance.

I wonder what life would be like if in every situation I found myself I applied the same dedication and commitment I do in choir. How would that affect my relationships, my job, my church, my life? How would it affect those around me?

Just think if everyone everywhere gave 100% no matter what situation they were in. Even if it was a situation they did not particularly like or want to have to deal with...say a meeting at work or a struggling relationship.

What if I took the attitude I have in choir (if I'm not giving 100% it dramatically affects the whole) to the rest of my life? I would like to think that it would produce as positive results in life as it does in choir. But, I think that for it to work like that everyone everywhere would have to have a common goal and take the same approach.

Practically I'm not sure it could work in society as a whole because of so many diverse opinions about what a common goal should be. But the church is another story.

The church is a place where Christians come to proclaim the greatness of God, fellowship with other believers and reach out into their communities with the good news of the Gospel. The church has a common goal and a common purpose. What if everyone in the church gave 100% to the common goal instead of (as is often times the case) treating church as if were something that can be done half-heartedly.

I think if everyone in the church took the attitude I have in choir (if I'm not giving 100% it dramatically affects the whole) then we would see a dramatically different church. We would not see a fractured church filled with problems. We would see a church that, even when it had problems, would have people coming together in love to solve it, instead of pointing fingers.

We would see a church that positively affectes its communities for good and fulfills its God given purpose.

The Balancing Act

I was asked to give a speech last night to the Washington County Rotaract club on "How to Balance Life, Work and Community Service." Interesting topic for me, I know, but I used myself as an example of what not to do. I came up with 7 tips to help live a balanced life and thought I would share them...feel free to feed back, I would find a discussion on my points interesting.

7 Tips for a Balanced Life

1. You are in charge of your own time

Many people try to pull you in different directions, but realize that it is up to you to go.

2. Learn to say “No”

It’s okay to say “no”

3. Set your priorities, there are 5 main focus areas in your life

Work/Career
Family/Social
Renewal (Physical, spiritual, emotional, leisure)
Community
Intellectual

4. Know your limits

Get to know yourself and what your capabilities are. Knowing your limits reinforces your ability to say no.

5. Know you cannot “do it all”

When you try to do it all, you generally fail at everything.

6. Health, Exercise and Sleep

Seems like a “no brainer” but often times when we lead an unbalanced life these three things take a back seat first and are generally in this order 1) Health - not eating properly; 2) Exercise - I can skip the gym “just this once”; 3) Sleep - I can stay up late and get this project done, the boss won’t mind if I’m a little groggy

7. Give yourself permission to relax

It is perfectly acceptable to have times in your life when you are not productive.

Growing Up

We all have moments in our lives when we realize we have grown up. But as I’m beginning to realize, we are never totally grown up. Even though I’m only 27 I have had several experiences in the past year that have reminded me I’m not a teenager (or a college goof-off) anymore.

I recently had one of those experiences. While the experience itself was important, for me the most important part was realizing that it was a moment in which I grew as an individual. A defining moment in my life that I will look back upon forever with joy and sorrow. Two very different emotions.

Joy because I’ve grown and maybe helped a couple people around me in the process grow. Joy because something I had been wondering for over 10 years if it would actually happen finally did.

Sorrow because things have changed; relationships that have been one way for a very long time will now be different. Sorrow because I liked the way things were and maybe did not want them to change.

Another emotion felt in the aftermath of the event is inquietude. Inquietude is a fancy word for an uneasiness of either of body or mind. I do not know how everything is going to play out. I may not know for years. I may never know the full extent of how it effects the other people involved.

I think I will be processing this event for the weeks and months to come. Anxiously looking forward to the ways it will change me. The thing that will keep me from ignoring it will be to remember that any opportunity for growth is a good one.