Oh my God?

There is a new documentary entitled, Oh My God?, that is already playing at film festivals and will hit the U.S. in November (select theatres). The director, Peter Rodger, told reporters at the Jerusalem Film Festival, “My goal was to find out what this entity that goes by the name of God means to people.” He went on:

“I was fed up with the childish schoolyard mentality that permeates this world, what I call the "My God is Greater than Your God" syndrome. By throwing out the question in an interview as 'What is God?' instead of 'Who is God?' it makes the interviewee look at God from the outside in rather than from the inside out.”

Hmmm. Interesting questions.

Let’s personalize it a little. Would you ask, “Who is Wendy? or “What is Wendy?” and how would I feel about either question?

I completely agree with Rodger’s idea about the childish schoolyard mentality, but I must disagree with his thesis that asking WHAT instead of WHO uncovers truth.

When I was a pastor to 20 somethings, I used to say over and over to them, “Always start with God. Don’t begin with your own perspective or circumstances or learning, because your conclusions will end up faulty. Find out who God is first, then see yourself in light of Him – not the other way around.”

What is God? God is the Great WHO, the Great I AM. It is amazing hubris on our part to think that we can define Him on our whim or point of view. God does not exist to fit our individualized need for a god, He exists to expand our smallness and give us a taste of His power and eternity. We were made by Him remember? Oh how we love to think we invent Him though.

Rodger’s documentary interviews several celebrities, one of which is Hugh Jackman. He says something in the film that made me smile:

"If you put Buddha, Jesus Christ, Socrates, Shakespeare, Arjuna, Krishna at a dinner table together, I can't see them having any argument."

I agree. God has no need to prove Himself, just the fact that Christ joined us for dinner is enough.

Look for the signs

It’s going to be a long week. I have been having trouble sleeping. Combine that with the fact that our Phillies are playing into the later hours, and I have been all but useless the last couple of days. Of course, my schedule is jammed packed, so it’s been challenging to stay alert.

Last night, as I watched our beloved Phillies beat the Dodgers, I sat in front of my TV at home. At the stadium, however, the frenzied crowd chanted various phrases including the traditional ones like, “Charge!” and “Here we go, Phillies, here we go!”

However, every time Manny Ramirez came to the plate, the chants became less traditional. You will remember that Manny was caught using steroids earlier this year – actually I think it was labeled a ‘female hormone’ - but either way he was given a 55 game suspension by the MLB, a suspension he already completed. I have been told that Philadelphia is a particularly brutal town to be the away team, but I have no other frame of reference.

I was intrigued by the taunting of Manny, even signs pointing out his error, all on national TV. Now, many of us would claim that it goes with the territory, kind of like you do the crime you do the time, and that’s how I felt at first.

Then I imagined myself walking down the street with people carrying signs outlining all my indiscretions.

“Don’t deny you’ve told a lie.”

“No need to repeat, Wendy’s a cheat.”

You get the idea.

For some reason, we love to continue to punish people, don’t we? Forget the macro example of Manny Ramirez, how about in our homes? Do we revisit people’s (spouse, children, family, neighbor) sins over and over? Perhaps we do not chant, but does our behavior toward these folks suggest that forgiveness is a long way off – or forgetness will never come???

I suspect that I am not going to convince an entire city, one that is pretty revved up right now, to stop taunting Manny, but that same city has reminded me to let others off the hook – to practice tangible forgiveness.

“No need to hide, I’m on your side.”

Hammurabi the Hammer

I was studying with J.J. for his Social Studies test last night and we reviewed Hammurabi’s Code. For those of you who have been out of 6th grade for a while, Hammurabi was the leader of the Babylonian Empire and his written system of laws and rules is the earliest we have ever discovered.

Hammurabi was an “eye for an eye” kind of guy – with an interesting exception. Punishment did indeed match the crime, but the importance of the victim also influenced the severity of the consequence. In other words, if an ancient surgeon failed to cure a person of the higher class, his hands were cut off.

As we studied, J.J. mentioned how so many of the places mentioned in his lesson were found in the Old Testament of the Bible – we learned that Ninevah had a large and impressive library (remember Jonah trying to avoid his trip and being swallowed by a fish?), we learned about the Assyrian warriors and we talked about the Mesopotamian calendar being based on the flooding of the Nile River.

The more I learned about Hammurabi, and thought about the people who lived under his code, I began to see why the way of Christ is so hard to believe. We as people just cannot imagine that sort of grace, can we?

Think upon it – the UNMERITED favor of God…the forgiveness of sin without eternal penalty...regardless of who you are.

It’s still true, I believe. Even a casual glance at politics, law enforcement and even global relations can move us farther and farther away from the way of Christ and it gets harder and harder to get a taste of Jesus while we are being swallowed by it all.

Let’s allow God to challenge our limited perspective. Can we see the severity of the world for what it is and live under a different code? The way of Christ is the way of amazing grace - without exception.

Give and receive a taste of it today. Cut off the rest.

Novacaine and hangovers

I am not sure if I am suffering from a Phillies hangover or if I am having trouble recovering from yesterday's dental work, but either way - my mind's a blank.

Hoping I can face the Dodgers with a temporary crown.

Thank you, Kristin

Something interesting happened the other day, and at the risk of my friends being afraid to relate to me for fear our interaction end up on the blog, I’m going to tell you about it.

My oldest son had a game yesterday afternoon. It was an away game, and we had to travel about 20 miles to get to the other school - this requiring that I pick my younger children up early from school. Normally, they would be fine with it, but both of them had subjects yesterday afternoon that they did not want to miss, so our only option was to find a willing friend to care for them after school.

Mia chose her BFF, and so my husband called and made all the arrangements. J.J. chose his buddy, the E-man, and I called his mother (who is my buddy) to see if she minded having J.J. for a couple of hours.

After I asked her over the phone, she responded with the most interesting thing. She said, “Oh that would be fine. Thank you for calling and asking.”

Now you may not see what I see in those two sentences, but for a moment I felt so blessed. Here I was, asking for a favor that in some way inconveniences my friend, and she THANKED me for the opportunity.

I want to be the kind of person who is TRULY THANKFUL for the chance to serve, the opportunity to be inconvenienced in order to make another person feel cared for. It is deeply profound if you think about it, because even as Christians we know that serving another person is what Christ modeled for us, but how often is it a forced behavior and not an involuntary outflow of a Christ-filled heart?

I understand that loving and serving and being inconvenienced is sometimes hard, and I even know that it is a choice to pursue such a path. But it’s not just good for the world to serve, it is good for me. I am being shaped and matured every time I dare to do it.

I want to be thankful for the heart that is being made inside me as I serve the world outside me.

Beefing it up

When I was a kid, we would travel to Canada to my grandparent’s home for Christmas. When we arrived, we would sit down to a roast beef dinner that my Grandma had lovingly prepared in anticipation of our visit. I can vividly remember how dry the roast was, and how much gravy it required.

I grew up believing that Grandma overcooked beef. As a matter of fact, it was sort of a joke with me when I cooked something too long, I would make some remark about how it resembled my Grandma’s roasts.

It wasn’t until I became an adult and I was driving to Canada myself one trip, that I realized how off schedule I was. In order to get there by car, I drive through Syracuse and Buffalo – both of which are famous for snow – and I was almost 2 hours later arriving than I had promised.

Hmmm. I applied this new knowledge to my childhood trips and realized that, no, my Grandmother did not enjoy leathered food, but she had been readying the supper for the time we claimed we’d arrive. I can almost hear her contemplating the problem, “Well, if they actually do make it on time, they’ll be hungry as bears….”

In truth, her overcooked roast was MY fault all those years, not her error in cooking judgment. I had it way out of context.

This may be a stretch for you, but that little piece of learning has helped me so much relationally. When I am ready to “decide” about a person or a situation, especially when someone behaves like leathered beef, God helps me remember that I probably do not see a complete picture. I simply do not have all the information and, admittedly, my understanding is all too limited by my own point of view.

Life requires a lot of gravy. Love anyway.

Am I smarter than a 4th grader?

My 9 year old daughter, Mia, had a Science quiz yesterday. As we were reviewing the information that she needed to regurgitate, I came across the most interesting sentence for 4th grade curriculum.

The notes were based on “working in a Science Team.” There were suggestions about listening and completing your tasks well. There were different team roles spelled out, like “Task Manager” and “Skill Builder.” I was impressed with all of these.

It wasn’t until I reached a section entitled, “Special Team Skills” that I stopped short. Third, on a list of three, the following skill was spelled out:

Criticize ideas, not people.

I paused momentarily and my daughter asked why I stopped reading. I looked up at her and smiled.

“Mommy is learning from your Science notes,” was what I said. This truth pleased my daughter.

Talk about a special skill, huh?! How often have I criticized a politician or friend or family member instead of questioning their ideas?

Admittedly, “Are you crazy?” is a common question I ask my husband.

Second on Mia’s list was:

Entertain lots of ideas before coming to a conclusion.

Sheesh. What ever happened to graduated cylinders and dissecting frogs?

Just like in Science, I think it is more than important to have a discerning mind and sharp intellect. Some ideas are just bad ones – in our government, in our culture, in our homes - and should be challenged. But as Christians, do we challenge ideas or do we contribute to the hostility and defensiveness of the world by criticizing people?

Once again, we return to the idea of defending the space to love someone over defending our “morality.” Honest dialogue is critical to the healing of the world, but if no one feels safe enough to talk, no one feels safe enough to change.

Hoping for a gassy decade

Yesterday was my birthday. Birthdays are funny things, aren’t they? I tend to do more reflecting than I usually do on my birthday and this year was no exception.

I also ran out of gas yesterday. Running out of gas is an ongoing issue with me, although I must say I am far better than I was in my 20s and 30s. I think it is only the second time this year I have needed rescuing and my friends, Beth and Kristin, faced the death defying traffic with me.

You know, in my life I have done all sorts of things. Some things have been admirable and some have been terrible (dear David Letterman). Most situations I have caused (like not stopping for gas) and others I have fallen victim to. Regardless, a lot of forgiveness has been required – a lot.

One of the most difficult things to do is to forgive one’s self. Even Christians, who know they have been forgiven by a gracious God, can struggle with letting themselves feel free from their own judgment. Our pasts, and our presents, can be haunting things.

Here’s the thing, though. Just like my gas situation, God and I have watched me change. Over the years of knowing Him, I have learned to look for redemptive things in the people around me, and sometimes I even find them in me as well. Sticking close to Him has helped me deal with shame, and truly live forgiven.

I am not what I was in my 20s and 30s. Yesterday I was 42. Maybe when I’m 50, I will have a gas-filled decade.

Live forgiven.

Absence makes the elbow grow tender

Sorry to be absent. Noah has another elbow problem from playing football that I am trying to get sorted out. I honestly feel like I can't win with these boys and these bones.