On God's will

Some wandered in desert wastelands,

finding no way to a city where they could settle.

They were hungry and thirsty,

and their lives ebbed away.

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

He led them by a straight way

to a city where they could settle.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

for he satisfies the thirsty

and fills the hungry with good things.

Psalm 107:4-9 (NIV)

Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah. So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.

Exodus 15:22-25 (NIV)

If anything can be said about God's will, about the intentionality within the momentum of life, it is this: for us to be joyful and free, rejoicing in the Living Waters of the Kingdom. 

All of Scripture needs to be read with this end in mind.

On sin and redemption

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

those he redeemed from trouble

and gathered in from the lands,

from the east and from the west,

from the north and from the south.

Some were sick [or: fools] through their sinful ways,

and because of their iniquities endured affliction;

they loathed any kind of food,

and they drew near to the gates of death.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress;

he sent out his word and healed them,

and delivered them from destruction.

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wonderful works to humankind.

And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices,

and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.

Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 (NRSV)

Sin is not disobedience to some arbitrary rule imposed on us from without. It is disobedience to what we know to be true in the innermost folds of our Being.

Hence, for many of us, redemption is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Sometimes the way there leads through sin, at other times through righteousness. 

Note: both sin and righteousness can be obstacles to redemption. Discerning the difference between way and obstacle is very difficult, hence we are told not to judge.

Why I'm not giving up anything for Lent

Lent, during my childhood, was the dreaded exercise of giving up something that I like in order to please God. The underlying message being that God wants us to be unhappy for His sake.

What nonsense.

Not that there's anything wrong with renouncing something we'd normally crave. That's a spiritual exercise that can lead to surprising freshness and freedom.

By contrast, there is everything wrong with teaching children that God is He Who wants you to be without chocolate. Or TV. Especially when there is not much happiness in your life to start with, this message is damaging. It conveys a false view of God and a false view of self.

What it taught me was this: I was never enough. Never good enough, never desireless enough, never unhappy enough to please the god who delights in deprivation.

Now, of course, I know that the message of the Gospel is actually the opposite of that. What it really says it that we are accepted, no matter what. And that we are called to live a life of fullness. Times of elation and sad moments and boring, rainy days and the deep, calm joy of faith, all in unguarded abundance.

Which is, in a way, even harder to bear. For it calls us to accept ourselves as we are and life as it is. To leave behind all our neurotic attempts at manipulating self and life to conform to our whims.

And over the years, I have come to realize that giving up stuff for Lent was actually just another attempt at manipulation, borne out of the deep-rooted idea that I was not enough, not worthy to encounter God unless I deprive myself of some random pleasure.

I uncovered my deepest neurosis: trying to manipulate God into giving me happiness by making myself unhappy.

Hence, the best thing for me to give up for Lent is the idea that I have to give up something for Lent.

If there is something in my life that needs to be examined during this season of introspection, it will make itself known. In the meantime, I'm sticking to the little habits of life, finally knowing that I am, truly, enough.

Chocolate, anyone?

#Je suis all of these

Transl.: I am Muslim. I am Jewish. I am Catholic. I am Charlie.

I am none of the above. But in truth, of course, I am all of them. In a world of suffering and confusion, the only viable stance is to identify all the suffering and all the confusion as our own. For it is: as part of the human struggle intimate to our own heart.

I wrote a little sermon on the topic, it can be found here.

Onward

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.

John 6:44 (NIV)

If a wise person is asked, "Do we seek out grace or does grace find us first?", the answer may well be "yes".

May your new year be one of seeking and of being found.