Devo180 – Page 16 – Where the Wind…

Trust (October 11, 2012)

Published on October 11, 2012October 29, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

We are as sure to be in trouble as the sparks fly upward, but we will also be “in Christ,” as [Paul] puts it. Ultimately, not even sorrow, loss, death can get at us there. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

While Jesus was still speaking with her, messengers came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?” But Jesus overheard their report and said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.” (Mark 5:35-36; context)

…Filling Up…

We’ve moved from anxiety through fear and to surrender. Surrendering yourself, your fear of the unknown future, and your anxiety over your lack of control is one of the scariest things you can do. It’s scary because it seems to go against everything that our society teaches: rugged individualism (the idea that you can do everything by yourself), perfect information (the idea that if you just had the right set of factors, you could predict the future), and marketing in general (the idea that if you buy product X you will finally have the life you always dreamed of).

Of course, if you’ve ever read anything that Jesus said, he didn’t give too much credence to what society thought. And we should follow his example. Surrendering to God might feel insane at first. In fact, though I’ve never been skydiving, I assume it feels something akin to the minute you are no longer safely in the plane, but before your parachute opens.

In those moments before the `chute opens, I assume all the reasons you shouldn’t have jumped race through your head. At least, that’s what would be racing through mine. When you surrender to God, the same thing happens: the “world” (in its most negative connotation) assaults you with all the reasons that trusting God is a stupid thing to do.) But if we can survive that assault (and with God’s help, we can), then something overwhelming happens.

We find peace.

When we surrender to God, we rectify the second half of our definition of anxiety. Remember: anxiety happens when you realize you don’t control the future but have yet to stop trying. When we surrender, we stop trying to control our future and we still have the benefit of knowing that we don’t control it! Sounds pretty good to me.

Of course, this kind of trust in God is so very hard. It necessitates a daily surrender, not just a once-in-a-lifetime one. Trusting God is like exercising. If you go to the gym once, you’re not going to get much out of it. But if you make a regimen out of it – or in our case, a spiritual practice – then you can run marathons.

…Praying For…

Dear God, most trustworthy Lord, I ask for the strength to surrender myself to your will and your love each day of my life. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, thankful that you are always and forever inviting me to walk the paths of trust and hope.

Surrender (October 10, 2012)

Published on October 10, 2012October 8, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

We are as sure to be in trouble as the sparks fly upward, but we will also be “in Christ,” as [Paul] puts it. Ultimately, not even sorrow, loss, death can get at us there. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

I cry out to you, LORD. You are my rock; don’t refuse to hear me. If you won’t talk to me, I’ll be just like those going down to the pit. Listen to my request for mercy when I cry out to you, when I lift up my hands to your holy inner sanctuary. (Psalm 28:1-2; context)

…Filling Up…

Fear of the unknown future is just part of the human condition. We feel anxious about that future because we know we can’t control it, but we haven’t stopped trying to. Today, we are going to talk about stopping.

But before we get there, let me share some wisdom with you from one of my favorite priests. She taught me that God is not in the anxiety that fear of the future produces. God is in everything, yes. God is the foundation of all that exists, yes. But those fearful futures, which we imagine for ourselves, to do not exist. They are nothing more than wispy possibilities that have yet to come to pass. And therefore, they are not of God. God is not there. God is in our present, just as God was in our past, and will be in our futures (the ones that actually happen, not the ones we have nightmares about).

Projecting ourselves into the unknown future is fearful because God isn’t there. So where is God? We are with God in the present, and I think God calls us to do something very special whenever we feel fearful anxiety.

In 12-step programs (like Alcoholics Anonymous), the first step is acknowledging that we are powerless over whatever the emergent problem is (alcoholism in AA). The second step is relying on a power greater than ourselves to restore us to sanity. I think God calls us to these two steps whenever we fall into anxiety over the unknown future.

Combining these two steps into one brings us to that very special something God invites us to do. And that is to surrender to God. When we project ourselves into the unknown future, we are fearful because God isn’t there. Our need to control asserts itself, which is always a fool’s errand. Thus we feel anxiety. But remember: anxiety happens when we realize we don’t control the future but haven’t stopped trying.

The answer is, of course, to stop trying. To surrender. And to trust in God. More on that tomorrow.

…Praying For…

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen. (The Serenity Prayer, with a minor addition)

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, thankful that you are always and forever inviting me to walk the paths of trust and hope.

Fear (October 9, 2012)

Published on October 9, 2012October 8, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

We are as sure to be in trouble as the sparks fly upward, but we will also be “in Christ,” as [Paul] puts it. Ultimately, not even sorrow, loss, death can get at us there. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

When the wind had driven them out for about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the water. He was approaching the boat and they were afraid. He said to them, “I Am.Don’t be afraid.” (John 6:19-20; context)

…Filling Up…

Yesterday, we talked about anxiety, and I must admit, I gave it a bad rap. Anxiety, in and of itself, is a rather neutral emotion. It can lead to positives and negatives, depending on how we respond to it. I gave it a bad rap yesterday because I was thinking ahead to today – to the kind of anxiety that finds its most common expression in fear.

If, as I said yesterday, anxiety happens when you realize you don’t control the future but have yet to stop trying, then fear comes into the conversation as humanity’s default setting when discussing the future. Some people are afraid of the dark; others are afraid of the monster under the bed or the dwindling savings in their retirement accounts. But the number one thing people fear is the unknown.

This primal fear has its evolutionary uses, to be sure – the guy who didn’t walk up to the exciting new animal with the really big teeth and hungry glint in its eye passed his “fear of the unknown” gene on to the next generation. (The other guy got eaten.) But fear of the unknown has done more than its share of damage, as well. After all, it’s the same fear that keeps us from getting to know people who look and think differently than we do.

Since the future is the most unknown thing around, fear of it is pervasive. And since we’ve already brought up humanity’s default position once today, another serving can’t hurt: When humans fear, they try to control. We think (erroneously) that if we can control (and thereby understand and dismantle), then we won’t fear any longer. The trouble with the future is that we can never control it no matter how much we try to rig the system in our favor (just look at the financial collapse of, well, the world, for evidence there).

This fear feeds our anxiety because we can’t control the unknown future. But that doesn’t stop us from trying.

Okay, I promised that only the first two days of this week would be downers. Stick with me tomorrow and I’ll fulfill the promise.

…Praying For…

Dear God, my anxiety stems from my fears which I too often let loose in my life. Help me to give those fears to you, that I may learn to trust in your perfect love, which drives out all fear. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, thankful that you are always and forever inviting me to walk the paths of trust and hope.

Anxiety (October 8, 2012)

Published on October 8, 2012October 4, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

We are as sure to be in trouble as the sparks fly upward, but we will also be “in Christ,” as [Paul] puts it. Ultimately, not even sorrow, loss, death can get at us there. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

“Humble yourselves under God’s power so that he may raise you up in the last day. ⁷ Throw all your anxiety onto him, because he cares about you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7; context)

…Filling Up…

This week, we are going to start with anxiety, make a few pit stops along the way, and end up at hope. I’m telling you this now, by the way, so that you don’t think this whole week is a downer after reading today and tomorrow’s devos and thus give up before the good stuff.

I have a feeling that we have all experienced anxiety of one kind or another – about an upcoming test, or asking our crush to homecoming, or whether or not the check we used to pay for groceries will bounce. These anxieties are all too real, but the good thing about them is they go away after the test, the proposal, and the bank statement have all come and gone. Maybe you passed the test, got shot down by your crush, and didn’t bounce the check – hey, two out of three ain’t bad. Whether or not the outcomes favored you, they are still over and there’s no longer a reason to be anxious. Of course, until the next thing comes up. Prom?

But these small, time-bounded anxieties fit into a larger framework, a meta-anxiety, if you will, which is more a way to look at existence rather than a worry about a particular upcoming event. This is the kind of anxiety that we begin with this week: Anxiety with a capital “A.” As a worldview, anxiety can lead to lots of bad stuff: high blood pressure, stress eating, worry-lines.

With that in mind, it’s a good idea to figure out where anxiety comes from so we can attack it at it’s source and figure out how to slide into a different worldview. So here’s my current definition: Anxiety happens when you realize you don’t control the future but have yet to stop trying.

It’s that simple. Anxiety exists in the present because of the combination of our fears about the vast unknown future spread in front of us and our desire to control what will never really be in our grasp. It’s to this fear that we turn tomorrow. But don’t be too anxious. We’ll get to the good stuff soon.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the antidote for anxiety, but I so rarely take advantage of such medicine. Help me to notice when I am anxious and at those times return to you. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, thankful that you are always and forever inviting me to walk the paths of trust and hope.

Because He Is (October 5, 2012)

Published on October 5, 2012October 5, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

I am a flower quickly fading (here today and gone tomorrow)
A wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I’m calling; Lord, you catch me when I’m falling,
And you’ve told me who I am: I am yours. (Casting Crowns)

…Listening In…

The woman put down her water jar and went into the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who has told me everything I’ve done! Could this man be the Christ?” They left the city and were on their way to see Jesus. (John 4:28-30; context)

…Filling Up…

The first “I am” statement comes at the end of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. Remember us talking about that conversation way back on Monday? Yes? Good! So, in the chapter right before the one featuring the Samaritan woman, we find the most famous verse in the whole Bible. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life” (3:16). God gave us Jesus. Therefore, Jesus is the gift God has given to the world.

So when Jesus says, “I Am—the one who speaks to you,” Jesus gives the woman the gift of his identity, his divine identity. She drops her bucket, races back to town, and tells the people: “Come and see a man who has told me everything I’ve done!” At first glance, this seems a vast exaggeration, since the only thing Jesus told her she had done was marry five different guys. Some scholars attribute this statement to mere excited exaggeration. However, I think those scholars miss one consequence of Jesus’ “I Am” statement.

It is in Jesus’ revelation of his own identity (when he says “I Am”) that the woman discovers her own identity. She now knows Jesus, who is the gift of God. And in knowing Jesus, she knows herself. Saying that he told her everything she had ever done is her way of saying that she is known, finally known. Jesus knows her and now she knows Jesus, so she can know herself.

When Jesus reveals his divine identity, he reveals my identity, for my true identity rests in him. Indeed, I am because he is.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are the source of light and life; you have made me in your image and put within me the spark of your creativity. Help me display your image and likeness. Knit my identity into yours and give me the strength to show that identity to everyone I meet. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, knowing that you are the foundation of all creation. I exist because you have spoken and loved me into existence.

Completely Known (October 4, 2012)

Published on October 4, 2012September 30, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

…Listening In…

Now we see a reflection in a mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I know partially, but then I will know completely in the same way that I have been completely known. (1 Corinthians 13:12; context)

…Filling Up…

In the Gospel according to John, Jesus places himself directly in the path of the tradition of God’s revelation to Moses that we talked about yesterday. Unlike some parts of the other accounts of the Gospel (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) in which Jesus’ divine identity is kept a secret, the Jesus of John’s account proclaims quite often that he is the Son of God and, indeed, one with the Father. He does this in two ways: first, he states explicitly that he is the Son of God and, indeed, one with the Father. Second, he says “I am” over and over again. By saying “I am,” he applies to himself the divine identity that God revealed to Moses on Mount Horeb.

Jesus says “I am” over a dozen times in the Gospel according to John. Some of these statements read simply “I am”; in some translations of the Bible, these are translated as “I am he,” and “It is I,” which are both technically correct, but they downplay the intent of divine revelation. Others read “I am ________,” such as “I am the good shepherd,” and “I am the light of the world.”

Early in the Gospel according to John, it says: “No one has ever seen God. God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made God known” (1:18). This making God known happens in part when Jesus say, “I am”; that is, when Jesus reveals the divine identity. At the same time as Jesus is revealing the divine identity, he is also teaching me who I am. I have be-ing because God is the ground of that be-ing, so when Jesus reveals God’s be-ing, I discover my own existence, my own life. In his discussion of love in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that he is “completely known.” God’s “complete knowledge” of me is another way of saying that my be-ing has its home in God. Therefore, I discover my identity most fully and perfectly when I am abiding in God, who knows me in full.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you hold me in the palm of your hands and invite me to abide in your love. Help me to locate my identity in your sure and steady presence; in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, knowing that you are the foundation of all creation. I exist because you have spoken and loved me into existence.

God’s Name (October 3, 2012)

Published on October 3, 2012September 30, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

…Listening In…

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” (Exodus 3:13-14; context)

…Filling Up…

In Exodus 3, Moses asks God what God’s name is. God responds: “I am who I am.” (Other translations of the cryptic response range from “I create what I create” to “None of your darn beeswax what my name is.”) The awkward English rendering of the Hebrew preserves the root of God’s divine name, which is the verb “to be” (hayah in Hebrew). When Moses asks God what God’s name is, God responds with something like, “I have be-ing and I bestow be-ing and that’s all you need to know.”

As we said yesterday, the most fundamental thing I can say about myself is that I am. I can say this because the God that created me gave me be-ing. Indeed, God is the very foundation, the very ground, on which my be-ing is established. When God says to Moses, “I am who I am,” God is reminding Moses that God created him and now provides a structure through which Moses’ be-ing can be realized.

With all these heavy words like foundation and being flying around, it is easy to miss the intimacy of the moment between God and Moses. They are alone on the mountain and the burning bush blazes nearby. God has just called Moses to the new life of leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. But Moses cannot accept the call until he asks God some personal questions. In the Bible, the act of naming or renaming leads to deeper relationship (Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob all receive new names from God, among others). When Moses asks God what God’s name is, God reveals the divine name to Moses. Through this revelation, God assures Moses that God is. And Moses can accept his own new identity.

…Praying For…

Dear God, because you are who you are, I can be the person you would have me be. I give thanks that in you I have found my identity; in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, knowing that you are the foundation of all creation. I exist because you have spoken and loved me into existence.

Two Little Words (October 2, 2012)

Published on October 2, 2012September 30, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

…Listening In…

Judas brought a company of soldiers and some guards from the chief priests and Pharisees. They came there carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus knew everything that was to happen to him, so he went out and asked, “Who are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I Am.” (Judas, his betrayer, was standing with them.) When he said, “I Am,” they shrank back and fell to the ground. (John 18:3-6; context)

…Filling Up…

It is amazing to me that non-native speakers can grasp the English language when the most common verb in English has half a dozen forms that follow absolutely no pattern when the verb is conjugated. The verb, of course, is “to be.” The confusion commences immediately when no one besides Hamlet ever actually says “to be” in a sentence. We say “she is,” or “you are” or “I was” or “y’all were.” And in the first person singular, present, active, indicative, we say, “I am.”

Simply stating “I am” with no predicate nominative or adjective is a peculiar way of responding to someone. The normal conversation goes like this: How are you? I am cold/tired/happy/depressed/distracted/delirious/desperate/alliterative. But how would it sound if I were to delete the predicate?

How are you? I am.

At first glance, this doesn’t make much sense because we are so used to hearing a modifier (like “tired” or “hungry”). But this response reaches to a deep, fundamental level of meaning that is never expected when the question is asked. How are you? In other words, How are you here? How do you exist? Now the response makes a bit more sense. “I am”: that is, I have be-ing. I do not quite know how I exist, but I know that I do. I am a human being (be-ing). The –ing in the word shows that my “be” is continuous. When I respond, “I am,” I affirm that I continue, persist, abide – though I do not quite understand how I do these things. God knows how I exist, and that seems good enough to allow my existence to happen.

And that’s good enough for me.

…Praying For…

Dear God, in the beginning you spoke creation into existence and you continue to breath life into the universe. Thank you for giving me – a tiny piece of that creation – the being that comes from your eternal Being. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, knowing that you are the foundation of all creation. I exist because you have spoken and loved me into existence.

A Conversation at the Well (October 1, 2012)

Published on October 1, 2012September 30, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

…Listening In…

The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.” Jesus said to her, “I Am–the one who speaks with you.” (John 4:25-26; context)

…Filling Up…

Jesus is exhausted. He is worn out from his travels, so he sends the disciples into town to get some lunch. Then he sits down, props his back up against the warm bricks of a well, and takes a nap. Soon a woman comes to draw water, and Jesus asks her for a drink. This is strange for two reasons. First, in his society, unacquainted men and women didn’t converse with one another in public. Second, Jesus wasn’t in his own land, and this woman was from a people – the Samaritans – that Jesus’ people didn’t deal with.

Of course, Jesus doesn’t usually hold to social conventions. So, he asks her for a drink, and they get to talking about all sorts of stuff – the water in the well, a special kind of life-giving water that Jesus will give her, the woman’s marital status, the proper places to pray. The woman is impressed with Jesus, but perhaps a bit scared of him, of what he knows about her. Jesus continues talking about prayer and the right way to worship, and the woman seems to lose track of his train of thought. But then she surprises him by saying: “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.”

I imagine Jesus, who has probably entered “preaching mode,” stopping in mid-sentence. This woman knows more than she lets on. Of this Messiah, he says, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.” Except that he doesn’t say, “I am he.” He says simply, “I Am.” In these two words, Jesus opens up to this woman and to us that fact that his identity is divine. This week, we are looking at these two words – at what they mean for Jesus and at what they mean for us.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you teach me new things everyday. You teach me about myself, about your world, and about you. Thank you for giving me the ability to learn and grow into the identity you have chosen for me; in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, knowing that you are the foundation of all creation. I exist because you have spoken and loved me into existence.

Fullness Training (September 28, 2012)

Published on September 28, 2012September 26, 2012 by Adam ThomasLeave a comment

…Opening To…

The glory of God is the human being fully alive. (St. Irenaeus)

…Listening In…

Many people say, “We can’t find goodness anywhere. The light of your face has left us, LORD!” But you have filled my heart with more joy than when their wheat and wine are everywhere! (Psalm 4:6-7; context)

…Filling Up…

In the times when we feel fully alive, it’s a really good idea to thank God for such times. Now, we can feel fully alive without attributing the fullness to God. After all, I don’t think God necessarily seeks the credit for what God does. But besides the fact that it’s a good idea to thank God for God’s movement during our experiences of fullness (after all, if your mother fills you up with the best steak and potatoes you’ve ever eaten, it’s just good manners to say, “Thank you”), there is another reason to do so.

When we attribute our times of fullness to the presence of our Creator, we actively train ourselves to be on the lookout for God in the moments when God is easiest to see. For most of us, I’d imagine that God is easiest to see in the fullness – the sunrise over the ocean that I mentioned on Tuesday. Or holding the newborn, which I seem to keep coming back to.

This training is so important because it helps us to notice God’s movement in the rougher times, in the valleys, in the moments when the trials and tribulations of this world shield us from being aware of God in our midst. God is present in our fullness and when we feel empty. We just have a harder time noticing God in the latter. But when we use the full times to train ourselves, we can find God more readily when times are tough.

Too often, people start seeking God when their lives have hit a downward spiral. But this is like waiting to go to the doctor after you are sure you are sick rather than for regular checkups. Practicing noticing God’s presence when we feel fully alive equips us to continue seeking that presence when a thousand little deaths have taken our fullness away.

I hope, then, that you will look for God’s presence when you feel fully alive. Celebrate the reality that God is the foundation of that fullness. And when you feel empty, draw on the memory of your fullness so that you know where to look to find your Creator.

…Praying For…

Dear God, source of all life, help me to notice your presence during the full times so that I may more easily notice that presence in the lean ones. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.